0:04 Um, brothers and sisters, shall we stand for song? Christ triumphant ever reigning. Savior, master, king, lord of heaven, our lives sustaining, hear us as we sing. Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name. 0:27 >> [music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [music] 0:56 [music] [singing] [music] [music] [singing] [music] 1:17 [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> Brothers, sing with me. >> [music] 1:46 [music] >> Join together and sing. >> [music] [singing] >> Sisters, sing. 2:09 >> [singing and music] [music] [music and singing] [music] [music] 2:35 >> Just the voices. >> [singing] [singing] [singing] 3:01 [music] [singing and chanting] >> Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal [singing] name. 3:28 Brothers and sisters, please be seated. Yeah, we want to sing this song. Jesus, my savior, came seeking for me, dying for me, calling for me, 3:46 and he's coming for me. Let's remember the great mercies of our Lord Jesus and his personal love and care and attention. Let's draw our hearts to the Lord as we sing. >> [music] 4:14 [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] 4:43 [music] [music] [music] [music] [singing] 5:06 [music] [music and singing] [singing] 5:26 [music] [music and singing] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [music and singing] 6:00 [music] [music and singing] [music and singing] [music] 6:26 >> Just the voices. >> [singing and music] [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] 6:49 [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [singing and music] [singing] 7:10 [music] [clears throat] >> Oh, the deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, 7:30 rolling as a mighty ocean underneath me, all around me, leading homeward [music] to my glorious rest above. >> [singing] [music] [music and singing] 7:56 [music and singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] 8:21 [music and singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] 8:46 [music] [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music] 9:10 [singing] [singing and music] [singing and music] [singing and music] 9:40 [singing and music] [singing and music] [singing and music] [singing] 9:59 [music] [singing] [music] >> Just the voices sing. >> [singing] [singing] 10:22 [singing] [chanting and singing] [singing] [singing] [singing] 10:51 [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music and singing] [singing and music] 11:21 [singing and music] >> Praise the Lord. >> [clears throat] >> Let's sing praises unto His name. The glory of your name, the splendor of your name. You have won the victor's crown. 11:43 Let's talk to the Lord. Turn our eyes to Him. Speak to Him personally. Give Him the praise that's due unto His name. >> [singing and music] [music and singing] 12:10 [music] [singing] [music and singing] [music] [singing] [music] 12:35 [music] [singing] [music and singing] [music] [singing] [music] 13:04 [singing and music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [singing] 13:27 [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> You are Jesus. >> [music] [singing] [music] 13:46 [singing] [singing] 14:10 [music] [singing and music] [music and singing] [music] [singing and music] 14:37 [singing and music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing and music] 15:34 >> A very warm welcome to all of you brothers and sisters for this Karnataka conference. Long awaited finally has come. And uh we've been praying for this and many of you have been praying for this 15:52 conference. And uh we are glad that we have this morning with us uh Brother Zach speaking to us in the first session and tomorrow also in the first session he'll be speaking. 16:10 And uh we also have with us our brothers Vincent, Brother Victor, and Brother Parisutham uh from Tamil Nadu. They will also be taking other sessions. So, shall we all welcome them 16:28 with a clap? >> [applause] >> Thank you, brothers, for uh taking the trouble to come and also making it possible. 16:47 And specially thank you, Brother Zach, for agreeing to join us despite your busy schedule. Uh and also um despite all um 17:06 health problem for whatever you may be having. We are already experiencing in our bodies at this age, but we understand what you may be going through. Sister Annie, we warmly welcome you. And uh over to you now. 17:25 We We will pray and then commit the meeting into the Lord's hand. Heavenly Father, we bless you and praise you this morning. This is the day that you have made and we will rejoice and be glad in this day. Father, we 17:45 thank you that it's your will that each one of us be changed from glory to glory, transformed every day into your likeness. That is the reason you sent Jesus as forerunner for us. 18:05 That He has made the way for us through the flesh. Inaugurated the new and living way that we may follow after Him. Lord Jesus, we pray, seek you for the 18:23 fullness of the Holy Spirit for each one of us. And we also pray for Brother Zach as he shares His word, we pray that you will unfold your word and give the burden of your heart for us so that we will have listening ears 18:43 that your word will penetrate deep down into our being. Then it will change us. Lord Jesus, every day as we seek you and come closer to you. We commit our brother once again into hands. Pray that you 19:02 will anoint him and speak through him what is in your heart. We commit each one of us into your hands in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Over to you, Brother Zach. Yeah, praise the Lord. 19:21 Brothers and sisters, I'm Can you hear me all right? Okay. Yeah. I'm [clears throat] very happy to see you all and to be able to share God's word with you. 19:40 For more than 50 years I saw many of you face to face. And I really miss CFC Bangalore because that is still my home church. And it'll always be. We have so many memories through the 19:58 years, especially those who've been there from the very first few years. We've seen how God has led us step by step, >> [clears throat] >> provided all our needs, got us into good places to meet together conveniently, and 20:17 many, many miracles that only those who are in the leadership know that God has done. Without our asking a single person in 50 years for any money, without our taking any offering in the church for 50 years. 20:37 That is how God has taken care of us to be a testimony to the world around that God and money are opposites. They cannot mix together just like light and darkness. >> [gasps] [clears throat] 20:56 >> To tell you honestly, there's hardly any church in the world that proclaims that and practices it. I hope there are a few, but I've not come across them myself. But right from the beginning, we took a 21:16 stand on that issue. Very strongly. And I want to speak very simply to all of you. Many of you are not been here too long, and you've probably not heard all the things we have preached for 50 years here. So, I want to explain them all to you 21:33 very simply. And the theme that you have here, manifesting the life of Christ, that is the main thing that we have emphasized for 50 years. It's not just forgiveness and going to heaven. The vast majority of gospel preachers 21:51 and preaching in many churches is how to escape hell and how to go to heaven. Now, I thank God that in 50 years, I never preached that message even once in CFC. And those who heard me will acknowledge that. How to escape hell and 22:07 go to heaven? I am not interested in that message. I'm not interested myself, and I'm not interested in preaching it. Because Jesus came to give us life, his own life. He He never told people, "Now, this is 22:24 the way to go to heaven." If we want to partake of his life, that is what Jesus came to offer. And the forgiveness of sins that he died on the cross for is to enable us to partake of his life and not go to heaven. So, I want to ask all of you sitting 22:44 here, what are you looking forward to in the days to come? Are you looking forward to go to heaven? Or are you hoping that in this year, you will partake more of the life of Jesus Christ than you've ever had so far? That your wife at home will be able to 23:03 testify that you have partaken more of the life of Christ. That your husband will be able to testify that you've partaken more of the life of Christ. That is the most important thing in the Christian life. Let me turn you to verse in John's 23:21 Gospel chapter 10. John's Gospel in chapter 10 and verse 9, the last part. Jesus says why he came. Very clear. He doesn't say, "I came 23:44 abundantly." Life and abundant life. He says, "That is why I came to Earth." Now, it can't be clearer than that. And there's not a single verse in the Gospels where Jesus said, "I came to take you to heaven." 24:02 Or I came to save you from hell. But unfortunately, that is the gospel that is being proclaimed in many churches and by many evangelists. How to escape hell, how to go to heaven. Let me tell you honestly, I'm not interested in 24:18 that gospel. How to escape hell and how to go to heaven. I'll tell you why. Because that is a self-centered, selfish gospel that what I'm interested in. I must not go to hell. I must enjoy heaven for eternity. And I'll tell you something that as long 24:34 as you listen to that type of gospel and are occupied with it, and you accept Christ only to escape hell and go to heaven, I can guarantee you will never grow in the Christian life. And you will never partake of the life 24:47 of Jesus. So, please reject that false gospel of escaping hell and going to heaven. You show me a verse in the Bible where Jesus said that, not even once. And yet that's proclaimed everywhere. I came that you might have life 25:06 and abundant life. So, that is my question to all of you, my dear brothers and sisters. You've heard me many, many times, many of you. Have you received this abundant life that Jesus came to give? In another place, he called it rivers of 25:21 living water flowing out from us. See John chapter 7 and verse 37. He said, "If anyone is thirsty." Thirsty for what? Thirsty for life, not thirsty to go to heaven. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to 25:39 me, and what will he get? Rivers of life will flow out from him in verse 38." Again, it's life. Rivers of life flowing out from us so that not only we have life, but we pass on the life of Christ to others. 25:57 And my dear brothers and sisters, if you have not been gripped by that gospel, I want to say to you, you have not understood the gospel at all. You need to listen more carefully to what the Bible says. So, the the first step to 26:17 receiving that message is to have our past life forgiven completely. So, that is where forgiveness of sins is important. Jesus said he came to call us sinners to repentance. Not sinners to escape hell. Not sinners to go to heaven. Sinners to 26:35 repentance. John the Baptist, before the forerunner of Jesus, preached repentance. And Jesus also preached repentance. If you turn to Matthew chapter 4, Matthew's Gospel chapter 4, he just finished 27:06 coming out of the wilderness. We read in the first part of the first 13 verses, he was tempted in the wilderness. And then he We read he left Nazareth, verse 13, and settled in Capernaum. And he began to preach from that time. See 27:22 verse 17. Matthew 4:17. From that time, from the very beginning of his ministry, he said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Not going to heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the rule of God in our lives. 27:41 Kingdom, the rule of heaven. We can read it like that. The life where I'm coming out of my selfish, where I ruled my own life, to let God rule my life. That is true Christianity. And if you are still ruling and running your own life, you have not understood 28:00 the Christian message at all. It is to save us from running our own life and let God run our life that Jesus came. That is the message we preach in CFC. And those who are gripped by that, their personal life is changed, their family 28:17 life is changed. God blesses them in everything that they do. That is God's will. So, let me turn you to Genesis chapter 1. See how God's original plan for man. 28:37 Because after man fell, God Jesus is bringing us back to God's original plan. So, listen to this. In Genesis chapter 1, we read here in verse 27, 28:55 or verse 26, God said, "Let us make man in our own image and according to our likeness. And let them rule over everything." So, what is God's original plan for man? Not 29:13 let them live with me in heaven. No. I strongly stand against that false gospel. "Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness." So, what is God's original purpose for man? That man should behave and 29:32 act just like God according to the same life. The same life that God has. That That is meaning to have his image and his likeness. And then he creates Again, it's repeated in verse 27. God created man in his image in the again the third time in the image 29:51 of God he created him. How many times it says there? And it is that which the devil has taken man away from. So, when Christ came he wanted to not just lead us into that life by preaching it. 30:11 He wanted to demonstrate it. Jesus was the first person who said follow me. The Old Testament prophets never said follow me. Moses never said it. Elijah never said it. Not a single prophet in the Old Testament could say follow me. 30:30 You read the whole Bible. The first person who said follow me is Jesus. And then later on the apostles began to say the same thing. In 1 Corinthians 11 30:48 and verse 1 Paul says follow me as I follow Christ. So, the Christian life is not just a question of going to heaven. It's a life of following Jesus and manifesting his life 31:06 and reflecting what God is like in the way we behave. Did you hear that? My dear brothers and sisters if your sins are forgiven and if Christ has come to live in you God wants to manifest his character his 31:23 life through you. So, what is the first thing we know about God's life? Let me give you one example in Isaiah chapter 6. In Isaiah chapter 6 31:44 we read the great prophet Isaiah. It's a wonderful chapter. Isaiah was a prophet and prophets are always very eager to tell other people about their sins. And that's what 32:03 Isaiah was doing in the previous chapter. For example, you read in Isaiah chapter chapter 5 he tells in verse 18, "Woe unto those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood." And woe unto those verse 22 Isaiah 5:22 who drink wine and woe unto 32:21 those who are like this and like that. He keeps on saying about woe unto them, woe unto them right from verse 8 and 11 of Isaiah 5. Verse 8, verse 11, verse 18 and verse 22. What is condemning people? Why you living like this? Why you living 32:37 like this? Why you living like this? And that's what the prophets did, pointed out the sin of people. And there are a lot a lot of preachers doing that today as well, just pointing out the sin of people. Then what happens? What does God do with 32:51 Isaiah? Isaiah has a vision in the next chapter. What was he saying in Isaiah chapter 5? Woe unto you, woe unto you, woe unto you, woe unto all these people. In Isaiah chapter 6 God he sees a vision of heaven. And in heaven he sees the angels with 33:06 six wings. Isaiah 6:2 and with those six wings four of them they cover themselves. Listen to this carefully. With six wings they do not fly. They fly with two wings. They cover their face and their whole body with four wings. 33:26 And they say verse 3, holy holy holy. The whole earth is full of his glory. And when Isaiah heard that this man who was saying woe unto that person and woe unto that person and woe unto that person 33:42 now says in verse 5, "Woe unto me." That is the mark of a man who has met with God. He will not be finding fault with everybody else. Compare that. Take some time to read Isaiah chapter 5 and chapter 6. 34:01 Chapter 5 he was occupied with the faults of all the people around him. And there are many believers like that, many preachers like that today. They're always occupied with the faults of other people. And very quick to say woe unto you and 34:14 woe unto you, this is your fault, that is your fault, this is your fault. Isaiah was like that until he saw God in heaven. And he saw the angels are not going around saying that. The angels are worshipping God, covering their face. And then when 34:26 Isaiah saw that he said, "Woe unto me." That is the first lesson you need to learn when you come to Christ as a sinner. Have you said "Woe unto me." "Woe is me." Verse 5, "For I am ruined. I'm a man of 34:44 unclean lips. I'm a filthy man. I'm a filthy woman." My dear brother, sister if you have not said that, I would say to you you've never seen the holiness of God and you will never be able to partake of the life of Jesus Christ. 35:03 You'll have a false understanding of Christianity. The first step is to see the holiness of God and how utterly corrupt we are that in our flesh dwells nothing good. That's what it says in Romans 7. Some people think there's something good 35:21 in me. Well, then you need to come nearer to God. And you'll say you see there's nothing good in me. And when Christ comes in he makes us partake of his life. That is different from my improving my life. See, many people's understanding of 35:40 Christianity is you ask Jesus to forgive you and then somehow you try to control your eyes and control your tongue and self-control. That is yoga. That is Hinduism. That's not the gospel. But some Christians are doing that and they get 35:54 frustrated and they How many letters I get? Brother, I'm struggling struggling struggling. I'm always struggling, always defeated. Yeah, you keep on struggling, you will be defeated. And even many preachers if they're honest 36:07 they'll tell you they're struggling struggling struggling. Whereas the real life of Jesus is a life of inner rest. There may be a struggle in the beginning but we come through that. It's like coming out of the wilderness 36:25 into the land of Canaan. And that is God's will for us. I came that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. So when Isaiah said this, "Woe is me." Isaiah 6:5 it says an angel from heaven came with a the fire of heaven touched 36:44 his lips and he became a different man. That's what happened to the disciples on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and filled them and they were changed. So, the life of Jesus can be communicated to us only through the Holy Spirit. 37:00 That is why Jesus went to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit and that is why I want to urge every single one of you to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. To be genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit continuously. Let me give my 37:16 testimony that God met with me amazingly 51 years ago and filled me with the Holy Spirit. And every day now when I wake up in the morning I say, "Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit 37:31 every day." I don't want a single day where the Holy Spirit is not ruling my life. I urge you to pray that prayer. That's more important than preaching or even serving God. To manifest the life of Jesus Christ. 37:50 Ask yourself, are you more interested in getting into the pulpit and even if you never get into the pulpit? So many believers sit in a church waiting for a chance to get into the pulpit and preach. There's something wrong with them. They 38:05 haven't understood what it means to manifest the life of Jesus. I believe even as a preacher I don't believe my longing should be to get in the pulpit and preach. I want to manifest the life of Jesus first of all in my home 38:18 to my wife and to my children and to all the people around me. That is my primary goal in life. Not preaching. For any of you if preaching is the main goal in your life, my dear brother, repent and make manifesting the life of Jesus 38:35 in your home and to your neighbors and to your relatives and to everyone in the church manifesting the humility of Jesus. Make that your goal. So, when we look at Jesus life, he said follow me. First of all, our sins are to be 38:53 forgiven. We mean we all know about that. I don't want to repeat that that Christ died for our sins on the cross to take away the guilt and punishment of our sin and to declare us, make us righteous in God's presence. That is the first step. 39:10 But then he said follow me. So, when we think of following him we have to look at his example. And the first place where we must see his example is in Luke's gospel chapter 2. Follow me. Okay, here's where you can follow Jesus. 39:29 This is how we can manifest his life. We seek the power of the Holy Spirit to follow in Jesus' footsteps. You will not be able to follow in Jesus' footsteps if you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why we need to pray 39:42 for the fullness of the Spirit every day. I want to follow Jesus footsteps every day and that's why I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day. I don't know if you're praying like that. If not, start praying from tomorrow 39:53 morning. That you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit every day. And then here is the the very first thing that we read about Jesus is that he was in a temple Luke chapter 2 sitting with the teachers and discussing with them and scriptures and they were 40:11 amazed. Luke chapter 2 verse 47 at his understanding. He was 12 years old. That's the first thing we see about the life of Jesus. So we're thinking of manifesting the life of Jesus, right? Don't think of the what he did at the 40:28 age of 30 and healing the sick and preaching and casting out demons and all that can wait. Let's start here. At the age of 12 he knew the scriptures thoroughly. How would How did that happen? It did not happen by God putting all the 40:48 Bible in Jesus' head. Jesus was born like a baby just like any other baby in the world. If you've seen a baby that baby is doesn't have a Bible in its head. It has nothing in its head. Everything that goes into a baby's mind, 41:02 it has to learn by reading and hearing and seeing. So that is how Jesus learned the Bible. By the age of 12 he knew enough to discuss with the scholars in his day. I thought about that. How did How did 41:22 that happen? And it must have been because you know, those days there was no printed Bible. The Old Testament was the only Bible in those days and that was in the synagogue, which is the Jewish meeting place. And that'd be a 41:39 man who's the leader there called a rabbi. And I believe that Jesus would have gone to that rabbi from the age of five. And said, "Rabbi, can you please read something from the bi- Bible, the Old Testament, to me?" And the rabbi would read five or 10 41:58 verses and Jesus would say, "Stop. Can you please read that again?" And he would remember that cuz remember, there's no printed Bible. He'd go home and meditate on it. And the next day he would come back to the rabbi and say, "Can you please read the next 42:18 10 verses? I can't remember more than that." And like that in 7 years he understood the whole Bible. He had got the rabbi to read it to him. And he kept it in his mind and meditated on it, thought about it. 42:37 And that is how at the age of 12 he could discuss the Bible with the greatest scholars of his time. Do you want to manifest the life of Jesus? Begin there. Because that is the first thing written about Jesus in the Gospels. 42:56 Don't try to jump from there to Don't try to go to 10th standard without starting in the kindergarten. This is the kindergarten. And there you can begin Jesus began at the age of five. Anyway, I was converted when I was not 43:10 when I was five. I was converted when I was 19. But I was challenged by the fact that Jesus could understand the Bible in 7 years. By the age of 12 he understood it all. Or not understood, but he knew what was written in it. 43:24 So I decided when I got converted I'm going to try and get to know the Bible generally in 7 years. So every day and I was working in the Navy, I was a working person all those 7 years I would get up in the morning, kneel 43:37 down by my bed, pray for some time and then get sit down at the table with my Bible and a notebook and read and write notes and study it and study it and study it for 7 years. By the time I was 26 years old when the Lord called me to leave my job 43:53 I really knew the Bible. And that has helped me even till today. I'm 86. 60 years ago in fact, I was called by the Lord on the 4th of May 19 uh 44:12 I was released from the Navy on the 4th of May 1966 and week I'll be completing 60 years in full-time Christian work. And I tell you I'm so happy that before I left the Navy, I knew the Bible. I didn't know all the doctrines but I 44:30 knew all that was written that I had read, particularly the New Testament. And I want to say to you, my dear brothers and sisters if you're born again and if you've not read through the Bible in 7 years, I think you should go home 44:44 and hang your head in shame and say, "Lord, I'm thoroughly ashamed that the one book you gave me to read and study I've not taken seriously." Don't just come to CFC to listen to people preaching and to ease yourselves that I've heard some good message and 45:00 go. You will not grow spiritually. You will not manifest the life of Jesus. If you want to manifest the life of Jesus, begin where he began. Get alone with the Bible. Look at the trouble he would take to walk all the way to the synagogue, mem- read ask 45:15 somebody to read. Today we have a Bible with us. We can sit at home and read it. Begin there. Next. The next thing we read about Jesus is Matthew chapter Sorry, John Luke chapter 2 and verse 51. We are mani- thinking of manifesting the 45:35 life of Jesus. This is the next thing in the life of Jesus. When he came to Nazareth, Luke 2:51 he continued in subjection to Joseph and Mary. That's the next thing we read. Joseph was not his He didn't Jesus 45:55 didn't have a father. His father was in heaven, but Mary was his mother. And Joseph was Mary's husband. So we can say it was a stepfather for Jesus. And Jesus submitted to them. It says here, he continued in subjection to 46:10 them. That's the second thing in manifesting the life of Jesus. Children obey your parents. That it may go well with you. That you may live long on the earth. Do you want your children Do you want it to go well with your children? 46:29 Teach your children to obey the parents and to respect parents and to respect older people. That's one of the main things I taught my four sons to obey the parents and to respect every brother in CFC who was older than them. 46:48 That's what I taught them. Speak respectfully. I said many of them may be from the villages, they may not know English like you, but respect them. And I was very strict with them if they did not respect daddy or mommy. Beca- 47:02 Why? Because I wanted it to go well with my four sons. It says, "Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and that you may live long on the earth." That you That means you will live your entire length of time which 47:15 God planned for you. For Jesus it was 33 and 1/2 years. For Paul it was 67 years. For different people it's different length, but you will complete your earthly ministry if you honor your father and mother. And the lesson there is to respect 47:28 authority. When your children must learn from a very young age to submit to authority. That's a very important aspect of manifesting the life of Jesus. And that has many, many applications. That means you respect authority first 47:45 of all in your home because for children the only authority is father and mother. And then one day comes, they go to school. And they must learn to respect the teacher. We have to teach our children to respect their teachers. 48:01 Today is the day when children make fun of their teachers. Don't let your children ever do that. It will not go well with them. Teach your children to respect the teachers. Even if the teachers make mistakes, respect them. 48:14 If parents make a mistake, respect them. I'm sorry to say these things are not being taught much. This is the life of Jesus. When he was 12 years old all the way up to 30. From the age of 12 to 30, the only thing written about the 48:28 life of Jesus is that he obeyed his parents. That is very important and I've taken an example, let me repeat it. Supposing Jesus, you know, when he was say 12 years old, he was out playing some game. Maybe some game like cricket. 48:44 They used All games are with bat and a ball. So there must have been some game with a bat and a ball they are playing there. And uh it comes for time for Jesus' turn to bat. And you know, in cricket, that is the most important 48:57 time. That your turn has come to bat. And at that time Mary, Jesus' mother, has called Jesus and said, "Jesus, come here quickly." And he's got the bat in his hand. And his mother is calling him. What does Jesus do? 49:14 What would your son do? I know what most children today would say, "Wait, Mama. I'll come later." Jesus dropped the bat and went to meet his mother. And all the people in his team would have made fun of him. 49:33 "What a stupid boy. You're a mama's boy." And all. He was not bothered about people laughing at him. He went and asked his mother, "What do you want, Mama?" And Mary said, "Go to the well, gather pick a get a bucket of water. We are run 49:46 out of run out of water in the house and bring it." And Jesus goes, brings goes to the well, picks up a bucket of water, brings it to the house. And by the time he comes his turn for batting is over. And all the other people in the team 50:00 criticize him, but he's not disturbed. This is what it means, submission to authority. For children it is the parents. For older people the authority in your church. 50:19 I want to ask you how many of you really respect the elders in your church? Do you know the elders? Have you spoken Have all of you spoken to all the elders in the church sometime or the other? You have four elders there 50:37 in CFC Bangalore. If you're a member of CFC Bangalore, have you spoken to all of them at least once? Do you respect them? Do you submit to them? This is to manifest the life of Jesus. When you're on the roads, you respect 50:54 the police because otherwise they will catch you and charge you if you over speed or do something wrong. In your office do you submit to your authority? This is manifesting the life of Jesus. He submitted to authority. Or are you one of those people who join 51:11 up with other people in the office and criticize the boss and elders criticize the boss and the other other people in your office? Then you're not submitting to authority. What's the use sitting in CFC and claiming to be a new covenant believer 51:25 if you don't know how to submit to authority? Very very important, dear brothers. The life of Christ is not just coming to church and listening to sermons and home. What did we say? Studying the Bible first respecting authority wherever you find 51:43 it and not making fun of authority. Let other people in your office make fun of the boss, but you're not going to because you're a Christian. You're not The boss may not be perfect. No boss in the world is perfect. But the 51:57 Lord says submit to authority. Why is this so important? Because the first sin in the universe was when an angel we don't know his name. People call him Lucifer, but we don't know his name. The highest angel refused to submit to the 52:14 authority of God. That was how sin came into the universe. And once the angel rebelled against the authority of God, he became the devil. And we read that Ezekiel 28 that he was in 52:34 the garden of Eden first. There was a garden of Eden before Adam and Eve were created. And this angel was there. You read that in Ezekiel 28. And he rebelled against God and he was thrown out of Eden. Then one day he sees 52:46 God makes a new race Adam and Eve and puts them in Eden. And that is the place where he was there once upon a time and he was determined to get Adam and Eve out of that garden. And so he goes to Eve and says, "What has the Lord told you?" 53:03 And then Eve says, "We are not supposed to eat this fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil." And >> [clears throat] >> he he gets into a discussion with Satan in a who came in the form of a serpent. You see the sin there? 53:23 I don't know whether you noticed it. The first sin was not eating the tree from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That was the third sin. The first sin was when the devil spoke to Eve. She should have turned to Adam who was 53:41 standing just next to her and said "My dear husband, what should I do?" He was her authority. She came out of his body. And God placed him as her head. And she should not have talked to the serpent at all. She should have asked 54:01 her head, "What shall I do?" She did not submit to authority. That was the first sin that man committed. The same sin that the angel committed. And the second sin is Adam should have stopped Eve and said, "Keep quiet. Don't talk to the 54:20 the serpent." He did not exercise authority. So you see the first sin in the angels was not submission to authority. And the first sin that Adam and Eve committed was again not submitting to authority. And that is why Jesus when he came 54:37 decided that he would submit to authority for 30 years. This is what it means to manifest the life of Jesus. A lot of people think about preaching and healing the sick and doing miracles and all. Haha, let's wait. Let's begin 54:55 by submitting to authority in our home, in our office following the rules in the road and obeying the government rules and everything. That is submission to authority. And I'm not preaching what I've not practiced. I've sought to practice it all my life. 55:11 And I'll tell you this if you submit to authority, God's blessing will be upon your life. It will go well with you. Then manifesting the life of Jesus, let's move on. What happened after that? Let's turn to Matthew chapter 4. 55:29 The first thing that we read of Jesus' life after is studying the Bible, submitting to Joseph and Mary is is going out for a ministry and he's baptized in the river by Jordan by John the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3. 55:48 He submits to baptism. And there there's a testimony there, you know. He wanted to identify himself with us completely. He was not ashamed to identify himself completely with us. You know, I picture this 56:08 that long line of sinners are waiting to be baptized by John. And Jesus goes and stands in that line. You know how we sometimes like to show that we are not such bad sinners as those other people in the church. Uh-huh. Okay. 56:26 So you like to keep a little distance. I see Jesus standing in the same line as sinners who are waiting to be baptized and Jesus stands in the same line. He doesn't come alone at sometime so that he says, "No, I don't want to 56:40 identify myself with these sinners." He identified himself with sinners even though there was no sin in him. He stood in that line and just like all the others all the others were sinners, they were being baptized by John and then came 56:53 Jesus' turn. And people who did not know who he was they would have thought, "Oh, this is another sinner." And the devil would have told him, "Don't stand in this line. They misunderstand you." And Jesus did not listen to the devil. 57:07 He did not bother what anybody in the world thought about him. He identified with sinners right from the time of his baptism. He stood in the same line as all the other sinners and went and got baptized by John. And then when he came out 57:25 the next thing you read in Matthew 4 is he's tempted. These are things that never happened when he was in heaven. He had to be tempted for 40 days. And the three final temptations are mentioned here. What does it mean to manifest the life 57:40 of Jesus? To be tempted and to overcome in temptation. That's what we read in Matthew chapter 4. Jesus had to be tempted for 40 days to be tested to And that is why many people say, "Why does God allow us 57:59 to be tempted? Why in the world was Jesus allowed to be tempted?" I don't need to answer all these questions. So many intellectual people who study so much, they say, "I want to know the answers." You're not going to get the 58:12 answers. I'll tell you why. Because God says, "My thoughts are not like your thoughts. My thoughts are as high as the heaven is above the earth compared to your thoughts." We won't understand the full reason of why God allows so 58:28 many things. And that's why we submit without understanding. True submission to authority is without understanding. I don't need to understand, Lord. If you said it, I'll do it. And that's how Jesus went to be tempted and he says his very first spoken words. 58:48 Do you know what are the first spoken words of Jesus' ministry in his life? What are the first words that Jesus ever spoke that was written in the Bible? We don't know anything about what he spoke in 30 years. But we do know 59:05 what he spoke when he was 30. The very first words, important. Matthew 4:4 "Man shall not live on his food alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 59:23 Remember my dear brothers and sisters, those are the very first words that Jesus spoke that are recorded in the Bible. So, that's very important for me. Just like I told you, submission to authority is very important. This is also very 59:42 important. That I must be gripped by it. Food is important for all of us. But to hear God speaking is more important. Now, I want to ask you this question, all of you, my dear brothers and sisters. I'm not trying to condemn 59:57 anybody here. I'm trying to challenge you to a higher life. I'm trying to ask you to get a promotion to a higher level than you are right now. Let me ask you. Can you honestly say to yourself, 1:00:15 "God's word is more important to me than my food." God's word is more important to me than my food. I'll tell you, there was a brother who was in CFC when I was there, who was in 1:00:32 CFC, a very respected brother for many years. He was in CFC. He's not with us now. Uh and he had a very good job in Bangalore. And after many, many years in CFC, I asked him one day, I said, "Brother, do you read the Bible every day?" 1:00:51 He had a very important job. And he said, "No, brother. Sometimes I forget it. I've got so much work to do." Uh-huh, okay. I'm not surprised that that brother is not in the church today. Not at all surprised. 1:01:08 He was a highly respected brother in CFC, Bangalore. He He didn't have time to read God's word every day because his work was so important. Uh-huh. Is your work so important? 1:01:27 Don't talk about manifesting the life of Jesus or following Jesus if you don't begin where he began. This is like saying, "Go to the kindergarten and learn ABC." Brother, you want to learn physics and chemistry? That can wait. Start with ABC. 1:01:43 There are many things about the Christian life you want to learn. That can wait. Begin with reading the Bible every day and saying that is more important to you than your food. That's what Jesus said, "Man cannot live just on food." 1:01:59 Read Matthew 4:4. But by not some words of God, every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That's why I say you must read the whole Bible. Every word. Man shall live. And if you wonder why your Christian 1:02:18 life is not as powerful as it should be, here is the reason. You have not read every word of God. You're not receiving every word from God. It's not only what you read in the Bible, but God wants to speak to us every day. 1:02:34 For me, that is how I live. For many years, it was through God's word that on the 6th of May, 1964, God spoke to me to leave my job. And I obeyed. It was through God's word that God spoke to me whom I should marry. 1:02:52 And I married the that person whom God said. Everything God speaks. And when you obey what God says, you have a wonderful future ahead of you. Develop the habit of listening to God through reading his word. And if God sees that you're serious about studying 1:03:10 the word, gradually, you'll begin to hear God speaking to you through his Holy Spirit in your heart. Because the answer to all the questions are not in the Bible. So many situations in life, we say, "Lord, what must I do?" 1:03:24 And I'll tell you, the Holy Spirit tells me in my heart what to do. But that is because I've read the Bible for so many years that I can I'm familiar with the voice of the Holy Spirit. It's just like, you know, the day a woman gets married to her husband, 1:03:42 she may not be able to recognize his voice. It's an arranged marriage. And she meets her husband. And in in another room, if many men are talking, you ask this this is a wife who was married only yesterday, "Can you recognize your husband's voice 1:04:00 among the 30 voices you hear there?" Not at all. Was married only yesterday. But you ask that same woman after 30 years, in the midst of a crowd of people, she'll be able to recognize her husband's voice. Because she's heard it and heard it and 1:04:15 heard it and heard it. Why is it so many believers, after some years, they still say, "I can't recognize God's voice." I'll tell you why. Because you're not listening to it through God's word. If you develop the habit of listening to 1:04:29 God through his word, in a time of trial or some type of temptation or some difficult situation, and you want to know what God is saying, you will hear God speaking to you in your heart. This is how I live my life. 1:04:45 Man shall not live by food alone. You don't miss your food a single day. Well, don't miss God's word a single day from today onwards. This is what it means to manifest the life of Christ. 1:05:01 To do as he did. To resist temptation, to know the Bible. That's why you see, even in the Bible, sometimes when the devil quoted a verse of scripture. You know, the devil can quote a scripture to us to lead us astray. The devil quoted a scripture to 1:05:18 Jesus. You read here in verse six, the devil tells Jesus, "If you're the son of God, jump down because the word of God says he will give his angels charge concerning you." Can you imagine the devil quoting scripture 1:05:37 from Psalm 91 to Jesus? If the devil could quote scripture to lead Jesus astray, he will definitely quote scripture to you and me to lead us astray. But then, you need to be able to do what Jesus said did. He said, "Satan, but it is also written 1:05:55 something else." You see, the devil quoted one scripture, and Jesus said, "No, there's another scripture that balances that." And that's how Jesus saved himself. There are so many people I have met who've gone astray quoting a verse in 1:06:10 the Bible because they don't know what the other verse in the Bible says. The Jesus could have gone astray if he had listened to the devil. Devil quoted a scripture. So, that's the other thing we see in following Jesus. 1:06:27 Then I want to show you something else. What does it mean to manifest the life of Christ? Turn with me to Hebrews. Hebrews in chapter four. In Hebrews chapter four, verse 15, 1:06:48 it says, "We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us in our weakness, in our temptation." He's talking about temptation. But he was tempted exactly as we are in every point without sinning. This is one of the most 1:07:05 important verses. This is a verse that changed my life about 50 years ago. When I understood that Jesus Christ was tempted exactly like me. Exactly like I am tempted. 1:07:24 And he did not sin. Every temptation that has come to me came to Jesus. And he overcame it. That's what this verse says. We have We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us. But he can sympathize with our weakness 1:07:42 in time of temptation because he was also tempted in every single point like we are, but did not sin. He did not sin in his thoughts. He did not sin in his words. He did not sin in his actions. He did not sin in his attitudes to people. He did not sin in 1:08:01 the motive with which he did anything. He was completely free from sin, but he was tempted throughout his 33 years. And he says, "Therefore." Therefore what? Because Jesus was tempted like us and did not sin, 1:08:21 that is not just an example for us to admire, but for us to follow. That's why the next verse, Hebrews 4:16, says, "Therefore, let us also come to the throne of grace." To God's throne. And in our time of need. See verse 16. In 1:08:38 our time of need. What is our time of need? When we are tempted. You young people, tell me, what is your time of need when you're as a Christian? Temptation in your thought life. Isn't that your time of need? What about you husbands and wives? What 1:08:52 is your time of need when your partner is getting angry and upset with you? That is your time of need. What should you do at such a time? Remember Jesus was tempted exactly like you. Therefore, go to the throne of grace, 1:09:08 verse 16. And when you go to the throne of grace, we ask for mercy first. Mercy means forgive my past life. Jesus did not need mercy because he never sinned. But we need mercy. So, when we come to the throne of grace, the first thing God 1:09:24 gives us is mercy, blotting out my past life. And then, after that, we find grace. Grace is to help us overcome sin. I hope you know the difference between mercy and grace. Mercy is for our past failures. Grace is for our present temptation and 1:09:41 future temptations. Both we need. Mercy is God's forgiving us, blotting out our past. If you confess your sin, he blots it out. Grace is God helping us to overcome our present temptation. 1:09:59 And what is the incentive for that? Jesus was tempted exactly like us. So, our calling is to seek for grace which comes through the Holy Spirit. Lord, give me grace now so that I can manifest the life of Jesus here instead of yielding to the temptation 1:10:18 the devil is bringing to me. This is how we are to overcome in temptation. And then I want to say one more thing. There are many things I could say, but I'll say one more thing and finish. And that is in Matthew chapter 1:10:36 11. If you want to manifest the life of Jesus, take this verse seriously. Verse 28 and 29. Come to me 1:10:56 all of you who are heavy laden with sin. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke. Take my yoke means get into a partnership with me like two bullocks under the same yoke. The Lord is using a picture of two bullocks under the same yoke. The Lord 1:11:13 says, "The way I walked, you also walk with me." And learn from me because I'm gentle and humble in heart. In our natural human personality, there is zero 1:11:31 gentleness. And there is zero humility. Jesus Christ is full of gentleness, full of humility. And we need to understand that. He was very strict. He took a whip to chase all the people who are making money 1:11:50 in the temple. But he was gentle when he did it. You can't understand that, right? How can a man use a whip and chase people out and turn the tables of coins and be gentle? You need to understand the gentleness of God is not something that compromises sin. 1:12:08 with sin. Never. The gentle Jesus could turn the tables of the money changers and make all the coins fly away. And some people who don't understand gentleness, if they were there, they would have gone up to Jesus and patted 1:12:22 him back, say, "Cool down, cool down, Lord. Don't get so upset." Just like today, I've had people come to me and say, "Brother Zac, don't speak so strong against these sins. Why are you always speaking so strongly about this 1:12:33 matter and that matter?" They can keep on telling me all their life. I will still continue speaking strongly against sin, especially sins in relation to money and sins in relation to begging, sins in relation to borrowing money and 1:12:46 not returning it. I will always speak strongly strongly against it. Because it's disobedience to God's word which says, "Owe no man anything." Jesus spoke strongly, but he says, "Learn from me because I'm gentle and humble in heart." He's very merciful to 1:13:02 people. >> [music and singing] 1:13:57 [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing and music] 1:14:21 [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music and singing] [singing] 1:14:44 [music] [singing] [singing and music] [music] [singing] 1:15:08 [music and singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] 1:15:39 [singing] [music] [singing] [singing and music] [singing] [music] 1:16:04 [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music] 1:16:30 [singing] [music and singing] >> Using the last verse, shall [music] we all stand and sing? >> [singing and music] 1:16:53 [music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] 1:17:23 [music] [singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] >> Please be seated. 1:17:54 Okay. Um So, brothers and sisters, >> [clears throat] >> uh I've had this type of experience in a number of Zoom meetings. And I always think of 1:18:12 the word that comes in the Psalms more than 70 times. And that's the word selah. S E L A H. In the King James [clears throat] version, if you got it, it says selah. You know what selah means? Selah means stop 1:18:32 and think about what you've just heard. So, it's good to have a pause like this where you stop and think about what you heard. And we were hearing about partaking of the life of Christ, manifesting that life 1:18:50 by listening to the Lord speaking to us, submitting to authority, and learning. This is what I was concluding with in Matthew 11:29, Jesus said, "Learn from me for I am humble 1:19:08 and gentle." Do you know there are only two things that Jesus told us to learn from him? Humility and gentleness. Humility in our relation to God and gentleness in our relation to people. And those are the two things which are 1:19:30 completely missing in most Christians. The average Christian is a very proud person. He has not learned humility from Christ. And the average Christian is not a 1:19:47 gentle person. He's a very hard person. And those [clears throat] of you who are married, you can ask yourselves. Husbands and wives, in your relationship with each other as husband and wife, can you say 1:20:05 you're manifesting the humility and gentleness of Jesus? That is the life of Christ. Matthew 11:29. Learn from me, for I'm gentle and humble in heart. In all our relationships, 1:20:24 there must be a humility that recognizes the other person is more important. Not more spiritual. Jesus never asked us to treat other people as more spiritual. But that is impossible. Jesus was the most spiritual. And a lot of people we meet are not 1:20:44 spiritual. But the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2 very clearly, to treat uh each others Philippians 2 and verse 3. Have you read this verse? Here is a verse that most Christians do not obey. Manifesting the life of Jesus. 1:21:03 Learn from me, for I'm humble in heart. Matthew uh Philippians 2:3, the last part. Regard others as more important than yourself. He's not asking you to treat others as 1:21:21 more spiritual than yourself. That is not possible. I don't look around at other believers and say they are more spiritual than me. They are not. But I will consider every believer, even a young new believer. I will consider him as more important 1:21:38 than me. How is that? That if some young believer comes to talk to me, I won't turn him off saying, "Oh, who are you?" Do you look down on any believer in this church? Do you look down on somebody younger to you? Do you only seek to fellowship with 1:21:55 older mature believers? Then you're not like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ could fellowship with children. Study Philippians 2:3. Consider everyone as more important than yourself. This is the life of Jesus. Learn from me, for I'm humble. 1:22:14 A humble person will consider others as more important than himself. He will not try to show that he's more spiritual than them. No, he'll he'll recognize that person, I may be more spiritual than him, but he's more he's more important. I give time to 1:22:31 him. If you got if you are too proud to give time to some young person, from young child or someone who's come newly to the church, you are not like Jesus Christ. And I'm sorry to say, I've seen some CFC elders who have such an arrogance about them. 1:22:48 And they've don't seem to get light on it even after many years of being an elder. They look down on others in their church. A true servant of Jesus Christ will consider will obey Philippians 2:3 and consider everyone as more important 1:23:06 than himself. Very important. This is what it means to manifest the life of Christ. And the other thing he said is learn gentleness from me. Now he's talking about the woman caught in adultery. Yes, there is a law. The woman caught in adultery must be 1:23:24 stoned to death. But Jesus said, "Let the one who's without sin cast the first stone." All all of them left and he was left there. He alone is the one without sin. He could have taken up the stone and stoned that woman, but he did not do it. 1:23:39 He said, "Don't sin again. Go." It's a gentleness. So many people are so strict about the law that they'll even stone such people to death. But Jesus would not do it. He did not come here to stone people to death. So, these are areas where if we judge 1:23:56 ourselves, we can manifest the life of Christ. I believe our life must be a constant judgment of ourselves. And I want to encourage you to do what I've practiced for many, many years, to judge myself every single day. I can 1:24:14 stand before God today and say that for many, many years I have judged myself every single day of my life. Because I'll tell you why. Because I'm not yet fully like Jesus Christ. You see what is written on the pulpit 1:24:32 there in front of you? Let us press on to perfection. What is the meaning of that? I'm not yet perfect. So, therefore I judge myself and say, "Lord, please show me where is it I'm not perfect." Every day, I want to discover something 1:24:50 which is not like Christ in me, so that I can cleanse it away. That means if I do that every day in my life, I will become a little more Christ-like. Can you imagine, dear brother and sister, what your home will be like 1:25:05 if husband and wife are seeking to manifest the life of Christ towards each other? That home will be a foretaste of heaven. And your children will grow up tasting heaven in their home. That is what I wish for every single CFC 1:25:21 home. And I pray that you will take this seriously. Um And in order for this, we must ask God every day to fill us with the Holy Spirit. There are two things I do every day. More than two things. I read the Bible every day. 1:25:36 But I judge myself every day. And I ask God to fill me with the Holy Spirit every day. I encourage you to do that. Read your Bible. Judge yourself. And ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit every single day. And be sensitive. When the Lord speaks 1:25:52 to you about something, confess it immediately. Forsake it. Ask the Lord to cleanse you. And press on. And run the race to become more like Christ. Okay. Let us bow down in prayer. Let's bow our heads. Now, you may not remember everything 1:26:10 that you heard today. It doesn't matter. You can always listen to this message again on YouTube. But if you pray a little prayer to the Holy Spirit now and say, "Lord, please remind me when the time comes in the coming days 1:26:27 of what I heard today." The Holy Spirit will remind you. You can be sure of that. So, pray that prayer. Oh Spirit of God, please remind me in the coming days of some area where I need to listen to what I heard today. And one more thing. 1:26:47 Please ensure that you have forgiven everybody from your heart. That is something I insist in every meeting. God will not listen to your prayer if you have not forgiven everybody. So, stop for a moment and think. Is there a single human being 1:27:06 whom you have not forgiven anywhere in the world? Please forgive. Right now. Before you get up from that chair, forgive anyone whom you have not forgiven. 1:27:24 Just with a word to the Lord. Lord, I've not forgiven this person. I forgive him right now. And I never want to bring up that matter again. And I forgive that other person. I never want to bring up that matter again. I want to tell you in Jesus' name, only 1:27:39 then will God listen to your prayer. Many of your prayers are not answered because you haven't forgiven somebody. Please forgive. Husbands and wives, please forgive each other thoroughly this moment so that you can your life can be 1:27:54 changed. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wonderful privilege and honor that you've given us to manifest the life of Christ. Please help us, Lord. We pray to walk in Jesus' footsteps and to manifest that life more and more 1:28:12 in our life and everyone here. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So, Charles wanted me to s- ask Annie also to speak to you. Should we do that now? First of all, Brother Zac, thank you 1:28:37 very much for the much-needed word. And uh we praise God for the word that we received this morning. And uh as informed earlier, uh Brother Zac will be praying for 1:28:54 two brothers, appointing them as uh uh new facilitators. And they are uh Brother William uh Paul Williams. And the other one is Brother Peter. 1:29:12 So, may I ask both of them to come up here. Brother Zac will pray for you. and then after that I have asked brother Zach to pray for the other five facilitators. Uh that I will call out the names after he prays for these two brothers. 1:29:31 Brother Paul Williamson and Peter, please come up. Uh sister Annie will be sharing a word 1:29:50 of greeting after brother Zach prays for these brothers and the five brothers. So Charles, I want you to be there. Yeah. Yeah. >> [clears throat] >> So when I pray for them I would I'll pray for them one by one. 1:30:09 So Charles, I would like you to lay your hands on Paul Williams first. And then after that we pray for Peter. So let's bow. All of you, please bow with me. As we pray for Paul Williams. >> [clears throat] >> Heavenly Father, 1:30:26 we want to pray for Paul Williams as he takes on this responsibility to be a facilitator CFC Bangalore. He cannot do this in his own wisdom and strength. Anoint him with the Holy Spirit and give him the supernatural gifts 1:30:43 needed to fulfill this ministry, Lord. Not in a with human cleverness in the power of the Holy Spirit. Please bless him and his family and let your anointing be upon him continuously in this ministry. We pray in Jesus' name. 1:30:59 Amen. Okay, we'll pray for Peter. Heavenly Father, we pray that we pray that you lay your name your hand upon him and anoint him and equip by the Holy Spirit so that he can faithfully fulfill 1:31:18 task as a facilitator. Commit him to you. We pray that your presence will be with him. You'll have You'll give him wisdom to deal with different situations and give both these brothers to help people who are come to them. Give them the 1:31:36 to answer the questions. We pray we commit them to you in Jesus' name. Amen. I'll read out the names of these five brothers. Brother Zach will pray for you, also. Please come up here. Brother 1:31:55 Ravi, brother Ranjit, brother Polo, brother Ebenezer, and brother Shankar. Yeah, they can all stand at the back and 1:32:22 I'll pray for them. Please stand close to each other. Can you see them, brother? Tell them to move a little more to the right. Yeah, okay. Okay, that's fine. No, that's that's fine. That's enough. Yeah, let's pray. 1:32:45 Heavenly Father, we pray also now for our dear brothers Ravi and Ranjit and Polo, Shankar and Ebenezer, and also the other two brothers and these wonderful brothers who are facilitators will be equipped with the power of the 1:33:04 Holy Spirit to serve the church, serve your people as servants in the spirit of Christ. Please anoint them afresh today and give them wisdom for all their responsibilities. Commit them to you. Help them to walk in humility before you to hear your word 1:33:22 every day that they'll have an answer for the different problems they'll come across in the people they seek to help. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, brothers. The Lord be with you all. Brother Zach, uh sister Annie is around 1:33:47 there. Okay, I'll just one sec. Yeah. You can 1:34:26 share with him. Dear brothers and sisters, it's such a joy such a joy for me us to see you all and be present in spirit with you all. 1:34:46 Praise and thank God for giving us a one more Bangalore conference. I remember all the years past years when we had Bangalore conferences. First one was in our home about 60 people. After that the Lord 1:35:05 gave us a 40 Decosta Square. And after that we had to when the numbers increased, we had to look for places, rent places. It was not convenient. It was freezing and not enough room for people to sit. Now the Lord has given us such a 1:35:24 wonderful place. So much of space. You can sit comfortably and we can hear God's God's word. God has given us shepherds of his own heart who preach God's word and bless everything that we need in our spiritual life 1:35:43 and prepare us for the Lord's coming. And he has blessed us so richly. I praise and thank God. There were years when times when we could meet because of COVID and because of other restrictions. But the Lord has been so good to us. 1:36:03 So good to us that we can come and hear God's word and receive instruction, correction, be built up, be edified. We can fellowship with one another. 1:36:20 Um I was reminded in the when we I used to read the Old Testament in Leviticus and all, Jesus God told the children of Israel meet on certain locations. Uh of course, they had to meet on the Sabbath day 1:36:39 uh rest and remember God's word and meditate on God's word. But certain days they come together and um and um think of all that God had done for them in the previous years and how God had brought them out of slavery 1:36:58 and brought them into a land of plenty. Just like that we can meet um during conference days and remember how God has brought us out of slavery and is bringing us out of slavery. We used to think just being born again is 1:37:18 enough. And we were content with that type of life. But we were slaves of sin, defeated by sin. And God opened our eyes to there's much more than that. The victory over sin is through the power of the Holy Spirit. 1:37:35 Actually, CFC started because of the preaching of the uh baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's how CFC started. And we started in our home. And then taking up the cross and following 1:37:53 taking the death taking the death of Christ partaking in the death of Christ. All those truths God gave us. Now I think so wonderful that we can hear um hear that we can manifest the life of Jesus while you're on earth. 1:38:12 It's our chance while we are on earth to manifest the life of Jesus. It's not a life of pretense where we are acting like Jesus, walking in a certain way, talking in a certain way, acting as though we are spiritual people. 1:38:29 It's not like that. People mistake it. But I thank God that it's a inner work through the filling of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit and day by day crushing of life that we can manifest the 1:38:49 life of Jesus. And I praise and thank God while on earth we can manifest the life of Jesus, not to impress anybody, but to please God, impress our savior that we are we're taking his word seriously and we want to live for him, bring glory to him 1:39:09 and make him happy because he died for us. His He His joy was that we should be partakers of His nature and be with Him in eternity. I praise and thank God for all that we can hear and 1:39:28 uh be together thinking one more thing. When um God said, "Meet together." at different festivals, He said one thing. He said, "Put away all leaven." Those Those words used to come to me 1:39:48 when we had conferences in uh uh when I was in uh later in CFC. "Put away all the leaven." And I thought, "That's a word for us sisters." Because the women in camp 1:40:04 made sure there's no leaven in the houses or anywhere. And that leaven for me is all the things that all the bitterness hatred, jealousy competing with each others comparing with others 1:40:24 and thinking that somebody is better than us being unhappy about that. All those leaven put away. The Lord Put away all that and when we meet together, I praise and thank God for this word we heard today also. Forgive others. 1:40:41 Have any grudges against anyone. And the days of the conference, God used to speak to me. "Put away all leaven." "Come just like the children of Israel are coming with that." That was the only condition He said. 1:40:59 And that's a picture a lesson to me also. Put away all the things which the Lord doesn't make in my life. Then I can manifest the life of Jesus. So, I praise and thank God, dear brothers and sisters. I thank God for this opportunity we can 1:41:19 be with together in spirit and I can see you all. My only wish is we could be there, but you know how difficult it is to travel, but we are there in spirit. Praise God for this opportunity. God bless you all. God bless you all, dear brothers and 1:41:35 sisters. And make us all prepared ready to meet the Lord one of these days. Thank you, 1:41:54 Brother Zach and thank you, Sister Annie for sharing your hearts with us and though we love you and we are looking forward to see you in person. We pray that the the Lord will enable you both to come. And this is a great privilege that we 1:42:12 can see you and hear you almost every day we hear you both. It's so so good. Praise the Lord for this provision. We thank God for joining [clears throat] allowing you to join us today. And we just pray and close this meeting and Brother 1:42:32 Zach and Sister Annie will be joining us again tomorrow. We wish to hear them again. Uh thank you, Brother Zach. Thank you. I just want to thank all who who are were praying for me there. Thank you very much. 1:42:50 Yes. God is God is answering those prayers. And I praise the Lord. Thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you. Yeah. Let's close our eyes and pray. >> [clears throat] >> Father, thank you for the privilege that on this sinful earth you helped us to 1:43:07 um see Christ more better. Thank you for the shepherds. Thank you for the teachers. Thank you for the anointing Lord, you've given us and helped us to see through the help of the Holy Spirit the the likeness of Jesus that we can be 1:43:25 transformed into likeness of Christ. Lord, thank you, Lord. We come with expectation. Thank you for speaking to us. We commit all of our sessions into your hand today, tomorrow, and even day after. Men's meetings, Lord, we pray that you 1:43:41 speak to our hearts and encourage us, challenge us. Lord, so that your purpose be fulfilled and your church be built, Lord. We commit ourselves. Especially, we pray for Brother Zach and Sister Annie. Give them health and strength and bless them, 1:43:56 Lord. And we commit ourselves, our time into your hand. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And brothers and sisters, we have a break of about 20 minutes. We will come back again for the second session. Thank you, Brother Zach. Thank you, Sister Annie. Thank 1:44:12 you.
