0:19 In the book of Romans, if you turn there, Romans is a a letter that starts from the bottom, man's pathetic sinful condition, 0:37 and leads right up to uh the place of God's full and final purpose for man. So, I just want to show you a few things 0:55 in here. In Romans chapter 1, it's speaks about the terrible condition of man in sin. If you turn to Romans 1, 1:20 three times it says here, God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. When God gives up on some people, it is because they've come into such a pathetic sinful condition. 1:36 See Romans chapter 1, verse 24. It's talking about uh First of all, they were not thankful for what God did for them. In that's what it says here. Verse 21, Romans 1:21, "Even though they knew God, 1:56 they did not honor him as God by giving thanks." See, this is the problem that man expects so much. If you look at your own life, 2:13 you find this attitude of thanking God does not come naturally to us. We had much rather pray and ask God for something rather than thank him for the many things that he's already done for us. 2:32 Thanksgiving does not come naturally to us. Not only in our relationship with God, even with one another. See, if you were to ask your own uh yourself, when when was the last time you said 2:51 thank you to your wife for what she does for you every day? Or you sisters, can you think of the last time you said thank you to your husband for all the work he does to earn the money? And children, 3:09 when do children When was the last time children said thank you to Daddy and Mommy? The descent into evil begins with when you stop being thankful. That's what the first thing I want to show you in Romans. 3:27 I've said this many times, but I feel there's a need to repeat it because basically our human nature is ungrateful. We expect so much. We expect God to do things for us. We expect our fellow believers to do things for us that 3:47 when somebody does something for us, we may nominally give say thanks, but the spirit of thankfulness is not there. And what I want to tell you is when thankfulness goes away from our life, 4:05 we have begun to backslide. And if I were to ask you, how many of you feel you're backsliders? I think almost all of you will say, "I'm not a backslider. I'm not living in sin. I'm coming regularly to church and I'm part of this fellowship." All that is 4:23 good, brothers and sisters, but if you don't have a spirit of thankfulness in your heart, backsliding has begun. Because in this chapter, it speaks about the wrath of God in verse 18, God's anger 4:42 is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. They're all very strong words. Think of Romans 1:18. The wrath of God is revealed against ungodliness, unrighteousness, and all that. And then he describes how man has come 4:59 into a pathetic condition. Verse 23, they began to worship idols made in made look like animals. You know that. We've seen it all over this country. Uh gods that are made in the shape of many animals, idols. And because of that, God gave them up. 5:16 As I told you, three times. Verse 24, God gave them up. And again in verse 26, God gave them up. And verse 28, God middle of that, God gave them up. Why does God give up on some people? They started with worship of idols. 5:35 And then they verse 24, they began to dishonor their bodies among themselves. How did they do that? Instead of the normal function of man and woman in marriage, 5:53 it began to Men began to become go around with men. Homosexuality in verse 27. When last part of verse 27, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving sickness. And this is not 6:12 just in 21st century. Romans is written in the first century. It was going on then. And it has become so prevalent now in the world today where men are getting married to men and women are getting married to women. This is all a 6:29 It is What is it is a result of what? Verse 24, God giving them up. Verse 26, God giving them up. I want you to recognize that these things are an indication that God's given up on certain people. You know, it's like a teacher in a 6:47 school who's tried and tried and tried for many years to try and teach some students, and finally he tells them, "I give up on you. There's no hope for you, fellows." And it's pathetic when we see the condition of so many people in the 7:02 world. And we are living in the last days now. And then it goes on to say that again, the third time in verse 28, God gave them up to a depraved mind. And see the list of all the things they do. 7:20 Just read this. Verse 29, "Being filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greed." Greed is also a terrible sin. It's put in the category of evil. Greed means you want and want things you cannot afford perhaps, but you want more and more and more and 7:38 more. You're never satisfied with what you have. That is greed. And even what you can't afford, so many married couples just buy things on credit and get into so much debt. All debt comes because of greed and wanting more than you can afford. 7:57 And evil full of envy. When you're jealous of people, you're in this list. And murder and strife and deceit and hatred, gossiping. That's another thing, speaking evil about other people behind their back. It's the result of God giving up. My 8:14 dear brothers, gossiping is such a sin which even believers practice and they don't realize it's a serious sin to speak about somebody behind his back. And notice here where it comes. It comes as a result of God giving them up. 8:29 Verse 24, God gave them up. Verse 26, God gave them up. Verse 28, God gave them up. And then they became gossips. So, these these sins are an indication of God has given up on certain people. Slanderers, verse 30. Haters of God, 8:45 insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to parents. Children, when they are disobedient to parents, is a result of is a failure of parents who have not taught their children obedience. They don't know it from childhood. 9:01 We have to teach them. And then it goes on to say about without understanding and unmerciful. And what I want to show you is where does it all begin? It begins with one simple thing in verse 21. 9:21 They did not learn to give thanks to God. They were not grateful for what God had already given them. I hope you will learn this lesson today permanently in your lives. The importance 9:40 of a spirit of thankfulness. If that is the first step downward, you know, we saw the pathetic state and all the terrible things listed from verse 24 to 32. But where did it all begin? 9:57 When the spirit of gratitude to God for what he's done is lost. I want to encourage all of you my dear brothers and sisters every day of your life learn to be thankful to God for what he's done. Thankful to God that he's given you 10:14 another day to live. Thankful to God for health. And even if you don't earn much money, thankful to God for what you have what you have got. It will change your life completely. It will change the atmosphere in your home 10:29 if you develop the spirit of thankfulness. And if you learn as husband and wife to thank thank each other even for you know so often we take each other for granted in the home. You say oh the saying thank you is a formality. 10:48 Well, maybe a formality but you don't have to even if you don't say it in so many words does your husband or your wife see that you are grateful for them? That you're thankful that they are faithful to you and loyal to you and work for you and 11:03 serve you in so many ways. All you husbands and wives are doing so much for each other. A husband is going out it's not so easy nowadays to earn a living. It's such a competitive world and so many people lose their jobs. Men are 11:18 going out to work and it's not an easy job for a wife at home to take care of the house and to bring up children. Both husbands and wives need to be thankful for one another. I still thank God. I still say thank you to my wife when she brings me a cup of 11:38 coffee in the morning. Or cooks a meal. It's not a formality for me. It's not at all. I'm really really deeply thankful. Develop that habit my brothers and sisters. It will change your whole personality. Because the opposite of thankfulness is 11:57 grumbling and complaining and the world is full of that. So God wants to make us all very pleasant pleasing personalities. And why is it we are not more thankful? 12:14 It is because we have such high thoughts about ourselves. I sometimes use this example. Supposing you are a private secretary to some big cabinet minister in Karnataka. And you're going for some you know you know the cabinet secretary has to go 12:34 along with the minister to different places and while you're walking with him somewhere in some function he drops his handkerchief. And you as a secretary pick it up and give it to him. He will not say thank you. You're 12:51 supposed to do it. He'll just take it and put it in his pocket not even look at you. That is a proof of the high thoughts he has for himself. Now on the other hand if you you're walking behind say you're walking behind a beggar a poor beggar on the 13:09 road and he drops his handkerchief or something or some cloth and you pick it up and give it to him. What will that beggar say to you? He's surprised that a educated person like you would pick up uh something he dropped and give it to him 13:27 a poor beggar. He'd be so thankful. He'd be surprised. So I use that illustration to point out one thing that it's because we have high thoughts about ourselves and look down on others without even realizing it that we don't have a spirit of 13:44 thankfulness. That's why you are not thankful to your wife and that's why you're not thankful to your husband. So it's all got to do with humility. A humble person will be always thankful. Because he feels 14:04 why should this person do this for me? I'm so thankful that my wife is cooking a meal for me. I'm thankful that my wife is looking after the children looking after the house and I'm thankful that my husband is working so hard in a competitive world 14:18 to try and earn money to take care of the family and there are so many reasons why we should be thankful for one another. And that's what we must teach our children. If the parents have not learned to be thankful for one another where will the 14:35 children learn it? And that is as I said here the first step of backsliding. So I've spoken about this sometime ago also but I felt the need to repeat it here because I believe that we are living in a world 14:53 where the spirit of thankfulness the attitude of gratitude is disappearing. We are living in a world with us fighting and quarreling and wars and all types of evil. And in the midst of it if we are to shine as a light 15:11 if CFC is to like to be like a light we must learn to be thankful. Be thankful for those who serve you. Be thankful for the elders in the church. I'll tell you after 48 years of being an elder it's not at all an easy job. 15:28 So I've learned to be thankful for the wonderful elders God has given you in CFC. Wonderful brothers who they're not paid for it. They're serving you thankfully. Don't just take their service for granted. Be thankful. Be thankful for those who cook the meal 15:46 for you for your lunch. We there are so many things if you think about it that we can be thankful. And if you're the type of person who develops this thankful spirit. I don't mean just formally saying thank you but having a 16:00 thankful spirit. A lot of people like to be near you and be with you. And imagine what a testimony it is like that will be. You know what Jesus said? I want you to turn to this verse. You're familiar with it Matthew's gospel 16:17 chapter 10. Now this is remember this is Jesus almighty God who's come to earth as a man. And he tells his apostles when they are going out to serve him he tells them turn to Matthew chapter 10 16:37 and verse 40. He tells his 12 disciples if anybody receives you into their home it is like receiving me Jesus says. If any you receive a servant of God into your home Jesus says you're actually receiving 16:55 Jesus himself. And therefore you're receiving the father. You're receiving the one who sent me. If you receive a prophet listen to this. If you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet you'll get a prophet's reward. 17:14 Without being a prophet you can get a prophet's reward. Isn't that something? You're not a prophet. You're anything but a prophet. But because you very humbly receive a prophet as a prophet God says I'll give you the reward of a 17:32 prophet. That's amazing. If you receive a righteous man verse 41 in the name of a righteous man you'll receive a righteous man's reward. And listen to this. If anyone verse 42 in the name of a disciple 17:51 gives to even one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink I tell you he will not lose his reward. For example somebody gave a cup of cold water to Peter when he was preaching somewhere. 18:10 What is a cup of water? Costs nothing. And the Lord says that ex why does he give a cup of water? He's thankful for Peter preaching. And so somebody gave him a cup of water in the first century somewhere he went to preach out of gratitude. It's a 18:27 result of thank I'm very thankful for this man came to our village or town and preached God's word and I don't have much money to give him but here let me give him a cup of water. It says he will get a reward. Can you imagine in the final day when Jesus 18:42 comes back and he sets up his throne to give rewards he calls somebody some unknown person from the crowd. He says come here. I remember he's the Lord says to that man 2,000 years ago when my servant Peter came to your village 19:02 and he was thirsty after preaching you gave him a cup of water. I want to give you a reward. You believe Jesus do mean what he said? I believe it with all my heart that I'm going to see that before my eyes when Jesus comes back. 19:19 This is how Jesus is. He does not even take a cup of water for granted. I say Lord make me like that. Make me like that where anyone who does anything for me let me never think that I deserve it. I 19:36 deserve nothing. I I want to be thankful for a person who gives me a cup of water. I want to be thankful to a person who does anything for me. I wish every one of you sitting listening to me today will from this day onwards develop this 19:55 attitude and teach it to your children, practice it in your home. I tell you little by little your home will get the atmosphere of heaven. What is the opposite of Thanksgiving? It's complaining, grumbling. And there is so much of it in the world. 20:15 That is what brings so much darkness and evil, this grumbling, complaining spirit. And you know, it's very easy to grumble and complain because nobody is perfect. We accidentally make mistakes. The wife can accidentally put a little more 20:35 salt into the food forgetting that salt was already added earlier. The common mistakes that wives make and instead of saying, "Oh, why you made so much salt?" Why speak like that? It's a mistake. You know it's a mistake. It was not done 20:50 deliberately. Blessed is the husband who will not complain about that. And say, "Okay, I can put some curd into it or something like that." And and bring it. Why spoil the atmosphere in the home? My dear brothers and sisters, please ask 21:09 yourself this question. Look back over your past life, maybe the past 1 week, or as as far as back as you can remember, and see whether you have this attitude of thankfulness or an attitude of finding some fault or something with others. 21:28 Man's basic nature is to find fault. Why they haven't done this and why they haven't done that? I remember when I was in Bangalore and I used to travel out for meetings and I would tell the office staff, "There's some work to be done." 21:47 I said, "Here's something important work, please do this. I'm going to come back after 1 week and please try and finish this." And then I would finally tell them this, uh I think John Perera will remember this. I've told others also. 22:02 "If you don't finish this work that I want you to do by the time I come back, don't worry. It's perfectly all right. The world will not collapse because the only thing serious in life is sin." If you're not able to finish your work 22:20 or you completely forgot to do it, never mind. I'm not going to be upset if you forgot to do something. The world will not collapse. The only thing serious is sin. Please remember this expression I often quote to people, 22:37 "The only thing serious is sin." And to have an unthankful spirit is a terrible sin. I showed you from Romans 1 that is the first step downwards, downwards, downwards, downwards, downwards, downwards, downwards that finally ends up in all types of 22:54 evil and God gives up such people. God gives up such people. Three times it says God gave them up, God gave them up. Where did it all begin? They were not thankful. They were not thankful to God. They were not thankful to one another. 23:08 It's a very simple thing. And that is why in the Old Testament that command is not there. But in the New Testament we have a command like this. See in 1 Thessalonians in chapter 5, 1 Thessalonians 5 23:27 and verse 18, "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will in Christ Jesus for you." And next verse is, "Don't quench the 23:45 Holy Spirit." Quench is a word related to fire. You pour water on the fire, the fire gets quenched. The Holy Spirit, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is called a baptism of fire. The Holy Spirit is pictured like a fire in the Old Testament. And the Holy 24:03 Spirit comes into our hearts and sets us on fire for God. And here it says, "Don't quench that fire." What is the connection there? Learn to give thanks, verse 19, verse 18. Otherwise, you will quench that fire. You see the connection between 24:22 verse 18 and 19. "In everything God's give thanks because this is what God wants you to do." And if you don't do it, you'll be quenching the Holy Spirit. There are many people who are really filled with the Holy Spirit at some time 24:38 in their life. They sought God in humility and brokenness and God met with them and filled them with the Holy Spirit and they could see changes in their life. But then after some time you still see those people after 2, 3 years, 24:51 the fire is gone. The fire is gone. Why did it go away? See here. They did not give thanks and they quenched the Holy Spirit. So one way that we can, you know, uh when these coal fires and all, people 25:10 keep fanning it, fanning it so that it keeps burning. And that's the only type of fire that was in the olden days. They don't have gas stoves and all like we have today. When they put a coal fire or a wooden fire, they have to keep on fanning it 25:24 and fanning it, fanning it to keep it burning. That's how people had fires for centuries in the world. And here I the picture I get is the spirit of thankfulness in us keeps the fire burning. The opposite of thankfulness is 25:41 grumbling, complaining, criticizing, gossiping. All these things are like throwing water and water on the fire and quenching it. I believe God has has put a fire in the hearts of some of you sometime or the other in your life. 25:59 But it's not burning bright. It should be burning much brighter today. God filled me with the Holy Spirit and my desire is that that fire should keep on burning more and more and more and more and more and more. And one way I can make sure the fire 26:16 keeps burning is by keeping a spirit of thankfulness in my heart. First of all, in my home. Everything begins in the home. Be thankful. Let your children, dear parents, be thankful for your children. They Your children are not perfect. They'll make 26:33 so many mistakes. They will do foolish, stupid things. But there are so many good things in our children. Your children are not evil. With their own They're young, growing up. They're trying to do things properly and they make mistakes. Be merciful to 26:49 them. Be thankful for your children. Don't just look for fault, finding fault. You did this wrong, you did that wrong. They will develop that habit and they'll be complaining to each other complaining fault with each other also. 27:03 Think if your children can grow up to see a father and mother who're always appreciating something good in them. Yeah, I'm so happy to see this quality you have. To say something like that to your child. And if you've not done it till today, 27:19 when you go home from today onwards, no, I'm not asking you to tell a lie. Don't tell your lies to the children just to artificially. But when you sincerely, I'm sure in all of your children there are some good qualities 27:36 if you have eyes to see them. Think of some of those good qualities and appreciate them. Tell them, "I am so happy to see that you you have this quality or this thing, that thing." Imagine what will happen. You I tell you your home life will 27:51 change. Heaven will come down into your home because that's how this heaven There's no grumbling or complaining in heaven. Heaven is a place where they're always giving thanks. And that's why it says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 28:04 verse 18, "In everything give thanks." Whatever the situation, even if it's something you cannot understand. Lord, somebody made a mistake. Okay, never mind. I want to I'm not thanking for the mistake, but I 28:23 thank God that you can overrule it. That God can bring something good out of it. See, the worst thing that happened was when Adam sinned, Adam and Eve. But God brought something good out of it. The worst sin that was committed on the 28:38 earth was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But God brought something good out of it. These things are written in the Bible to teach us that God can bring something good out of the worst evil things that man can do, whether it's 28:52 Adam and Eve's sin or Christ being crucified, our God is so powerful and almighty that he can bring some good out of it. So we give thanks. We can give thanks that God can bring not We don't give thanks for Adam and Eve committing sin, 29:11 but we give thanks that immediately God said, "I'm going to solve this problem." Please turn to Genesis chapter 3. What did God God tell Adam and Eve when they sinned? See Genesis chapter 3. Yeah, he asked them 29:29 verse Genesis 3:11, he asked Adam, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?" Very simple question. He asked Adam, "Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat?" 29:48 He should have said, "Yes, Lord. I'm sorry." But, he doesn't say that. See that spirit of evil of blaming your wife comes right up there. This when you blame your wife, you have brothers for anything that you have blamed your wife. Here Here's the first 30:04 person who blamed his wife. He said, "My wife gave it to me." She told me to eat. But, I say, "Adam, didn't you open your mouth and eat it? Why blame your wife? You could have said no." But, see what God says. He asked the woman. The woman says, 30:23 "The serpent gave it to me." And see See the goodness of God. He doesn't yell at Adam and Eve. Just see. You got to learn something here. Read slowly. Adam says, "The woman gave it to me." And God could have said to him, "Adam, 30:37 you opened your mouth and ate it. Why blame her?" And when he asks the woman, the woman says, "This The serpent The devil gave The devil gave it to me. The serpent." He could have said, "Why did you listen to the serpent?" He doesn't say that. 30:50 See See how God is doesn't say that. He says, "Okay, I will judge this serpent." in verse 14. You see the goodness of God in something there. Adam and Eve are the were the ones whom God should have shouted at. "You disobeyed me." 31:06 But, he does not shout at them. Fathers and mothers, learn and listen from that. That even when your children make a mistake or your wife makes a mistake, learn from God. He don't He doesn't immediately shout at them, "Why did you 31:21 do that?" His His attitude is always, "Okay, let's fix the problem." I always tell parents. Supposing your your child did something wrong. Careless they were or deliberately they did something and you told them to do something they didn't do properly. 31:39 Instead of yelling at them saying, "I told you not to do it like that." Instead of saying that, take a lesson from God who said, "Okay, let's fix the problem." That's what he's saying here. And what does he say? Verse 15, 31:55 the this the you serpent the seed the child that comes out of this woman one day that is referring to Jesus Christ will crush your head. Verse 15. What is the Lord's attitude? The Lord's attitude is let's fix the problem. 32:14 Not let's find fault. Whose fault is it? Is it Adam's fault or Eve's fault? That's not the main thing. It was caused by the devil. So, let's crush the head of the devil. And the Lord says, the seed of the woman will come and bruise 32:31 your head. Now, I believe all of us can learn a lesson from that. That in our home, when somebody makes a mistake, maybe deliberately or carelessly, I don't think Eve Eve and Adam had a rebellious spirit. She was just careless. She thought, "Oh, nothing It 32:50 won't be serious." It was serious. And very often sometimes our wives or our children can do something they don't realize is serious, but the result is very serious. So, instead of shouting and yelling at them, why not say, "Let's fix the problem now. 33:05 What is the problem? Let's you and I fix the problem." I tell you your children will become your best friends if you treat them like that. Correct them by all means, but not in this Not in the habit Not in this attitude of 33:19 finding fault with them. We are all fallen creatures. Why should we be merciful to our children? Because when we were children, we've done a lot of stupid things. I see my life even as a grown-up person, I've done a lot of stupid things. 33:39 So, how can I expect my children to be perfect? So, I say, "Lord, teach me to be a merciful person." You see that verse that you see in the front of your meeting hall behind the pulpit? See that verse? "Be merciful to others 33:56 just as God has been merciful to you." When brother Ian and I were considering what verse to put up behind the pulpit, we asked ourselves, "We are preaching holiness. We are preaching a high standard in the church. 34:15 What is the one of the biggest dangers that people who have a high standard in can have in their attitude towards others? Being unmerciful." This is our standard. And you haven't come up to that and we can be very unmerciful to them. 34:32 So, I said, "Let's put that verse up there to be a constant reminder to us." So, I want to encourage you whenever you look at that verse, it's a reminder to you, my brother and sister, be merciful to your marriage partner. 34:46 Just like God has been merciful to you. Be merciful to your children. Just like God has been merciful to you. Be merciful to the brothers and sisters in the church who make mistakes or do something wrong. Just like God has been 35:01 merciful to you. And then the spirit of thankfulness will remain in you all the time. It will change your personality. It will change your personality. I'll tell you it will You'll become a completely different person if you allow the Holy Spirit does that. 35:18 So, this command that we Let's go back to 1 Thessalonians 5. We saw there. 1 Thessalonians 5. In everything There's nothing excluded, you know. When the Bible says everything, it means 35:36 everything. It doesn't say most things. It says in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18, "In everything." But, you say this person messed up the whole thing. That's okay. God can solve that messed up situation. 35:56 There's no problem that God cannot solve. Please remember this also, all of you brothers and sisters, the greatest problem that was ever took place on this earth is the problem of sin. That is the greatest problem. The problem of sin. 36:16 And God solved even that by sending Jesus to die on the cross. So, what is the lesson we learn on the cross? Not only that our sins can be forgiven, but learn this other message on the cross. The greatest problem that man created God could solve. 36:31 So, what is the small problem that your wife made that God cannot solve? What is the small problem that your children made that God cannot solve? Take this attitude, my brothers and sisters. It may not be solved in the way you 36:44 think. But, God can bring something good out of even very bad things. The crucifixion of Christ was the worst possible thing that could happen and God brought salvation for the whole world through it. The message from that is God can bring 37:00 good out of evil. God can solve any problem. It's one of the things I've been gripped by. God can solve any problem. If you don't give up. Don't get discouraged. You You may have to pray again and again. 37:19 But, God can solve any problem. Sometimes we get a bit confused. I'll tell you what happened to me when I was in the navy. It was 60 years ago in the year 1964. 60 years ago. One day God told me to leave my job 37:37 and put in my resignation and leave my naval job and come out for full-time Christian work. It was a very big step because I was only about 24 years old. And my father was a poor pensioner. I didn't have the 37:55 But, I had a heavenly father who was very rich and he would take care of me. But, so I said, "Sure." So, I wrote a resignation letter and sent it to naval headquarters. I was absolutely sure if Jesus Christ has got all authority in 38:13 heaven and earth, I will get my discharge from the navy immediately. Now, I knew it had to be a miracle because they have spent many lakhs of rupees training me in the military academy for so many years and they expect me to serve them for 20 38:29 years. And I had already served them at that time only for 5 years or 4 years. But, humanly speaking, impossible. But, I said, "God is almighty." And you know what happened? Naval headquarters said, "No. We will not release you." 38:47 I was so surprised. I said, "Lord Jesus, you said all authority in heaven and earth is given to you. And how can they say no?" And a lot of other believers around me also told me, "See, brother Zach, uh in those days, I was in Cochin. Other 39:04 believers in the assembly there told me in 19 This is 1964. Uh see, brother Zach, God has not called you. You're fooling yourself. They tried to confuse me. God has not called you. Stay in the navy. You got a good prospect to rise and 39:18 become a big officer in the navy. Stay here and be a Christian." But, I went home to my room and I said, "Lord, I thought you clearly called me. What shall I do? All these brothers Every single believer in that church told me 39:32 that this is the proof that God does not want me to leave my job." I was all alone. And I prayed. And you know what God said to me? When Moses went to Pharaoh and said, 39:50 "Let my people go that they may serve me." That's what I was also saying to the navy, "Let me go that I can serve the Lord." Moses went to Pharaoh and said, "Let my people go that they may serve me." Pharaoh said, "No." 40:02 And the Lord asked me from that instance, "What did Moses do?" I said, "Lord, he went back again." And the Lord said, "You do the same thing." Such a clear answer. And all the other believers were saying, "See, this is the proof God is not 40:22 wanting you to leave." If Moses had taken that attitude, Pharaoh had said, "No." That means God doesn't want Israel Israelites to leave Egypt. But he didn't take that attitude. You know, there's an answer to everything in the Bible. 40:35 I'm very thankful for that. That's why I urge people read the Bible, you'll have an answer to all the problems you face in your life. And because I knew that story, I went back to the navy second time. I said, "Dear sir, the Lord Jesus Christ 40:51 has called me to serve him. I want to leave." Within a few weeks, naval headquarters said, "No, not granted." I said, "Okay." Now, Moses went back 10 times. I'll go back. I applied again with the same statement, 41:11 expanding what I was doing for Christ and all that. But thankfully, I did not have to go back 10 times. The third time I went back, after 2 years, the navy said, "Okay, go." It was an absolute miracle. 41:30 And I don't know of any other naval officer in the history of the navy till then who was released on the ground that Jesus Christ has called me to serve him. I was the first and only one. I was so encouraged by that that 41:45 almighty God, my father, who runs the universe, that when we pray, we don't just say our father, we pray our father who art in heaven, who can handle everything. So, I told you that in everything there's an answer, so I could give thanks. Oh Lord, 42:04 so that whole experience of being rejected once, twice, strengthened my faith. So, even there I could give thanks for what looked like something not good. In everything, give thanks. But sometimes, you know, we should not 42:20 listen to what the unbelieving comments of other people around us. There are even among Christians, there's a lot of unbelief. There are very few Christians who got faith. Just who There's not even one person who came to me those days and said, "Brother 42:37 Zach, don't give up. Pray and go and seek God. Apply again." Not even one person. I have to seek the Lord alone. So, be a man of faith. Encourage those around you who are discouraged. 42:56 Then you will learn to give thanks in every situation. Now, I want to turn you to How can we learn to give thanks in every situation? Turn with me to Ephesians and chapter five. Ephesians chapter five. The wonderful thing about the Bible is 43:17 it not only tells you what to do, it tells you how to do it. You know, that's if you go to work in a factory and you're a completely raw person who don't know how to how to work and you've got a job in the factory, a good factory will not only give you the 43:33 job, but tell you how to do it. So, if the Bible says in everything, give thanks, and we are not naturally thankful people, we are naturally people who complain and find fault, the Lord will tell you how you can learn to give 43:46 thanks. Here's the answer. Ephesians chapter five, verse 18, "Don't get drunk with wine." And that refers to Wine is not just the alcohol part, but all the exciting things in the 44:05 world. You can get drunk means you can get so taken up with all the exciting things in the world. Uh wine is a type of expensive food. That's what it is. It's very expensive to have whiskey or wine and all. So, it said, "Don't I Let me paraphrase it like 44:25 this. Don't get taken up with just eating a lot of expensive food because you can afford it." Poor people can't afford wine. Don't get drunk with wine. Don't get taken up with all the fancy food that you can afford because you earn so much 44:42 money. Instead, discipline yourself a little bit in the luxuries that you can afford and be filled with the Holy Spirit. See, it's a contrast here. Don't get drunk with wine and that symbolizes all the exciting things the 45:00 world can give. Instead, seek God to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't ask God to give you more and more money so that you can enjoy all the exciting things in the world. Let me paraphrase that like that. But seek God for the power of the Holy 45:14 Spirit, which is much more important. And when you are filled with the spirit, you know what will happen? Verse 20, "You will always be giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus to the Father." Here is the 45:26 answer. So, when the Bible says, "In everything, give thanks." The answer is here. You cannot do it if you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. I mean, now that you heard me say it, you may go home and start giving thanks, 45:41 but it may last only for 2 days. After that, it'll be forgotten. But if you want a permanent life like that, where the spirit of complaining and grumbling and criticizing and fault-finding disappears from your life 45:59 completely, and you're no longer gossiping and backbiting when you go visiting one another, you're no longer complaining and finding fault with different things. You know, people come to CFC and they find fault with something or the other. 46:15 There's always uh people like that. The world is full of complainers and grumblers. Uh the whole week they'll be grumbling about something or the other. And in the midst of it, the Lord has placed us like a light. That grumbling and complaining does not 46:32 come out of our mouth. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. There are a lot of people who say, "I'm filled with the Holy Spirit." And particularly in Pentecostal circles, they say they speak in tongues and they make a lot of noise and praise and 46:47 worship and all. Good. And that's all good. I'm not against all that, but if they do that on Sunday morning in the church, on Sunday afternoon, they go home and criticize and grumble and fight fight with their wives, I say all their speaking in tongues and 47:04 their praise and worship is garbage. Absolute rubbish. It's a act. It's just something put on on Sunday morning to show that I'm very thankful person. It's it's hypocrisy. It's like these actors who are drunkards 47:22 in Hollywood and then go act in a Christian movie like they act like Moses. Or they act like Jesus. Or they act like John the Baptist. But in real life, they are divorced two, three times and drunkards. But Christians can be like that. 47:36 You're not acting like Moses or anything. You're acting like a very thankful person on Sunday morning. Oh, praising God and raising your hands and saying, "Praise the Lord." and all that. And then you go back home. For the rest 47:48 of the week, you're the same grumbling, complaining person you were. That is an act. You got to change that. And the only way to change is ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. And that's what I was really coming to. 48:05 The greatest need is to be filled with the Holy Spirit all the time. It doesn't matter if you never speak in tongues. And God gives that gift to some people. Many people don't have it. But you can have a spirit of thankfulness. 48:23 See, the When they spoke in tongues in the early uh in the first day of Pentecost and when in Cornelius's house, they spoke in tongues, they were glorifying God. They were The main thing is that they were thanking God. So, whether you thank God in unknown 48:37 tongues or you thank God in English or Tamil or Telugu or whatever language you use, that spirit of thankfulness is the main thing in speaking in tongues. So, you know, even if you don't have that gift, you can thank God in your own 48:51 language. So, it says here, "Giving thanks always and singing." Verse 19 and "Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." This is the opposite of what we read in Romans 1. They did not give thanks and so God gave 49:09 them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. So, if I were to reverse that, it would sound like this. They started giving thanks and so God picked them up and picked them up and picked them higher and higher and higher. Instead of 49:21 pushing them down and down, he picked them higher and higher and higher. And you will really find, dear brothers and sisters, if you take my advice seriously from today, and ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit and to remind you 49:36 through the Holy Spirit to have a spirit of thankfulness and teach your children to be thankful. It'll bring heaven down into your home. You know that song we sing, "Heaven came down and glory filled my soul." That's exactly what will happen. 49:56 Because one thing about heaven, there are many things about heaven we don't know. But in the book of Revelation, we read one thing about heaven. There's nobody's complaining there. Nobody is saying, "Why is it like this?" 50:09 or "Why is it like that?" That is Those words are never going to be heard in heaven. When you get there for all eternity, nobody will ask you. Everybody is saying, "Praise the Lord." "God is on the throne. Praise the Lord." 50:21 And even though you see Look at the condition of the world today. Wars, fighting between this country and that country, more and more wars, rumors of wars, and thousands of people being killed. And in this wretched world, and we have 50:36 problems in India, too. There can be persecution of Christians by anti-Christian forces. Okay. There can be so many problems. But our God is still on the throne. Jesus Christ has still got all authority in heaven and earth. 50:53 And nobody can touch you without God's permission. Please remember that. We don't have to live in fear. We can be thankful. Lord, you are on the throne. That is the main thing we thank God for. Even if you cannot think of anything to 51:10 thank God for, thank God that he's ruling in the universe. That's why he told us to pray, "Whenever you pray, begin by saying, 'Our Father, who art in heaven.'" Always, that must be the spirit of prayer. "Father, you are running this 51:26 universe. You're running this earth. All authority in heaven and earth is given to you. That's why I give thanks. Not because I get everything I want. In fact, a lot of things I ask for is good if I don't get it. Because it may not be good for me. 51:43 God gives us exactly what is good for us. If he has given somebody else more than he's given you, be thankful. And if he's given you very limited resources, be thankful. I See, I've been in When I quit my naval job, when I 52:02 left my job and came out to serve the Lord, I'd taken all my life savings and given it to Brother Bakht Singh and to for Christian work. I emptied my bank account completely, and I said, "Lord, I'm going to trust you and serve 52:15 you." And now and then I would get Somebody would give me 20 rupees, 50 rupees here. My income dropped 85%. I'm not exaggerating. When I left my naval job to serve the Lord, it dropped 85%. But 52:35 I said, "Lord, I thank you. This is the way you want me to continue, I'll continue." And my wife and I struggled along for many years. And we trusted the Lord, and the Lord took care of us, but we would not complain and 52:48 grumble. "Why? Why is it like this?" or "Why is it like that?" I'm very thankful that we did not bring the atmosphere of complaining, "Why is God not doing this?" or "Why is God not doing that?" We had sicknesses in our home. 53:02 Sicknesses in our children. All the little children get sick some way or the other. And we said, "Lord, fine. There must be some purpose. You will take care of us." And he took care of us and took care of our children. He's done the same for you. 53:15 If you look at your family history, there are many, many things you can thank God for. So, I want to encourage you to develop that habit from today so that you change the atmosphere of your home and your life. And I believe you'll be a much happier 53:34 person. And you will not be finding fault with each other so much. In every child of God, there's something good you can appreciate. In each one of your children, there's something good you can appreciate. Let's develop that habit of 53:50 telling our children something that you can see. I like to tell good things to the children I meet, even in different churches when I see something in a child, I say, "Oh, I'm so happy to see that in you." I mean it. I'm not just artificial. 54:03 You know, say, for example, if if a the child quotes a verse correctly, memory verse, I tell that person, "That was good. I'm so happy to hear you do that." Or if they did well in school and got some good marks, appreciate it. We must get 54:18 rid of the habit of complaining, grumbling, criticizing, finding fault. If you go like that, you know what I showed you in Romans 1. God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. Didn't you see that three times in 54:33 Romans chapter 1? We don't want it to be like that. We don't want you to be a person whom God has given up because you didn't learn to give thanks. The opposite of that will be God picked them up. God picked them up. God picked 54:46 them up. I said, "Lord, I want it like that." When you learn to give thanks, you will rise higher and higher. I like this verse in Revelation chapter 4. And I'll conclude with that. Revelation chapter 4. 55:03 The Lord told The Lord was in heaven. Revelation 4:1. A door standing open in heaven. Think of this. When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, a door stands open in heaven. And you're learning to give thanks. 55:23 And the voice like the sound of a trumpet said, "Come up here. Come up higher." That's what the Lord is saying to all of you today. Don't live at that low level of earthly people 55:41 always finding fault, grumbling, complaining. Something is wrong with your wife. Something is wrong with your husband. Something is wrong with this child. And something is wrong with that child. And something is wrong with that 55:51 brother in the church. And something is wrong with the elder. And something wrong. Always complaining. The Lord says, "Come up higher." Are you Are you hearing that voice today? Are you hearing it now? Are you hearing the Holy Spirit saying 56:07 to you, "Don't live at that low level. Come up higher. Let me fill you with my spirit," God says. And bring in your heart a spirit of thankfulness and praise. Not just on Sunday morning, but in your home, in your relationship with one another at 56:27 home, and in your attitude to other brothers. Please develop that attitude. Ask God to fill you with the spirit of thankfulness. And that is how you can bring heaven down into your home. The Lord is inviting all of you saying, 56:45 "Come up higher. Don't live at that low level like everybody else in the world. Did somebody do something wrong something wrong to you? Forgive him. Forgive him. That's one thing. God is always forgiving people. You know, I used to think, "What is God 57:03 doing for 24 hours in heaven every day?" It came to me like this. Somebody in some part of the world is saying, "Lord, I committed something wrong. Forgive me." God says, "Forgiven." Immediately, somebody else in another part of the world is saying, 57:17 "Lord, forgive me. I did something wrong." Forgiven. Then immediately, somebody else in some other part of the world says, "Lord, I'm sorry what I did." All the time from the earth, somebody or the other is Even believers 57:27 are asking God, "Please forgive us. We did something wrong." And God is saying, "Forgiven. Forgiven. Forgiven." And I got a picture in my mind that God is 24 hours, he's just saying, "Forgiven. Forgiven. Forgiven. Forgiven." Somebody 57:39 or the other is asking for forgiveness, and God is forgiving him. I said, "Lord, give me that spirit. Give me that spirit that whoever does anything wrong to me, my attitude is forgiven. Forgiven. Oh, did he do something for me? Forgiven. 57:53 Forgiven. Forgiven." Yeah, one last verse. You know, when people called Jesus, Matthew chapter 12, I'll conclude with this. Matthew chapter 12. Uh When Jesus cast out a demon, 58:10 the Pharisees said in Matthew 12:24, "Oh, this chap is the ruler of demons." Imagine calling Jesus the ruler of demons. You know what happened to Miriam, Moses' sister? 58:28 When she complained about Moses, about Moses' wife, "Why did you marry this type of woman?" In Numbers chapter 12. You know what Miriam got? Leprosy. In 2 Kings chapter 1, you read about Elisha, after Elijah had gone up, 58:44 there were some young men who made fun of him saying, "Oh, you bald man. You also go up." And bears came from the forest and ate them up. That's how people were punished. So, what should be the punishment for someone who calls Jesus the devil? 59:01 Miriam got leprosy. Those other young people who criticized Elisha were eaten up by bears. What did these Pharisees get? Forgiveness. That is the new covenant. Jesus said to them in verse 32, "If you speak a word against the Son of 59:20 Man, it is forgiven." What a wonderful attitude to have. And he didn't say that only to the Pharisees. He's talking about the future. Read carefully. Whoever speaks He's not telling the Pharisees, "You have spoken." 59:39 He's talking about the future. Whoever Whoever means in the next 2,000 years anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, you're forgiven right now. This is what I call future forgiveness. And for the next 2,000 years, whoever 59:56 speaks against me, Jesus says, "You're forgiven right now." And I said, "Lord, let me do that also." So, I've learned that from Jesus. And I've decided long ago that someone speaks something against Zac Poonen, he's forgiven right now. 1:00:14 He may speak against me only next year, but I've forgiven him right now. I got that from that verse. I learned it from Jesus. So, supposing somebody comes to me and says, "Brother Zac, do you know what that fellow said about you?" 1:00:26 I don't know what he said, but he's forgiven. You know what that chap wrote about you? He's forgiven. There's some guy on the internet who says something evil about me, forgiven. What a wonderful little way to live. I live as a very happy man because I 1:00:43 believed in future forgiveness. Forgiving people for what they've not yet done. For what they not yet said about me. They're going to say it tomorrow or next week, already forgiven. I want to encourage all of you to follow 1:00:55 this example of Jesus in Matthew 12:32. Then, I'll tell you honestly, automatically a spirit of thankfulness will come into you. It has come into me. It has made my life restful. I sleep peacefully at night. I don't have worries or anxieties. 1:01:12 Do you have problems sleeping at night? Learn to be thankful. God bless you all. Let's bow our heads before the Lord. Heavenly Father, thank you for all your goodness to us. It's way beyond what we deserve. You've forgiven our sins. You've blessed us. 1:01:32 You've given us such a wonderful church, wonderful fellowship. For so many years, you've preserved CFC. I pray you'll preserve it until the time you come back. Give wisdom to the leaders, the elders, to preserve this church in purity and 1:01:46 thankfulness till you come. We know you will do it, Lord. We believe you. And we thank you for all that you've done so far. In Jesus' name. Amen.
