0:01 We've been looking in the last couple of sessions on how we can follow the Lord Jesus better in the new year. And on the first watch night service we looked at the importance of discipline in our life. 0:23 That we want to make this a year when we discipline ourselves in the use of our time and our money and the way we use our bodies throughout this year. So already six days have gone by. 0:43 You've got a pretty good idea how it's going to go the rest of the year if you look at how it went the last six days. It's not easy. But if you determine and say, Lord, I'm going to do it. I'm going to be more careful with the use of my time, use of my money, the use of my eyes, the use of my tongue especially. 1:07 This is what it means to discipline the body and bodily desires. I believe by the end of the year you'd have made tremendous progress. And the other thing, the next thing we said was in the last session that we want to live a non-judgmental life. 1:29 It's a tremendous thing. It's very, very difficult. If you look back at your life, you'll find how for years and years and years we've passed judgment on all types of people. It hasn't helped them one bit. And it certainly hasn't helped us, but it's helped to destroy us. 1:48 But the devil makes sure that Christians don't wake up. Now, if it were helping others or at least helping ourselves, we could pursue that. But it's not helping others. It's not helping us. So we've got to take some of these matters seriously and say, Lord, I want to follow a life where I just mind my own business. 2:15 And I don't want to judge others. Because very often, when we judge others, like the Bible says, we're actually just exposing ourselves. Our true condition. I want to show you a verse in Luke's Gospel, chapter 2. 2:40 We read here of Simeon picking up the baby Jesus. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, it says. And he prophesied. He prophesied something over the baby Jesus Christ. In Luke, chapter 2. And there are three things he said about Jesus, which were literally fulfilled later on in his life. 3:05 First of all, he said in verse 34, that Jesus was appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel. That means people who thought they were all right. When Jesus came into their midst, whether it was a synagogue or a group or anything, 3:26 some would rise, many would fall. This is exactly what happened. Now, if Jesus had not gone there, they would have all remained in the same condition. They wouldn't have risen or fallen. But once Christ came into the midst, 3:46 some rose, many fell. The choice was theirs. The second thing that was mentioned here about Jesus is that he would be assigned to be opposed. Wherever Jesus went, he was opposed. 4:06 Most of the people in the nation opposed him. Now, the reason I'm mentioning all this is because that is how the first body of Christ lived on earth. And that is how the body of Christ will live now too. 4:27 If Christ is really in our midst, I believe that 99% of churches, Christ is not there at all. So none of these ministries get fulfilled. But if Christ is in a church, and people come into that church, they will not remain the same. 4:46 They will not remain the same. They will either rise or fall. If it's a church where the presence of Christ is powerfully there. But if the presence of Christ is not powerfully there, you can sit in a church for 25 years and you may remain exactly the same. 5:09 Otherwise, to me, this is one of the marks of Christ being in a church. That some will rise and many will fall. They will be much worse than if they had never come to that particular church. Or they will be so much better than they could ever have been. 5:28 The second thing is, is a sign to be opposed means the true church where Christ is there will be constantly opposed, rejected, despised. Because the whole way of the world is completely opposite to the way of Christ. So, 5:48 if a church becomes very popular and accepted with the world, you can be pretty sure Christ is not there. How is it? Do you believe that the world has changed today? Do you believe the devil has changed? Is the devil no longer the prince of this world? 6:03 Has the world become more Christ-like that it should receive and accept and make the Christian church popular? No. Jesus was never popular. And in the time when the Christians were the purest in the first century, second century, 6:19 they were not popular. They were rejected. A sign to be opposed. And the third thing, this is what I want to emphasize today. In the last part of verse 35, when Jesus comes to a place, the thoughts of many hearts are revealed. 6:38 See, Jesus went into a synagogue and all types of people whose thoughts were hidden, their thoughts got exposed. People who thought they were very humble suddenly got exposed as being very proud. And people who thought they were very spiritual 6:58 were suddenly exposed as those who were on their way to hell. even the elders. The thoughts of many hearts was revealed. Not revealed publicly. Jesus doesn't humiliate people by saying, you're like this or you're like that. 7:18 No. Revealed to themselves. And what they do with that revelation is up to them. And I believe that's how it is with any true expression of the body of Christ today. that if Jesus is there, anybody who comes into such a church, 7:37 his secret thoughts will be revealed. Not to others, to himself. The light of God will shine in and show him his true condition before God. It says that in 1 Corinthians 14 also that when there's a spirit of prophecy in a church, 7:56 the secrets of a person's heart is revealed to himself. He sits there and he realizes God is showing him something in his inner life. Now, after that, God doesn't force him. He can respond to that or he can say, no, I don't want that. 8:14 It's not for me. And that's what's going to determine whether they rise or fall. If they respond to that and say, yeah, Lord, that's me. I acknowledge that they will rise. But if they justify themselves, they'll go down. 8:30 So in many situations, whenever Christ came in, the thoughts of people were revealed. For example, think of that time when Jesus came into a synagogue with a man whose hand was withered. Now, he had sat in that church for many, 8:44 that synagogue for many years and he was not the means of exposing anybody's condition. He just sat there and everything went on normally in that synagogue until Jesus came. And when Jesus came and healed that man, the thoughts 9:02 of many people were revealed. Some people became furious. Can you imagine people getting furious when a man is healed? And others rejoiced. Maybe a few people in that synagogue were rejoiced. Wonderful! This guy is at last 9:16 got a paralyzed hand healed. But a few people were disturbed because their tradition of not doing any work on the Sabbath day was broken. So, God does that even today. He uses different circumstances and situations to expose 9:37 our real condition. You know, like I said last time, that seeing that man beaten on the road to Jericho, the priest and the Levite, their heart was exposed. They thought nothing was exposed, but their heart was exposed. 9:53 Now, there was nobody on the road. They'd have walked to the meeting in Jerusalem and thought everything was okay. But that man lying there just silently, he didn't even say a word, a beaten up man exposed the condition 10:07 of a Levite and a priest. You know, there are all types of circumstances around us that can expose our condition. Nobody may say anything. You don't have to be in a meeting. They got exposed in their condition before they ever 10:19 reached the meeting. In the circumstances of life, our attitude to other people exposes our condition. I mean, you may think nothing was there, but God was trying to speak to you. I told you how the attitude of the elder brother 10:37 got exposed only when the younger brother came back. And very often you can think you're very spiritual to somebody whom you don't appreciate very much gets blessed or used by God and you get all worked out. How can God 10:49 use him? Then you see your heart condition which was never revealed until that other situation cropped up. The thoughts of many hearts are revealed. Those are the moments when Jesus is trying to show something. So what I want 11:05 to say is I hope in this year this will not only be a year of discipline and not only a year where we don't judge others, but this will be a year when we acknowledge our true condition. whenever God shows it it's like a 11:25 scan. I believe you and I are going to get many scans from God free of charge through the circumstances and situations we're going to face this year. And what you're going to do with that scan report that God Almighty gives you 11:39 it's up to you. You can tear it up. It's what most people do. Tear it up means you justify yourself and say no no no no it's not like that. That's the worst possible thing you can do. Whereas if you acknowledge the report in the 11:58 scan you can make progress. And those are the ones who will never be deceived. Let me show you in this connection this verse which we have often looked at in 2 Thessalonians in chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 it says 12:18 it speaks about a certain group of people and we must never be in that group of people. It's a group of people described in the last part of verse 10 as those who did not receive the love of the truth about 12:39 themselves so as to be saved. Or we can say those who did not accept the scan report who thought they knew better than the specialist doctor. What would you say? What would a doctor say if a specialist say the top specialist in 12:56 the country has taken a scan of your inner lungs and heart and all and gives you a report and you say well I don't believe that. go your way. And that's exactly what God says. You have a reason to justify yourself for that? 13:14 Go your way. And at the end of 2010 you won't be in the same condition you'll be worse. Because Jesus is set for the rise or the fall. You cannot remain the same. I can tell you straight you will none of us will be in the same 13:33 position we are in today by the end of this year. We are either going to rise or we're going to fall. The fall may not be obvious. I mean you don't have to fall into adultery or murder or some terrible thing like that. Fall is 13:48 something God sees that we have sunk lower. I mean if you got 50% last year and you're getting 45% you still pass but it's gone down. You're on your way down. So it says here about those who did not receive the love of the 14:07 truth. It's not just accepting the truth it's loving the truth. You know how I long to see the truth about myself. How many of you have that desire? Oh God I want to know the truth about myself. Jesus said when the Holy Spirit 14:25 has come is the spirit of truth. John 16 he said he will lead you into all the truth. Now to some people all the truth is just all the truth in the Bible. They go to a Bible college to understand all the truth. No. First of 14:39 all the truth about myself. And then all the truth about God that he reveals through the scriptures. All the truth about salvation that he reveals through the scriptures. Not biblical knowledge. Enough people in the world 14:52 who study the Bible who are number one candidates for hell. No. The spirit of truth will lead you into all the truth means first and foremost the truth about yourself which you don't know. If you're willing to face up to 15:11 that and not only accept the truth but see what it says here love the truth. Do you know the difference between accepting a person and loving a person? There's a lot of difference. you can accept somebody into your home and 15:29 you can love to accept somebody into your home. Oh there's a lot of difference. You know that. Some visitor comes and you receive him. Another visitor comes and you love to receive him. There's a difference. He's not receiving the 15:44 truth here. It's loving to receive the truth. Oh Lord I'm so delighted that you showed this to me about myself. In this particular situation that Levite and priest had a self acknowledgement as they walked past that man 15:58 on their way to Jerusalem they should have thought oh what should I have done? They could have had a self acknowledgement. I just ignored it. They could have judged themselves. But it says here if you don't receive the love of 16:14 the truth so as to be saved. The purpose of loving the truth is so that I can be saved from that thing which the truth exposes in me. And if I don't love that the Bible says God himself will send you a deluding influence 16:32 so that you will believe what is false. It's one of the most terrifying verses in scripture. So that you can believe what is false. Do you know the number of people who are already in that condition? I've met numerous people in 16:49 my life who believe what is false. God has allowed them according to this verse he's fulfilled this verse in their lives. They believe what is false. They believe they are born again when they are not born again at all. 17:01 There are many people I've met who believe they are filled and baptized in the Holy Spirit. They are not filled and baptized in the Holy Spirit at all. God has allowed them to believe what is false because they had some 17:13 emotional experience and battled some words a few years ago. I don't want to be in that category. I don't want to believe I'm born again when I'm not really born again before God's eyes. What's use convincing you and others in 17:26 the church? I don't want to believe I'm baptized in the Holy Spirit just because I want to give a testimony. I couldn't care less for my testimony. I want to be actually filled in the Holy Spirit. God allows people to believe 17:40 what's false. There are many people who think they are building the body of Christ. They're God allows them to believe what is false. Oh that they're building the body of Christ. Rubbish. They wake up one day when Christ 17:56 comes back and discover they didn't build anything but wood hay and straw. I don't want that. I don't want to imagine that I'm seeking the glory of God when I'm seeking my own honor. There could be so many areas that I believe. 18:12 You can believe you're very humble when you're not. You can believe you're a very submissive wife. when you're not. You can believe that you're a very loving husband. When you're not. Do you want more revelation on these areas? 18:27 Do you want a scan? Or would you rather not know about your inner condition? Jesus has come so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And the Lord was, you know, I mentioned last time how this woman caught in 18:45 adultery. It wasn't she who was exposed. It was the Pharisees who were exposed. When they exposed the woman, they were exposing their own condition. Do you know that? How many of you know that? That when you expose somebody 19:01 else's condition, you're actually exposing your own condition? Let me ask you, when Noah was lying naked, a man of God, who saved the world, but he slipped out, got drunk and lay naked, and Ham, his youngest son, came and saw his 19:19 nakedness and talked about it. Tell me, whose nakedness was being exposed there? It was not Noah's, it was Ham's. It was Ham's condition that was being exposed. What type of man was this? When you see the weakness in a man of 19:37 God and you talk about it, it's your condition that's being exposed. And that's why a curse came upon Ham and upon his children, Canaan. So, we see here that God uses even the failure of his servant, Noah, to expose the 19:57 heart condition of somebody else to see whether this guy will go and talk about it. And it exposed the heart condition of the other two sons, Shem and Japheth, that when they saw it, they heard about it, they didn't even 20:10 want to see it. Oh, imagine you hear something about somebody and you say, I don't want to know anything more. Thank you. You know, there's a tremendous lust in us to, hey, tell me, what happened, what happened, give me all the 20:26 juicy details. And as you ask those questions, you yourself are getting more and more exposed and exposed and exposed, your condition, not the condition of those details you're inquiring. I mean, if Shem had said to Ham, yeah, 20:41 tell me, what exactly, where is he lying, tell me, no. They wouldn't even want to see it. They went backwards and put a sheet over it and said, Noah woke up and as a servant of God, he blessed Shem and Japheth, blessed are 20:54 they. The Bible is full of examples like this, of the failure of one man exposed the condition of another. They thought they were fighting fault of this man Noah, little did Ham realize God was just scanning him at that 21:12 time. God allowed Ham to go and see his father naked. And as the Torah God said, let me see what's going to be his reaction. And he goes and tells Shem and Japheth and God says, okay, let me see their reaction because I've 21:29 got a plan for the children of Noah and I've got to decide which one I'm going to use. certainly not going to be Ham, they missed out. There are many situations like this, you know, where the secrets of the thoughts of many 21:44 hearts are revealed. Do you know why God selected the tribe of Levi out of the 12 tribes of Israel? Did God just pick one out of a hat or something and say, okay, Levi, you're the priests? No. 22:04 He doesn't do that. God doesn't pick things out of a hat. He doesn't decide who's going to heaven or who's going to hell. He doesn't decide who's going to be an anointed servant and who's not going to be anointed. He tests. 22:22 Ham was tested. Ham could have been, do you know that Ham could have even been the forerunner of the Messiah? He missed out. Shem became that. But little did Shem know on that day that he was going to be the forerunner of the 22:35 Messiah by his reaction to his father lying naked. And little did Ham know that he was going to completely miss out just because of one little word he spoke. One little reaction and he completely missed out on God's purpose for 22:49 his life. Think back over the past years of your life where you have expressed your opinion about this and opinion about that and opinion about that and the other thing. Whole lot of things which don't even concern you. 23:05 Now Noah was Ham's son and his son was lying naked. He had every right to deal with him because his son is within your parents boundary. I mean you've got children, you've got every right to judge them and correct them. 23:20 Or if you're an elder in a church, you've got every right to correct the people in your church. But what if you're not an elder in your church and you go around passing your opinion about everybody in church, that's the spirit of 23:31 Ham. And the result in your life will be like Ham's. It doesn't concern you. Do you recognize that? Do you know that believers have this terrible, terrible habit which the devil just keeps on fostering about giving an opinion and 23:47 opinion and opinion? Now you remember in Watch Night Service or sometime during the last few days I said can you try and fast from giving your opinion for one month, just 31 days, just fast from giving an opinion about anybody, you 24:00 will find it difficult to keep it for one day because it's been a habit. I want to ask you my straight question my brothers and sisters, do you want to end 2010 better than 2009? Just answer the Lord and say yes or no. If you say 24:19 yes, then please take seriously some of the things I'm saying. Please take it seriously don't justify yourself, just take it seriously and say Lord. Okay, why did God choose Levi? Turn to Exodus 32. 24:45 Exodus 32. You know, the children of Israel were worshipping idols. dancing around the golden calf and the children of Levi were also doing that. Everybody did it. And when Moses came, 25:05 we read in Exodus 32.25, the people were out of control. And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, Exodus 32.26, and said, who is on the Lord's side? one simple one simple question, who is on the Lord's side? Come to me. 25:27 Immediately, without a moment's hesitation, all the sons of Levi gathered to him. and he said, take your sword, go from gate to gate in the camp, and kill anyone, even if it's your brother, friend 25:50 or neighbor, those who've been involved in this type of idolatry. Some were obviously more involved in it, or leading others into it. And the sons of Levi just went out and killed 3,000 people with that sword. Sure, that 26:08 wasn't easy. To turn around to a person who they probably have spoken to as friends for so long and say, I'm sorry, I'm going to stand for the Lord and I'll chop off your head. You just think if you were in that place, would 26:23 you do what Moses told you to do, or would you say, hey Moses, come on man, give them a chance. You want me to go and kill these fellas? Yeah. Many people can't understand even today when a servant of God deals strictly with 26:44 a situation. It's being too hard. They'll never make it to the tribe of Levi. No. The sons of Levi did that. And Moses said to him, dedicate yourself today to 27:04 the Lord, so that he will bestow a blessing, verse 29, upon you today. I don't have this time to show you all that, but you read in Deuteronomy later on that he got the priesthood because of that. you know when Moses 27:24 blesses the tribes of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 33, you find that he says that about Levi in verse 8, Deuteronomy 33 and 8, of Levi, all the tribes, he said, he let your Urim and your Thummim, that's the marks of the priesthood, 27:44 belong to your godly man, who you were tested and you said of your father and mother, verse 9, I did not consider them. He did not acknowledge his brothers, he did not regard his sons, he observed the word and kept the covenant. 28:01 maybe they cut off the heads of one of their fathers or one of their sons, they were just ruthless. They did not say, oh this is my father, this is my son, there was no partiality in them. Do you know that different situations 28:15 happen sometimes in your family or with a close friend of yours where God is exposing the thoughts of your heart to see whether you will be partial there, whether you are fit to be his representative on earth as his servant. 28:35 Oh whether you'll be partial because this is my brother, this is my son, this is my daughter, this is not Levi. They did not, God doesn't pick lots and give an anointing to somebody, he tests. And those who have an acknowledgement, 28:51 yes Lord, that's me, Lord I'm sorry I'm partial there, they'll be saved. But those who don't love the truth about themselves, God allows them to be deceived, to believe what is false, to believe they're anointed when they're 29:05 not anointed, to believe that they're walking with God when they're not walking with God, to even believe they're walking like Jesus when they're not walking like Jesus at all. Self-acknowledgement will deliver us from all 29:17 deception about ourselves. There was another man like that in the tribe of Levi, you read about in Numbers and chapter 25. Again, the children of Israel got into worshipping false gods and sex 29:39 is very often connected with idol worship. Adultery and idolatry usually go together and even when Christians fall into adultery, you can be pretty sure there's been some idolatry in their life as well, idolatry or money or 29:53 something. And God was angry with them and we read here that as a result of this, God punished them and 24,000 people died in verse 9. And you know how the whole of Israel would have been wiped out except that one man when 30:11 he saw verse 6, Numbers 25 verse 6, Numbers 25 verse 6, one of the sons of Israel brought a Midianite woman into his tent. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the grandson of Aaron, saw it. He got up immediately 30:31 and took a spear, went after that man of Israel into the tent and put the spear through both of them and killed them. The result was the plague was checked. And the Lord said, I was testing Phinehas when he saw 30:51 this man going in with that woman into the tent to see what would he do? What would he do? Would he be a nice gentle person? Or would the zeal of my house burn him up? The Lord said, because Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, 31:08 the son of Aaron, has turned away my anger from the sons of Israel, and that he was jealous with my jealousy among them. He was jealous for the purity of God's people so that I didn't destroy all the nation of Israel. Therefore, 31:24 I will make a covenant with him of peace and with his children, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God. Do you think those other sons of Aaron knew that they were also being tested? They say, 31:42 why did God choose Phinehas? Well, all of you were tested that day, and Phinehas the one who passed the test. There are many situations that crop up like this, where God tests us to see what is going to be your reaction. 31:56 What is going to be your reaction when it's your own son or your daughter? You're going to cover it all up? Okay, fine, God sees that. Nobody else may see it, because you will have 101 justifications as to why you're doing it. 32:11 Oh, we are masters at self-justification, because we've got tremendous help from the devil whenever you get along that road. There's a road called self-justification. The moment you get onto that road, the devil will come 32:24 with all his demons and push you and you'll go full speed. He'll give you 101 reasons why you can justify yourself. Be careful. We read in the book of Job. You read in the book of Job about his sickness, 32:45 about his financial loss, the death in his family. But do you know who got tested there? It was not only Job. It was those three preacher friends of his. They got tested. God was testing Aliphaz, Bildad, 33:05 and Zophar to see what will these fellows say when they see my servant suffering a financial loss. What will these people say when they see my servant's children die? What will these people say when they see my servant sick? 33:24 And sure enough, all three failed the test. There was a young guy there called Eli, who was a young preacher. He barely scraped through and missed judgment. But the other three, God was angry with them, you read. But you 33:39 know, if you read the book of Job and you read what these three preachers said, everything they said was correct according to the letter. They were the first legalists mentioned in scripture who go by the letter and judge a 33:54 person without knowing the real reason. Now we know as we read the book of Job that God was taking Job through a testing to make him a better man. But what did they say? They were obviously very jealous of the fact that 34:14 Job was such an upright man, such a rich man. His business was prospering. You ask yourself, my brother, sister, have you ever felt like that about a brother, somebody you know, or even a relative who is unconverted perhaps, you 34:31 see everything going well with him, maybe he's rich, he's well off, he's able to have things which you don't have, and his children are all, ten children, seven sons, three daughters, all of them God fearing, and on top of 34:50 that he's a very spiritual man. You know, such people are the objects of jealousy. Jesus, people were jealous of him because of his ministry. A lot of people are jealous of somebody's ministry. They'd be happy if his ministry was 35:08 not so anointed. But they're jealous when his ministry is so anointed and they don't seem to quite agree with the man, but God seems to agree with him, and they don't like that. The world is full of people who are jealous 35:21 of somebody else's ministry, hoping he will fall, hoping his ministry will not be so wide, hoping that something will happen to his children so that he can come down to the level of the rest of the others who got half-hearted 35:36 compromising children, but nothing seems to happen, and they get jealous, and then one day they hear his children die, and though they pretend to shed tears was all hollow, secretly they were delighted. When you 35:56 find yourself delighted at the fall of somebody you didn't like too much, do you know who's getting exposed? Not him, you. That person's failure was the way by which God gave you a scan, as soon as you heard it. That person's 36:16 prosperity also gave you a scan, I mean if these people were honest, when they saw Job prospering his children going so well, and he's such a spiritual man, that jealousy God was trying to tell them, hey why are you fellas unhappy? 36:30 I mean you should be unhappy if he's suffering, you guys are unhappy because he's so good, isn't there something wrong with you? Why are you so unhappy when somebody's ministry is anointed and blessed, and God is being glorified through 36:41 somebody? You should be thrilled, you're not thrilled, you're unhappy, and when he falls, you get a little happy. Don't you see your condition? But they didn't see it. What a revelation, and remember that's the first book 36:54 of the Bible, I told you that, Job's the first book of the Bible, and the first book of the Bible reveals how Jesus did that ministry of the secrets of people's hearts getting exposed, and they would not acknowledge it. 37:10 I'm sure if you're honest, you will say that that's been true many a time in past years. How is it going to be in 2010? Are you going to finish 2010 better? Are you going to finish with this? Are you going to get this cancer completely 37:28 removed from your system? Or are you going to allow it to linger and linger? It's been lingering many years, brother, sister. How long are you going to keep that wretched cancer? Now I'll tell you another thing. Cancer never 37:42 stays the same size. It just gets worse and worse and worse. So Job's failure exposed the condition of these people who came to see him, his so-called friends, his so-called comforters. They were not comforters. See what one 38:01 of them said. Turn to Job chapter 8. Job chapter 8. 38:24 Verse 6. If you are pure and upright, surely now God would rouse himself and restore your righteous estate. Why hasn't he done that? Or what about your sons? Verse 4. Message Bible 38:44 says, it's absolutely plain that your children sinned against God. Otherwise, why would God have punished them? Your children have sinned against God. That's why he killed all ten of them. Little did they know the truth. 39:06 And you know, you can read through the book of Job and you see that that was their attitude throughout the book. Finding fault with them, finding fault with them, the man whom God himself could certify to Satan as the one man 39:17 on the face of the earth whom God could boast about. These fellows are picking holes in there. You know that Israel, in the land of Israel, the Lord said once in Jeremiah chapter 5, I want you to see this verse. Jeremiah chapter 39:36 5. Verse 26. Wicked men are found among my people. They watch like fowlers. 39:56 Fowlers are people who are waiting to catch a bird in a trap. They're lying in wait. They set a trap to catch men. Unscrupulous men, it says in the Message Bible, on the hunt. They set traps for the unsuspecting. Their victims 40:15 are innocent men and women. You know how it says, you read in the gospel sometimes, the Pharisees were just waiting to catch Jesus in one word that he said. Ah, they got it. or to see if he would say something by which he 40:30 would incriminate himself. I've met people like that, who can come to me at the end of a very powerful meeting and say, Brother Zach, you know this one little thing you said that's not exactly right. You think I waste my time 40:48 talking to them? they got exposed. All that they could find in that whole message was one little thing. Maybe the verse was 52 instead of 51. Brother Zach, it actually should be verse 51. That's all they got out of the message. 41:07 They sat there and the secrets of their thoughts were exposed. And the real reason was they were jealous. They were getting irritated, irritated, looking, waiting, waiting, waiting. They got one thing. He quoted the wrong 41:19 verse. Now, I'm just using an example. I've come across numerous people like that who are just looking around searching with a microscope to find something, 41:40 some speck in a person's eye. So I give you a bit of advice. Throw away your microscopes. walk in the light of the Lord. Let the Lord show you what he's showing in you when you see a 42:00 speck in somebody else's eye. What did Jesus mean that if you've got a beam in your eye, how can you take a speck out of your brother's eye? what is this beam? This beam is an unloving judgmental attitude towards that other brother 42:16 who's got a speck. Let me give you an example. The speck is adultery. Adultery? Is that a speck? Yes. In the woman. What is the beam in the eyes of the Pharisees? This massive judgmental legalistic attitude. 42:39 You think such people could help that woman caught in adultery? Who is the one who helped her? The one whose eyes were clear? Jesus. Because he wanted to help her. The others only wanted to condemn her. When you see something 42:56 wrong in someone, ask yourself, my brother, sister, do you want to help him or do you want to condemn him? Do you want to show him up as a failure, as a sinner? Or do you want to save him? 43:18 You know, we sing that song, he did not come to judge the world. He did not come to blame. He did not only come to seek, it was to save he came. And when we call him savior, we call him by his name. We do not have the right 43:34 to judge. We are not here to blame. We are only called to bless and help and love in Jesus name. And when we love each other, we glorify his name. Pursue that path. I want you to see something else in the book of Job. 43:58 Job started out very well. But there's a little phrase there which really caught my attention as I was thinking about it today. I mean, it's one of those things, you know, you read the scriptures for years. I've read this for 44:09 50 years. And it's the first time that verse struck me today. Job chapter 1. You know, they had a time of feasting. We read in verse 5. And Job would send Job 1 5 and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering 44:29 burnt offerings. And Job said, perhaps my sons have sinned against God in their hearts. He wasn't sure. Maybe they hadn't. But he said, perhaps there is a possibility that they have sinned. And the way that came to 44:49 me is, that is how I must live. Not in relation to others, but in relation to myself. And if I have children who are under my responsibility, I don't have to worry about others, to say in different situations, perhaps I 45:05 sinned. Can you say that? Perhaps I sinned. Perhaps in that situation, I wasn't as pure as I thought. Perhaps I sinned. Now, if you take that attitude, I can guarantee every day 45:27 God will show you some sin in the way you looked at someone, in the way you spoke to someone, or you spoke about someone. If you can only say one sentence every day, perhaps I sinned. 45:49 If so, Lord, give me light. It's one of those songs we sing, if I have not forsaken all, give me light that I might see. If money has a hold on me, give me light that 46:10 I might see. If someone's failure has not wrought concern and care within my heart, Lord, give me light that I might see. We're supposed to be following Jesus. We're not supposed to say, I'm not my brother's keeper, like 46:28 Cain said. I'm not my brother's keeper. Perhaps I've sinned. Perhaps there was some failure on my part today. Show me, Lord. I don't look inside. I've sometimes surprised people by saying, do you know I never look 46:48 inside myself? Never. I remember the old days when I used to get thoroughly depressed. I say, I don't need to look inside myself. When I look at Jesus, he shows me, when Isaiah saw Jesus, he immediately saw, oh, I'm so careless 47:08 with my lips. That doesn't bring condemnation. If I look inside, I'll get depressed because there's nothing good in my flesh. I don't advise any of you to spend your time introspecting and looking inside. People who do that and 47:25 who got that version of Christianity will be thoroughly depressed and they'll get all types of sicknesses in their body too. I've met people like that. Very introspective. They're the most miserable, gloomy looking and sick 47:36 people I've met. If you want to have a cheerful countenance and you want to be in good mood all the time and you want to be healthy, don't look inside yourself. Look at Jesus. And he will show you little by little as much 47:52 as you can bear what you need to know every day about yourself. I'm telling you from my experience. I'm a long way from becoming like Jesus. And I know that better than any of you. But I believe I'm making progress. I get light. 48:11 I say, Lord, I never will refuse the truth about myself. I will embrace it with all my heart. When I see something and the Lord says, that was selfish, I say, yes, Lord, it was selfish. Or the Lord says, there was a little pride 48:28 there. Yes, Lord, I'm sorry, that was pride, spiritual pride. Or the Lord says, there you touched my glory. Oh, Lord, I tremble, forgive me, I'm sorry I touched your glory. perhaps I sinned. It's a wonderful thing that Job 48:47 could say, perhaps, perhaps my children have sinned, not just me. When somebody tells you something, especially if your children are at home, somebody tells you something about them, say, perhaps, my children have sinned. 49:07 It's a very good attitude to take. Your children will become godly. I remember when my boys grew up here in this church, if any Sunday school teacher told me one little thing about any of them, I would not defend 49:28 my children. I would say, thank you. And I would take my children to task. because I wanted my children to be saved. I didn't want them to be justified by me. 49:48 I would say, perhaps, my children sinned. They're young, they're foolish, perhaps they did that. And that Sunday school teacher is an older person, he must be right. He doesn't have anything against my children, he's just 50:02 telling me the truth. Have you had that reaction when somebody says something about your children? Or about you? What is your attitude to correction? Would you say, ah, perhaps it's true. Perhaps I've sinned. Perhaps it 50:20 was wrong. Make this a year of self-acknowledgement. Not introspection, not looking inside. But when Jesus comes and reveals the thoughts of your heart by a word perhaps, or by a circumstance, or a situation, quickly, quickly 50:40 acknowledge. Let's be full speed like you would go full speed to the surgeon to get the cancer removed because he says it's spreading, you don't remove it, you won't, you'll die within a week, you won't, you'll postpone 50:53 everything and go. Full speed, I want it removed. The only person who wouldn't do that is a person who thinks he's pretty much like Jesus already. You know, people say to us sometimes, what you fellas, you're just sitting and 51:14 purifying yourself, purifying yourself, purifying yourself, when is it going to stop, when are you going to stop this purifying yourself? I'll tell you, I said, I won't say it myself, I'll tell you what John the apostle 51:23 said. 1 John 3, it says in verse 2, that when Jesus comes again, we will be like him, because we will see him exactly as he is. This is the blessed hope. The blessed hope has got two parts. One side is, he is coming back 51:44 for me. The other side of the coin is, I will be like him when he comes. Many people have only got a one-sided hope. He is coming. You go and ask, you don't believe me, go and ask any believer you know, what is your blessed 52:00 hope, brother? What are you waiting for? Say, Jesus is coming back. Anything else? No, I'm going to be in heaven. I wonder whether even 1% of people will give the correct answer and say, I'm going to be like him when he 52:15 comes. They're not interested in that. But here it says very clearly, we will be like him because we will see him as he is, and this is the hope, it says in the next verse. And if you have this hope, you will do what we do. 52:33 Purify yourself until you become as pure as Jesus is pure. Have you got there? I haven't got there. I tell you honestly, many years ago I thought I was closer in purity to Jesus than I feel right now. The more I see the holiness, 52:52 the total unselfishness and humility of Jesus, I feel I'm a greater sinner than I ever felt before. I can fully understand now how Paul said at the end of his life, oh, I'm the chief of sinners. That's exactly how you feel 53:06 when you come pretty close to God. And you don't have much time to look down at other sins. Purify himself as he is pure. God will show you and show each one of us the areas in our life where we need to see and when he does, 53:26 don't justify yourself. That is the sin of the Pharisees. Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. Jesus said in verse 15. You are those who justify yourself in 53:46 the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. Luke 16, 15. You justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. And all this justifying yourself before men to make yourself great in their eyes is an abomination to God. 54:02 That's what he says in the rest of that verse. All this justifying, why are you justifying yourself? To show people, I'm not so bad as you think. I'm pretty good. Uh-huh. He says it's an abomination in the sight of God, 54:15 detestable in the sight of God. It's stinking. Do you know that to justify yourself is absolutely stinking in God's eyes? How many of you know that? If you understand that, you will never justify yourself because that immediately 54:32 identifies you as a Pharisee. if a person has got a wrong impression, you can tell him, brother, it wasn't like that, it was like this. But when somebody accuses you, he's not in the mood to listen to your correction. what should 54:51 you say? Perhaps I have sinned. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps I was guilty. Perhaps I did do something wrong there. Perhaps I did hurt that person. I didn't intend to, but perhaps I did. 55:11 All of us who are husbands and wives have to acknowledge that many a time we have hurt our partners without intending to. We had the best of intentions, but somehow the way it was said was not right. You had absolutely zero intention 55:30 to hurt that person, but the way it came out was because we have a flesh in which dwells nothing good. If you believe that, and I believe it with all my heart, it will be not at all difficult for you to say in any situation, 55:48 perhaps I have sinned. When your wife tells you something about yourself, to have the attitude which says, oh, maybe it's right, perhaps I have sinned. When your husband tells you something, to have the attitude, yeah, 56:08 perhaps you're right, maybe I, perhaps I've sinned. What do I lose? Supposing I'm perfectly fit and healthy, what do I lose by taking a scan? Do I lose anything by, somebody says, I want to give you a free scan in the hospital. 56:25 Go ahead. He looks at, you're okay. You never lose anything by saying, well, Lord, perhaps I've sinned, show me. And if the Lord says to me, no, it's okay. Well, I'll tell you something, in our younger days, when we are younger, 56:44 we don't hear the Lord so clearly. We hear our own voice, which we imagine to be the Lord's voice, saying, you're okay. So you need to grow a little to be able to hear God's voice clearly. So those, in your younger years, 56:59 when you hear voices saying, you're okay, you're okay, don't fool yourself that that is God's voice. When Adam sinned, the first man that sinned, immediately he justified himself. 57:20 There are reasons behind this. My wife, you gave me this wife, so difficult to go straight to the point, beat around the bush, beat around the bush, and finally say, I did it. Why not go straight to the point and say, yeah, I 57:35 did it. Me, me, the problem is me. I yielded. I did not take my place as the head of the home. I should have put my foot down when I saw my wife talking to the devil and taking that fruit. I should have stopped her. I should 57:49 have pulled her hand back. I didn't do it. I'm sorry, Lord. My fault. And secondly, I compounded the whole thing by eating the fruit as well. You know, when the Lord asked him one question, did you eat the fruit? The right 58:00 thing Adam should have said is, Lord, I did two things wrong. Not only I ate the fruit, I failed as a husband. Boy, how delighted God would have been if he had heard such an answer. But the children of Adam never give that 58:14 answer. I see this great difference. Let me say this in conclusion. One day I was in Adam, God took me and put me in Christ. And one mark of it is this. Adam would not take the responsibility for his own sin. He blamed his wife, he 58:32 blamed God. Jesus, when he hung on the cross, took the responsibility for other people's sins. That's the difference. When I'm in Adam and I walk like Adam, I will not be able to take responsibility even for my own sin. 58:50 I will justify myself. But when I'm like Jesus, I'm willing to take the blame for other people's sins. There was a great godly man in Germany many years ago called Henry Suso. He was a single man, a very godly man. He lived 59:06 in a small street and he had a great reputation as a holy man. One day a prostitute who bore a child through somebody, wanted to get rid of his child and thought the best person to dump the child on was Henry Suso. So he 59:23 went and knocked at Henry Suso's door. Henry Suso opened the door. Here was this woman with a child. He had never seen her before. She shouted out loud for all the people in the street to hear. Here is the fruit of your 59:35 sin and ran off. He took this child. Never seen this woman before and his whole reputation which has built up for years spoiled in one moment down the street. Everybody wagging their tongues and this is what this holy man 59:51 has been up to. He was broken. And just a few days earlier he had prayed oh God make me like Jesus. And he went and knelt down and took the baby and said Lord you know I'm innocent. What should I do? And Jesus said do what I 1:00:11 did. Suffer for the sins of others. He said okay. He never opened his mouth. He brought up that child as if it was his own. Many years later that woman was convicted came back and proclaimed through that false truth 1:00:31 that she had told a lie. But during that period God had answered Henry Suso's prayer. He had made him like Jesus. He would not open his mouth to justify himself. See that is a he was in the PhD class. Don't think we can jump 1:00:50 up there so quickly. God no woman is going to come and knock at your door tomorrow and put some sun because we are all in first standard second standard when you get up to PhD class maybe you'll get that type of test but 1:01:01 not now don't worry but let's pass these first standard second standard tests as we go along this year. Let's pray. Heavenly Father help us as we face this new year to walk the way of self acknowledgement as you 1:01:21 give us light as you show the secrets of our hearts the thoughts of our hearts are revealed help us to love the truth and walk the way every godly man in history has walked the way of self acknowledgement and humility we pray 1:01:37 in Jesus name Amen
