0:07 It's a real joy to be with you. That early in the morning. Like I said to you, I don't remember. I think once I did speak with uh RNCF, I forget. Uh whether before we keep master now No, but anyway 0:27 I I can't remember speaking at 6:00 in the morning. You can share the word. Your dad and me used to meet at 6:30 even when we were in the Baptist Church to pray together. Those were times and they know that is when we uh 0:43 really sought the Lord for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And uh we have met a lot of opposition in the church. But those were good times and we would meet every Tuesday, I think it was 6:30 in the morning. By the way, he was uh your dad was 36 1:00 and I was 35 when the first Yes. We were in our 30s like the uh disciples that Jesus chose. So, it's been 46 I would not just say wonderful, but glorious years that we have had together. 1:17 And uh with no smell of strife. We've had our differences. We've uh sometime sharp differences, but never never once broke fellowship or brought it. Even a smell of strength among us. I praise the Lord. This is a This is really of the Lord. We can take 1:36 no credit of it because both of us are so different. Your dad is, you know that, so different from me. And I'm so different, but we work together and bless the church. And I I really thank the Lord. If I had to make a decision again, 1:53 you know, many years ago uh 1975, 46 years ago. I met your dad about 50 years ago. Before CFC started, I remember very clearly when I was looking around so disillusioned. I was a full-time worker for 9 years. So 2:12 disillusioned with what I saw in full-time Christian work. It was no better than the job I had left. People just were thinking of their of themselves, their own interests. And uh it was a rat race. And I was in that rat race. You know, 2:29 trying to become an officer on the railways. And God had other plans for me and called me, asked me to quit my job, which I did after after much battle till the Lord confirmed that he wanted me out. And uh to serve him. 2:46 So, uh I remember the Lord saying to me when I was looking around for somebody I can submit to, be under authority. And you know, the Lord did not call me to start a church or start anything. I wanted I just looked for somebody 3:03 that I could submit to, be under authority. And I'm not ashamed to say, many years ago, even before CFC started, I met your brother Zach I met your dad uh just the year we were married, Vicky and myself in Secunderabad. 3:21 In in the brethren assembly we were attending when dad spoke in deep life meetings there and we invited him home for tea. Debbie was not yet born. Our firstborn was not yet. It was the middle in the 3:38 a few months after we were married when invited your dad home. But it was after much after that. And uh when we met again in Bangalore three times, the Lord made our paths cross. Once there in our house, the first time he drank chocolate tea, he said, 3:57 "And I'll never forget that." That the one room a little home we had in Secunderabad as working for Youth for Christ. And then, when we came out, I got so tired and fed up with full-time Christian work. I just wanted to take a break, 4:12 give myself to study God's word. Second time I happened to meet your dad again in the Asian Bible Seminary center, where it was Some of you have heard this before, but I those who are new. The second time that we met. 4:30 And it was during that time, I think, after that, uh in when we joined the Baptist Church, the third time. And I was there and then your dad came and we were together again for the third time. And I know the Lord had something in this. And it was that 4:44 time that the Lord said to me, "Here is a man that you can submit to and be under authority." I'll never forget that very clear word that the Lord gave me uh more than 46 years, I would say, 47 years ago. And then God put us together in the Baptist 5:04 Church and you know the rest and all that happened and how CFC began, how the church began. And it's been wonderful. I really thank the Lord for your dad and uh thank the Lord for the brotherhood that uh was formed in CFC Bangalore 5:24 and uh it's been wonderful and I believe there are greater greater days ahead. We are living in exciting times. That's something that's come to me so fresh. We are really living in exciting times. 5:42 Times when the building of Jesus's body is getting complete. It's being ready for completion. With the top stone like Zechariah saw saw in his vision being laid with shouts of grace grace to 6:01 it. That is the church that is being built. It's all of grace grace upon grace upon grace. And if we are under that grace, then we have a place in this building that God is building in it these days. It's challenged me so much to see 6:20 so much that uh that God has revealed to me in his word what what he's doing in these days. So, on my heart, which I want to share with you this morning, something very blessed that has 6:38 come to me way back. I've looked as I've got in my old Bible here. And I've written a date here, 6 12 73. That's even before CFC buying began. And particularly in verse 17, I'll tell you a little about that. 6:57 Um that's the date I have in my Bible. It's a very old Bible which I had in the Bible study center where your dad was. And a lot of I've gone back to it looking at dates and times where God has given me a word. 7:14 And so this is a very precious passage. I don't have time to read all of it, but it begins in in verse one. It says, "Shout for joy, oh barren one. That is the church. You have born you who have born no child 7:31 break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed, for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent. These are the 7:45 days that we need to enlarge the place of our tent. Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Spare not. Strengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs, for you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your descendants will 8:02 possess nations, and they will resettle the desolate cities. Fear not, you will not be put to shame. Neither feel humiliated. You will not be disgraced, for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will 8:18 remember no more. Your husband is your maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts, and your redeemer is the holy one of Israel, who's called the God of all the earth. And so on. I don't have time to read it, but take time sometime 8:33 to read this very precious passage to my heart that God has revealed to me what he's doing in these last days, and I thank God that he has given me the grace to be part of what he's doing. And uh verse nine, this is what, 8:52 you know, really came powerfully to me these last few days. This that this is like the days of Noah to me. When I swore that the waters of Noah should not flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. 9:09 For the mountains may be removed and the hills may be may shake, but my loving kindness will not be removed from you. And my covenant of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you. And you know, you all know the story of Noah. 9:26 In a time of such wickedness, the earth was so corrupt. Man's heart, his intentions are only evil continually, and God said, "No, this is enough." God decided that he would put an end to all flesh. And we read those 9:45 wonderful words there, but Noah found grace with God. That's where it begins. That's where Zechariah saw in his vision. The top stone, right from the beginning, the foundation, right to the top. The top stone will be laid with shouts of 10:04 grace, grace to it. So, we know what it what it means to get grace, where where I should be to be to get that grace. Down in the lowest, underneath all the brothers. Not wanting to climb over, not wanting to 10:22 be recognized or praised or commended, but to be in that place where I can get grace upon grace upon grace and get a greater grace. That is our calling, my brothers and sisters. And so, this beautiful picture here just blesses my 10:38 heart. I read it again and again, particularly all that I have I've gone through the last months where the pleased the Lord to take Vicky home. It was it's painful, still it is. And uh but I thank the Lord for the grace he 10:56 has given me. And so, it says here in verse 11, "What came so precious to me, oh afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony." That is what God is doing. I looked up that word antimony, what it really 11:14 means. It's really an alloy, it's something that holds things together, that holds precious stones together. I will set your stones in antimony, and that is a picture of the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit that holds us together. 11:31 That's why we're encouraging to keep be diligent to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. That is the antimony. It holds us all together. And we have to make sure that I'm diligent. It says, you know, that in Ephesians we 11:48 have to be quick at noticing, alerted alerted noticing differences in the message of living in and quick at mending fences. And that is how we keep we keep the bonds together and I keep in 12:07 the bond of peace. And so it says, I will set The Lord said, I'll set your stones in antimony and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I'll make your battlements of rubies and your gates of crystal and your entire wall of 12:23 precious stones. And all your sons will be taught of the Lord. What a promise for our children and our grandchildren. The well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you'll be established. You'll be far from 12:37 oppression, for you'll not fear and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you, it will not be from me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I myself have created the smith who blows the 12:53 fire of coals. Did I tell you? That is the word that the Lord gave Brother Zac gave us. You know, when uh we were taken to court by religious people. And uh I remember Brother Zac never forget that that 13:13 picture of him standing there in the court together with with uh all the criminals there in in handcuffs and chains. And there was Brother Zac who stood firm and stood tall there. I'll never forget that picture. And the 13:32 Lord gave us this word. It says that whoever says you would fall because of you. Behold, I myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings out a weapon for its work. And I have created a destroyer created a 13:49 destroyer to ruin. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. And every tongue that accuses you in judgment, you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from me, declares the 14:06 Lord. And uh the word in the in the message Bible it it says Living Bible, that in the coming day no weapon turned against you shall succeed. And this is the word so apt, and you will have justice against 14:24 every courtroom lie. And the lies that came out in that courtroom. That that is the word the Lord gave us. And and we we just banked on the Lord. We put our confidence Lord. It says there that you will have justice against every 14:41 courtroom lie. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. This is the blessing I have given you, says the Lord. So like I said, we're living in real very exciting times. The building is nearing completion. And let us make sure that we have found 14:59 our place in this building. And as I see it, that this building this house habitation of God in the spirit, the Holy Spirit tells us where God will dwell with us. This building, the bride of Christ is made up of jewels. 15:15 Just like a bride is decked with jewels, this whole building is made up of jewels. We see it here. We see it right towards the end in the book of Revelation, the culmination of Revelation 21. And I would encourage you to read this. 15:29 It It brings everything into focus. Everything else does not matter. You know, it's it's like uh wiping our lens that we see things clearly. And when we look at these 15:46 the these promises that God gives us in His word of what He's doing in the last last days, it would really challenge us and grip our hearts like it did right in the very beginning 46 years ago. So, this vision of Zechari- Zechariah and 16:03 going back there to Zechariah where he talks about this uh what God is doing, completing this building, bringing the top stone with shouts of grace to it. There are four people standing before the Lord of all the earth. And you 16:19 notice right in the beginning of this vision in Zechariah 4 verses 6 and 7, we see four persons standing before the Lord of the earth. First person the angel of the Lord, who I believe is Jesus before He came down to earth, before He was made 16:38 flesh. The angel of the Lord refers to Jesus when we see Him in the Old Testament. The second person is Zechariah the prophet. And the third person Joshua the high priest. And he is clothed in filthy garments. And the fourth person Satan, the accuser 16:56 of the brethren, standing at Joshua's right hand to accuse him. And we are told in Revelation 12 he accuses the brethren before God day and night. But no more. No place is there. He's not there now. He's been thrown out. 17:13 When Jesus defeated him on the cross of Calvary, when Jesus took every letter of accusation and nailed it to the cross. Every letter of accusation against us, all the decrees which were against us, he nailed it to the cross. And it says 17:27 in Colossians 2, in this way he disarmed Satan and all his hosts. So, Satan is is no more there accusing us before unless we give him room. But he's been thrown down. No place was found for him in heaven. And I say, my 17:46 brothers and sisters, no place we should give him in our hearts, in our lives, in the church, and in our home. No place. He was thrown down from heaven. He's thrown down to the earth. And he's come down with great wrath 18:01 knowing that he has only a short time. He is angry. He'll make war against the saints. And he'll war against the church, but he will not succeed. We know the end right from now. We know what the end is going to be. And he doesn't like to hear it, 18:18 but I enjoy and delight reminding him again and again when he seeks to trouble me, when he can come against us in different ways, that we can say to him, "Your end is very near. Your end is in the lake of fire." He doesn't want to hear that, but that 18:36 is the end. And so, that's what we see here. That the the Lord, it says the angel of the Lord rebukes Satan, and says to him, "Indeed, the Lord was chosen Jerusalem." That is the church. "Indeed, the Lord was chosen the church 18:52 to rebuke you, Satan." And is this not a brand? That is referring to Joshua. A brand plucked from the fire. "The Lord rebuke you." And that's we see the beginning. That's the battle right from very beginning. Let's not 19:11 forget that this we are in a battle and the devil has come down with great wrath, but we overcome him like it says in Revelation 12 by the by the blood of the lamb by the word of our testimony the testimony that Jesus made before Pilate, my kingdom is not of 19:31 this world, my my servants don't fight and we don't love our life unto the death and that is how we overcome him on earth. Let's never forget that. We overcome him by the blood the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. 19:47 Our kingdom is not this world is not my home. My my country and my home is not here and we don't love our life even unto the death. So, let's remember this that you and I 20:04 are brands plucked from the fire. Let's never forget I know I look at my life and I see myself as a brand plucked from the fire. And where God picked me up, took me from kept me from making a mess of my life when I was a young man. 20:23 I wish that somebody had got hold of me when I was 18 years but I had to wait when 27 years and I came to the end of myself and and sought God. And uh I see myself as a brand plucked from the fire. And that we have been chosen 20:42 and like Peter says we're chosen as living stones from a fire from being plucked from the fire we are made living stones. And the Lord works in us in you and me chipping us, shaping us, horning us like jewels are chipped and shaped and horned 21:01 to bring out its it to bring out its glory and its beauty. God works in us. We're all under renovation. And uh uh God makes us from living stones, he makes us into jewels. That's such a beautiful picture. Hope you get it. From 21:18 being plucked out of the fire, from from a firebrand being plucked out of the fire, I'm made into a living stone, and then I I'm I'm shaped and honed and made into God's jewels. We see that you know, even Malachi also talks about that, 21:35 which we'll look at a little later. And this is the church of the living God. This is the building of God in the spirit. This is not a club. This is not a congregation, as Santosh has written so beautiful in that book. We are joined together. 21:51 I set your stones in antimony, says the Lord. We are joined together. We are not just come together, support one another. They do that in in in the club. In the congregation, they support one another. And stand together with one another. 22:07 But we are not a club. We are the church of the living God. That's what in Hebrews we are told that we have come to the church of the living God. It's awesome. How much we need to be gripped with that. And we are joined together, just 22:22 like a husband and wife are joined together. We are joined together through Jesus who has paid the price for us by laying down his life and by shedding his blood. That is the price my brothers and sisters, that you and I 22:38 can have in this building that God is bringing to completion. And the other thing I want you to see there, uh those who are part of this building, you know, that we we don't allow the spirit of accusation. We don't carry a letter of accusation in our 22:57 hearts against anyone, particularly against our brothers and Instead, we are like our savior, we follow in his footsteps. That's the second thing I wanted to say, that we are called to be an advocate. He says, "We have an ad- advocate with 23:15 the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." That's what John tells us, 1 John 2. An advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation. He He takes the anger of God's sin upon us upon himself, and he took that on Calvary. 23:33 And he went through hell there. And that's the price he's paid to be our advocate. That's the price that you and I have called to pay. We have to be an advocate and not an accuser. If we like like Zechariah who who stood there 23:52 and saw what was happening when the Lord said, "Remove his filthy garments. Put on vestal robes." And the devil was there accusing him. But God says, "Remove the filthy garments. Put on vestal robes." I like that. So it's so beautiful. And 24:08 Zechariah says, "Put a clean turban on his head." That's the brotherhood. That's the church. Put a clean turban on his head. They don't have even a smell of that spirit to see somebody down. To see uh 24:25 to have some kind of joy somebody that you don't get along with, to see them down, to see them fall, to see them fail. But we have this the spirit of our savior who's an advocate like Zechariah. Put a clean turban on his head. We want to 24:42 together lift up our brother, our sister. And uh that is what God calls us to do. And you notice there in that in Zechariah and and uh in chapter 4, there were only three people left there. 24:59 Where's the fourth person? Disappeared. Didn't just leave. He flew from there. That's what we are told. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He flew from there. Where? 25:16 The angel of the Lord, the Jesus rebuked him. Said, "This is a brand plucked from the fire. I've chosen Jerusalem. I've chosen the church." And he flew from there. No place was found for him in heaven. And we must not give him any place in the church, my 25:32 dear brothers and sisters. No place in our homes. No place in the church for the accuser. And he was he has been thrown down. And we know how we overcome him. So, this is the church. I hope you see the picture. The church of five brands. 25:50 You and I plucked out of the fire. And made into living stones. We we feed on his word like Peter says, coming to him. We feed on his word and in so doing works on us and he makes us into his jewels through the different trials and temptations. He's 26:10 turning you and me into jewels. Each one of us different from each other. Just as different jewels described you and I in Isaiah 44. Sapphires and crystal, emerald, rubies, amethyst. I don't have to see what jewel what kind 26:28 of jewel I am. Am I more precious than this other brother or this other sister? Just to be what God has called me to be. What God has made me to be. There's no competition. That's the third thing I want you to see. No competition. 26:43 No And even if we don't compete with another, no comparison. I never thought to compare myself with brother Zac. I've never tried to be like him or any other brothers in CFC here. We give them freedom to be themselves. 27:02 I've told young brothers, be yourself. Don't try to be like brother Zac. Don't try to preach like him. God has made you a certain way. Just be yourself. And let the glory of God shine through you. And men will see your good works and 27:16 glorify our Father who is in heaven. That's what we are called to do in Philippians. So, there's no room for competition. But there's something, you know, I feel that we are all prone to and that is comparison. We compare ourselves with this brother or 27:35 that family. And we wish that we can be like them. We want our wives to be like sister Annie. We want to we want uh uh we want to be something. And we we try to imitate. I know in the beginning that's what we went through as 27:54 a church. But God took us through that. And the Lord helped me. I know it was a battle to just be myself and let the Lord fill me with his Holy Spirit and fill me with his glory. So, we are not called to competition, but we should not 28:11 compare ourselves. It says in 2 Corinthians that if we do that, if we are comparing ourselves with one another, that's how it was in in the church in Corinth. You know, when they said, "I am of Peter. I am of Cephas. And I am of Paul." And there are the 28:26 super spiritual ones who said, "I am of Christ." The church in Corinth. And that spirit can come in among us. We have to be alert to that that we do like it says, "We are not bold." 2 Corinthians 10:12 is what I'm referring 28:42 to. "We are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they're without understanding. So, when I do that, 28:59 I have no understanding. I I'm a fool to compare myself and wanting to be like somebody else. To be the one that God has created made me for the made made me. Then I have a union unique place. You have a 29:17 unique place in the body of Christ. Don't try to be like somebody else. And you know, I was referring to Malachi. Malachi also saw this vision of what God is doing in Malachi. You You know Malachi people 29:37 I mean God told his people, you know, about their sacrifices and about their praying. They wouldn't accept accept what he said to them. And uh in Malachi 3, just look at this word in verses 14 and 29:56 16 and 17. Says, "Listen, I'm reading from the Living Bible. Listen, you have said it is foolish to worship God and obey him. What good does it do to obey his laws and to sorrow and mourn for our sins? From now on, as far as we're concerned, 30:15 blessed are the arrogant. For those who do evil shall prosper and those who dare God to punish them shall get off scot-free." Now we read these words and this is spoken to me numerous times through the years. You know, all kinds we come across 30:33 people people there are those in the church who can come to the church with a spirit of complaint, who are not happy and uh for their fine fall. And then we look around and think like you know, like I said, I felt like this 30:51 in full-time Christian work. Look around and see what good is there. What is the good of keeping myself pure? What is the good of judging myself? What is the good of following Jesus wholeheartedly? This is what these people say. 31:04 And those and this is what David, you know, in Psalm 73. That's how he felt when he looked around and he saw uh the wicked prosper. They had no pains in their body. They are fat and no pains in their death. He looked around and he says, "My feet 31:21 came almost to slipping until until I came into the sanctuary of God." Then he came to his senses. He says, "I was like a beast before you." And we can be tempted like that, especially in the days that we live in and all that is happening in the world. 31:40 People are only interested in making money, making money at the cost of other other lives. And we can feel so so grieved and so angry. And it can affect us. And we can think, "What is the good What is the good of judging myself? What is 31:58 the good of keeping myself pure?" These beautiful words they said, "Then those who feared and loved the Lord spoke often of him to each other." Malachi chapter 3, reading 16 17. Then those who feared and loved the Lord 32:17 spoke often of him to each other. And he had a book of remembrance, the book of life. The book of remembrance drawn up in which he recorded the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. Have you seen that? Have you read that before? 32:36 That God has a book of remembrance apart from the book of life where our names are recorded in heaven. He has a book of remembrance. Drawn up in which he records the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. 32:51 They shall be mine. Beautiful, isn't it? Doesn't that encourage us? They shall be mine, says the Lord Almighty, in that day when I make up my jewels. There it is again. Malachi saw it. And I will spare them as a man spares an 33:11 obedient and beautiful son. And these are the ones we read Malachi, just four chapters there. We are in those days like Malachi was, terrible decline. And even in the church we may feel we may come across those saying, "What's good of keeping my heart 33:28 pure? What's the good of judging myself like I hear? What's the good of humbling myself? I'm being exploited and so on and so forth and we give up. We give up the battle. We throw in the towel and we lose our place in what God is 33:44 doing. It's tragic. I never want that to happen to me. I said, "Lord, I want to endure to the end. You put me in this building. Let your glory radiate through me." And then if you read Malachi, it goes on to say about the spirit of Elijah. 34:03 Elijah has come and Elijah is the church. The spirit of Elijah is in the church. We're not looking for physical Elijah to come. The spirit of Elijah is in the church, my brothers and sisters. I hope you see it. Who turns the hearts of the fathers to 34:20 the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. And the last word that God says, "Lest I come and smite this land with a curse." The curse comes upon those who don't go forth in the spirit of Elijah. Who turn the hearts of the fathers away 34:39 from the children. That can happen in the church. Who turn the hearts of the children away from the fathers. A curse, a dryness, a withering comes up upon such people. So, may God help us and as we look at what Peter saw, 34:57 that Peter saw this vision to also Second Peter in chapter two. You look at it for a little while. The Holy Spirit there through him commands us first of all to put aside all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisies, all envies, 35:14 all slanders. And like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the word. So, by by it you may grow in respect to salvation. There must be a longing in our hearts for God's word. It says in uh in Isaiah 8, I think. That's another 35:36 favorite passage of mine, too. And people you're not to call a conspiracy with all the all that these people call a conspiracy. Not to walk uh don't in the way that they walk. You are to sanctify the Lord. You are to fear 35:50 the fear the Lord. And if you fear him, you need for uh nothing else. And there it says, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders." That is our privilege, my brothers and sisters. No small thing 36:03 to be in what God is doing. And our children are signs and wonders in this generation. Let Let's hold on to that. And we're not just thinking of ourselves. We think of our children. We think of our grandchildren. We want them to be 36:18 signs and wonders in their generation. So, to put aside all these things and long for the pure milk of the word as says there in Isaiah to the law and to the testimony. When people say, you know, uh consult the witches and consult uh 36:36 all these other powers, should not the people consult their God through the law? That's through the word and through the testimony. You read it there. We don't have time to look at it. They don't speak according to this word, 36:48 it's because they don't have light. So, let there be a longing in our hearts for the milk of the word and then as we go on and the strong meat that God will give us so that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus. And it 37:04 says that Peter says there that so by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you've tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to him as to a living stone, you also as living stones are being built up into a spiritual house. 37:21 And I like to read that to you from the Living. It says there in uh 1 Peter 2:4-10, "Come to Christ who is the living foundation of rock upon which God builds. Though men have spurned him, he's very precious to God who has chosen 37:37 him above all others. And now you've become living building stones for God's use in God's building, his house. What's more, you are his holy priests. So, come to him, you who are acceptable to him because of 37:55 Jesus Christ, and offer to God those things that please him as the scriptures express it. See, I'm sending Christ to be the carefully chosen, precious cornerstone. He's a costly jewel. He's a costly cornerstone. 38:13 The precious cornerstone of my church, and I will never disappoint those who trust in him. Yes, he's very precious to you who believe. I'm reading from the living. And to those who reject him, well, the same stone that was rejected by the 38:28 builders has become the cornerstone, the most honored and important part of the building. And the scriptures also say, he is a stone that some will stumble over and the rock that will make them fall. They will stumble because they will not 38:43 listen to God's word, obey it. And so this punishment must follow that they will fall. But you're not like that. For you've been chosen by God himself. You're priests of the king. You're holy and pure. You're God's very own. 38:59 All this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were less than nothing, now you're God's own. Once you knew very little of God's kindness, now your very lives have been 39:14 changed by it. Isn't that beautiful? That is what God has done. That is what happens when we come to him that we become living stones in this building. Living stones that God takes and chips and and corrects 39:32 and smooths and smooths and horns making into jewels. And we find we are held together by the Holy Spirit. I've set your stones in antimony, says the Lord. That is the church that we are built together as a habitation of God in the spirit. 39:50 And I just wanted to say say something, you know, that when many years ago, right in the very beginning, 46 years ago, I forget when, I remember a brother who who shared with a dream or a vision, a friend of 40:07 uh Brother Zwick's and mine. He didn't belong to CFC, but I've never forgotten what he said uh at that time. That He said to I remember him saying to us that God has called us to be different. 40:27 I remember him saying God has not called you to be like brother Zach. And, uh, the sisters to be like sister Annie. There's a great temptation. We imitate their faith. Yes, we follow 40:45 We follow in their footsteps as they follow Christ. But I don't conform that I am not myself. And I try to be somebody else. I remember him sharing that. He says God has called you and he shared this uh, whether it's a vision or a dream. That 41:03 he see saw the church with all these precious stones. Each one so different, every color so different. The amethyst, the emerald, the rubies. Everything so different. And there was a glory that was emitting, you know, from each. 41:21 There was a light from inside this building. And it was emitting a glory. Remember he shared that and so vivid in my memory. And that's the picture of the church. And as there was praise that was being given to God and given to Jesus, 41:35 this building, he said, uh, reverberated. Emitted a uh, a glow and a light with the color of each stone. Every color, every hue different according to the stone, whether it's ruby ruby or emerald or amethyst. All 41:54 the colors. But then as it emitted this glory, it blended together and became a crystal white. And I know that that has been proved that the colors of the rainbow by Sir Isaac Isaac Newton with his color disc 42:13 and all blended together become white. That's the glory. That's the glory that comes when we let God work in through our personality, through the way he has met us. I'm not comparing myself with anyone in the church. And that is that 42:32 is I'll be without understanding. That is foolishness to do that. I myself let God fill me with the Holy Spirit and let God's glory radiate through me. What a glory, my brothers and sisters. And if we 42:50 if we get into comparing ourselves and trying to be somebody else, we hinder God's purpose. And Peter tells us, you know, at the end of his letter that we are to hasten the coming of the day of the Lord. 43:09 And the only way I can do that is I conduct myself with fear upon this earth. And like we saw that I am recorded in God's book of remembrance, that I am being made a jewel. These are my jewels, God says. And let me be the jewel that 43:26 God has made me to be, whatever it is. Even if it is not costly, but it's precious. Every jewel is precious. And let God's glory flow through me. That will radiate. And like I said, you know, that glory like we we read that. 43:46 You know, this is real in Revelation 21, the church crystal clear. All these stones giving off a hue and a color that blends together and is a crystal clear magnificent white. 44:04 That It glory to God. And uh that is what we are called called to be and I pray that God will continue his work there in RLCF. I believe I shared this with Santosh and with Sandeep 44:23 that that is a grace that God gave us. And I pray that it'll go on to this next generation. Just be the one that God has made you to be. The ministry that he has given you completely different. I've never tried to be like brother Zach. I never wished 44:41 that I could be like him. I couldn't have. I wouldn't have. I could never. That was a special calling. That's a grace that God has given. God has given me a grace. Let me be the kind of person that God has made me. And blend together. 44:56 Be set together just like bricks in a building are set together with the cement of the mortar. So, God says, "I've set your stones in antimony. And all these precious stones are set together in this building that is very near to completion. 45:15 Very, very near, my brothers and sisters. So, let's hasten that day when the Lord comes. And that he can fulfill his purpose through his church. And one last thing I want to remind ourselves. It's good that we keep this in mind. 45:34 That this precious treasure, these jewels are in a clay pot. An earthen vessel. Let me never forget that. That's what the Holy Spirit reminds us in 2 Corinthians and chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. It says, "For God who said, 45:53 'Let there be light in the darkness' has made us understand that it it is the brightness of his glory that is seen seen in the face of Jesus Christ. I'm reading from the Living Bible. God who said, 46:11 "Let there be light in the darkness." has shown to our hearts as it is in the worship we all have, made us understand that this brightness of his glory is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. That's the light that shone into your 46:31 heart and mine. And I see the glory of God, my father, in the face of Jesus Christ. But but this precious treasure was on to say, "This light and power that now shine within us 46:49 is held in a perishable container, earthen vessels, clay pots, that is in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and not from our own." That is what it's saying. 47:08 The glory that is in us, this treasure is in an earthen vessel. And God breaks us so that this glory comes forth from our lives. And the glory that we see in the face of Jesus Christ. 47:27 And uh everyone will see that it's the power of God and not from ourselves, like it says in this passage. We are made jewels in a clay pot, just as the old covenant tabernacle, all the glory was covered with badger or 47:46 porpoise skins. It's not attractive. It looked very dull on the outside, but the glory inside surpasses anything else, and that is the church. See it, my brothers and sisters. That is the church, the glory is hidden, and 48:00 that is why we need to have that hidden walk in life with Jesus. No one sees the glory inside, it's hidden. But one day one day, very soon, the cover will be taken off. The clay pots will be broken, just like Gideon did. 48:18 The trumpet will sound. And then men will see the glory. What a magnificent mag- magnificent glory it will be, what a splendor. As like I said, as each precious stone emits the glory that God has poured into our 48:35 lives, and we blend together to glor- glorify Jesus alone. So may the Lord continue to give you and me this grace upon grace upon grace and even greater grace. I long for that. I share with you 48:53 not a sermon or a message I prepared, it's something that God has revealed a fresh to my heart, particularly after Vicky's homegoing. I've never seen it as I I I've seen it before, but it's never come so powerfully to me. 49:12 And what God has been telling me, continue to be part of what I'm doing. Run the race. Finish the course. So that this building can be complete. And then Jesus will return. 49:31 And we will experience what we read in Revelation. The new heaven and new earth with the the new Jerusalem coming down upon the new heaven and new earth, and God will tabernacle among us. We will live in that glory for all 49:50 eternity. I hope you got a glimpse and I feel I've not been able to to portray what has gripped my heart as much as I would like to. But I hope you've seen something. I encourage you 50:08 to read Isaiah 54. I encourage you to read Malachi. I encourage you to read what Peter saw and be part of what God is doing in these last days. May God bless us, keep us faithful that we endure in love to the end. 50:27 Shall we just have a word of prayer? Our heavenly Father, this is something so awesome. 50:53 It's very, very hard to describe. And I pray that your spirit, your Holy Spirit who holds us together reveal to us what our human minds and cannot comprehend fully. 51:18 But we thank you for what you are doing in these last days. We want to be gripped by this vision. We thank you for giving this vision our brother Sankh. And for the church that you have built 51:35 all these 46 years. Lord, we offer ourselves to you. Help us not to compare ourselves with each other. Help us to be that precious stone that you are shaping and honing 51:52 to fit into this building that will emit a glory far surpassing anything that can ever be described. You will build your church, Lord Jesus. The gates of hell will not prevail 52:11 against it. You will bring forth the top stone. Shout with shouts of grace, grace to it. And Lord, who is adequate for these things? We feel our adequacy inadequacy. And as you remind us through your servant, through your 52:30 prophet Zechariah, it's not by power, nor by might, by your spirit, says the Lord. This mountain and every other mountain will be removed. And only that which is not of man will stand for all eternity. We just humble ourselves and 52:49 bow before you, Lord Jesus, that you have given us the privilege and have called us to be part of what you're doing in these days. Thank you for the church. Thank you for the price you paid, Lord, laying down your life and shedding your 53:09 life blood for us. We worship you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
