0:07 So, I want to speak today first of all to those who are single. There's nothing wrong in being single. Marriage is not 0:24 an essential. And the greatest proof of that is that Jesus was never married. And the Apostle Paul was the greatest servant of God that we read of in the New Testament 0:42 was never married. And I have read of some amazingly godly missionary ladies who were single. Amy Carmichael in India. She would never have accomplished what she did 1:01 if she were married. And there are many others like that. So, marriage is not God's will for everyone. So, those who are single need not feel they cannot accomplish God's will until I get married. 1:20 It is God's will for most people that I agree. And I just say that as a word of encouragement. And I just want to give a word of warning to young sisters. We live in a very dangerous time. 1:39 There's a lot more freedom among boys and girls nowadays in society. And so young girls especially are in great danger. And if you have daughters you must warn them. And young sisters who are listening to me, listen to me, please take this 1:59 warning. In Song of Solomon chapter 8, the bride is a picture of the bride of Christ. Solomon's wife or bride says, 2:16 in Solomon Song of Solomon chapter 8, the last chapter, he says, "We have a little sister." She says, the bride, verse 8, and verse 9, Song of Solomon 8:9, "This little sister of mine 2:35 could either be like a wall, verse 9, or like a door." These are the two possibilities, and most young, almost all young sisters are like a wall or like a door, young girls. If you're like a wall, a wall means 2:57 that man can't come close to me, whatever he may try, until God has shown me that someone is the one He has chosen to be my husband, I will keep everybody at a distance. That's a wall. He says, "If my younger sister's like a 3:14 wall, we can build a battlement of silver on her." Something that the Lord can use to fight the devil. A fortress, if she's like a wall. But if she's like a door, 3:32 wide open, any man can come and be friendly and fool around with me. We have to then barricade her with planks of wood, cedar, and don't let anyone come near. So, there you read about two types of young sisters. And I wanted to say to all young sisters 3:52 in our church and to your daughters fathers take the responsibility and examine whether your daughters is like a wall or like a door. The popular thing nowadays is to be like a door. Be friendly with everyone. 4:10 And that's the what leads to a lot of sin. And a word to those who are single as I said earlier, don't be discouraged. God has a plan for each of our lives. And if because you sought godliness and wanted what was upright and would 4:30 refuse to marry a person who's not wholehearted for the Lord because of that reason if you remain single and are single till the end of your life you can be absolutely sure that when you get up to heaven and meet the Lord 4:45 he'll say, "Well done. You accomplished my will for your life because you were steadfast and steady and you did not just get married to anyone you like. So, no one who's single who ends their life like that need ever be discouraged. 5:02 God has got a plan and he will fulfill it. But at the same time, God's plan is for most people to get married. I would say more than 90%. And I wrote down a few points that I thought I should share concerning 5:20 marriage with all of you. First of all I want to turn to a verse in Deuteronomy in chapter 11. There's a beautiful expression here which should be the description 5:37 of every Christian home. And pray that your own home will be like this. Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 21. Now, in the King James version it is 5:55 translated exactly. In the New American Standard Bible, which is excellent in almost every other verse, they have not translated exactly, but they put it in the margin and said, "This is how the actual translation is." And so I will read it from the margin, 6:12 which it says, "This is the actual translation." That your days uh Deuteronomy 11:21, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that is in the life, which instead of land read life, which the Lord has sworn to you and to 6:28 give you and that your days will be like the days of heaven upon the earth. What an expression. That your home life should be like the days of heaven upon earth. That's what the margin of my NASB says and that is how the King James version 6:45 is and that is the exact translation of the Hebrew. That your days should be like the days of heaven upon earth. And everyone who's married should seek that their life together can be like the days of heaven upon earth. 7:03 And I see that one of the characteristics of heaven is humility. Jesus manifested that in throughout his life on earth. The days of heaven are days of humility. And Jesus demonstrated if you see if you 7:23 think of one characteristics in Jesus' life apart from his holiness, it was his humility. He humbled himself. As God, he humbled himself and became a man. He humbled himself as a man and became a slave to wash his disciples' feet. And 7:39 then you think that you can't go lower than that. Yes, you can. He humbled himself to be treated like a criminal on the cross as though he were a murderer or something like that. So, all the way down. First step, God to man, 7:51 man to slave, slave to treated like a criminal. Humility, humility, humility. That's why I have said for many years the three secrets of the Christian life are humility, humility, humility. And the Bible says in 1 Peter 5 8:10 and uh verse 5 to 7, God gives grace to the humble. Link that with Romans 6:14. If grace is over you, sin cannot rule you. 8:28 No sin can rule you when you're under grace. And God gives grace to the humble. So, put those two verses together. 1 Peter 5 verse 5 downwards, God gives grace to the humble. When you're under grace, sin cannot rule 8:47 you. No sin. So, what do we conclude from that? That if any sin is ruling you, you cannot conquer it. Anger, mostly, bitterness, 9:04 unforgiveness, grudges, backbiting, gossiping, ruling you, the proof is you're not under grace. Whatever you may say, you're not under grace. 9:23 God may have been merciful to you. Mercy is different from grace. Mercy is forgiveness of sins. Grace is power to overcome sin. Mercy was there in the Old Testament. Blessed is the Lord is merciful. His his mercy is everlasting. 9:38 Forgiveness was there. There was no victory in the Old Testament because they had no grace. John 1:17 says grace came through Jesus Christ. There was no grace before that. And grace, when you come under grace, it's like being under this roof. 9:52 Any amount of rain falls doesn't touch you. Any temptation, sin will not overcome you if you're under grace. So, whatever you may say, when you whatever excuse you may have for falling into sin, acknowledge first of all you were not 10:07 under grace at that time. I remember in the in the past years, when I did not have over victory over sin, that when I slipped up, I would say, "Lord, I'm not asking you why I slipped up. I know why. I was not under grace at that time. 10:23 And I don't even ask you why I was not under grace because I know I was proud somewhere. So, Lord, just show me where was I proud?" So, this is my habit. Anytime I slipped up in a small thing or a big thing, I would go to God and say, "Lord, 10:37 I'm not asking you why I fell. I know it. I didn't get grace. And I know why I didn't get grace. I was proud. Just tell me where I was proud." So, next time you sin in anything in your thoughts, attitudes, motives, don't 10:50 ask God for anything. Just say, "Lord, just show me where was I proud?" And you know the Lord has shown me last week in such and such a situation, when you were confronted a situation, you acted in a proud way. I said, "Lord, that was last week. I see 11:07 it now. You never repented of it. Grace departed. And the rain of sin fell on you. No protection. I learned the hard way by that happening a number of times till I said, "Lord, I'm going to be careful." 11:27 Temptation I cannot avoid. We'll be tempted do the end of our life. God has permitted it. Temptation is like going to the gym. Have you seen these some gyms we have in India where they have a picture of a man with so many muscles all over the place. 11:41 I never even knew there was so many muscles in the body. Standing like that and boy, you say, "Why I wish I could have a body like that." And they say, "Yeah, come inside and come here every day for 2 years, you'll have a body like that. But come 11:51 every day, spend a couple of hours here." Oh, that's too much of a price. Well, then you can't have a body like that. You'll be just a fat flabby person rolling around in the world. So, that's how it is. If you want to overcome sin, humble 12:07 yourself. Come come to the Lord and say, "Lord, teach me how to humble myself in every situation." You will be that spiritually muscular person whom the devil is afraid of. You remember once this is a story in Acts of the Apostles 12:25 of some people who saw Paul casting out demons. And these sons of Sceva, they they were not believers. But they understood the formula. The formula is in the name of Jesus, get out. And they went to this demon-possessed 12:42 person and said, "In the name of Jesus, get out." And the demon-possessed jumped on all of them and tore them to pieces. It didn't work. The formula didn't work because they were not humble. So, it's like that. If we humble ourselves, grace will 13:00 always come. It is impossible. It's like water always flows down to the lowest place. You know, where you see if you see a road up and down, uh some roads are like that. And rain falls, you'll always see the rain accumulates in the lowest part of 13:14 that road. It's always like that. When grace from heaven comes down upon the earth, it looks for the humblest person and he gets the most of it. And if you're humble, you'll be there. Grace will just flow upon you. That is the most important requirement 13:32 in family life for days of heaven upon earth. Why do I say heaven is a place of humility? Because I see it in Jesus. Jesus brought heaven down to earth and it was humility, humility, humility, humility. I'll show you another example in Isaiah 13:47 chapter 6. You know, when we read the scripture, I told you we must meditate on it. Don't just read. Please, from today onwards, all of you please meditate on scripture. Isaiah 6. He says, "I saw the seraphim." Those are type of angels. 14:05 Isaiah 6:2. With six wings. And what do you do with six wings? Fly, fly, fly, fly to impress people? No. Four wings they covered themselves. We don't want anybody to see who we are. I don't want you to see my face. 14:24 I'm serving the Lord, but I don't want you to know who I am. Boy. Have you seen people like that? Somebody who healed the sick but did not want anybody to know who it was who did it. Somebody who did a tremendous service 14:38 for the Lord in the church, but nobody could discover who that person was who did that fantastic work. He just quietly covered his face like the angels and disappeared. Imagine you have If you have a church like that. When people are just longing to hide 14:54 themselves. Instead of these people who want to show off from the pulpit how clever they are, how smart they are, how much of the Bible they know. And all of that. The angels are not like that. They covered their They have six wings. 15:12 And four of they used only two of them to fly. Serve with two wings and cover yourself with four wings. A great This is what heaven is like. And they learned it from Jesus. That's how Jesus like the angel said, we want to be like that. 15:25 And I'll tell you one thing, when you get to heaven, those of you who get there, you will see this is the primary characteristic of heaven. Humility and holiness. Those three. Holy, holy, holy. And the two go together. 15:45 Because when humility is a characteristic, you get grace and you'll be holy. Sin will not rule over you. This is the most important thing to remember in a home. What a husband needs and a wife needs is humility. 16:03 Not classes on husband-wife relationships. Humility, humility, God will give grace to make your relationship beautiful. Like days of heaven upon Earth. So, 16:23 I want to share with you in Ephesians in chapter 5 where it speaks about marriage. Ephesians 5 We read about being filled with the Holy 16:43 Spirit. Ephesians 5:18, don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the real translation of that Greek word would be be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Not just be filled with the Holy Spirit, but be being filled. That means 17:01 continuously be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not a once-for-all experience. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is not a once-for-all experience. If you read in the Acts of the Apostles, you read Peter was filled with the Spirit three times, 17:15 mentioned three times. I'm sure he was filled with the spirit continuously. But three of those mentions are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. The tragedy is many people speak of the Holy Spirit as one experience. You know, be filled with the Holy Spirit 17:28 continuously. And what is the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Many people will say it's speaking in tongues. That may be one of the gifts. It's only one of the gifts. It doesn't God doesn't give it to everybody. 17:40 But here is something God gives to everybody. Ephesians 5:18, when you are continuously filled with the spirit, you will speak in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. 17:56 You will be conscious of the Lord's presence along with one another. You'll be singing, making melody to the Lord. That's one of the things I've been emphasizing again and again. Jesus said where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the 18:13 midst. In a church now, when we come together like this, the most important person is the Lord Jesus Christ. And very often we are not conscious of that. We need to be conscious more and more. 18:31 For example, when we sing a song, "Thou art worthy." Ask yourself whether you actually say it to Jesus Christ who's in our in our midst. Lord Jesus, I'm talking to you now. You're here. Can't see you, but you're 18:48 here. "Thou art worthy." "Take my life and let it be." Lord, I'm not singing it for everybody to hear. You're here. I'm telling you I mean it. "Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee." Think if you sang every hymn 19:07 like that. You'll go home much more blessed than you are on most Sundays. I'll give you one example. You know, in the olden days in our church, we never had projections on the screen. Those did not exist those days. We had song books. 19:27 So, we the leader would say, "Let's sing number so and so." Some song and we'd read that and I remember once after we finished the song, I felt, "Lord, that song was addressed to you. But I wasn't even conscious that you 19:43 were here. I just liked the tune and I clapped my hands and swung my hips and sang it. Not even really thinking that it even though it was addressed to you. Take my life and let it be. I didn't even think you were there. 19:59 And by the time they had moved on to the next hymn, so you know what I did? I turned back to the old hymn. I didn't raise my voice. All the all the others were singing the new hymn that was announced. I turned back to the old 20:12 hymn in my song book and softly I said, "Lord, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it last time when I sang it. But I want to say it softly to you right now." And I sang that whole song again to the Lord while the others were singing the next 20:28 song. And some instances like that has helped me in to sing more meaningfully. It doesn't matter if my tune is wrong. I'm singing to Jesus. My dear brothers and sisters, please take this word seriously. It'll make a difference in your life. I 20:48 guarantee. You will forget it. I've forgotten it many times. But when I keep reminding myself, what happens is nowadays in almost every Sunday service, I recognize the presence of the Lord. It took time. It took many, many months of practice 21:06 before I realized when I sing now Jesus is here. Thou art worthy. I'm not conscious of others. Lord Jesus, I say this to you. Please, dear brothers and sisters, please take this exhortation seriously. I guarantee 1 year from now you'll be a different 21:25 person. If you just practice one thing one thing. Think of a doctor giving you a prescription and saying 1 year from now you'll be much healthier than you are now. That's what I'm saying. Learn to sing to Jesus. And if you're the leader of a church, 21:40 remind the people every now and then. Ask them, "Did you sing to Jesus that last song?" Don't be hesitant to ask. Remind them, not condemning them. Just to remind them the next song you sing, if it is addressed to the Lord, 21:53 recognize his presence. Imagine if the president of the United States or some great dignitary was sitting here in the front seat. I tell you throughout the service, you'll be conscious that he's there. Why is it we are not conscious of the 22:08 presence of Jesus Christ, God of gods and king of kings? We don't reverence him enough. Reverence for the Lord is lacking among Christians. That's a great lack. People think in many churches the lack is money. They keep on asking for money. 22:26 I'll tell you that's not the lack. It's a lack of a reverence for the Lord. And if we have more of that, Okay, Ephesians 5. Be filled with the Spirit, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. That will be the result of being filled 22:40 with the Holy Spirit. Number one, you will speak to the Lord when you sing. And secondly, verse 20, you will always give thanks. Give thanks is one thing. Always give thanks for all things. That's quite another level. Altogether another level. 22:58 Giving thanks is one level. Always giving thanks is another level. Always giving thanks for all things is an amazing level. Be filled with the spirit and that will happen. Okay? The next result of being filled with the spirit, verse 21. You will be subject to 23:15 one another. You won't be trying to take the first place. You won't be trying to suppress that other person to show you're a better person than him. If you get up to share the word after somebody else share the word, you won't try to show well, I want 23:27 to show I was a better preacher than him. That's the spirit of the devil. And there are people who come into the church and if there's multiple people sharing the word, they want to show that they were sharing better than that last 23:39 person. That is the spirit of the devil and such a person brings the spirit of the devil into the church. Repent if you have done that. Have you ever got up to try and show that you can preach better than the last fellow who preached or the fellow who 23:53 preached last Sunday? Dear me. You are the one who brought the devil into that church. Get rid of it. Keep quiet next time if that's your aim. Get up and share if you're interested in sharing what God left in you laid on 24:08 your heart, not to show that you are better than X, Y, or Z. Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. That means when you don't do that, you don't fear Christ, whatever you may say. The result of being filled with the 24:25 spirit, you know, so many people say they are filled with the spirit. Do they have all these qualities? If they don't, it's not being full of being filled with the spirit at all. And then when you're filled with the spirit, 24:37 wives will be subject to their husbands, verse 22. What is the mark of being filled with the spirit for a wife? Subject to her husband. What about the husband? Verse 21. Subject to his wife. Have you ever heard a message where a 24:55 preacher says husbands be subject to your wives." When you hear it now from scripture, you say, "Where?" Ephesians 5:21. What does that mean? It's plain English. Be subject to one another. 25:13 And who is he talking to? Verse 22, 23, husbands and wives. Do you get it? Have you seen it like that? Or have you only seen husbands Have you only seen it, "Wives, be subject to your husbands." Have you seen verse 22? Blessed is the wife who can say, 25:32 "Darling, have you seen verse 21?" Not in an argumentative way, but to bring peace and harmony and unity in the home. Isn't it wonderful that the Holy Spirit says, "First, be subject to one another. And then, wives, be subject to your 25:51 husbands." Because the husband is the head of the wife. That doesn't change. It's not that the husband and wife are alternately head, one day this, one day this one and the other one. No, no, no, no, no. The husband is always the head of his 26:04 wife. From the day he got married till the day he dies or his wife dies. Always, always, always the head of his wife. If he's made mistakes, he's still the head of his wife. When he's right, he's the head of his wife. When he's wrong, he's the head of 26:18 his wife. But, he must learn that that command comes after "Be subject to one another." That's the balance. The wonderful thing about scripture is if we read it carefully, there's a balance. It's not a one-sided message. Be subject to one another, and 26:38 I want to explain that further. Let me paraphrase that. The Holy Spirit's saying, "I want you husbands and wives to be subject to one another, and I'll explain how." Wives must be subject to their own husbands as unto the Lord. Wow. 26:53 As unto the Lord? And the wife says, "Lord, are you asking me to be subject to my wife, to my husband, just like to be subject to you?" And the Lord says, "Yes. I've written it in my word for 2,000 years. Just because people don't follow it, 27:11 and doesn't mean it's not true. This is why what I require. Be subject to one another." The wife says, "How?" Be subject to your husband as unto the Lord because he's your head. Exactly like Christ is the head of the church. 27:31 Since the same way the church is subject to Christ, exactly as the church is subject to Christ, so the wives must be subject to their husbands in everything. And you say, "Boy, what a tough standard." 27:50 What a high standard, that a wife has to live at such a high standard. Just wait. Listen to what God asked the husband to do, that's even tougher. Now the husbands, how are they to be subject to their wives? This is the 28:02 amplification of verse 21. Husbands, love your wives. Okay, we can do that. But it doesn't stop there. Exactly like Christ loved the church. I'll say, "Lord, it's easier for the wife to be subject to the husband than for the husband to love the wife as 28:20 Christ loved the church." Meditate on it. Do you think a husband uh finds it easy to love his wife exactly as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her? That is the amplification of verse 21, be subject to one another. 28:39 You thought it was tough for the wives, it's much tougher for the husbands. So, let me repeat that. Be subject to one another. How should the wife be subject to the husband? Exactly like the church is to Christ. Clear? How should the husband be subject to the 28:57 wife? By loving her exactly like Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her. The husband must so give himself to his wife that she becomes holier as a result of his being an authority in the home. 29:13 Is that what's happening, husbands? Are you such an authority in your home that your husband your wife becomes holier because you're the head of the home? Love your wives like Christ sanctified her, cleansed her, washed her with the 29:29 water of the word, and presented her to himself in all glory without a spot, without a wrinkle, or any such thing, but she should be holy and blameless. I say, "Lord, it's easier to be a wife. Thank you." To make my wife holy and blameless and 29:46 without a wrinkle or a spot? That is how a husband must be subject to the wife. Well, you probably heard in some new things here which you don't hear in other churches. Well, I'll tell you something. In CFC, we hear a lot of 30:00 things you don't hear in other churches. But, it's in the word. If you read it carefully, it's in the word. I have never in my life till today preached anything which is not in the word of God. And further, the husband must verse 29 30:17 nourish and cherish his wife like Christ does the church. All you husbands, are you nourishing spiritually and cherishing your wife exactly as Christ cherishes and nourishes the church? What a standard! And all the time we thought it was the 30:39 wives were the tough job subject being subject to the husband's. No. Both are equally difficult. To be subject to the husband exactly like the church is to Christ. What a standard. To nourish and cherish the wife and sanctify her and love her and give 30:57 yourself up for your wife just like Christ gave himself up for the church. What a standard. The trouble is these things are not preached in most churches. That's the trouble. It was in your Bible all along. But we read so casually. 31:16 You remember the verse I showed you earlier? Blessed is the one who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. Whatever he does will prosper. You show me a husband who meditates on this passage day and night. Whatever he 31:31 does in his home, it'll prosper. His home will prosper. You show me a wife who meditates on this day and night. Whatever she does in her home, her home will prosper. Do you want your home to prosper spiritually? Do you want your children 31:42 to grow up in a home that's prospering spiritually? You made a lot of money, I know, and you can provide a lot of things in your home, but what about spiritual prosperity? That'll come if you follow this. It's a tremendous standard. 31:57 I have not attained to it. I'm trying. I say with all my heart I'm trying as a husband. But I've seen my I've seen the goal. Like Paul says, "I'm not yet attained." He said in Philippians, "But I press toward the mark." 32:14 I'm encouraging all husbands and wives. Press toward this mark. And see what it means. Because the end result will be glorious. What did we start with? Days of heaven upon the earth. 32:32 Amazing. Think how Jesus Christ gladly submitted to his father. Whatever the father wanted. Go down to Bethlehem and be born in a cow shed with a cow's feeding trough 32:52 for you to lie down in a baby's body. Jesus says, "Yes, father." And he goes into that little baby and lies in a cow shed with a all the poop and everything lying around with infection of tetanus and everything 33:11 around there. He goes in there. This is the son of God. God almighty couldn't find a better place on earth in Bethlehem for his son to be born. The reason was he had to come underneath 33:30 everybody, only then could he lift up everybody. And I believe with all my heart that no human being was ever born in a more lowly state than Jesus Christ. Therefore, he can because he came underneath everybody, he could lift up 33:45 everybody. There are elders who want to bless their churches. I'll tell you how, brother. Get underneath them and lift them up. There are people who want to be elders. Yeah? Seek to be underneath everybody, you'll be an elder. 34:02 The trouble is people want to be on top. They they want to be like the world. The rulers of the world who rule everybody and says the kings of the Gentiles are like that. The Lord told his disciples, "You're not to be like that. He who is greatest 34:13 among you must be the servant of all." And so, that is the way we can have a home where our days will be like the days of heaven upon earth. So, just a few things that I'd mentioned I wrote down here just to remind all of 34:32 you. Your love for each other. Marriage is like a two-story house. The foundation is God's perfect love for me. You must never doubt God's love for you. And on the first floor or what in India we call the ground 34:51 floor is your love for the Lord. And then on the next floor is your love for each other. So, the foundation is God's love for us. And then the what the ground floor or the first floor is 35:10 your love for the Lord. And on top of that, your love for each other. The reason why we cannot love each other as we should, husband and wife is because something's wrong in the foundation or the first floor. The foundation, I'm not so sure about 35:25 God's perfect love for me. Or the first floor my love for the Lord is not clear. That's why there are problems between husband and wife in the second floor. There's a crack in the foundation. There's a crack in the first floor. 35:38 So, you wonder why is it not going well with me and my wife or you and me and my husband? Dear brother, dear sister examine your foundation. Are you rooted and grounded in the love of God for you? And examine the first floor. 35:56 Do you love the Lord with all your heart? If those two things are right let me tell you there will not be a crack in the second floor. In the relationship of husband and wife. That's the first thing I want to say. And then the second thing I mentioned 36:11 here is that in every marriage there must be a cross between husband and wife. In the relationship that Jesus had with me, there was a cross on which he died. That comes between him and me. If it were not for the cross, he cannot 36:28 be united with me. There was no way for almighty God when he came in the form of Christ to be united with me except through that cross. And if it is not possible for Christ to be united with me without a cross in the middle, let me 36:47 say to you, it is impossible for you to be united with your wife or your husband if there is no cross between both of you. A cross on which you must die and she must die. He must die and she must die. That's the only basis of unity. That is 37:03 Christian marriage. A cross between husband and wife on which each person dies. And I use the example of two hands. Husband and wife. Always clashing, clashing, fighting, arguing. Is your home like that? If at least one of them 37:24 is willing to die to self. No matter how much the other person tries to fight. Why is it you don't hear any sound now? One person has decided to die. Maybe husband or wife. No sound. It's like, you know, you live next door 37:44 to a house where every morning at 6:30 the husband and wife are yelling at each other. And it's become like an alarm clock, you know, 6:00 ah, it's 6:00. Husband and wife are fighting each other next door. And one day you hear nothing. 37:59 What happened? You go to the check in the door. The husband died. Or the wife died. That's why it was all quiet today. And you see a home where there was fighting and quarreling and yelling and screaming and one day you find 38:16 they're not fighting or quarreling anymore. What happened? One of them chose to die on the cross. Just one. The other one can try as much as he can. No sound. Amazing. And if both die on the cross, haha, 38:33 then it becomes fellowship. Second best is at least one dies on the cross, either husband or wife. The sound will stop. But if both die on the cross, that's ideal. Fellowship. Seek for such a marriage. Don't be satisfied with anything less 38:50 than that. If your wife is not willing to die, you die. There'll be peace. Even if there's no fellowship, there'll be peace. If your husband is not willing to die, you die. There'll be peace. Peace is second best. Fellowship is the best. 39:04 But peace is second best. So that your children can see something. Days of heaven upon earth. In heaven there is peace and fellowship. All the time. So if you can have both, ideal. 39:23 But otherwise, at least have peace. So that your children will not see you fighting and quarreling. What an example you can be to your No use teaching your children, "Children, obey your parents in this, that, and the other." 39:34 The best is to demonstrate it in your life. Very, very important. And the other thing I want to mention here is that if we take up this cross, uh 39:52 the husband still remains the head. The example I want to use is the head and the body. There's a connection here. The head doesn't feel the body's separate from me. It's part of me. And the head is very sensitive. You know, if a 40:10 if an ant bites me here, it's body. Think of the body as the wife. And the head is the husband. And an ant bites me in my hand. The head is immediately aware of it. Immediately. And does something 40:29 to strike off that is causing some problem to my wife. Let me deal with it. He doesn't blame the wife. He does something to get rid of the ant. He says there's a problem there. Let me do something to deal with it. Think 40:43 about husband were like that. Every husband You You and your wife are one body, it says. The husband is the head of the wife. And it's not the body that takes care of the head. It's the head that takes care of your body. Anything There's a need in your 40:58 body. Anything. The The head immediately is aware of it. Have you ever found a need in your body? Whether you're feeling itchy somewhere, you need to scratch yourself. Immediately the head is aware of it, and the head tells the other hand, "Go and 41:10 scratch there." An ant is biting there. Tap it off. You stamp You put your foot on a nail. Pull it out. The head is all the time alert to the needs of the body. That's what it means a husband is the head of the wife like Christ is the head 41:29 of the church. Which is his body. So, it's important that Christian husbands and wives demonstrate what is written here in Ephesians 5:22-23. And the secret is Ephesians 5:18. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why we speak so much 41:48 about being filled with the Holy Spirit in the church. Very, very important. And everything God takes you through you'll find as a family is to prepare you for a ministry in his church. When my wife and I were married we have been married now for 42:06 more than 58 years. Nearly 58 years anyway. In another month or so. We were very very poor. I'd given up my job as a naval officer. And when I gave up my job, the Lord told me to give up all the money I had 42:25 earned. And we were earning good salary as naval officers. And the Lord told me to take all the money just like he told the rich young ruler, "Sell all that you have." So, I took everything I had and I gave it away to for the Lord's work and 42:36 literally came out of the navy with zero in my bank account. And I had this wonderful girl who was a medical doctor who decided to marry a man with zero in his bank account. And who refused to take a salary. And so, she had to trust the Lord as 42:53 much as I had to trust the Lord. And so, the first thing we discovered was I had no money to pay house rent. When I got married, every woman looks forward to a home of her own. I could not give that to my wife. 43:13 Because I was serving the Lord. Just part of the price I had to pay to serve the Lord. It was part of the price she had to pay because she married a servant of the Lord. It wasn't easy. It was I lived in my home with my parents cuz they had a room 43:26 to spare. But that was not her home. So, her sacrifice was greater than mine. I don't know if any of you have had that experience where you got married and you could not afford a house to take your wife to stay in. Well, it was like that and I I couldn't 43:44 understand why but the Lord designed it like that and I said, "Lord, I accept it." I never questioned the Lord about any of his dealings with me. I always know there's some purpose in it. And my wife was also willing to accept 43:57 it. Even though her sacrifice was greater. But our parents, my parents were born again. They were very good to us and they had a spare room in the house. We stayed with them. Not for 1 or two days, for 4 years. I could not afford a house to rent for 4 44:13 years. And it was quite a miraculous way that finally God gave us a house. That I'll come to later. But at that time I could not understand. Sometimes when the Lord deals with us in a family, we don't understand why. Years later, 44:28 many many years later, when the Lord led me to minister among the poorest villages in India, most of my ministry has been in the poorest villages of India. And one reason for that was I'll show you that. Uh Luke 4. 44:47 I've said this before, but I'll repeat it. I was just trying to follow Jesus. That's all. And I saw it says about Jesus in Luke chapter 4 that the very first sermon he preached in Nazareth. He grew up in Nazareth for 30 years they 45:05 did not allow him to speak. But when he was 30, he came to Nazareth, Luke 4:16, and then they allowed him to speak in the Sabbath in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And so he asked scribe or rabbi or someone, "Please give me the scroll of 45:22 Isaiah." So he got the scroll of Isaiah, which is handed to him verse 17. And he opened uh to what what we today call chapter 61, but he found that place in Isaiah. And he read there, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the 45:42 gospel to the poor." Uh-huh. What about the rich? I don't know. He primarily came to preach the gospel to the poor. So that hit home to me. Now many people have read that, but it hasn't hit home like I I all the American evangelists who 46:01 came to India and all the foreign evangelists, German, American, English, Australian, anybody, they always preached in the cities. Their big crusades and campaigns were always in the big cities where all the rich people 46:13 who lived. They came to preach the gospel to the rich. Nothing wrong in it. The rich people also need to hear the gospel and many people got converted. But I read this verse and said the Lord said, "I've called you not to have campaigns in rich cities, 46:28 but to the poor. Follow my example." I said, "Yes, Lord." And my wife said, "Yes, Lord." And I'll tell you why I chose her. Because she studied in the top medical college in India and decided to go and work among lepers. 46:41 And no lady doctor had ever gone to work in that leprosy hospital till that then till that time in the history of the hospital. Because, you know, leprosy can take years to manifest itself in your body. And nobody marry a girl who worked in a 46:55 leprosy hospital. Because you never know, 5 years later she may get leprosy. Okay, I said, "I want a girl like that who cares for the poor, especially the lepers, who are the lowest among the poor in India." Okay? And preach the gospel to them. She never 47:11 got leprosy, neither did I. But to the preach the gospel to the poor. And the other word is Matthew chapter 11, you know, sometimes you get another word as a confirmation. You read a word and then you say, "Lord, confirm it to me." 47:26 And then I read in Matthew chapter 11 where you know, when John the Baptist was in prison, he was wondering why Jesus had not delivered him from prison. Because their understanding in the Old Testament was, "Messiah is all powerful. 47:45 He delivered us from the Egyptians. Messiah will come and deliver me from Herod and everybody else." But here's John locked up in prison wondering and he began to lose faith. He had seen the voice from He heard the voice from 47:57 heaven, "This my beloved son. He had seen the spirit coming like a dove. But he lost faith in prison. Because he was an Old Testament person who thought of God's deliverance is always freedom from the oppression of man. 48:10 So he sends instructs he sends his disciples Isaiah Matthew 11 verse 1 and he those disciples went to Jesus and said to him in verse 3, "John the Baptist wants to know are you the expected Messiah? Or somebody else has to come." Can you 48:28 imagine John the Baptist doubting after he heard the voice from heaven? Some of us think if I would hear the voice from heaven, I'll never doubt again. John the Baptist a better man than us, he doubted. And Jesus said, "Tell John what you see. 48:46 The blind receive sight, verse 5. The lame walk, the lepers cleansed. These are the signs. The dead are raised and the poor people have the gospel preached to them. That's a sign." He said, "All these other people go to 49:02 the rich, but here's a sign, the poor people have the gospel preached. These are the two verses God spoke to me. You are called to go and preach to the poor people in India in the poorest villages. And so that's where the Lord sent us 49:15 where Annie would conduct medical clinics for all the poor people in who lived in villages where there was not even a pharmacy or a medical shop or a or a doctor or any such thing. And we had 25 years of that year every 49:29 year after year we would conduct those clinics for these poor people. And what a lot of people we could help, a lot of people we had uh healed people who had burned themselves and you know, there was one woman who had burned herself because her 49:40 husband was ill-treating her to commit suicide, but she didn't die. But all her hand was burned and we had to get her surgery done and how what a transformed person she became when she accepted the Lord. And I saw then the Lord showed me when I 49:57 went to these poor villages there were many people there were so poor that when they got married they could not rent a house. They had to live with their parents. And the Lord says, "Now you can be a forerunner for them." 50:15 Aha. So 15 years after I got married I realized why God allowed me to stay in my father's house for years without having a home of my own so that I could be a forerunner for other people. So not that I could preach to them. I mean I could have gone 50:33 and preached to them. Yeah, please learn to adjust to live with your parents. But now I was preaching from experience. Now my wife was speaking from experience to those sisters who had to live with father-in-law and mother-in-law. It was 50:46 not theory. It's a lot of difference when you preach something which is true theoretically and which is true because you've experienced it yourself. And the Lord's way of ministry is always he takes us through that experience and 50:59 then says, "Now I'll teach you to preach to others. It'll be powerful." And that's what we found and we found tremendous results. We have 50 churches now in those poor villages where there were no churches before. There are two villages where the gospel 51:13 had not been preached for 2,000 years where we have churches today. Dear brothers let me ask you brothers and sisters is it possible that God has called you for an amazing ministry? And wanted to train you for it from 51:35 probably a young age. I was called when I was 24. But you would not you'd say, "No, no, no. I can't pay that much of a price. Sorry." And the Lord says, "You're not willing to pay that price? Okay, I won't trouble you. Live a comfortable life. 51:51 You'll go to heaven, but all eternity you will regret that you missed the plan God had for your life. The best plan. Because you wanted a little comfort. You wanted a little ease." I said, "Lord, I never want to have that 52:07 regret in eternity. I'm willing to go through Even today I say, "I'm willing to go through any difficulty, any trial, any discomfort. I don't want to have a regret in eternity that I did not serve my Lord wholeheartedly. 52:24 But I made some conditions. I'll serve you if you fulfill these conditions. Zero conditions, Lord. Blank check. Fill in whatever you like. I'm your servant. I believe God wants many, many people to serve him like that, including 52:41 you, my brother. You don't have to be in full-time Christian work. In your secular job, Paul was not a uh paid preacher. He worked with his own hands. He was a businessman making tents. And as a businessman, he served the 52:57 Lord. I myself with the little inheritance I got from my father, I invested it and took care of it, and that's how we supported ourselves for 40 years in India. We had to be careful, we had to be wise, and not make mistakes, 53:13 and God took care of us. It was It was doing business and serving the Lord, just like Paul. And I believe it's possible for all of you to serve the Lord if you say, "Lord, I give you a blank check." You know what that means. Fill in any 53:30 price to be paid, I'll pay it. I'll tell you one thing, your life may be a little more restricted and crushed on this earth, but when you get to heaven, you will have zero regret. You'll say, "Lord, I thank you in the one short life that you gave me on Earth 53:48 of 100 years. I lived it for you completely. And now I've got millions of years in eternity here to rejoice with you." Otherwise, you look back when you get to heaven, "Lord, how many conditions I made. I can't do this for you. I can't do that 54:05 for you in those short 100 years. Now I've got a million years to regret it. A million years to regret. I wish I had. I wish I had done that. Lord, can you give me another chance to go back to the earth? No, you can't go 54:18 back to the earth again. Only one life. And it'll soon be past. Only when you fulfill God's will, you'll accomplish something in this life. Married couples, make your home 54:37 a home where Christ is Lord. Teach your children to put Christ first from day one. Read the scriptures to them. Take them to church regularly. I remember when my 54:57 some of my children had examinations on Monday. "Dad, we've got an exam tomorrow. We got to study on Sunday." "Forget it. Come with me to church. I don't care whether you fail in the examination. God'll help you tomorrow. Don't worry. 55:14 Come with me. You're going We're going to church. We're not going to miss a Sunday service because there's an examination you have to prepare for tomorrow." Not one of my children failed in any of their examinations. Do you believe 55:28 the promise in 1 Samuel 2:30? I often teach this to many people. Easy to remember the reference. I call it the 1 2 3 0. Can you remember 1 2 3 0? 1 2 3 Samuel. 1 Samuel 2:30. Those who honor me, I will honor. This is the promise by which I have lived for 55:45 many, many years. If you want your home to be a home which is heaven on earth, follow this 1230. 1 Samuel 2:30. Those who honor me, I will honor. So, this is the way I would say to the 56:03 Lord, you created Adam 6,000 years ago. And you've had so many people living on this earth, millions of people in these 6,000 years. And that principle has always been true, even though it is written only in 1 Samuel 2:30, the principle was true from 56:20 Adam's time. Those who honor God, God will honor. So, I say, Lord, in this situation, to the best of my knowledge, I'm trying to honor you. Many, many situations I've said this to the Lord. Lord, in this situation, as I understand 56:34 it, I am seeking to honor you. And it has cost me some sacrifice, it cost me some inconvenience, it cost me a lot of difficulties, but I'm seeking to honor you. And I believe, according to that promise, you will honor me. There's no doubt 56:48 about it. There are many prayers I don't know whether God will answer or not. I ask God for something, I don't know whether he'll answer it, because I don't know whether it's his will. But this is definitely his will. Those who honor me, I will honor. 57:00 So, I'm only I'm not asking you for any gain or money or anything. I'm saying, Lord, I ask you to honor me, because I honored you. And then I would say it like this to strengthen my own faith. Father, if you don't honor me in this situation, 57:14 it'll be the first time in 6,000 years that you broke your promise. You know why I say that? Just to strengthen my own faith. God will not break his promise. In 6,000 years, if he's not broken that promise, he's not going to break it today for me. 57:29 If I honor him, he'll honor me. Dear brother, sister, try it in your own life. Honor God and tell him, listen to the best of your ability in your in your work spot, honor him. Don't try to preserve your job by compromising your convictions in the 57:47 office. Take the risk of standing up for the Lord. I did that many times in the Navy. Almost to the point where they have sent me in jail. You know, in the military, if you disobey a senior officer's command, you're not chucked out from the 58:01 Navy, you're sent to prison. Cuz that's the way they teach instant obedience in the military. And I've faced that number of times. I never went to prison. But I said, "Lord, I'm going to stand up for you." And the senior officer said, 58:14 "Do something else." I said, "Sorry, sir, I'm a Christian. I can't do it." "I am sorry, sir. I am a Christian and God has told me to do this and I have to do it." You see, I've got two stripes and that man I'm talking to has got four stripes, 58:31 senior commanding officer. And God never let me down. Time after time, those who honor me, I will honor. I said, "Lord, I'm ready to go to prison, but I will not compromise this particular matter on which I cannot do what is wrong. I have to do what you 58:46 told me to do." I think of number of situations like that. My dear brother, I'm not sister, I'm not telling you from theory, I'm telling you from experience that I experienced myself when I was 24 years old as a young naval officer. 59:00 If I honored God, I found God honored me. That's what strengthened me to quit my job and said, "I believe the Lord will take care of me." I remember one of my Hindu fellow naval officers when he saw me putting in my resignation and leaving, 59:16 he said, "Zac, how are you going to live?" I said, "When I was in the Navy, on the 1st of every month, my salary came automatically into my bank account. I didn't have to ask the Navy for it. They never made a mistake in all my life in the Navy. Every day 59:34 that huge salary I was getting as a naval officer would come into my bank account automatically. And I told him, "I have a God who's more faithful than the Navy." Do you believe in a God like that? What could he answer? 59:49 Would he say that the Navy was more faithful than almighty God? He couldn't say that. That was my answer to everyone. And today I can say that after 60 years in Christian work. God is utterly faithful. If you honor him, he'll honor you. I say that for 1:00:04 your encouragement. You don't have to be in full-time Christian work cuz God has not called you for that. He called me. Paul was called to full-time Christian work. He never asked others to join him. It's a special call from God. If you go 1:00:15 into full-time Christian work, let me tell you, without God's call, I have seen numerous people in India who become downright beggars. Beggars. Because God did not call them. They have to hint for money, send newsletters for I'm doing this for the 1:00:34 Lord. I'm doing that for the Lord. Please give me money. Hope that the people in the congregation will give some donations to them. Hope the people in the congregation somebody will be kind enough to buy a car for them. All this garbage 1:00:46 which goes on today in Christendom under the name of serving the Lord. All begging, begging, begging, begging. They are first-class beggars, not servants of the Lord. If you expect money from somebody, don't say you're a servant of the Lord. Say 1:01:01 you're a beggar. Repent of it and go to God and say, "Lord, I'm sorry that I've disgraced your name by being a beggar." Because Jesus never went around expecting people to give him money. People gave him money. He took it, but he never expected 1:01:12 a cent from anyone. We need that type of dignity in today's servants of God. And we need America has to to that. And there's hardly anybody you find like that. Everybody is a paid pastor or something else like that. Where do we find people like Paul? Where 1:01:29 do you find people like Jesus? And everybody say, "I want to follow Jesus." Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." My brother, sister, your family life will be completely transformed. It will be like days of heaven on earth. 1:01:46 If you put God God first in your life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want to prove to an unbelieving generation that you are the living God. That you are a loving father. 1:02:05 That you care for the birds. And you'll care much more for your children. You feed the birds. And they don't go around sending letters to anybody. They get it from you. And your children are much more valuable 1:02:24 to you than the birds of the air. But there are so few of your children who can trust you like that. The birds trust you more. They have put your children to shame. Help us to learn from the birds. Lord, that you will take care of us 1:02:44 in those tough situations that we may face. Every family here. Thank you, Father, for this time. Let everyone here go away blessed today. Thank you for all that you have spoken to us. Help us to honor you in everything in 1:02:58 our life, we pray. Lord Jesus, you're here right now. And you're hearing us as we are talking to you. Even those who are silently listening and saying joining me in this prayer. They are saying it to you from their heart. 1:03:14 We want to honor you, Lord, In the coming days of our life. Amen.
