0:07 Okay, Dad, we have a a few questions, uh a number of questions. We'll try to get through as many as we can. Uh the first question is I think a good one for based on what we've heard and the topic for today. Uh the questioner asks, "I find that 0:23 after I hear a stirring message like this, there's a desperate thirst in me for a deeper life in Christ. But after a few days, that thirst is gone. How can I develop a lifelong thirst?" Yeah, that is a problem that 0:43 many people face. And uh I find that if you come to the Bible everyday with an open heart. See, I've been reading this book for 62 1:05 years now. I'll tell you honestly, everyday God speaks to me. I don't read long passages. I mean, I've read this Bible thoroughly so many times that what I need now is not information. 1:23 What I need is a challenge. Even at this age, even after having known the Lord for 62 years, even after 46 years of being filled with the Holy Spirit, I find there's a need in my heart. And I come to the scripture and say, 1:38 "Lord, speak to me." And I find God speaks to me and I something from His word that creates a challenge and shows me something more that I need, another step that I need to climb, another height that I need to reach, 1:57 another giant in the land of Canaan that needs to be killed, which I had not even seen till today. And that keeps me hungering and thirsting after God. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from 2:14 God's mouth." Not that what preceded 2,000 years ago, the Bible, but proceeds, present tense, present continuous. God is always speaking. In Genesis 1, we read he spoke on the first day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day. He's speaking 2:32 continuously, even now. I may not hear him. Revelation chapter 1, we read John heard God's voice like a trumpet. Why can't I hear it? Hebrews 5 says, "You have become dull of hearing." If you keep sin unconfessed in your 2:46 life. If there's even one sin that you know that you've not confessed, then you'll dry up. If there's one person you have not forgiven, no matter what harm he did to you, it's not greater than your killing Jesus 3:05 on the cross. That's what we did. You have to forgive. Have you asked forgiveness from those you hurt? These are simple things. If you do these, I believe you God will keep a fire burning in your heart that's longing for 3:22 more and more and more and more of God. And it's been wonderful, and the Lord says, "Forget the past and press on to the future." So, that is what I would say. These simple things, if you do, ask God to speak to you every day. 3:40 Jesus said about to Martha, Luke 10:42, "One thing is needful." I would say that to you. Luke 10:42. Choose what Mary chose, to sit at Jesus' feet every day. 3:58 Man shall not live by bread alone, and we eat food every day, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. That is how we will never slacken off and cover constant hunger and thirst for the Lord. Amen. Yeah, the next question is, is water 4:21 baptism necessary in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, you know, when you hear a command of God, believe and be baptized. I don't think you should ask that question at all. Why do you want to ask a question when 4:42 God says you must believe and be baptized? I'll tell you. It's because you're afraid you'll uh go against the teaching of the church you grew up in. Maybe some Orthodox church or some Anglican church or some Methodist church 4:58 that gave you baptism as a child. The word baptism means immerse. It doesn't mean sprinkle. It's a Greek word which means immerse. It's a sad thing that it was not translated into English. Immerse. Be He who believes and is 5:16 immersed in water will be saved. You read in Mark's Gospel chapter 16. So, that question, should I get baptized? I say that's that's the question of people who come to the Lord and say, "Lord, what is the minimum I have to do 5:34 in order to come to heaven?" I tell you, I'm not interested in such a question. What is the minimum I have to do? After Jesus did not come to Earth and say, "Father, what is the minimum I have to do for you here on this earth before I come back to heaven? 5:49 What a shame it is after Jesus having given everything to us that any Christian should turn to him and say, "What is the minimum I have to do for you?" Just believe, is that enough? I want to do the maximum. So, if your approach is 6:05 is baptism necessary? I say, "You've got the wrong attitude, first of all." If you are ignorant, read the scriptures. And don't be afraid of what your pastor or your church teaches. I broke away. I grew up in the Orthodox Church. The 6:22 Orthodox Church I was when I was a little child, I was I was sprinkled. They called it baptism, but when I was born again, I got immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, break with tradition. Break with 6:37 those dead systems in which maybe your parents brought you up according to the light they had. And now your God has given you more light, live according to it. So, I would not answer that question. I say, that uh Now, if you're you know, if you're lying 6:54 in a sick bed and you can't get up be baptized, that's different. It's like someone said, the dying thief uh said was not was not baptized. Somebody told him, "Well, you're not dying thief, you're a living thief. There's a lot of difference between you 7:06 and that person." So, uh if you're lying in a bed in a hospital, you got you're born again there and you can't get baptized, I say baptism is not necessary. You can be filled with the Holy Spirit without it. Cornelius, Acts chapter 10. 7:19 Before he got baptized, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and his family, but they got baptized immediately thereafter. So, there's no reason why you shouldn't be baptized. That's the answer. Is it necessary for someone to lay hands 7:36 on me, the questioner is asking, in order to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit as seems to have been the case quite often in the New Testament and in the lives of many godly people. Yeah. See, there is a one verse that describes 7:53 the working of the Holy Spirit, I I would say, in a perfect way, and I've always followed that. John chapter 3, Jesus speaking about being born of the Holy Spirit. And then he said, in John's gospel chapter 3, he talks about 8:16 the the wind. Verse 8, John 3:8, he's referring to the Holy Spirit. The wind blows where it wishes. Apply that to the Holy Spirit. He moves in different ways. I cannot dictate to the wind saying, 8:35 "You must blow this way or that way." No. He blows where it wishes. So is You hear the sound, but you can't say where it's coming from, where it's going. So is everyone who is born of the Holy Spirit. So, in other words, what I learned from 8:54 that verse is the way God deals with his different children who are born of the Spirit is different. It's like the wind. He blew in one way in that person's life, he blew another way in my life, another way in that person's life. 9:05 I'm not here to dictate which way the Holy Spirit should work. So, I will not make rules on that. What do we read in the Acts of the Apostles? On the day of Pentecost, nobody laid hands on the 120. God met with them directly. 9:25 Later on, we read in uh Acts chapter 4, that when they were praying, Acts 4:31, the place where they gathered Acts 4:31 they were shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Nobody laid hands on them. 9:44 Those are about the first two examples of number of people being filled with the Holy Spirit. Nobody laid hands on them. And then we read in Acts chapter 9 Acts chapter 8 of course we it's not described exactly how those people in Samaria 10:02 received the Holy Spirit. They laid hands it says in verse 9:17 in Acts Acts 8:17 rather they were laid hands and they received the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 9 Ananias laid hands on Saul. In Acts chapter 10 Cornelius nobody laid 10:21 hands on him. Received the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 19 we read in Ephesus that Paul baptized them and then laid hands on them Acts 19:6. So different. And so it's different in different cases. 10:40 And you have to ask God Lord the means is not the important thing. It's like the way people are converted. Some people are converted in a meeting and some people are converted through a vision like Paul had a vision when he 10:51 got converted. Some people are converted on their deathbed and it's different. We cannot dictate on this. The important thing is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I would say definitely from these examples in that I pointed out to 11:04 you next two Acts 4 and Acts 10 those people nobody laid hands on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It can be like that with you too. Get alone with God and God can meet. What do you think about 11:26 songs in which uh we pray to the Holy Spirit and what do you think about praying to the Holy Spirit in general? Is that something that we should do? We must remember the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one. Jesus said, "When you pray, 11:51 say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven.'" You can say it then, can we pray to Jesus also? Forget about praying to the Holy Spirit. Can you pray to Jesus? Jesus said, "When you say pray, say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven.'" 12:08 And many of us, when we conclude our prayer, we say, "We pray in the name of Jesus." Are you praying to Jesus in the name of Jesus? No. We're praying to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. In other words, we're saying, "Father, I'm approaching you 12:23 in the name of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, I have no acceptance with you." "Our Father, who art in heaven, I approach you in the name of Jesus Christ." But many people don't think when they pray. What is the meaning of saying, "Lord 12:38 Jesus, I pray to you in the name of Jesus"? Pretty I mean, that's pretty ridiculous. But the wonderful thing is, God treats us like little children who our language is not proper. Think of a 2-year-old is speaking to his father. 12:51 His grammar is wrong. And everything may be wrong. The father loves him. I say, "I understand your heart." So, it doesn't matter how you pray. You pray to Jesus in the name of Jesus. God understands it. You pray to the Father, you pray to 13:03 Jesus, you can pray to the Holy Spirit. It's It's all the same. We read here one example of it uh in Ezekiel 37, where the Lord told him, "Prophesy to the breath, that is to the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, and breathe on these 13:20 um dead people here and give them life." As a prayer to the Holy Spirit. So, and the breath came, the Holy Spirit came there. So, I don't make too much of a distinction when he says spirit of the living God, all the pressure on me, 13:35 I'm very happy to pray that. God knows my heart. Remember in prayer, dear brothers and sisters. Think of yourself as a little child. I like to think of myself like a little 2-year-old child talking to my dad. That's how I pray. 13:52 I say, "Dad, I mean, I may not be expressing it correctly. My spelling may be wrong. My grammar may be wrong. But, you know my heart. I love you, and I want you to give me this." Come to God not like a clever scholar. Come to God like a 2-year-old child. 14:10 Don't be too occupied with the techniques of prayer or the methods of prayer. Come with a clear heart. That's all I say. Is it possible for people to do genuine miracles in the name of Jesus without the power of the Holy Spirit? And if so, 14:28 how do we discern where the real power is? Okay. I mean, the answer to that Jesus himself gave in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 22. Not one or two, many people, 14:47 I believe many preachers, many preachers, Matthew 7:22, Jesus said will come to him on that final day. And what are they going to say? "Lord, Lord." These are people who call Jesus Lord. "We prophesied in your name. 15:06 We preached Prophecy means to speak to people who encourage, edify, and comfort, and occasionally even to predict something in the future. We prophesied in your name. In your name we cast out demons. In the name of Jesus we commanded demons to go 15:21 and they left. Lord Jesus, you remember that? I did it. And we did not one miracle, Lord. You know we did many miracles. Now, when people testify to that in a meeting, I don't believe it. But nobody would dare say that to Jesus on the 15:38 final day if it was not true. You're talking to Jesus, remember? In your name, Lord, we did miracles. You know that. What is the Lord going to say to them? I never knew you. I never had a personal relationship with you. 15:56 You are people who practice sin. Go to hell. Depart from me. That's the meaning. How many people? Verse 22, many. So, is it possible for a person to prophesy in the name of Jesus 16:13 and cast out demons in the name of Jesus and perform not one but many miracles in the name of Jesus and finally for the Lord to say, "Listen, you and I never had a personal relationship." That's the meaning of I never knew you. 16:28 Go to hell. That answers the question very well. So, I'm not impressed by people prophesying or casting out demons or performing many miracles. I look for the fruit of the spirit. I look to see whether a person loved 16:47 Jesus with all his heart and whether he knows how to love others. By this shall all men know you're my disciple, Jesus said. Not that you do miracles or prophesy, but that you love one another. Very down-to-earth and simple. 17:01 Yeah. What is the new covenant application of the warning in Luke 17:32 about remembering Lot's wife? You know, whether it's valid for new 17:25 covenant people? What is How do we apply that in our lives today? Okay. Jesus is talking here in Luke 17 about being ready for the Lord's coming at any time. He may come at any time. In the day, Luke 17, they were eating and drinking verse 28 17:45 in the days of Lot, but suddenly fire came from heaven and Lot went out. That's a picture of the rapture. And the judgment fell. But in that moment, one who's on the house top should not have to go down because his 18:03 attachment is to the property on earth. His goods are there. Or one who's in the field should not have to turn back and say, "Hey, Lord, I'm sorry. I didn't settle matters with my wife. Can you hold on? Don't come yet." Everything 18:18 must be settled. You don't You shouldn't have to go down. Your attachment should not be to your property. You should not have to go back from your office or your field to settle matters with your wife. Everything is settled. 18:28 And then he said, "Think of Lot's wife." She turned back because her wonderful garden and her fancy clothes and all the wonderful things she had in her house were all left behind. And the Lord is saying, "If you are attached to 18:43 the things of earth, you will not be ready for my coming because you have to go down to the house to get the goods." And the Lord says, "Come." He said, "No, no, no, my goods are down here." Or I have to go back from my field to the house 18:54 for something. Remember Lot's wife. You should not have to look back for anything. We must live in a constant readiness with our faces set for the kingdom of God. If the Lord says in the trumpet, "Come." Say, "Lord, I'm ready. I don't have to 19:11 go and look back for anything. Everything is settled. Every sin is confessed. I've forgiven everybody. I've asked forgiveness from everyone. If I've hurt anyone, I've no attachment to anything on this earth. You may have 19:23 You may be a millionaire. There's nothing wrong in being a millionaire if you earned all that money honestly, and if you love Jesus more than that that million. But, you say, "Lord, my attachment is not to that. My attachment is to you and to you 19:36 alone." That's what I understand to be the uh meaning of this warning here in relation to the Lord's coming. But, let me also add that it's possible for a person who has entered into the new covenant to go back from it. 19:52 Hebrews 3 and verse 14 says, "We become partakers of Christ." Very important verse. Hebrews 3:12 says, "Take care, my dear brethren, that one of you can fall away from the living God." You can have an evil unbelieving heart 20:07 even after coming into the new covenant. Hebrews 3:12. Because we can be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, verse 13. In a single day, it takes only 24 hours to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13. It doesn't take 5 20:22 years. One day. And then he says finally in verse 14, Hebrews 3:14, "You will become a partaker of Christ if" capital I F "you hold on to that assurance you had from the beginning firm until the end." Then you're a 20:41 partaker of Christ. So, there Lot's wife is a warning. You came out and then you you look back. Don't look back. There's one question about baptism that was asked, um which I thought I'd pose here. 20:59 I don't know the the full context, but uh the person was saying that they were baptized as a child and And later on were born again, and they didn't have anybody around them, so they baptized themselves. Privately I'm assuming. 21:13 Is it necessary for somebody else to baptize the person? And maybe there are circumstances where there isn't somebody to. I don't know the full context. Okay. There is no instance in the Bible of you baptizing yourself, but God 21:27 understands. He sees the circumstances. And I would say the best thing is to go and ask some believer you have confidence in to immerse you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But you know, in 1 Corinthians 7 21:45 Paul says, and I want to quote Paul, and I want to quote myself also. I don't have a command from the Lord, Paul says. But I give my opinion as one who has been faithful. You read that verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. So 22:00 I say the same thing also in this situation, exactly like Paul says over there. I don't have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who is sought to be faithful to the Lord. If there is no other way, and there's no 22:17 possibility of anybody you have confidence in to baptize you pour a bucket of water over your head and say, "Lord, I die to myself." Or dip yourself in some tank and say, "Lord, I die to myself. I want to live for you." 22:31 It's not ideal, but God will understand. God's a loving father, don't forget that. Yeah. Can you help us distinguish spiritual pride from having discernment about false Christianity? Yeah. Spiritual pride 22:53 comes out of feeling that what I am I'm a self-made man. I have come to this life by myself. And or if you have a ministry, I have produced this ministry by myself. It's like you know, man distributing a 23:12 cake made by somebody else. And somebody turns around to him and says, "Oh, this is a wonderful cake you made." He says, "Yeah." God helped me. The man never made it. He has to say somebody else made it. I'm only distributing it. 23:27 So, I say my ministry is not something I made. I'm just distributing the cake that God has given to me and asked me to pass on. If you want to appreciate he's the one who made it. So, it's very easy to become proud. And even the false humility where people 23:46 can pretend to be humble on the outside and all. The only way to avoid pride completely is by looking unto Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 11:29, "Learn from me for I am humble and gentle of heart." 24:06 He never told us to learn how to preach. A lot of people want to learn how to preach. He told us to learn humility from him. And when we have humility God will give us discernment of people who are crooked. And particularly if you have 24:20 responsibility you know, God will give you discernment in the sphere where you have responsibility. If you're a father he'll give you discernment over your children. If you're an elder in the church, he'll give you discernment over people. If 24:35 you're not an elder in the church the Lord will not necessarily give you discernment of everybody in the church, but he'll give you discernment in relation to the people who are connected with you, whether they are crooks, 24:45 whether they are genuine whether you can allow them to mingle with your children. He'll give you discernment because you're a responsible father. It depends on the measure of the sphere of your responsibility. That's where he gives you discernment. 25:00 And if you look at Jesus, it will never make you proud. It'll never make you feel uh I'm better than that person. We're not better than anyone. Left to ourselves, we'll end up like the devil himself. But the Lord has mercy on us 25:15 and makes us what we are. So, we must keep looking at Jesus in running this race. Then, whatever gift God gives you, discernment is also a gift. It is impossible to be proud. I say it is impossible. Because the moment pride comes up, God 25:31 will the Holy Spirit will convict you and show you the face of Jesus and you'll go down in the dust before the Lord like John fell on in the Isle of Patmos in Revelation chapter 1. I have some questions about personal 25:50 discipline here. How do we properly prioritize reaching the lost and doing the work of the kingdom of God while fulfilling our personal, family, and work responsibilities? Well, 26:07 I say our personal walk with the Lord is primary because the river of life has to flow through me to others. And if the channel is dirty, what's going to flow to others is dirty water. So, my primary responsibility is not to 26:26 reach others. My primary responsibility is to keep the channel clean. I'm forgiving everybody, asking everyone's forgiveness, clear keeping my mind, thoughts, tongue, everything pure, confessing all known sin, and keep the channel clear, and 26:43 it's God's responsibility to send the living waters through me. I can't produce the living water. I can't save a single soul. I can't do a single thing for God on this earth, but I can keep the channel clear and hunger and thirst after God, and God 26:58 can let the rivers flow through me. That's what we call ministry. And so, that's the way our ministry should be. And if we keep our self like that, and that includes our and we should not think that our responsibility to our family or to 27:17 our work in our office is going to be a hindrance to our work. No. You shouldn't use your office time to go on witnessing for people. That's wrong. If If an office is paying you for your job, you shouldn't be witnessing there. 27:31 You should be doing your job faithfully. In the time which is off in your maybe in your If you have a morning break or lunch break, by all means use that time to witness, but during your time you're working in office, you should not be 27:42 witnessing. I followed that rule when I was in the Navy. In my off time, I could witness to anybody, but while I'm working I got to do my job faithfully. And the same way with your If you got a family, you got to care for your 27:54 children. You got to spend time with your children, spend time with your wife. Don't ignore all that and go and preach. Then you got to blame yourself if you become a backslider. Our Christian life I pictured it often like 28:09 this. The foundation is God's perfect love for me. On top of that, the first story is my personal walk with God. The second story is my family life, being relationship with my wife, bringing up my children properly. And on top of 28:25 that, the third story, which is my ministry. I'm serving God and whatever way ministry God gives me. So, we must keep that order. Don't become so occupied with ministry that you ignore the foundation of God's love for you. 28:41 You lose that assurance, or you ignore keeping good conscience, or you ignore your responsibility to your family. Thank you. There are a couple of questions about uh fighting discouragement. The first is, "How can I avoid getting discouraged 28:59 when I deal with frequent, intense physical pain?" Yeah, that's a very difficult question to answer because in the 82 years of my life I have to say that I have not 29:16 had any long period with intense physical pain by God's mercy. And I think many of you are like that. I mean, there are a few people in the world who suffer with some type of intense pain due to a sickness or some other problem, and I can fully 29:32 sympathize with them. I can only say to them, "My dear brother, sister, I usually give advice in areas where I have experienced something myself. But here, I can even give advice where I've not experienced it by saying, 29:46 'Whether I've experienced it or not, God's word is true.' Read 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I don't want to go there now. Take your time. 2 Corinthians 12. Make a note of that in your mind or on a piece of paper. Where Paul had a thorn in the flesh, 30:02 something that caused him tremendous pain or some type of call it an infirmity. And he prayed to the Lord to remove it three times. The Lord said, "No." Imagine the Lord saying no to the 30:18 Apostle Paul. Where are you and I? And the Lord said, "I'll give you something else. My grace is sufficient for you because my grace is my power. And that power is made perfect in weak people, in sick people, 30:36 in people who are helpless." I have found great help in that verse in when I have little problem like a sickness or a headache or any other problem physical ailment or sickness and we have these things in our body sometimes. 30:51 And I say, "Lord, number one, I ask you to heal me. We must always pray for healing first. And I say, "Lord, if you don't heal me, give me grace. One of the two. You have to give me one of the two. Either healing or grace. I get that from 31:08 2 Corinthians 12. And you decide which is more important for me. If you think grace is more important, I'm quite happy to live with this sickness till the end of my life. But if you think healing will glorify you more, heal me." 31:22 So, I leave the option to God. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13, God will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability. And the example and testimony of other 31:39 people who suffered a lot, like Richard Wurmbrand who was in prison for many years beaten and hammered, uh you read in his book called Tortured for Christ. And another sister called Joni Eareckson who was paralyzed at the age of 18 with 31:56 when she dived into a lake and hit her head, paralyzed completely except for the top part of her head and her maybe her fingers, I don't remember. But she's been in a wheelchair for more than 50 years. And I remember listening to a testimony 32:10 of hers which you can listen to on YouTube. Powerful testimony, cheerful happy person having sat in a wheelchair for 50 years because she loved the Lord. Such examples of uh are also an encouragement for us. The second question on discouragement is 32:31 how uh similarly how can I avoid getting discouraged when I uh struggle with mental disability or um mental disorders. Yeah, even there again, I I've not had that, so I cannot say from personal experience, 32:51 but I would say there's I believe God has given us the power to think. And even those with mental disability, I know they can read God's word. And uh I would say try to meditate on even 33:10 little verses of scripture as much as you're able. Don't seek to accomplish as much as somebody else, because I'll tell you God will reward you in the final day according to how much ability you had. And you may find in the final day that 33:25 some person with like mental disability or some mental disability probably ends up with as great a reward as some great saint. Cuz God sees how much could this person do. So, don't condemn yourself that you can't do what other people do. Say, 33:37 "Lord, this is all I can do. I'm limited. You put me in a small space because my mind is so limited and I have problems mentally. You But I still love you. I believe even with people mental disability, they can love Jesus. 33:54 They can accept Jesus into their heart. They can be filled with the Holy Spirit. And they may not be able to accomplish things like other people, but then God doesn't expect that. But I believe that they should seek for healing, and if 34:07 healing doesn't come, say, "Lord, your grace will be enough for me even to overcome mental disability." You may not be be able to behave as well as other people, but God understands that. Don't worry people judge you. Live before God's face. Seek to be free 34:24 from the opinions of people. That is one thing I would say definitely to people who have mental disability, and to everyone. We If you can be free from what do people say about me? What do they think about me? Even as a preacher, 34:38 I have to be very careful about that. Lord, I don't want to be bothered what people say about me or think about me. I want to live before your face. That is the best advice I can give to such people and ask someone to pray with you. Prayer 34:51 accomplishes many things and ask God to give you grace. Third question in battling discouragement and that's the is how do we how can I avoid getting discouraged when I deal with loneliness? And this is 35:09 coming from somebody who's maybe older and hasn't had the opportunity to be married and maybe the possibilities are getting less. Yeah. See, we should not think that marriage is the most important thing. A lot of 35:29 even married people think sex is a great thing. You know, 1 Corinthians 7 says that even married people need to sometimes fast from sex. Remember that two of the most wonderful men who lived on this earth, Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, 35:50 were never married. And they lived the most wonderful life that you can ever think of. They never could have sexual relations once in their life. Sex is a good thing, but God never allowed Jesus to have have it even once. Never allowed Paul to have 36:09 it once. So, it's not in the same category as food and sleep. God has given us food to eat, hunger, the desire to rest and sleep, and the desire for a but sex is not in the same category. We need to see that from the example of 36:31 Jesus and Paul. So, even married people and young people don't make sex such an important thing like almost a god in your life. We need food. We need to sleep. Sex is not essential. Absolutely not essential. And so, the companionship that comes in 36:50 marriage is not absolutely essential because Jesus was not married. Paul was not married. So, think of those examples. They lived without a wife or so many godly women missionaries to many foreign countries 37:09 lived without a husband. What a lot they accomplished for God. Or widows whose husband died when they were young. This If they find their satisfaction in Jesus Christ, everything else will fall in its place. The fundamental problem is that 37:27 many Christians have not developed that intimacy with Jesus Christ. To say, "Lord, you are my closest friend and I want to walk with you and live with you every day." That's the only advice I can give. Here's a question about 37:44 studying God's word. What is a some good practical advice on developing the habit of meditating on God's word? I think you might have answered before, but if you can answer it briefly. Okay. So, I would say that first of all, you 37:58 must read through the whole Bible. When I got converted 62 years ago, the first thing I did, I had never read through the Bible. I read many many chapters to try and read as quickly as possible, and in about 6 months I read the whole 38:09 Bible. Much of it I didn't understand, but at least I went through the whole Bible to I knew uh whatever I read there. But then, once having done that, I began to read in portions every day and meditate means See, as I've 38:28 more the more the more I walk with the Lord, the number of verses I meditate becomes less and less and less and less and less. In the early days, I used to read a chapter and meditate on that. That decrease weekly and then sometimes 38:39 nowadays, I read one verse. And the next you know, I'm reading sequentially. For example, if I'm reading through the Gospels, sometimes I go through a number of verses and there's nothing much that on my heart. And then the and then sometimes I come 38:55 to a place where I stop and one passage, I keep thinking about that and the next day again that same passage. It's like a traffic light which is still red. I can't move. And the next day it's red. The next week the traffic light is red. I can't move 39:08 forward. Uh and I meditate on that. Sometimes it's one verse. So, to think about it and say, "Lord, what is that you're trying to say to me through that?" And I don't have a goal every day to read so many verses or chapters. I did have that 39:25 in the beginning. That's good when you haven't read the Bible. But as you grow in the Lord, more important to think about what is the Lord trying to say to me through this verse, particularly the New Testament. So much that the Lord has to say to us 39:38 and it's good to think about it during the day, think about and if it is a help, I haven't done that, but if it is a help, write it, write a verse on a piece of paper and keep it with you in your pocket and pick it out during the day and read it. 39:52 In my case, I have a fairly good memory and so I can think about it without having a piece of paper in my pocket. But that's the way to think about what we have read and say, "Lord, speak to me." I'll move on to some questions about the 40:11 church. We've had quite a few questions. But before I ask those questions, uh just want to make a comment for many of you who write to us asking for information about like-minded churches in your area. We're happy to use this forum to connect 40:27 you with others. You've probably heard the example of um finding needles in a haystack. And how it seems impossible if it's a large haystack to find even one needle. But if you have a powerful magnet, that will draw out the needles. And that 40:44 magnet is the life of Christ in us. It says that the light was the life of Christ in John 1. So we believe, and we've seen God do this in many different places across the world, that when the life of Christ is truly in us, and we have a hunger and a 40:59 thirst for that light to connect with another light, so that the body of Christ can be formed, God will do it. And he knows where there are hungry people who are interested in a pure testimony for Christ's sake more than anything else. Not even 41:14 interested in a local church or anything like that, but just that God would be glorified. He will bring them together supernaturally. I've seen him do that in my own life and here in the local church in Loveland. So if you'd like to be connected, and you'd 41:29 like we're happy to help with that. Feel free to write to us info@rlcf.church or write to CFC India if you're outside the US. And they There are a lot of contacts. God will Trust that the Lord will use both of you who may be just a mile apart 41:47 to be connected by writing to to us supernaturally. So feel free to write to us. I'll post the email address again. We'll post it on YouTube and we'll display that slide again at the end of the meeting. Do you want to add anything to that, Dad, 42:03 before I ask the question? Oh, you can also write to cfc@cfcindia.com. And we'd be glad to put you in touch with other people in their locality if there anybody we know. Uh only if we can if it is a person or a church we can trust. 42:21 We will not I will not link you to people whom I do not know. Or whom I cannot trust. And uh I would only do that if there's someone I can trust that will be able to help. So, the question here is what is Can you speak on what is the biblical model for 42:36 church leadership? How are they select Are they selected or appointed? Does the congregation have a say in church matters? In the old covenant uh there was a 42:53 person that the nation of Israel was God's chosen vehicle through which he communicated. And God said out of all the 12 tribes, I choose one tribe Levi to be my priest. And that By the way, that was not an arbitrary choice. 43:11 You read in Exodus in chapter 32 onwards that there was a time when the children of Israel went astray from God. Aaron himself led them astray. They made a golden calf. And they worshipped and Moses came down and said these people are going to be punished. 43:29 The people who worshipped the golden calf. And he said to the whole congregation of Israel who is on the Lord's side, come and stand with me. And one tribe tribe of Levi out of the 12 came and stood with Moses. And God love the Moses said, "Now go out 43:46 and don't bother if it's your father, brother, anybody. If they worship idols, kill them." That's how they judged them there in those days. Judgment was very severe. And that day the tribe of Levi was selected to be the priests in Israel. 44:02 Not I mean for example, they were blessed to be the priest, but one condition was you will own no property. All the others can own property, so the land of Israel was divided among the 11 tribes. Joseph was split up into Ephraim and 44:17 Manasseh, so they became two, 12. But, Levi was without any property at all, but they were the priests. And among the priests, one was the high priest, and that was Aaron. And that went down the line to his descendants. 44:32 There was always one high priest. That no man selected that. God selected it in in his own reason for that. And some of those high priests were very unfaithful, like Eli. His children were wayward. And God punished them. 44:49 But, in the new covenant, it is different. It's not a family affair. It is selection through the Holy Spirit. Now, God may choose. When Jesus chose his disciples, James and John were his own first cousins. 45:09 His mother's sister's sons. And he did not hesitate to choose them because they were wholehearted. They were not rejected. Oh, these are my relatives, so I won't choose them. No. Jesus was totally impartial. And he says, "If a person is 45:24 wholehearted, whoever he is, we'll select him to be a to be a disciple." In the same way, in the church, we read as churches were planted, the Apostle Paul appointed elders. You read that in Acts chapter 14, 45:42 when Paul went around he appointed elders in different places. We in verse 23, Acts 14:23, they appointed elders in every church. Having prayed with fasting, commended them to the Lord. There was no one high priest anymore. 46:01 So, multiple elders because it was an expression of a body now. The Old Testament there was no body. The high priest was the head. But in the New Testament the head is Jesus Christ. And we are a body all we are like members of one body. 46:17 But Jesus said, what is it that what is the minimum requirement for a body? Two. Matthew 18:20, where two are gathered in my name, I'm in the midst. That's a body. You can't have one. There's no mixed when there's one. Matthew 18:20 says minimum is two. 46:36 So, that's the beginning of a church. Two people Paul and Barnabas coming together and going to a place. That's the beginning of a church. Where two or three but they must be gathered by the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name, he's in the 46:49 midst. And as a church is formed there needs to be multiple elders to manifest a body. Otherwise, it'll be a one-man show like the Old Testament. That's why you never read in the New Testament of a one-man pastor in any 47:06 church. Now, you may be seeing it all around you. I say to you in Jesus' name that is 100% against the New Testament. That's like the Old Testament high priest. Many people live in the Old Testament. For example, being defeated by sin 47:20 is an Old Testament experience. New Testament is sin shall not rule over you because you're under grace. Not under law. If you're under law, sin will rule over you. So, most Christians live under the old covenant. They are defeated by sin. 47:35 They love money like the Old Testament. They live with a health wealth gospel like Deuteronomy 28. Deuteronomy 28 is a health wealth message. It's not the New Testament gospel. In the same way, they disobey the New Testament in church pattern 47:49 also. They have one pastor, never found in the New Testament. Pastor is a word which means shepherd. And that is not an office in the church. It is a gift. Ephesians 4 and verse 11, it says 48:08 Christ ascended upon high and he has given certain gifts to the church to run the church and those gifts are Ephesians 4 and verse 11, apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers. 48:26 Five gifts. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or shepherds and teachers. It's not an office. An apostle is not an office. It's a gift. A prophet is not an office. It's a gift. A pastor is not an office. It's a gift. 48:42 A teacher is not an office. It's a gift. And from those whom God appoints the Lord chooses those who are the most mature. An apostle may choose those who are the most mature in the church. He planted the church. So, he selects 49:00 those who are the most mature. So, when the apostle cannot go himself, Paul tells Titus in Titus chapter 1, I left you in Crete. Titus 1:5, that you will appoint elders in every city, in every church. So, 49:19 Titus was an understudy of the Apostle Paul and he had to appoint elders, not a pastor. Elders, two people at least must be in the leadership of every church. It's a very sad thing. Almost many, many churches are ruined because the one-man 49:37 pastor becomes a dictator. Nobody's there to check him. Nobody's there to correct him. From the beginning when CFC started 46 years ago, the Lord brought two of us together, me and another brother. And mean, together. And as the church grew, there were three 49:54 of us. And then four, but we discussed things together. And I praise God that these brothers with whom I worked could turn around to me and say, when we were discussing whether we should do something, they said, "No, brother Zac, we don't agree 50:09 with you." I said, "Praise God." Here are people who are not yes-men, just saying yes to what I say. My fellow elders right in the early days would say to me, "Brother Zac, we don't agree with you." I said, "Praise the Lord. I'm not 50:21 God. I'm not Jesus Christ. I'm happy that to be corrected by someone." I said, "Okay, then we will not move forward till both of us agree or three of us agree." And that's how we have worked, and that's how the Lord has led us in CFC 50:34 all these 46 years. We have not believed in a one-man rule or a one-man pastor. We share with each other, and when we are in agreement, we move forward. And if you're not in agreement, we wait. And we have never lost anything by 50:46 waiting. I may make a mistake. I remember one example where I wanted to I felt that a one person had done something wrong serious enough to be put out of the church. So, I told my brother, "I think we should put that person out of the 51:01 church." And my fellow brother, fellow elder said, "No, brother Zac, let's wait a little. Maybe let's give the person 3 months and see if things will improve and change." I said, "Okay. Since you don't agree with me, we will follow your advice. We'll give 51:19 the person 3 months. But we have to operate as united. Where two or three are gathered, where two are gathered together, Jesus is in the midst. And I want Jesus in the midst of us all the time." And so, we gave that person 3 months. 51:30 And you know what happened? The person changed completely and rectified itself. I was so thankful I did not act in haste and put the person out of the church and lived a number of years in the church as a very blessed person in the church. 51:47 So, I see that any of us can make a mistake. So, that's why God puts elders as the church grows, maybe three or four. That is the New Testament pattern, and that's the way God protects the church by preventing it from a one-man show or a 52:00 dictatorship that can destroy a church. In a related note, um does the church the members of the church then have any say at all in church matters after the elders are appointed? See, 52:18 think of the church as a family. Children do not choose who's to be my father or who's to be my mother. God has determined that. And they can't vote out the father and mother one day saying, "We don't want you." And the very fact that in a family also 52:36 God has put two people at the top top, father and mother. It's not one person. And that's why husband and wife must discuss with each other in matters related to the home, the way you spend money, the way you bring up children. 52:50 Of course, if one is more godly than the other, the other person should be humble enough to recognize that the godly person has more wisdom, but yet even if the other person is less godly, that that person's contribution is valuable 53:01 if they are born again. Of course, if one partner is not born again, it's different. But if the person's born again, the two are together, Jesus is in the midst. And that's the best way to bring up children where father and mother 53:11 both contribute their own uh input and understanding. And together, for example, for example, when our children uh something comes up in school, shall we send the children for this camp for a few days away? I would discuss it with my wife. We'd 53:28 discuss together and until we are agreed, we don't move forward. So, that's just one example. So, this is the way God wants a church to move forward, and the congregation does not choose who is to be their leader. That is in 53:45 politics. In in the in the society in the worldly society, everybody has a vote and decides who's to be their leader. That's not the way leaders are chosen in the church. I know a lot of churches do that, but then a lot of churches do 101 things 54:01 which are not in the scripture. This is just one of them. In the scripture, you read that Paul says to Titus, "I told you to appoint elders." God gives discernment to the apostle and to those who are working with him to decide who should be 54:21 an elder in the church. It's never a question of voting. Never, never, never. We've never done that in 46 years in any CFC church. It's a question about Matthew 16:18 where Jesus said, "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." 54:39 How do we correctly interpret this? Uh was Jesus giving Peter any special place in his church? There's a saying that a text taken out of context is a pretext. I mean that if you don't understand 54:58 English, uh pretext means you Do you want to an excuse to do something you want to do. So, you can take a verse out of its context because you want to do something with that verse. So, let's read it in its context. The context is 55:17 Matthew 16 verse 15. "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter says, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God." And Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Peter, because flesh and blood did not reveal to you. My father gave you this 55:32 revelation from heaven. But I want to say to you Peter, that's a great revelation. The Father gave him revelation, but I want to say you are Peter, Petros, which in the Greek means a small stone. 55:50 You are a small stone. But on this rock which you just confessed, which is I am the Christ, the son of the living God, on this rock I will build my church. It's a contrast that Jesus is drawing. 56:07 You are Petros, but on this Petra, in the Greek it is very different. You are Petros, a small stone, but on this Petra, this big rock, which you just confessed the Christ, the son of the living God, I will build my church. 56:22 So, the church, thank God, it was not built on Peter. It would have destroyed and been shaken long ago. It was built on Jesus Christ, and the gates of hell will never overpower the church built on Christ. When Christ builds a church, one 56:35 proof of it is the powers of hell can never overcome it. If your church was overcome by the powers of hell, you can be pretty sure that Jesus did not build it. Some man built it. And the Lord gave authority to Peter to saying, "I give you the keys of the 56:51 kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven." But hang on now, let's continue. Within the next 1 minute, when Jesus talks about taking up the 57:03 cross, Peter took him aside, verse 22. Can you imagine somebody rebuking Jesus Christ? Jesus, verse 22, Peter rebuked Jesus Christ. He suddenly got puffed up and thought, "Oh, I'm the great one who's got the keys of the kingdom of 57:20 heaven. I will even rebuke Jesus." See how pride can come in? And Jesus turned around and called him Satan. So, what was he? Was he a rock or was he Satan? Get behind me, Satan, verse 23. That was enough to humble Peter. 57:37 You know, when you get puffed up, it's wonderful that God does something to bring us down to the dust. To prick the balloon that's flying into the air and bring it down to earth. Many times people need that. If God does something through us or 57:49 somebody appreciates us and the balloon gets puffed up with air and God has to little give a little prick and bring it down to earth and that's what happened. He called him Satan. And the authorities that the Lord gave here to Satan, if you 58:01 I mean to sorry, to Peter. In Matthew 18, he gives it to others in the church as well. You read in Matthew chapter 18 to the elders of the church, verse 18, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. So, there's no special authority given 58:16 to Peter. How can we foster fellowship in the church in a practical way without it becoming a club? Okay. Very important. 58:34 I would recommend to all of you to read a little booklet written by Santosh Poonen called the congregation the club and the church. There are three types of churches. One is only a congregation. Yeah, there's a club like any other 58:52 worldly club. And the other is a real church of Jesus Christ. And it all depends on whether we have the two relationships in the cross. Vertically with God and horizontally with each other. And that is written in 1 John chapter 1. 59:13 By the way, if you want this booklet, it's it's on our website. If you go to cfcindia.com cfcindia.com you can read that book I just mentioned there freely. You can just download it and read it. But if you want a uh a hard copy, please write to us. 59:31 But coming to this question, in 1 John 1 to verse chapter 1 verses 1 to 3, it speaks about fellowship. In verse 3 especially, "Our fellowship is with the Father." That's the vertical arm of the cross, "and His Son Jesus Christ, and you have 59:47 fellowship with us." That is the horizontal. That is true fellowship where a church is built. If you only have the vertical and you say, "I'm walking with the Lord." And you have no There are a lot of people like that. They don't belong 1:00:01 to any church. They're not committed to anybody. They have a good relationship with the Lord, but they are useless for God because the Lord wants to build a church. And they'll never get more light on themselves because we get light on 1:00:13 ourselves by mingling with other people who are also walking with the Lord. And if you don't get light on yourself through others, you know, it's through one another that we discover things in ourselves that is wrong. If you keep a 1:00:24 distance from other, there'll be 101 things wrong in your life that you'll never discover. So, we need fellowship with one another. At the same time, if you don't have this vertical relationship with Christ and you have only the horizontal 1:00:37 one, it'll be a club where people gather in a club to play cards, people gather in a club club to play tennis, people gather in a club to play golf, and people gather in a club to read the Bible, to sing songs, to have praise songs and worship songs, and 1:00:54 listen to messages. It's a club. And they care for one another, they help one another. If somebody's in need, they'll help them. And if uh they need to shift their residence, then the people will go around to help them. 1:01:06 It's a club. And they think, "We love one another." Great. But are you getting closer and closer to the Lord in your daily walk with the Lord? If all the people in that church are not getting closer and closer to the Lord in 1:01:17 their daily walk with the Lord, then it is a club. It is the vertical. When you make a cross, you start with the vertical, then the horizontal. So, the vertical relationship with Christ must come first. And that must be there all the time. 1:01:35 Walking with the Lord, denying yourself, taking up the cross, and then the horizontal relationship with one another. That's the way we protect. So, the emphasis in a church must always be on that vertical, followed by the horizontal. 1:01:49 And you read that very clearly in 1 John. He talks about our fellowship is with the Father, and you have fellowship with us. And we love God, and we have to love one another. The first commandment is not love your neighbor as yourself. The 1:02:02 first commandment is love God with all your heart. Then love your neighbor as yourself. So, the arms of the cross are even there. So, that is how we prevent a church from becoming a club. Yeah. If a church is preaching wrong or 1:02:20 incomplete doctrine, but there's no new covenant-minded church in my area, should I still go to that church just for fellowship with other sincere believers? Yeah. See, we all need fellowship, no matter how spiritual or how wholehearted you 1:02:36 are. God wants you to mingle with others of his children. And even if they don't understand something, you don't have to get people at our own level of understanding of fellowship. No. You can learn something from even a very 1:02:48 young believer. I've learned things from people who are new believers. There's something of Christ that I can receive. If you have If you have humility, you can learn from any member of the body of Christ. If I recognize, here's a person who's 1:03:01 born again, Christ is his head, and so he's a member of the body. Which member of my human body can I say I don't need it? Not even the finger or the nail or anything. I need every part of the body. And I say, wherever I can find someone, 1:03:15 even if they're not mature, even if they don't have the understanding I have. If I can see that person has really given their life to Christ. I can fellowship with that person. So, I would look for a church where they at 1:03:28 least they preach that much. But if they don't preach the new birth at all, they don't even preach about being born again, they say you become a Christian because you're born in a Christian family, I say there is no difference between 1:03:39 such a Christian and a Hindu or a Muslim or any other religion or an atheist. Because no one becomes a Christian by being born in a Christian family. And most churches, 90% of churches have people call themselves Christians because sit there because 1:03:52 they're born in a Christian family. I don't agree with that. So, I would not waste my time sitting in such a church. But I look for maybe even there there could be one or two here and there in that church who love the Lord. So, my 1:04:04 aim is to always be to look for someone who loves Jesus Christ and who's born again. And it is more likely that I'll find that person in some building called a church or in some organization called a church than in a mosque or a temple or 1:04:19 an atheist club or somewhere. That's why I go to even a very weak so-called church where there may be a lot of things wrong, but if there's one person there, my prayer should always be, "Lord, take me, bring me in touch 1:04:31 with one person." I won't become a member of member of that church, but I may attend it to look for somebody who loves the Lord with whom I can fellowship. Here's a question. Is it unloving if we avoid certain people, including other 1:04:49 so-called Christians, if they've done harm to us in the past, and uh how do we keep ourselves free from bitterness in such situations? Okay, let me answer two questions there. One, it says in 1 Corinthians and uh chapter 5 1:05:09 that if a person calls himself a brother, 1 Corinthians 5:11, that means he called himself a believer. Do not associate with a person who calls himself a brother and he's immoral, an idolater or a drunkard. Don't even 1:05:28 have a meal with such a person. He calls himself a brother. But if he does not call himself a brother, he's a heathen or an atheist, then by all means you can have a meal with him or you can meet with him, etc., etc. So, 1:05:41 uh that's one thing. But when it comes to people with whom you've had a problem because they have uh hurt us or created problems for us in the past or they're the fighting type. It says we must seek for peace with all men. 1:05:59 Romans 12:18. I want to show you two verses. As much as it depends on you, live at peace with all men. That means don't have a fight, don't have a quarrel, live at peace. But it doesn't mean you can have fellowship with them. 1:06:12 Because it says in Hebrews chapter 12, that's the other verse I want to show you. Pursue peace, verse 14. Hebrews 12:14. Pursue peace with all, particularly believers, without which you will not see the Lord. 1:06:31 So, how do I pursue peace with a person who's a troublesome person? I'll tell you. By avoiding meeting him. If I meet him, there'll be trouble. If I visit his house, there'll be a conflict. So, I never visit his house. And he calls himself a brother, but 1:06:49 he's always creating problems. I want to pursue peace, so I just steer clear of him. If I see him coming down the road, I walk the other side of the road. He's a brother, but my past experience with him is always he gets into conflict, so I avoid him. 1:07:05 Because I'm a I'm pursuing peace. If I If I go with him, it will become conflict, and I want I hate conflict. I don't want it. But I must forgive him. I must not have anything in my heart against him. Definitely not. And if one day the Lord leads you to 1:07:20 restore such a person, but especially leading from the Lord, do it. But otherwise, pursuing peace is very, very important, and very often the only way to do it is by avoiding people, but don't keep a bitterness. Bitterness will destroy you. 1:07:35 Forgive him. Whatever he's done harm to you, forgive him. Jesus forgave the Pharisees on the cross, but did he have fellowship with those Pharisees? No. He had zero fellowship with the Pharisees, but 100% forgiveness to the 1:07:48 Pharisees. So, sometimes we can have 100% forgiveness to somebody, and like Jesus on the cross, zero fellowship with that person. You can't be better than Jesus. He had zero fellowship with the Pharisees. And you may have zero fellowship with 1:08:01 some people, but you love them. He loved the Pharisees enough to die for them. But he had zero fellowship with them. So, you can love people, but have no fellowship with them. Jesus is my example in everything. Here's a question about a head covering, 1:08:19 since we practice that in our churches. Could you speak briefly on the significance of the head covering for women and men not wearing it, and should it be practiced outside of the church meetings as well? Okay. Now, this is not as important as turning 1:08:35 away from sin. The primary message we preach in our church is not women cover your heads. The primary message we preach in our church is hate sin and fellowship with Jesus Christ. But Jesus once said that even the smallest commandment in the law 1:08:53 must be obeyed. I'll show you that verse first. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 19. If somebody breaks the least of the commandments That means think of the smallest commandment in the New Testament 1:09:12 whichever it is and you break it. You say, "Oh, that's not a big one." I agree it's not a big one. It's not only a small one, it is the least. And you teach others say that's not important. I'm reading from Matthew 5:19 1:09:24 by the way. You say that's the least and you teach others that's the least you will be called one day and even today the least person in God's kingdom. You want that title? Do you want the title the least person in God's kingdom? 1:09:40 The one whom Jesus considers to be the least in my kingdom then I'll tell you what to do. Ignore the small commandments and teach other people to ignore them. Very easy to become last in God's kingdom. But if you keep the smallest commandment, 1:09:55 I'm reading from Matthew 5:19 and teach other people to keep the smallest commandment you will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Now, I don't want to be called great on the earth but I certainly want to be called great by Jesus Christ. 1:10:09 Do you want to be called great by Jesus Christ? Well do what it says in Matthew 5:19. Obey the least commandment and teach other people to obey the least commandment. So I tell people this. I say, "Show me something I mean I am a 1:10:24 leader of a number of churches and I say, "Tell me something in the New Testament that I'm not teaching. Show it to me. I will teach it. I want to obey even the smallest little thing." That's the introduction. So now we come to head covering. It is 1:10:40 in 1 Corinthians 11. Now, 1 Corinthians 11 is divided into two parts. The first part is why men should not cover their heads and why women should cover their heads, not all the time. When they pray or when they share the word, that's all. 1:10:58 So, only those times that we are told not in your daily life. And the second part of 1 Corinthians 11 is about breaking bread, the Lord's table. Now, every single church that I know preaches and practices the Lord's table. 1:11:18 Why do they ignore the first part of 1 Corinthians 11 and do only the second part? Aren't they being selective in God's word? I'll take what I like and I'll ignore what I don't like. Or you sit in a church which takes one 1:11:32 and ignores the other. You should go to the leader of that church and ask them 1 Corinthians 11 and say, even if he calls himself pastor, you ask him, "Why do you obey the second part of 1 Corinthians 11 but not the first part? 1:11:45 Are you being selective in God's word?" I don't want to be like that. I want to take the whole of God's word. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 says, "All scripture is inspired by God." I'm not here to decide which part which 1:12:03 is inspired I can ignore and which a part I can do. That would be like questioning God. I don't do that, but some people do unfortunately. Now, let me explain. I want you to understand something the Holy Spirit says if 1 Corinthians 11:3. Please understand 1:12:18 this. Whether you agree with or not is not important, but you understand this. Christ is the head of every man. I didn't say that. The Holy Spirit said it. 1 Corinthians 11:3. And man is the head of the woman. 1:12:36 And God is the head of Christ. This is the hierarchy. God, Christ, man, woman. This is not in relation to salvation or in relation to fellowship. It's in relation to the It says in verse two, the traditions that are practiced within a local church 1:12:55 meeting. He's talking about local church meetings here about prayer and sharing the word of chapter 11, 12, 13, 14 all about local church meetings. In that context of the order in a local church meeting etc. It's God. Beneath him is Christ. Beneath as a man. 1:13:14 And beneath him is man and beneath them is a woman. I get that from 1 Corinthians 11:3. Christ is the head of every man. Man is the head of a woman. God is the head of Christ. Now, therefore, if a man covers his head verse three, who is his head? Christ. 1:13:33 So, if he puts a cap on his head while he's praying, he's insulting Christ who is his head. It's a symbolic thing. Baptism is symbolic. Breaking of bread in the second part of this chapter 11 is also symbolic. So, symbolic things 1:13:46 are not vital importance, but if you do accept one symbol, you got to accept the other symbol, too. 1 Corinthians 11:23 on what is a symbolic, the breaking of bread. Here's another thing which is symbolic. A man does not cover his head because he says 1:14:02 Christ should not be covered. But a woman's head is man. And so she covers her head to say man's glory must be covered in the church. So, it goes on to say in verse seven. A man should not have his head covered because he's the image and glory of God. 1:14:20 And the glory of God must not be covered in the church. So, when a man comes without a cap into the church, he's saying the glory of God must not be covered. And but the glory of man, it says in verse seven, 1 Corinthians 11, the woman 1:14:34 is the glory of man. And when she covers her she's giving a fantastic testimony thereby in the church, the glory of man must be covered in this church. A woman who does not cover her head when she's praying is saying, "No, the glory 1:14:47 of man should not be covered. Let the glory of man be seen a lot in this church." Now, you may not agree with me. You're not If you don't agree with me, you're not agreeing with scripture. Please read 1 Corinthians chapter 11 1:15:00 and verse 3, 4, and 7. And then it also says in verse 10, a woman covering her head is a symbol of authority. I am subject to my husband. Or I'm subject to the elders of this church who are men. There were no women appointed as elders 1:15:18 in any church in the New Testament days. It's a symbol of authority. I'm submitting to the authority. It's a symbol. It's not uh anything more than a symbol. But he goes on to say that does not mean verse 11 that the woman is independent of the man 1:15:35 or the man is independent of the woman because just like the woman originated from Adam, the first woman came out of Adam. But it goes on to say thereafter every man came out of a woman. Uh to humble men who think they're 1:15:51 somebody. So, there's a balance in the teaching of scripture. Let not the man think that he's somebody. Remember, where did this man, you man, where did you come from? You came out of a woman one day, your mother. So, you need a you need a woman, too. 1:16:04 But symbolically, the man is the leader in the church and that's the meaning of the head covering. And one more thing, it says long hair is given to a woman. It is her glory, verse 15. A woman's long hair is her glory. That glory must be covered in the 1:16:23 church. She should not come to the church to show off what a fantastic hair I have. It must be covered. It says that. Do you believe that the glory of man and woman should be covered in the church? Sure. Then I say to sisters, 1:16:35 your glory is in your hair, cover it when you come to the meeting. Outside, you do what you like. Okay. Thanks, Dad. We've posted in the chat on YouTube links to the book that Dad mentioned, The Congregation, the Club, and the Church, 1:16:53 and an article on the CFC website by brother Zach on head covering goes into detail there, so you can refer to that. If you're not on YouTube, you can just find it, search for it. There was a question regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit that I wanted 1:17:09 to go back to and ask for you ask you. And that is you've said you have said that um that we can't put a timeline on God when he gives us an assurance of the Holy Spirit. Um in the meantime, while we are seeking 1:17:27 him for that baptism of the Holy Spirit and believe he has, do we just operate as believing he has and then the assurance comes later? Is there some period of time between receiving it and the assurance? Yes, there could be. 1:17:43 The Bible says, let me read to you. I want to show you everything from scripture and not from my own ideas. Galatians chapter 3, verse 2. Paul says, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit by doing some works 1:18:02 or just by hearing with faith?" Not hearing alone, when hearing produced faith. That's how you receive the Holy Spirit, even in those days. He doesn't even mention laying on of hands or any such thing. I believe laying on hands was just in 1:18:17 those early days and God gave a special gift to some apostles, but it's not always necessary. Everyone can receive the Holy Spirit without laying on of hands. Galatians 3:2, by faith. Hearing, faith. How did you receive Christ? 1:18:34 There was a time in your life when you turned and said, "Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner, I want you to come into my heart, forgive my sin, and be Lord of my life. Now, who came and told you after that that you're a child of God? 1:18:48 Maybe somebody pointed you to scripture, but you have that assurance in your heart given by the Holy Spirit. Christ has come in. I'll tell you my own testimony. I My father was a God-fearing man and would send us to Sunday school from a 1:19:02 very early age I heard the gospel. And it's quite And we had meetings that preached by godly men in those days when I was in in North India. And I used to hear that and I think perhaps at the age of 13 or so, I must have asked Jesus 1:19:18 to come into my heart. I never missed going to church on a Sunday. I never got out of bed any day without praying the Lord's Prayer, Our Father who art in heaven. And I asked Jesus to come into my heart. Uh I was never sure. No change, nothing. 1:19:32 Age 14, 15, 16, I joined the Navy. No assurance that Christ is coming. I kept on saying whenever some meeting I'd get challenged say Lord Jesus come into my heart. Finally, after 6 years, when I was 19 and 1/2 years old, 1:19:47 and in my habitual reading of the Bible, I came across John 6:37. John chapter 6, verse 37. If anyone comes to me, I will not cast you out. And it was like a word the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. I can't explain it. 1:20:07 Somebody else reads it, it doesn't come like a word to his heart, but it came to my heart that day. And I said Lord, I've come to you so many times. The Lord said I never cast you out. I was sure that day, July 1959, Christ has come in. 1:20:23 To use naval language, it's like dropping an anchor. And my ship has never drifted from that day. I commend to you John chapter 6 verse 37, an excellent anchor. Anyone comes to me, I will not cast him out, Jesus says. Any 1:20:42 of you who have doubts, go to that verse and drop that anchor. 62 years, I've never doubted my salvation. I've had up and down experiences, but Christ is in my heart. So, in the same way, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, 1:20:58 I am this questioning type. So, I pray, Lord, when did I first pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit? When I was 22 years old, soon after my baptism, water baptism. I prayed and say, "Okay, I think yes, he has come." I experienced something, 1:21:16 but then as time goes on, I backslide, I'm defeated, defeated, defeated by discouragement, anger, and so many things. And I again pray, "Lord, I don't know if I had the spirit, I've lost it. Please fill me again." And I began to seek God again, and one 1:21:32 day I was praying with another brother, and he he helped me. He said two things. He said, "Zac, it is unthinkable that God will call you to serve him and not give you his Holy Spirit." Suddenly, faith came in my heart. 1:21:55 I mean, you can say the hearing that comes by faith. I received the spirit. So, I knelt down, and he also did nothing. He rebuked the spirit of unbelief that was in me. And I knelt down without any feeling. I said, "Lord, I believe. 1:22:11 I prayed for so many years. I believe now that you have given me the Holy Spirit." I received the spirit by hearing with faith. And then, I said, "Lord, I want some confirmation." Uh 1:22:29 the next day, of course, uh I don't want to go into this because uh I also spoke in tongues at that time without my expecting it. I did not manufacture it. I did not expect it. Nobody told me it was I think because of my tremendous lack of 1:22:48 faith, God gave me illumination. But it was not necessary. The next morning, I said, "Well, if the Holy Spirit is really coming, the New Testament must be a new book." And I said, "Let me restart reading the New Testament from Matthew 1 and see if 1:23:02 something is different in me." I'll tell you now, after 46 years, I can tell you the New Testament became completely different from me from that day onwards. I'd already read it for 16 years, but I discovered so many things 1:23:14 I never discovered. Anyway, I started with Matthew 1 that day, and I said, "Lord, give me some assurance." And as I was reading, so-and-so begat so-and-so, and so-and-so is the father of so-and-so, and so-and-so. I wasn't 1:23:23 getting any assurance from that big genealogy. But suddenly, I came across verse 20. That which was in her is from the Holy Spirit. I said, "Wow! That which is in me is from the Holy Spirit. What a word!" Right in the very 1:23:41 first chapter of the New Testament. That was God speaking. Just like I got John 6:37 then, I got Matthew 1:20. The Holy Spirit, like the Holy Spirit was came upon Mary, the Holy Spirit come upon me. And then the the Lord expanded 1:23:58 on that and said, "Like the Holy Spirit came upon Mary to produce Jesus in her." She never spoke in tongues that day. The Holy Spirit has come upon you to produce Christ in your life. And just like the baby Jesus grew in 1:24:14 Mary's womb over a period of time, the likeness of Christ will grow in you over a period of time. And just like Mary was misunderstood by everybody else, you will also be misunderstood by everybody else when you speak about the baptism of 1:24:26 the Holy Spirit. But because but Mary knew it was genuine and you will know it was genuine. And over a period of time, the main thing is Christ will be seen in your life. I was so tremendously blessed that I knew God gave me an assurance. So the 1:24:41 assurance came from God. It did not come from any man. I believe that uh God will give you an assurance, but you must receive by faith and say, "Lord, give me an assurance." I always tell people, after you're praying sought God, 1:24:55 don't get an assurance from a man. Please. That's shaky foundation. Get an assurance from God. The reason my assurance Christ came to my heart once filled with the Holy Spirit came from God and that's why he has never shaken. 1:25:11 Even the matter of the fullness of the spirit that I had an experience that is genuine. Of course, subsequent events in the last 46 years that churches God planted and the anointing God gave me to preach and all that proved that it was the Holy Spirit. But 1:25:24 the assurance came from God. So, don't get an assurance from a man. Don't let somebody come and tell you, "Yes, brother sister, you are filled with the Holy Spirit." I would not take it from a man. I said, "I want God to give it to me." 1:25:36 And God can give it. I said, "Lord, I once said, 'Lord, if it have to wait 10 years, I'll wait 10 years, but I want to get it from you.'" Take that attitude and you'll be surprised. You may not even have to wait 10 days. 1:25:47 God will meet with you. God bless you. Just a follow-up question briefly, if somebody's praying by themselves, uh can they rebuke the spirit of unbelief and fear themselves if that's oppressing them? Sure. In fact, we should rebuke the spirit of 1:26:04 unbelief all the time. In my case, sometimes, you know, it's like man's lying down and needs a little help to get up. Uh you know, that lame man at the temple uh Peter and John John prayed for uh He said, "In the name of Jesus, 1:26:21 arise up and walk." But, I have a feeling that Peter gave him a hand to get up. Because the guy had been sitting down for 40 years in unbelief. So, sometimes we need to give a person a hand, but you can't He could Peter could 1:26:36 not make the person walk. It was the name of Jesus that that person was healed. But, Peter gave him a hand. And sometimes Yeah, we need encouragement from one another, but the assurance must come from God. Okay, I'll close with this last 1:26:52 question. You can choose to answer it however you like, Dad. The question is, how many years do you think it is before Jesus will return? Aha. I can give you that answer very clearly. I know the answer very clearly. Exactly. I'll give you the exact answer. 1:27:13 Uh join with me to Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 36. Of that day of his of the Christ coming back and our 1:27:32 no one knows. Not even the angels in heaven. Not even Jesus, the son, when he was on earth. But, only the Father. Jesus Christ, when he was on earth 1:27:51 as a man, he took on the limitations of man to such an extent that he did not even know the date of his return to the earth, second coming. It's arrogance when people say he's going to come this year, that year, the other year. All types of things. 1:28:09 We I say, but there's another thing he said earlier when you see all these things what is 33 recognize that he is near that I can say when I see all the things happening especially Israel having come in come back to the 1:28:27 land they were thrown out of the land in 40 years after the crucifixion of Christ God punished the nation of Israel in the 8070 they were scattered all over the earth in 1948 from all over the earth they came back no nation has ever been born like that 1:28:44 no group of people 1948 they came back and many other things that are happening nowadays especially the drift into deep sin that's happening in the world immorality various types of sexual sin and sexual 1:29:03 perversion that's going on between men and women and men and men and women and women all kinds of things we see it is an indication that he is near and that's all I will say but we must be ready at any time 1:29:20 walk with the Lord in humility keep your heart clean at all times and you will be ready and say Lord help me to make the most of the time because the days are not only evil but the days are short that's all I have to say to that 1:29:37 question Thank you
