0:07 We must remember that we are creatures of eternity. Not like the animals or the birds. God created us as eternal beings 0:24 who will never die. I'm not sure about hell, whether people cease to exist there, I don't know. It could happen that they cease to exist or they suffer eternally. I don't know. I'm not interested to find out that. But 0:44 those of us who have accepted Christ as our savior, is that all that needs to be done? For many Christians, that's all there is. I want to go to heaven when I die. That's their attitude. I've accepted Christ. I'm going to go to heaven now. I 1:02 can sit back and relax and live for myself. And I'll tell you every one of those people is going to hell. Without a doubt, because they have not understood what it means to be saved. Salvation is to be saved from all the wretched 1:19 things that came to us through descending from Adam. And the poison that the devil put into Adam and Eve is in the human race. And Jesus came to save us from that. So, we must take 1:37 our lives seriously. When you come to the end of the Bible, it's the only book, by the way, that can give us clear understanding of eternity. And when you come to the end of the Bible, you see 1:54 the names of two cities. Revelation 17, it speaks about verse five, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. And God expects us to 2:14 seek him to know what it means what this means because a lot of people are going to end up in this system called Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots. See, a harlot is the opposite of the bride. Christ is called the church is called 2:32 the bride of Christ. And a harlot is one who claims to be the bride but is not devoted to the bridegroom. Is led astray by self and the world and the devil. That's a harlot. 2:50 One who claims to be the bride but isn't actually them. That's Babylon. And if you and turn over to Revelation in chapter 21, read about the other city in Jerusalem called the holy city, Revelation 21, verse 10. 3:09 I saw the holy city, Jerusalem. Do you notice the difference? Babylon the great. G R E A T. Jerusalem the holy, H O L Y. That is the essential difference 3:27 between a false church and a true church. See, Babylon is not a picture of the world because it claims to be the bride of Christ and does not is not faithful and that's why it's called a harlot. And the characteristic of it, it is 3:45 great in the eyes of the world, but is not holy. A church that's big and great in the eyes of the world is invariably Babylon. Jerusalem may not be great in the eyes of the world, but it is holy. 4:03 The contrast there it it is between a church that's great and famous and big and another church which is pure and holy and probably smaller in size. Jesus said the way to life is narrow. Did he say many find it? No. 4:22 Few there be that find it. So, we saw Babylon and Jerusalem. If you see the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7 is the Sermon on the Mount. And there you read also about a wide gate, 4:40 a narrow gate, a wide way, a broad way, and a small gate, and a narrow way. Matthew 7:13 and 14. Here again, you can see Babylon and Jerusalem. This is Babylon the great. Matthew 7:13. 5:01 The middle of that verse, the gate is wide. And the way is broad. It's an easy type of life to live. You nominally say, "I've accepted Christ." And live just as you like for the world and for money and for everything else that other 5:18 people in the world live. It's a broad way. No discipline of oneself, no denial self-denial, a broad way. It leads to destruction and many enter through it. And I want to tell you many who call themselves Christians, many who claim to be born again, are 5:37 going through that way. But the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. And there are very few who find it. Now, when you see something like that, that are many who are going the wrong direction, and very few who find it, 5:56 it puts a fear, a healthy fear into my heart. I want to be in that few. I don't want to spend my life on earth and be deceived. And if you read the scripture and take it seriously, and particularly the New Testament, you will 6:10 not be deceived. That I can guarantee. But if you only listen to preachers, and you don't know the Bible, there's every likelihood that you will be deceived. So, I would encourage all of you, at least read the New Testament thoroughly. 6:26 You will then you will not go astray if you accept everything that you read in the New Testament. I've spent years studying it, and I've seen very clearly the direction in which I'm supposed to live, and that I can encourage others to live. 6:42 So, where did this Babylon and Jerusalem originate? Now, we saw it at the end of the Bible. The Babylon the harlot. Harlot means one who claims to be the bride of Christ, but is not faithful. And Jerusalem is the bride of Jesus 6:56 Christ, devoted to him. And both are being built today on this earth. Now, we saw that in Book of Revelation. Now, you go to Genesis, and the first Genesis and Exodus, and you see the beginnings of Babylon and Jerusalem. 7:15 So, when you go to Genesis, after you know, after the flood and Noah came out of the ark, one would have thought that the whole people in the world would have learned a lesson by all those people being destroyed by the flood, how seriously God takes 7:34 holiness and obedience. He wiped out an entire world. And it's only Noah and his wife and the three sons and their wives. What's that? Eight people were saved out of the whole world. All the rest were destroyed. 7:53 Does God take sin that seriously? He does. He wiped out the whole world. And he would have wiped out the world again a second time or third time or a 10th time, but he said after the flood, "I won't do it again." And then, very soon after the flood is 8:09 over, you see uh in chapter 10, it describes about the sons of Noah and all that. And then in the last verse of chapter 10, Genesis, it says, "These are the families of the sons of Noah according to their generations, and out of these the 8:24 nations were separated on the earth after the flood." One would have thought everybody in the old world has learned a lesson. See how God judges the whole world when they don't take sin seriously. And yet, immediately after that, see 8:35 what happens in Genesis 11. The people were the same language. And they came to a place called Shinar, and they said, "Let us make bricks. And let us build a city, verse four, the tower of whose top will reach into heaven." 8:53 Why is that? So, the next time there's a flood, we'll climb up this tower and God won't be able to destroy us. Can you imagine the rebellious spirit of man? Instead of saying that it's by obedience that we'll be protected. No, we'll build 9:11 and reach right as far as high as we can because this flood came only up to the mountains. We'll build something higher than that, and we'll protect ourselves. This is the spirit of man. So, when you read these scriptures, you 9:21 must see, "Why do they say that?" We must not read the Bible like a storybook. Whenever you read, say, "Why did people say that?" We must meditate. You know, we read that yesterday that if you meditate on scripture, you'll 9:35 prosper in everything that you do. I remember when I read that in someone I said, "Lord, I raised my hand. I want to prosper in everything that I do spiritually, materially, physically, every way." The Lord said, "Well, meditate on my 9:47 word and follow it and stay away from the path of the evil people." So, here I want you to see something. This is the beginning of Babylon. It's called the Tower of Babel. Babel is verse 9, "The name was called Babel." That's the beginning of Babylon. 10:07 I'll come back to that in a minute. And what is the beginning of Jerusalem? That's in the next chapter, Exodus and chapter 25. The Lord told Moses after they they came out of Egypt, "Tell the sons of Israel 10:30 to take a contribution and let them construct a tabernacle." Verse 9, "According to all that let them construct a sanctuary." Verse 8, "For me, a holy place that I may dwell among them." The purpose was not 10:52 to escape the flood. The sanctuary was for God to dwell in his people. This is the beginning of Jerusalem and the beginning of the church. The church is a place where God wants to dwell in the midst of his people. And then this church 11:08 the beginning of it was the tabernacle in the Old Testament. I'm going to show you must be according to the pattern that I am going to tell you. And you read in the next 15 chapters all the way from 25 to 39 is complete details 11:27 of how that tabernacle must be built. Now, we don't need to understand all these details, but I learn a lesson from it. The tabernacle was Genesis 25:8, that I may dwell in the midst of my people. Today, the equivalent of that is the church. 11:46 The church is to be a place not just where we have meetings and sing songs. See Genesis Exodus 25:8, that I may dwell among the people I mentioned the other day how Jesus said where two or three are gathered I'm in the midst of them. 12:02 And it's quite likely that even this morning as we sang, I wonder how many of you recognize that you were singing to Jesus Christ, that he was here listening. Did you recognize it? Or you forgot about it. That's how it is. 12:18 No matter how many times we are told, I'll tell you something, it's only the Holy Spirit who can make us aware of the presence of Christ. What we goes into our mind, we forget so easily. But if the Holy Spirit revives our 12:34 spirit, he'll make us aware of the presence of Christ. And that is the reason That's why it's so important to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Every day. It's how I begin my day. I say, "Lord, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit 12:47 today." And every day I pray I'll be filled with the Holy Spirit and live in the presence of God every day. That's the most meaningful life you can live. You can maybe working in office 10 hours a day, fine. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and help 13:02 you to be a true disciple of Jesus and you'll find your work is also much easier when you're living in Christ's presence all the time. Imagine if Jesus was with you when you went to office, when you came back home, or any work that you do, that Christ is 13:17 with you all the time. What better life can you live? That I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8, that was the identifying mark of the Tabernacle. And if you've seen pictures of the Tabernacle, it's a big tent, and the 13:34 fire of God was upon that tent in the one end of the tent where the most holy place was. And as long as Israel was faithful, that fire was there. Presence of God. When Israel became unfaithful, that fire departed. But they still had the 13:53 structure. And that's a picture. The Tabernacle with the fire on top, the Tabernacle or tent with the fire on top, and the tent without the fire is a picture of two types of churches. They look the same on the outside. Exactly the same. 14:12 But the fire is not there. So, when you see it, the tent or Tabernacle of Israel and the fire is not there, God is not there. There's no point in going there. Pointless going to a church if God is not there. What's it just a routine 14:27 place like a club? You sing and listen to some message and go home and ease your conscience. What is the most important thing in the Tabernacle? It is not the rituals and the altar and the sacrifices and all that. They You 14:41 know, they did all that even after the fire departed. If I understood the New the Old Testament, the the Exodus and all properly, and I was living in Israel, I'd say, "Lord, I want to look for the fire. If the fire is not there, I'm not 14:58 even going to go there. Waste of time." I mean, the pattern is all there. The outer court and the Tabernacle and the curtains and the altar, everything is there. Only the fire is missing. And you can go to churches which say, 15:12 "We are the New Testament pattern." I've been in churches which claim to be the New Testament pattern. "We have elders. We don't have pastors and preachers, we have elders. And we preach all these things, salvation by faith and all that. 15:29 Everything, the pattern is absolutely right. The fire is missing. Would you go to that tabernacle if the fire is not there? I wouldn't. If I were in Israel, I'd say, "What's a waste of time? I might as well sit in my tent and pray to God." 15:44 I would not go to a church if I don't see the fire of God there. The fire of God is there, when I go in there, I'll hear God speaking to me. That's how it was, when the fire of God was there, people were scared to go in 15:55 there. And Moses would go in and God would speak and the people And sometimes God would speak and the people would hear it. The most important thing in a church is not the music, it's not how good the instruments are or how good the church 16:09 leaders, the sing song leaders. The most important thing in a church, like in the tabernacle, is the presence of God, not the pattern. Pattern is important. They didn't follow the pattern, the fire of God wouldn't be there. So, I believe 16:22 that in the church there must be a pattern. You can't have people with robes and calling themselves reverend so-and-so and this, that, and the other and hanging cross around the neck. That's not the pattern. That's all worldly. 16:34 You look in the New Testament, you never find that. And the most important thing, even if you do follow the pattern, is the presence of God. So, many of you come from different places. You should seek for a church which has 16:48 the presence of God there. Size doesn't matter. The The tabernacle is a very small structure compared to the Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel was huge. Very impressive. And you see the picture of the tabernacle, it's so unimpressive. There 17:06 was a dirty brown covering on top of it. With all the dust that came on it, it was It looked pretty filthy on the outside. But the fire of God was there. That's the thing. And if that's the picture of the church, that's the type 17:20 of church I want to be a part of. So, we need to ask ourselves, what is the difference between these two? We want to do a work and be part of a system that lasts for eternity. Man is a creature of eternity. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians in 17:39 chapter 3. In 1 Corinthians in chapter 3, there's a very important passage which concerns all of us. It says here, 17:58 Paul is telling the Corinthians, verse 9, "We are God's fellow workers." Those are the apostles. "You are God's field or God's building." "And according to the grace of God 1 Corinthians 3:10 given to me 18:17 like a wise master builder." He was an apostle. See, the early churches were all planted by apostles who knew God and who had the anointing of God and there are apostles today. And they're the ones who plant true churches of Christ, not just 18:33 clubs or congregations. A church where the fire of God is present. And I like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation. Others like Apollos and all came built on top of it, but every man, that includes you and me, 18:50 must be careful how he builds. We are building by our life and our actions and by being part of a church, we are building something. And it says, "Let every man be careful how he builds on it." Now, have you ever taken that word seriously? 19:07 "Every man must be careful how he builds on it." We all claim to be Christians and we're all somehow trying to be a witness for the Lord. Take this seriously. Let every man be careful how he builds 19:25 because you could build Babylon which will one day be destroyed or you could build build Jerusalem which will remain forever. One is patterned after the Tower of Babel the other is patterned after the Tabernacle. And then he says 19:42 foundation he has been laid. Now on this foundation um the foundation is Jesus Christ verse 11. On this foundation a man can build with gold, silver, and precious stones or 19:59 with wood, hay, and straw. True Christians, he's using illustrations and he says one day everything will become evident because verse 13 it'll be revealed with fire. Now you put gold, silver, and precious stones into the fire and that's what's 20:18 going to happen in the final day. You got he's using a picture of how God's going to test our life and our work in the final day. Whenever you read these scriptures you must meditate on them. What does it mean? Um the final day God's going to test my 20:33 work by fire. And what is he going to test? If it is gold, silver, and precious stones it'll remain forever. You can put gold, silver, and precious stones in the strongest fire. It'll come out as gold, silver, and precious stones. 20:48 But you put wood, hay, and straw into the fire in a moment it's all burnt to ashes. So you see the contrast here. Gold, silver, precious stones or wood, hay, and straw. And every man's all of us are building and every man's 21:05 work will become evident verse 13. Because when it is revealed by fire, the fire will test not the quantity but the quality. Today people are church by impressed by the size of a church, quantity. Oh, 10,000 people in that church, wow. 21:23 That must be a spiritual church. It's only a dumb person will say that. What a lot of wood, hay, and straw, wow. What a pile. Put that in the fire and let's see what's left. And then you see another small church. Gold, silver, and precious stones. 21:42 Put that in the fire and see what's left. So, are we thinking of what is impressive in the eyes of men? Wood, hay, and straw painted to look like gold to deceive people. Or real solid gold, silver, and precious stones which 21:55 may be few. If you have a certain amount of money, you can buy a huge pile of wood, hay, and straw. But you probably only get a handful of gold, silver, and precious stones. These are illustrations of the Holy Spirit uses to teach us 22:10 build that which will last for eternity. Build something that will stand the test of the eternal fire. Not the fire of hell but the fire with which our work will be tested. Do you believe that your work, my brother, individually, that the way 22:27 you live, the way you done your work, what you call being part of the church, will be tested in the final day. Many people their only Christianity is I've accepted Christ, I'm going to go to heaven when I die. I'll tell you 22:38 honestly, I have no interest in going to heaven when I die. Zero. I want to be with Jesus when I die, wherever he is. I even told the Lord once, Lord, if you're in hell, I'll be there for all eternity because that'll be heaven for me if you're there. My 22:52 heaven is not golden streets and uh apartments and all that I was told. My heaven is Jesus. Wherever he is, that is heaven for me. And that's why heaven has begun for me cuz I'm with Jesus right now. And it's going to be a greater 23:05 revelation of him when he comes back. That's all. So, heaven is not a place as much as a person. So, what what are you looking for? Most people looking for a comfort once I will freed from all this sickness and problems on this earth, I'll go and 23:19 relax in heaven. Such people are not interested in Jesus. I'm willing to suffer for all eternity if I'm with Jesus. Comfort is not what I'm looking for. Freedom from sickness and freedom from problems is not all I'm looking for. The 23:33 presence of Jesus Christ because I love him. And true Christianity is a love relationship with Jesus Christ. And if you don't have that, my brother, there's something seriously missing in your Christian life. Do you have a love 23:46 relationship with Jesus Christ like a bride who's passionately in love with someone she's going to marry? Think of a woman who's passionately in love with a man, a brilliant, wonderful man who cares for her, whom she's looking forward to get 24:01 married to. That is the picture of the church waiting for Christ. That's how I wait for Jesus Christ. And if you're not like that, something's missing in your life. You're not a bride. You're just one selfishly seeking for a 24:13 comfortable life once you leave the earth. That's a very selfish type of bride, and I believe that's a harlot, not a bride at all. One who claims to be the bride. So, what does it mean to build with gold, silver, and precious stones? 24:28 Or to build with wood, hay, and straw? I want to explain to you very simply because the Lord revealed it to me very clearly. I remember the day still in my life when I was seeking God earnestly, and God suddenly gave me a revelation. 24:42 And God will give revelation to anyone who seeks him earnestly because there's a promise in the Bible which says, "When you seek me with all your heart, you will find me." And when you seek for an answer from something in scripture you don't 24:56 understand, and you seek him with all your heart, he will suddenly one day reveal it to you. That is how I found some amazing revelations in scripture. And especially this most important subject of how can I build my life 25:10 in a way that will last forever long after this world is gone. And I still remember the day when I got that revelation. What is gold, silver, precious stones? What are those three things? And what is wood, hay, and straw? 25:27 What will build Jerusalem and what will build Babylon? What will build the bride of Christ and what will build the harlot church? And I got that revelation from Romans chapter 11. We're thinking of three things. Gold, silver, precious stones. 25:46 Or the other three things. Wood, hay, and straw. Read the last verse of Romans chapter 11. And you'll see the three things. Very clear. 26:03 Romans 11 verse 36. From him from God through God to God is everything that will last forever. To him be the glory. What is 26:21 gold, silver, and precious stones? That which originates from God which is done through God's power and to which is done to him for his glory. So gold, silver, and precious stones is that which originates in God's will, 26:38 what God reveals as his will is done through the power of his Holy Spirit and is done for God's glory. You got it? Done according to his will done through his power and done for his glory. Very simple. From him, 26:57 through him, to him. And what is wood, hay, and straw? From man, through man, to man. That means that which originated in man's clever mind. Some brilliant idea to do God's work. Some brilliant idea to do missionary work. 27:16 Some brilliant idea to build a church. It did not originate in God. It was not God's plan. A man did not wait on the Lord and say, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" He just thought, "I can start something." Lots and lots of I'd say 99% of churches 27:31 are started like that. And they will all perish because it did not originate from God. Let me tell you this, my brothers, that which did not originate in God will never last for eternity. It must originate in God. 27:50 And that which is not done in God's power, but human cleverness and power, will not last forever. And that which is not done for the glory of God, but for the glory of man, for the glory of some great, powerful preacher in some church trying to show 28:05 off what a powerful preacher he is. There are so many churches like that, and you know some of those well-known names in America of people of big churches with big names. It's a great preacher. The glory is of man, not God and Jesus Christ. 28:23 One day it'll perish. It's a tower of Babel being built today. Now, a lot of people may think we're just being critical. I'm just warning people of you. And like Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. But it's all from scripture. 28:38 So, please remember these three three things: from God, through God, to God, or from man, through man, to man. Now, turn back to Genesis chapter 11, Babylon. Babylon began here. And see how exact scripture is. Babylon was 28:59 man's idea, and you know how it says the Lord destroyed that city. And people were Genesis 11:8, God scattered people all over the world and confused their tongues. And they were all speaking one language, Genesis 11:6. 29:18 And the Lord said, "Let us confuse their language. So they will not understand one another. And the Lord scattered them abroad and they stopped the building of the city. Babylon was destroyed. That's the beginning of Babylon. It was destroyed. 29:35 And one day on the day of Pentecost God gave those disciples another language, speaking in unknown languages to reverse the system. There he scattered everybody by confusing their languages, and the day of Pentecost they united 120 people 29:52 by giving them a gift of tongues, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It's very interesting to see the contrast, and that was the beginning of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. And Babel was destroyed, and notice how 30:02 it Babel was built. What are the three things we said about Babylon? From man through man to man. Originated in man's mind, done with God man's power, and done for man's glory. Okay, let's look at Babel. It originated in man's idea. 30:22 Verse three, "Come, let us make bricks. And let us build. And through man, let us build. We've got the ability to build. We don't need any help from anybody else." And why should we be build it? Look at the last part of verse four, 30:40 "For our glory. Let us make for ourselves a name. What do we see there in verse 3 and 4? From man, from his brilliant mind, through his own power, we can make the bricks. And let us make ourselves a name for our glory. Exactly like we read in Romans 30:58 11, the opposite of Romans 11:36. From man, through man, to man. That was Babel. And that is Babylon right at the end. And a church that originated in some clever man's mind, I'm going to build a church, and done with all his capability 31:14 and ability, he doesn't need the power of the Holy Spirit, and is done for the glory of that man. Babylon. And there are lots and lots of churches today like that. There are lots of these well-known healers. What if the whole system is just to 31:30 elevate one man? It's all centered around one person, from man, through man, to man, and multitudes of blind Christians follow it, thinking this is the work of God. And all those fake healings, I would say not 99.9% but 100% of those 31:47 healings are fake. And there are multitudes of Christians who are deceived by it. I'm not deceived. Okay, now let's consider what the tabernacle was like. The tabernacle was a beginning, the picture of the church, I told you. 32:06 And it was from God. It was not Moses' brilliant idea, I think I'll make a little tabernacle for God. No. 100% from God. God said in Exodus 25, from God, 32:25 tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution and build an exact details, if you read the next few chapters, how to build the tabernacle, uh how to build the ark, Exodus 25:10. How to build the mercy seat, Exodus 25:17. 32:42 How to make a table of showbread, verse 23. How to make a lampstand, verse 31. Exact details, a whole chapter. Mhm, details. How to make the curtains of linen, chapter 26, verse 1. And how to make the boards for the 33:00 tabernacle, Exodus 26:15. How to make that thick veil that was rent when Jesus died, Exodus 26 and verse 31. And how to make the altar, chapter 27, verse 1. How to make the court of the tabernacle, 27, verse 9. And how to make the garments for the 33:20 priests, chapter 28. And the many other details like that, and you go right on to the last chapter, chapter 40. How was the tabernacle built? 33:38 Exactly according to the way he told him to set up the court. Only see Exodus chapter 40. Verse 16. It's It's talking about the tabernacle. Thus Moses did 33:55 according to all that the Lord commanded him from God. It was done through God's power. As you can see in uh, in one of these chapters, 34:14 the Lord says, I've given Bezalel wisdom to do the work of the tabernacle. From God and through God's power. And I notice here it says further in Exodus 40. 34:33 Moses erected the tabernacle verse 18. And see this expression that comes so often. Verse 19, he spread the tent over the tabernacle just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Go down to verse 21. He brought the ark into the tabernacle the last part of 34:53 that sentence just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Verse 23, he set the arrangement of the bread just as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 25, he lighted the lamps just as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 27, he burned fragrant incense 35:11 just as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 29, he set the altar of burnt offering the last part just as the Lord commanded Moses. And verse 32, when they entered the tent, they washed just as the Lord commanded Moses verse 32. And that in 35:26 verse 33, thus the last part of verse 33, Moses finished the work. How did he finish the work? Just as the Lord commanded, just as the Lord commanded, just as the Lord commanded. They had nothing of that in Babel. Babel, it is my clever mind, I build it. 35:41 And here every little detail, even the curtains and the incense verse 27, everything, every little thing, big thing was exactly as the Lord commanded. That is the church of Jesus Christ. Where every little thing in the church 35:57 is as the Lord commanded. I told you yesterday how this habit of sisters veiling their head when they pray disappeared from the church. Who cares? Just as the Lord commanded, that's all. Well, not necessary today. That's how Babylon 36:12 is built. Oh, that's not important. The main thing is we have some good singing and good preaching. What about just as the Lord commanded? You know, the tabernacle was not at all impressive sight. The Tower of Babel, you compare the two, Tower of Babel is a 36:27 massive, impressive sight. And tabernacle was such an unimpressive God deliberately made it unimpressive. And I'll tell you something throughout the ages I've seen and in my travels in the last 50 years, the churches that Jesus builds are not 36:43 impressive. Humanly speaking. It's the presence and the power of God that makes it impressive. You go into a church where Jesus is there and the word of God comes powerfully straight to your heart every time you go. Jesus is there and the Holy Spirit is 37:02 there and the word of God comes powerfully to your heart. The building itself may not be very impressive. The people may not be dressed in fancy robes and all that. They don't have impressive titles. None of them call themselves Reverend 37:15 so-and-so or Pastor so-and-so. No, no, no, they get rid of them. They don't have any titles. They're all brothers. They're all equal. It's not impressive. But the presence of God is there. The fire on top of the tabernacle, 37:30 that's the only thing I look for in a church. Not are there 10,000 people here or only 50 people. Doesn't make a difference to me. Is the fire of God there? What do people look for today in most churches? Is it a grand building? Are there 37:46 very important people in that building, you know, big shots from the town attend this church? All types of silly, stupid, worldly reasons. And they call that They have the audacity to call that the church of Jesus Christ. 38:00 It's absolutely shameful. The sad thing is so many born-again people are so dumb that they go there and think this is the church of Jesus Christ. Have they read the Bible? Most Christians don't read the Bible so they don't know anything. 38:13 They read something in the tabernacle and they haven't even seen a simple thing like that even the bitter the incense was made exactly as the Lord commanded Moses. And the curtains were made exactly as the Lord commanded Moses. You 38:24 see, but what does it matter what how the curtains are made? Well, it does matter. If God has said something, it's a very serious thing. The question is not how important it is. The question is who said it. So, whether it's a small thing like 38:40 breaking of bread the way the Lord taught us to do it, or women veiling their heads as the Lord taught us, or how we should come together when we meet, how we should not take titles like rabbi, father, pastor, and all these things. 38:56 You see, oh, that's not important. Exactly. That's how Babylon is built, where you look at the Lord's command and say, "That's not important." We follow man's idea. From man, through man, to man is Babylon. From God, through God, to God 39:11 is Jerusalem. So, in in when the Lord was building the the this I'm trying to find that verse where it says the Lord equipped Bezalel and Aholiab with the power of 39:30 the Holy Spirit. Anyway, you'll find it somewhere there in these chapters. Where he said, "I have equipped them to do the work of the tabernacle." And then finally, what is it from? We saw that from God, through God, and then what's the last 39:44 thing? From, through, and to. So, turn to Exodus chapter 40. Verse 34. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. To God. From God, the whole thing was planned by God, 40:04 through God's power, and to God's glory. And that is a picture of the church. And I believe that that's the only type of church we should be building. From 40:22 that from God means I wait on the Lord and say, "Lord, show me in your word what is the pattern for the church? How is it How do you want us to build a local church in our hometown? I want to do it exactly and there exact 40:38 instructions given us in uh Exodus and sorry, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, for example. Let me just show you that for a moment. In 1 Corinthians 14, there are instructions. 40:56 This is how What is the outcome, brothers, when you come together? Details are given. For example, verse 34, the women must keep silent in the church. And today there are women pastors. What do they think of this verse in 1 Corinthians 41:13 14:34? Women must keep silent in the churches. Ah, they say, "That's an old Old Testament. I mean, that's an old first-century idea when women were not so educated." Oh, I see. Well, you throw away the Bible then. Why do you keep the 41:29 Bible? That is a first-century book. Then That's the trouble with a lot of Christians today. That's an old first-century idea. We're all modern now. We have educated Men and women are educated. So, we can ignore what God says, "Let the women keep 41:43 silent." Should we make them pastors? Do you know that there's a the head of the in Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury. And do you know that the Archbishop of Canterbury this year, for the first time in the history of the church, is a 41:57 woman. It's very interesting. I was I'm used to see this woman holding the cross and going to the Archbishop of the Church of England. Leave alone, keep silent. They're the leaders in the church today. The women pastors and bishops and archbishop of 42:15 Canterbury, wow. They don't care two hoots for what God says. It is from man, through man, and to man. And they call it the church of Jesus Christ. They should be ashamed. The sad thing is there are multitudes of believers who 42:31 dumbly follow all this and don't read the scriptures. Why in the world has God given us a Bible? Why do people res- uh say the Bible is God's word and don't read it and don't follow it? So, this is the thing that we've sought 42:45 to do in in our churches. And CFC started 51 years ago. We decided that we'd go exactly according to God's word. We told people if there's anything we find in the New Testament which we are not following, please tell us. 42:59 We will do it. And if there's anything New New Testament forbids, we forbid it in our church. We don't care whether people think or people get offended and go. They're welcome to go. We're not interested in numbers. We're 43:11 interested in the fire of God being present. The fire of God will not be present. What did we read in Exodus 40? As the Lord commanded Moses As the Lord commanded Moses As the Lord commanded Moses As the Lord commanded And thus he 43:22 finished the work. And immediately the fire came upon the tabernacle. It's going to be the same today. If you read the scriptures, as the Lord Jesus commanded, as the Lord Jesus Leave alone what in those days. Today, as the 43:35 Lord commanded, as the Lord commanded, as the Lord commanded, and thus someone built a church, the fire of God will be there even today because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, this is wood, uh gold, silver, and 43:53 precious stones. The alternative is wood, hay, and straw. We saw that how tabernacle how Babel Babel was built and how the tabernacle was built. So, what does it mean in practical terms? From God, through God and to God. 44:11 From God means we must see whether God has commanded this, not just some bright idea that came in man's mind. Even Jesus when he was on earth we saw yesterday in our first study how how Jesus lived on earth in simplicity 44:29 refused to be a king, refused to take titles. And when I see the number of human beings who call themselves Christian leaders taking titles and wanting to be called Reverend and Reverend Doctor and all types of most Reverend and there's 44:43 no end to it. And this and Jesus just refused to take any title. So look at the Apostle John. Uh the one who lived the longest, Revelation chapter 1. What does he call himself? Listen to this. This is the last book of 45:03 the in the in your Bible. Revelation chapter 1 written by John the Apostle. He was the only Apostle alive at that time. All the others had died of the first 12. Revelation chapter 1 verse 9, I John, your brother. 45:22 Have you ever heard any Christian leader speak like that? The right Reverend so-and-so, has he ever told you that he's your brother? And yet there are dumb Christians who follow all these right Reverend and wrong Reverend and every type of 45:36 Reverend there is. I John, your brother and fellow partaker of the tribulation. That's the type of man I want. A man who is an Apostle and who's a brother who does not elevate himself above you in any way. That is God's plan. 45:56 That is the way it is from God. Do you want it? Or you want to follow the worldly system? So that's how he was. And God's given us a pattern in the church how how to build the church. Detail, you read 1 Corinthians 14 and 46:15 there are many passages. Let me show you one example of how the church is built. We looked at a little bit yesterday in the question answer time. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4. It says in verse 11, 46:33 after going to heaven, verse 10, he went up to heaven, and from heaven he appointed some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints. So, the saints will build the body of Christ. 46:51 So, this is a true church where there are leaders. Apostles are people who plant churches, guide them, lead them. They're like spiritual fathers. Paul said to the Corinthians, "I'm your father. You can have 10,000 teachers, but I'm your 47:04 father." That's what an apostle is. And then prophets who prophetically speak God's word. And then there are evangelists who bring people to Christ and shepherds who take care of the flock and the sheep and teachers who teach God's 47:20 word. And together they build verse 12, the body of Christ and come to the unity of the faith. Verse 13, a church should be united. And then it says, "If you don't follow this, what will happen?" Verse 14. 47:39 This is what will happen if you don't follow this pattern given you here in verses 10, 11, and 12. You will be taught like you'll be like children, verse 14, tossed here and there by the waves of every wind of doctrine that people bring with the trickery of 47:55 men and the craftiness of deceitful scheming. This is all spoken in the contrast of building a church through the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers and helpers. You don't You ignore all that and say, "Well, that's not all 48:07 important." Then you'll be tossed about by the craftiness and the trickery of men and their craftiness and deceitful scheming. I don't want to be involved I don't want to I don't want to be in that verse 14 at all. I want to live in verse 11, 12, and 13 48:26 and build the church of Jesus Christ. And if it is If you follow those verses, you will see the whole body verse 16 is fitted together and built according to that which every joint supply. This is God's plan from God. And in order to build that church on the 48:45 day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Because it not only had to be according to God's plan, it had to be in God's power. So, many people say, you know, there are Christians who say, "When I receive the Holy Spirit, 49:01 I'm born again, that's it. I don't need any further baptism of the Holy Spirit because, you know, it says in Romans 8 and verse 9, if you don't have the Spirit of God, you don't even belong to him." What happens when a person receive 49:13 Christ? Do you know that the Holy Spirit comes in? It's not Jesus. Jesus is in heaven in his body. When you say, "Lord Jesus, come into my heart." Who ac- Who actually comes into dwell in you? Who is it? Is it the first 49:28 person of the Trinity, the Father, or the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, or the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit? It's the Holy Spirit. It says in Romans 8:9, the last part, "If you don't have the Spirit of Christ, 49:40 you don't believe don't even belong to him. You're not even born again." When you're born again, the Holy Spirit comes in. It's right. Absolutely right. The Spirit of Christ brings Jesus. When say, "Lord Jesus, come into my heart." 49:54 Jesus is in heaven. He's going to come in the future. But, the Holy Spirit comes in. He said He says, "I've sent the Holy Spirit and He's my representative on Earth." When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, it's the 50:05 Holy Spirit who comes in. Let me ask you a question. When did the early apostles receive the Holy Spirit? Many people don't know the answer. I'll tell you. Not on the day of Pentecost. That's what I want to say. 50:24 It was on the day of resurrection. John chapter 20, you read about the resurrection. Mary Magdalene was there in the tomb. And she saw the risen Jesus. You read in John 20:17, Jesus said to her, "Stop 50:44 clinging to me." And Mary Magdalene was the first person who saw the risen Lord. Isn't that amazing? You know, to see the risen Lord Jesus Christ in the beginning of a new creation, what a tremendous honor. If the Lord had asked me, if God had 51:02 asked me, He didn't ask me, but if He did had asked me, "So, who do you think should be the first person to see the beginning of this new creation?" I would say, "Lord, I think it should be Mary, the mother of Jesus, who suffered so much. 51:20 She should be the one who should see Jesus risen first." God said, "No." Or perhaps Peter, the one who's leader of the apostles. No. John, who's a wonderful brother. No. Then who? I want to choose a filthy sinner 51:39 who lived in sexual sin, but who got converted. Mary Magdalene. I tell you, God's ways are not our ways. To be the first person to see the risen Lord a filthy sinner who was converted 51:58 from whom seven demons were cast out Mary Magdalene Is that the one you choose? Yes. So that the world will know that Jesus came not to call the righteous but to call sinners to repentance. Let everyone who has lived in sin 52:17 and deep in sin be encouraged to know that. He did not come to call the righteous. He came to call sinners to repentance. He didn't come to call sinners. He came to call sinners to repentance. And Mary Magdalene was a classic example 52:34 of one who had fallen deep into sin repented and saw the risen Lord. And that day then he came to he came to his disciples after that. It says after that in the chapter verse 19 he came to the disciples and he showed them his hands and feet. 52:51 And then listen to this. Verse 21 he said peace be with you. Always Jesus whenever he came to the disciples he always said peace. I want to tell you my brothers peace is one of the greatest gifts that God gives us. Peace in our heart, peace 53:06 with each other. That is what Jesus does whenever he comes. You read that every time he comes he to his disciples he said peace be with you. Peace be with you. And to me that is a mark of a church where Christ is present. There's peace 53:20 in that church. If church full of strife and quarreling I'd like to be a million miles away from such a church. Exactly. A million miles away. I want to be in a church where Jesus comes and says there's peace. Peace between man and God and peace between 53:37 everybody else. All men will know you are my disciples when you love one another. When there's peace I don't want to be in a church where there's strife. I want to be far, far away from such a church. Peace be unto you. Verse 19, 53:50 verse 21, peace be unto you. How many times, Lord? Every time he comes, he'll say it. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. And again and you see uh later on when he comes in verse 26, towards the end of verse 26, peace be 54:04 with you. This was his standard statement whenever he appeared. You see, just in these few verses, verse 19, last part, peace be with you. And verse 21, peace be with you. Verse 26, peace be with you. This was his standard expression. And he's the same 54:19 yesterday, today, and forever. If he comes into your church, what he'll say is, peace be with you. There should be peace between you and God. That means every sin confessed. There should be peace between you and your fellow 54:29 believers. Otherwise, it is not a the church that Jesus wants to build. A church full of strife, I want to be a million miles away from that. Okay. Then he said to these people hello, these 11 disciples in verse 22, receive the Holy Spirit. 54:46 He breathed on them. You remember how Jesus breathed on Adam? He breathed on Adam and said, he became a living soul. That is the first creation. Now, this is the new creation started in the same way. He breathed on them and receive the Holy Spirit. Now, 55:04 my question is, did they receive the Holy Spirit or not? Did Adam become a living soul when God breathed on him? When Jesus breathed on him? Yes. Did they receive the Holy Spirit that day? That was the day of resurrection. 55:17 Yes. And after they received the Holy Spirit, turn over the page to Acts chapter 1. The Lord said to them, verse five, Acts 1:5, in a few days you will be baptized with the the Spirit. 55:36 Now, the clever people could have said, "Lord, we received the Holy Spirit 40 days ago. You remember you breathed on us?" Yeah, yeah, you've received the Holy Spirit, you're born again, but you need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. 55:48 So, they waited in Jerusalem. He said, "You will receive power, verse 8, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and then you'll be my witnesses." This is the argument that goes on in many, particularly brethren people and 56:00 Baptists and all. We received the Holy Spirit. Why do you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit? They could have argued that here, "We received the Holy Spirit 40 days ago, remember, Lord?" Why are you asking us now? You have to be immersed. Baptism means 56:12 immersed in the Holy Spirit. Then you will receive power. The tragedy today with many Christians is they received the Holy Spirit, but not immersed in the Holy Spirit. They're come to John chapter 20. And verse 22. They read John 20, verse 22. 56:30 They've not come to Acts 1:8. They've not come to Acts 2:1 when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And it's quite likely that there are many people sitting right here, born again, without a doubt. The Holy Spirit has come in you. 56:49 And the Lord says, "Wait until the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you." And you will receive power, and then you'll be my witnesses. I'll tell you, this is what changed my life. I was in the brethren assemblies who do 57:03 not believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I saw the powerlessness and the spiritual death. They were born again, without a doubt. They'd gone past John chapter 20, verse 22. Yes, yes, they'd gone past that, and so had I. 57:17 But they didn't have power. What How were these people after John chapter 20, verse 22? Let's see. The people had received the Holy Spirit, and 8 days after that, uh let's turn back to John chapter 20. In verse 22, they received the Holy 57:29 Spirit. And 8 days after that, verse 26, in the middle of verse 26, the doors were still shut. They were still locked inside the door, scared. No desire to witness to other people, scared inside. Hey, you guys have received the Holy 57:48 Spirit. I know, but we are scared. Exactly like many believers today. But, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they threw the doors open. And they went all over the world and preached the gospel. And planted churches. That's the 58:02 difference between receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. That's the difference between having a glass of water and rivers of living water flowing out through you. World of difference. I lift up my the cup of salvation, Lord. 58:18 Let me be born again. The cup is filled. And the Lord says, I got to lead you further till rivers of living water flow out through you. From God, through God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and finally, to God. It must be for the 58:34 glory of God. Everything we do, there must be nothing done for our own credit or honor. We must divert it all towards the Lord. You know that Jesus Mhm. You you read Let me just turn with me to John chapter 58:54 First of all, Luke chapter 4. It's a very interesting passage here from God and through God. That's how Jesus lived. We read in Luke chapter 4 that verse 40. 59:12 When the sun was setting, Luke 4:40, many people with various diseases came to him. But, when sun was setting means pretty late in the day. It's getting dark. And when so many people come for 59:31 healing, the best thing to do is to do a mass healing. Okay, all of you have got sickness. Jesus could have said, "Just raise your hand and I'll pray for you." Finished in 2 minutes prayer. But he didn't do that. Verse 40. 59:46 He laid his hands on each one of them. Lord, that will take ages. By the time you pray for these 500 people standing here, when will you finish? It's already sun has set and it's getting late. No. I'm going to lay my hands on each 1:00:01 one of them. You know, these are the things that you see when you meditate on scripture. Some of you are seeing that for the first time. That that service went so late because why didn't you see it earlier? Because you just read it. You didn't meditate. 1:00:15 What will happen if I Jesus prays for 500 people one after the other, when will he finish? You'll get the same answer that I got. That it'll probably 11:00 at night by the time he finishes. But if you don't meditate, you just read that verse and 1:00:27 go to the next one. I'm just showing you how to read scripture. In future, meditate. Never mind if you spend 5 minutes on one verse, you'll get something. Otherwise, you skim through it, you'll get nothing even if you read 1:00:39 five chapters. So, I want to change the way you study the scripture from now onwards. Okay. Meditate further. Next day, it says here, when day came, Jesus left to a secluded place and he was praying. 1:00:58 Lord, it to you. Went to bed past midnight. But he gets up in the morning still. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed. I have to get up early in the morning. Do you go to bed at 2:00 at night? Never mind, I got to get up early to seek God 1:01:11 for his will for today. Where are the Christians who are like that? Let's see. Well, I slept late last night. I was asleep till 8:00 today. Uh-huh. And you expect to do things from God, through and to God? Never, not in a 1:01:24 million years. Jesus got up early. It doesn't matter what time he went to bed the previous day. He had work to do today, and he wanted to find the will of God. He went to a secluded place. Father, it looks as if there's a great revival 1:01:42 here. Great opportunity to stay on and continue the revival. So many people were healed yesterday. This is the beginning of a new work here. Shall I stay on here? And the Father says, "No." My ways are not man's ways. Go away. 1:02:01 Father, go away from this place where there's revival? Yes, go away. So, the next day, but the human mind don't think like human mind think there's a revival. Jesus Jesus must stay here. So, you read in verse 42, and then the crowds were searching for 1:02:14 him, and they came to him verse 42, and tried to keep him from going away. Did you read that? Lord, there's a revival here. Look at the hundreds of people who were healed yesterday. Don't go away now. This is the time to 1:02:27 build something here. And the Lord says, "No. My Father has told me to go." Now, if he had not prayed that morning, if he had not got up early in the morning at 5:00 and gone and prayed and said, "I'm too sleepy. I'll sleep till 1:02:40 8:00." He'd have missed the will of the Father. He'd have listened to all these opinions of men, "There's a revival going on. You'll stay here." And this is exactly how so many believers miss God's will. They don't seek to do God's will. 1:02:55 It's not from God. It's from human minds thinking this is the way to do God's work. This is how 99% of Christian work goes on in the world today, and nothing is accomplished. It must be from God, and then you wait on God, through God. 1:03:09 And finally, when we finish our work, it is to God's glory. I don't have to even go on to that. Let me just go to John chapter 17 and conclude. John 17. How did Jesus conclude his ministry? This is after the 1:03:29 Last Supper. Jesus Jesus final prayer. What did he say? Verse 4. John 17:4. I have glorified you on earth I have by finishing the work you gave me to do. How did Jesus glorify God on earth? Please read the answer in verse 4. 1:03:48 How did Jesus glorify God on earth? By finishing the work he was given to do. Plain and simple. How shall I glorify God in my earthly life? By finishing the work God has given me 1:04:06 to do. What is the work God has given me to do? That was determined before I was born. Psalm 139. Psalm 139. We learn the truth by comparing 1:04:24 scripture with scripture. Psalm 139. Father, you verse 13, you formed me in my mother's womb, you wove me. In my mother's womb you started working on me before I was born. And so I'll give thanks to you. Psalm 1:04:43 139. Verse 16, while I was in my mother's womb, my unformed, that means my body was not yet formed. Your eyes from heaven saw my unformed substance inside my mother's womb, an embryo. Not even looking like a human being. 1:05:02 Your eyes looked at me. And while I was there in your book, that means in God's mind all the days that were meant for me were ordained while I haven't even started my first day on earth. I'm still in my mother's womb. 1:05:19 How precious are your thoughts, oh Lord. It's a very precious verse to me. That while I, Zach Poonen, I was in my mother's womb 87 years ago my father in heaven he wasn't yet my father. He was going to be my father one day. 1:05:38 Saw me there. And said, "I've got a plan for this little embryo." All the days verse 18 16, sorry, 16 last part that were ordained for me. My mother did not know that I would live 1:05:57 up to 86. I don't know how much longer I'm going to live, but my mother had no clue about it. And I was born, I didn't have a clue. But my father had it written down in heaven. In his mind. He's going to live up to such and such a 1:06:11 day. And I don't know when that is in God's mind. But I want to reach that day. And I don't want to live one single minute beyond that point. Because I'll mess up God's work if I live longer than God wants me to live. And I'll mess up God's work if I live 1:06:27 less than God wants me to live. All the days were ordained for me, was written for me before there was even one of them. Before my first day on earth, my entire life was planned. I say, "Father, that's wonderful. That's the only thing I want to live 1:06:42 for. That plan that you made when I was in my mother's womb. So that I can say like Jesus said in John 17 when I come to the end of my life, whenever it is. John 17:4 I have finished the work you gave me to 1:07:01 do. And I have glorified you. I glorify God by finishing the work he gave me to do. When God called me to leave the Navy on the 6th of May, 1964, spoke to me clearly, "Quit your job." 1:07:20 If I had not listened, I would not be able to say that at the end of my life, "I finished the work you gave me to do." Cuz I was up and doing it at top of my class, and I was going up in the career in the Navy, and the Lord said, "Drop it." 1:07:35 What a mess I would have made of my life if I had just become an admiral in the Navy and missed God's will. I'm so thankful that I dropped it and became poor so that I could do the will of God. God has a plan for your life, my 1:07:49 brother. It may not be full-time Christian work like my my case. There very few people God calls for full-time Christian work. But your work is just as important in a secular job. Equally important as mine. You are just one another part of the 1:08:03 body of Christ. If, for example, if I am the tongue, is the tongue the only part of the body of Christ? I speak, speak, speak, speak. What about the hands, the eyes, the ears? So many functions. All of you have got some function in the body of Christ. 1:08:19 Just as important. Which part of the your body can you cut off? I don't even cut off want to cut off my nails. They're extremely useful when I feel itchy. My eyes and ears can't help me then. Every part of the body is important in 1:08:32 the body of Christ also. It's exactly the same. Every part of the body is important. And you, my brother, are important in in Christ's body. Make sure that you seek him to know what is his will from God. And make your you seek him for the power 1:08:48 of the Holy Spirit every day through God. And when you have done something, make sure you give the glory to him. To God. Then your work will be eternal. From God, through God, to God. Your work will be gold, silver, precious stones. 1:09:06 Put into the fire in the final day, become true, not burnt. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us that these things will not be just theories in our mind, but it'll work out in our daily life from today onwards because we have heard 1:09:24 the truth. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. In our last session, we were thinking about the difference between building with gold, silver, and precious stones and wood, hay, and straw from 1 1:09:43 Corinthians 3 and how the fire will test everything. And I was saying from Let me repeat. How the Tower of Babel was a picture of what man can do in man's strength and for man's glory. 1:10:03 And the Tabernacle in the Old Testament was a picture of what was done exactly down to the smallest detail according to God's plan. A picture of how the church should be in the smallest You read that section from Exodus 25 to 40. 1:10:21 You see what minute detail God gave for the Tabernacle. Nothing was less left to Moses to determine what size the pillar should be or the beams or anything or what color the curtain should be. Everything was 1:10:40 determined by God. It came from God. And uh I didn't show you that verse because I couldn't immediately find the reference. I thought I should show I should you. It was done with the power of God in Exodus 31 when to build this Tabernacle, the Lord 1:10:56 said, "I have called by name." Exodus 31:2, "Bezalel, the son of Uri, to build." See, God calls a person particularly, even today, to build his church. "I have filled him with the spirit of 1:11:14 God." This is how it was built. In the Old Testament, this is one of the first examples in the Old Testament where God says, "I filled a man with the spirit of God." What is it for? To build the Tabernacle. "And I filled him with wisdom, 1:11:32 understanding, and knowledge." In those days, it was to build a physical Tabernacle. Today, he fills us with the Holy Spirit to build that spiritual building of the church. And we saw also at the end how it was built for God's glory. 1:11:47 So, the work that we do today also must be according to God's plan, first of all, down to the smallest detail. I believe God's plan my life in detail. And I every day, I believe, as we wake up, we should say, "Lord, what do you want me to do today?" 1:12:04 There's no day in my life that is not planned by God. There's no day in your life that's not planned by God. A lot of days we have wasted. You can't do anything about the days that are wasted. But now that you've got light, 1:12:17 that God's planned every day, as we saw in Psalm 139, all the days were numbered when you were in your mother's womb. God made a plan for your life from the day you were born till the day he calls you home. I believe that. 1:12:31 A lot of those years, I know in my life was wasted when I was backslidden and not seeking God earnestly. But I take comfort from the fact that God had a plan for Paul's life from before when he was in his mother's womb. 1:12:47 And yet, when Paul came out of his mother's womb, 30 years he wasted. Not just waited, wasted. He fought against Christians. And yet you know what Paul says at the end of his life? I finished my course. 1:13:05 Read that verse. Second Timothy It will be encouraged you tremendously. Second Timothy and chapter 4 verse 7 the middle. I have finished my course. 1:13:24 Just like Jesus said, I finished the work you gave me to do. Isn't that amazing? You say, "Lord, how is that? This guy wasted 30 years of his life fighting against Christians, killing Christians." How in the world did he finish his 1:13:39 course? And he died when he was 67. Half of that life was anti-Christian, not just wasted. And yet he says at the end of his life, "I finished my course." That's a tremendous encouragement for those who wasted all many years of their life. 1:13:55 No need to regret. Even if you wasted half your life living for the devil. God can make up for it. I'll tell you why. Cuz God sees the future. And he saw the future in Paul's life. The guy was sincere, but he was sincerely wrong. 1:14:12 And God made allowance for that. God made allowance for the fact that this guy will waste 30 years of his life living for the devil. Or for himself. He made allowance for that and enabled him to finish the course. 1:14:29 I have sometimes told young people, I also, after I accepted the Lord, there were many years when I didn't seriously follow him. I wouldn't say I was backslidden, but I wasn't serious or wholehearted. And what about all those years? 1:14:46 I said, "I have such regret over that today. I tell young people that I'm going to run much faster now than I ever ran in my life. And I believe I'll beat some of you young people in the race." And said, "Because I'm I'm so 1:15:00 sad about the years I wasted. You guys are not so sad about your life and you're not going to run as fast as me." So, Paul was tremendously sorry for the years that he wasted that he decided that he would run full speed. That's how 1:15:14 he finished the course. Do you have a regret over the way you lived certain years? Buck up. Run. You can still finish the race and finish your course if you take it seriously from today. Okay. I just to complete what I said in 1:15:34 my last session.
