0:00 Девочка-пай 0:30 Девочка-пай 1:00 The New Testament also obedience is important but with one difference. You know yesterday I said how the old covenant the external things were important. And in the New Testament, New Covenant, the inner things are more important even though outward things are also important. 1:22 Please remember that. Jesus told the Pharisees that you clean the outside of the cup. But the inside is dirty. 1:48 So when we talk about overcoming anger, it is not just shutting our mouth and keeping quiet. That can be yoga. There are people who are Buddhists and practice yoga who can control their anger like that. Jesus removes the anger from the heart. 2:15 In the Old Covenant, it was an external control. That means you don't commit adultery by controlling yourself. Even though there is a desire. 2:37 But in the New Covenant, we don't even do it in our heart. So in the Old Covenant, it was just obedience because you are afraid that God will punish you if you don't obey. 2:57 But in the New Covenant, it is the obedience of faith. But in the New Covenant, it is the obedience of faith. Or the obedience of love. You know, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Just think of how a very faithful, loving wife will keep on looking after a sick husband without any desire for any reward. 3:31 But think of a person who works in his office out of fear of his master. 3:51 Both are working. But the one is working in the office out of fear. And the other is working out of love. Or think of a kitchen where a wife is making something for her husband and a servant woman is also making something. 4:20 Both are making the same rice or whatever it is. But the servant is doing it for a salary. That is Old Covenant life. That is why we don't believe in pastors who are paid a monthly salary. 4:40 How many of you give your wife a monthly salary for the work she does in the house? You will give a salary to a servant who works in your house. So, I say, "Are you the wife of Jesus Christ or just a slave?" 5:10 The Old Testament they were slaves. The Levites got a salary. All the other Levin tribes had to give 10% of their grain to the Levites. That was their salary. 5:32 But in the New Covenant, Jesus never promised his apostles any salary. They had to trust God. And if you trust God, you will get, he will provide all that you need. Many of you work in an office and you trust the office to take care of your monthly salary. 6:02 Do you really believe that God is more unfaithful than your earthly boss? It's impossible. I remember when I decided to leave the Navy about 46 years ago. 6:31 A lot of my fellow officers asked me, "How are you going to live now?" So, I had one answer. I worked for the Navy for six years. 6:51 And they always gave me my salary on the first of the month. You think God is less faithful than the Navy? They couldn't understand that. Do you understand it? 7:12 That if you honor God, he will honor you. It is much more secure to live by faith in God than to live by faith in a human being. See, Hebrews 11, and verse 5, verse 6. 7:39 Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Whatever else you may do, you cannot please God if you can't trust Him. Will you make your husband happy if you tell him, "I will do all the work in your house, but I cannot trust you." 8:06 That will be an insult to your husband. Your husband will say, "I don't want you to do any work in the house, just trust me." Trust is such an important thing. 8:27 The world is full of people whom you cannot trust. I heard a story of a father who was a businessman who was trying to teach his little boy when he was very small. 8:52 So, his boy was standing on the lintel of the house, one Saja. And his father told him, "Jump! I will catch you." So, the little boy jumped. 9:13 His father didn't catch him. He fell down. First principle of business, don't trust anybody. Not even your father. That is correct, you know, the world is like that. What they promise you, they will not keep. 9:35 And very often, we treat God like that. We trust human beings so much. We don't trust God. So, here is where God requires us to have faith. 9:56 To believe that God is faithful to what He has promised. See Romans chapter 4. 10:16 We read about Abraham. How he believed that God would do what God had told him. Verse 20 and 21. 10:36 Please read it. Yeah, where was his faith, not in his own ability to produce a child? 10:59 He was absolutely sure God will do what He has promised. He was sure God is faithful. 11:19 That is faith. Not what I can do. See, Abraham had to do something to have a child. But the power was from God. And without God's help, he could not have done it. So, that is what faith is. 11:42 I act, I act, but I trust God to keep His promise. That is the way to overcome. See, it says in 1 John chapter 5. How we can overcome. When we think of this theme that you can be an overcomer. 12:06 In 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. This is the victory that overcomes the world. Even our faith. That is, you read there, 1 John verse 4. 12:30 Fourth verse. This is the victory that overcomes the world. Our faith. Our faith means what? I like Abraham. I believe God is faithful to His promise. Let me show you another verse. 12:51 Hebrews chapter 6. Here again, it says in verse 13 about Abraham. God gave His word to Abraham that he would have a son. And so, it says in verse 18, like Abraham, there are two things that we can be sure of. 13:23 One, God has promised. And then, secondly, God can never tell a lie. God can never tell a lie. So, when we read God's word and come to His promises. And I say, God can never tell a lie. 13:47 Men may tell so many lies. I cannot trust what a man promises. Because even when he wants to help me, he may not have the ability to help me. See Romans chapter 3. And verse 4. 14:09 Here it says, let everybody in the world be considered a liar, but God speaks the truth. That is the position we have to take. Even if all men are liars, God still speaks the truth. If you don't believe that, you can never be an overcomer. 14:33 Our obedience must be the obedience of faith. If we don't have that faith, our obedience will be like the Old Testament obedience. That means, if I don't obey, God will punish me. 14:53 If I don't accept Christ, I will go to hell. This is all fear. Or, we can say, like the preachers say nowadays, you give 10% to God, God will also bless you. That is like doing business with God. 15:16 I will give you so much, how much will you give me? If you have a wife like that. Okay, I will do this for you. How many saris will you buy for me? I am going to cook some good food for you one week. What will you give me? 15:38 You think you are going to have a happy marriage with a wife like that? And today's preachers are making Christians like that. Christians are supposed to be the bride or the wife of Jesus Christ. And they are telling him, say to your husband. 16:00 I will do, I will give you so much money, what will you give me? Who wants a wife like that? Do you think Jesus wants a wife like that? Who says, a wife is working and tells her husband, I will give you 10% of what I earn. 16:21 And tells her husband, now you tell me what you will give me. Can you see the terrible nature of that type of preaching that brings a relationship between a believer and Jesus Christ? That is why God has raised up our churches to expose that lie and error that is going on in Christendom today. 16:48 God has raised up our churches where we have so many elders, more than 70 elders, none of whom receive a salary. Not even one. I don't know whether you people appreciate your elders. Sometimes I tell people in our church, you must go and stay in some Pentecostal church for one year. 17:14 Then you will learn to appreciate CFC and the elders much more. Then you will appreciate your elders more. And you will appreciate the churches more. After you see how those fellows in those churches will take your money. 17:38 And you will try to control your life. I want to say to you my brothers. If you don't appreciate your local church. And you don't appreciate your elder brothers. I can cure you of it in one year. 17:59 Go and stay in a Pentecostal church for one year. You will be cured of that ingratitude permanently. We are preaching a bridal relationship with Jesus Christ. A Christ who does not want your money, but He wants your love. 18:28 He doesn't want your gifts. He wants you to trust Him. And that is written in the Bible. Hebrews chapter 10. This is the verse that other preachers will never show you. Hebrews chapter 10. 18:53 Verse 6. You do not need offerings or sacrifices. That is not what He wants. Lord, you have given me a body. You read those verses following that. 19:13 You have given me a body. That is what He wants. He does not want your sacrifices or offerings. Twice it is written there. God does not want your sacrifices or offerings. But a body you have prepared for me. And here in that body, I have come to do your will, O God. 19:42 So what does God want from you? You will never hear this in any other church. God does not want your money. He wants your body. Then people may say, How can we have meetings like this? This mandapam costs so many thousands of rupees for three days. 20:09 Those who love the Lord will have a burden. For that. But they will not do business with God. If I give so much money for the conference, how much will you bless me? Can you see a, supposing a husband is sick? 20:30 How much a wife will even work and earn money to take care of her husband if she loves him? Do you have that type of love for Jesus? That is a relationship we must have with Jesus Christ. 20:52 It is not, if I do this, how much will you give me? Even in prayer, it may not be with money. But you may say, if I pray, what will you give me? Why should we go to Jesus always saying, if I give you money, what will you give me? 21:12 If I pray, what will you give me? What type of wife will that be who always goes to her husband and says, what will you give me? What will you give me? What will you give me? What will you give me? That is the word the prodigal son told his father. 21:32 We read that he went one day to, before he went away from home. He went to his father and said to him in Luke 15, Give me. Give me what belongs to me. That is what we read there in Luke 15 and verse 12. 21:57 Give me. When you go like that, give me. You usually spend it on yourself. Whatever God gives you, you know it may be some spiritual gift. 22:17 And you can spend it on yourself. Then you have not understood the Christian life. If you want to be an overcomer, you must trust in God's faithfulness. So, let me tell you four areas where you must trust God. 22:38 Number one, in 1 John 1 verse 9. This is, these are very simple truths. If you can believe that, you will be an overcomer. Your Christian life can be very happy. 23:01 One of the first things we must know is God's faithfulness to forgive us and cleanse us from our sins. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us. 23:28 God is faithful. What do we have to do? Admit your failure. And I will tell you this. If you blame other people like Adam blamed his wife, God will never forgive you. 23:51 We have two examples in the Bible. One is when God asked Adam, did you do this? He didn't admit it immediately. He blamed his wife. And God said, the ground is cursed and you are going to have all types of problems in your life. 24:11 And he sent him out of paradise. If your life is miserable today, let me tell you one reason can be this. Like Adam, you blame other people for things. Maybe you blame your wife. 24:35 Or your husband. Or you say, my children are like this. Why haven't you brought up your children properly? Brother, what to do? My children are like this. Of course, I am a holy man. I am perfect. Your children will be wayward because of you. 25:00 I told my children, if any one of you go wayward, I will blame myself. I will not blame you. And if one of you go astray, I will pray that you will have a road accident and break your legs and turn to God. I will take the blame and I will pray for them that even if their legs are broken, they will turn to God. 25:31 No, some of you don't take that seriously to make your children follow Jesus Christ. Take the blame yourself. Then God is faithful to forgive you. 25:51 You see the other example in the thief on the cross. The one who went to paradise. He said, it is my fault. I am not blaming my parents or anybody. All the crime I committed in my life is 100% my fault. 26:18 How much of the Bible did that thief know? All of us know the Bible more than that thief. But he had one quality which many of us do not have. He has one quality which many elder brothers do not have. 26:44 In the olden days in Tamil Nadu, we had wonderful fellowship among all the elder brothers. It is not so good today. A little tensions. Even within a church. 27:04 Two elders can't get along. If I ask one of them, what is the problem? It is the other brother. You ask him, what is the problem? It is this brother. This is 100% Adam. 27:24 This is the life of Adam. That is what he also said. Adam, what is your problem? What is the problem? My wife. What is the problem? The devil. Of course, I am alright. Somebody else is causing the problem. 27:44 So God said, okay, you who blame others, you can go out of paradise. And there is curse and thorns and murder, Cain killing Abel, everything happened after that. And I am sorry to say that something similar is happening in some churches. 28:14 Not physical murder. We don't kill each other with daggers and stones today with our tongue. We need to learn once again. We need to go not only the foot of Jesus cross. We need to go to the foot of that cross of that criminal who died and went to paradise. 28:36 You know, we go to the foot of Jesus cross and say, Lord, please forgive my sins. But before you do that, you go to the foot of the other cross on the other side. 28:59 And that murderer who is hanging there and say, oh murderer, please teach me something which I don't know. Teach me how not to blame any other human being but to say, I am guilty. 29:20 You go to that cross first and then come to the cross of Jesus. I say that to all of you. I say it to myself and to all the elder brothers. First go to the cross of that murderer and thief. 29:43 And sit there, even if it takes years, sit there till you learn that lesson. Lord, I am not blaming anybody else. I am guilty and I deserve this. 30:04 There are problems in my home. It is not my wife. It is me. My children have gone astray, not because of them, because of me. My church is not spiritual because I am a bad elder brother. 30:28 I can't fellowship with this other elder brother, not because of him, but because of me. And if it takes 10 years to learn that. Don't go to the foot of Jesus cross. Just sit at the foot of that murderer's cross for 10 years. 30:51 When you learn it. Then you come to Jesus. If we confess our sins. Not somebody else's sins. Adam was confessing his wife's sin. Do you confess your wife's sin like Adam? 31:11 Then your head is not Jesus Christ but Adam. You know when Jesus was hanging on the cross. Whom did he blame? Did he say, oh father, this is not all my sin. No, no, no, this is that fellow's sin. That fellow's sin I am taking, not mine. 31:34 He was taking other people's sins. But he kept quiet. He took the blame for the sins of other people. That is real godliness. 31:54 It's a very high standard. There are three levels. Please learn this. Lowest level is like Adam. Cannot even take the blame for my own sin. 32:14 Blame my wife. Blame the children. Blame the other elders. Or that neighbor. That sister is very difficult to get along with. I am a holy person but that sister is so difficult. All such people I say to you in Jesus name, you are children of Adam. 32:41 Then we can go one step higher. Then we can be like that thief on the cross. He was a child of God. He went to paradise. He did not blame my parents brought me up badly. Or, you know, some people led me astray. 33:01 Nothing. Lord, 100% me. I am the only one to blame in this crime. And what do you deserve? I deserve hell. Oh, Jesus said, really? 33:23 Then please come to paradise. Your life will become a paradise when you start taking the blame like that. That is the meaning of this verse. If we confess our sins. I tell you, after so many years, I still don't find many believers like that. 33:53 Jesus has to say to them like the Pharisees. Luke 16:15 You are those who justify yourselves. You justify yourself. The other person is wrong. That widow did not pay the rent. 34:14 That's why I kicked her out of the house. There is nothing wrong with me. You know, we can have all types of justification for our wrong things. And other people, other people can see. That the grace of God has gone away from your life. 34:37 The other people. I will tell you myself. I have seen brothers in our churches. In whom, once upon a time, there was a tremendous grace of God. Today, I don't see the same grace in their lives. 34:58 Because, maybe in their private life, they have become a little proud that God has blessed them. I know even in CFC. I am Bangalore. I have sometimes publicly praised some brothers. 35:25 Because, what they did or said was good. There is nothing wrong with that. Jesus praised a Roman centurion. He praised Nathaniel. But, when I have praised them, it has made their head big. 35:46 And they have lost grace. Be very careful. We can learn from that thief on the cross. How to confess our sins. That God is absolutely faithful. 36:08 So, the lowest level is where I blame other people. Next level is the thief on the cross. I take my blame for my own sins. And, there is a still higher level which is like a PhD class in the Christian life. 36:28 Maybe one in a million Christians get there. And, that is where, when you get blamed for somebody else's sin, you keep your mouth shut and take the blame. 36:49 That is Jesus. That is Jesus. So, you know those three crosses teach us three levels. One thief, he could not take the blame for his own sin. He said, "I don't deserve to die. 37:09 If you are the son of God, take me down from here." He said, "I don't deserve to die." He was a true child of Adam. I am alright. Somebody else is his fault. That is the lowest level. 37:30 The second level is the other thief who went to paradise. And, the third level is Jesus. Who could take the blame for other people's sins. We all start at that level of that wicked thief who would not take the blame for his own sin. 37:54 Then, we must go one step higher to come to the level of the other thief who went to paradise. I tell you, if you come there itself, it is a great thing. Yes. Sometimes we come there and then go back sometimes to the other thief's level. 38:14 You must decide, "I will never go to the level of that other thief." I will never blame other people. That is the work of the devil to accuse other people. I shall at least live at the level of this thief who said, "I am to blame." 38:37 And, if you are faithful there, God may one day lead you to a much higher level of the Christian life, like Jesus, where you can even take the blame for what other people did. I will never give up. I will never give up. 38:52 I will never give up. I will never give up. About five or six hundred years ago in Germany, there was a very saintly man. His name was Henry Suso. He was one who had a very godly life and a good testimony in the neighborhood, 39:16 in the small house that he lived. He was a single man, not married. And, you know, all the houses were very close to each other and he had a very godly testimony. 39:38 One day, one prostitute came to his door of his house with a baby, knocked at the door and shouted out in a way that all the people in the neighborhood could hear. Told Henry Suso, "Here is the fruit of your sin." 40:01 And gave it to him. And she would. He was innocent. He had never seen that woman in his life. You know, she got a baby from somewhere and thought, "This is the best man to dump it on, he will keep alive." 40:22 And in one moment, the testimony he had built up in that street for so many years was gone. All the people said, "Ah-ha, so this is what this fellow is doing, pretending to be a holy man." 40:45 So, Henry Suso took the baby and went inside. He knelt down before God. He said, "Lord, you know my heart." "I have never seen this woman in my life." "And now she has ruined my testimony in this whole street." 41:05 "What shall I do with this child?" And the Lord spoke one word to him. "Do what I did." Suffer for the sin of some other person. 41:25 That is a very high standard. It's PhD level in the Christian life. To become like Jesus. Even when the blame is put upon me for what somebody else did, keep my mouth shut. 41:50 Which proves that I do not care for the testimony of man. See, there's something. I want to tell you there was a prayer that Henry Suso had prayed about a few days before this woman came. He was praying, "Oh, Lord Jesus, make me like you." 42:18 Very earnestly. And this was the answer to that prayer. What does it mean to become like Jesus? It is to have a shining face and everybody appreciating us? No. The Bible says in Isaiah 53, he was despised and rejected of men. 42:44 There was no beauty in him that we should desire him. Do you really want to be like Jesus? Do you want somebody to blame you for his sin? So, Henry Suso had prayed that prayer. And when this happened, 43:06 he realized this is the answer to my prayer. Okay, I will accept it. And many years later, that woman got convicted of her lie. 43:30 And came to the same street. And told everybody, "I told a lie. I never saw this man." And thus, God restored Henry Suso's testimony. But before that, for many years, Henry Suso suffered a reproach from all the people in his neighborhood. 43:57 And during those years, as he kept his mouth shut, he learned to become like Jesus. So, next time you kneel down and pray, "Oh God, make me like Jesus." Just be careful. 44:17 You really want it? You read the Bible what Jesus suffered. But don't be afraid. Many of us are in the kindergarten class. God will not give you PhD lesson now. 44:37 But there's one lesson we must learn. Take the blame for your sin. God is faithful. The second area, 1 Corinthians 10:13. This is a wonderful promise. 44:58 Again, it says God is faithful. That is, God is faithful, it says here, that he will never allow you to be tempted with something that is too much for you to bear. The first promise is about the forgiveness of our past sins. 45:20 Now, this is about the future. God is faithful that he will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability. Never. He will make sure the temptation is something you can bear. 45:45 That means, that like in a class, the teacher will not give you examination paper of a higher class. If you are in 5th standard, you get 5th standard question paper. 46:08 He won't give you a higher class. Now, all of us have been through school. In any class, did you get a higher question paper than you got? No, never. Same thing is saying here. So, when you face some temptation, 46:31 or some trial, maybe you have a very difficult mother-in-law. Then you go to this promise. God will not allow me to be tested more than my ability. 46:51 I must have faith that God can solve this problem. And God can give me grace to be an overcomer here. It's not a question of your ability. God is faithful. 47:11 God is faithful if you have a difficult neighbor. God is faithful to do something to make sure it doesn't become too much for you. Either he will give you special grace, or he will remove that neighbor. 47:31 We don't have to complain about any situation in our life. Supposing you are facing some trial today, and you say, Oh God, this is too much for me. Have you ever said that? I think many of you, if you're honest, 47:51 you'll say, yes, I've said that. Oh God, this is too much for me. Do you know what you're saying at that time? God, you are unfaithful. You are totally unfaithful. You have allowed me to be tested beyond my ability. 48:14 Your word is a lie. That's what you're saying. When you say, this is too much for me to pay. Don't ever say that. Whatever the trial, if there is a God in heaven, and if the Bible is the word of God, 48:36 then you can be absolutely sure, that that is not too much for you. I've been a believer for 51 years, particularly when you serve God, the devil is, makes you a target. 48:59 I have faced all types of problems, from believers who have told lies about me, who publish articles against me in newspapers, and books and all that, who've taken me to Supreme Court, 49:20 for 10 years. But I say, nothing is too much for me. Anything. People try what they like. I am not strong. But my God is faithful. 49:40 He will never allow me to be tested, more than I am able. But He will make a way of escape, for me to get out of that. That's the wonderful thing it says here. God is faithful to make some way, by which you can overcome that. 50:05 Then why have you not overcome it? Because you are keeping on living in unbelief. Unbelief means you are saying, God is unfaithful, God is unfaithful, God is unfaithful. You keep on saying that, then God will not make a way of escape for you. 50:28 Now, in future, when you face a trial, say, God is faithful. I am not strong. But my God is faithful. He will not allow me to be tested, more than I am able. And, He will make a way to me, to escape out of this. 50:50 At the right time, He is allowing this to make me strong. Do you send your children to school, on the day of the examination? Final examination, promotion depends on that. 51:11 You know how many children are? Final examination day, they will have stomach ache, headache, and all types of things. They say, Mommy, I can't go today. All types of sicknesses come on the day of the examination. 51:31 What do you say? Stomach ache, or headache, or any ache, you have to go today. And the child says, what a cruel father and mother, they send me with all headache, stomach ache, to the exam. That's because they've got more wisdom than the child. 51:59 They don't want the child to sit in the same class next year. And, God also doesn't want you to sit in the same class next year. So, He gives you a trial, examination. So, you can get a promotion, and go up. 52:20 Then there's a third thing, in 2nd Thessalonians, and chapter 3, verse 3. Here also, we find the same expression, God is faithful. He will protect you from all the attacks of Satan. 52:47 I am not stronger than Satan. He's got much more power than me. He's much stronger than me. But, he cannot even touch a hair on my body. What an amazing thing this is. That someone who is a million times stronger than me, 53:07 he cannot even touch my body. He cannot touch my family. He cannot touch my money. He cannot touch my business. He cannot touch anything. Not because I am stronger. What does it say? What does it say? 53:27 God is faithful. He will guard you from all these attacks of Satan. And, so many believers, they keep saying, the devil is doing this, and the devil is doing that. Oh, the devil is troubling me. 53:47 The devil is troubling me. This huge, big devil, and the small Jesus they have. I've got a small little Jesus in my heart. What an insult. God is so almighty, the devil is like a little ant crawling on the ground. 54:11 The Bible says, God will crush Satan under your feet, like you can crush an ant under your feet. That's written in Romans 16:20. We will think about that a little more another day. 54:31 So, but that's one area, we must remember, where God is faithful. Then the fourth thing, is 1 Thessalonians 5:23. That's the fourth area, where it says, God is faithful. 54:53 Here it says, that may God of peace, preserve you completely, spirit, soul, and body, blameless, until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 24. God is faithful, who will do this for you. 55:23 Now, this is a promise for those, as it says here, who want to be totally holy. It's not for everybody here. Is there somebody here, who wants to be totally holy from head to foot? In the heart, 55:43 inside every area of your heart, money matters, thoughts, physical things, and every area, you want to be totally holy. There's a promise. God is faithful, who will do it. And, 56:03 He will preserve you blameless, and present you blameless, when Jesus comes again. I don't have any fear. I don't have any fear. I am going to be completely like Jesus Christ, one of these days. I trust, God is faithful, 56:23 who will do that in my life. That is the hope we have in the future. That Christ will come back. and He will make me completely like Him. Even my body will become like His body. 56:43 What a hope we have. There again, it is the faithfulness of God. So, remember these four things. The first is the most important way we must start. That we confess our sins. God is faithful, 57:03 that we don't have to remember our past sins anymore. And then secondly, that God is faithful, never, never in the future, even ten years from now, we will not be tested more than we can bear. 57:24 He will make a way of escape. And then thirdly, God is faithful to protect us from all the attacks of Satan. Anything, anything, on my family, money, property, business, everything He will protect me. 57:44 And then fourthly, He will preserve me blameless. Better and better every day. More and more and more like Jesus every day. Till one day, I will be like Him completely. 58:04 And when that happens, I cannot take any credit for it. He will say, for all eternity in heaven, it's because God is faithful. That He did this in me. He did this in me because He was faithful. 58:27 So He gets all the glory. I don't get any glory for becoming like Christ. He is faithful. He is faithful. He is faithful. He is faithful. So when we have faith, we glorify God. The Bible says, Abraham glorified God by trusting Him. 58:50 That's how we give glory to God too. So we can be overcomers. Every day of our life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us to trust you more. 59:11 Help us to stop blaming other people 100%. Change us during this conference. That we can trust you 100%. 59:31 And stop blaming other people 100%. And we believe you will make a tremendous change in our life this year. Give us grace to walk in brokenness. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. 59:51 Amen. 1:00:18 Amen.
