0:04 Brothers and sisters, shall we stand? Give thanks to the Lord our God and King. His love endures forever. His love endures forever. Let's sing praise. Rejoice in 0:24 him. You can clap and sing. His love endures forever. His love endures [Music] forever. His love endures forever. His love and yours 0:43 forever. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Clap and sing. Brothers and 1:04 [Music] sisters, be thanks to the Lord our God and King. His love endures forever. For he is good. He is above all things. His love endures forever. Sing 1:22 praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. With a mighty hand and our stretched arm. With a mighty 1:39 hand and our stretched arm. His love endures forever. For a life that's been reborn. His love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing 1:59 praise. Sing praise. Sing grace. Forever. God is faithful. Forever. God is faithful. Forever. God is 2:15 strong. Forever. God is with us. Forever and ever. [Music] Forever. From the rising to the setting 2:31 sun. From the rising to the setting sun. His love endures forever. And by the grace of God, we will carry on. His love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing praise. sing 2:53 praise. Sing praise. Sing praise. Forever. God is faithful. Forever. God is faithful. Forever. God is 3:09 strong. Forever. God is with us forever and ever. Forever. Forever God is faithful. Forever God is 3:25 strong. Forever God is with us. Forever and ever. Forever. Please be seated, brothers and sisters. [Music] 3:47 Rej, [Music] rejoice, [Music] 4:04 rej. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice. All that are upright in love and even abate in your 4:22 joy. Let sadness and sorrow divine. Rejoice, rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice. Rejoice, 4:40 rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice. Sister, sing. Be joyful for he is the Lord on earth and in heaven. Supreme be fashions and roles by his 4:59 word. The mighty is strong to rejoice. Join and sing. Rejoice, rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and [Music] rejoice. Rejoice, 5:17 rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice. What though in the conflict for I your enies almost prevail God's armies just hid from your 5:35 side are more than the force which say rejoice together and sing be glad in the Lord and rejoice rejoice Rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and 5:58 rejoice. Just the voices. Though darkness surround you by day. Your sky by the night be your cost. Let nothing your spirit 6:14 dismay, but trust in the danger. Rejoice, rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, rejoice, 6:32 rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice his praises proclaiming in song with harp and with organ and 6:52 voice the loud hallelu rejoice rejord and rejoice. Rejoice, 7:10 rej. Be glad in the Lord andj. I'm happy today. I'm happy today in 7:26 Jesus Christ. I'm happy today. He has taken all my sins away. And that's why I'm happy today. I'm singing. I'm singing today. I'm singing today in 7:44 Jesus Christ. I'm singing today. He has taken all my sins away. And that's why I'm singing. I'm praising. I'm praising today. I'm praising today 8:02 in Jesus Christ. I'm praising today. He is taking all my sins away. And that's why I'm praising today. I'm happy. Sing. I'm happy today. I'm happy today in 8:21 Jesus Christ. I'm happy today. He has taken all my sins away and that's why I am happy [Music] today. You are the one that we 8:41 praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace our hearts always 8:55 under. Oh my heart's always under. Wonderful, merciful savior, precious redeemer and 9:15 friend. Who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men? Oh, you rescue the souls of men. Counselor, comforter, keeper. Counselor, comforter, 9:37 [Music] keeper. Spirit we long to embrace. You are for hope when our hearts help. Hopelessly lost the 9:53 way. Oh, we hopelessly lost the way. You are the one that we praise. You are the one we 10:10 adore. You give the healing and grace. Hearts always hunger for. Oh our hearts always hunger for. [Music] 10:29 Al mighty infinite father, faithful in loving your own. Pure in our weakness you'll find us falling before your 10:48 throne. Oh, we're falling before. Just the voices. You are the one that we [Music] praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace 11:11 our hearts always hunger for. Oh our hearts always hunger for. Can we stand up brothers and sisters? Sing that once more. 11:26 You are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and 11:41 grace our hearts always hunger for. Oh, our hearts always hunger for. Let's turn our thoughts and our eyes and our hearts affections to the 12:01 King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He's altogether lovely. He's the fairest of 10,000. He gave himself to save me. Now he lives in heaven to keep me. All 12:23 together lovely. He is all together lovely and the fairest of 10,000. This wonderful friend divine. 12:42 [Music] He gave himself to save me. Now he lives in heaven to keep me. He is all together 12:59 lovely is this wonderful savior of mine. Sing that once more. Allto together love. He is allto together 13:19 love and the fairest of 10. This wonderful friend divine. He gave himself to save me. Now 13:37 he lives in heaven to keep me. He is all together. Love me. Is this wonderful of mine? [Music] 14:23 As we remain standing, shall we bow our heads in prayer? It just saying alltogether 14:45 lovely. All together lovely is the fairest of 10,000. This wonderful friend of mine. He gave himself to save me. He lives in heaven now to keep me, 15:04 interceding for me at the father's right hand. He is on my side against sin, Satan, and the flesh, and the world is altogether lovely. This 15:24 wonderful savior of mine, the Lord says in Isaiah, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the 15:42 earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, he increases 16:01 power. Though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new 16:19 strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. they will walk and not become 16:36 weary. He increases strength to the weary and those who lack strength, he increases power. And all those who wait upon the 16:53 Lord will renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint. We have 17:13 a wonderful God who is there close to us. When we call upon him, he hears us. He comes to our 17:32 help, our rescue. He is Jehovah Gyra, the Lord, our provider who has provided for us from when we were born up until 17:48 now. He has met all our needs. He has held us in his hands and rescued us from the slave market of sin. He's delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of 18:05 light in the kingdom of his dear son. Dear brothers and sisters, we were wandering like sheep without a shepherd. He came after us. He sought after us. He found 18:24 us. He washed us, cleansed and saved us and filled us with his holy spirit and has made us his sons and daughters. And we give thanks to him for all that he has done for us. Dear brothers and sisters, take this 18:44 opportunity to express your heartfelt gratitude and praise and thanksgiving to the Lord who is on the throne, who is being worshiped day and night by the angels and the hosts of heaven. Let's join them and praise him. Father, we 19:03 thank you this morning for who you are. We thank you father that you are almighty creator of the ends of the earth, creator of the whole universe. We want to thank you. We bow down before you and worship your majesty. Dear 19:19 father, be glorified, be exalted, be honored even in our midst. Lord Jesus, we enthrone you upon the praises of your people. Take your rightful place in our midst. We pray. Be honored and be glorified, dear Lord. Thank you that you 19:36 are our eternal strength. You are our refuge. You are our strength. You are our help, Lord Jesus. Thank you that you have called us to obtain salvation but not to face your wroth. Lord, you have delivered us from the kingdom of 19:55 darkness and placed us into the kingdom of your dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. and you have redeemed us from the curse of the law so that the blessing of Abraham might might come upon us. We worship you. We praise you even 20:11 this morning, Lord. We ask that you will be glorified in our midst, that you'll be honored in our midst, that you'll take your rightful place in our midst, that you will help each one of us feel your presence. Lord Jesus, we pray that 20:27 you will anoint your word, anoint your servants, that you will fill them with the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, that you will give us the words that we need to encourage us, to strengthen us, to sustain us, to challenge us, that we may 20:46 be gripped by the word of your truth, the words of life, that we may live because you live. Lord, thank you for this time. We pray and commit ourselves into your hands in Jesus precious name. 21:02 Amen. Amen. Please take your seats. We will look at our memory verses. Last week we had a promise from 21:18 Jeremiah 33:3. Jeremiah 33:3. Call to me and I will tell you great and mighty things. This is from Isaiah Jeremiah 33 21:36 verse3. And today we have a command and that is in Matthew 4:4. Matthew 4:4, man shall 21:57 live on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Let's say that once more. Matthew chapter 4:E4. Man shall live on every 22:17 word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Yeah. This morning, as some of you know, we have requested brother Santo Punan to share God's word with us and he 22:34 is with us online live and uh we will be hearing God's word from our brother Santosh Pun. Santosh, thank you for joining us and we welcome you and we pray that the Lord will be with you and 22:53 whatever he has laid on your heart that you will share with us with the church here in Bangalore. Welcome Santo Pune. Thank you, brother Charles. And thank you 23:12 everybody there at RLCF for this of at CFC for this opportunity to be with you all. I will uh speak but I if there's any problem with the audio just let me know. Yeah. Um let's pray again. And 23:33 heavenly father, thank you for this time. I believe you are here in our midst and that's what we long for more than anything else. You speak to us, Lord. Let us hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us, not the voice of any man. I want to hear 23:51 from you today. We all do, Lord. That's why we're gathered here. We want you to be in our midst. We want to be aware of your presence in our midst. What a difference that will make in our lives in Jesus name. Amen. We hear often in our church about 24:15 the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And one of the marks of the Holy Spirit, as you know from Galatians chapter 4, is that the Holy Spirit cries out within us, 24:31 daddy. Or the Hebrew word for that is aba. And that's where it must begin. And for all of us who are truly children of God, we know this. One of the proofs of that is that within us we 24:49 have not some godly brother telling us that we have a daddy in heaven, not some other person telling us but the Holy Spirit himself speaking within our hearts saying you have a daddy in heaven. Galatians 4:6. It's a good verse 25:09 to know and to put our foundation on that as soon as I'm born again, the Holy Spirit comes in and on his own speaks within our hearts saying, "You have a daddy in heaven. You're my 25:26 child. I love you." even as we heard already. But for many Christians, that's the extent of the speaking of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And yet there's so much 25:44 more. And I was thinking about this that for Jesus, one of the characteristics of his being filled with the Holy Spirit and knowing that he had a daddy in heaven, just like you and I do, he 26:01 also had a father in heaven and knew that he had a father in heaven while he was here on this earth. is what we read in John chapter 2 verse 26:17 17. John chapter 2 verse1 17 that Jesus being the son of his father in heaven had a zeal for his father's house. And that's the word the Lord's 26:36 laid on my heart. I want to take heed to it for myself. But I'm also sharing that as an encouragement for you all dear brothers and sisters there in Bangalore. Uh you all are very dear to me and I want to say that um and my time 26:54 there with my family there was so precious. It's filled up our hearts so much and I'm deeply thankful for that. But as we read here in John 2:1 17, after he saw the money changers in the house of 27:12 God violating his father's house out of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, he had a zeal for his father's house. This was a mark of his having a daddy in 27:29 heaven. And I think for many Christians, the reminder and the fact that they have a daddy in heaven is only a very cozy kind of soft, oh, I have a daddy in 27:47 heaven who loves me so much. And I'm not here to put that down. That is the foundation. That's where it begins. But if after even one year or two years or for many of us been many years of being in the 28:05 church, the extent of my knowing my father in heaven is only a cozy feeling and there isn't a zeal for my daddy's house. Then I'm not growing spiritually. I'm still a spiritual baby. 28:24 spiritual babies, the extent of the work of the Holy Spirit in their life is I have a daddy in heaven. I like to go into his bosom and lean my head on his breast and I will always be that child. But as we grow, as we must grow, it's 28:42 very important that there is a zeal for daddy's house as well. And here the word used is that that zeal has consumed him. And um that that word zeal zealous is similar to the word 29:01 jealous. If you look at the root word for both of them, it comes from the same. And that zeal that zeal that Jesus had came from a jealousy over his father. And I wonder, dear brothers and sisters, 29:20 there as you are growing spiritually, as you're hearing the truths, as you're finding a foundation in God our father, is it growing into a zeal for daddy's house, a jealousy over the name of 29:38 God? If you have seen your daddy in heaven, if the Holy Spirit has shown you that you have a daddy in heaven, and as you're growing up now, no longer a baby, but you're a son, you're a daughter, you're 29:55 maturing, is it resulting in a jealousy over your daddy, over your daddy's name, over your the things of your daddy in heaven. That's a real mark of somebody who's growing in the Holy 30:13 Spirit. And if you turn to Psalm 69, you see where this quotation is from. In Psalm 69, that verse in John 2. If you read the whole context, you'll see that it says the 30:30 disciples remembered that it was said that zeal for his father's house would consume him and that prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus' life. They remembered that in 30:46 um and you also read in um in both in Mark and in Luke, I think when right after this cleansing of the temple and Jesus did it twice, once at the beginning of his ministry and once near the end of his ministry. But it was in 31:03 the context of his chasing out the money changers. It was in the context of this zeal for daddy's house that consumed Jesus that angered the Pharisees that made them want to kill him. You read that both in Mark 11 and Luke 19. I 31:22 think that that zeal for his father's house that consumed Jesus made the discip the Pharisees say we want to destroy him. We want to get rid of him. Can you read a little bit about what this zeal for daddy's house looked like 31:41 for uh for Jesus? That verse is Psalm 69:9. For zeal for your house has consumed me. And it doesn't stop there. It says, "And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me." This is the mark of a 32:00 son. A true son or daughter of God is when they reproach God, our daddy, because he's my daddy. Now I'm included in that reproach. When they dishonor the name of God by their love of money, by their uh 32:18 legalism or whatever it might be. And in Jesus day, it was both of those things, legalism and the love of money. And when they reproached the name of his daddy, they reproached him. Now let's read here verse 7. Psalm 69:7. Because for your 32:37 sake I have borne reproach. I read this again a few days ago and I I felt the Holy Spirit asking me, is this true? Is it true that because of God's sake, I have borne 32:55 reproach and dishonor has covered my face. I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother's sons. Those closest to me, my friends, my relatives or whoever who don't love the Lord and aren't committed to his 33:15 kingdom and to his house. I become estranged from them because zeal for your house has consumed me. Let's examine our hearts, dear brothers and sisters, if we are really full of 33:32 the Holy Spirit. If the mark of the Holy Spirit growing in our lives, becoming more full of the Holy Spirit is resulting in this being fulfilled or am I just somebody who loves to crawl into daddy's lap and feel 33:52 good about myself? In Jesus' case, he was so passionately uh full of love for his daddy, full of the Holy Spirit, that overflowing love of God that he had all his life and that God has poured out into our hearts 34:11 through the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 should result in a zeal for my father's name and for his house. There must be a shaking off of sluggishness. Sluggishness means laziness or slowness in the Christian 34:30 life. And I'm convicted about times in my life when I have been slow, lazy, and sluggish. I'm convicted about areas of sluggishness even in my life today. And sluggishness and a lack of zeal in 34:47 our Christian life is not a temperament thing. A lot of people can think, "Oh, that brother, he has a temperament that's full of zeal. His nature is like that." The zeal of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with our natural 35:03 temperament. We could be naturally soft and gentle and yet full of zeal when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. U I think of John the Apostle. You know, maybe you think Peter, he was a naturally zealous person. He seems like 35:20 he was always like that. But I think of John who in his temperament was a little bit more of a gentle person. And yet you read his episodes in 1 John and second John and third John and the fire in him 35:37 how he exposes those who love to bring uh love the attention in the church and things like that. I think of Paul's exhortation to Timothy to that God has not given us a spirit of timidity. I think Paul saw in Timothy a tendency 35:55 to be a little bit gentle and and timid and he said, "Timothy, you must be filled filled with the Holy Spirit." The spirit that God has given you is not one of timidity. It's a spirit of zeal. And so irrespective of the 36:12 temperament that God has given you, irrespective of whether you're a brother or a sister, even sisters who are called to live in all meekness and to have a meek and a quiet spirit must be full of zeal in that meekness and quietness of 36:30 spirit. So in all regards brother, sister, child, olds can easily slip into sluggishness and laziness is I thought of a couple of areas that as I've judged my own life, I see one is I can com 36:50 compare myself with people in other churches and think, "Oh, I'm in a good church. We hear the truth and uh thank God for godly brothers who every Sunday we hear good word and we're seeking to be wholehearted. Thank God for 37:07 wholehearted elders. And so we can easily compare ourselves with other churches and think we're a zealous church. And so because I'm sitting in this church, I'm sort of getting carried along with the zeal of the church. And there's no such 37:27 thing. The zeal of a church cannot carry you and I individually. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear children, each of us must be zealous. Another reason is that we can think easily that it's only a few who are 37:45 called to be zealous in the church. Oh, that brother, he's supposed to lead the singing, so he must be full of zeal. Or that other brother, he's an elder, so yeah, he must be full of zeal. But I I can just sit in my chair and just coast 38:03 along without a zeal for God's house. Jesus is an example for every one of us brothers, sisters, and children in his zeal for daddy's house. And as we seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to 38:22 move on from just a I have a daddy in heaven to I have a daddy in heaven and I have a zeal for his interests. I have a zeal for his house. This is the life of being filled with 38:40 the Holy Spirit. We read in Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, we read about the effect of the grace 38:58 of God in our lives. Titus chapter 2, we read in verse 11, "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to say no to 39:17 ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ 39:34 Jesus who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession. I think up to that point 39:50 many of us sitting in CFC understand and can say yes that's the mark of the grace of God in my life. But as you know, I stopped reading in the middle of the sentence. And it goes on to say, "Zealous for good 40:09 deeds." So the mark of the grace of God in my life is not only that I have salvation, verse 11, I have power to resist sin, saying no to ungodliness and worldly desires. I have power through 40:26 grace to live sensibly and righteously and godly. The grace of God reminds me that Jesus Christ is coming back soon. And verse 14, the grace of God shows me that I'm redeemed from lawless 40:43 deeds and keeps me pure. But what about zealous for good deeds? Full of zeal. He says similar words a few pages later in 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 41:09 3. Let's read verse 10. The one who desires life to love and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good. He must 41:28 seek peace and pursue it. He must turn away from evil and do good. And he goes on to say in verse 13, who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? So the grace of God not only says don't do these things. The grace of God also says do 41:48 these things zealously. Be full of zeal. And I hope dear church family, brothers, sisters, and children that this can be a reminder for us that there's not a single person in the church of Jesus Christ, in the body of Christ that is 42:05 sluggish. There's no room in the body of Christ for any single individual, brother, sister or child, to be sluggish in our Christian life. Everybody full of zeal. And most of us tend to think of zeal as 42:24 public ministry, the one who preaches the message or leads the singing or the elders and those who serve. And this zeal also is not in terms of practical needs. I think it's wonderful. I every time I come there, I see how so many 42:43 people serve in so many ways and how God uses you all in the little ways in which you serve to be a blessing to so many and to meet the practical needs of the church. But the zeal that we're reading about here is not just practical needs because the kingdom 43:02 of heaven is not in just the practical things. Those things help meet the needs of the church, help facilitate our gatherings, but zealous in spiritual deeds and um in such a way that somebody who may not have much physical strength, 43:21 somebody who maybe is in a wheelchair or somebody that physically incapable in some way can still be full of zeal spiritually. So don't just think in terms of practical things. Yes, that's important. But let's pursue and ask God 43:38 to show us where are the areas that I should be full of zeal in fulfilling my calling in the body of Christ. Um in Hebrews chapter 6, Hebrews 6 verse 11. We desire that 44:03 each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end so that you will not be sluggish. I don't know how much we all have meditated on this strong 44:23 exhortation in Hebrews 6 11 and 12. By the way, he begins by that chapter by talking about people who will fall away, fall away from the faith, who will lose their salvation as it were. And in that same context, he says, I don't want you to be one who 44:43 falls away. So, show the same diligence to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. It's not enough that you started out your Christian life well. It's not enough that God brought you to this wonderful church. Make sure that you are 45:00 zealous and diligent until the very end so that you won't be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So no room for sluggishness, no cooling 45:19 off, no slowing down, no coasting, but accelerating as we continue on in the Christian life. And then he gives the example of Abraham for because he says verse 13, when God made the promise to Abraham, 45:37 since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself. And he uses Abraham as an example of one who didn't slow down, who didn't get sluggish, didn't get lazy. And here's why this is so important. 45:54 Because in our Christian life, if you've walked with the Lord even for a few years or few months, you realize that God is not an instantaneous God. He doesn't immediately give us all of the divine nature. He doesn't immediately 46:10 make us fully like Christ. It's a slow process. It takes time. He does it over a period of weeks, months, years, many, many years. And that's how Abraham is an example for us. And uh we read more about that in Romans chapter 46:32 4. Romans chapter 4. It's possible that as in fact it's quite likely I would say and I see this in my own life that as I continue to walk with the Lord as I seek for him as I have faith in 46:49 him and it doesn't seem to happen right away my becoming a little bit more like Christ in my patience in my loving everybody and my um merciful attitude towards others and all these these things that we hear about because it 47:07 doesn't happen right away. I can start to become sluggish. I can start to become slow. I can start to become a little lazy. And here we read about Abraham in Romans 4:20. about Abraham. It says, "Yet with 47:25 respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God." And here's how I would paraphrase this verse. Listen to this. The longer it took for the promise 47:43 to be fulfilled in Abraham's life, the more zealous he became. because it says that instead of wavering in unbelief or becoming sluggish, he grew stronger. This was convicting for me. I'll be honest, that I thought about I 48:02 look back on my life and I thought in times in my life where God has delayed answering something, what has been the result in my own life? I'll be honest, I became sluggish. I thought, "Lord, you're taking so long to answer my prayer. I'm going to just 48:22 slow down. I'm just going to become a little lazy." And it seemed like when God that the longer it took for the promise to be fulfilled in my life, the more lazy I became, the the slower I became. And yet we're given this example 48:40 of Abraham that the more the the longer it took for God to fulfill the promise, the more zealous he became. That's a wonderful challenge for us, isn't it? That if in some way God is delaying something in our lives, something that we're really asking him 48:59 for, maybe you've been seeking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and you feel like, Lord, it's it's taking some time. I don't seem to be filled. Do you start to give up? Do you start to think, "Oh, Lord, I've been asking you for one year and you haven't 49:17 filled me with the Holy Spirit, so I'm not going to pray as zealously. I'm going to slow down a little bit." This is not how it was even for Abraham, much less you and I who are in the new covenant. And if it seems like God is delaying his 49:35 answer, it ought to be even more zealous. Remember Jesus told us the story about that widow who came and asked for justice from the judge. And I imagine, I don't know if this is specifically mentioned uh in that parable in Luke 18, but I 49:55 imagine that the longer the judge took, the more zealous that widow became. And if it if she'd been asking for six months, she came more came earlier in the morning and asked more 50:13 boldly and more loudly. This is what God is looking for. A zeal that grows even if the answer is delayed. This is true faith. And that's the example that we're told in Hebrews 6. Don't give up. Don't 50:30 lose sight. Don't let that diligence wayne. Don't let that diligence grow cold. Another verse a few pages later in Romans chapter 12, we're given a similar exhortation. Romans 50:53 12, there's a number of brief exhortations were given here beginning in verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to 51:10 one another in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence. Look at that word. Not lagging behind. You know there in the church there in CFC you have tremendous examples of zealous brothers and sisters. I know they've been tremendous 51:27 examples for me. So, what should you do? What should you and I do when we see a brother who's excelling in zeal and I see that I'm lagging behind? Then I ought to take Romans 12:1 to heart and I say, "Lord, I'm lagging behind. That brother is so full of zeal. 51:47 That sister is so full of zeal. I don't want to lag behind." Not lagging behind. And I don't take this as a command, but take this as a something to examine our own hearts. If there's even one brother or sister whom I'm lagging 52:04 behind in zeal, then I must take that exhortation to heart. There shouldn't even be one brother or sister that I'm lagging behind. Not lagging behind in what? Being devoted in brotherly love. We read in verse 10, giving preference 52:22 to one another. If you see a brother that loves truly with brotherly love in a love that doesn't try to promote itself but gives preference to others and I see that I'm plagued with jealousy and wanting this and wanting that and 52:41 wishing that I could have that person's gift or being like that person, then I'm lagging behind in brotherly love. I'm lagging behind in giving preference to others. Let's take this to heart. And I thought I would just briefly mention a few areas in which we 52:58 can be zealous. Um I'm sure you can think of others. May the Holy Spirit convict each of us in the areas that are important for us to take to heart. But I'll mention a few to be just briefly. The first is this verse in Revelation 53:17 3 verse 19. Revelation 3:1 19. It says, "Be zealous and repent." Be zealous and repent. Now, this is true. It was written to a church that was in a tremendously backsliden 53:34 condition. But um I wonder this is how the Holy Spirit convicted me about this. Is my zeal for repentance now less than when I first came to Christ? Think about what I just said. Is 53:53 my zeal for repentance now less than when I first came to Christ? I'm sure all of us can remember what it was like when we first came to Christ. And I saw what a horrible sinner I was and what Jesus had done for me. And I was so so 54:13 sick of myself and I hated the sin and I was so desperate. I was so eager for to to be saved and to be forgiven and to be shown mercy. I was zealous in my repentance 54:28 then. But now what is it like now? I've been in the church for a number of years. And has your zeal for repentance cooled off? Instead, my zeal should have grown. And the more I'm filled with the Holy 54:47 Spirit, the more I'm zealous for daddy's house, the more radical I am in repentance. So, this is a very simple question to ask ourselves. A simple question I've been asking myself. Lord, when you show me 55:04 sin now, when I see uncristlikeness in my life, maybe it's not the things that were big sins in the eyes of the world, but have I come closer to you? Have I known your love more fully, 55:22 Daddy? that now even that small unkind way in which I said something or that little attitude of jealousy and pride or that little motive of self-seeking is big because I've seen daddy more 55:39 clearly. The Holy Spirit has shown me my father in heaven more fully than when I first came to him. Back then, I only knew him as a daddy who could meet my needs and like the prodigal son. He'll give me a good good meal and a a house 55:59 to live in. But now I've been in the father's house for some time. I've gotten to know him and I see those little areas that I used to just ignore. Now they've become big. And may it never be that our zeal for repentance has cooled 56:18 off. When I'm corrected in some area by an elder in the church and uh they they point out something for me in love, do I just shrug my shoulder at it and think, "Oh, that's not a big deal. Not as big as the adultery and murder and 56:35 drunkenness and all that." That means my zeal for repentance has cooled off and become lukewarm like the church in Leodysia. Not very cold but not hot either. And it's to this church that he says be zealous. And I believe that it 56:54 was because of a lack of zeal in the church in Leodysia because they took it easy that they settled into a lukewarm state. And that's the danger for all of us, I believe, unless we take this exhortation to heart. Let's be 57:11 zealous and repent from all lukewarmness. The church in Leodysia wasn't a cold church. They were a lukewarm church because they lacked zeal. They still gathered. They still probably prided themselves on the fact that Paul had written letters to them 57:29 and Paul would was involved in that church and all of those things. But they became a lukewarm church because they lacked zeal. I want to show you a wonderful example also of a similar church that Paul had to correct in 2 57:46 Corinthians chapter 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. If you read first and 2 Corinthians, you'll see that Paul had to speak very strongly to the church in Corinth in his 58:05 first letter because there were some serious problems in that church. I mean, they even had uh sexual sins there. They were a bunch of greedy people who came to the meetings and all brought food only for themselves, didn't share with 58:21 others and all kinds of problems in this church. And Paul, because he loved them so much, rebuked them. He even said, "I'm going to come to you with a rod, a spanking stick." I don't know if any elder has ever said that to you, dear brother and 58:36 dear sister. That um I'm going to give you a spanking. I'm sure we've all had parents that told us that when we were small, but do you covet the spanking of a godly brother? Psalmist said, "Let the 58:53 righteous smite me. It'll be like oil." He coveted the the spanking of a righteous man because he realized that it would be the best thing for him. And this is what it really means to find a home in the church that I'm not just 59:12 here to listen to good messages and good preaching. But I'm here to receive a spanking when I need it from men, godly brothers who love me enough to speak the truth to me. And Paul spoke like that to the church in Corenth. And they 59:28 repented. They received that correction to heart. And they were so radical in their repentance that Paul said, "Hold on. Okay, you've repented. Now you don't have to go beyond what I told you to do. You you've repented. It's it's really 59:45 genuine repentance you have. Look at what he says here in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 11. So now he's writing this second letter where he commends them for that godly sorrow as a result of the spanking he gave them. 2 Corinthians 1:00:01 7:1. For behold, what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you, what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what 1:00:18 zeal, what avenging of wrong. In everything, you demen demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. And what he's saying here is that when I corrected you and rebuked you, you didn't get offended at me, you took it 1:00:34 to heart and you were so radical. Look at the words he uses. Earnestness, godly sorrow, vindication, indignation, ear, longing, zeal to repent so zealously. And that's 1:00:53 why he was able to commend the church in second in in in his second letter to them. And it goes he actually says earlier if you look at verse 7 he says not only by his coming this is talking about Titus but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in 1:01:12 you. He's saying when Titus came there he saw something in you that comforted him. What was that? It says that he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, for Paul. So what was happening here was that Paul 1:01:32 had just gotten done rebuking and correcting and spanking the church in Corenth and their zeal for him, their zealous love for Paul was increased. This is a really convicting word. Have you ever had somebody who 1:01:52 loved you so much correct you and rebuke you strongly and the result of that was that you had a zealous love for that godly elder who corrected you? This is the church in Corenth. That's why at least for some period of 1:02:10 time it went well with them. I believe they responded with that. I know in times in my life where I've been corrected and rebuked, I sat there insul for a little bit. I felt like my pride was hurt in some way. And I sat on the pity pot for a 1:02:29 little while feeling sorry for myself just to find myself saying, "Oh, he doesn't really understand. He doesn't know the whole story and all of that." And here was example of brothers and sisters in a church in Corinth. When 1:02:45 they were corrected, they saw the love of this father, spiritual father to them and their zeal for repentance was seen and their zealous love towards the one who had corrected them. This is zealous 1:03:02 repentance. And um I thank God for how uh he used people in my life to show me um my sin when I was not yet converted. And I thank God for those he used to show me my sin then. And I thank 1:03:21 God now for those whom he uses to show me my uncristlikeness even today. And I don't want my zeal for repentance to go down. I don't want to become sluggish in my zeal to repent today compared to many years ago when I was when I first came 1:03:40 to Christ. This is the mark of a growing church, a church that is not sluggish, that's accelerating, that's going faster. We're growing in our zeal for repentance. Another area of zeal we'll read in 2 Corinthians here chapter 8. 1:03:57 Let's go to the next chapter. He commends a church here. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, the church in Macedonia. The church in Macedonia is a tremendous church. We don't know much about them, but the little bit we're 1:04:13 told here is very very challenging for us. They had a zeal to give. They had a longing a they were really zealous to give. And it's quite the opposite of many Christians today where they need to be reminded many 1:04:32 times or you need to give and they mise early way they calculate exactly 10%. And I've heard in this country it's common to ask about do I calculate before tax or after tax and all of that is how can I keep a little bit more for 1:04:47 myself and give a little less to God and to his kingdom. And yet here was a church in Mass the church in Macedonia that was their attitude was how much more can we give? Let's read that. 2 Corinthians 8:1. Now brethren, we wish 1:05:04 to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia that in a great ordeal of affliction and deep poverty. So here was a church that was going through a very 1:05:22 deep affliction and they were extremely poor, deep affliction and deep poverty. The deeper their affliction and the deeper their poverty, the grace of God caused them to overflow in the 1:05:41 wealth of their liberality. So what does that mean here? some big words, but the church in Macedonia, it's from what we are told here, the more problems they faced, the deeper their pit of affliction and poverty, the grace of God filled them up 1:06:00 so much that it overflowed into them saying, "We want to give." In other words, it was like they are the poorest of the people. They're going through the most difficult time of all and yet they were the most giving of them all. What a tremendous example. 1:06:17 They had such a zeal to give. And they didn't say, "Oh, that person earns more money. He should probably give. That church, they seem to be quite rich. Why don't they give?" They didn't use their affliction or their poverty as an excuse 1:06:34 for why not to give. Let's continue reading. For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, this is verse three. They gave of their own account. They didn't even need to be asked to give, begging us with much urging for 1:06:54 the favor of participation in the support of the saints. And this not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we urge Titus that as we had previously made a beginning, so he would 1:07:11 also complete in you this gracious work as well. And so he encourages the church in Corenth to follow the example of Macedonia. But look at this. They were begging. They said, "Hey Paul, we hear that this church is supporting these 1:07:28 other poor people over there and those other needs are there. Please let us also give." And it's almost like Paul was having to say, "I don't I feel bad asking you Macedonians to give because you're going through such affliction and 1:07:42 such poverty." And Paul never asked them, but they begged to be a part of the giving. What zeal, what a tremendous attitude to have that they didn't think of themselves. They didn't think, "Oh, I'm going through a difficult time." 1:07:58 They begged to give a a zeal to give. So as a zeal to give and one more area I'll speak about that's a zeal to encourage others. Hebrews chapter 3 Hebrews 1:08:26 3 verse 13 again or let's read verse 12. He talks first about about falling away from the living God. If you've been in CFC for even a few months, you know that we preach from the Bible that it is 1:08:45 possible to fall away from the living God, from sluggishness, from a lack of zeal, from slowing down, from becoming lukewarm, where God spits us out of his mouth. And here he says that too. Take care, brothers and sisters, that there 1:08:59 not be in any one of you an evil unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. He's speaking to brothers and sisters. And then he says, "So how can you do that?" This is a convicting word, brothers and sisters. Do we have a 1:09:17 burden that there should not be another brother or sister in the church that God has pla placed me in who falls away? Am I my brother's keeper? Am I my sister's keeper? Remember the question or the question 1:09:36 that Cain asked God? Am I my brother's keeper? Sort of arrogantly. Yes, he was his brother's keeper, but he acted like he didn't wasn't and were warned in Jude about having the attitude of Cain who hated his 1:09:55 brother. And from Hebrews 3 12 and 13, we're told that we ought to be careful that we don't fall away from the living God through a heart of unbelief. That's one. Watch out for yourself. But the exhortation continues in verse two 1:10:12 that I also have a responsibility to make sure that my fellow brother and sister also does not fall away. Verse 13, the verse 12 is the exhortation to myself that there not be an evil unbelieving heart. Verse 13 is the exhortation for how I can help somebody 1:10:30 else not have an evil unbelieving heart. And many Christians don't take that to heart. Verse 13, but encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of 1:10:47 sin. I'm not here to bring condemnation to anybody if each of us has free will. And there may be brothers and sisters who hearts become hardened and they fall away from the living God. But it would be a tragedy if I get to 1:11:03 the judgment seat of Christ and God shows me that the reason a brother or sister fell away from the living God through an evil heart of unbelief was because I failed to fulfill my responsibility in verse 13 that God had 1:11:18 placed me in the church with this brother or sister to encourage them every day. And I was sluggish. I said, "Oh, it's not my turn. They haven't asked me to preach the message today. So, I'll just come. Maybe I'll bring my Bible or 1:11:34 maybe not. I'll just come expecting something, expecting to get something. Meanwhile, there was a brother or sister that was on the edge of falling away from the living God. Maybe a young brother, a teenager, somebody in their 20s who's going 1:11:50 through a difficult time, whose heart is becoming hard. And God was hoping, the Holy Spirit was urging you to be the one to encourage that brother, that sister through a little conversation after the meeting or over lunch or sending a text 1:12:05 message or calling that person, that sister to encourage them. And I was sluggish. I was lazy. I wasn't zealous to encourage my brother or my sister. Let's be zealous in our encouragement. 1:12:24 In fact, many people are zealous to preach. They want a ministry. Let's be zealous to encourage. This is where a great need is in the church. Being zealous to encourage. And that is the gift of prophecy. You've heard it often. 1 1:12:40 Corinthians 14. Maybe we can look at that verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. He speaks in chapter 13 about love. How the greatest of these is love. And he 1:13:00 continues in chapter 14 verse1 saying pursue love. But have you seen the but that comes after the exhortation to pursue love. Pursue love. But don't forget the other side of this coin of pursuing love. And you can say, "Yes, I love my brother. I 1:13:19 love the church." I hear many people in our churches saying, "I love the church. Thank God for this wonderful brotherhood." The proof of that love is that I desire earnestly for spiritual gifts to build up the church. Verse 1:13:34 three, the gift of prophecy, a zeal to have a prophetic word on my tongue that in a 30 secondond conversation with my brother or my sister or with a young child or a young person, a teenager, I'll build up the 1:13:50 church zealous to prophesy. Desire earnestly, I would say desire zealously that you may prophesy. Desire earnestly the gift to build up the church to encourage the brothers and sisters in the church. Let's take this 1:14:08 to heart. Dear family, I I'm taking it to heart myself. I'm convicted even as I meditated on these things. This is what God is needs in the church. This is what the church needs. And perhaps in a church like ours where we hear such wonderful 1:14:25 things where we're zealous to avoid sin, zealous to not fall into those old sins and be overcomers. We're not zealous for good works. We're not zealous in our repentance. We're not zealous in our giving. We're not zealous in our 1:14:38 encouragement of others. I think one of the reasons God was able to use Paul so tremendously, he says in Philippians 3 uh verse 5 or 6 that he was so zealous that he persecuted the church. And I think that's why God was 1:14:56 able to use him. God can take if you were an outright sinner, even a terrorist against the church. Because of that zeal, Paul did everything with all of his heart, even, you know, he wasn't out to be an evil person, but he thought the best way to 1:15:15 serve God is to kill all the followers of Jesus. And that's what he did. And then God turned him around and says, "I am the true God." And then he did that wholeheartedly. How zealous were you in your sin, dear brother, dear sister? It must be that 1:15:31 much more now in my pursuing of God, pursuing of Christ. Let me close with this. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul speaks about this. And to summarize what I'm about to read, I would say it this way. Paul saw 1:15:48 that if he didn't run in such a way to win, he would be disqualified. Here's a simple question the Lord has often asked me. Santos, you have two options. You're either running to win or you're going to be disqualified. There's no jogging. 1:16:08 There's no walking. There's no You're either running to win or you're going to be disqualified. That's exactly what he says here. 1 Corinthians 9 verse 24. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the 1:16:24 prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Are you running as if you're the only one that can win the prize? And here's the beautiful thing. All of us can run in such a way. All of us can run in such a way to win. It's not the 1:16:40 prize, it's how you're running. Are you running to win the prize or are you oh that brother is going to win the prize. That sister, she's more zealous. She can win the prize. Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in 1:16:55 the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath. But we and imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air. But I 1:17:11 discipline my body and make it my slave. So that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. Run in such a way that you will win otherwise you will be disqualified. Now that's you don't have to believe my my words for it. That's 1:17:30 the way I've taken it to heart. I'll tell you honestly, brothers and sisters, I'm challenged even as I share these things that this is the way I want to run. I can't afford to finish second. I can't afford to finish second 1:17:44 because I will be disqualified. And this is not a competition with each other. This is not about ministry. This is not about prominence in the church. This is about running and pursuing Jesus and his interests about daddy's name and daddy's 1:18:00 house, my spiritual heavenly my heavenly father's house and his name and being zealous for it. And if I'm not zealous for it, I really believe I will be disqualified because that's the way Paul ran. May we live such a way. And in 1:18:16 another place, Paul talks about this zeal can stir up others. 2 Corinthians 9, he says the same thing. That's the reason he exhorted the church in Corinth with the example of Macedonia that through that stirring up of zeal, they 1:18:29 would stir up others. May the Lord help us. Heavenly Father, I ask for grace, the true grace of God that leads us, Lord, to zealous repentance, zealous giving, and a zeal to encourage others. Help me, Lord. Help us each one of us 1:18:46 that we might follow your example, who had such zeal that it consumed him, consumed you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for the example you are. Thank you for the example of Paul and other godly men and women who have gone ahead of us who gave 1:19:01 themselves fully to be zealous in following you. And we believe the same will be true of all of us. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you, brother Santos. It was a joy 1:20:08 to hear you. Thank you for the strong encouragement that we can each of us can run in such a way that that we can win. that each of us can if we take this word to heart set our eyes on Jesus who ran who had a zeal for his father and his 1:20:25 father's house that we can run in such a way as to win the prize. Thank you for for for sharing with us for encouraging us. Brothers and sisters, let's let's sing this song. It says, "My goal is God himself. 1:20:43 nor joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but himself my God. It is his to lead me there. Not mine, but his. Uh but the next line says, "At any cost, dear Lord, by any road." And it says, "So faith bounds 1:21:02 forward to its goal in God and love can trust her Lord to lead her there. Upheld by him, my soul is following hard." What a beautiful balance that we see in scripture till God has fulfilled my deepest prayer. And uh it goes on to say that 1:21:21 the way that leads to him must needs be straight. Straight means narrow. One thing I know I cannot say no to him. I cannot say him nay. I press on towards my Lord. Uh my God is my glory here from day to day and my great 1:21:38 reward. Let's let's learn this song. Let's listen to the tune and as we pick it up we can join and sing. [Music] Michael is God 1:21:58 himself not joy nor peace nor even blessing but himself my 1:22:12 God is his to lead me They're not mine, not his at any cost, dear Lord, by any 1:22:30 road. We'll sing that first verse once more. Then go ahead. My goal is not himself nor joy nor peace. Not even 1:22:49 blessing but himself my God is his to lead me. not mine but 1:23:03 his at any cost still walk by any ro. So faith bounce forward to its golden 1:23:22 dark and love can trust her to lead her there. Upheld by him my soul is falling 1:23:41 hard till God hath fulfilled my deepest prayer. [Music] 1:23:54 No matter if the way is sometimes dark, no matter though the cost be of times 1:24:11 gray, he knoweth how I pass shall the way that leads to him must lead me straight. One thing I know I cannot 1:24:41 say. One thing I do, I press towards my Lord. [Music] My God and glory here from day to 1:25:00 day. And in the glory there might [Music] Amen. Let's 1:25:37 uh run towards the race and as we heard press on with zeal. Yeah. So there's there's a song in Canada that says Santosha. It's the only kala you know song I know joy is welling up and and overflowing. So we heard brother 1:25:57 Santosh punit and you know as we sang earlier today I'm happy today we are very happy to have brother Santo Matthew also with us. He's an elder in the church in Cortm. He's a very dear brother um and uh he's been teaching in 1:26:13 engineering colleges. He's been a dean and a principal and uh but more than that he's a brother who has a heart for young people and a tremendous zeal for the Lord even as we heard today for the things of the Lord. So we want to hear 1:26:28 what is on his heart. Brother Santos Matthew please come and share. Dear brothers and sisters, children, 1:26:49 it's a joy to be uh at CFC Bangalore where we have been much blessed not just me personally but as a family we have been blessed much so I know started in 16 dust square 1:27:08 and then 40 dust square now here. So I have had the opportunity to come to 40 Duster Square and uh I'm so thankful to God for brother Zach, brother Ian who founded and the other godly leaders through whom I have received much and uh 1:27:25 that has blessed us and strengthened us to move forward. Thank God for the word uh that we heard today to be zealous for the Lord. When I look back uh my life, I came here as a young man as brother Suresh 1:27:45 mentioned uh zealous and u I realized that uh after some time that many of the zeal was even misdirected. Um so I I needed to have the right zeal as uh some of those things brother 1:28:04 Santos pointed out Santo Punan pointed out uh the zeal for repentance. Um so I can also would like to read a verse from uh 2 Corinthians uh 11. So 1:28:19 where Paul is saying 11 2 and 3 for I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy for I betrothed to you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin but I'm afraid as a serpent deceived Eve by his 1:28:38 craftiness your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. So Paul had a zeal for the Corinthian Christians that they have they will have a zealous devotion to Christ. So they were cooling off in 1:28:56 their devotion to Christ and his zeal for them was that they should have a zeal in their devotion. So u when I also look back see there was a zeal in doing things, zeal in so many other things but 1:29:12 um you know a zeal for devotion a zeal in being devoted to Jesus, a zeal in repenting consistently, a zeal in humbling myself consistently. Sometimes some of us are zealous u in 1:29:32 giving up something, giving money uh but uh a zeal in giving myself, giving up myself, my rights, my goals, my desires, my plans [Music] 1:29:50 um or being zealous in denying myself, taking up the cross daily. So that's the right zeal which will in turn lead us to be zealous in good works, zealous to strengthen the brethren. So that's what uh Jesus told Peter also that when you 1:30:10 come back you will strengthen the brother. So I want to briefly mention a few things from the life of Peter. uh you know uh we all identify very much with Peter because we feel that Peter is very much like us and uh in terms of 1:30:25 zeal also Peter is very zealous so maybe we can think a few things from Peter um first let's uh look at uh Luke 5 uh where uh Peter 1:30:43 says you know the context uh there that Peter was the beginning of Jesus ministry the disciples Peter didn't uh he was fishing he didn't get anything and uh then they saw a miracle they both being filled up and then uh Peter was 1:31:03 convicted of a sin and at the end um he and a few other disciples they say uh verse 11 they left everything and followed him. What a zealous response to the love of God. He saw the God's love, 1:31:19 God's amazing provision, God's God is reaching out to him and then zealously he he left everything and followed him. But when we look at the life of Peter after that 1:31:35 uh till we see in John 21 about the how Jesus interacted with Peter. So if we look at the biography or the life of Peter and if we look at our own lives, we can see the question that Jesus is going to ask us. Jesus continually asks 1:31:53 us, you did you really leave everything? What did you leave? Peter left everything and followed him. Peter left his fish. Peter left his boat. Peter left uh some of the initial you know we know some of the 1:32:11 conditions of disciplehip like uh uh Matthew 10:37 we read he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Um so Peter or many other disciples 1:32:27 some of us here we were zealous during our time initially when we repented some from some of us from uh Hindu background some are from Catholic background some from other traditional Christian background. So there was a radical stand 1:32:41 and a zealous repentance and no my relatives no they are not most important Jesus is most important uh left everything you know in that sense that condition yes we took zealously then Luke 14:33 it says none of you can be my disciple who does not 1:32:59 give up all his own possessions um yeah there is all these areas there is a much uh tremendous growth So we all need to go move forward. But still some of us when we look you know giving up something facing some loss uh facing 1:33:19 maybe some monetary loss or um during covid times we've gone through so much of problems losing a job um losing loved ones. Even in the midst of that um yeah Lord yeah I still want to love you. I want to follow you. Yeah, we were 1:33:38 able to uh yeah, yes, we need to grow but to some extent we were able to do uh that also. But uh um again then the third condition of disciplehip says um Mark 16:24 then Jesus said if anyone wants to 1:33:56 come after me he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me. He must deny himself take up his cross and follow me. So you should love me more than your relatives. You should love me more than your possessions. And then you should love me 1:34:13 more than yourself. You should love me more than yourself. So there uh so in the life of Peter if you if you look at his life if you look at his life closely he left everything. He left many of these things. The first condition of 1:34:33 disciplehip, the second condition of disciplehip, many of these things he left, but you we move forward in his life, you see he was holding on. He was wrapped around himself. He was wrapped around himself. Me, my thoughts, my 1:34:50 plans, my ideas, he was wrapped around that. Yeah. So what really needed was a zeal in denying myself in taking up my cross and following Jesus. So look at um um 1:35:08 Matthew 16. Uh Matthew 16 is a wonderful chapter where Peter uh was appreciated by Jesus. So he got the revelation that and he said you are the Christ the son of the living God and 1:35:26 um and then Peter I mean Jesus says I also say to you that you are Petro you are the small rock piece and upon this rock Petra Christ I will build out of this revelation uh I will build um my church and the gates of hates will 1:35:45 not uh overpower it and then um a lot of encouraging words by Jesus. I'll give you the keys and all that. And then immediately after that, you see when Jesus is talking about um the suffering is going to go through and u he Peter 1:36:04 verse 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying God forbid it lord this shall never happen to you. Now he had he had left everything but he had uh other ambitions and goals. Maybe Jesus you know he'll become a king and then I 1:36:22 want to be uh you know James and John wanted to be on the right and the left. Maybe he wanted to be in front or I don't know back or somewhere very close. Uh so he had his own plans and he has he had his own um 1:36:37 agenda. And then uh Jesus turned to Peter and said get behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on Christ's interest but man's interest. You are setting your mind on your interest. You're setting 1:36:56 your mind on your interest. That is paramount. That is important to you now. And then it is there in this context that Jesus says, "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Are 1:37:11 you willing to lose your life? Are you willing to give up your life? Are you willing to love me more than you love yourself? That was the question that uh Jesus was asking Peter. Then in um look at Matthew 19. 1:37:29 uh Matthew 19 uh there it's uh in the context of the rich young ruler there again 1:37:47 um uh Jesus says it is u um it's extremely uh difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god and he uh talks all that uh and there then Peter uh immediately 1:38:05 thought yes we left everything uh so he's asking Jesus 27 then Peter said to him behold we have left everything and followed you we have left everything and followed you but the qu the remaining part of the that verse says what then will be there for 1:38:24 us what then I have left everything you know it's a paradox the question one part I have left everything and then he's asking but what will I get what will I have so left many things but not yeah I've not 1:38:42 left me myself what I want what my goals my ambitions my plans my ideas yeah and u Luke 22 you again. 1:39:18 Peter there there Jesus is telling him verse 31 Simon Simon behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when once 1:39:37 you have turned again strengthen your brothers. Um there uh um know it is in the context where uh Peter says I will not deny you and uh all that. So he had his own self 1:39:55 strength that that we can see uh also in where he says even if everyone um leaves you I will not leave you. uh all that um in a self strength he had 1:40:14 many many of those decisions but then Jesus wanted to really work in him and he said uh I'm going to allow you to be sifted but then once you turn again once you zealously repent once you zealously turn again and he did that so he 1:40:31 repented no we know that he repented in tears and he came back and how God changed the life of Peter that's an amazing uh example for all of us. And um finally in uh um we also see about Peter in u 1:40:47 Matthew 26 um by know you know you know all that how um know he said that he will not deny and then he denied and then he wept uh know in tears and now in uh John 21 we 1:41:06 see Jesus is asking him three times is Peter uh you know the context in John 21 so from verse 15 onwards and Jesus is asking him do you love me more than 1:41:24 these do you deeply love me that's the actual uh word do you deeply love me more than these more than these means what more than maybe these people more than your relatives more than the fish more than the boat do you love me more 1:41:38 than these he says Uh yes Jesus uh uh I think uh I love you again Jesus asked do you deeply love me again I love you and then Jesus specifically asked him do you love me do you love me or do you love me 1:41:57 more than yourself do you love me more than yourself and uh he he says uh Lord you know all things Lord you know all things. And then this is a point where I'm tremendously encouraged. 1:42:15 Verse 18, it says, "Truly, truly I say to you, when you were younger, you used to guard yourself and walk wherever you wished. You gave up everything, many other things, but you didn't give up your self-will. You didn't yield 1:42:31 yourself. You ged yourself. You went to wherever you wished. But now when you're growing old, when you're growing in grace, when you're having the right zeal, you will stretch out your 1:42:47 hands and someone else will gird you and someone else will guard you. The Holy Spirit will gird you. Lord Jesus will guide you and bring you where you do not wish to go. Where you do not wish to go. That's a place where God wants to take 1:43:05 us to. I um Romans uh uh um uh 8:28 is a you know this particular verse which we often hear in CFC churches. We are encouraged much. Um it's uh it's a wonderful 1:43:24 promise and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose for those who know we know that it is that particular verse. God causes all things 1:43:37 to work together for good. And we know in other churches people may not know it fully, but we know that good is that we can become more like Jesus through various circumstances that we go through that God can make us more like Jesus. 1:43:51 And but in this verse the there are also two conditions. It says um it's one condition actually. And so it says God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to his 1:44:06 purpose. We are called all of us sitting here are called by God. He he has called us. He has shown us love like he called Peter. Uh he his love reached out to our hearts. He called us with a purpose that he has done. But there is also the other 1:44:24 part those who love God. Those who love God. So we have had lot of circumstances, situations we we all have gone through. At the end of it, can we say like in Psalm Psalm 66, now all the difficulties that I've gone through now, 1:44:42 it has brought me to a place of raaya, a place of abundance. Uh all the darkness that I've gone through, it has brought me to a place where my cup runs over as in Psalm 23. uh many times it does not happen. Many times it does not happen and that the 1:45:02 the reason is that I love myself. I so many other things we have left but I still hold on to myself without having a zeal to yield myself without a zeal to uh give up my rights without a zeal 1:45:21 maybe when we are corrected uh by others a zeal to submit zeal to yield and that is uh what is preventing us from um you know sometimes this beautiful promise uh from becoming a reality. And let's let's 1:45:39 uh really be zealous. Zealous in repentance, zealous in going down, zealous in going the narrow way, zealous in denying ourselves, zealous in loving God more than we love ourselves. So that all things will work together for the 1:45:55 ultimate good of us being transformed to his image in our life. May God uh bless us all. So thank you for all your prayers uh for us. You know we know that during v various phases in our lives the Bangalore CFC church also you have 1:46:10 prayed for us. Thank you so much and God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you brother Santos. So full of Santosa now. Thank 1:46:30 you brother Santo Punan for the word uh you shared with us uh your burden. It's the Lord's burden and uh the scripture says when God spoke, God's word went forth and the Holy Spirit worked. We don't have to lose heart when 1:46:48 we hear so much exhaltation about being zealous when we see our lack. when the Holy Spirit shines and shows uh gives light on dark areas and also he gives us hope that he wants to work in 1:47:07 our life. That's our hope. That's how Abraham uh he grew strong in faith when he waited. Thank you brother Santosh Matthew for adding to that and uh we'll trust the Lord. He will work. He will 1:47:24 give us that willingness to u zealous for good work and to repent and to live for the lord love for his kingdom and his church. I'm I was tremendously blessed by brother Santo Punan when he 1:47:40 was here. He is a person you when you're if you're close to him for 5 minutes you will sense are blessed by his zealous for the lord and his church. I'm very grateful for godly men uh who blessed us with his word and with their spirit with 1:47:58 their life. Let's u pray and commit ourselves to the lord. Thank you father for the love you have for us and uh areas you show us and also help us to overcome through the power of 1:48:16 your holy spirit. The holy spirit works in our hearts and life to change us and transform us into the likeness of our lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for godly men, brother Santos Punan, brother Santos Matthew, the way you worked in 1:48:33 their life and and you established the witness through them. Lord, thank you for the responsibilities they have and thank you for their families and bless them mightily. Lord, make them greater blessing in the coming years. Lord, 1:48:47 thank you for blessing our hearts and our hearts are refreshed and also our hearts are filled with faith that the Holy Spirit can transform us and help us. What a great hope we have. Thank you, Father. We commit ourselves. Thank 1:49:00 you for the word which we heard and thank you for your presence. Thank you for your working. Thank you for the church, the truth we hear. We want to be grateful to you and trust you to live such a life. We trust and ask in Jesus' 1:49:15 name. Amen. Amen. The meeting is over. We'll hear announcements. Presenting the book of 1:49:40 this month, Practical Disciplehip by Brother Zach Puner. A disciple is a learner and a follower of the Lord Jesus. He is one who has made Jesus his 1:49:59 example and seeks to conform his life to his master's life in every possible way. The foundation of true disciplehip is making Jesus Christ Lord of everything in our 1:50:17 lives. Giving him all that we have and all that we are. Jesus spoke about a man who had laid a foundation for a tower but could not complete it because 1:50:34 he was unable to pay the cost of construction. Jesus told us to sit down first and count the cost before even starting to build. So it cost something to be a 1:50:54 disciple. When Jesus preached disciplehip to the multitudes, it soon came down to a handful of only 11 disciples. The others found the message too hard and left him. 1:51:12 It was with those 11 disciples who stayed on with him that God accomplished his purposes in the world. Finally, today we too can accomplish God's purposes in the world only by being disciples of Jesus. This book deals with practical areas 1:51:37 such as disciplehip on the home, disciplehip and financial matters, disciplehip on church matters. May this book help you to be 1:51:54 disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in every area of your lives. You can read this book free online at cfcindia.com/books/practical disciplehip.
