0:00 I'd like you to turn with me to Acts chapter 20 where we see a little bit of the heart of an apostle in relationship to a church. You see here Paul perhaps the church where his apostilhip is demonstrated 0:20 the most maybe two churches I can think of the church in Corenth and the church in Ephesus. The church in Corinth was a quite a carnal church when you read their first letter and uh the church in Ephesus was a spiritual church. So across both ends 0:35 of spiritual maturity, we see Paul as an apostle. To the church in Corinth, he says you have many teachers but you have one father. His relationship with them was that of a father. A father will correct, will discipline, will speak 0:52 more strongly than even a teacher, but will will stay. A real father will never leave. A father is you're somebody you're stuck with. And that's what God needs. Fathers, those in with the heart of a father that no matter what 1:10 opposition they face or what names they're called or how much they're misunderstood, they'll never leave. And uh you see the same thing with with uh Paul in relation to the church in Ephesus. There's a word that he uses at 1:26 the beginning of his farewell address and at the end Acts chapter 20 beginning in verse 17 Paul speaks to the church in Ephesus uh especially to the elders. Uh but you see in verse uh uh 19 1:45 or in the middle of verse 18, he says, "You yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia how I was with you the whole time." Means he never left. He was committed to staying serving the Lord with all humility and 1:59 with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews. how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house. He didn't shrink back from speaking the truth. But he 2:17 mentions the word tears. And then he says that again towards the end in verse 31. Um, therefore be on the alert remembering that night and day for a period of 3 years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 2:36 And um I know that um I don't know if I've shed as many tears as my dad has. And uh I've um I often when my dad is here in Colorado, we sit in the same office and work together. I have the 2:54 privilege of doing that. Uh he works in one side of the room, I work on the other side of the room. And I'll often sit there and just watch him. Uh I've learned a lot from him perhaps more than more from observing him uh than even in what he has said, but 3:10 observing his conduct. Most of you uh who don't get the privilege of observing him close only hear his words uh and um and see what he preaches and uh what he speaks maybe letters he's have to write 3:27 and things like that. Uh but I've had the privilege of seeing him over my entire life really uh and observing the man behind the message and I've seen the tears and sometimes I don't even know what it is 3:44 that he's weeping over. Uh sometimes uh later that day I might be copied on an email that he's written. Uh and it's often strong, firm, and rebuke and admonishing if you will. 4:02 But uh I've seen the what's gone on before that. Not just hours, but days and even nights that he won't tell you about. But um I'll come to my you know I start my work often early in the morning and sometimes I'll see he's already 4:19 there um and the only reason he's getting up is not because he has a work meeting to earn some money like me but he's got the burden of the church that he's weeping over praying over some some news he's gotten in the middle of the 4:33 night that he needs to address and it's kept him up all night. Uh, and I've seen that and I've been tremendously challenged that somebody in his late 80s who like many other preachers, I'm not thinking 4:52 of anyone in particular, but many other preachers who by the time they reach their 70s or so, they put in their hard time, they've done their service, and like anybody, you know, in a in the military or in a good company would say, 5:08 you've done your you've done your time. You can retire now and you're entitled to the dues of retirement. But for somebody who is in the service of the Lord, there is no such thing as a sbatical or a retirement. We're in this until the end, brothers 5:23 and sisters and children. And if you want to follow Jesus, uh he's going to expect everything out of you until the very end. There's no put in a certain amount of time and then you get to coast. He's going to ask everything out of you, 5:39 but it will be worth it in the end. Uh Jesus said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and then turns back is worthy of me or being my disciple." That putting the hand to the plow could last for a minute, a year, 10 years, 20 5:57 years, but at any point if we turn back, then Jesus says, "You're not worthy of being my disciple." A disciple is one who has put their hand on the plow and said, "Lord, it doesn't matter what I go through. You've called me to be your 6:12 disciple. I am not turning back. It doesn't matter what I go through." We have examples. Jesus had plenty of opportunities to shrink back. We heard about Paul saying, "I did not shrink back." I thought about this that Jesus faced 6:32 the intensity of trial and temptation far more than any of us will ever face. And in the garden of Gethsemane, the pressure got so intense on him that his heart burst. That's the way I think of it. His heart within him burst that the 6:50 blood came out of his blood, his skin. The blood vessels inside of him burst and the blood just had to find a way out. And it came out the like sweat drops of blood. The intensity of the pressure that Jesus faced on the last night of his life to 7:10 shrink back having come that close to say ah the it's too much. I can't go through it anymore. Can I can I skip this one? Lord, can you allow me the option of backing out of this problem, this trial? That's what Jesus faced. If it is your 7:29 will, let this cup, every cup that has come to me, L father, up to this point, I have received it and I've drunk it. But there's one cup that's one more cup that's remaining. Can you allow me to skip sit this one out? That's what Jesus 7:45 was telling his father. Is there any way I can sit this one out, Lord? I, you know, I've been faithful. Every single cup, I've taken it and I've drunk it to the bottom. Can I sit this one out? Is there any way but not my will, yours be 8:01 done. And the father says, "Jesus, my son, you can't sit this one out. You've got to drink every single cup." And when I think about that, I think about my own life where I have in the past taken the option, the 8:19 easy way out with the temptation to please myself in a situation, whether it's lusting with my eyes or speaking with my tongue in a certain way or having an attitude towards somebody or seeking to preserve myself or my 8:35 reputation or my honor even once. That's the easy way out. And how I've taken that just to get out of a tight spot and ah it's uncomfortable for me. So I I'll pick the the more comfortable route 8:52 and Jesus never did. Romans 15:3 says, "Jesus never pleased himself." Those four words, brothers and sisters and children, ring in my mind often when I'm in the middle of a difficult situation, when I'm tempted or I I I 9:10 choose to not be involved in a situation that would be uncomfortable for me, let's say. And then these four words, Jesus never pleased himself, ring in my mind. And I say, Lord, you never pleased yourself. what you suffered on Calvary was nothing compared 9:28 to what you suffered in Gethsemane. The physical pain was, I think, relatively easy for Jesus. It was the emotional and the spiritual separation from his father that he suffered. But he said, I'm every one of these cups, I'm not going to sit one 9:47 out. I say that as a challenge for all of us and for myself first of all that if we're ever faced with a situation where the temptation is to sit this one out that we'll remember Jesus he never sat one out not even once. He finished 10:02 the course and so did Paul. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, I finished the race. He sat plenty of things out before that. But then when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, the true Jesus, from that time on he said, I have counted all things as 10:21 loss and I've suffered the loss of all things. Philippians chapter 3. For the sake of him, that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. That means I'm willing to suffer as much as Jesus 10:37 did. I'm willing to find fellowship with Jesus in his suffering. that I might lay a hold of that for which Christ laid a hold of me. Oh brothers, sisters, children, I hope that that's captivating your heart. The trials that we go through on this earth, 10:53 whether it's in your marriage or with your children or with your parents or with in the in the workplace or in the church, they're small. They really are small compared to laying a hold of that for which Christ laid a hold of you. I 11:09 hope you'll know that children especially Jesus Christ chose you to be a part of this church not by accident. He chose you to be a part of his family not by accident. There was a purpose and know that you would make it the single 11:23 passion of your life to know why would Jesus choose me of all people to be a part of his family. If you can lay a hold of that then everything else will fade away. All the other desires, all the other questions, all the other feelings will 11:42 fade away because you've laid a hold of why Christ laid a hold of you. That's the passion of my life. I want to know why would Jesus choose a wretch like me to lavish such love? And I want to know that. I'm on a quest to know that. And 11:59 as I've sought to fix my eye on that, the things that happen to me, the things that people say about me, the things that pe people do to me, what I get, what I don't get is really become less and less relevant. And if I ever find 12:14 that something on this earth affects me in some way, I immediately say, Lord, I've lost sight of it. I've lost sight of this single passion to lay a hold of that for which you lay a hold of me. So, I hope you'll be encouraged by that, 12:30 brothers and sisters and children. Fix your vision on that. Don't lose, don't be distracted by anything else. And you'll really find that the things of this earth, everything on this earth, relationships, people, church experience, 12:46 uh, and all the other questions that might come and go will fade away. I think we're at an interesting phase in our church and by our church I include Austin CFC but uh uh the the churches that we are in closer fellowship with. 13:00 See I believe God has his people all over the world uh people who are truly following Jesus according to the like that they have. But the churches that that affiliated with CFC the CFC network of churches are the ones that God has 13:15 given us a special burden for. Not because we have a an allegiance to CFC or anything like that. And the only reason we often have CFC in the name of the church is so that people who are looking for a like-minded church in a 13:31 particular area because they've been blessed by the teachings that originated in the work that God started in CFC Bangalore 1975. um if they're looking for if those teachings have changed their lives and they're interested in following Jesus in 13:49 emphasizing the things that we have emphasized for 51 years now uh and they want another like-minded church in their area that emphasizes these same things then they can know that this is a church that's looking to go the same way that's 14:02 all adding CFC into the name does not a denomination in that sense where we collect money and send it to some central church or anything like that. But we do have certain principles that we stand for and that's why we have a 14:18 fellowship among like-minded brothers and sisters, like-minded churches. But our churches are facing an interesting phase right now. Um if you if you read for example uh my dad's book the day of small beginnings you'll read about how 14:33 for many years for most of the early years of CFC Bangalore and the other CFC churches especially in India they were very unpopular they were rejected they were very very small groups almost every one of our churches now is 14:49 much bigger than the early church in in Bangalore and other churches started very very small And it was very it was spoken evil off a lot. Uh but now we're at a phase where the the message has spread a little bit and it's gone around the world 15:07 uh through technology especially YouTube and other means like that. The message has spread u CFC has become a little bit more popular. And my concern as an elder in a local church and also an overseer for some of the CFC churches is that what people are 15:26 drawn to in the churches that we see is different from what the church was originally built on. Uh I I worry that some people are drawn to the church because of the spiritual blessings that they see in the church. See, when we honor God, when we truly 15:45 are disciples of Jesus Christ, when we follow him, we'll find that he blesses us. He blesses our marriages. He blesses our homes. He blesses our young people. Our young people will be a little bit different than some of the others in the 15:59 world. And that that's a blessing. Our our children will be more well behaved. That's a blessing in the home because we emphasize the home life. But it's very easy for people to come in from outside and seeing and I'm not comparing our 16:11 church with any other church or any other people. I do see that God's presence is in our midst. But it's possible that people can come in and see something valuable in the church. A community, families of children that seem to be really gripped by the truth 16:26 from a young age who sit still in their meetings instead of being sent off to some children's program to play some games or watch some movies or do some other activity where our children sit in the meetings and they take notes and 16:39 they they're paying attention. And sure, they may not be perfect, but they're they're really taught to value the things of God, and they enjoy coming to church. This is something you hardly see elsewhere. But it's possible that people 16:53 can be drawn to that, to what they see in the outward form of the meetings and not know the principles on which that blessing was founded. The blessings follow the principles. When we honor God, he will add those blessings 17:09 into our life. But we must be careful that the church doesn't become a place that's drawn to the blessing. I think of it like this a little bit. Let me give you a picture of a a nice house that's built and it it's got good walls and 17:25 it's a nice structure. The rooms are well organized and and it's well lit. It's a comfortable house. The the heat works, the the air conditioning works. Um, there's good windows where light can come in and it's well furnished. And 17:40 people come into that house and they see, "Oh, this is a nice house. I like this. I'd like to live in this house." And after they're there for some time, they can want to change and say, "No, let's let's add this and let's add that 17:53 other thing and let's put a room over here and let's change this the shape of this room and let's tear down this wall and and make it like this." And they want to change what the room is built on. and how the house is built, not 18:07 realizing what's underneath that, the foundation that that the house is built on. And today I see that there are many people who are joining our like-minded churches who haven't really understood the principle and the foundation 18:23 that is the reason why God has blessed the churches that we're a part of. CFC is often accused of many things like our stance on money. We take a very strong stance on money. We don't we we don't say it with pride, but we simply 18:39 [clears throat] say that that's what God's word showed us that there's two gods in the world. There's the true God and there's money. And you can't mix the two. And that's why we take such a strong position on that even on things 18:52 like registries and uh paid pastors. And a lot of people will say, "Well, what about all those pastors that seem to be doing a lot of good and yet they receiving a salary?" We don't look at other churches. We don't look at other 19:05 pastors. But we see that Jesus made it very clear. You cannot serve God in money. And we're not here to judge others. We're simply here to say what Jesus said. We take a strong stance, for example, on divorce and remarage. Some 19:19 people will say, "Well, what about this situation and that situation?" And we don't judge anybody else, but we do preach what Jesus said, that God hates divorce. And exactly what Jesus preached about divorce and remarage is what we 19:32 stand for. I'm thinking about some of the things that are unique, I think, to what I see in our CFC churches. There's a strong emphasis on taking up the cross. That's a constant repeated theme in the messages of CFC. And we're often 19:49 accused of being too morbid. Morbid is a I don't know if if it's a word that you all understand it. Almost like gruesome. like why do you constantly speak about crucifixion and the cross and dying? And I remember once somebody uh once I was 20:05 preaching somewhere and uh I spoke about how I wish in our church there would be a sign that said um in front of the door come and die because that's what Jesus said. If anyone wishes to follow me he must come and die. That's what take up the cross 20:23 means. Today we say take up the cross and we don't really think about what that means. If you were living in 25 or 27 AD when Jesus said those words, what he was saying, paraphrase to 2026 AD is if 20:40 anyone wishes to come after me, he must die. And that's what I was saying in that meeting that I wish in front of our church we could have a sign that says not come and you'll get you know if you want a good place for your children, 20:56 friends for your children, a good community, uh nice meetings, good singing, good preaching, uh fellowship afterwards, a meal. That's not what we offer. What we offer is death. And somebody got up after and said, "Yeah, you know, come and die." But 21:12 Jesus, you know, I I want come and live. Somebody actually said that and I of course I didn't make an argument about it. I quietly just sat there and that's a good question. I want to ask ask you that question. Does Jesus say come and 21:25 die or come and live? It's a trick question because you might think, well, of course Jesus says come and live. But that's not what Jesus said. He said come and die because the act of living is not up to us. The act of dying is up to us. Jesus will give us 21:43 life. The act of giving us life is up to God, up to him. He will raise us up from the dead. But the problem with the come and live message is that I don't have to die. If we offer the come and live message, everybody will come. Everybody 21:59 loves the come and live message. In fact, there's a popular book, Your Best Life. Now, paraphrase, come and live. Jesus offers you a come and live gospel is what people are being told in the world today. If you read the New Testament 22:15 carefully, especially the words of Jesus, what he said was come and die and you will live. Jesus will make sure that you live. But if you want to live, if you want to preserve your life on this earth, then you will lose it. Let me 22:30 turn you to Matthew chapter 10. Actually, 22:54 that Matthew 10 does say it, but the verse I was thinking of was Matthew 16. If you'll turn there with me. Matthew 16 is a very interesting passage because in this me in this passage first we see Peter has got revelation on 23:09 Jesus. Who Jesus is. He's the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus commends him. He says, "Blessed are you, Simon." In uh verse 17, Matthew 16:17, "My father himself revealed this to you. You've got revelation from the father." 23:25 Can you imagine how big Peter's head was at that time? When Jesus himself commended Peter and I'm sure Peter sat up a little straight and straightened his collar a little bit, thinking, "Hey, look at you disciples. I got revation 23:38 revelation." And then Jesus starts to talk about death. And he says, "You want to know what this following this Messiah actually means? It means death." Verse 21. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must die. 23:57 Verse 21. And immediately Peter says, "No, Lord, that's not the message, isn't it? Come and live. What is this come and die message?" And Peter began to rebuke him in verse 22. And Jesus recognized the spirit of Satan. I want to say it very plainly, dear 24:16 brothers and sisters and children. The message of come and live is the spirit of Satan. Get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me. For you are not setting your mind on God's interest, but man's. Then Jesus said to his disciples, 24:32 "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must say no to himself. He must die. That's what take up his cross means. And then follow me. Following Jesus happens after you have died, not before. It's very plain. You see the order 24:50 there. Say no to yourself. Die and then you can follow me. You can't reverse that order. You can't say, "Lord, let me follow you and after some time I'll die. Give me some time to die to my own own interests. give me a little bit time of 25:07 time to to be okay with not having anything on this earth. Jesus says, "No, you've got to give that up first." Your following me begins after you have died. The death doesn't happen at some time afterwards because verse 25, 25:24 whoever wishes to preserve or save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life, gives up his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in 25:43 exchange for his soul? Jim Elliott said it this way. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear children, this is the choice we're facing. You can hold on to something that you're going 26:00 to lose anyway. Your reputation, your friends, your relationship, your ideas of how things should be, your desire to have your questions answered. This is all your life. You could seek to preserve that. Oh, I deserve to know. 26:19 You didn't give me a good explanation. How dare you treat me this way? How dare you speak to me this way? This is self. You could seek to keep that. You could seek to preserve that. But one day you will lose it. Or you could say, "I I I'm 26:36 not I'm not going to keep it because I'm going to lose it anyway." He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep anyway to gain the eternal life that he can never lose. This is the essence of what Jesus offers us. 26:55 CFC emphasizes submission to elders. You rarely hear about that in other churches or when you hear about it, it's it's in cults. And CFC has even been called a cult. Sure. Paul Paul was accused of being a leader of a cult. You see that 27:10 when he speaks to the king um people called him part of a cult. Okay? But all of these things, even submission to elders and what that looks like, you'll see them in God's word. And I'll tell you brothers and sisters, I'm 27:25 not I used to be apologetic about the truth that I believed, my convictions. And what I mean by that is if it was something that was radically different from what I saw in the rest of Christendom, I I was a little bit shy or a little bit 27:42 embarrassed about having to stand boldly for it. Things like the ones the the areas that I just mentioned. Oh yeah, Jesus took the stand on money or divorce and remarage or the emphasis on taking up the cross or submission to elders and 27:59 uh why do we only listen to certain preachers? Why not all these other ones? I used to be apologetic, a little bit embarrassed about it because we were different. I tell you today, I I don't I don't care what people say. I have found 28:15 the truth and the truth has set me free. And when the truth has set me free, it doesn't matter if I'm the only one standing for it. It's worth standing for. If the truth has set you fe free free, brothers and sisters and children, 28:27 if it's really the truth that has set you free, which means you've seen the change in your life, you've seen uh God change your marriage, you've seen God change your relationship with your children, you've seen God change your 28:41 personal life, you've seen the change that comes as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit. If it's set you free, you've seen the change, how it set you free from sin. Then if you're the last one standing, you will still 28:52 believe in it. I think of it like this. Let's say um let me turn you actually to to a verse that that will show you what I I'm just talking about in Galatians chapter 1. 29:16 Galatians 1 verse 6. Listen to the words of Paul. And dear brothers and sisters and children, I believe this is an appropriate verse for us today. Galatians 1:6. Paul writes to a church that he labored with and um and had was 29:35 an was a father to this church and a plan and and an apostle to them and he says listen I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel which is really not another only there 29:53 are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. someone to come and twist what you've heard from the very beginning and say, "No, it's a little bit of this or a little bit of that or it's not as narrow as it was 30:07 preached to you." But even if we, listen to what Paul says, even if we or an angel from heaven, Paul says, even if I or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have 30:23 preached to you, he is to be accursed. Powerful words there. Verse 9, as we have said before, so I say again, now he repeats himself. If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have first 30:42 received, he is to be a curse. Paul is putting a curse on somebody who comes and twists the gospel, preaches a gospel that's a little bit different from what they received at the very beginning. And here's the the example I want to give 30:56 you that was that helped me. Imagine that there's a doctor who you go to and he prescribes a medicine and he says, "Listen, I know your problem. I see what what you're facing and here's a medicine that'll work." And after after 6 months, 31:15 the doctor calls you and says, "Hey, listen. That message that I told you of that that me medicine that I gave you actually don't take it. Uh it it don't it doesn't work." What would you say if after 6 months you say okay sure 31:31 thanks thanks uh okay I won't take it because you said so that would be proof that you didn't actually take the medicine if the doctor prescribed the medicine and you took the medicine and it worked in your life after 6 months if the 31:46 doctor says hey listen the don't take that medicine it doesn't work you would say doctor I don't care what you tell me you told me to take the medicine. I took it and it has healed me. I'm set free. And if the doctor changes his mind and 32:04 says, "No, no, no. Actually, don't take it." You'll say, "I don't care what you say. You can change your mind if you want, but I took the medicine and it has healed me." And that's what I would say to anybody who now says, "Well, maybe 32:15 this whole new covenant message, victory over sin, dying to self, seeking for the continual filling of the Holy Spirit, maybe that's not really the right gospel. I would say if you have taken the truth and applied it in your life and it will 32:32 have worked in your life, it will have set you increasingly free from sin. You would actually have experienced a continual filling of the Holy Spirit because you desperately sought for it. And now even if an angel from heaven was 32:46 to come and say, "No, don't do that." You'll say, "It's working in my life." And that's a question the Lord's been asking me even as I've faced questions over years and I believe the Lord is asking all of us. Have you been taking 33:01 the medicine or have you just been pretending? Did you take the the pill box and you have it sitting there on the shelf and then anybody who comes to your house can see, oh, they're also supposedly taking this medicine, but you 33:14 haven't really been taking it. If you haven't been really been taking it, then sure. At some point, somebody can come and say, "No, don't take that. That's not really the truth. It's it's some other gospel. Here's a different gospel." And 33:29 you could fall for it because you haven't been taken a medicine. I want to testify to you, brothers and sisters. I've had plenty of questions over the years about whether the truth that we stand for is really the truth. And I was 33:41 I've been times when I've been shaken, times when I've been corrected by my dad, rebuked over things, u and things that I haven't understood and uh other truths that I say, is it really that? Is it that narrow? And I've had to wrestle 33:58 with it myself. I'm speaking from personal testimony. And I'll tell you this today, I can tell you that as I decided to stick to the narrow way, not what brother Zach says or CFC says or anything like that, but simply what he has shown me as being in 34:15 God's word, and as I've walked that narrow way, applied it to myself, taken the medicine, it has changed my life. I'm You don't have to believe me, but I can honestly tell you as God is my witness, it has worked. This message of 34:31 taking up the cross and dying to yourself and emphasizing that and seeking for the continual filling of the Holy Spirit every day continually is working in my life. It has changed my personal life. It's brought me to freedom in areas that I never thought I 34:46 could be freed from. It has changed my marriage. It has changed my relationship with my children. It's changed my uh my ministry and the freedom with which I can speak God's word. And it's it's brought me to a singular relationship 35:01 with Christ, a marriage relationship with Christ that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 66. I want to briefly touch on what I see as the foundation of the New Testament, the New Covenant Church. 35:20 And I say, forget say forget about the word CFC or brother Zach or anything like that. this is what I see him and CFC having been founded on and irrespective of any uh denominational attachment or anything like that. Let's 35:36 choose to continue to build our church on this foundation because that's the church that Jesus is building. That's the church that I want to be a part of. Isaiah chapter 66, thus says the Lord verse one, heaven is my throne and the earth is my foottool. 35:55 Heaven is my throne. This is where I sit on and earth is my foottool. Which means here we are on this earth in this foottool. There's a little part of that foottool that's called North America. And a little part of that part of that 36:10 foottool is a country called the United States of America. And in a little part of that part of that part of the foottool is the state that a lot of people think is such a great state called Texas. Even though it's the biggest state, it's still a very very 36:23 small part of the foottool. And in that little state, a little part of the foottool called Texas is a even littleer part called Austin. And in that littleer part is a small little gathering of people that calls themselves Austin CFC. 36:37 He says, "Oh, you think so? You're such a big church. All the things that you're doing. Heaven is my throne. Earth is my foottool. Where then is a house you could build for me? And where is a place that I may rest? 36:56 I think he's I love that he starts with that. Lest we start to have high thoughts about this great work we're doing for the Lord and look at how many people are coming and look at our conferences and all of that. Lest we 37:08 start to have high thoughts about ourselves. He says, "Where then is a house that you can build for me? Do you think you could build a house that I can come and be at rest in?" But what he's getting at is that he does want us to 37:19 build a house. He does want us to build a place that he can come and be at rest in this little spot in a little spot in a little spot in a little spot on a foottool for God. He says, "I want to find rest." Verse two, "For my hand made 37:38 all these things. Thus all these things came into being, declares the Lord. But I will come and be with such a people. To this one I will look." And here's the foundation, brothers. and sisters and children to him who is humble and 37:54 contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word. I hope that if you choose to be a part of this church going forward and I pray that you will cuz I believe the Lord is here. I see him moving. But if you choose to be a part of this work, know that this is 38:11 going to be the found this is the foundation and this is going to remain the foundation. And the church that seek seeks to spread itself beyond this foundation will fall flat. And so we'll stick to this foundation. You know that 38:24 the foundation is is built and drawn exactly to the shape of the house. If you extend the house beyond the foundation, that part of the house is now vulnerable. It could collapse. And anything we do, any work that we build, 38:39 any super structure that is built over the years that we seek the Lord to be a part of must be built on these principles. These two principles of being humble and contrite in heart and trembling at God's word. What does that 38:54 mean? I want to dig into that a little bit so we don't just skim over it and skip over it. To be humble and contrite in heart. First of all, humility means that I think that everybody is more important than me. That's become my running 39:11 definition for humility. I I get that from Philippians chapter 2. If you'll turn there with me, please. Philippians chapter 2. What does it mean to be humble? A lot of people think humility is something that you can see on the 39:25 outside that somebody who walks with a very quiet uh head bowed down, speaks with a gentle voice, you you can be tempted to say, "Oh, what a humble person." Or somebody who scores a touchdown and says, "I give all the glory to God and points his finger in 39:39 the sky. Oh, there's a humble person." You know, the thing about humility is you can almost never detect it on the outside. I want to give you a little picture. Here's a scene in Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago and there's a a 39:52 whole bunch of people in thousands of people in there and they're all doing different things and uh there's there's people that are coming and giving sacrifices. There's people that are praying in front of the the the wall and 40:06 there's all kinds of activity going on and then there's one man with a whip in his hand chasing people out of the temple. If you were looking at that from the outside, who would you say was the humblest person in that room? I think we 40:19 would have all got it wrong. We would have all seen the scene and thought, "Humble. Yeah, probably that person over there who's weeping and shaking his head in front of the wall, that Pharisee, I would have thought that must be the 40:31 humblest person." And I would have missed the fact that Jesus with the whip in his hand was actually the humblest person in the room. Humility is not something you can detect on the outside. Here's humility. Philippians chapter 2. 40:48 It says first of all in verse 5, have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but he emptied himself taking the form 41:04 of a bondervant and being made in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself. The only place to learn humility is not from the dictionary, the English dictionary. It's from Jesus. Jesus said 41:20 in Luke, Matthew 11, come to me all of you who are weary and heavy laden. Take my yoke upon me upon you and learn from me for I'm humble and gentle in heart. The only place we can really learn h real humility is from Jesus himself. And 41:39 here we see that Jesus humbled himself. So in the previous verses he tells us what should that look like for us. So he's speaking about humility. So verse three do nothing from selfishness or empty 41:55 conceit but with humility of mind. There we see that humility is in the way we think. It's not in the way we act. It's not in the way we speak. Those things could easily be misleading. I could think I'm a very humble person 42:10 because I am quiet. That's just temperament. Now, it does say be slow to speak and quick to listen, but a quiet person isn't necessarily a humble person. And a firm, stern person who speaks with authority isn't necessarily 42:25 a proud person. Humility is in the mind with humility of mind because then he says, "Have the same mind that Jesus had. have the same attitude, the same mind that Jesus had of humility. You also have the same mind of humility. And 42:42 what does that look like? Think of others as more important than yourselves. I hope that you'll take this definition of humility with you because it's really been an eye openener for me. I thought I was humble because of 42:56 certain things that I did or certain ways of acting and certain ways of speaking. And then Jesus showed me humility is in the way you think about others. Do you think of everybody as more important than yourself, then you're humble? If there's even one 43:13 person that you think that you're more important than, then you're not humble and you're proud. And if somebody comes to me and says, "Hey, I I see a lot of pride in you." I ought to judge myself and say, "No, oh, well, what do you mean pride? I you know 43:29 I I I do this and I do that and I you know I have such a humble way of speaking and I can justify my pride with certain behavior. And if we're really honest with ourselves, we'll see that humility is a way of thinking. Thinking of everybody 43:47 as more important than yourself. Think about it, dear brothers, dear sisters, and dear children. When you walked into this room today or when you came to this meeting, did you really believe in your mind? Did you really think in your mind 44:02 everybody here is more important than me? Now think about the last time you had some conflict with somebody. Maybe your wife, maybe your husband, maybe a brother or sister in the church, maybe the elders, maybe some. Just think about 44:15 the way you thought about that other person that you had some conflict. Did you really believe that that person is more important than you? If you did, I believe there would have been no conflict at all. The basis and the 44:29 reason for all conflict in any situation, whether it's in the marriage or in the home or the church, is that we think that we're more important. I deserve to know. I deserve to be treated this way. I compare how I'm treated with 44:43 how somebody else is treated because I think I deserve to be treated that way. But if I really think that I am least important of everybody, I've come to a place of humility. And do you know this, brothers and sisters, that Jesus thought that? That's 45:00 what we're being told in this verse that Jesus when he was here on this earth, he looked at everybody on this earth and said, "Yep, they're more important than me." When he was in the temple chasing out the money changers, why was he doing 45:16 that? because he says they're more important than me and above all my father is most important of all. This is humility and this is the this is the foundation of the church. If we want to build any other church where my feelings 45:32 or my reputation or my name or something about me is somehow preserved then I can't be a part of building the church. You can build, you can go somewhere else and do some great work and run an evangelism ministry or run an 45:47 apologetics ministry or run a um a Pentecostal ministry or a Baptist ministry or any other ministry or any other church denomination. But if you want to build a church that Jesus is building, the foundation is humility of 46:00 mind. This is the one to whom God will look. He said in Isaiah 66:2, he's looking now not for people who take the name CFC or follow this teacher or follow that teacher or have the right doctrine. To this one will I look to the 46:14 one who is humble in mind, to the one who is humble in mind, whose way of thinking is humble. And it's possible that you could sit in Austin CFC and not be humble. It's possible that you could sit in another church and be humble. It has nothing to do with the 46:31 name. But God is building his church. He's going through the rows of this room right now and going through the city there of Austin and going through the state of Texas and going through the United States and North America and the 46:45 whole world and saying I will pick this one and I will pick that one and I'll pick that other one and I will handpick those who are humble in mind. The other thing is that it says those who are contrite those who are humble 46:59 and contrite. What does contrite mean? Isaiah Isaiah 66 again verse two it says to the one who is humble and contrite of spirit contrite in spirit means this that I'm broken over sin that means I'm broken over the fact that 47:19 I committed sin in the past now please understand every one of the sins that I've committed in the past is completely cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ there is no sin that I'm aware of that has not been confessed. There's no sin 47:35 present in me that I'm aware of. I I know you may think that's a bold statement, but actually that ought to be a statement that every Christian is constantly making. Can you honestly say that there is no sin that you're aware 47:47 of in your life? Otherwise, you better go confess it. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. So, every disciple of Jesus, every child of God ought to be able to say, "I'm not aware of any sin in me." because if I am aware 48:00 of it, I'm going to confess it right away. Now, there are other sins I'm not aware of, unconscious areas of sin in my life which God will show me. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. First John tells us, yes, I'm not such a 48:15 fool to say I'm free from all sin. But what I'm aware of, I've confessed. But there is still contritess. So despite the fact that Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin, there's a contrness over that. And I'll tell you, this is who God is 48:31 building, using to build a church. I've committed plenty of sin. I know them all. I I I think I remember them all. I choose not to be discouraged by them. I'm not I'm not um ashamed of it anymore. God has taken my shame away. 48:49 The guilt is not there because God has taken the guilt away of my sin, but I know it. and I I like Peter says, I remember that I've been forgiven from my former sins and that keeps me contrite. Don't be in such a rush to run away from 49:05 sins that you've committed. Now, please understand if you're if you're tempted to be discouraged over your former sin, then let there be a curtain behind you. Forget those things of those sins of the past. But having forgotten those sins so 49:17 that you don't get discouraged over them, then bring them back so that you remain contrite. So that when somebody when somebody uh you know I think it was Spurgeon who said if somebody speaks evil of you uh uh give thanks that he doesn't doesn't 49:35 know the whole story because it would be a lot worse. I'm not quoting him exactly but he said something to that effect. Thank God he doesn't know the whole story because he would he would speak a lot worse. And when somebody criticizes me or holds 49:49 me, whether it's true or not, a contrite person will say, "Lord, I'm not going to defend myself. I'm not going to try to justify myself. I'm not going to say, oh, you know, but the but the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me. I'm not 50:02 going to be so quick to claim that I'm free of guilt, to defend myself because I'm contrite. sin is serious. That even if it was a sin that was committed 50 years ago and has been completely cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ, I recognize that 50:19 I'm a sinner saved by grace. That's a contrite person who says, "Lord, yep, I know that they're accusing me of all these things and whether it's true or not, it doesn't matter. I am simply a sinner that you have saved and I don't 50:35 want to go far away from that and recognizing that I'm simply a sinner whom you have saved. That's a contrite person. Not only that, a contrite person also recognizes that there is still sin in me. That whether whether somebody falsely accuses 50:52 me of something or not, there is still sin in me. I'm not perfect and I'm not in such a rush to justify myself and defend myself and say, "Oh, I'm not as bad as you make me out to be. I recognize that I'm actually worse. 51:08 I'm actually worse than what people think of me." That's a contrite person. But they're not discouraged. Now, please don't take this to an extreme where you beat yourself up and it leads you into discouragement. But if you find pride, 51:23 if you find a contention, if you find a a desire to defend yourself or expectations of others or deserving to be treated a certain way, if you find that ugly serpent rearing its head, then be contrite. 51:41 Meditate on Calvary. Meditate on what Christ suffered so that you and I could be cleansed from sin. Meditate on the pit from which God picked you up and that ugly serpent will be dashed down and beaten over the head if you will. So 51:58 if you find discouragement coming coming into your life over your past then remember the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed you from all sin. But if you find self defense and uh self-preservation and oh why are they treating me this way or why don't they 52:17 tell me all the questions that I want answered and all of that rearing its ugly head. Then remember to be contrite. Remember who you really are. A sinner saved by grace. A contrite person doesn't have demands on others. A 52:30 contrite person doesn't have expectations on others. Think about that in your marriage situations, husbands and wives. Uh, a contrite husband has no demands on his wife. A contrite wife has no demands on her husband. A contrite 52:47 father even doesn't have demands on his children. But he pleads with them. He doesn't exasperate them like Ephesians 6 says. Think about being a contrite father and a contrite mother. This is how we'll win our children, brothers and sisters. Yes, 53:03 we must be firm. Yes, we must be strict. Yes, we must be loving and all of that. But let there be a contrite spirit. This is the one to whom God will look. You can cry and pray for your children and say, "Oh Lord, why? They're weward. 53:17 They're not taking their Christian life seriously and all of that." But God says, "I can't look to you because I see that there's not a contrite spirit in you." But the moment we come to him in contrightness and humility, he says, 53:29 "Ah, now I'm looking to you. Now ask me for anything for your own life, for your marriage, and for your children. And I'm looking to you. This is the one to whom I will look. The one who is contrite. Contriteness means brokenness over sin. 53:43 Brokenness over sins in the past. Not condemnation, not guilt, not shame, but contrightness. And I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, there was a time when when sin used to condemn me. My past used to condemn me. And I thank God for what we hear in the 53:59 church. As you often heard my dad say, "Self- condemnation and discouragement are two no entry roads." I love that brother Emanuel has that as his sign if you can see it on Zoom. Self- condemnation and and uh discouragement 54:13 are two no entry roads. Remember those two circles with a line across it. Don't go down that path. If you're tempted to be discouraged, if you're tempted to condemn yourself, don't go down that path. It's a no entry road. But the 54:25 past, let me show you that verse so you see it. Second Peter 54:53 Chapter 1. Second Peter chapter 1 Pet Peter saying he talks about the spiritual growth in verse 5 these precious promises verse four applying diligence etc. Um and then he says in verse 9 the one who lacks 55:11 these qualities is blind or shortsighted having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Now, he doesn't say remember your sins, but remember that you were purified from your former sins. He's not talking about current sins. 55:28 He's talking about former sins. So, you say, Peter, what kind of gospel is this? You want me to remember in the past? He says, yes, remember that you were purified from sins. When you're tempted to think that you're better than 55:39 somebody else or you deserve something or you think you have some criticism towards somebody else or you want to judge somebody else, remember your purification from your former sins. This is an important word, contrite. This one I will look to the 55:58 one who is humble and who contrite in spirit. And then the second thing he says in Isaiah 66:2 is the one who trembles at my word. What does it mean to tremble at God's word? You know, I've heard of some uh preacher or people who 56:12 say in some churches it's common that when they read God's word, everybody stands out of respect for God's word. Yeah, that's good. Um sure. And other churches say you must kneel when you read God's word. I remember hearing about a preacher who 56:26 used to say whenever you read God's word, kneel down. that will teach you a reverence for God's word. That's that's good. I'm not here to criticize any of that. But whether you stand, sit, or kneel, is there a trembling in your 56:38 heart when you read God's word? When you when you when you see God's word and you see everything that he has commanded and every one of his promises, is there a trembling in your heart? Is there a deep trembling within you at 56:51 God's word? Here's the mark of somebody who doesn't tremble at God's word that they pick and choose. They say, "Well, you know, this whole thing about sisters have to cover their head when they pray and prophesy." This was for that time 57:04 period. You you have to understand the culture. You go back to the church in Corinth, the women were like this and the men were like that. So, you have to understand that that's somebody who doesn't tremble at God's word. They get 57:15 to pick which part of God's word they accept and which part of God's word they don't accept. Um or somebody says well uh you know this whole wives submitting to your husbands that he says in Ephesians chapter 5 that's not that's that was 57:31 back then that's for that culture the eastern society the women were subservient so that's what that's for today you know he created male and female equal so we're all equal or when Paul says I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority in a church 57:47 and they say well that was for that time period you have to understand These are people who don't tremble at God's word. They get to pick and choose. They say, "Well, I know God said that, but let me play with it a little bit." Somebody who 58:00 trembles at God's word takes this and says, "I better I better take this as serious. I I can't touch this. How can I cut out this particular page from the Bible? This is I tremble at God's word." And I I I I I see it as serious because 58:16 of God who said it is his word, not mine. I don't get to cut this out and pick that out. Or children, you don't get to cut out Ephesians chapter 6 verse one, which says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord." Children, obey your parents 58:35 in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:1, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with the promise, so that it may be well with you and may 58:50 live long on the earth. Previous verses, Ephesians 5:18, be being filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't get to cut that out. When Jesus said uh told the parable of the man who who comes to his neighbor and um uh 59:09 knocks on the door at midnight asking for bread and at the end of it he says so shall my heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him for it and ask in this way of banging on the door. I don't get to cut that out and 59:23 twist it. What about Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17? I just spoke about children obeying their parents. And here's a verse that sp speaks about adults obeying. You know that us adults are also called to obey. 59:42 Hebrews 13:17. Obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you. I'm just picking a 59:56 few examples, not to judge anybody, but to speak from my own testimony of areas in which I had to make a choice that I either believe God's word is true and I stand for it, all of it, boldly and unapologetically, or like the rest of the world, I just 1:00:14 cut this out and cut that out and then I ought to give freedom to anybody to cut out whatever they want. And the same person who cuts out divorce and remarage ought to give freedom to the person who wants to cut out homosexuality. 1:00:29 And then it's anybody. It's no longer God's word. It's the word of some man, some preacher who says, "Well, this is for that time. This is for that for the our times are different." But when we tremble at God's word and we see that 1:00:43 God said it, whether I think it's small, whether he only said it once or said it a 100 times, how many times does God have to say something for me to tremble at it? That's a good test for us to answer. A lot of people will say, "Well, 1:00:57 in in the New Testament, I see this comes five times, so I better take it seriously." Or Jesus said, "Truly, truly, so I better take it seriously." If we really value see God for who he is, that he's almighty God, all he has 1:01:10 to say it is once in a little whisper in passing and I tremble at it. I say, Lord, you said it. And even if it was just in passing, even if it was just mentioned once in the New Testament, I tremble at your word. Dear brothers, 1:01:25 dear sisters, and dear children, dear young people, this is the church that Jesus is building. This is the one to whom he's looking. And amidst around us in in Christryendom and in the world around us, you'll see people that are 1:01:37 doing all kinds of other good work. Not here to judge them. One day all of us will have to give account to God for the lives we lived. And everything that we do will be sent through the fire. It'll be tested. You read 1 Corinthians 1:01:50 chapter 3. And what will remain will only be gold, silver, and precious stones. Let's invest our lives in gold, silver, and precious stones. Doesn't matter how big it is. I would rather be left with one little piece of gold, one small 1:02:05 piece of gold than a mountain of wood that won't make it through the fire. Think about that picture. At the end of your life, you might see that some somebody comes with a big pile of wood and here you are. All you have is a 1:02:19 little piece of gold. Guess what? All of that is going to be sent through the fire. And that big pile of wood, no matter how big it is, is all going to get burned up. And I've made it the passion of my life to only invest in 1:02:31 that which will remain for eternity. It doesn't matter who goes with me, who doesn't, whether I'm popular or unpopular. And as I've sought to go that way, I it's been my delight and my joy that the Lord has brought alongside me 1:02:45 others who also want to go this way. And I want to urge you, dear church there, dear church family, this is the only way that's worth going. This is the only way where we'll have no regret. One day when we stand when when Jesus comes, every 1:02:59 one of us is going to be left holding something. And I believe at that point many people will get a shock. 1 John chapter 2, the last few verses says there will be those who shrink back at his coming because they'll see that now 1:03:12 everything that I invested my whole life on is going to be sent through the fire. And they look at what they're holding and they realize this ain't going to make it through the fire. And thank God that he's given us the fire today, the 1:03:23 fire of his word, the fire of the doctrine and the teaching of from his word, biblically sound teaching, and the fire of his holy spirit that we can continually examine our lives to make sure that what we're doing will make it 1:03:36 through the fire. Let's judge ourselves, brothers, sisters, and children. Are we humble in mind? Do we really think of others as more important than ourselves? That means we don't have any complaint against anybody else, not even a single 1:03:49 person. Are we contrite in spirit? Is there a radical hatred for sin? When we even when we correct others or when we think about others and we see others and maybe we don't understand why things are a certain way, is there a contrness in 1:04:03 our spirit? And is there a trembling at God's word? Then says, God says, I'll be with you. I'll look to you. of all the places that I could pick where heaven is my throne and earth is my foottool, I'll find a tiny little home hidden away in some 1:04:19 little neighborhood where a husband and a wife and their children are seeking to go this way. He says, I'll look there and then I look at that other home and then I look at that other home. I'll see one from a family, two from a city and 1:04:33 I'll gather them into Zion and this will be my church. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I long with all my heart that you will be in our midst. Otherwise, we're wasting our time, Lord. And forgive us for where we've been taken up 1:04:46 with so many other things, our own wants, our own desires, our own feelings, our own reputation, our own name, and been distracted by that. Lord, I pray that you will teach us to honor your name. Hallowed be your name. Let 1:05:00 your kingdom come, not mine. And let your will be done, not mine. Make this so, Lord, and establish this church. May it grow from strength to strength. May the latter glory of this house be even greater than the former. I believe it 1:05:12 shall be so. I praise you with all my heart. Oh Lord, will you pour out your Holy Spirit upon us? Will there be a fresh anointing that you'll pour out upon us this evening as we seek your face. Open the windows of heaven over 1:05:23 us, Lord. And pour out your spirit and every hungry, thirsty heart. Remove all pride. Remove all self preservation from us, Lord, so that you can flow through us and use us freely. forgive us where that pride has still remained after all 1:05:37 these years. Thank you. You've been patient. You You haven't given up on us. You've been long-suffering. And I thank you for do for how patient you've been with me, Lord. Undeserving as I am. And thank you that you're still here willing 1:05:49 to work with me, willing to work with us. We give ourselves to you Aresh that you might be glorified. Believe it shall be so, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.
