0:18 One of the most common words that Christians use is the word grace. And that is also one of the most misunderstood words. 0:35 And the devil has made sure that it is misunderstood so that people never experience it. I've heard so many definitions of grace. God's unmerited favor. Completely wrong. Everything is God's unmerited favor. I 0:54 mean, that atheist out there, the fact that he's got life and that he can breathe is God's unmerited favor, but he doesn't have grace. Or God's riches at Christ's expense, g r a c e. It's a very clever way of putting it, 1:11 but it doesn't really tell me what I'm what I how I can get it. I don't know. I mean, if you were to ask the average Christian, did Jesus need grace to live on earth? They'd say no. And we need it, he 1:30 doesn't need it. Well, that would prove that such people have never read the Bible. Let me show you Luke chapter 2. We may learn a few new things today. Be open to that because I've seen through the years that many who read the Bible do not read 1:48 it carefully. If it was a legal document that they had to sign in a court, oh, they would read it very carefully. They would read it again and again. They would go to a lawyer and ask them to explain it because it may involve money. 2:05 It may involve prison or something like that. So, therefore, they're very careful in reading it. But when it comes to the Bible which can uh which it determines our eternal destiny, it's amazing how the devil does not allow 2:22 people to read the Bible carefully. So, Luke chapter 2, it says about Jesus, you know, he came back after being dedicated in the temple. And we read in Luke chapter 2 verse 40, 2:40 the child Jesus continued to grow and become strong. Okay, that we can understand. Increasing in wisdom. That we can understand. And the grace of God was upon him. 2:59 That's one of the first times in the New Testament, in the story of the New Testament anyway, where we find grace. The first human being, remember this, the first man, Jesus Christ was a man, 3:17 the first man on whom the grace of God was. He did not give up being God when he was on earth. God can never stop being God. But he did not use the resources of God when he was on earth. 3:36 I've often used the example of a a billionaire. Supposing a billionaire went to some poor country and wanted to teach the people living in a slum how to live a clean life, how to keep their little tent clean or hut, 3:55 and how to live with the limited resources they earn in that poor country. Well, if he wants to be an example, he can't use his credit card there because those poor people don't have credit cards. So, he will say to them, I will never 4:15 use my credit card. I will work like you work as a laborer, carrying bricks or whatever it is, and I'll earn what you earn, and I'll make a little hut in this slum, and live with you, and show you how you can keep your hut 4:34 clean, how you can live with this limited money that you get, 200 rupees a month, or 300 rupees a month. That is just three or four dollars a month. And I'll show you how to live with it. That's how Jesus lived on earth. 4:55 He never used his heavenly credit card. He never used his power as God. But this man I told you about, was he a billionaire? Oh, yeah. Probably one of the richest men on earth, a billionaire. But he never used those billions when he 5:13 was there. He lived like the rest. It's very important for us to understand this because otherwise you will always make the excuse when you sin, and you ask you, why didn't Jesus sin? Oh, he was God. That's exactly what the devil wants you 5:28 to say to make as an excuse for your sinning. Jesus was God, that's why he lived like that. I can't. So, then you are accusing him of cheating. That would be like somebody in the slum telling this rich man, you're cheating. 5:46 Sometimes at night you're going and going to the ATM and taking some money and fooling us. He wasn't. And Jesus did not use his heavenly credit card. He never used his power as God to live this life. He did exercise his power as God when he 6:03 forgave sins. That was about the only thing he did that was an exercise of a blessing to others. But for himself, he never used that power for anything at all. Then how did he overcome? Here's the 6:20 answer. The grace of God the Father was upon him. So, if you think of grace like a big huge umbrella on top of Jesus. What happens when a person comes under the umbrella of 6:39 grace? The Bible tells us in Romans 6 and verse 14. You know, if you read the Bible, you'll find it's a very simple book. It's like 2 + 2 is 4. Romans 6:14 says, when a person is under grace, the same 7:01 expression, under grace, sin cannot rule over him. Sin cannot master him. No sin can make a person fall or master him in his thoughts, 7:19 in his words, in his deeds, in his attitudes, in his motives, in no area. Under the umbrella of grace, sin cannot master you. That's clear. So, you link that with what we read in 7:38 Luke 2:40. That's why Jesus did not sin. Not because he was God. He was the grace of God was over him, and he lived under that grace all the time. So, whenever you sin, 7:56 don't call it your weakness. No. All men are weak. Jesus said that to his disciples when they were sleeping in Gethsemane, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The flesh is very strong to commit sin. 8:13 The flesh is very strong to get angry. The flesh is very strong strong to lust after women, very strong to love money, very strong to be selfish and evil towards others, but very weak when it comes to obey God and to be pure. The 8:31 flesh The spirit is willing. Those are the words of Jesus, but the flesh is weak. So, don't say that it's because I'm weak that that brother can overcome, but I can't. No, there is only one reason when you sin, it is because the grace of God was 8:50 not upon you at that time. Well, now the question is, does God arbitrarily put his grace on some and not upon others? No. There's some type some people who teach that type of doctrine that God sort of picks somebody and says, okay, you're 9:10 going to heaven and the others are not. That's not true. Because if God did that, he'd be terribly unjust. No, there is a reason why the grace of God is upon some people, and that is written in scripture. It's the same reason why the grace of God was upon 9:28 Jesus. Turn with me to James chapter 4. The answer to everything for our spiritual life is found in the word of God. Every single thing. Like I said, it is like 2 + 2 is 4. James chapter 4 and verse 6. 9:51 Therefore, he give But he gives greater grace. For to whom does he give greater grace? James 4:6 God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace we can say only to the humble." And he always gives grace to the humble, 10:09 that you can be sure of. So, how did Jesus get grace all the time? Because he was always humble. Why don't you get grace all the time? Because you're not always humble. Face up to it. You may think you're humble, but you're 10:24 not. And the proof of it is that you sin. The proof of it is that you get angry. The proof of it is that you lust with your eyes. The proof of it is that you love money more than you love God. The proof of it is that you murmur, you 10:41 complain, you are not trusting God in a difficult situation. You cannot love your enemies. Not because they are bad, because you are not humble. 10:59 How could Jesus love his enemies? Not as God. I wish I could demolish this wrong concept that the devil has put in your minds that Jesus overcame as God. I believed it for 16 years, and all those 16 years I was defeated. 11:19 My excuse was always, "He was God, I'm not." But one day when God demolished that false idea from my mind and taught me the truth, that what the Bible says, "If I say I'm a Christian, 11:37 1 John chapter 2, verse 6, if anyone says he abides in Christ, he must walk as Jesus walked." Without sinning. When I faced up to it, faced up, faced up to it, and I said, "Lord, I want to know the 11:56 secret. Remove from my mind all the wrong ideas and concepts that the devil has put in it for years. And I don't care if there's is I really said this to God. I don't care if there's a single Christian on earth 12:14 who doesn't believe it. I'll believe it if your word says so. That's what changed my life. Till then I was believing what every Christian around me was telling me. But that day I started to read the Bible. You know, all those 16 years, nobody 12:32 ever told me these these two simple truths. If grace is over you, you will not sin. Romans 6:14, nobody ever told me that. I could have found it out in the Bible myself, but I so I don't know, somehow I missed it. I read it, but I never took it 12:49 seriously. And secondly, nobody ever told me that the only way to get grace is to humble yourself. And if you humble yourself, there's no partiality with God, you'll get it. There was always an excuse for my sin, but that day the all my excuses 13:02 disappeared. I didn't get victory immediately, because bad habits take a long time to go, but I started the path of victory, and my life changed completely, completely, 46 years ago. My dear brothers and sisters, there is a 13:20 life God wants you to live is way above what you're living right now. And the secret is to know the grace of God in your life, and it doesn't matter if you if you're the worst criminal on earth and the greatest sinner on earth, you 13:32 can overcome. You only need to be willing to humble yourself. James said that, and in 1 Peter 5, it's repeated. You know, I've often thought about it, why does God repeat a statement 13:53 a second time? I think it's because you read it carelessly. God knows some people read the Bible carelessly, so you miss it the second time, he wants to catch you the second time. You missed it the first time, he wants to catch you the second time and say, 14:05 "Hey, listen, the only reason you don't get grace is because you're not humble. No other reason. You may think you're humble, but you're not. The proof is you're defeated by sin." So, 1 Peter 5, verse 5, "God is opposed 14:18 to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble." When you think of Jesus' death, it was the most painful, most difficult death that any human being ever experienced, not because of the crucifixion, there were thieves also 14:34 crucified, but there was more to Jesus' death than the physical agony. He was he had to experience hell, hell, h e l l. He had to experience hell on the cross if he was to forgive our sin, because that's another thing 14:53 which I never understood for a long time. The punishment for our sin is what? If you read in the Bible, you read that those who did not repent of their sin were finally cast into a lake of fire called hell, and then finally the lake 15:10 of fire, which is eternal separation from God. That's what hell is. Your connection with You know, on this earth nobody is experiences total separation from God. The very fact that you got oxygen to breathe, and even terrorists 15:28 can get married and have children. Children are a blessing. Bible says children are a gift of the Lord. You know, there's a verse like that. What about terrorists and murderers? Can they have children? Yes. Which proves that God has not forsaken 15:42 them. It's one of the clearest proofs God has not forsaken them. Do they have oxygen to breathe? Yes. Breath is another gift from God. So, people on there's nobody on earth forsaken completely by God, not even terrorists and not even murderers. 15:55 They have food to eat, they earn money, they live comfortably. But when you go to hell, it's gone. That's the only place in the universe where God is totally absent, and the agony of it is indescribable. That's why Jesus had to describe it like in earthly 16:11 pictures like fire and worms. There are no fire and worms in hell, I'll tell you that. Just like there are no mansions in heaven. They're all pictures, crowns. They're all pictures God uses, because those are the things we know on earth to 16:25 show you how terrible it is to be separated, and how wonderful it is to dwell in God's presence. So, that's what Jesus had to suffer on the cross, hell, for 3 hours, because hell is the punishment for our sin. For many years I was ignorant. 16:42 I thought death is the price Jesus paid for my sin. But if death is the price for sin, Jesus doesn't have to die, I can die myself. When I die, okay, if that's the punishment for sin, I paid it. I can go to heaven. And every man who dies has paid the 16:58 punishment for his sin and can go to heaven. If death is the punishment for sin, every person who dies will go to heaven, because he's paid the price. So, when you think that Christ died physically, and that's how he paid the 17:12 price for my sin, no. I can do that myself. You can do that yourself. You can die. But what is it that I cannot do? I cannot go to hell and pay the price for my sin. That the worst part of Jesus' sin of Jesus' 17:30 suffering was the last 3 hours. When he was hanging on the cross, those last 3 hours when he was forsaken by God, that was the price he paid for my sin. Not the first 3 hours. He did not pay the price for my sin the first first 3 hours, but the last 3 17:49 hours he did. And that is the only time in Jesus' entire life on earth, when he looked up to heaven and did not call his father father. He always called him father. But during those 3 hours, he said, "My 18:08 God, my God." Because he was now standing before the judgment seat of the ruler of the universe, paying the price for your sin and mine. 18:26 It changed my life when I understood it. It made me hate sin more than ever before. If you sin, I can I can tell you clearly you haven't seen it yet. That's why. You have not seen the price 18:45 Jesus paid for your sin. That is why you can glibly say, "Oh Lord, forgive me, cleanse me in your blood," and move on and do the same thing the next day. You would never be able to do that. You'd be mourning and weeping like I 19:00 used to mourn and weep on my pillow at night because I had one bad thought during the day. Have you ever thought of that? How seriously do you take sin? You will take it seriously if you see the price 19:16 that Christ paid on the cross. But how did he pay such a price? It's not easy. I mean, even physical death on the cross is so painful. Can you imagine taking the pain of an eternal separation? Uh when you say when I say eternal 19:35 separation, it was eternal separation uh compressed into 3 hours. See, only God can do that. Only God can face eternity in 3 hours. That's the reason why I say Jesus was 19:54 not a man like the Jehovah's Witnesses teach. If he was a man or if he was a created the most perfect man, he cannot take punishment for my sin. Maybe he can take the punishment for one person's sin, but not for the whole world. And in any 20:08 case, eternal separation is not something he can face. He has to go to hell. But because Jesus was God, he could face eternal eternity in 3 hours at the same for God. Eternity and 1 second are the same. He could face To me, the proof of Christ being God, 20:27 one proof is there on the cross. He faced eternal separation in 3 hours. So, how did he face it? Turn to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 9. It says here, "Now we saw how he started his life as a child, the grace of God was upon him." 20:45 Now we see how he ended his life. We see him who was made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. Now listen to this. Here it is. How did he taste this eternal 21:01 death for everyone in the world? By the grace of God. The same grace that was upon him from birth that kept him from sinning. It was only with that grace that he could face that eternal separation 21:21 for our sin. And if Jesus lived from birth to death under the grace of God, he has told us that is how we are to live also. That is the meaning of 1 John in chapter 2. The verse I just quoted, 1 John chapter 21:41 2, verse 6. The one who says he abides in Christ, I think almost all of us here say we are in Christ. And we say Christ is in us. Do you say that? Then here is your responsibility. 21:59 It's not optional. It is your respons- Otherwise, don't say you're in Christ. If you're If you don't say you're in Christ, then you can do what you like. The But the moment you say you are in Christ, it says you have to walk 22:17 in the same way as he walked. Do you see that in 1 John chapter 2, verse 6? Please see it in your Bibles. You have to walk in the same way as he walked. And if you don't do that, you're just slighting God saying you're 22:39 coming to the church, I'll tell you in Jesus' name, it's a waste of time. You're wasting your time sitting here singing the songs and listening to the message if you don't take God's word seriously. So, this is how he walked and 22:55 Let me share something else with you about how he lived in his Because of this grace of God, how Jesus lived. We have to walk in the same manner as he walked. And any If you're a serious Christian, you take 1 John 2:6 seriously. 23:13 I have to walk as Jesus walked. Okay? We saw how he lived with the grace of God upon him. Let's see first of all how he was as a child. The first 30 years. There are very few things told to us 23:30 about Jesus during his first 30 years. Basically, only two things. I want you to look at those After the 30 years, the last 3 and 1/2 years, there are many things written about him. Mostly about his miracles and his sermons and all. We can't do all that. 23:47 But in the first 30 years, he's not talking about his ministry. He's talking about his life. When Jesus said, "Follow me," he didn't say, "Follow me in my ministry." And we can never follow Jesus in his ministry. He died for the sins of the world. Can 24:06 you do that? No. We cannot follow him in his ministry. Many of the miracles he did, we can't do it. Because those were attestations from heaven that this is the son of God. People are foolishly trying to say that we are going to do the same miracles as 24:22 Jesus did. Go to a grave and try to raise up somebody who was buried 4 days ago like Jesus did with Lazarus. Don't deceive people, I tell to say to all these Pentecostals, charismatics who say things which are not true. 24:39 Jesus' miracles were an attestation from God about who he was. And don't take me at my word, I'll show it to you from scripture. Acts chapter 2, we read that It says here that Jesus 24:59 was a man, verse Acts 2:22, easy to remember, 2:22. Jesus the Nazarene, listen to this, men of Israel, a man attested to you by God the Father. How did God attest him? 25:18 By miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him. So, those miracles and signs and wonders were an attestation from God, "This is my son, my beloved son." When he anointed him in the river Jordan, a voice from heaven said, "This 25:37 is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased." And for the next 3 and 1/2 years, God kept on attesting that by signs and wonders and miracles. You and I can't do that. You can't walk on the water, neither can I. You can't raise a person dead for 4 25:55 days. No. Person can't touch your clothes like that woman and be healed immediately. We mustn't fool ourselves. God occasionally does some miracles, but nobody can claim that he can do it. In 26:12 Jesus' case, it was an attestation. So, let's not go into those things because we are not called to do all that. But we are not called to preach as Jesus preached. That's a gift. I've told numerous people of my 26:30 coworkers, "Don't try to preach like I preach. It's a gift." If you don't have that gift, you can try for 100 years, you will not be able to do it. I can't preach like somebody else preaches because that's his gift. Don't try to imitate a person's gift. 26:46 Imitate his life. Jesus never said, "Follow me in my ministry." You cannot do his miracles, you cannot die for the sins of the world, you cannot preach like he preached, but we can follow his life. Following is only his life. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, 27:01 "Follow me as I follow Christ." Does that mean we all have to be apostles? Paul raised the dead. We can't do that. Handkerchiefs that touched Paul's body would cast out demons. You're not going to do that. What did he say? He's not talking about 27:17 a gift. He's talking about his life. Follow him in the way he lived, the way Jesus lived, the way Paul lived. That I would tell people, "Follow me in the way I live." The way I live at home, the way I live with my wife, the way I bring up my 27:31 children, the way I handle money, follow me in my life. Definitely, I'm And I'm following Paul, and Paul is following Christ. And we should be able to say to those who are younger to us, "Follow me as I'm following other godly men who've gone 27:46 ahead of me and following Christ." But let's look at Jesus' life then, and particularly in the first 30 years. There are two things mentioned, and I want you to see that, and I took them very seriously. First of all, when he was 12 years old, 28:01 Luke chapter 2, you know, he was alone in the temple when the Joseph and Mary went away forgetting about him. And when they came back after 3 days, Luke 2:46, Luke's gospel chapter 2, verse 46, they found him in the temple 28:21 sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Can you imagine asking a Bible professor questions that stump him? And all those teachers of the law, scholars, 28:39 were amazed at his explanation of scripture and his answers. At the age of 12, he knew the scriptures better than those priests who were 60 years old. 28:59 How did he do that? Are we supposed to walk as he walked? I've thought about that when I read it. Lord, if you knew the scriptures at the age of 12, 29:17 he did not come from heaven as a baby with the Bible crammed in his head. Then he was not born like us. But he was born exactly like us. When he was a baby, there was nothing in his mind any more than a baby has born today. 29:32 Everything was acquired. Like a baby learns by touching, seeing, hearing, that's how Jesus learned. He grew. It says he grew in wisdom. We read that in Luke 2:40. He didn't come full of wisdom. He grew in wisdom, just like a baby. 29:51 So, how did he know the Bible by the age of 12? A lot of people with the lot of children at the age of 12 don't know the Bible. How did he know it? And he did not have a Bible at home. There was no printed Bible in the world 30:03 till the end of the 15th century when printing was invented. Before that, there was these parchments, expensive parchments which was so expensive. It was thousands of dollars to get one copy of the Bible and there's only one 30:17 copy in the synagogue. So, in Nazareth, in the synagogue, there'd have been one copy of the Bible on the scroll, parchment scroll. So, I can imagine that Jesus went to the rabbi there, perhaps at the age of five, during a weekday, 30:35 and say, "Can you please read something from the Bible for me?" From the scriptures. The rabbi would have been excited. He'd never seen a five-year-old coming and asking to read the scriptures. Jesus went to school. He did He lived a 30:50 normal child life and then helped his mother. At the same time, he found time to go and learn from the rabbi. And the rabbi would read something and Jesus would pay attention. It's very difficult to get a five-year-old to pay attention. 31:07 Jesus paid attention as the rabbi read. And he had to pay attention because he didn't have a copy of the Bible at home. He listened, listened, listened, listened. And then when it came to a certain point, he said, "Rabbi, please stop. 31:20 I can't remember more." He'd go home. And he'd think about what he heard. There are very few grown-ups even who go home and think about what they heard in the sermon. It's over. They forget about it. This is the reason why 31:35 many, many Christians never grow. They are in the same level as they were 25 years ago. Because they don't meditate on what they heard. Jesus was not like that. I'll tell you this, my brothers and sisters, if you listen to me what I'm 31:53 saying, your life will be changed from today. It will not be wasted like it has been till today. And the next day Jesus would go back to the rabbi and say, "Okay, we stopped at such and such a place in Isaiah. Can you please continue from 32:09 there?" And then he'd go on from there. And like that, in seven years, Jesus read, heard, entire Old Testament. That's all there was, the 39 books from Genesis to Malachi. It's not that he memorized them. He's 32:28 not memorized, but he understood the principle of We don't have to memorize whole books of the Bible. We are memorizing important promises and commands. But the truth of scripture went into his mind. And he meditated on it. There's only one 32:47 way to keep scripture in our mind. Meditate on it. Not just read it. If you read it, it won't come. Read it, it goes in. If you meditate, it goes in and stays there. It's like if you eat food and it's not digested, it's expelled. 33:04 But if it's digested, it becomes part of your body. It's exactly the same with whatever we put into our mind. If you take scripture into your mind and meditate on it. Psalm 1:3 says, "Meditate on it day and night." That 33:21 doesn't mean I'm reading day and night. I read maybe 10 minutes in the morning, but I meditated on it whenever I got a spare time. I woke up in the middle of the night, I meditate on something I read in the morning. How many of you have that habit of 33:33 meditating in your the in-between five minutes or two minutes that you get in between during the day? Don't you get some spare time in between? Sometimes when you're driving a car or in between when you're having a shower 33:49 or sometime when you're free lying in bed. Develop the habit of meditating on something you read. Of course, you never If you never read the Bible in the morning, you've got nothing to meditate on. It's like if you never ate your 34:01 breakfast, there's nothing to digest it. But we never forget our food during the day, no. It's the Bible we forget, right? Cuz that's not so important. Let's face it. The one who forgets to meditate on scripture in the morning is the one who 34:16 says, "God, you are not important. My food is important. That's more important to me today." I mean, you may have never thought of it like that, but you hear it today from me straight. God is not important in your life. 34:30 That's why you don't want to read his his word at any time during the day, even though you've got maybe two or three versions of the printed Bible in your home. And you do get a spare time sometime. Sure. Take time to read the scriptures, my 34:47 brothers and sisters. And if you're so busy during the the day, at least when you sit on the toilet, your restroom, read it there. There's nothing unholy about that. Everything in Everything is pure. And if you don't find any other time to 35:05 read it, read it there. Read the scriptures. Meditate on it. I I try to read it whenever I get a spare time, anywhere. And then I think about it. So, the gift of preaching may be a gift, 35:22 but knowing the scripture is not a gift. Knowing the scripture is just hard work. And if you don't know the scriptures, it's because of laziness, laziness only. L A Z I Z I N E S S. That's the only reason. Jesus was not lazy. 35:41 He meditated in seven years, he really knew the scriptures. That was a challenge to me when I was converted at the age of 19 and a half. And I had never read the Bible fully till then. Even though I was born in a Christian 35:58 family, went to Sunday school regularly. But I decided, "Okay, I'm going to read the Bible through fully." Full speed. And I finished the Bible in six months cuz I didn't understand most of it. But I read it. In addition to that, 36:14 I would spend a few minutes reading a small portion. I advise you to do that. Have two sec times I mean, two types of reading. One is long reading whenever you get spare time. Sometimes you can read it If you've got a couple of hours, you can read a whole 36:30 book of the Old Testament in one sitting. In addition to that, spend a little time meditating. Maybe five verses. Particularly in the New Testament. Develop that habit. Jesus did it. At the end of seven years, he really knew the scriptures. 36:50 My seven years was in the navy after I was converted. Then I quit the navy. And during those seven years, I got such an understanding of the scriptures because I was diligent every morning, every night to study the scriptures 37:06 when I got up in the morning and before I went to bed. I was single, of course, it was easy. But even if you're married, you can find sometime. So, that's the one thing we see about Jesus in his life. He knew the scriptures because he 37:21 studied it, took pains to study it. And Christians don't know it today because they are lazy. That's all. The second thing we learn about Jesus in those 30 years was this. In Luke 2:51, he went down to Nazareth 37:40 and he continued in subjection to Joseph and Mary. That's the other thing. The Bible says, "Honor your father and mother." "Children, obey your parents." That's a command in Exodus. 38:00 And Jesus had heard the rabbi say it. When he was reading Exodus, Jesus read there, um children obey your Honor your father and mother. Respect them, obey them. That's how you honor them. And so he went down and whenever he was 38:17 at home, he honored his father and mother by not speaking rudely to them, by respecting them, speaking respectfully to them, obeying them, not obeying them when it's easy. I mean, if you tell a tell a child, 38:39 "Come on, you got to eat up that ice cream." Well, you don't test his obedience by that. I'll tell you where you test a child's obedience cuz I know I've had children. When he's playing a game with his friends, whatever game you play. In 38:57 India, we used to play cricket. And I'm sure in Jesus' day also there must be some type of game with And all games are with a bat and a ball. Whether it's cricket or baseball or And so, I can imagine Jesus playing with his 39:09 friends outside of home. This is what I used to picture in my mind. And when you're fielding, it's not so exciting. But when your time comes to bat, that's the best part of it. And it has come time for Jesus to bat. 39:27 And his mother says, "Jesus, I want you to do something for me. Come here quickly. I want you to go to the well and bring some water. I got to do some cooking." Guess what Jesus did. Excited, it's my turn come to bat. 39:46 He dropped his bat and went to his mother. And the boys would have teased him, "Ah, you're mama's boy. Mama's boy." and teased him. He did not bother about it. He was going to be obedient to God, 40:03 no matter who teased him in any way. He went to the well and drew the water, came back and gave it to his mother. And by the time he came back, his bat turn for batting was over. He couldn't get it. It's fine. He joined in the game 40:20 happily, no complaint. He who says he abides in Christ must walk as he walked. You don't have to preach. That may not be your gift. You don't have to heal. I don't have a gift of healing. That's a gift God gives to some people, 40:39 okay? But the life, why can't I live that life of studying the scriptures? Why can't I live the life where I respect those who are in authority above me? Why don't we teach our children obedience? 40:59 We teach them mathematics, correct grammar, correct spelling, geography, who were the presidents of the United States, and all that. Wonderful. Good. What about teaching them obedience in little things? 41:17 Teaching them the scriptures. Fathers, bring up your children in the instruction of the Lord. The most important thing a child needs to learn is not mathematics and physics. It's obedience to his parents. Our children know more about physics and 41:35 geography than Jesus did. So what? Are they better than him? It's obedience to parents, respect to parents. And if we can teach that to your children when they are small, 41:53 never once allow your child to speak disrespectfully to either parent. If he does that, children do it. All children do it. In a moment of anger, they may say something to their mother or father, usually the mother. They're a bit scared 42:12 of the father. Then the father must come in and say, "Go and apologize to Mommy. I don't care how important the work you're doing. Stop it. You cannot speak to Mommy like that. Go and apologize." That's what I used to do. 42:33 And then continue your work. Teach your children to obey their parents. All children tell lies. I think it's in uh Let's see if my memory is still okay. I 42:51 think it's in Psalm 58. Yeah, Psalm 58 verse 3. Children tell lies from the time they are born. It's a characteristic of children. Children know that 43:13 if they cry, the mother will know that they're in some pain and pick them up. And sometimes the children are not in any pain, but they just want to be picked up. So what do they do? They cry. They're telling a lie. And the mother says, "Oh, my darling is 43:32 in pain." and picks it up. They tell lies from birth, even before they can speak. And when they speak, they tell more lies. So that's the second thing that we have to help our children with, to speak the truth. 43:52 There were only two things that I taught my children when they were small. Honor your father and mother, obey them, and speak the truth. The rest, you you all work hard, study your geometry and your physics and biology and all that. Do by all means important, 44:09 but it's That's useless if you don't learn these two things. I want to ask you, what is the priority you have with your children? You want them to grow up to be disciples of Jesus? Or do you just want them to be good students and they'll get a good God will 44:23 help them to be good students, I tell you. If they honor God, you think they'll do badly in their studies? No. They'll do very well in their studies if they honor God. They won't cheat. They won't tell lies. They'll respect 44:35 their teachers. It'll go well with them. It'll go well with them in every area of life. Let me show you that in scripture. Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is a wonderful psalm. It says here that 44:53 how blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, to stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. And that applies to children also if you uh teach them not to mingle with bad company. That's basically what it means. 45:11 Don't let them mingle with bad company. Keep them away from bad friends. Warn them. But don't just do that negative part. The positive part is teach them the God's word. Delight is in the law of the Lord and his law he meditates day and 45:24 night. How will that child be or how will you be if you grow up like that? You'll be like a tree whose who leaf never withers. What is the meaning of a tree is evergreen? 45:41 Ever fresh. Do you know that you can live a life where you're always fresh, never gloomy, discouraged? People come and meet you anytime, day and night, you're in a good mood. I was not like that 45:59 before I understood the life of victory. I'm sorry that when I was a young Christian, I did not have an elder brother to teach me the way of godliness. I didn't have a spiritual father. I wish I had. I could have come into this life 15 46:14 years earlier. But it took me 16 years to get there because I had to so struggle and find my own way through this wilderness. And then I learned that this is the way that I can be like a tree a whose leaf does not wither. I 46:32 understand it means 24 hours, 365 days, right through the year, I'm never in a bad mood. Jesus was like that. You know why you have bad moods? You want to hear the truth? 46:51 Because you love yourself so much. That's all. The number one person you love is yourself. No wonder you have so many bad moods. Get rid of it. Jesus said, "He who loves his life will lose it." And you're losing it with your 47:10 bad moods. But he hates his life in this world. Lord, this wretched life I've got from Adam, I'm hating it. I want to live in the Holy Spirit every day. I used to be one of my biggest sins was discouragement. 47:30 The early years, even of my married life, discouraged, discouraged, discouraged. But it's gone from my life completely. It's the truth. My leaf I believe my leaf should never wither if I do those things mentioned in verse 47:48 1 and 2. It's not a big complicated list of 25 things to do. Two things. Avoid bad company and meditate on God's word. And your leaf will never wither. Obey it. You'll live a life where you'll be like a fresh evergreen tree 48:06 24 hours a day, right through the year. Now, because you've not lived like that, it may take some time for you to get there, but you can get there. Do you want this life? That's the question. And here's the best part of it. Listen 48:19 to this. I was telling you how children can do well in their studies. Whatever he does, he will prosper. You like that? Whatever he does will prosper. I believe that is God's will for us. 48:40 That everything I do, I'll prosper. I'm not saying you'll be a millionaire or a billionaire. Thank God you don't get there and ruin yourself. But you'll prosper means you'll have more than enough for your needs and more than 48:53 enough to bless other people. That's prospering as I understand it. More than enough for my needs and more than enough to bless the people I I come across, even financially. I've experienced it. And you don't have to be a rich man to 49:13 experience it. But you have to stay away from bad company. You have to meditate on God's word. You have to remain humble and get the grace of God upon you. It's the most wonderful life that anybody can live. I want to say one 49:31 emphasize one thing. Jesus' submission to his parents is a very important lesson, because submission to authority is a law God has placed in this universe. The stars, the planets 49:51 are all subject to an authority. That's why they are split-second timing. You can set your watch by the stars. Yeah. I remember when I was in the Navy, we used to find the exact position where our ship was in the middle of the ocean 50:06 by the stars. That's how we used to plot our position on the charts in the Navy. So, in the days there were no satellites those days. They they go according to perfect obedience to God's law. So, submission to authority, they submit 50:26 to authority. The planets it's exact time in which they rotate around the sun. It's only man that does not submit to authority. If you can teach your children submission to authority at young age, it's the greatest thing you can teach 50:45 them. Obey your parents. And when they grow up, respect your teachers. At each stage, submission to authority. Don't make fun of your teachers like all the other children do. That's what I told my children. Okay, maybe the teacher's accent is not good. 51:05 So what? Or person is not so perfect in teaching. But don't disrespect them. That's evil. We have to teach our children that, respect to authority. Then they go to the next stage 51:22 where they go to work. Respect your bosses at work. He may be an evil man, but you're not responsible for that. He may be a crook cheating the tax tax on his tax and all that. That's not my business. In that office he's if he asked me to do 51:40 a righteous job, I have to do it whether he's a righteous man or not. Submission to authority. Very, very important. Don't join people who go on strike and rebel and all that. Submit to authority. Not because we'll be punished otherwise, 51:58 not because that's the only way you'll get your salary, because God wants it. I do it because I have the fear of God, not to get a salary or because I might get a punishment. Why do you obey the traffic laws and uh respect the police 52:14 uh commands? I hope it's not because you're afraid you'll be punished. That's a pretty low level. I mean, if there's no other way you do it, then do it at least at that level. But the best way to do it is because God commands me to submit to authority. 52:30 See this in Romans chapter 13. It's a very important chapter. Romans is a wonderful spiritual book, deals with many aspects of the Christian life, and one aspect is subject to the governing authorities. Romans 13:1. There is no authority except from God. 52:51 God has appointed secular authorities, the policemen, the judges in the courts, the president of the country. I don't care whether the president is Republican or Democrat. I mean, some of you may be bothered by it. I'm not. 53:05 I believe that every authority is established by God. And so when an election time comes, I don't canvass people to go and vote for my candidate. I pray. Because 1 Timothy 2:1 says, "Pray for those who are in authority." And I my 53:20 prayer is not this that this candidate will win or that candidate will win, but Lord, I pray that we will be able to live a godly life here as your children. Read 1 Timothy 2:1-3. That we can live a godly life with dignity. So, bring to power those 53:38 the person who will allow us to do that. In India, you don't have the choice of Christian and non-Christian. Everybody is a Hindu or a Muslim or someone, and you have to vote for one of them. What do you do? I pray. I pray, "Lord, please bring into 53:55 authority those who will help the Christians to have freedom to preach the gospel and to live a godly life in dignity." That's what I've done in every election for all these years that I lived in India. And we have changed governments by 54:11 prayer. We have changed policies in the government by by prayer. I mean, you may not believe it. I've actually ex- we've actually experienced that in our church, small church. Amazing. When when you obey God's laws, God is on your side. 54:28 Like I've very often said, "One man with God is a majority." One man with God is a majority. Let the whole world be against him. If you have God on your side, you're in the majority side. And that's why we can pray. And so, we have to subject to authority 54:44 because it says here in verse two, "If you resist an authority, you're resisting the command of God." You shouldn't be fighting with the policeman. You shouldn't be fighting with the laws in the country. I mean, if there's an unrighteous law 54:58 which is against the command of God, then we say, "Well, I'm sorry, sir. There's a command God is above you. You're not the ultimate authority. So, he has given me a command which is against what you're telling me to do, so 55:09 I won't do it." That's okay. I I I had to do that when I was in the Navy. I remember once I was appointed as the person in charge of all the boats in the naval base. And um the officers were allowed to take the 55:27 boat provided they paid for the diesel, for the fuel. So, I had to send a bill to an officer if he took the boat out for a picnic, and he had to pay for the diesel. And one day the captain of the naval base took out the boat. 55:44 And the we were supposed to write in the bill, uh captain is inspecting the harbor. So, we don't send him a bill. That's what all the other offs- boat officers did. I said, "I can't tell a lie. He didn't go to inspect the harbor. He went for a 56:00 picnic with his family." So, I was the first boat officer in that naval base who sent a bill to the captain saying, "Pay for this trip, private trip." So, the second in command is called a commander. The captain is the four-stripe man. I was only two stripes. 56:19 The commander was the three-stripe man, came up to me and said, "Didn't the previous boat officer tell you how to what you should write in these things when the captain uses the boat?" I said, "Yes, sir. But as a Christian, I cannot tell a 56:32 lie." What could he say to that? So, he said, "Okay, go to your office." And I went and sat in my office. In half an hour, I got a transfer. I was transferred from my job. Good. I praise the Lord. That's just one experience. I could tell you wonderful 56:51 experiences like I had that I had. I rejoiced. And I had many experiences like that, and that's what made me so confident that God is on my side. I had wonderful experiences like that. So, my my ministry did not come out of study of 57:08 the Bible alone. It came out through some experiences like this. I would subject to authority if they won't tell me ask me to tell a lie, and I can tell you many other stories like that which made me a strong Christian. 57:21 Otherwise, we subject to authority. And I'll tell you, I've seen many Christians who believe their children must be subject to them at home, who believe there must be an authority in the church in the society. They obey 57:38 the police. They obey the law. But when it comes to the church, they feel there's no authority in the church. Is it possible that God made an institution in the world without an authority? In the church, they feel everyone is too 57:55 free to do what he likes. And that's why they don't grow. That's why year after year after year after year, they are the same babies, spiritually speaking. They never grow, frequently gloomy, bad moods, discouraged, defeated. Why? 58:12 They have never learned to be subject to spiritual authority in the church. Because there's no punishment here. If you don't obey, well, I'll go to another church. I don't have to listen to you. You won't say that to the policeman. 58:27 You won't say that to the judge in the court, because there the punishment will be severe. I've seen this in church after church after church. And I've seen what happens to these people who never learn to be subject to authority. 58:43 Before God started the first CFC church in my home in 1975, God had taken me through 16 years of being subject to various types of authorities in different churches. People were jealous of me 59:02 because God gave me a ministry of preaching when I was 23 years old. And others older than me were very jealous. And they tried to suppress me, and I would submit to them. I submitted to people who oppressed suppressed me in so many ways. 59:20 And it was good for me. I remember once where some people were jealous of me, and they banned me from speaking in that church. And the The said, "Keep your mouth shut, and sit there." And I sat there for another three or 59:36 four years. People wondered why I Every Sunday I used to speak. Why what happened to brother Zach? Has he backslidden or gone into some sin or something? Why is he's not being asked to speak? The Lord said, "Shut your mouth." 59:52 Don't say it's because others are jealous of me. So, I sat there under submission to authority. My wife and I would sit there, and I say, "Fine." I wouldn't give any answer to people. I knew the reason. Because the leader there was asking me 1:00:09 to speak many times, and that disturbed some of those who were at the second and third level in that church, who were much older than me. And those are the years when God did something. He broke me. Brokenness is very important. You know, 1:00:23 we sing that song, "Spirit of the Lord, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me." I don't sing that lightly. I've experienced it. I want to ask you, my brothers, have you ever experienced being broken 1:00:42 because you're submitting to somebody's authority? Being molded and crushed. You've never experienced it? I feel sorry for you. You've missed a major part of your spiritual education. No wonder your spiritual life is so shallow. 1:01:01 You've always avoided being subject to authority. And that is the reason why God never gives authority to such people. They're not fit. You remember what the Roman soldier once said to Jesus? Do you remember that? When he said, 1:01:19 "Please come to my house and heal my servant." He said, Jesus said, "I'll come." No, he said, "Heal my servant." Jesus said, "I'll come to your house." And this man was so humble, he said, "Oh, no, Lord. I'm not worthy that you should come to my house, 1:01:33 but you can stand here and rebuke that sickness 15 miles away. It'll go." And Jesus said, you know what the reason why he said that? He said, "I am a man." Read it sometime. I Matthew chapter 8, "I'm a man under 1:01:52 authority. And therefore, I have people under me who are obey my authority. I tell a servant to the soldier to go, he goes. Why? Because I'm When my boss tells me to go, I go. I'm a man under authority, and so I tell a soldier to go, he goes. 1:02:11 And Lord, I I can sick sick recognize something in you. You know, military people usually usually can recognize other military people. I've seen that. There's something about the bearing of a military man, which another military man 1:02:23 can recognize. And this centurion has said, "Jesus, I don't know where what authority he's, but he's under some type of authority. I can make that out by the way he lives and speaks. And I know that if he's under authority, 1:02:35 he has authority." So, he said, "Lord, you don't have to come there. Just speak from here. I know it'll happen." It's a principle. When you are subject to authority, God gives you authority. And if God has never given you any spiritual authority, 1:02:47 he probably never will, because you're never willing to submit to authority. And you'll miss something in life. I believe God wants us to develop to the place where we become mature godly men who can lead others. Not just sit, be a follower. 1:03:03 Good. Be a follower, be submitted to authority, but come to the place where you can lead other younger brothers to a godly life, and other younger sisters. For that, learn from Jesus to be subject to authority. Don't rebel against authority in the 1:03:18 government. Doesn't matter who's the president or which party is in power, unless they ask you to disobey God's word. In every other area, submit to authority. And submit to authority in the church. The place where the least 1:03:34 submission to authority in the world is found in the church. Even the Muslims in their mosque submit to the mullahs more than many Christians submit to authority in the church. This is a sad thing. And we are supposed to 1:03:47 be the people who say we know God. So, dear brothers and sisters, let's learn to walk as Jesus walked. He The one thing we know about his 30 years was he studied the scriptures, and he was subject to authority. Those are the two things I wanted to 1:04:01 emphasize. And I pray it'll be like that in our life. And I can tell you from my testimony, after being a Christian for 62 years, it'll go exceptionally well with you if you wives will subject be subject to your husbands, 1:04:15 unless they tell you to disobey scripture, which I don't think they will. And if you teach your children to be subject to you, and you're subject to your bosses in your place of work, and teach your children to respect their 1:04:25 teachers, it'll go exceptionally well with your family. And then you will be a tremendous blessing in this church. And in addition, if you're subject to authority in the church, one day God will give you authority as well. 1:04:38 God bless you all. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for the wonderful laws in your word. Laws that are meant for our good. We see your laws being obeyed in the universe. 1:04:58 And we see what tremendous good comes out of that. That we can predict what will happen tomorrow in this universe. Lord, help us to learn from the stars and the planets how to be subject to authority, 1:05:17 and the blessing that comes from it. Help us, Lord, to be students of your word. Glorify you, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
