0:18 Okay. Now we're going to go through the verses that we memorize. We won't be doing all the verses every time, but for a couple of months we'll go through all the verses and then we'll just do the new ones. So today we'll go through all of them first. We started on the eighth of 0:38 March. Sin shall not be master over you. Let's say it together. Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. Romans six fourteen. Make it personal. Sin shall not be master over me, for I am not under law, but under grace. Romans six fourteen. Okay, the next verse. 1:06 That was a promise. Now we go to commandments, say together. Jesus said, he who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him. John fourteen twenty one. Okay. Go to the next verse. Let's say it together. It's 1:32 a promise again. God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Romans eight twenty eight. Let's claim that promise. It's God's promise for all those who love him. The next one a commandment. Let's say it together. 1:57 Jesus said every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Are you going to be justified or condemned by the words that you spoke last week at home, to your husband, 2:28 to your wife? Will you be justified or will you be condemned every word? Okay, let's take it seriously this week and in the weeks to come. I believe these words. This is one of the verses which is one of the least, least believed by Christians around the world. I'm absolutely 2:54 convinced ninety nine point nine percent of Christians do not believe that every careless word they speak, God is going to make them account for it. No amount of careless words I've heard Christians speak It's obvious they don't believe this verse at all. We want to be different in CFC. 3:20 Dear brothers and sisters, believe it. It's true. I often tell people you will thank me in the Day of judgment that I told you the whole truth. The whole truth is every careless word. You'll be justified or condemned by what you speak. Ask God for power. I know you can control every part 3:41 of your body except your tongue. The Bible says that ask God for power. It says in James it's more. It's easier to tame a lion than to tame the tongue. Only God can do it, but he can. I sought for this for years. I said, Lord, I will never give up till I can control my 4:03 tongue. It's not enough even to speak in unknown tongues. I want to control my mother tongue. I can tell you, if you seek God earnestly, he will do it. Don't say this giant of Canaan is too strong. No God can bring him down. Put him under your feet, that you can be more than a 4:23 conqueror. Okay. Next verse A promise. It's a good promise for what we just considered. Say together. The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? There are three separate statements. Say it again. The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What 4:46 will man do to do to me? You know, this is the verse. I like people to speak, just like it says in Hebrews thirteen six. We must boldly say it. It's the only verse in the Bible where it says, we must boldly say this. You look through the Bible and see if there's any other verse where the 5:02 Holy Spirit says, we must boldly say it. I think this is the only one. So let's say it boldly, which means loudly, okay, The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? I'm past seventy five. I can say it like that. All of you fellas should be shouting it. We should be 5:22 able to shake this roof. Okay. Hebrews thirteen six. The next verse. This is a commandment we go alternately. Promise. Commandment. Promise commandment. Like the two legs we walk on. If you, let's say, together, if you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, 5:43 your father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. Another verse that I think more than at least more than ninety percent of Christians do not believe. They think you can ignore it. You know, there are some 6:04 people who do something wrong to somebody. Now examine your own heart. See if it's true. And then they feel it's too humbling to go and apologize. Maybe to your wife. How can you apologize? So instead of that, they just act nice and say, isn't it great? And we're just everything's 6:24 going nice and they act like that. The matter is not settled because there's an act that you did that you never asked forgiveness for. You can act nice and behave and talk about nice things and say, we have wonderful fellowship, but there remains there in history a record, something 6:44 you have not settled. You know, it's like if you borrowed ten thousand rupees from somebody and then you haven't done anything about it for a number of months. And when do you say hi? Isn't it great that we're great friends and never talk about the debt? Do you think that's right? It's 7:00 exactly like that. What about that debt? So trying to make up for some wrong that I did by just being nice. The Bible teaches you can't do that with sin. That is a false teaching of many religions that you've done a lot of sins. No need to ask forgiveness. Just do a lot of good things. It's 7:22 a weighing balance. The good things over weigh the outweigh the bad things. God will take you to heaven. That is a lie. The same thing applies in our relationships. You've done something. One thing wrong. You cannot rectify it by ten thousand good things. That wrong must be apologized for. 7:42 You think all Christians believe that? I wish they did. We'd have a better quality of Christianity on this earth. That's one reason why we started CFC. Forty years ago we said we can't change the whole country. We can't change all the Christians in the world. We can't change all the Christians 8:00 in Bangalore. We can't change all the Christians, even in a small area, but at least a few. Maybe a drop in an ocean. But we're going to make that one drop as pure as possible. So keep that in mind. Matthew six fourteen and fifteen. Okay. We go to the next verse, a promise. Let's say it together. 8:25 God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape so that you'll be able to endure it, which means overcome it so we can look forward to the future and say for the next until the end of my life. 8:48 Till the end of my life. Tomorrow, next week, next year. However long I live, I will never face even one trial or one temptation that is too strong for me to overcome. No trial. That'll be too heavy for me. That will make me collapse and grumble and complain. Impossible. Every trial I'll be able to 9:17 overcome and say, praise the Lord! God is on the throne. My sins are all forgiven. The devil's been defeated. Christ is coming back. Hallelujah. That's what we'll be able to say in whatever situation, even when we are sick or dying or imprisoned or persecuted or about to be beheaded. 9:40 Fine. Jesus Christ is Lord. I tell you, it's a wonderful life. There's nothing like the Christian faith on the face of the earth. There's absolutely nothing to equal it. There's nothing like God's Word. The fantastic promises, the fantastic commandments. It's. I've been reading the 10:01 Bible for fifty five years. I get excited reading it even now. I mean, when I read these verses, I say, wow, it's exciting. Does it excite you? You know, if God's Word excites you, you'll be able to stir other people with it. Many preachers are not able to stir others because they 10:24 themselves are not excited by God's Word. It's a profession for them. They have to get up and say something and preach something. May it never be for anybody who stands in this pulpit. I pray that anybody who stands here will, even if he can't speak English properly, at least he'll be excited 10:41 about God's Word. That's the main thing. Okay, now a new verse for today. This is a promise, sorry, a commandment. We had a promise last time. Now the commandment is. Is that easy or difficult? In everything. Give thanks. Give thanks is easy. But when you had the word everything, that's tough. 11:07 But if the previous verse is true. That God will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability to be tried, then we can be absolutely sure. We can give thanks for everything. And if the other verse we read earlier that God causes everything to work for my good, if something's working for your good, 11:27 can you give thanks for it or not? If your boss called you to the office and said, hey, I've just decided to double your salary. What are you going to do? Give thanks or not? That was something good. Do you do you look at everything that God will cause everything to work 11:46 for your good? I believe it, I believe it. I'll tell you something. When you serve the Lord like I've tried to. I mean, I've been serving the Lord full time for nearly half a century, fifty years, and many people. I've been a target of the devil for years, and my family too. And many people have 12:05 tried to do me harm. But nobody has succeeded in doing harm to me in all my life. Everything has worked for my good. I can testify to that at the age of seventy five. Every single thing that's happened in my life, every evil thing that people try to do to me, worked for my good and 12:24 will continue to work for my good till Jesus comes. I hope that will be your testimony, and that as you look back over your past and see the evil things that people did to you, and see the good that God brought out of it, that gives you hope for the future. 12:46 That should be our testimony, everybody. I'm not happy with just ten twenty people here believing that every single one of us, Just like I wanted all my children to be disciples of Jesus, I want all of us to believe this and to live like this. Let's say it together. In everything, 13:06 give thanks. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. One Thessalonians five eighteen. Say it again. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. One Thessalonians five eighteen. There are many areas where we don't know God's will. This is about the 13:31 only verse in the Bible where it specifically says, This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. You know, you search the Bible. You may not find another verse like this where it says, This is God's will for you. I mean, everything in the Bible is God's will for us. But here's 13:47 a particular thing says, This is God's will for you because some people say that's impossible. What do you mean, Give thanks in everything? This is God's will for you. So next time you know, some people come to me and say. Brother Zach, can you please help me find God's will in this area? 14:03 And I say, hang on. Shall we start with doing God's will in the areas where he's already shown you what his will is? Then move on to other areas. Number one, in everything, give thanks. This is God's will. There's no doubt about it. So even if I don't know God's will in ten thousand areas, 14:26 there's one area I do know God's will. Sometimes when you're confused about something. Lord, I don't know whom to marry, which job to take. Where shall I go in this particular situation? I don't know God's will, but Lord, I know one area where I know God's will. And I'll do that. 14:44 In everything, give thanks. Why not act like that in future, instead of hanging your head and saying, oh, I don't know, brother. What is God's will? Let's lift up our heads. God is the lifter of our head. It's a wonderful verse in the Old Testament where it says, oh Lord, 14:59 you're the lifter of my head. I believe that we must always have a head lifted up. Okay, thank God for these verses. Let's just bow for a moment of silence and think about this verse. In everything, give thanks. What are you thinking about? In everything give thanks for this is God's will 15:25 for you in Christ Jesus. Just think for a moment and see if there's any area right now that you can remember. Any matter for which you're not giving thanks. But you got a spirit of complaining, even if it's a difficult area or problem. Say, Lord, I want to give thanks. Thank you Lord. 15:51 We believe your promises are true. We want to live by your commandments and claim your promises in Jesus name. Amen. Okay. It's wonderful that we are going to Scripture first every Sunday because there's nothing to beat God's word. Man's word can never equal God's word. I hope you will learn to 16:18 appreciate God's words more than my words. Many people write to me, oh, brother Jack, your words are such a blessing. I say, I hope God's Word is a greater blessing. Never put a man's word above God's word. I never do it. I've been blessed by many godly men whom I've 16:37 heard and many godly men whom I've read. But never do I put any of those writings above God's Word. They help helped me and any brother who helped me to find God's word understand it better. That's the one I appreciate. So today I want you to turn to. Matthew. Sorry. Mark's gospel in chapter nine. 17:05 Mark. Chapter nine. I want to speak to you a little bit about the kingdom of God. Spoken about it before, but I want to make it clear to everyone here, especially those who are new. It's an expression that comes many hundred times. Many times anyway, 17:32 in the scriptures. And here in Mark nine one, Jesus said some amazing words to people who were standing there in front of him. He said, truly I say to you, why does he say truly? Because he knew some people wouldn't believe it. Some of those who are standing here right now will not taste death. 17:54 That means they will not die until they see the kingdom of God coming with power. Now, many Christians have tried to interpret that verse and say, well, the Kingdom of God is still to come. Jesus hasn't come. So what does that verse mean? Maybe he's talking about spiritual death. Do you 18:13 think all those people standing there were doing all that analysis? No, they were simple Jewish people. And they heard Jesus say, some of you standing here will not die till the kingdom of God comes with power. If you were standing there, what would you believe? I'd say, great, I'm not going 18:29 to die. Maybe some here will die some of the older people. But I won't die till I see the kingdom of God come. That's exactly the meaning. That's how I would understand it. And Jesus wasn't talking in riddles and parables. Some of you will not die until you see the kingdom of God come with power, 18:44 I believe it. I believe a number of people who are listening to Jesus at that time did not die till they saw the kingdom of God come with power, and we know that none of them are living today. They all died long ago. So what is this kingdom of God coming with power mean? It does not refer to that 19:01 day when Jesus comes and sets up his kingdom on earth, and the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, and the kingdom of God will cover the whole earth. It's not referring to that day. It must be something else. You see, Kingdom is a word which is in the first century, 19:19 every country was a kingdom because every country had a king. Today, the kingdoms in the world are just a few. Most countries in the world don't have a king. So the word today is government. We don't say the Kingdom of India, the government of India. So it is the government of God. When the 19:47 Bible says seek the kingdom of God first. I used to think for years that that meant missionary work or preaching the gospel. But when I understood that kingdom today means government, that means I must have the government of God in my life. That means I must let God govern my life. Kingdom of 20:10 God and His righteousness. That means when I work, whether I'm at home, I must let the principles of God's law of God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, run everything in my life. If you go to work in the midst of so many unbelievers in your office or factory, you are under the government of God. 20:37 You do things in a different way. You don't fight or quarrel and stand on people's shoulders, push them down to get a promotion and no, no, no no, you don't do all that. You live by the principles of God's kingdom. You're upright. You won't tell lies. You won't cheat. You 20:52 won't try to make money in wrong ways. You don't have any black money. Everything is white. You're upright. You're clear about everything in your life because God is ruling and controlling you, and not only outwardly, but even in your thoughts. This is the government of 21:15 God when it says the government of God coming with power. And when I hear that word power, I'm reminded of acts one. Power. In acts one, Jesus said. Acts one. And verse eight. Ye shall 21:38 receive power when the Holy Spirit has come, and earlier than that after the resurrection. Acts one verse three. He presented himself alive after his suffering on the cross by many convincing proofs. And appeared to his disciples for forty days. And what did he speak in those forty days? 22:08 The government of God. That was his subject. Forty days telling them about the kingdom or the government of God. And then he said, now that I've told you for forty days about the government of God, don't leave Jerusalem. Wait for what the father has promised. What is that the power was 22:34 it that will come upon you, the kingdom of God coming with power. So you see the connection. So the Kingdom of God came with power onto this earth on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit filled those one twenty waiting people. And the external manifestations 22:55 of wind and fire were only a little indication of something that was happening in the hearts of these one hundred and twenty. The government of God came upon them all their differences and fighting with each other disappeared. They were like one hundred and twenty pieces of iron, 23:11 all separate, separate pieces of iron that put in the furnace and came out as one solid piece of iron. That is the church. When the fire of God melts our individual ambitions and desires and aims and makes us one, and Christ is the head. It's interesting. If you turn back 23:38 in Matthew chapter three, you know, John the Baptist was the one who came as a forerunner for Christ. And God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way. You know, when they asked him, are you the Messiah? He said, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not the Messiah. Verse three Matthew 24:03 three three I am the one referred to in Isaiah the prophet who said, someone who is preaching, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. I have come to prepare the way for someone greater than me who is coming. That is Jesus Christ. And if you accept me, I've just 24:27 come to prepare the road for the Messiah to come walk into your lives. And Israel rejected him. A lot of people like to listen to him. We read about Herod in Mark six and verse twenty. 24:56 Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist. Herod enjoyed listening to him the last part of Mark six twenty. He enjoyed listening to John the Baptist. He enjoyed listening to this fiery preacher who says, turn from your sins. Make your make the path straight. Make all the crooked 25:14 places straight, and bring the mountains down and lift the valleys up. Make the rough places smooth. And Herod said, wow. He's not like these boring Pharisees. It's good to listen to this guy. Did it change him? No. Because two verses later it says in verse twenty two, when Salome, the 25:39 daughter of Herodias, came in a skimpy, thin dress and danced seductively, she pleased Herod too. You see how Herod could listen to John the Baptist in the morning and watch this filthy dance in the evening? And both he enjoyed it. Just like people who come and listen to Zac Poonen in a meeting, 26:03 or in the TV or in the internet, and then in the evening they are watching some filthy movie. They enjoy both. It's happening. Is it happening to you that you can enjoy this message, and then you can enjoy some filthy thing on computers or television? You're like Herod. You may not 26:26 know it. I'm not excited when people say, Brother Zach, I just enjoy your messages. I remember Mark six twenty and I also remember Mark six twenty two. So I'm not excited because I say I want to know what he did after that. I know what Herod did after that. But I'll give you another example of a 26:48 man who enjoyed John the Baptist. Turned to John's Gospel, chapter one and verse thirty five. This is again John the Baptist. John was standing with two of his disciples, and he was preaching. And he looked at Jesus as Jesus walked and said, They're the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard John 27:15 the Baptist speak, and they followed Jesus. You know, this is a wonderful verse for me. I don't know whether I live till Jesus comes. I want to like all of you. But my times are in God's hands. He has numbered my days. He wrote that in a book before I was born. So I don't know. 27:44 But if the Lord calls me home before. He comes. Now, I don't want any of you to get disturbed. I'm not sick or anything. I'm just telling you what I've believed for the last fifty years. If the Lord calls me home before he comes, this is what I want written on my tombstone. They heard him speak 28:10 and they followed Jesus. What beautiful words. They heard him speak, and they did not follow him. They followed Jesus. That's John the Baptist. You don't have to be a preacher like me. You talk to people, don't you? If it can be said about you. They heard her speak. They followed Jesus. 28:37 What a wonderful thing. Is there anything better than that? They never admired him. They heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And one of them, we read his name. One of them who followed verse forty was Andrew, who became an apostle. Simon Peter's brother. So I see these contrasts. Herod 29:02 heard John the Baptist speak, enjoyed it, and went and watched Salome dance. Andrew heard John the Baptist speak and enjoyed it, and followed Jesus. And there are these two types of people in every congregation. They both enjoy the message. They both enjoy hearing a man who is anointed, but the 29:28 result is very different. After the meeting is over, the rest of the day, the rest of the week, the rest of the year. I hope all of you will follow Andrew and not Herod. Not only he followed Jesus, he went and called. His relatives say, come and see. He called his Peter. He wanted others to 29:52 get the blessing. I hope you will do that too. That is how CFC has grown through the years. One person heard a man of God speak and followed Jesus and he said, this is not enough for me. I must get somebody else also. You know, that's how we have grown. We have not had these, what 30:11 they call big evangelistic meetings in Bangalore. We never had it. No, never. That's not the way we grow. We've grown by personal evangelism. One person telling another, hey, come and listen. That's how later on it says. Philip found Nathanael. You read later on in the same chapter, 30:32 and that's continuing for two thousand years. And we can add some verses now from CFC. So and so found so and so. And there are many people sitting right here who can say, somebody else invited me here. That's how I came. And then I brought my brother and 30:46 somebody else. That's how we've grown. What did John the Baptist preach? Turn back again to Matthew chapter three. In Matthew chapter three, he said, how did he prepare the way for Jesus? Matthew three verse two. Repent. That was his first word. That's what all the prophets in 31:14 the Old Testament preached. Every prophet in the Old Testament, his fundamental message was repent, turn back to God. But John added one more thing which nobody preached till then. Right from Moses onwards, nobody preached this second part. The kingdom of heaven is near that nobody said. So 31:39 when John was saying, turn around, for the kingdom of heaven is now come. What he was saying is one thousand five hundred years, you Israelites, from the time of Moses till now you have heard the gospel to Israel, which is Deuteronomy twenty eight. God will make you 32:01 prosperous. God will defeat your enemies, his enemies meaning not the lusts of our flesh, but the Syrians and the Moabites and Ammonites and Egypt and all that. God will defeat your enemies, and You will be the head of all the nations of the earth, and you won't be the tail. It's all 32:23 in Deuteronomy twenty eight, and you will be healthy. You won't be sick. It's all earthly blessings. Every blessing was earthly. And if you disobey God, every curse was earthly. No mention of heaven or hell in the promises of the curses. In the Old Testament it was only 32:44 earthly. God had blessed them with every earthly blessing, with every material blessing in earthly places. In Moses we could say that New Testament Ephesians one three God says, he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. The Old Testament, he blessed them 33:01 with every material blessing, physical blessing in earthly places in Moses for fifteen hundred years. They had that. And they really found that if they honored God, they became rich, they were healthy. And the whenever they honored God, their enemies were defeated. God himself would send 33:17 angels to fight their enemies. It was amazing. But not one word about heaven. Not one word about being an inner partaking of divine nature. Nothing. But now, John the Baptist said, turn from that preoccupation with earthly things. That is repentance today. And that message is 33:39 almost not preached in Christendom. Even where people speak about repent, it is repent from your smoking and drinking and gambling and worldly friends and cinemas and pornography and all that is good. But I want to say, there are people here who have given up all those things. But you may be 33:59 still preoccupied with earthly things. So you may say, if I don't think about earthly things, how will I live? God doesn't say, you shouldn't think about it, but let the government of God control you as you do your earthly work. When Jesus was a carpenter, he wasn't reading the Bible or praying 34:24 all the time on his knees. No. If he had to make stools and benches, he had to concentrate to make sure it's all right. But the principles that governed his carpentry work were the principles of God's kingdom. I will not cheat anybody. My aim is not to become the richest carpenter in Nazareth. 34:44 No. My aim is to earn my living, to take care of my family. I've got four younger brothers, two younger sisters and a widowed mother at home. I have to work hard, concentrate on my work, try and get as many orders as possible. And if I meet some poor, helpless widow, make a chair for her and 35:08 don't charge her for it. And if some little child comes into my carpentry shop and breaks something. Don't get upset with the child. Just pick up the child and say, it's okay, my child. Don't worry, I can make that again. I love you. That's that type of carpenter will never become the richest 35:25 carpenter in Nazareth. But he'll be the most blessed carpenter. He'll be the greatest blessing to Nazareth than any other human being. And I want to say to you, that is what God has called you to be, where you live, to your relatives. It's a wonderful thing to have the principles of heaven 35:48 governing our life. Upright. We will not cheat. We will not be crooked. We've operated like that in in this church for forty years. People take advantage of us and they take their money from us. We can't do anything about it. But we don't cheat anybody. Never in forty years we've never cheated 36:11 anyone. We've never cheated the government. We've never cheated human beings. If people cheat us, let them do that. But we don't cheat anyone. That's our principle. It's our principle in our personal life. I can say that before God today, I've not cheated anyone in my life. I my 36:29 unconverted days, I did and I restored it all. I gave it all back, but not now. The principles of God's Kingdom seek the government of God in every area of our life. Turn from this preoccupation with worldly things to become great and big and all. Earn your living, 36:48 but be a witness for Christ. That's our calling, and that will be the happiest person. That will be the happiest family. That will be a really godly family. And that's what we are trying to raise in CFC. But John the Baptist, you know, the devil hates that type of message. And we 37:07 read that. Herod imprisoned him. John. Matthew four, verse twelve. Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody. You know, there are many things that God does which I tell you honestly, I cannot understand. Just like you experience things in your life that you can't understand. 37:32 As soon as I opened the Gospel of Matthew, there are things I can't understand. And then I say, Lord, that's because I'm human. My way of thinking is so human. God, who sees the overall picture, sees the end from the beginning, sees six thousand years of man's history, sees all the millions of 37:52 people in the world. He thinks in a different way, just like my little children when they were small, two or three years old. They don't think like I think. I see a broader picture. They see a small thing the same way I see with God. I'm like a little baby. God sees the whole picture. I'll 38:10 give you one example. Why should John be taken into custody? Man who's preaching such a fiery message? Can't God kill Herod and keep John preaching? That's how. That's what I do. And God says no. I let Herod live and let Herod kill John. That's crazy to me. Doesn't it sound crazy 38:33 to you? But it's not crazy. It's because I don't have the wisdom of God. Do you see how there are certain things we cannot explain? I'll give you another example. You know, in Matthew chapter two, it says. The wise men went to Herod, told the wise men, when you go to Bethlehem, 38:51 find and you find Jesus, come and tell me. I also want to worship him. He wanted to kill him. The wise men were warned by an angel, don't go back to Herod. And they disappeared. And Herod was waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting for nearly a number of months anyway. And when he 39:06 discovered that they duped him, and there's some child born who was going to be a king is going to replace me as king of the Jews. You know what he did? He says in Mark Matthew chapter two that he sent you know the story. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in 39:25 Bethlehem that were below two years old. Imagine a little town where every child below the age of two was killed. I say, Lord, why? What would I have done if I were there? I would have killed Herod. 39:47 What would you have done? Tell me. Would you have killed Herod? Or would you have allowed all these babies to be killed? I say, Lord, my ways are not your ways. I'm a stupid man. Your ways are far superior to my ways. But I can't understand it. I'll tell you today. Even today, 40:06 I can't understand why God did not kill Herod. But all those little babies to die and all those mothers. I don't know how many hundreds of mothers crying and weeping, but I say, Lord, your ways are perfect. I just say that this is just the beginning of Matthew two thousand years 40:24 of church history. Why was James the Apostle killed when he was thirty years old? Was it because there were hundreds of apostles? No, there were only eleven and one of them was killed. I can't understand. A few days later, Peter the angel comes and releases Peter. Why didn't the 40:46 angel come three days earlier and release James? I would have done it. God doesn't do it. God says no. James. Time is over. He's got to die. I'm just giving you these examples, my brothers and sisters, because some things can happen in your life like that. And you may say, I wouldn't have 41:06 done it like that. Agreed. But if you honestly tried to live in the will of God and trusting him and honoring him, there are many things that can happen in your life which you may not be able to understand. Maybe you have a sick child and you don't know why. Why has God given me, I mean 41:29 so many others, even ungodly people? Terrorists have healthy children. Why? A true disciple of Jesus should have a sick child? I don't know, but there are a thousand things I don't know because my mind is like a little cup and the ocean of God's wisdom doesn't fit into this cup. You 41:51 know what I do? I humble myself and say, Lord, I don't know. Teach me your ways. Teach me the principles of your government. I want to learn it. And if you're humble, God will teach you. And I'll tell you, I've learned a lot more in these fifty five years than I knew at the 42:10 beginning. And if I remain humble, I will learn more in the next few years. I've learned a lot about God's ways, but not everything still. I want to encourage you. Never grumble or complain because you grumble and complain because you think your wisdom is superior to God's. It's not. If you 42:34 prayed for a child and God took away that child in death. I don't know why he did it. I can comfort you, but I can't give you an explanation. But I can say this God's ways are not our ways. But his ways are far better. As much better as heaven is above earth, as much higher as heaven 42:59 is above earth. That is our confession of faith. Think of Christians who were tortured in prisons for so many years. Why didn't God release them even in this last hundred years? Even right now, in places like China and probably a day coming in India, why should that man who sacrificed his job 43:19 and gone to North India to preach the gospel? Why should he be killed by anti-Christian people now in the last one year? Why should his house be burnt? Why should his children be made fatherless when he went there sacrificing a good job, he had to preach the gospel out there. Why does God allow 43:37 that? I say, Lord, I don't know, but I still say your ways are best, that I will never change. I will have no complaint. Now I want to say this. My brothers and sisters, if you ever have a doubt about that, you're going to have serious problems in the days to come. in following Jesus, because 44:00 you'll be putting your puny little mind against the almighty wisdom of God and thinking you know more. That is the height of stupidity. That's what I'm trying to say. The government of God. The primary requirement is humility. Turn with me to. I was talking about Matthew four when Jesus saw 44:24 that Herod had locked up John. What did Jesus do? It says here in verse twenty three, Jesus began to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the Kingdom. The gospel of God's government over our life. The gospel of humble submission to God's wisdom, even if I can't understand anything 44:50 about it. That's the government of God. I can't understand your wisdom, Lord. but I submit to it. Jesus preached it because John the Baptist was tied down. Jesus preached it. When Jesus rose up from the dead, as we saw again, he was preaching about God's kingdom. And when 45:09 Jesus went up to heaven, the apostles began to preach God's kingdom. See acts of the apostles. See acts of the apostles in chapter. Let's go to the last chapter. Acts twenty eight. How does the gospel acts of the apostles end? Acts twenty eight, verse thirty. Paul lived two years in his 45:34 own rented house, welcomed all who came to him. And what did he preach? The kingdom of God. The government of God. That's what John the Baptist preached. That's what Jesus preached. And he went away. The apostles preached it. And the end of the acts of the apostles. Acts twenty eight. They 45:54 continued preaching God's Kingdom, and we are now in a long chapter called acts twenty nine, which has been going on for two thousand years. What should we be preaching? The government of God in every area of our life. Let God govern you the way you live, the way you speak, the way you behave. 46:15 That is the government of God in every area of our life. And yes, there will be persecution. You read about acts chapter fourteen. In acts chapter fourteen he said, Paul said how to strengthen 46:36 the souls of the disciples. Is it by just giving comforting promises? The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What man can do to me more than that? Acts fourteen twenty two Paul strengthened the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, even if you have to die 46:54 for it. Saying, how do you enter the Kingdom of God? Through many tribulations, we will enter the kingdom of God. So when you have tribulation. You must see a signpost there saying, this is the way to the Kingdom of God. Don't run away from there in some other direction. Through many 47:17 tribulations and this is the one you already face, is not the last one. Encourage the soul. I mean, are you encouraged? If I tell you you're going to have many tribulations in this year? Brother Zach, please don't preach such messages. They don't like to hear it. But here it says they strengthen the 47:35 souls of the disciples. Hey, I want to tell you reality, man. Supposing I send my child to school and say. Hey, listen, school's going to be very easy. I know you're going to study calculus and physics and all. That's easy, man. Relax. You don't have to study so much. It's all easy. You 47:49 think he's going to pass? No. I remember how my children used to sit up till midnight because it was so tough. So I don't we don't tell children. It's all going to be easy, man. Just a cakewalk. Just walk through it. Know it's tough, but we go through tough courses to get a good education. 48:11 But this is what Paul is saying. Isn't that an encouragement? Through many tribulations, you'll get the kingdom of God. Oh, is that what I'm going to get? Wonderful. We enter God's kingdom, where God's rule covers my life, and I'm a blessing to other people. I'm willing to face 48:26 any tribulation for that. You must be willing. We must be. We must prepare the church for that. And how do we know that we are going in the right direction? I'll give you one guideline. We finish with this Romans fourteen seventeen. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking. In fact, 48:53 it's not anything earthly. It's not marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building all these things that Jesus said people will do in the last days, eat and drink and marry and give in marriage and plant and build and all that. No, the kingdom of God is not all that. We 49:08 do all that because we live on this earth, but the kingdom of God is righteousness. And let me explain righteousness. Righteousness is a big word, but in very simple terms. It means to love God with all your heart and to love others as you love yourself. That is righteousness. Sometimes 49:32 we think righteousness is paying the taxes and standing up for what is right. That's all there, but primarily in very simple terms, to love Jesus more than anything on earth. That's righteousness and to love others. To treat them exactly like you want to be treated. Treat the brothers and 49:57 sisters here the way you want to be treated. Do you want people to gossip about you behind your back? No. Then don't gossip about them. Treat the servant in your home, the servant that one lower in society the way you like to be treated by your boss in your place of work. How do you want 50:21 your boss to treat you? Treat your poor servant at home the same way. Do you like your boss to give you a bonus once in a while? At least once a year. Ever thought of not being so legalistic with your servant and doing something good? Unexpected because you're a Christian? Because 50:44 you follow Jesus. I want to tell you, God's been very good to me. God will treat you like you treat other people. You treat other people well. God will treat you well. You treat other people's children well. God will bless your children. It's like that. It's a law. We reap what we sow. 51:11 So the kingdom of God is righteousness. I want to live loving Jesus with all my heart. I want to treat everybody in the world exactly like I want to be treated myself. I don't want to be legalistic and strict. I want to be strict for hygiene. You know, we don't want rats and 51:33 cockroaches running around our house. We want to be clean. Same way spiritually. I want to be clean, but not legalistic. I want to be good. It's easy to fellowship with a good man. It's very difficult to fellowship with a legalistic man who goes exactly according to the rules. We 51:52 follow the rules, but with goodness. And how do I know that I'm going the right way? That I'm not fooling myself. It says here, by peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's how. That's our assurance. You know, I can say I love Jesus with all my heart. Really? You can say I treat everybody like 52:10 I want to be treated. But if it is true, if it is true, you will always have joy in your heart and you'll always have peace in your heart. You'll not be tense and anxious and worried and complaining. Then you're not following righteousness. The righteousness from the Holy Spirit always brings 52:31 peace and joy. In the Old Testament they had just righteousness. The word righteousness comes many times in the Old Testament, but it was never coupled with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the wonderful thing about New covenant righteousness, the kingdom of God, that which John 52:46 the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus to bring, which we experience today, is loving Jesus with all our heart, treating others the way I want to be treated myself. And the proof of it is I have twenty four hours peace in my heart, no conscience bothering me about this, that or the other when 53:06 I go to bed at night. Always joy like a spring bubbling up. Not just when I sing songs about joy, but all the time. You say that's impossible in this earth. Okay. According to your faith, be it unto you, it will be impossible for you. But I don't believe it'll be impossible for me, 53:24 because I believe God's Word says. And do you know, the Bible says, that I must show you this verse as well, which Jesus said about the last days in Matthew twenty four Before Jesus comes. Matthew twenty four. The disciples asked him, Lord, what will be the sign of the end? What 53:45 will be the sign of your coming? In Matthew twenty four verse three, Jesus said. Here's the answer among many things, verse fourteen. Matthew twenty four fourteen. This gospel of the kingdom of God will be preached in the whole world as a testimony, and then the end will come. 54:09 I believe God has raised up CFC among other churches to preach this gospel of the kingdom of righteousness, not of money making and health, but of righteousness, of loving Jesus with all our heart and treating others the way we want to be treated, which results in peace and joy in the 54:31 Holy Spirit. This good news will be preached in all the nations it's being preached in India. Thank God for it. And then the end will come. We are doing a tremendous work for God. And you can do it, brother or sister? If you can't preach yourself, you can give somebody a book that 54:55 you can pick up from the bookstore, or a CD or a DVD, or direct him to one of our CFC videos. There are many ways in which we can spread the Kingdom of God if we use our mind a little bit. Like businessmen think, how can I open another store somewhere? Think, 55:19 how can I spread this? There are ways in which I can. There's a good friend of mine. I'm a bit embarrassed to talk to him, but I can give him a book. I can give him a CD, a DVD. This gospel of the kingdom has to be preached. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Please 55:40 think about what we have heard. Dear brothers and sisters. And. Thinks particularly about any specific area that God spoke to you today. Maybe one particular thing. Say, Lord. I want 56:04 to obey you there. And I believe that you'll give me the power to obey you. According to your faith, be it unto you. Heavenly father, make. These truths real for every single one of us. Time is 56:26 near. Your coming is near. We want to live for the things of eternity. Help us in Jesus name. Amen.
