2:17 We sing. We praise thee. We confess thee our holy Lord and King. Please join and sing with us brothers and sisters. We worship thee. We bless 2:34 thee. To thee alone we sing. name. We praise thee and confess thee, our holy Lord and King. Oh Savior, precious Savior 2:57 whom unseen we love. Oh name of might and favor all other names above. We worship thee. We bless thee. To thee 3:16 alone. We sing. We praise thee and confess thee. Our holy Lord and King. Sisters go first. Oh bringer of salvation, 3:34 whom wondrous he has roar, thyself the revelation of love beyond. We worship thee. We bless thee. To thee 3:52 alone we sing. We praise thee and confess thee, our gracious Lord and King. Brothers, let's go first. Dwellth 4:10 all grace and part divine. The glory that excels. Oh son of God is done. All together we worship thee. We bless thee. To thee 4:28 alone we sing. We praise thee and confess thee our glorious Lord and King. Only congregation sing. Oh grant the consolation 4:46 of this son of the world and everlasting love. And shall we praise and bless thee where 5:04 perfect praises reign and ever more confess thee our savior and our king. Please be seated brothers and sisters. Feel free to clap and sing. Brothers and 5:24 sisters, praise awaits you, Lord our God in Zion. To you who hears our praise, all men will come. When we were overwhelmed by sin, you 5:42 saved us and filled us with the good things of your house. Praise away to you Lord our God in Zion. Praise away you Lord here in this place. 6:03 A crown of praise awaits you Lord in Zion. Praise awaits you Lord. Here in this place you answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness. For you are the hope of all the earth. 6:29 From this place where morning dawns and evening f you call forth the mighty shouts of joy. Praise await you Lord our God in Zion. Praise awaits you, Lord. You're in this 6:51 place. The crown of praise awaits you, Lord, in Zion. Praise awaits you, Lord. You're in this place. So we praise you. We praise you. 7:13 We praise you. We praise you, oh Lord. Praise await you, Lord our God in Zion. 7:35 Praise awaits you, Lord, here in this place. The crown of praise awaits you Lord in Zion. Praise awaits you, Lord. You're in this place. 7:56 Praise my soul, the King of heaven. To his feet thy tribute bring. Praise my soul, the king of heaven. 8:12 To his feet thy tribute bring. Ransom, healed, restored, forgiven. Who like thee his praise should sing. Praise him, praise him, praise him, 8:30 praise him, praise the everlasting king. Morning sisters. >> Praise him for his grace and favor 8:45 to our fathers in distress. Praise him still the same forever. So his to praise him. Praise him. Praise him. 9:02 Praise him. Glorious in his faithfulness. >> Brothers sing join with us. Father like he tends and spares us. Well our feeble 9:21 frame he knows in his hands he gently we bears us. Rescues us from all our force. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. 9:35 Praise him. Widely at his mercy flow. Holy voices sing. Angels help us to adore him. He beholds him face to face. 9:54 Sun and moon bow down before him. Dwellers all in time and space. >> All together sing. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise with 10:09 us the God of grace. This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. This is the day that 10:29 the Lord has made. That the Lord has made. We will rejoice. We will rejoice and be glad in it. And be glad in it. For this is the day that the Lord has 10:46 made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. Come on again. This is the day that the Lord has made. This is the day. This is the day that the 11:04 Lord has made. That the Lord has made. We will rejoice. We will rejoice and be glad in it. And be glad in it. For this is the day that the Lord has made. We 11:21 will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. So I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter 11:39 his courts with praise. I will say this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice for he has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me 11:57 glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad. We bring sacrifice of praise. We bring sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. 12:16 We bring sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. And we offer up to you the sacrificees of thanksgiving. 12:33 And we offer up to you the sacrificees of joy. What a mighty, what a mighty God we serve. What a mighty God we serve. 12:51 Angels bow before him. Heaven and earth adore him. What a mighty God we serve. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords. His name is Jesus. Jesus. 13:10 Jesus. Jesus. Oh, he is the king. What a mighty God. What a mighty God we serve. What a mighty God we serve. Angels bow before him. Heaven and earth 13:28 adore him. What a mighty God we serve. Our Lord God, thou has made the heavens and the earth by thy great power. Our Lord God, thou has made the heavens 13:46 and the earth by thy outst. Nothing is too difficult for thee. Nothing is too difficult for thee. Great and mighty God. 14:01 Great in power and mighty indeed. Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, nothing is too difficult for thee, our Lord God. Oh Lord God, thou has made the heavens and the earth by thy great 14:21 power. Oh Lord God, thou has made the heavens and the earth by thy outstretched son. Nothing is too difficult for thee. Nothing is too difficult for thee. 14:40 Great and mighty God. Great in power and mighty indeed. Nothing nothing absolutely nothing nothing is too difficult for thee. Nothing is too difficult for thee. 15:03 Nothing is too difficult for thee. Great and mighty God. Great in power and mighty indeed. Nothing nothing 15:23 absolutely nothing nothing is too difficult for thee. Shall we all stand? 15:54 Hallelu. Hallelu. For a Lord the Almighty. Hallelujah. 16:19 Hallelujah. For a Lord God Almighty. Hallelujah. Glory. 16:42 Holy are you, Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. 17:00 Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelu 17:21 for the Lord God Almighty. Hallelu. Hallelujah for a Lord for alm mighty reign. 17:45 Hallelujah. Holy, holy are you Lord God 18:02 Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. You are holy. Holy are you, Lord God 18:24 Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. You are holy. You are holy. Heavenly voices sing. Holy are you Lord God 18:45 Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the holy. You are holy. Holy are you, Lord God 19:08 Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Amen. 19:48 Let's remain standing as we seek the Lord in prayer. As we just sang that hymn, oh bringer of salvation who wondrously has wrought. The Lord Jesus has brought us salvation 20:07 from sin and from the wroth of God. He has accomplished this in a marvelous and miraculous way through his life, death and resurrection. Thyself the revelation of love beyond our thought. 20:26 Jesus himself is the visible expression, the visible demonstration of God's love. And God's love is so great that it exceeds our thought, our human understanding. So we worship thee, we bless thee, to 20:46 thee alone we sing, we adore the Lord, we praise him, we honor him, and to him alone we sing. We are not singing for an audience or even for our own enjoyment. We sing to him alone, recognizing his 21:03 presence in our midst. We praise thee and confess thee, our gracious Lord and King. We openly acknowledge him and declare who he is to us. He is our Lord. He is our master who deserves our obedience 21:22 and he is our king. He is ruler of all his people. So we confess through our song that the Lord Jesus has wonderfully accomplished our salvation and has shown us the immeasurable love of God. So we worship, we praise, we 21:41 openly acknowledge him as our merciful Lord and rightful king. So let us thank the Lord, give him thanks, praise him for what he has done for us, what he has accomplished for us, such a great salvation. 22:02 Thank you, Father. Thank you. Praise you. Praise you, Lord. Lift up your hands and praise and thank the Lord for what he has done for us. For all his mercies and goodness, for even keeping us in life, giving us 22:21 breath and making us a part of his family. Thank you father. Thank you father. Thank you Jesus. 22:50 Heavenly father we want to thank you for all your mercies for all your goodness in our lives. We thank you for what you have done for us through your son and what you are doing for us through your holy spirit. You have not left us as orphans but you 23:06 have sent your holy spirit into our hearts so that we can cry out to you father and we can relate to you as sons and daughters. Thank you for the church which is your household and our family. Thank you for all the brothers and 23:23 sisters. Thank you for the shepherds after your own heart who feed us with knowledge and understanding. Thank you for your servants who faithfully bring the word week after week. Lord, we pray that you will anoint them, those who are going to share 23:39 today. Yes, Lord. And you speak to our hearts and according to our needs. We ask in great expectation that you will speak to us, Lord. Give us listening ears and understanding hearts so that we can receive what you have for 23:56 us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. So, we'll look at our memory verses. Last week, we had a promise. Please repeat after me. 24:15 2 Corinthians 1:22. He sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge. So God's pledge to us is his holy spirit 24:34 and he has given that spirit in our hearts. This week we have a commandment. Please repeat after me. 1 Timothy 1:5. The goal of our instruction is love. 24:51 from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Once again, the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience 25:10 and a sincere faith. So now we have the privilege of hearing God's word from brother Charles. request you all to pay careful attention. Proverbs 16:20 says that he who pays 25:28 attention to the word will find what is good. So please pay attention, brother Charles. 25:56 We read a verse in one Peter chapter 5 verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5 it says here 26:16 all of you clothe yourselves with humility towards one another for God is opposed to the proud and gives his grace to the humble. I left off the first part of it. It 26:35 says, "You anger men likewise be subject to your elders." You know this is the part which 26:51 most young people do not like to hear. Why I'm saying that is because I was also ang once upon a time when I came to the church 45 years ago. I didn't like this 27:12 word submission to authority and to the elders. But I submitted because the word of God says because as young people we all have a tendency 27:29 to be independent to be ourselves and not to submit to anyone because we think no end of ourselves. We think we know everything. So I have no need for anybody to tell me 27:47 what to do. That's how all ang people are generally speaking. But it says subject yourself to elders. That doesn't mean that the elders will rule over you. It's like you 28:05 have parents at home and it is good for you to listen to them because they have given you birth and they have uh responsibility towards you and they have your good in mind. 28:25 And that's why we submit to our elders as we uh keep growing up in life. And even in the spiritual life also it's the same. It says you anger men likewise be 28:43 subject to your elders and all of you clothe yourselves with humility towards one another. So God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. It says this verse 29:01 comes in the old covenant in the old testament and as well as in the new testament because this is a very important word. There are two people towards whom God's attention is drawn. 29:20 One is the humble. The Lord says, "I am with the humble and the broken and the contrite in heart to revive him 29:36 and to bless him." The Lord is always with the humble people who are humble. And the another type of people 29:53 God takes notice of and that is the proud people. He always resists. It says the Bible says it I mean God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. 30:13 So God has not you know left the proud for themselves. We see throughout history that God has opposed the proud. 30:32 Be it an individual, be it a nation, be it a kingdom, God has always opposed them. And at the right time, he has brought them down. Those who humble themselves, the word of 30:52 God says, will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled. So the God of heaven 31:07 is always looking at the people on earth, how they conduct themselves and how they behave themselves and are they walking in humility acknowledging him as their creator 31:26 or are they walking in hottiness and arrogance and pride? and he resists them. And we will see some examples of that today. We read in Romans 31:43 chapter 11. Romans chapter 11 verse 16. Romans 9:10 and 11 is uh uh the concern that the Apostle Paul has towards 32:02 his people, the Israelites. He prays for them in chapter 9 and in chapter 10 he says he speaks about them. The word of faith brings salvation because they rejected 32:21 the Lord. They did not recognize him who came for them. And the uh people of Israel did not recognize him. And 32:37 then he speaks about their future. It says in verse 16 that if the first piece of dough be holy the lump is also and if the root be holy the branches are 32:56 too. That means if the branch is I mean if the root is good the fruit will be good. If the root is bad, the fruit will be bad. That is what 33:12 he's speaking here. And he says in on 17 onwards, but if some of the branches he's speaking about the Israel is here, they were the original olive branch. He says they were broken off and you being a 33:31 wild olive were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree. Do not be arrogant toward the branches. But if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you 33:50 who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right. They were broken off for their unbelief. But you stand by your faith. 34:08 Do not be conceited but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, that is the Jews. Neither will he spare you. Behold the kindness and severity of God. To those 34:24 who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in his kindness, otherwise you will also be cut off. See, God is no partial. 34:41 He's not partial towards anybody, be it Jews or Gentiles. If the Jews are arrogant, they will they are cut off because they are cut off. The gospel has come to us, the Gentiles. 35:01 And today we are into God's kingdom. We have experienced what originally the Jews were to experience. They rejected it. They didn't recognize it. They didn't recognize him who came in 35:20 their midst for them but they crucified him. Because of that salvation has come to us today and we Gentiles have access to the kingdom of God. And 35:40 the Bible is always very clear when it speaks about hum human beings. He says in Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12 the verse 35:58 that most of us know it says let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall that means if I think that everything is fine with me 36:15 God is happy with me and I am all Right? I'm not like others. Like the Pharisees said, I'm not like others. I fast so many times. I pay my tithes. I do this, that, and the other. And he was boasting 36:35 himself before the Lord. And he went not justified. But the tax collector, the man who was even not able to, not willing to lift up his eyes 36:55 towards God, he beat his breast and said, "Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner." He said, he felt as if he's the only sinner in the world. And God saw that brokenness in his heart and God said this man went home 37:14 justified. So if at any time I feel that I'm all right and I think I'm all right, then I may be wrong in my assessment of myself because the Bible says 37:33 there's a type of man who thinks his ways are right. He always thinks he is right, others are wrong. And if he thinks like that he may be oh I mean the Bible says the end thereof 37:52 is death. It says for the man who thinks he is on the right path. It is always good for us to examine ourselves and to see whether I am walking in the light according to 38:10 the word of God. If not, it is good for me to come to the Lord in brokenness and say, "Lord, I'm sorry. I am spiritually blind. I think I am all right, but I am not. Will you please help me?" If we come 38:28 with that contrition then the Lord will be merciful to us and he will help us. You see, God has no partiality. Like I said earlier, 38:46 be it an individual or a nation or a kingdom, if they are walking in arrogance and hottiness and pride, 39:01 God will bring them down. It says in proverbs that pride goes before a fall. And you know God is not a respector of any nation. Also 39:21 we read that Israel was chosen by God. But God, you know how many times God punished Israelis by sending them as captives to different nations to serve 39:37 them. First it was Egypt and then we see so many other kingdoms conquered Israel because Israel went into idolatry and provoked the Lord, the one and only true living God. 39:55 they provoked him. So God had to humble them by giving them over to the other kingdoms, other nations and they were taken as captives. And we read in Daniel 40:14 uh chapter 2. This time God gave up Israelis 40:27 for 70 years to be captives in a place which they didn't like. that was Babylon about 6 700 miles away from their place. 40:45 There was a famous king and I think throughout the Bible this is the only king about whom it says he was the king of kings and power 41:04 kingdom and authority belong to him that we normally say in the Lord's prayer that thine is the kingdom the glory and the power. The same thing is said about this king also. I think this is the only king in the Bible about whom it speaks 41:23 like this. This was he had a dream. This king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and there was nobody to interpret the dream and Daniel was uh brought in. 41:43 And when Daniel stood before the king, he says, he gives the explanation of that dream of the king Nebuchadnezzar, he says, "You, oh king, are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given 42:01 the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory." Who has given? It was not the might of Nebuchadnezzar, but it is the God of heaven. 42:18 Why didn't the God of heaven give this to some Israeli king? Because they were already in sin provoking the Lord. And the Lord had to raise another king in another nation who was an idol worshipper. 42:38 And God gave him the kingship, the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. And the Lord gave him all this and he became 42:55 so proud that it says in uh the interpretation in verse 38. And wherever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky, he has given them into your 43:13 hand. Like he gave all this authority to Adam when God created Adam. He gave him authority over all things. The birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, the beasts of the field, 43:32 everything he gave it into Adam's hand and said, "You must take authority and rule over them." And this all these things were given to him. He has given them into your hand and has caused you 43:48 to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. So he is now interpreting his dream and uh then little later on he has another 44:05 dream where um it says in verse 14 of uh chapter 4 of the same book. King Nebuchadnezzar had another dream 44:24 wherein he saw a great tree and it was chopped down and again Daniel was summoned and Daniel comes and interprets this dream. He says 44:43 it's the angel saying the angel shouted and spoke as follows. Chop down the tree and cut off its branches. Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its 45:01 branches. At leave the stump with its roots in the ground. You see this tree represented Nebuchadnezzar. 45:18 It was a big tree. All the birds used to come and perch there and beasts of the field would come under its shade and be there. But there came a time when the angel 45:35 said, "Chop down this tree, but leave the stump." Because this was a case of backsliding. because he had already heard the interpretation of the dream, but he didn't live up to it. 45:54 And the angel said, "Chop down the tree, but keep the stump." And we know this story that the king loses his senses. 46:10 He acts like a beast for seven years as it was told in the interpretation of the dream. And then after seven years he was restored. And after he was restored and his kingdom was restored, he makes a statement 46:28 which probably we don't see anywhere else in the Bible. He says in verse 34 of chapter 4, "But at the end of that period of seven years, I Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me and 46:48 I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever." Now he recognizes and acknowledges who did all this and who restored him back to sanity. And he says, "For his 47:05 dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, 47:22 including his people and his kingdom." And he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. And no one can ward off his hand 47:40 or say to him, "What hast thou done?" And in verse 37, he says again, he is able to humble those who walk in pride. That was his condition earlier. 47:58 He was walking in pride saying in verse 30, "Is this not Babylon which I have built myself with my power 48:15 for my glory and for my majesty?" He was boasting about himself of all that he has accomplished. Suddenly as those words were in his in 48:31 his mouth, he was driven away from there as a beast. And then he recognizes after the sentence was over, he says in verse 37, he is God is able to humble 48:50 those who walk in pride. My dear brothers and sisters, this is the word that God has for his church. He wants his people to live in humility before him. 49:09 Micah says, "What does God require from you, oh man, but to walk humbly before your God, and do justice and righteousness, this is what God requires from all of 49:26 us, not to think that I am somebody or I am superior to another person." We all have the tendency to boast about ourselves, our riches perhaps, our intelligence 49:45 and our family background or whatever it is like somebody said the sins of face and race and grace. We glory in this and we think that we 50:05 are superior to others. We are better than others. That is not what God wants from his children. We read when John the Baptist started his ministry, he says in Luke 3:9, Luke chapter 3 50:27 verse 9. He he started his ministry first of all by saying that men should repent. Repent 50:46 and bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance, he said. And then he speaks in verse 9. And also the axe is already laid at the 51:07 root of the tree. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Here is another type of cutting of the tree. This is not leaving the stump but uprooting it 51:25 completely from the root. The axe is laid at the root of the tree so that it is totally uprooted and thrown into the fire and listening to this different type of people came to him asking what I should 51:45 do what we should do. Multitudes came and said, "What we shall do?" And he tells them what they should do. He says to them, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise." And then the 52:04 tax gatherers come to him to be baptized. And they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he says to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to. Don't extort money from 52:22 simple people. Just take whatever is due." And then the soldiers also come to him questioning, "What about us? What shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. 52:41 Be content with your wages. This is very important for us in these days that we are living. This verse, dear brothers and sisters, to be content with what we have and to be content with what we earn 52:59 rather than wishing that I had like that brother has that expensive car or that expensive apartment or so much salary. See, God has drawn financial boundary around each one of 53:17 us. Some get more, some earn more, some earn less. But we are told to be content. The same thing Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 1 Timothy 6. He said godliness with contentment 53:37 is great gain indeed. He says godliness with contentment rather than hankering after something wanting something which I do not have rather than being thankful for what I have. 53:56 If I have that attitude the word for me is be content with your wages. There are people in our midst here and in other poor churches. Those who earn much less than most of 54:13 you sitting here in villages. Some are daily workers. Some are stone cutters. And they are happy. They are quite content with what they have. And they 54:29 manage with that without any debts. But city dwellers we find they stretch their limits. They beg, borrow 54:47 if not steal. But God's blessing is not there. The mark of a godly man is one of the marks rather I would say 55:03 that he is faithful in money matters. He doesn't you know borrow. He doesn't live in debt but he's content with what he has. He cuts his coat according to the cloth 55:22 that he has. And God sees that faithfulness in the hidden life. And God blesses such people openly. And it has I have seen that and it has happened. And uh 55:41 those who are not faithful in many matters, they are not faithful. They cannot they will not be given any spiritual authority by God because God knows if he's not faithful with somebody else's wealth, 56:03 he will not be faithful when I give them my wealth. That's God saying. So all that we earn is not our money. We must recognize that first of all 56:25 it is the Lord who gave us wisdom, intelligence, health, strength, ability and capability. And we work 56:43 because of all that we have received from the Lord. We work and we earn and we think that it belongs to us. The other day somebody was as telling me that wherever I go people keep asking me for money. I don't know especially he was 57:03 talking about one person not here in this church and I don't know what to do. I told that brother brother next time if he asks say I don't have money because the money that you have is not yours. It is God's money. So you have to ask 57:21 the owner of that. So you can't go on dishing around dishing money to others as in when they ask because the original owner of all the wealth is lo is the Lord. 57:40 The Bible says the earth is the Lord's and all that it contains. So if we are faithful in that, God will also see that he gives you more responsibility spiritually and 57:59 this stump that was left started sprouting again back. That's a picture of the backsliding being restored. But whereas here when the axe is laid to 58:16 the root and it is pulled out, it is completely taken out of the ground and it gets dried up and it is thrown into the fire. And some of you may be thinking that once 58:35 saved always saved. How do you reconcile this? If the axe is laid to your root and it is uprooted and is dried up and is thrown into hellfire, 58:52 where is one saved always saved? It is unscriptural. Some people may have some other interpretation. Let them have it and go to hell. But the Bible says, I like to believe what Jesus said. Jesus himself said in 59:10 John chapter 15 when he was speaking only to the 11 disciples. Judas had already left and only the 11 were there and Jesus is speaking to them. I am the vine and you are the branches. 59:29 And any branch in me that does not bear fruit will be cut off and will be thrown into the fire. Who is he speaking to? Not to the multitude. Among the 11 people left there, he's talking to them. If you, one of you 59:49 among the 11 does not abide in me, you will wither up and you'll be thrown into the fire. That's why Paul says to the Philippians, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." 1:00:08 Dear brothers and sisters, don't think that once you are saved, you are always saved. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says if any man is in Christ he's a new creation 1:00:25 old things passed away means it's all destroyed if God has to do any work in us first of all he has to demolish the existing existing structure he will not do any renovation 1:00:42 he will not do any repair. He will not do any patchwork. He causes the old man to die. We need to die to ourselves first 1:01:00 and then a new life begins. Old things passed away and behold all things have become new and are becoming new day by day, year by year by progressive sanctification. And we get 1:01:18 to be partakers of the divine nature and become more and more like Jesus Christ himself. The Old Testament 1:01:36 we know that it ended up with a curse. You read the last verse in Malaki, it ends with a curse. But between the testaments there were 400 years gap and about 130 year BC 1:01:55 before Jesus came. There was there came up another group of some uh separated group it was called and they were called the Pharisees and they were very uh sticklers to m 1:02:14 minute things that you must keep this law you must keep that law and uh you must wash your hands before eating that is all good and Um I few years ago I read in the newspaper that um one of them asked their rabbi 1:02:34 what should I do on the Sabbath day if my phone rings those days this kind of phone were not there you know that old phones where they used to dial that kind of phones I'm talking about some 30 40 years what I read in the newspaper so he asked 1:02:53 the rabbi what I should do because that was called a work. You should not do any work on Sabbath day. And he asked the rabbi and the rabbi said, "Um, you can use a pencil or a pen to dial 1:03:12 rather than using your finger." See how stupid and legalistic they can be. These Pharisees and these are the experts in the law. And the word Pharisee, 1:03:31 if you elongate it or if you uh um lengthen it, it sounds like far I see. That means they were supposed to see far off things like seers, 1:03:51 prophets, but they were not far-sighted. And there was another group called Sadducees. They both came around the same time about 130 BC. These Sadducees, they were more like um 1:04:08 liberals. They didn't believe in uh supernatural things. They didn't believe in healing. They didn't believe in angels, in spirits. And uh they were happy golucky chap kind of thing. and uh their life also when they were 1:04:26 also there when Jesus was there, Pharisees were there, Sadducees were there, scribes were there and these Sadducees they come and uh ask different questions to Jesus to test him about 1:04:43 um a woman who married seven husbands and in the resurrection who will be her husband. That was their question. And these people, Jesus gave a very good answer. In heaven, you won't be 1:05:03 marrying or giving in marriage. You'll be like angels in heaven. And uh these people were called sadducees. Sad. You see, they were not happy people. 1:05:19 They were sad people. And dear brothers and sisters, what I'm trying to tell you this morning is that go deep into your personal life. The psalist says, "Search me, oh God, 1:05:38 and know my heart today. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting. We read a verse in Amos 1:05:57 chapter 2 verse 9. Amos chapter 2 verse 9. And there we see it is the Lord saying there 1:06:18 yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them though his height was like the height of cedars and he was strong as the oaks. 1:06:33 I even destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. Dear brothers and sisters, if it is our prayer today and we pray like this, Lord, you do the work in me. I 1:06:51 don't know. I am blind to myself. I think too highly of myself. Lord, you destroy the fruit above. and a root below. And you uproot me from the ground 1:07:11 and sew a good seed so that I may become a good tree. Jesus said, "A good tree brings good fruits. A bad tree brings bad fruits." So if this is your prayer, my dear brothers and sisters, God will 1:07:31 be happy to do that. And these Amorites were the people who descended from Canaan who was cursed by his grandfather Noah because of his sin. 1:07:48 And these Amorites, God gave them 400 years to repent. He says to Abraham, "Your I mean the iniquity of the Amorites is not complete." 1:08:04 So it took 400 years after these Israelites came out of the bondage from Egypt. 400 years later, God gave the Amorites, that is the Canaanites, into the hands of Israel, 1:08:21 and they smote them and finished them. And God brought judgment even on Sodom and Gomorrah. You know who were the people living in Sodom and Gomorrah? Those people were the same people, 1:08:40 Amorites. original Canaanites. They kept on going on sinning and sinning. They had their first taste of defeat in the land of Canaan 1:09:00 by Israelis. And the second I mean that was later and earlier God had destroyed them. These twin cities Sodom 1:09:17 and Gomorrah who were again Amorites. He destroyed them, the entire cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone raining from heaven completely destroyed 1:09:35 them. The traces of which they say they are still there in that place. So dear brothers and sisters, take God's word seriously and don't go on asking God for 1:09:52 forgiveness. Sinning and forgi asking for forgiveness. Sinning and asking for forgiveness. That is not the way God wants his children to live like God wants his children. He says, "Give us this day our daily bread. forgive us 1:10:08 our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And we can't be praying the same over the same sins again and again and again. You must discover new things in your life which are uncristlike 1:10:27 and then ask God for forgiveness. And there was a person I heard who always used to pray like this. Lord, please remove all these cobwebs from my life. You know what is cobweb? The web that a 1:10:46 spider spins. He used to always pray like that. Lord, remove that from me. Always in his prayer. One day a person stopped him when he was praying that. And he said, Lord, don't remove the cobwebs. Lord, 1:11:03 kill the spider. And there is the answer. So go to the root, kill the spider, and uproot your bad tree. And let the Lord do a new work in you. Old things 1:11:22 are destroyed and passed away. And God puts a new seed in you, a seed of the word of God, uncorruptible seed, imperishable seed of the word of God. that will make a tree good and a fruit 1:11:40 good. And like we read in that verse in Romans, do not be arrogant towards the branches. Remember that you are not the one who supports the root, but the root supports you 1:12:00 and you are just grafted in it. And the root is the one who is sustaining you. Behold then the kindness and severity of God. To those who fell severity. 1:12:17 But to you God's kindness. If a big if is there if you continue in his kindness otherwise you will also be cut off. These are sovereign words. My dear 1:12:37 brothers and sisters, don't think that once you say sinner's prayer, your sins are forgiven and you can go and live as you like. We don't believe in that. The word of God doesn't say that 1:12:55 once your sins are forgiven, you are forgiven forever. Your past, present, and future sins are forgiven. No sir. God's word is very clear. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It says that means each day has its own trouble. Okay. My sins are 1:13:15 forgiven today. All my past sins God says I have forgiven. But what about from tomorrow and till the end of my life? I live many more years. And every day we have 1:13:35 so many temptations to face and to overcome. But I say, "Yeah, I am saved. I am okay. The Lord has taken care." In fact, I heard one Canadian missionary telling me, "Once you confess your sins and you're 1:13:53 born again, God takes care of all your past, present, and future sins." He said, "I believed that the flesh likes to believe that kind of teaching." But later on, as I dug more and more into God's word, I came to know that that is 1:14:12 not biblical teaching. Biblical teaching is that we live constantly in the fear of God all day long. and 1:14:29 be a man or a woman of a broken and a contrite spirit which God will not despise. That's what the psalmist also prayed. Lord, 1:14:46 do not cast me away. Do not take the Holy Spirit away from me. Help me. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight today, tomorrow and every day 1:15:05 of my life. That is what he prayed. Shall we surrender our lives like that to the Lord and bow in prayer? Father, we thank you for your word and we pray that you will put your fear in our hearts that we will 1:15:22 live in the fear of God all day long. Fear to sin and bold towards Satan. Lord Jesus, we believe that you will do beyond our asking or thinking and the work that you have started in us, you 1:15:41 will complete till the day Jesus comes. We commit ourselves into your hands, Lord Jesus. We pray in your name. Amen. Amen. We'll sing a song now and then we will hear brother 1:15:59 Danish. 1:16:23 We will sing the song which brother Charles mentioned. Search me oh God and know my heart today. 1:16:44 Search me, oh God, and know my heart today. Try me, oh Savior. 1:17:00 Know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be some wicked way in me. 1:17:17 Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. I praise thee Lord 1:17:33 for cleansing me from sin. Fulfill thy word and keep me pure within. Fill me with fire 1:17:55 where once I burn with shame. Grant my desire, magnify thy name. 1:18:12 Lord take my life and make me holy thine. Fill my poor heart with thy great love 1:18:31 divine. Take all my sin. My passion, self and pride. I now surrender 1:18:49 Lord in me. Spirit of God, revival comes from thee. 1:19:07 Tender revival will start the work in me. Thy word declares 1:19:23 thou will supply our need for a blessing. Now, oh Lord, I lead 1:20:10 We heard about uh the root and the fruit. You know once in a year um maybe once or twice in a year at this um Lalb bag there is fruit mela 1:20:29 different kinds of fruits like mangoes and um jackf fruit. They exhibit farmers. Sometimes farmers come directly and exhibit their fruits and then people can buy like different 1:20:47 varieties of sindura himas and there is a very costly version of type of mango. It's called I think miyasaki. So it's like once or twice in a year 1:21:06 they exhibit their product and then we can buy so it's a season it's the the only season you can find fruit but Jesus expect 1:21:24 fruit from us in season and out season can turn to Marks chapter Heaven. 1:21:47 Mark 11:12. In the next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus became hungry. and 13. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find 1:22:06 anything on it and he came to it. That means he came close to it and he said it says he found nothing but leaves for it was not the season for figs. 1:22:24 And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you." He cursed the tree. So the picture of the season is Sunday when we come together. Once um a brother, a sincere brother, he 1:22:41 gifted some fruits to he came and gave me a bunch of fruits. I asked him, "Brother, from where did you source it?" when he explained it, he took much trouble to 1:22:57 uh bring it from his uh village and uh he gave it to us. So I felt he took lot of trouble and uh I knew he was a honest brother. He sks help in his trouble and I knew he was going through some struggle with his 1:23:17 wife because she was from different church and don't be curious to find out who it is. He's a sincere brother who don't pretend. So I asked him, brother, you took all this trouble to bring this fruit to make us happy. 1:23:36 So what is the when was the last time you made your wife happy by giving something? Maybe he came from different church. When was the last time you gave her something to make her happy? And he said, "Brother," I didn't I don't 1:23:53 remember. I said, "Brother, you do something for your wife. Maybe gift her a sar." And uh he listened to it. The thing is when we hear a word like this, being arrogant, we think it is to be nice. When we come 1:24:11 together, there is a verse that says, "Let love be without hypocrisy. That means the love which you express there should be a proportion of love what is in your heart. 1:24:29 I remember many years back when we were in Augusta some of the brothers couple of brothers I think they left the church and uh one of them two of them were very close to me. I I felt very happy that I 1:24:46 I remained. I didn't I felt they try to influence and I felt okay I took a stand. I didn't go with them. I was expecting that when I came to church I may get a word of encouragement or appreciation. But the word I got in my heart was what 1:25:04 brother Charles just read from Romans 11. Remember it is the fruit. It is the root that support you. You know I think of a branch. We are all different branch. Some branch look very strong. Some branch look very weak. But 1:25:23 it doesn't depend upon how the branch looks. It depends upon the connection on the root. You know we like to be nice with those who are nice. And it says this Jesus came close to the tree. 1:25:43 You know, you don't you don't get a pulse of a person unless you rub each other. That's when you really know. It says when the iron touches the bone then you know you know sometimes I get in touch with 1:26:00 some brothers and and I get a sense hey the Lord has done some work in him a work of pruning can turn to John chapter 15 there we see the secret of fruitful 1:26:20 life. John 15:2, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, the father takes away. 1:26:39 Yeah, it is the father who takes away the fruit, the the branch which doesn't produce fruit. We heard from brother Charles. There is no theory in the Bible. It says once save once saved always saved. But it says every branch that bears fruit he 1:26:58 prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. Maybe brothers or sisters some of you sitting here maybe you're going through a season of pruning. You don't see any root I mean any leaves or 1:27:15 uh fruits but it's a time where the Lord is preparing you. Now these two men whom we heard about Amos and John the Baptist, 1:27:33 it was a peculiar time. Amos and uh Hosea was sent to prophesy in Israel, the northern kingdom. God send them sent them to warn a declining nation. 1:27:50 and uh the the condition of God's people. It says in Hosea that the priests were happy when people sin because they fed on people's sin offering. That's in Hosea 4:8. You don't 1:28:08 need to turn there. And uh Amos had a word of judgment and uh Husseia followed Amos and then he had a word of comfort. But even Amos ended his message with a 1:28:24 message of hope, a hope of restoration, rebuilding. That's what we read in Amos chapter 9. Restore, rebuild. That should give us hope. the the last one, the least one sitting here. It should give us hope that the Lord is not 1:28:42 going to write off if we will respond to him. You know, if we are we hearing about different like fruit primarily the fruit of goodness and the root of it is humility. If you look at I think it's Andrew Murray who pointed out in the the gift the in the 1:29:02 the fruits about the spirit it's not mentioned about humility because it's a root and uh Andrew Murray also said alas the best of us there is much pride left in us and apostle John towards the end of his 1:29:21 life he said if we say he didn't say that you Hey, he said if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves. So there is a layer which God allowed us to come to and God exposes us as we walk with him. 1:29:40 So we don't need to be hopeless. We can all have hope. And uh like uh Amos, there was John the Baptist, you know, like uh most of the prophet prophetic voices, they wanted to shut down the 1:29:58 voice of Amos. They told him he was from south. He was a shepherd and he was a keeper of fikom fig tree. Sycamore fig tree. And uh when he was sent to this northern kingdom, Amessiah the high priest went and then 1:30:17 told you don't preach here go to south or like get out of the pullpit and uh but the he had a word. So John the Baptist he asked him who are 1:30:35 you? He said I'm not a prophet. I'm just a a shepherd. And even John the Baptist they asked are you a prophet? He said no I'm just a voice. What was the voice telling to repent? We heard about the fruit but there is one fruit the fruit of repentance. 1:30:54 You know it is the Luke is the one who made careful uh observation and he's uh tried to write in in Luke and Acts but I think in this portion I believe it is Matthew who made careful observation 1:31:11 what happened in that baptism. Matthew chapter 3. If you can turn there, Matthew 3:5 1:31:34 Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judah and all the district around the Jordan, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. Now before the confession it comes 1:31:53 conviction and then it comes confession. So there were a lot of people they were coming and they were getting baptized by John the Baptist and uh as they confessed the sins 1:32:11 he felt John the Baptist could see that hey there is repentance in them and there were other group of people as we heard from brother Charles in verse 7 and when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptis baptism. 1:32:29 He said to them, "You brood of wipers who want you to flee from the wrath to come. Therefore, be a fruit in keeping with repentance." I try to imagine this. How could he speak to Pharisees and sadducees separately? 1:32:50 Perhaps there were two line. one line like sinners, adulterers, drunkards, they were convicted and they were confessing their sin and there was other line of Pharisees and Sadducees. 1:33:09 They came as a some pretty decent sinners. Now Jesus I believe would stand in this line identifying himself with the fallen race of human. And this side Pharisees and Sadducees 1:33:28 they pretended as everything is okay. But one thing was missing. The fruit of repentance. The fruit of repentance. Yeah. They acknowledge their need by coming and standing in the line. 1:33:48 Know sometimes we ask testimony of people who come to church. There are very few cases I remember they get offended because when we ask the testimony they tell about their ministry. You know when somebody asks you a 1:34:07 testimony that would excite that should excite you. I'm a sinner. saved by grace. I was recollecting brother sack when we were celebrating the birthday the song which he he choose to sing was I'm just a sinner saved by grace 1:34:24 and the man who wrote this hymn um John Newton towards the end of his life he said I don't remember many things but I remember two things verbally that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great 1:34:43 savior. I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great savior. So brothers and sisters, let's examine our heart. It's a blessed book Amos if we read and many things written there. And there is 1:35:00 something in Amos chapter 4, it's repeated again and again. Amos chapter 4 verse 6 8 9 10 11 God said I did this but 1:35:21 yet you have not returned to me yet you have not returned to me God's expectation for backsliden Israel they would return to him 1:35:39 and uh God allowed them to face many things expecting that they will turn to God in honesty and in repentance and faith. And I want to end with this verse in 1:35:55 Acts chapter 3 verse 19. Acts 3:1 19, 1:36:17 repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. This is what I desire for my own heart. 1:36:35 I want to experience the presence of the Lord continuously not just in season when I'm in the church. I want to end with a a very brief testimony. Few days back I had to 1:36:55 do a transaction with the person and he was a very high high-profile person a medical doctor in one of the reputed hospital but as I was going closer to that I was there was little lack of peace in my 1:37:14 heart I didn't know what to do but I was praying Lord I don't want to go out of your boundary in any matter please help me but then as I was proceeding closer to that then then there was a mistake from my side and then it got up into a 1:37:29 messy situation but that's it when during my conversation when I told this he was literally shouting at me with lot of bad words and uh now devil could not touch the rest in my heart whatever goes 1:37:48 out from inside cannot pollute a And but I was reminded I was so thankful that education training all these can only polish users outside only grace can change us. 1:38:05 I had no bitterness for that man. And uh brothers and sisters there are testing times in our lives. I'm not standing and speaking with a 100 by 100 success story. No, but I you know remember the memory verse 1:38:24 we heard. Let your behavior be excellent among the Gentiles. It's not here we are tested. I said Lord I go to a church where everybody respect then they they speak with much respect. I don't mind getting something like this 1:38:42 once in a while so that I know where I stand. The Lord is so merciful to us, brothers and sisters. The Lord blessed us with a precious church. Let's guard our heart against pride. 1:39:01 And someone said the pride is the first sin who entered the universe and the last sin to be rooted out from our heart. Let's not imagine there is no pride in us. Written by a godly man titled un 1:39:19 undetected spiritual pride. So much lightgiving. I read often may the lord help us. May the lord help us. true humility which is not proved here but in our ordinary life circumstances. Let's pray. 1:39:43 Our gracious heavenly father, we help none of us to think that this word was for somebody else. I take it as a word for me. Lord, thank you for warning me from pride about pride. 1:40:03 Help each of us to choose every opportunity to humble ourselves before God and before man. Help us not to think highly of oursel. Help us to recognize that it is you who support us. We are just a branch abiding in the vine. 1:40:21 Without you, we can do nothing, Lord. Teach us that lesson deeper, deeper. Write this law into our heart in a deeper way Lord so that we don't have any sense of boasting and we don't feel superior to any human being upon this 1:40:36 earth Lord. No matter how people looks outside take away all the spirit of grumbling, complaining and fill us with the true humility which comes from you. Make us like you. Lord give us your character, your nature. Thank you for speaking to us powerfully 1:40:54 this morning. Thank you for hearing us. In Jesus precious and mighty name we pray. Amen. Where you go, I will go. Your people 1:41:14 shall be my people and your God my God. Nothing but death will part me from you. Presenting the book of the month, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bond 1:41:31 by Sister Annie Punan. >> A woman journeys through many seasons of life. She begins as a little girl, grows into a young woman, becomes a wife, daughter-in-law, and mother, and in time may become a mother-in-law and a 1:41:51 grandmother. Each season brings its own joys, responsibilities, and challenges. Among these relationships, one that can become complex is that between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Differences in culture, household 1:42:09 practices, finances, parenting, and other matters can easily lead to misunderstandings and distance. When grievances arise, either one may be tempted to defend herself, voice every hurt to prove she is right, or suffer silently. 1:42:28 Yet none of these responses bring peace. The question, therefore, is how each one can respond in a way that pleases God. True harmony does not come by changing the other person, but by allowing the 1:42:44 Holy Spirit to renew your own heart. This book shows how even a complex relationship when yielded to the spirit can be transformed into something beautiful. May this book encourage us learn what it means to be a godly 1:43:04 daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. You can read this book online at cfcindia.com/books/mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bond. 1:44:00 15 years and above.
