0:00 I would like to ask you a question which you answer to yourself. We know there's such a thing called backsliding in the Christian life. You've probably seen some backsliders yourself in your church who came to the Lord 0:27 and were probably very sincere for some time. And now they've dropped out completely and fallen away. In all backsliding, usually, the first step is what I want to talk about in the beginning and to learn something from that so that we don't go further to other steps. 0:55 So I want to show you that from Scripture. Turn with me to Romans chapter 1. In verse 24 to 32, you read an expression like, 1:22 God gave them up, God gave them over, God gave them over to something, God gave them over to something. So when you read that again and again, you must take note of it. Verse 24, You know, your body is dishonored when you have sex with someone who's not your wife or husband 1:49 or they go into other degrading passions and they exchange the truth of God for a lie, worship to serve the creatures rather than the creator. And the second time, we read in verse 26, God gave them over. You read it three times. 2:07 Verse 24, God gave them over. Verse 26, God gave them over. And then in the middle of verse 28, God gave them over. It's almost like God gave them over. Okay, you want to go that way? Go that way. I'm not going to bother you anymore. 2:19 Go whichever way you like. It's a terrible thing when God gives up on somebody. And three times it says there, God gave them over. God gave them over. You go, go down. And then see what happens. Then they go downwards. First, they have just sex with someone who's not their marriage partner. 2:37 And then God gave them over to further degrading passions where it became women with women and men with men. Verse 26 and 27. And they burned in their desire toward this unnatural relationship. Men committing indecent acts. 2:51 Verse 27, last part. And receiving in their own persons the penalty for their sin. And that was all types of venereal diseases and terrible, terrible things that syphilis and things like that they can't be healed from. And then just as they didn't see fit to acknowledge God, again, third time, God gave them up to a depraved mind. 3:15 That means where your mind can't think properly and you become an atheist or you feel that God doesn't love you anymore. And all the terrible things that people who were once in a church and listened. So, backsliding is a terrible thing. 3:32 It leads people downwards. And finally, what happens is God gives them over to a depraved mind. That means it's a person who's outwardly in earthly things, very intelligent and sensible, but completely depraved. That means it's like an atheist. 3:50 He thinks there's no God. And each time he says, God gave them up, God gave them up. That means he tried his best to help them, but they say, they don't want you. We don't want you. We don't want you. God says, okay. You don't want me. 4:03 I'll give you up. You go whichever way you like. And then what happens to such a person finally, listen to verse 29. There is a huge list. Being filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greed. You know that greed is also an evidence of being given up by God. 4:25 Evil, full of envy, when you're envious of others, is a mark that God's given up on you. Murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossiping. That's another thing that's indicating that God's not seriously connecting with you. You have started gossiping to people. 4:43 Slanderers, those who go around speaking evil of others. Haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil. Disobedient to parents. Think of that. Children who are disobedient to parents are put in the same category as murderers and thieves. 5:03 And sometimes we don't take it seriously, parents. I always took disobedience from any of my children very seriously. Even if they spoke rudely to, they would not dare to speak rudely to me, but to mommy. They would speak and then I would say, stop what you're doing. 5:20 Go and apologize to mommy right now. And then continue your work. Every single time I would tell them, we have to be very strict with disobedient children and disobedience is in them because we are born of the race of Adam. 5:35 Don't blame them. Don't blame them. They've got it in them and they got it from you. But we've got to deliver them. We had it as children. And they've got it. It's all, it's come all the way down from Adam onwards. And we've got to help them. 5:47 And we've got to help them. We can help them by disciplining them. You read the book of Proverbs in chapter 22, it says the rod of correction will drive disobedience far from a child. Because there's a very close connection between the bottom of a child and his heart. 6:06 There's a direct connection. You spank him in the bottom and the heart gets right. I don't know how God did that, but the Bible says that and I believe it and I've proved it to be true. So you've got to be careful. Disobedient to parents, verse 31, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. 6:24 And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do that, but give hearty approval to those who practice all these wicked things listed here. So, there's something here that we've got to learn. 6:41 And the first thing I want to ask you to see is, please turn, first of all, in verse 18. That's where we begin. Verse 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 7:10 And see where this big list which ends in verse 32 that we just read. Where does it begin? What is the first step towards backsliding? Even though they knew all these wonderful things that was evident what God has created. 7:27 Even though they knew God, verse 21, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. Unthankfulness to God is the first step towards all the backsliding that's listed in verse 32-32. Now, you may not have sunk as far as the things described in verse 32-32, but if you have a lack of thankfulness in your heart to God, 7:57 you may not have sunk as long as possible, you may not have sunk as well. Or even to people who help you, we have to develop. It's not natural. We have to teach our children to say thank you. Thank you to daddy. Thank you to mommy. 8:10 Thank you to any stranger who helps them in any way or gives them a gift. Always teach your children not to just repeat it, but to show them what thankfulness is. When we thank somebody, we are saying to them, I don't deserve this, but thank you very much for doing this for me. 8:30 Do you husbands thank your wives? They serve you? I mean, I thank my wife even after 58 years when she brings a cup of coffee for me in the morning. I don't take it for granted. Oh, well, she's my wife. She has to do it. 8:43 No. We must be thankful. Thank you. I mean, it can become a formality where it means nothing. It's a pity if it becomes like that. But we should mean it when we say to someone, thank you, brother, for helping me. Thank you for doing that. 9:00 Thank you, darling, for a cup of coffee. Thank you for making that lovely meal. Or thank you for going out to the office and working hard and sweating out there with a difficult boss so that we can earn some money to run our home. 9:16 That's what many wives need to thank. They don't realize what their husbands face sometimes in some offices. It's not easy to work for some bosses. So we must develop a habit of thankfulness. It's not natural for us. What's natural for us is to complain and grumble. 9:33 Something I didn't get. We are quick to notice it. They didn't do that for me. But what about being thankful? It's the first step to backsliding. And we begin by being thankful to Jesus himself for what he's done for us. 9:49 So I want to share with you some things that you don't know about what Jesus did on the cross. Most people that I have and all the messages I've heard in my life are, Christ died for our sins on the cross. From childhood, my father was born again. 10:08 He'd only take us to churches that preach of the new birth. So I heard from childhood that Christ died for my sins. I knew that from childhood, Christ died for my sins. Nothing else. What did he do on the cross? He died for my sins. 10:23 And that's all that I knew for, till the time I was born again at the age of 19 and a half. And even after I was born again, I went to a good brethren assembly where they emphasized the study of the word of God. I'm deeply thankful for that because that's where I learned to study the scriptures seriously. 10:45 Then I was eight years there in that assembly. And then I, you know, you go from grade one to grade two. So I moved on from there to something better and then into something better. And that's where I finally ended up with CFC 50 years ago. 11:01 But was that all that Jesus did on the cross? To die on the cross? That's all I knew for, after I was born again for about seven or more years. I did not know anything more or more than ten years. But then, all those years, I was defeated by sin. 11:23 But my favorite verse was, 1 John 1 9, if he confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So all I had to do was, when I sinned and I got upset with somebody or had a dirty thought or got angry with someone, I go to the Lord and say, Lord, 1 John 1 9, I'm sorry what I did. 11:48 Please forgive me. Now I'm cleansed and I move on. But, it was the same the next day. It was the same the next month. It was the same the next year. It was the same for the next ten years. So is that all there is in the Christian life? 12:03 That I keep on cleansing myself from the blood of Christ? There's a verse in Hebrews chapter, is it 9 or 10? Hebrews chapter 9, I think. Yeah, no, it's Hebrews 10. 12:27 Hebrews 10, yeah. Hebrews 10 and verse 29. Please look at this verse. Hebrews 10 and verse 29. It's speaking in verse 28 about people who disobeyed the law of Moses in the Old Testament. 12:49 And if two or three witnesses said, this guy disobeyed the law, they were stoned to death without any mercy. It's a very severe punishment that was commanded. You know that in the Old Testament, there was a man, they were told in the Sabbath, you must not do any work. 13:09 And you read in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers, how a man went out just to pick up sticks, you know, to have burn a fire maybe the next day. And not on the Sabbath day, they were not going to do any work on the Sabbath day, but just to pick up sticks, so that on the next day, which was Sunday, they could, when they were permitted to work, to cook their food or whatever it is. 13:30 And they stoned him to death. They asked God, what should you do? This guy did some work on the Sabbath day. What does that work? He picked up sticks for his home. And they were so strict with that. We were told not to do any work on the Sabbath day. 13:43 This was a day when they were devoted to God. They shouldn't do anything else. If they had servants, the servants should be given a holiday. And God was very strict with that. The Sabbath was a very, very important thing. 13:56 Of course, Jesus abolished the Sabbath. And one proof of his abolishing the Sabbath is that he was dead in the grave on the Sabbath day and rose up and began a new creation on the first day of the week. And that's why the first, the early Christians understood that. 14:14 They started gathering together on the first day of the week. That's why we respectfully disagree with the seven-day Adventists. I mean, some seven-day Adventists are really born again. I respect them. But they're completely, 100% wrong on their idea of the Sabbath. 14:29 There is no day of rest. If you speak of a spiritual rest, for me, it is seven days a week I'm at rest. If it was only one day in the Old Testament, it was a picture of seven days a week I'm in a rest. But, and I can work seven days a week if necessary. 14:46 For example, a doctor who works in a hospital, he can't say, well, I'm taking off on a Sunday. Somebody would die. So, we don't have a law like that today in the Old Testament of the Sabbath. But God was very strict. And it says here, the punishment, verse 28, was severe. 15:04 But how much greater punishment should there be, verse 29, for someone who's trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded the blood of the covenant as an unclean. The word unclean there is a Greek word which means a common thing, 15:23 something very cheap and common. Treating the blood of Christ like something cheap and common and by which he was sanctified and thus insulting the Spirit of grace. How do you insult the Holy Spirit? By treating the blood of Christ as something cheap and common. 15:41 Okay. Let me ask you, what is the most common and cheap liquid that you use every day? Water. Why are you not afraid to get your hands dirty? Because water is cheap. I mean, if water were a hundred dollars a gallon or something like that, 16:02 we'd be very careful to keep our hands clean. But because water is so cheap, we don't mind if our hands get dirty, our bodies get dirty, we can have a shower, we can wash our hands. And when you treat the blood of Christ, let me paraphrase this, 16:13 when you treat the blood of Christ like tap water, that it doesn't matter if I sin, I can go and wash my hands in water. And so if I sin, it doesn't matter. I just go to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive me. 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. 16:29 Do you know that many Christians are like that? Do you know born-again believers are like that? Do you know how I know that? I was like that. I didn't realize the seriousness of this verse. Treating the blood of Christ like tap water. 16:44 It doesn't matter if my hands are dirty. Tap water does not cost a thousand dollars a gallon. It's cheap. Blood of Christ, not even one cent. I don't know how to pay a cent for it. I just go and say those magic words. Lord, I'm sorry for what I did. 17:00 I claim 1 John 1.9. I'm okay. What a cheap way of getting out of it. And that's why so many believers take it so lightly to sin. I'll give you one or two examples. In Matthew chapter 5, Matthew's gospel chapter 5, please turn there. 17:24 There's a summon on the mount and this is what Jesus taught. He said that in the Old Testament, the law was, don't commit murder. But I say to you, don't even get angry. In other words, anger is equal to murder in the Old Testament. 17:49 So if there was a commandment, thou shall not murder. In the New Testament, the commandment is, don't get angry. And if the Old Testament commandment was 27, don't commit adultery. The New Testament commandment is, don't even lust with your eyes. 18:06 Have you seen that? The Old Testament Israelites were so particular about keeping the commandments. And are we as particular about just these two commandments? Don't get angry. Don't lust with your eyes. The Israelites were so careful. 18:29 And what is the danger of getting angry? If you've not read it before, verse 22, step one, you get angry with your brother, you're guilty before the court. And you know how anger is. I've seen people, sometimes they get angry, they go and say something to their husband or wife, and you think that's the end of it. 18:53 No, they'll come back after five minutes and they suddenly remember they've got something more to say. Make it a little harder. Go back and say something more. And then sometimes go and say something more. Does that sound familiar, in your home? 19:08 That's described here. Get angry and go and say something to your brother. He's guilty already. Before the court. Then he goes back and says something, some more. He's guilty before the Supreme Court. And then he goes back and says the third thing, you fool, he intensifies the words of anger. 19:29 He's guilty to go to hell. How many of you have read that anger can finally lead you to hell? Have you ever heard that preached in any church in the world? That anger, getting angry can finally lead you to hell. Only Jesus said that. 19:48 And it's in the Sermon on the Mount. I must show you another verse before we proceed. Turn to Matthew 7 and verse 26. He's referring to these words that he just spoke about anger. If you hear these words of mine, Jesus said, and you don't act on them. 20:10 You're like a foolish man who built on sand. You're building your life spiritually on sand. If you don't take these words about anger seriously. And the rain fell. And that's all this picture of judgment, judgment, judgment, judgment, rains, floods, wind. 20:29 And slammed against the house. And the house fell. And great was its fall. You know the next place where he speaks, says about the great was its fall? In Revelation. Chapter 18, 19. Babylon fell. Great was its fall. This is referring to Babylonian corrupt Christianity. 20:48 And that is those who hear these words and don't do them. And verse 24, who hear these words and do them. That's the man who's built his house on the rock. There are many of us who say, I built my house on the rock. And it is Jesus Christ. 21:04 Right. But here the rock is not just Jesus Christ, but the one who hears and obeys God's word. And the one who builds on sand is the one who hears and does not obey. Please remember this all your life. If you find a command in the Bible, especially what Jesus said, and you don't obey it, 21:25 that area of your life you're going to build on sand. And if you find your life a bit unstable and shaky, the problem is the foundation. You know, I've seen houses where the crack on the third floor of the house. An engineer comes and says, it's not, the fault is not here. 21:46 The fault is in the foundation. The foundation was not laid properly, but it was revealed only when they built the third floor. So very often, a problem comes in our life many years after we are saved. And then you say, what's the reason for it? 22:03 It's the foundation. Somewhere in your life, you've taken a very casual attitude towards God's commandments. And say, ah, it doesn't matter if we don't obey them because I can always go. You know, the tap water is always there. 22:16 Blood of Jesus Christ, like tap water. I can always cleanse myself. That attitude is what has led to many Christians one day discovering when Christ comes back that they are not going to be with him for eternity. They are going to go to hell. 22:33 I'm not trying to scare anybody, but I must speak the truth. I believe with all my heart, ever since the Lord called me to speak God's word. And if you hear, if you've heard me, you know that I speak very strongly. And I'll tell you why it's not. 22:49 Because I love it. I don't love to speak strongly, but I have to speak the truth. For example, what I've said just now. Have you ever heard in your life, any preacher tell you that anger is the first of three steps to hell? 23:06 I don't think you have. That's, you read in verse 22, three steps. Angry, a little while later angry again, a little while later angry again. He says, you'll go to hell. Who said that? Do you know in the New Testament, Jesus spoke about hell more than anybody else. 23:20 Even the Apostle Paul never spoke about hell. You take a concordance and look at the word hell. And see how many times it's mentioned in the New Testament. It's Jesus who spoke more about hell. And I'll tell you why. Because he came from heaven and he knew what hell was like. 23:33 He knew what a terrible place it is. And he warned people about it. See, someone who's been in prison for 20 years, he'll really know what prison is like. And Jesus from heaven could see what hell is like and he's warned people about hell. 23:47 And he said, if you lust after a woman, it's better to have your eye pulled out, verse 29. You lust with your eyes after a naked woman or a woman's improperly dressed or look for pictures of women who are improperly dressed. 24:03 And the internet is full of that. Even if it's not pornographic, a lot of the internet is improperly dressed women. In fact, that's the main means by which people advertise something. Here's an advertisement of a half-dressed woman 24:17 and it's talking about a house or something like that. Because the aim is to attract people to get them to watch, listen to this. And what are they saying? They're talking about what to do in your retirement. It's got nothing to do with that woman's picture. 24:30 It's got to just to attract people to get you to listen. I'm selling you something. They found the best way to sell is to put some half-dressed women there. And if you, if your right eye, verse 29, causes you to stumble, tear it out. 24:47 Wow. Which preacher preaches like this? If your right eye causes you to lust, it's better to tear it out and lose that part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Verse 29. You say, Lord Jesus, you mean if you lust after women, you can go to hell? 25:09 I never touched her. I just looked at her picture or something or lusted after it with my eyes. You mean to say it's better to pull out my eye so that I'm better to become blind? Otherwise you go to hell. Is that really true? 25:27 Lord, I never heard that in my life from any preacher. Well, you can't say that after today. No. Maybe the Lord brought you here to listen to this more than anything else. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it out. 25:47 Throw it away. There are many, many sins we commit with the right hand. There's the hand we write with. There's the hand we sign with. Many things. It's better to cut it off and throw it away rather than the right hand causing you to commit a sin. 26:07 Then your whole body go to hell. Oh boy, it's really serious what Jesus says. That's anger and that's lust. So because we haven't taken these things seriously and we have not been taught the seriousness of sin. You know, if you go to some uneducated woman in a poor village in India, 26:33 if a doctor examines her and says, you've got cancer. She's never heard cancer in her life, about cancer and she's never heard of anyone who had it or what happened to that person. She'll go singing home. I'm okay. The doctor just said, 26:47 I've got cancer, nothing else. I'm perfectly all right. I don't feel any fever or I can work and everything is okay. I've only got cancer. Would you think an educated person would say that? I've only got cancer, nothing else. 27:00 I'm okay. Boy, they would be doing research, which is the best hospital I can go to to get treated for my cancer. It's the same way there are many spiritually illiterate, uneducated people among very, very clever believers. 27:17 How do you know they are spiritually illiterate like that uneducated woman in some village who doesn't know the meaning of cancer and can go home rejoicing, saying, I've only got cancer. I don't have a fever. I just got cancer. 27:32 How can, where is a person uneducated spiritually in a literate country when he says, oh, I just slipped up and lusted after a woman or slipped up and got a bit angry with my wife. It's like that woman. Oh, I just got a little bit of cancer. 27:51 That's all. When we see what anger and lusting with the eyes are in the first two sins, by the way, that Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount, and do you know there are people, I read this in a book the other day, 28:13 and I presume it's an authoritative book, I haven't done research on it, that Martin Luther, who was a great man of God, who emphasized salvation is by faith. In fact, the Roman Catholics wanted to kill him. He was a Roman Catholic monk 28:28 way back in around these, around 1500 AD, which is 500 years ago. And all over, the Catholic Church was teaching that you can get forgiveness of sins by giving money to put money in this box where they're building a new 28:46 church or something in Rome. And so, put money in the box and your sins will be forgiven. And the representatives of the Pope were going around doing that. And Martin Luther was also a monk like this, climbing the stairs, 29:01 you know, to punish himself on his knees and all that. And he read the scriptures and he saw this salvation is by faith. He saw that in Romans and Ephesians. And he began to proclaim that. And of course, the Roman Catholics 29:19 wanted to kill him. But they didn't succeed because God had a plan to keep him alive to proclaim this gospel. And he translated the Bible into German. And God protected him so that he could proclaim this. Truth, the salvation 29:32 is not by your works. It's by repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins on the cross. It was a wonderful thing that is the beginning of the proclamation of that truth in a wider scale. Here and there 29:46 throughout the centuries there was always individuals who believed that salvation was by faith. It's not only that till 1500 there were no believers. There was some God-fearing people here and there but usually they were 29:56 persecuted by the Roman Catholics. But then I read the other day that and it's true that Martin Luther taught that the Sermon on the Mount which is such a high standard like I gave you two examples of it. There are many others there. 30:14 He says you must love all your enemies bless all those who curse you and many other things like that that when you pray don't let anybody know how much you're praying when you fast don't let anyone know what you're fasting. 30:26 Never be anxious about anything and seek the kingdom of God first. Don't judge anybody. Leave that job to God. He's the judge. many other things in the Sermon on the Mount and Martin Luther read all that and he said the Sermon on the Mount 30:42 was not given for Christians to obey. That is almost unbelievable what I read in this book and I mean he couldn't have recognized person who wrote it and he said that Martin Luther went on to say this 31:03 was written was spoken by Jesus to show you how high God's standard is and how you can never never reach it and therefore you have to come to the cross just believe that Jesus died for you. Wow! I lost a little bit of my respect 31:22 for Martin Luther that day. I respected him very highly for standing up against the entire Catholic system for that salvation is by faith repentance and faith but if this is true what he said I'm shocked that's why one reason 31:38 why Martin Luther was very much against I've heard he was very much against the one book in the Bible and that's the letter of James James speaks some very strong things about don't think salvation is only by faith turn with me 31:55 to James chapter James 2 verse 24 this is the word that disturbed Martin Luther because it affected what he was teaching you see that a man is justified James 2 24 by works 32:16 and not by faith alone and here was Martin Luther proclaiming salvation is by faith and he even said that James is not part of the Bible there are only 65 books in the Bible James is not one of the books in the Bible because he disagreed 32:31 with what he understood but I believe James is one of the most important books in the Bible because he says here that I'm not talking about works alone that see verse 18 you'll understand the explanation you say you have faith 32:48 I have faith and I have works and I have works you show me your faith without your works I will show you my faith by my works that's the point James believed in salvation by faith but a faith which produced works and evidence 33:02 of faith with your works and if that is not there your faith is counterfeit I agree with James 100% and even in that famous verse in Ephesians where you know we say for by grace are you saved through faith you know how many believers 33:22 have the habit of just getting one part of a sentence and not a whole thing and then you miss out on the whole thing so let's read Ephesians 2 8 and don't stop with verse 8 and 9 many people read verse 8 and 9 and stop there 33:41 here's Ephesians 2 verse 8 and 9 by grace you have been saved through faith I agree 100% not of yourselves it is the gift of God I agree 100% not as a result of works so that no one may boast I agree 100% but don't stop there 34:02 then we are born again then we are created verse 10 in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared that we should walk in them so there are the good works that's the whole truth you are not saved by faith you are not 34:19 saved by good works but you are saved for good works not by good works verse 8 and 9 but for good works verse 10 so if you are saved and you are not doing good works something is wrong there that's what James has also said 34:33 James says we read that you show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith with my works otherwise your faith is only in your head in other words if it doesn't produce any result in your body you know it's like a man 34:48 advertising a medicine for a sickness which he himself has not cured of no this is a great medicine to cure some sickness but he himself has got it many Christians are like that here is salvation salvation from what for most Christians 35:06 there is only one salvation they think of salvation from hell and I'm sorry to say that was the only salvation I was taught in the years I went to whichever church I went to and that's all the salvation I knew salvation from hell 35:24 what are you saved from? hell but that's at the end of your life what are you saved from today? nothing but I'm going to be saved from hell one day and it's possible there are people sitting here the only salvation you know 35:36 is salvation from hell whereas Jesus came what for? how many of you know what is the first promise in the New Testament? the very first promise the New Testament begins with Matthew and in the first page of your New Testament 35:57 there is a promise which is the first promise in the New Testament which will cure you of this wrong teaching which I was just speaking about and that is if you read Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21 the angel came to Joseph 36:15 and was telling him that Mary did not commit a sin the child in her womb was produced by the Holy Spirit because Joseph was thinking how in the world did she produce a child and then the angel had to convince Joseph that it was 36:31 through the Holy Spirit that Mary became pregnant and then he says to her Joseph she will bear Matthew 1.21 Mary will bear a son you must call his name Jesus why? now you ask the average Christian today why was the baby 36:49 named Jesus I guarantee 99% of believers don't know the answer how many of you know the answer why the baby was named Jesus here is the answer you shall call his name Jesus because because for for means 37:10 because he will save his people not from hell that's what I want you to see he will he didn't come to save his people from hell he came to save his people from their sins and as a result of being saved from their sins they'll be saved 37:26 from hell so that is the first promise in the New Testament which has been counterfeited and changed by the devil into he will save his people from hell is there a single verse in the Bible that says Jesus came to save his people 37:41 from hell no then how did you hear how did you believe that gospel I'll tell you why you didn't read the Bible it's on the first page of the New Testament then how is it you didn't challenge those people who taught you what salvation 37:56 was from because you don't read the Bible carefully now if you hear me speak strongly my dear brother please remember this I'm like a surgeon who may use a knife but please remember it's not the knife of a murderer there's a world 38:11 of difference between the knife of a murderer and the knife of a surgeon the knife of a murderer brings death the knife of a surgeon brings life I do use the knife but never as a murderer as a surgeon to cut open and remove 38:28 the cancers the wrong teaching that people have had it's not a popular ministry it's very unpopular people have called me heretic and the devil and all types of things I don't mind but one day I know I have to answer to God 38:40 for every word I speak and every sermon I preach I believe this with all my heart that every sermon I preach will be evaluated in the final day by the Lord if you're a preacher remember every sermon you preach will be evaluated 38:54 by the Lord in the final day the Lord will ask you why did you say this why did you say that I want to be ready to have an answer for that sometimes I picture Jesus sitting in the front seat when I'm preaching and he's listening 39:09 to what I'm saying and I look at him occasionally and say Lord do you agree am I saying the right thing all of you preachers try and picture this and I'm not imagining when Jesus said where two or three are gathered 39:31 together in my name Matthew 18 20 what did he say there I am so you don't need a crowd of 400 to 500 if two or three people are sitting there two people and you're sharing the word with them in your home perhaps you know 39:50 Jesus is there listening to what you're saying anyone who shares God's word even in private conversation or in a church I encourage you to practice the presence of Christ to recognize the presence of Christ maybe a better 40:07 way to put it not to practice it recognize the presence of Jesus Christ your Lord right there even when you're sharing the word with two people leave alone with the church and all of you who preach in future ask the Lord 40:23 to help you to recognize the presence of Jesus Christ there so I want to go on from there to tell you something which many people do not know what did Jesus die on the cross for number one Christ died for our sins 40:43 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 3 Christ died for our sins that we all know that he paid the price there are people 41:05 who say he paid the price to the devil rubbish no but that Christ didn't give anything to the devil to whom did Jesus pay the price here is my blood my life shed for the forgiveness of the sins of humanity it was paid to the law 41:20 of God God's law God's perfect law demanded punishment even if one sin would cut off a man from the presence of God Adam and Eve were cut off from God's presence for one sin they were cut off immediately but isn't 41:41 it wonderful that as soon as they were cut off the Lord gave them a promise of a savior you read that in Genesis 3 the Lord told the serpent the seed of this woman will one day crush your head there was the message of the 41:58 cross right there in Genesis 3 you read that take time to look at it and there was another thing he did there he killed an animal and shed the blood for God was the one who offered the first sacrifice for Adam and Eve's 42:15 sin have you read that in the Genesis chapter 3 go and look it up and read carefully have you read there that God clothed Adam and Eve with a garment so that they wouldn't be naked when they went out of the garden you know 42:32 what that naked dress was made of it was made of animal skin he killed an animal that is the first thing that Jesus did he shed his blood on the cross for our sins and then there was something else 42:53 he did also which there are four things I want to say they're all there on the screen but the second thing which I never knew for nearly 15 20 years after I was born again and that is that when Christ died he 43:13 took my old man and crucified it with him to turn to Romans chapter 6 verse 6 knowing this that our old self or our old man was crucified with him why so that this body of sin might be done away with so 43:33 that we should not be slaves of sin the first thing Jesus did was die on the cross as a punishment for our sin which he paid to the law of God so that I can be forgiven the second thing is that he took this old nature of 43:49 mine which is called the old man and crucified it with him so that not so that I should be forgiven that's number one so that I should not serve sin number two so that I stop committing sin and that is what does it mean 44:06 that he took my old man how could he take the old Zach Poonin on the cross when I was born only in 1939 and he died in AD 30 or so he died 1900 died more than 1900 years before I was born how could he take me I'll tell you 44:23 do you know that the Bible says turn with me to a wonderful verse in Ephesians 1 Ephesians chapter 1 it says in verse 4 Ephesians 44:43 1 4 he's talking to believers God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world where is the foundation of the world described Genesis chapter 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth before 45:03 that before Genesis chapter 1 he chose us so I think of myself Zach Poonin born in 1939 chosen by God before leave alone before AD 1 or BC 4000 long 45:24 before that long millions of years ago when he first created the heavens and the earth you go back beyond that in time and God had in his mind Zach Poonin put your name there chosen by God before he 45:44 created the world and because every believer God knew everyone who would trust in Christ in succeeding generations and centuries Christ he knew them by name he knew those who really he knew the crooks those who just nominally 46:01 accepted those who really repented and accepted and he's talking only about those who really repented and accepted their names and he knew those who would endure unto the end in faith he knew those who would backslide forget 46:14 them but those who would endure to the end he took those names of those who really repented and believed not just believed but who repented of their sin and believed and endured unto the end he knew that before the worlds 46:28 were created and he took all of them all those millions on the cross Zach Poonin was there dying with him and you if you're a true child of God you were there 46:48 my old man was crucified with him that's the second thing he did on the cross why did you do that this is not for forgiveness forgiveness is number one he shed his blood for that paid the price this is Romans 6 6 our old 47:04 man was crucified with him so that we should no longer serve sin no longer be a slave to sin what is it to be a slave to sin you know the olden days they had slaves come here the slave would come go and clean this floor 47:18 do that go and cut up that meat they cut up what's a slave of sin lust after that woman there okay yes what to do next get angry with this fellow here okay sure what should I do next tell 47:39 a lie in your office sure this is a slave of sin sin whatever sin says do it he does it immediately now sign some false accounts sure now do something unrighteous with money sure haven't you obeyed as a slave in the past 47:59 now tell your wife what a stupid woman she is or what how terrible that food was that she cooked today sure I'll say that what else you want me to do tell her you can never want to see that again in her to do it like that 48:13 again okay sir I've told her that now what else now keep quiet for some time come back after five minutes and tell her some more yes sir this is slavery to sin immediate obedience to whatever sin prompts you to do the old 48:29 man was crucified with Christ so that I may never next time this enemy says go and yell at that man I'm not going to listen to you I'm not your slave anymore have you come there it took me about 15 years after I was born 48:45 again 16 years before I came there I was forgiven I knew point number one I did not know point number two okay meditate on Romans chapter six you are not meant to be a slave to sin sin ordered around you ordered you around 49:04 enough haven't you obeyed sin as a slave master enough in your life you want to obey some more aren't you fed up of obeying this slave master called sin hear the good news today your old man was killed with Christ on the 49:23 cross you don't have to listen to him you're listening to someone who was crucified with Christ on the cross now I'm a new man in Christ you shall know the truth what's the rest of the verse the truth shall set you free 49:40 John 8 32 when you don't know the truth you remain a slave but when you know the truth the truth will set you free and here and here are some wonderful truths you're free from guilt now today you're hearing about your old 50:00 man was crucified so that you don't become a slave to that voice which kept on saying do this do this don't do this you don't have to be a slave anymore you say that old man was crucified I'm not going to listen to you anymore 50:12 okay number three a lot of the devil may harm me and he's scared of what is going to death and there are so many stories about ghosts and demons and enough to frighten everybody but we read that Jesus defeated 50:33 Satan on the cross turn with me to I'll show you two verses Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14 why did Jesus take flesh and blood why did he come as a human being with flesh and blood not just to 50:53 die for our sins not just to take our old man and kill it on the cross it says in verse 14 of Hebrews 2 since the children were shed in flesh and blood he took part in the same why because that was the only way he could 51:12 destroy the devil's power so he took the same flesh and blood that we took part in that we have and that through death he made powerless the one who had the power of death that is the devil and thereby free deliver 51:32 those those those who were through fear of death were slaves to sin slaves to the devil all their lives we were slaves to sin we dealt with that in point number two we were slaves to the devil so they don't have to be slaves 51:45 to the devil anymore so many people are scared of the devil there was a day when the Lord told me as you were afraid of the devil till now from now on the devil will be afraid of you I was so delighted to hear that I tell you 52:04 honestly there was a time when I was afraid of the devil he could do this to me could trouble me here trouble me there create some confusion in my work or what sort of things you were afraid of the devil not just that I 52:23 don't have to be afraid of him anymore he is going to be afraid of you that's a further step God frees us from slavery to the fear of Satan and brings us to the place if you are surrendered to Christ completely if every 52:40 part of your life is surrendered to Christ the second part is not true if you are not surrendered to Christ okay you are delivered from slavery to the devil period but if you are surrendered to Christ fully and you say Lord 52:54 I never want to do my will in my life I want to only do your will in my life every single day I want to fulfill your will I want to live free from sin then the Lord add the second part of that sentence as you were afraid 53:08 of the devil the devil will be afraid of you and I really believe that because the Bible says in 1 John and chapter 3 verse 17 53:30 do you know this verse 1 John 3 17 the last part as Jesus is so also are we in this world it was a tremendous encouragement for me when I read it these little little gems in the Bible so many people don't know as 53:51 Jesus is so are we in this world 1 John chapter 4 sorry did I give the right chapter chapter 4 and verse 17 1 John 4 17 as Jesus is so are we in this world that means just like Jesus moved around in the world 1900 years 54:10 ago 2000 years ago I am in the world today as demons were fled when Jesus came demons will flee when I come people have have you read that story where Jesus went into a synagogue once and a demon possessed man screamed and said 54:27 why have you come here to trouble us that man was sitting there for years when all the Pharisees were preaching he wasn't disturbed one bit he never disturbed the meetings when the Pharisees were speaking one Pharisee next 54:40 Pharisee senior Pharisee they all spoke and the demon possessed person said thank you very good very happy you're the preacher today the demons are happy with many preachers today in Christian pulphets but wait till a spirit 54:55 filled God fearing man comes there the demons will get upset Jesus came one day to preach and immediately this man erupted oh why have you come here to disturb us Jesus cast the demon out with one word Jesus defeated Satan 55:10 on the cross and I proved it numerous times in India we come across in the villages and other places demon possessed people and demon possessed people don't need counseling and advice they need deliverance deliverance is different 55:26 from counseling you counsel a person who's a sinner tell him he needs to repent and believe in Jesus Christ but if a person possessed was a demon he doesn't need counseling he needs deliverance and it's amazing sometimes 55:42 they look so normal there was a sister who brought a friend of hers to our home one day when Annie and I were sitting and talking to her to bring her to Christ and I always tell people when they receive Christ to speak to the 55:56 devil after that and say Satan you were defeated on the cross so I told her now tell the devil she was just sitting there next to me in the chair I said now you have asked Jesus to come to your heart say Satan you were defeated 56:10 on the cross she looked at me and said I was not defeated on the cross oh I didn't realize this was a demon inside her so when a demon speaks to me I speak to the demon I said you demon you were defeated on the cross Satan 56:25 you were defeated get out of her right now in Jesus name one second that's all then I told her now you tell the devil you were defeated on the cross and she could say it it doesn't take even one second for the devil to leave 56:40 if you command it in the name of Jesus provided your life is clean provided there's no sin in your heart which is not cleansed provided you have no bitterness against somebody else provided you're walking in the light otherwise 56:57 the devil will not be scared of you there's a story in the Acts of the Apostles where some people try to imitate Paul and say in the name of Jesus who Paul preaches I command your demon to get out you know what the demons 57:08 did they jumped on him all of them so don't try it if your life is not clean if your life is not clean just leave such people alone if there's sin in your life just don't attempt to cast out a demon please but walk in the 57:22 light there are demon possessed people here in America here in Colorado I remember years ago when I came here there was a demon possessed people in a conference like this and the folks this was before RLCF was there long before 57:37 RLCF came in and the folks who organized the conference asked me can you go and speak to her we don't know how to deal with her and when I went to speak to her here in Colorado which was in some other place in Loveland I said 57:52 ask Jesus to come into your heart she said I can't speak that name oh and I knew it was a demon so I commanded the demon get out in Jesus name get out right now and then I said now ask Jesus to come to your heart again she said 58:06 I can't say that name and the Lord told me that's habit the demon is gone it's just habit she's saying that so I told her you can say it now and she said it Lord Jesus come into my heart and Christ came in and I said now say 58:21 thank you Jesus again she said habit you know I can't say that name I said you can say it say I couldn't believe it she belonged to some cult dressed in those dirty pajamas and the next day here she was dressed so clean and 58:40 neat and looking so different she came up to me and said brother Zach can you recognize me are you the same person completely changed just even in her dress was changed the demon had gone dear brothers I tell you many stories 58:54 like that that the demons will be afraid of you if you walk in the fear of God that's the third thing but there's one more turn with me to Galatians in chapter 3 the fourth thing that Jesus did on the cross Galatians in chapter 59:14 3 many people have not even thought about this they don't even know there is a curse that came on the human race when Adam sinned the curse of God on people 59:34 who disobey his word disobedience is rebellion against God all disobedience is rebellion against God whenever you disobey a command of God you're shaking your fist at God and say I know you commanded this but I'm not going to listen 59:50 to it you told me not to get angry but I don't care I'm going to get angry with my wife because she deserves it you're shaking your fist at God please remember that next time you get angry with someone or next time you lust after 1:00:04 women you're shaking your fist at God I know you told me not to lust after women but I'm not going to listen to you God I want you to take me to heaven but I'm not going to listen to you right now there are believers doing like 1:00:15 that shaking their fist at God God have mercy on them okay it says in Galatians 3.13 Christ became a curse how many of you knew that Christ shed his blood okay you knew that for years your old man was crucified with Christ 1:00:33 at least you knew it today the devil was defeated on the cross he learned it today but Christ became a curse became a curse what a strong word that is what is it to for somebody to curse you is one thing but for a person 1:00:51 to become a curse meditate on that sometime for you to become a curse Christ became a curse for us you know sometimes the first time these things I read I really 1:01:12 weep like anything Lord you became a curse for me I know you shed your blood for me I know you took your old man I know you defeated the devil but you became a curse for me a curse by God for me because it 1:01:32 is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree that's why Jesus could not be killed by somebody chopping off his head he could not be killed by an accident or any such thing he had to hang on a cross because that was the law 1:01:48 in the Old Testament it's when a man hangs on a tree that he's cursed and I don't know whether you know the fact that Jesus hanging on that wooden cross was because the Old Testament said everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed 1:02:05 by God some of you are hearing that for the first time he became a curse on the cross for you and for me why so that the curse might be removed from us the curse which is upon us from the time of Adam 1:02:25 has not only taken away but replaced with what with the blessing of God God doesn't empty the filth and keep the vessel empty praise the Lord he empties the vessel of the filth of the curse and replaces it with his blessing 1:02:44 what a wonderful father we have that's called here the blessing of Abraham which comes through the Holy Spirit so the curse is taken away God gives us the Holy Spirit to fill us that's why the filling with the Holy Spirit 1:02:58 is so important that's why I've preached about being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit and there are churches that don't preach that unfortunately they'd say the blood of Jesus cleanses you that's not enough brother 1:03:12 you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and there are preachers who don't preach that they themselves are not filled we had an elder like that who preached against what I preached he finally fell into sin till everybody 1:03:28 discovered that you go against what the Bible teaches and God will make you a public display of what happens when you disobey God's word and go against God's servants and criticize the baptism in the Holy Spirit be careful 1:03:43 of that if you don't know keep your mouth shut but don't speak against it otherwise God will make an exposure of you also and display you as a specimen of people who disobey his word the baptism the baptism the baptism in the 1:03:55 Holy Spirit that's what John the Baptist said Jesus will not only save your sin that's the first promise in the Bible the second promise in the Bible is in Matthew 3 11 he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit we need both 1:04:07 promises number one Matthew 121 he will save you from your sins number two second promise in the New Testament he will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and fire I want to be immersed in the Holy Spirit and fire all the time 1:04:24 I pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit every morning I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day it's a continuous thing and what is the blessing of Abraham why does God fill us with the Holy Spirit I'll finish 1:04:39 with this the blessing of Abraham is described in Genesis chapter 12 it's good to remember it Genesis chapter 12 we read the Lord told Abraham in two sentences verse 2 Genesis 12 1:05:00 2 I will bless you and you will be a blessing that's it I will be I will bless you and you will be a blessing to everyone you come across all the families of the earth will be blessed I will bless you and you will be a blessing 1:05:18 that is the blessing of Abraham is the opposite of curse what is the opposite of curse blessing so Christ became a curse that took away the curse from me didn't leave me empty but filled me with the Holy Spirit so that I 1:05:31 can be a blessing to everybody I meet now many of you may have been a nuisance to other people till now a headache to others as they say they say about some people oh boy that fellow he's a headache have you been like that 1:05:48 have you been a headache in your family to people have you been a nuisance to people in your family here's the promise of God Christ became a curse so that you might be a blessing at least from today believe it if you believe 1:06:04 that he shed his blood and your sins are forgiven now believe that your old man is crucified that you don't have to sin again and believe that the devil was defeated on the cross you don't have to be afraid of him anymore 1:06:18 you can command the demon in Jesus name if you walk in the light and fourthly he became Jesus became a curse no curse on you that's not all he's replaced the curse with made you a blessing to every person you meet in some 1:06:35 way maybe you speak few words to someone and you're a blessing sometimes you know you speak one sentence to a person and that guy must have been so discouraged and he's so happy that you went and spoke one word to him or 1:06:50 sent him an email with just one sentence or called him on the phone and spoke one sentence you're a blessing it delivered him from gloom and discouragement for the rest of the day how easy it is to be a blessing we've been 1:07:04 a curse to so many people in the past criticizing backbiting judging okay let's finish with all that let's be a blessing from now on be a blessing with one sentence why not try that from today okay let's pray heavenly father 1:07:23 we miss so much in the Christian life by not knowing the truth but Jesus said you shall know the truth the truth will set you free I pray that many here will be freed today in Jesus name Amen
