0:18 I thank God for God's church, where we could come and honor him, praise him, and hear what God wants to speak to us, and to fellowship with the saints, humble people, and receive light. So there 0:40 are so many blessings, eternal blessings, true blessings of being a part of a good church which the Lord builds. We read in Psalm 69, there's a prophetical word about how Jesus considered the church of God, or the house of God. Psalm 69 and verse 9, I'll just read to you, 1:13 Psalm 69 and verse 9. So for the house of the Lord, Jesus had a zeal. And he says that zeal has 1:44 consumed me. And as a result, he was insulted in his own family, he was insulted in the society, he was insulted in the temple of God, the synagogue, because he had a true zeal for God, the church. 2:07 Church is a place where the glory of God dwells. In the Old Testament, the tabernacle, the most holy place, the Shekinah glory of God was dwelling. It was God's desire, longing to dwell with man, to dwell with men. That's how he sent his glory, and he was dwelling 2:30 in the midst of his people through the glory. And now, the equivalent term we can say is the light which shines bright in the house of God. Another way we can say, the house of God is a place where we can see many brothers and sisters having the divine nature, the patience, the humility, 2:55 the zeal for God, godliness, the fear of God. When so many people come with that divine nature, can you imagine how much bright will be the light? Our physical eyes can't see, but in our spirit we can feel. I came to the church, this CFC church in Bangalore in the year 1991. I came 3:24 with an aim to find fault in the doctrine, to find out what's wrong in this church. So that I can tell others who are part of the church, my relatives, to come out of that. The first day, the first meeting, I don't remember even a word what was preached, 3:45 but God exposed my pride. I felt deep in my heart how proud a man I was, and I used to go and preach in those days to different places. God showed me how much honor I was seeking, how much I wanted recognition. I was not preaching that people will be gripped or people will be 4:12 helped. I preached for my own glory. God showed me everything, exposed my heart. First is the pride, God exposed. That means the light of God was so powerful. And second thing God exposed was how much I was a slave to men's opinions. Yeah, 4:36 I had relatives who admired me and appreciated me, and friends, and especially Christian friends in the ministry circle. I was seeking their opinion rather than the opinion of God, rather than what God was thinking about me. God exposed that. The first decision 5:00 I made on that day after the first session in my prayer was, Lord, I die to men's opinion. I die to men's opinion. I know when I go back from here, people will say that I have not used my discretion and I have chosen a wrong church and I am leaving the other 5:23 ministries and this and that. So many charges will be there. It's all was ringing in my ears, but I said, I won't bother, even if they think that I am wrong, completely wrong, that I am going after a cult organization. I don't bother, Lord. I want your opinion. I 5:40 want to think what you are thinking about me. That is far more important than me, which I never knew after so many years of living a Christian life. I was attending some other church. I don't blame any church because that's not our job. But every time I go there, and especially the 6:04 time of Lord's table, I used to examine my heart. After listening to the message, only thing I get convicted was three things I used to repeatedly confess, every Lord's table. Lord, I didn't have control of my tongue. I have spoken unwanted things. I have 6:25 not read the Bible sufficiently. I have not sufficiently prayed. These are the three things repeatedly, year after year, year after year, month after month, I got convicted. And there came a point when I read the word of God in 1 Corinthians 14 6:50 and verse 25, when somebody comes into the house of God, his secrets will be exposed, deep thoughts will be exposed, and he will fall flat, and he will worship God, and he will say 7:11 that God is really in the midst. I experienced this verse when I came to this church. And when I read this verse, I used to have a longing, Lord, I heard when I was in the other churches, I heard so many words today, but nothing is exposed. Who will 7:32 expose my life? I had a longing. Lord, only these three things repeatedly I am telling, does it mean that I'm not at all growing spiritually? Does it mean that I'm stagnant in my spiritual life? Does it mean that I'm backsliding? There was a cry in my heart. 7:53 But when I came to the church, the glory was so bright, the light was so bright that the deeper parts of my heart, my life was exposed. I really thank God for the church. And it's not that everybody who comes, their hearts will be exposed. 8:17 They need to have a cry. They need to have a longing. Lord, I want my life to be exposed. I want to repent. I want to change. I'm not like you, Lord. If there's a cry in the heart, if there's a longing in the heart, God will expose such 8:34 things. So God can do that when the glory of God is shining bright in the church of God, in the house of God, in the body of Christ. We read in Ezekiel about the house of God. So many things are there in the book of Ezekiel you can read. But in Ezekiel chapter 10 and verse 9:01 4, we read that the glory of God was in the threshold, was in the church. The glory of God was in the threshold, in the inner part of the church. But slowly what happened, we read in 10th chapter, Ezekiel chapter 10 and verse 19, 9:23 that the glory departed and it was at the door. God still has hope in the church. So the glory departs to the door. That means sometimes you come to the church, you hear the word, but you don't get anything. Your thoughts are not exposed. But either before 9:49 the meeting or after the meeting, people are there talking at the portico, informal time. You meet some brother there at the door and you get exposed. You get convicted. Oh God, thank you. It happened to me. At one occasion, there are 10:06 three churches we joined together and conduct a conference in Tamil Nadu. Only three churches. And Br. Zach used to come. At the end of the conference, he called all the elders. Very few elders were there. And he spoke very strongly because one brother did not 10:22 communicate the full picture and spoke very strongly. I was discouraged. I know that he was speaking at me, but he never mentioned the name, but he spoke. As a man of God, it is his duty to correct, to rebuke, to encourage. Yeah. 10:44 But after going home, I got so depressed and discouraged, I thought I should not continue this church. I should leave this church. But then, what about my witness? If I leave the CFC church, what others would think of me? They would think that I am backstabbing and got offended. 11:03 I don't want that to happen. See, flesh is so deceptive. It gives a lot of ideas. Then I thought I should go abroad. That church is not there. I should go to some African country and work there so quietly I can be away from the church. 11:19 And also, I won't get a bad name. That was a thought and I was looking for placements. And at that time, I was, I think I and my wife, we went to a village to meet one of the families in our church. After meeting them, we were coming back. I 11:37 still remember. It's fresh in my memory. And one simple brother, who doesn't have much education, very ordinary, simple brother, I was coming across with him and he was talking to me about how God is leading him and helping him. And so many other things, we were having some informal 11:55 talk before coming to the bus. And then God started putting these thoughts into my heart. You say that you will go abroad, okay, but will you get brothers like this, humble brothers? And really, I felt ashamed, God, sorry that I was thinking in a wrong way 12:19 that I should go out of the church. This is the church where you have given me, this church with humble brothers to fellowship with, to see your glory and to grow with them. Where shall I go, Lord? Like Peter was asking Jesus, where shall we go? Words of life are with you. 12:39 Lord, in this small body of Christ, where we were gathering a small church, insignificant people, people without education or without good standing in the society, without much business, this and that, without much money and all, they are staying there, let me stay there. And Lord, 12:57 let me be there in the place where you have called me. That changed me. So it is not that I got this exposed in the church, but at the door, informal talk with the brothers and sisters. So I don't want to neglect the time of informal fellowship. God can bless us, 13:18 God can meet some of our important spiritual needs through the informal time of fellowship. So the glory of God went to the door, because it wanted to help some people. We read at the door, another place, Jeremiah chapter 7. God told Jeremiah, 13:39 Jeremiah was a prophet who was prophesying to the people of Judah when they were committing sins like people of Israel. And from the lesson of the fall of Israel, they never learned a lesson. Whenever we see somebody falling away from the Lord, whenever we see somebody 14:05 going away from the church, going away from the fellowship, going away from the Lord, it's one thing that you despise. Oh, why they left? It's another thing, Lord, I want to learn a lesson, how I can be warned, how I can protect myself. So Jeremiah was a prophet, prophesying to 14:23 the people of Judah about repentance. Please repent, otherwise you'll be taken as captives to Babylon. You will all be taken away. Forty years he preached, but they never realized that he was a true prophet. They thought he was a false prophet. They gathered 14:41 their own prophets who said, you are people of God, the church belongs to you, the temple belongs to you, and God will not do like that, He will not take you away. They believed that, nice words, smooth words, but they failed to believe what Jeremiah prophesied. 14:59 And what God told Jeremiah, God told him, don't go into the church, and you stand at the door, at the gate, and preach. That's what God said, don't go in. You can read 7th chapter afterwards, He said, you go, don't stand, go in, stand at the door and preach, don't go inside. 15:27 Why God told him not to go inside? He said, it is full of thieves, it is full of robbers, so don't go inside. We read in the second verse of Jeremiah chapter 7, stand at the door or at the gate of the temple of God and preach, don't go inside. We read in another place about the door, 15:54 Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20, where Jesus himself, the glory of God, who came and dwelt among us, He is standing at the door. Because inside, people rejected Him. Inside, praise, worship, songs, messages, everything is going on, Lord's table, everything is going on, 16:17 but Jesus is not there, why? Because people were seeking their own. People, when they come to the church, they want to find out how important they are, whether people are coming and wishing me, greeting me, whether elders are coming and inquiring about me, about my family, 16:38 do they pray for me, do they do this for me, do they do that for me, when I am sick, whether they come to the hospital to pray for me, or at least a phone call, are they inquiring me, how am I, they simply forget how important I am, how can they forget self. 16:57 Initially we accept Christ and put Him on our throne, then we dethrone Him and we climb on the throne and sit, and we seek our own. That's what happened to Paul's co-workers. How much Paul would have been careful to select his co-workers, and he was telling in Philippians 2, he was 17:17 telling Timothy, all others of my co-workers are seeking their own, but they are doing ministry, they are preaching, they are encouraging people, but they are seeking their own, except Timothy, who does not seek of his own, he seeks the things of Christ. 17:36 So initially we come with a humble heart, with a heart of humility. Today morning I was telling God, Lord, I don't want to go to the church as a preacher, I want to go like I went in the year 1991. I want to go there, Lord, give me light, Lord, I want to repent, Lord, and 17:56 it's very difficult to remain in that state, but God will give grace when we humble ourselves. Lord, I don't want to seek of my own, any time, any stage, Paul's co-workers, initially they would not have sought their own, but as time went on, went on, when people started recognizing, 18:12 people started appreciating, and when people started mentioning their names and all, they became so important, and their focus on God slowly made a U-turn and started focusing on them, how important I am, that's what happened in the church. Any church where God is honored, 18:28 not honored, where God is dishonored, where people seek their own honor, their own importance, yeah, two kinds of people may be there, the first kind, those who seek the things of God, early in the Christian life it's like that, but as days go by, days go by, we have to 18:46 protect that spirit, preserve that spirit, otherwise we can start seeking our own. Any place where God is not honored, God will leave. God doesn't want to stay there, two kings cannot rule in a country, two kings cannot rule in a country. God says, okay, you want to be the king, 19:03 yeah, let you be the king, I will go out, you want to honor yourself, you are seeking the honor of your men, yeah, do that, I will go out, that's what Jesus said, if you are seeking the honor of men, how can you believe, you can't believe that God is God, that God is on the throne, 19:19 you can't believe that God is worthy of all honor and power and praise and glory, you can't believe, because we are so much engrossed about our importance, our self, our family. So that's what happened, the Laodicean elder said, I don't lack anything, I lack nothing, I have everything, 19:43 I am rich, I am okay, and Jesus tells him the real condition, that you are miserable, wretched, naked, why? Because of seeking his own, seeking his own honor, Lord, you be glorified in the church, that's why we have praise time, we insist on worship, what is the real worship? The 20:12 real worship is, Lord, you are God, I am not God, that's the real worship, we read in Psalm 100, David is telling that, we can get the spirit, third verse, Psalm 100 and verse 3, we read 20:33 about this passage about the worship of God, know that the Lord is God, it is he who has made us, and not we ourselves, we are not made ourselves, those who feel they are very important, they feel that they are made themselves, they are gods, but here, know that the Lord is God, it is he who has 20:59 made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture, with that spirit, let us enter into the gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, so real worship is, Lord, you are God, not me, Lord, you are on the throne, not me, Lord, you are the king, not me, 21:19 Lord, I bow down, I humble myself, and in such a place, God will dwell richly, God's glory will dwell richly, we read in Ezekiel chapter 11, when we read 22nd and 23rd verse, the glory was there at the door for some time, but even then, people refused to repent, they were having other gods, 21:46 they were making other things important than God, they rejected God, they despised God, they neglected God, the glory went away to a mountain, the glory departed, what a sad thing, even now, Jesus says, the zeal of the house of God has consumed me, God has got a zeal, 22:08 Jesus has got a zeal for the church, the church has to be preserved in purity, the church has to be preserved in unity, the church has to have its zeal, the sin has to be considered seriously, we can't be casual, the things of God, when I was in my schooling, maybe 11th or 12th standard, I 22:29 had a dream, I was sitting in the church, and the preacher was preaching, and I was disappointed to see that some 3 or 4 people are sitting together as a group, and playing some cinema tune on their guitar, and somewhere people are discussing, I was wondering, the preacher started preaching, pastor 22:52 started preaching, and people are not listening, and he is telling a reference, Matthew 11.21, some verse he is telling, and asking people to read, nobody is turning their Bible, and I heard a voice, O unto them who are complacent in Zion, I never knew the words, where it was, 23:15 those days very difficult to search and find out, now we have lot of tools, just you can find out, put it in the Google or any AI chat box, you can find out, it is in Amos 6.1, O unto those who are complacent in Zion, I heard that voice, and I woke up from my dream, I had a great burden for 23:38 the church, Lord, from that time onwards, I was praying, weeping and praying, Lord, let not the church become complacent, let not me become a complacent person in the church, let me be serious Lord, the church is in this state, Lord, revive the church, change the church, Lord, 23:54 change the people's attitude, mind, everything, yeah, we need to be serious about the church of God, we need to have a zeal of the body of Christ, Lord, I should be preserved, I should do, Lord, something to build this body, you know, at the time of Jeremiah, people were taken as captives, 24:17 who are these people? These were the same people who were delivered from Egypt, who saw the Dead Sea split, and who experienced the miracles and miracles and miracles every day in their lives, I went to a church, one of our churches, one brother was asking, dear brother, I have a doubt, 24:39 yeah, please tell me brother, why in our church there are no miracles, his mother was sick, and I brought my mother to the church, she was not healed, how great it would have been if a miracle would have happened, if every week some miracles happen, more people will come to the church, 24:59 if every week miracles happen, people's faith will get strengthened, I didn't know what to do, what to tell him, I waited and I told him, our church has got a vision, our church has got a burden, our church has got a goal, that is discipleship, building the body of Christ, you know, 25:19 these people who left Egypt, why they were all walking? They wanted to dwell in the land where milk and honey flows, every time they wanted miracle, miracle, miracle, they wanted water, they wanted non-vegetarian food, they started murmuring and complaining, what? Not because their children 25:42 were ungodly, not because their children were going astray, not at all, every time they came to Moses and cried, it is for some need, physical need, some miracle, and they experienced miracles, miracle after miracle, miracle after miracle, and their driving force was, we want to drink milk and 26:00 honey, physical blessings, physical blessings, what happened to them? They came to the border of Canaan and they refused to believe what Joshua and Caleb were telling, they said, we can't enter, we want to go back to Egypt, slavery life is better than this life, if we go there, we will 26:19 die, they refused to believe, read Hebrews chapter 3, they hardened their hearts, they refused to believe godly men and their messages, they wanted to throw stones at them, they took stones, they wanted to kill them, that is the condition of the people who experienced miracles after miracles, 26:40 miracles after miracles, we read in Matthew chapter 11, Khorasim, O unto you, Bethsaida, O unto you, if all the miracles and great signs and wonders which were done in your place, if it had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented, if it had been done in Tyre 26:55 and Sidon, they would have repented, but you have not repented, Capernaum, you have experienced lot of miracles because Capernaum is the place where Jesus rented a house and he was staying there, every time going out and coming, miracle was happening, miracle after miracle, miracle after 27:09 miracle, did Capernaum repent? No, they wanted more miracles because they wanted to satisfy themselves, their life was surrounded under their I, self, we want this, we want this, we want this, today also in the church there may be two groups of people, one group of people, brother did you 27:31 pray that my daughter should get married, did you pray that my son should get married, son should get job, this should be done, that should be done, this should be done, always receiving, receiving, receiving, receiving, may God protect us from being the first group of people like Israel, 27:47 I want, I want, I want, maybe language may be spiritual, but it is all centered on me, when will you come, when will you bless me, when will you give that, when will you give this, it is good, but Jesus says, seek ye first the kingdom of God, what is in the uppermost in our mind, what is the 28:05 need, why do we live for, what do we live for, Lord is it to glorify your name, Lord your name should not be blasphemed, through me or my family or my children, if something happens through my children, which brings disgrace to the name of God, I cry, I go to God with weeping and grief, 28:25 is it there or I want to cover it up and want to maintain the reputation and name of my family, David was not seeking his own, he confessed, even let the whole world know, read my confession, I am not bothered, a man after God's own heart, he was so humble man, but Saul, he said, 28:49 please don't tell, let not the people know, I want honor, he was seeking his own honor, that's why God dethroned him, two groups of people, another group of people, Lord, what do you want me to do, Lord, Paul was asking, Lord, I want to know you, and what do you want me to do, these are the two 29:09 questions, like the two rails, which are guiding a train to the destination, he had two questions in his life, Lord, what do you want me to do, and who are you, Lord, what is your will, and who are you, Lord, I want to know you more and more, more and more, I want to count everything as done, compared 29:27 to the gaining of the knowledge of God, that was Paul's heart, he wanted to live for the Lord, God really blessed him, and another group, Lord, what do you want me to do, Lord, what shall I do, Lord, for building up of the church, which responsibility shall I take, Lord, is there any 29:46 need, Lord, where I want to go and do it, I was in another church, and it was a one day special meeting, morning we had, they served breakfast to all, and idli, sambar we took, and I wanted to wash my plate, I went to the washroom, one brother was saying, no, no, don't wash, brother, keep it, 30:06 keep it, but I still washed and kept it, and the meeting was about to start, I was, I came down to the ground floor, and it was happening, the first floor dining was there, I went to the washroom, and I was coming back, I was surprised, in some corner, which is not very visible, 30:28 which is not a prominent place, some corner, two people were there, like this, I went there to see, who are they, what are they doing, one brother, and a young brother with him, they were washing the plates, all the plates were dumped there, two people were washing the plates, you know who 30:45 is the brother, yeah, he is a medical doctor, and added to that, he has done his PhD, and very well, good standing in the society, but he is washing the plate, he could have thought, no, I have got some other responsibility, according to my stature, and my education, spiritually he is 31:03 a good brother, very good brother, he has been in the church, yeah, if I want to do something in the church, there is always something in the church, the body of Christ, where God has kept something, in his wisdom, only thing is, am I willing to humble myself, take up, and God will raise such 31:25 people, to give more responsibility in the church, that is God's plan for the lives, God has a plan for every one of us, every one of us, in building the body of Christ, I will tell you how, and these are the people who are seeking out the miracles, and did these miracles help them to get saved, 31:46 no, these miracles, did they help them to know God more, no, they wanted to go back to Egypt, and we read in John chapter 6, many people, 5000 people ate the food, because of the miracle, and they were coming to Jesus, when he wanted to go to some other place, crossing the river, 32:10 and Jesus is asking them, John chapter 6 and verse 26, he is telling, you are not following me because you have seen miracles, and you are following me because you ate food, bread, and you are satisfied, what does he say, something is missing, he is telling, you have seen miracles, 32:37 and you have not repented, those days Jesus did miracles only to lead people to repentance, but they did not repent, you have eaten food, and you have heard my word, you have not repented, again you are coming back to experience miracles, again you are coming back to eat food, he said, 32:54 I am not going to give you food, you, 27th verse, you seek the eternal food, you seek the eternal glory, glory of the heavenly father, doing the will of God, they were asking, what is faith, do what God wants you to do, have faith in God, so we see the glory of God in the church, at the 33:15 door, and going away from God, the same way Lord, now we are the body of Christ, the glory should dwell in my heart, glory is the divine nature, I need to have the nature of God, the desire should be at the center of my heart, it should not go to the door, peripheral mind, if I have time, I will 33:37 go to church, if I have time, I will seek God, if I have time, I will meditate the word of God, that means the glory has gone to the periphery, it is not in the center, it is not in the middle, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, how to offer your bodies, bring the body to the church, 33:56 bring the body to the place of prayer, bring the body to the place where you study the word of God, bring the body to humble yourself, bring the body to do the insignificant work in the church, to take up the responsibility of the church, that is offering your body as a living sacrifice, that 34:09 is a reasonable worship, and if I am like a person who doesn't involve in anything, just here and go means I am like the people who want only miracles, miracles, miracles, but they don't think anything to fulfill God's plan and purpose, God was taking them to Canaan to fulfill his purpose, next step 34:28 in Canaan was to build the temple of God, because so far they were going with the ark of God, tabernacle, God's plan was to build the temple of God, to dwell among them, but they never saw that, all the people died, only the youngsters who were born on the way, and who left Egypt when they were 34:48 before 20 years, they entered into Canaan, that was one journey, they never had the burden of God, things of God, they always wanted something for themselves, but in Jeremiah's time people went as captives, there they were crushed, they were broken, they became helpless, 35:11 they were crying to God, Lord we have committed a mistake, we have committed sin, that kind of remorseness came, sometimes God leads us to some situations, some difficulties where we realize, and then after 70 years God made people to come back to Jerusalem, that was the second journey, 35:32 second journey was from Babylon to Jerusalem, who are the people in Babylon? Already people who have left Egypt, who have experienced the Passover, the blood of the lamb, they were saved, saved people, they were in Babylon, but there no body of Christ, they were all having difficulties, 35:53 slaves, slaves for so many things, slaves for men's opinions, like I was living, when I was in the other church I was saved, I came to the Lord, but still I was a slave to my pride, I was slave to the opinions of men, it was like Babylon in life, God wanted to deliver, so these 36:12 people started a journey, they were coming from Babylon, and the first batch of people came under the headship of Zerubbabel and Joshua, Zerubbabel was the governor and Joshua was the priest, first batch of people, around 45,000 people, 42,000 people came, and when they were coming 36:33 on their journey, not even a single miracle, and the people of Israel were going to Canaan, they had experienced miracles, but this journey, no miracle, what was there in their heart? The temple should be built, we are going there to build the temple of God, that was there as a prime burden, 36:58 that was in their uppermost mind, that was in the center of their heart, we want to build the temple of God, so this batch came, built the foundation, and pillars, and the temple of God, then God brought the second batch of people, and this time it was only 1,500 or 1,700, 37:17 that count is there in the book of Ezra, Ezra and Nehemiah are the books written at this time, and also Haggai and Zechariah, these two prophets were there at that time, so God brought Ezra, and what did he do? He really started the sacrifices, all the spiritual things, and involved the people, 37:42 started cleansing people from their sins, people who are married, heathen people, send them away, purification, real worship, but how many people? 1,500, 1,500 to 1,700, numbers are written there, who really offer praise and worship to God, how many people went out? Only men, 38:08 6 lakh people, how many people are there offering sacrifices? Reasonable worship, only very few, but the glory of God came to the temple, then came the last batch, and Nehemiah, and what they were doing, they thought the church should be preserved, temple should be preserved, 38:29 temple again should not be destroyed by the enemies, so they built the compound wall, how many days did it take? Just 52 days, they completed the work, 52 days, everybody was working, now this time it is not 12 people or Joshua calling, all the people were involved in building the temple, 38:51 that is God's plan and purpose, all the people were involved in building the compound wall, in one hand they were having the tool to construct, another hand they had the weapon to fight against the devil, that is our calling, yeah, one side the work of God, the body of Christ, another 39:11 hand they want to fight against the devil, devil is a destroyer, we always have, we need watchmen, the compound tells about the watchmen, compound tells about the protection for the church, we need people, your prayers can protect the church, I know some of the churches, the sisters, 39:27 they have a prayer group and they pray, pray, pray for the church, weekly twice, thrice, with the burden, with the tears, daily, those are the people who are building the compound wall, through their prayers, they pray for the preservation of the young people in the church, that nobody could 39:43 go astray, for the small children, for the elderly people, prayer, and whatever way we can protect and preserve the church, we need to do, and those people, when enemy comes, they want the people, we need people who give warning, that's a zeal of the house of God, so this second journey, no miracles, 40:06 no signs, no wonders, but all their heart was, we are going there not to drink milk and honey, we are going there to build the body of Christ, to build the temple of God, do we have that zeal of God, and Jesus talks about the house of God, in three places, in John chapter 2, he says, 40:34 my father's house, you have made it as a place of business, John chapter 2, he talks about the house of God, and he says, it's a father's house, John chapter 2 and verse 17, John chapter 2 40:58 and verse 17, there also he talks about, the same verse is quoted here, the same verse we read in Psalm 19, it's quoted here, do not make my father's house, house of trade, house of trade, 41:24 what's a trade, you go to the place of trade, what will I get, I give you so much money, what will I get, that's a business, and don't make my father's house, a house of business, so Jesus says with tears, he finds that people want to earn money, in the church, making business, sometimes 41:47 they may not make money, they make honor in the church, when I go there, when I do this, I get an honor, it's a business, making business, that is self-seeking, seeking our own, and Jesus says, don't do that, he had a zeal for the house of God, here he says, it's my father's house, the first 42:07 stage, the church of God, house of God becomes a place where trade is going on, you take this, I take this, in some places when you go, people praise people, when you go, you speak about me, when I go, I speak about you, what is that, it's a business, trade, are we honoring God, 42:28 we need to honor God and God's people, but we should not make a business, we should not seek our own, and second place, he says about the temple of God, we read in Luke chapter 19, verse 46, my 42:50 house is called the house of prayer, but you have made it as a den of thieves, this is a quote from Jeremiah chapter 7, Jeremiah chapter 7, it talks about making the house of God as a den of thieves, what is a den of thieves, den or a cave, where people hide, there is a highway near our place, 43:15 and nearby there is a big area where all thieves are living, they are given houses, they are living there, and they sometimes come to the main road, and they throw an egg on the car windshield, and car stops, they threaten them and steal, rob, and then they go and hide, you can't find out, 43:35 there are some hiding places, you can't find out, and here God says, my house, the house of God has become hiding place for the thieves, robbers, is it really robbers going and hiding in the temple, I don't think so, people commit so many sins, they are not serious about it, 43:57 and then they take bull, lamb, sheep, and they want to offer it as a sacrifice, and when you go to the temple of God, it's full of sound, and dove, and all making noise, because I brought 5 or 10 sheep, because so much sin I committed, and they hide under the sacrifices, they don't repent, 44:22 but under the sacrifices, you know I hear people, they live in sin, but they do something, because they want to hide, maybe they give large amount of money to the church and ministry, because they want to hide, will really God be happy about it, no, so they don't want to hear to Prophet 44:43 Jeremiah, Prophet Jeremiah shouting at the door, but they are busy in sacrifices, and Jeremiah chapter 7, God is asking them, you please tell me, whether I gave you the commandments first or the procedure for sacrifices, he is asking, Jeremiah chapter 7, and verse 22, did I give you all the 45:08 procedures for sacrifice first, or commandments, what do you say, when people came out of Egypt, at the Mount of Sinai, God first gave them the commandments, commandments are to obey, you read in the first 10 commandments, not even a single commandment where it says, give offering, 45:28 give sacrifice, nothing is there, all those things came after that, when people transgressed the commandments, then God said, offer a sacrifice, transgression, but now, what is first for them, first is sacrifice, commandments, they forgot, but Jesus came to set the priority right, 45:52 when you read Hebrews chapter 10, verse 5, 6, 7, he says, Lord, sacrifices, offerings, you don't desire, you have given me a body, I want to do your will, Lord, I offer this body to do your will, obedience, Jesus learnt obedience, through suffering, obedience, so Jesus changed 46:14 the priority in the new covenant, so obedience is first, and then offering up of our worships, and praises, thanksgiving, ministry, everything, first is obedience, obedience is better than sacrifice, we read in Samuel, first Samuel chapter 15, verse 22, I think, obedience is better than sacrifice, 46:34 God talks to us through a gentle voice, a gentle voice, Holy Spirit, he will not force us, he will not push us to obedience, but gently he will say, you seek forgiveness from this person, you go and ask, you humble yourself, are you obeying to that, you have a bitterness against this person, cleanse 46:54 your heart, Lord, I cleanse my heart, you have a jealousy, through various situations God may say, something is there, am I obeying to God, so these people, who are the people, thieves, robbers, hiding, who made sacrifices, the big thing, obedience, they removed from their diary, they 47:15 removed from their dictionary, obedience, no, only sacrifices, children are happy, nowadays you go to many many churches, what is spoken primarily, yeah, come, worship, praise, thank God, jump, dance, yeah, people are happy, oh, we enjoyed the presence of God, where is obedience, no, 47:37 that's not insisted, that's not our main thing, worship, singing, see how the devil deceives people, same thing like what we read in Jeremiah, sacrifices are very important, not obedience, so Jesus, God is asking us, Holy Spirit is asking us, which one I gave first, is it commandment to obey, 47:59 or sacrifices and offerings, so let us not change this priority, Lord, obedience first, let me obey Lord, for obedience we need a humble heart, a heart of humility, Lord give me a heart of humility, Lord, that I'll be very sensitive to listen to you and to obey you, he says, 48:17 my sheep listens to my voice, and they follow me, listening, listening, listening and not following, he's not listening at all, many people, we pray, Lord speak to me, speak to me, every week you speak to me, what about obedience, no, next week, speak to me Lord, speak to me powerfully, I want 48:34 to hear you, hear you, but after hearing you, what are you going to do, that's what Jesus says, my sheep shall hear my voice, and after hearing my voice, they follow me, and what is the result of following, I give eternal life to them, I give my divine nature to them, that is the plan of God, 48:52 so we find in Luke's Gospel, you have made my house, a house of robbers, and this journey, second journey, is for reviving the church, reviving the temple of God, building the 49:12 temple of God, in another occasion, Jesus is telling, I think it is in Matthew chapter 23, there he says, first he says, see the standard of the temple of God, first it is my father's house, then father tells to Jesus, leave it, leave it, they are not obeying, then Jesus says, father, let 49:34 me take the responsibility, I will do something, that they will repent, now Jesus says, it is my house, you have made it as a den of thieves, he is preaching, he is preaching, see, after telling this, what is the 46th verse, you have made it as a den of thieves, it is my house, and 47th verse, 49:51 he says, again, every day he went into the house of God, and he was preaching, he was preaching, still he had hope for the people, I believe, those people who heard, were present as 500 people when Jesus was taken up, and those people were present to hear Peter, and apostles preaching, and those 50:10 people would have repented, because already they have heard the voice of Jesus, the messages that are in their heart, and in Matthew chapter 23, he says, Jesus says, I am not going to call this as the house of God, I am not going to call this as my house, it has become your house, that's why in 50:34 Revelation 3.20, Jesus is standing out, this is your house, because your name is very important, you seek your honour, you seek your own, you are not seeking the things of God, it is your house, and your house will become desolate, that's the end, so why the house became the house of dens, 50:57 a den of thieves, we read in Luke chapter 19, Luke chapter 19 also we read, and Matthew chapter 21, also we read, Matthew chapter 21, and verse 16, there were many children, Matthew chapter 21, 51:23 and verse 15, what we read is, and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were very displeased, and said to him, do you hear what you are saying, and Jesus said to them, yes, 51:43 have you never read out of the mouth of the little children and nursing infants, we have provided praise, these religious leaders cannot bear children praising God, children shouting Hosanna, or in other words, they cannot bear Jesus being lifted up, they cannot bear God being praised, 52:08 they cannot bear seeking the things of God, they cannot allow people to seek the things of God, but the same house, business was going on, sellers of bulls, sellers of sheep, sellers of dove, lot of business going on, can you imagine the marketplace, that wise they are able to bear, 52:31 see the contradiction, see the leaders, how they are deceived, not able to bear the children now, children who are praising God, but they are okay with the business, wise of the business, to that level the temple of God has gone down in its quality, what is the reason, in Luke chapter 19, 52:52 we read the journey of, we saw the first journey to Canaan, the second journey back to Jerusalem, and here Jesus makes a journey to Jerusalem, Luke chapter 19, and he was going on a colt, colt means a little donkey, and it was untied, Jesus said, if anybody asks, tell them I need it, 53:18 I may be a very insignificant person, but Jesus says, I need you, I need you, I want to use you, I need you for my purpose, I need you for my house of God, you may be an insignificant person, doing an insignificant work, we may think it is an insignificant work, so many glands in our body 53:38 does a very insignificant work, but they are very very important, small drop of an enzyme, small drop of some juice, it controls the oxygen level in the body, if that fails, you become anemic, and no blood, and so many complications, if no blood means every organ fails, it's 53:59 because an insignificant gland failed to secrete insignificant amount of the juice, or chemical, that's the body of ours, the body of Christ, you may think it is an insignificant work, but that is needed for the health of the church, it's a body, and here, the small colt, Jesus was asking for it, 54:29 and he rode on the colt, in the Old Testament there is a practice whenever there is a war, people go in the horse, whenever there is peace, they'll go in the donkey, and Solomon King wanted to take charge as a king, from King David, King David called for the people to bring the donkey, 54:51 and it is a mix of donkey and horse, and that was brought, and Solomon rode on that one, when he started riding on that one, people know that he is going to become a king, they all started clapping their hands and shouting, Solomon, a new king of Israel, new king of Israel, hail King Solomon, 55:14 so when Jesus started riding the donkey, every king used to like to do that in the Old Testament, and when people saw Jesus riding on a donkey, they thought, oh time of peace is going to come, and he is our king, that's why they said they are all praising God, because they thought, 55:32 praising Jesus, they thought Jesus will give back this country to us, he will deliver us from the Roman government, and Jesus was entering into Jerusalem, it was a triumphal entry as a king, and in the Old Testament, we read about the prophecy, I think, Zephaniah, we read a prophecy, 55:54 that as a gentle person, he is going on a colt, on a donkey, and so people thought he is a king, going to restore the nation to Israel, and the triumphal entry became a tearful entry, because people rejected Jesus as a king, why? They thought he will go this direction, and take the throne, 56:22 and he will subdue all the Roman leaders, he will send them away by some way, and he will occupy the throne, but Jesus didn't go that way, Jesus went this way to the temple, and started chasing all the people who were making business, started cleansing the temple, they were disappointed, they 56:44 were very much disappointed, we never wanted Jesus to do this, do go to the temple and cleansing, we wanted Jesus to give back our country, and they thought we don't want this person, the crowd which was hailing Jesus, shouting praises to Jesus, now they started telling crucify him, 57:05 crucify him, we don't want him, then whom do you want? Pilate is asking, we want Barabbas, who is this Barabbas? He is in the prison, we want Barabbas, why? Because probably Barabbas revolted against Roman government, probably through that revolt he would have murdered somebody, 57:27 and now he is in the prison, they thought he can better fight Roman government than Jesus, he can better fight against Roman government and bring us a deliverance than Jesus, and Barabbas is promising, I will give back the country to you, I will fight, if you make me as a leader, 57:46 but temporal blessings, they rejected Jesus, who offered spiritual blessings, eternal blessings, deliverance, a real house of God he wanted to make it, but they rejected, they wanted Barabbas, they wanted the earthly blessings, they wanted the temporary blessings, that's why you read in 58:08 Acts chapter 1 and verse 7, 6 or 7, Jesus was in this world after resurrection for 40 days, and he did so many important things appeared to many people, and now he says to the disciples, I am going back to my heavenly father, what did the disciples ask? Jesus, Jesus, stop, one thing 58:29 you have forgotten, are you going to give back the country to us? Are you giving back the kingdom to us? You have forgotten, you have left out, did you forget that? Jesus said, that is not meant for me, it is the father's business when to give the kingdom back, but what you need now is, you 58:47 need the power from on above, so that you can seek spiritual things, so that you can seek spiritual blessings, so that you can seek eternal blessings, the real blessings, seek eternal life, that you will be witness for me, when the Holy Spirit comes, you shall receive power, and you shall 59:07 be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus was not interested in the earthly kingdom, he saw this slavery is nothing when compared to the slavery to sin, slavery to this world, and slavery to the devil, that will bring eternal 59:27 damnation, but not this slavery, but people wanted this deliverance, and they never felt the consequences of being a slave to sin, being a slave to this world, pleasures of the world, lusts of the flesh, being a slave to the devil, they wanted a temporary kingdom, so Jesus wept 59:51 seeing them, oh Jerusalem, so many times I have tried to gather you, like a hen gathers the chick, but you have rejected, you have failed to come, Jesus wept, we read in Matthew chapter 23, so my dear brothers and sisters, Jesus says the house, the zeal for the house of God has consumed me, 1:00:15 and let us ask God, Lord let the same zeal consume me for the house of God, for the body of Christ, Lord we pray that, Lord I want to give myself fully that your body will be built Lord, a pure church, pure testimonies in this locality, my family wants to be a pure testimony for you Lord, 1:00:35 God is looking for witnesses, not for people who cry for earthly blessings, that God says I will take care, you need not worry, you seek the kingdom of God, not kingdom of Israel, deliverance from Romans, but the kingdom of God, spiritual blessings, may God help us to have a 1:00:56 zeal for the house of God, and let the house of God, let the body of Christ be filled with the glory, the light, let our own lives be filled with the glory and light, God bless you, Amen.
