0:00 I never understood for many years what it meant to seek the kingdom of God first. So, as I understand it now, see, the thing is we don't use the word kingdom nowadays. Whereas in in those days, 0:18 every country was a kingdom with a king over it. Today, we use the word government more than kingdom. So, I've understood it a little better when I think of the Lord saying, "Let God govern your life. The 0:37 government of God. Be under the government of God in every area." And when we think of the standards that God has given us in His word, that's where we can fear that we might lose something on this earth if we allow 0:56 the principles of God's kingdom to run every area of our life. For example, if we forgive everyone who hurts us and it can look as if people will just take advantage of us in different situations if we are true Christians, live by the principles of 1:16 what Jesus taught. So, deep down in our hearts, we can hear all these wonderful things and uh have a little doubt, does it really work like that in my office and different situations I face? Can I really live by the principles of 1:34 Christ? And those are the places where we have the opportunity to prove that it does work. That if we put God first in every area of our life and live 100% by 1:52 the principles Jesus taught, to walk as He walked on this earth. That of course people will take advantage of us, there's no doubt. As they took advantage of Christ. I mean, Judas Iscariot for example, was stealing so much of the money from 2:11 money given for Christ was stolen by Judas. People took advantage of him, but he didn't starve. And if we believe what the Bible says in the verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. This is the thing that really helped me and I had to ask myself 2:30 whether I really believed it. And I do. And that's where we know that God is in control. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 in the middle of that verse it says, "God will not allow any circumstance to come into your life 2:51 where the trial or the temptation will be too much for you to bear." He will ensure that in some way that pressure will get reduced on It's impossible to live as a Christian on this earth 3:11 if we don't believe that verse. We will somewhere or the other compromise and behave like a worldly person and say, "Well, in this particular circumstance I can't do what the Bible says. I can't live like Jesus told me to live in this particular 3:25 circumstance." But if you believe this verse uh a couple of other verses too, but first this one. That I can never, never, never in my workplace or with my relatives or neighbors and all the people I have to deal with, ever face a situation ever, ever 3:44 where God will allow me to be tested beyond my ability at that particular stage of my spiritual development. You see, our spiritual development is like going from one grade to another in school. And just like at each stage 4:04 we get examinations. In India, every we we call it class, not grade. First standard, second standard, third standard. There are examinations which we can we have to pass before we go to the next standard or the next grade. 4:19 So, at the No, in no class will a teacher ever give us a question paper that is beyond our level or something that we have not been taught. Never, never, never. It'll always be to the level to which we have been taught. 4:38 And if it is something in the question paper we can be absolutely sure it's something we are taught. So, here I see that God will not allow me to be tested beyond my ability. Think if I can look into the entire future 4:57 and say I don't care whether it's next year or 10 years or 20 years from now, I can never face a situation where God is not controlling and ensuring that the people who are around me and the circumstances that I may face and we don't even know what 5:13 we'll face in the future. If we believe in a God who runs this universe and who's intensely personally interested in every one of his children, controlling every detail of their circumstance, and ensuring that they'll never be 5:28 tested by anything beyond their ability. I mean, think of any situation some of you may be facing right now or that you faced in the past and you found a little unbelief coming in that, "Well, will this get too much for me? 5:43 Will it become too much for me next week or next month?" I say if you trust in God, it's possible. If your life is completely surrendered to the Lord like Jesus was. You know, the thing about Jesus' life was he did not want anything outside of 6:03 God's will for his life. Nothing. He was quite happy to be in the circumstances in which the Father arranged for him. And he was perfectly happy there. I We don't know what all difficulties he faced in Nazareth living You know, 6:21 we can imagine. The Bible doesn't reveal it, but I found in different situations in my own life that you know, like Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will take of the things of mine and show it to you." And I've understood that verse in 6:36 John 16 to mean that the things that are not written in the Bible but something about Jesus' private life, in your life, in our attitudes the Holy Spirit will take and reveal to us in that particular time when we are facing some situation. And he'll tell 6:55 us, "This is how Jesus reacted in this situation." And then I get a new revelation of Christ in that situation. If I believe that I can walk as he walked and I'm eager to walk as he walked and I'm really seeking Holy Spirit of God, show me exactly what 7:11 Jesus would do in this particular situation. He would never be anxious. He would never be tense. He would never try to get his own back on anybody. He would never take revenge on anyone. He would never be unbelieving and tense wondering whether 7:26 things will go beyond his control. Never. And it's it's a way of life that won't come straight away. And I want to encourage all of you to pursue this. Because the Bible says as we approach the end of time things will be more and more difficult 7:45 for Christians. And that's going to be in every country. See what Jesus said about the last days in Luke chapter 21. In Luke 21 And he said in the last days 8:14 uh nation will rise against nation and uh that's verse 10 onwards. And there'll be great earthquakes and things like that and they'll have they hands on you and persecute you etc. And maybe it's another passage I'm not looking at. 8:37 Uh He says Yeah, I think it's here. So, that men's hearts will fail them for fear when they see the things that are going that are happening around them. And the He what he That's in verse 26. 8:53 Men's hearts will faint from fear the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world. I really believe it's going to be like that. In the coming days men's men fainting from fear because they're wondering what's going 9:12 to happen next. And at that time verse 28 when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near. The coming of Christ is near. So, there's never a time when I should have my head hanging down 9:29 wondering fear or doubt or uncertainty. And I want to say that to the weakest person here. Some of you may say, "Well, I'm weak." Some of you may have you know, probably some sickness which a lot of believers like that, they don't 9:45 know how it's going to develop. Is it going to become something worse and incapacitate me and make me helpless? I have to believe that God will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability. He's my father and he understands. We've 10:05 got to keep on reminding ourselves, God is my father. He will never let me down. He knows He knows the things I don't know. He knows all the details of the future. And he knows if I'm going to be helpless or weak one day, 10:21 God will take care of me. You know, many of you are young and even for an older person, I remember once the Lord giving me this verse from Isaiah 46. As I myself grow older, uh Here's the word the Lord 10:42 said to me in Isaiah 46 and verse 4. He said, "Even to your old age, I am the same. I'm not going to change. I am the same, the Lord says. To your gray hairs, I'll bear you. 11:02 I've done it and I'll carry you." Verse three, the middle, from your birth, I bore you and I carried you. It's wonderful to know that. From birth to gray hairs and old age, the Lord says, "I am the same. I'm going 11:21 to take care of you." All of us are in between birth and old age. There will never be a time when the Lord's not going to bear us. See, that's the difference between a true believer and all the nominal Christians in the 11:37 world. There's an inner rest and peace in their heart. They're absolutely confident there's a father in heaven who's caring for every detail of their life. And when you read the life of Jesus like that, I think of instances where 11:52 they wanted to try and kill him, and they couldn't do it. And the only reason given is his hour had not come. That's all. They couldn't kill him when he was a baby because before the soldiers came to kill him, the Lord had already 12:10 taken care of that and taken him away from there. And at other times, his hour had not come and something or the other happened and they wouldn't be able to capture him. But when the time came, then the Lord allowed them to capture him and whip him 12:25 and kill him. And I must believe what the Bible says. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 6, it says that he who says he's a Christian every Bible says must live as Jesus 12:44 lived. Now, you read a verse like that and say that's impossible. That's a great temptation to when you read many verses in the Bible. I mean, I used to read a lot of verses in the Bible and just go over it as if it didn't really 12:58 apply to me. Anyone who says he's a Christian must live as Jesus lived, walk as Jesus walked. 1 John 2:6. Is that possible? You look at it and say, either possible or not possible. I say, Lord, by your help, possible. 13:17 I'm not going to go into the PhD class straight away. I'm going to start in kindergarten and first grade and second grade. Little by little, God leads us step by step. And you don't have to compare yourself with others who are in a higher grade. 13:32 And we are not to judge others who are in a lower grade. One of the things I discovered is that God judges us according to the grade we are in. So, there are certain things which may be sin for me, but which is not sin for that brother. I 13:51 don't know whether you understand that. See, like a person who's studying multiplication and long division in a higher grade, that kid in the first grade, he doesn't need to bother about it. I mean, if he's given a division or multiplication sum, he can't 14:09 do it. He does not get zero for it. And he It's not even counted. But you in that grade, you know you've been taught that. You need to be able to do that. So, I see that spiritually also. There are things the Lord has taught me, 14:27 and I see sin at a higher level, more serious, than another brother who doesn't see that as sin. Do you know the differences it will make in husband-wife relationships? If a husband will recognize that thing is sin for me, 14:42 but it is not sin for my wife. She probably doesn't see it as sin. She may be in another grade. Or in that subject, God has taught me something and has not taught her. So, I may judge her, "Why is she doing that?" But God doesn't. 14:59 You know that so many believers judge others in areas where God doesn't judge that person. Because God judges that person according to his level. Whereas we judge people according to our level. That's one of the main reasons 15:11 why we should not judge. We must recognize one simple truth that every believer is at a different level. And it's not just 10 grades in the Christian life. There are are 1,000 grades in the Christian life, and each person 15:24 is a different level. That's helped me tremendously to know that God judges me according to the light I have. And he will judge that person according to the light he has, not according to the light I have. Whereas, we have this tendency to judge 15:38 people according to the light we have. It's very easy to be merciful. Mercy is one of the great requirements in the Christian life. And God is merciful to those who are merciful to others, and it's very easy to be merciful to others 15:56 when I recognize that that may not be sin for that person. That person is doing that thing which I never I would never dream of doing it. I He probably doesn't see it as wrong. And let me not judge him. And I believe it's the judgmental spirit 16:12 that hinders our own spiritual growth. Instead of judging ourselves, we judge a whole lot of people around us concerning uh what they're doing wrong. But, I I believe we need to see that it is wrong. And but, we're not here to judge or 16:27 condemn them. I was recently writing something in a in an article, and I was thinking a little more of this verse which says in Matthew 7, "Judge not that you be not judged." And 16:51 it's it's you know, when you compare scripture with scripture, like when the devil told Jesus, "It is written, his angels will take care of you." Jesus said, "It is also written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." He balanced one scripture with another. 17:06 Many people know Matthew 7:1, "Don't judge because you'll be judged by the same standard with which you judge others." But, the same Jesus who said that also said in John 7 that you must judge. So it is written do not judge, it is 17:23 also written you must judge. Have you seen that? In John chapter 7 John's gospel chapter 7 and um 24 17:47 Do not judge, but judge. That's the balance. John 7:24. So what he's forbidding is don't judge according to the appearance. No, it's not a period after that, but comma but judge 18:06 with righteous judgment. Do you know that every Christian is supposed to judge? If you don't judge, you're disobeying the scripture. And if you judge according to the outward appearance, you're disobeying the scripture. 18:20 We're not supposed to judge according to the outward appearance, but we are supposed to judge with righteous judgment. So when I looked up this word judge in the amplified Bible It's one of the advantages of reading different translations. 18:35 There it says don't condemn. And don't sentence a person like a judge sitting in a court, you know. He condemns a person and sentences him to prison or to be hanged or whatever it is. Don't condemn and sentence a person. 18:50 That's not your job. God is the judge who condemns and sentences people. But we must judge in the sense that we must discern what is right and what is wrong. There are people who say for example when they do some stupid thing and call it 19:09 the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and they say I don't agree that. I don't believe that's the Holy Spirit at all. It's just your own emotion and your own excitement." Uh they say, "Don't judge. Don't speak against the Holy Spirit." 19:24 But the Bible says in 1 John chapter 4 that don't believe every spirit. But test it. It's a clear command that when I see something which somebody claims to be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, I don't just swallow it. 19:43 You'll never grow spiritually if you swallow everything around you that people say this is from the Holy Spirit. I have to test it. 1 John 4:1, "Don't believe every spirit." Don't believe all these manifestations that you see 19:57 which claim to be from the Holy Spirit. Test the spirits to see whether it's from God or not. Because there are many false prophets who have gone out into the world. And that happened even in the first 20:15 century. But the spirit of God confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. And that is from God. So, what I see from that verse is the Holy Spirit will show me Jesus there in that situation. 20:33 So, that's the meaning of verse 1 and 2. I'm not going to believe every spirit, but I know that Jesus came in the flesh and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. So, I know what a spiritual life is by looking at what I've seen in Jesus in 20:48 the Gospels. And then I look at this particular manifestation and I ask myself, can I imagine Jesus doing this? If I say yes, it's of the Holy Spirit. If I say no, I cannot in the wildest imagination imagine Jesus doing this, 21:05 it's not of the Holy Spirit. I must reject it and I must not be afraid of anybody telling me, "Oh, don't blaspheme against the Holy Spirit." Because there are millions of Christians who are being fooled by all these preachers today. 21:21 We must judge. And we must discern. We don't condemn. I mean, that that preacher who's leading people astray, we see it's wrong and we'll say it's wrong. And I'm not here to condemn him or sentence. That's God's business. 21:38 But I will say that he's fooling the people. He's deceiving the people. He's swindling the people of their money. But I'm not here to sentence him. I'm not a judge sitting on the on the judge's seat to condemn him or sentence 21:52 him. My calling is to be merciful. But coming back to what John says about walking as Jesus walked. In 1 John chapter 3, it says here, an amazing verse. Sorry, 1 John 4 and verse 22:10 17, the last part has been a verse that has helped me a lot in my life. The last part of verse 17. It's almost an unbelievable verse. As Jesus is, so are we in this world. This is what 22:29 the Holy Spirit does in us. If I'm really seeking God's will in my life, like Jesus did. His only aim in life was to finish the plan with which the Father sent him to Earth. And if my only desire is like his to fulfill the plan with which the Father 22:48 sent me to this Earth and I have no other desire other than that. That's what it means to seek God's kingdom, to be completely under God's rule. That I have no ambition. For example, to make more money than God intended that I should earn on this 23:03 earth. Imagine how restful your life will be if you can say, "Lord, I have no desire to earn more money than you intended that I should earn on this earth." In a rat race that there is all around us of people who want to earn more and 23:17 more and more and more and never never ends. To be at rest in that I know that if I live in your will you will allow me to earn enough to take care of myself and my family. I proved that for 50 years now. And it's really true. 23:36 You don't have to get into this rat race. You say, "Lord, I'll be content with what you give." It's a lot of people who are not content. They have unrest. And if you look at unrest in your heart 23:54 ask yourself whether you are content as Jesus was with whatever the Father arranged for him. It's not just that he was born in a cowshed which is a good approach to be born in a cowshed. I've never met a person in my life 24:12 who was born in such lowly circumstances. That's how the Father planned for him. Think that God a God in heaven who had planned Jesus' birth from 4,000 years or only 4,000 years from eternity 24:30 could not arrange a room for Mary to deliver. It's so difficult for God to arrange a room in Bethlehem. You tell me the easiest thing in the world for God to do that. But he didn't do it because God's plan was 24:50 that my son should be born in the lowliest circumstance of all. So low that nobody would ever be born in such a low condition as him. Because he had come underneath everybody to lift everybody up. You know, when God 25:09 decides that he's got a plan for your life and he sees that you're one of those completely submitted to him, he'll allow you to go through some very humiliating circumstances which he will not allow somebody else to go through 25:22 because that guy is not so keen on fulfilling God's plan for his life. But if you are, he will lead you to some of these depths so that he can raise you to great heights. So Jesus accepted that. I thought also the statement of 25:41 Nathanael concerning the place where Jesus grew up, Nazareth. In John 1 when Nathanael was Philip found Nathanael in verse 45, and you know, every Jew was expecting the Messiah to come. And when Philip told Nathanael in John 25:58 1:45, "We have found the Messiah, the one whom Moses for 1,500 years we've been waiting for the Messiah. He's finally appeared. And it's Jesus of Nazareth." And Nathanael immediately says in verse 46, "Can any good thing come out of 26:18 Nazareth?" I thought about that sentence. Why does he say that? They would never say that about Jerusalem. Can any good thing come out of Jerusalem? Not even about Bethlehem because that was the city of David. But Nazareth, I think Nazareth must have 26:38 had a very bad reputation for some reason or the other. I don't know. Think if you were born in some town with a very bad reputation. Maybe for immorality or crime or whatever it is or you were born in some ghetto. God allowed Jesus to be to grow up in 27:00 such a place. And he was perfectly happy. He He was never going to compare himself to anybody else. He was content. And I want to ask you, brothers and sisters, have you learned to be content with your circumstances or you're always wishing 27:19 for something better, something more, something that will give you a little more respect and honor before others? Jesus never had it. It was prophesied about him in Isaiah chapter 53, Isaiah 53. 27:47 The last part of verse two, he had no appearance that we should be attracted to him. I don't know what that means. A lot of people think that Jesus must have been the most handsome person in the whole world and more good-looking than any film star. I 28:04 don't know. Is that required to be a spiritual man? He had no appearance that we should be attracted to him. I take these verses really and I say, "Lord, I don't want to be I don't want people to be attracted to 28:23 me by my physical appearance. I don't want to be like some film star type of preacher. There are film star type of preachers and I don't want to be like one of them. Cuz I don't think Jesus was like that. They were not attracted to him because 28:38 it says there's nothing that in him that we should be attracted to. And yet there's so much of that image of Christianity that is in the world to make it presentable. The only people who are attracted to Jesus were those who wanted to live a godly 28:57 life. Nothing else. And it says here he was despised and forsaken by men. You the last part of verse three, he was despised and we esteemed him not. The question is, am I content with that? Am I content with whatever God Lord God 29:15 puts me in and not compare myself with I wish I had what that person had or what that person had. I wish my children were like so-and-so's children. It's amazing how much unrest believers get into by comparing themselves to somebody else 29:29 and in the church. I want my children to be like that that one's or I want to be like that person and I want to be like this person and I'm not content with the way God has made me. I have read that history it's not in the Bible, but history tells 29:45 us that the Apostle Paul was 4 feet 7 inches tall. You know how much that is? I think almost every adult here is taller than that. He was a very short man. He was completely bald 30:05 with a hooked nose with a eye disease with his eye frequently you know, tearing. He was not at all an attractive person. Some of the world's famous evangelists 30:23 are like film stars, not Paul. That was not what attracted people to Paul. There was a godliness about that man. The only people who'd be attracted to him would be people who wanted godliness. What about his speech? 30:43 I want to tell you something about his speech which he himself says in 2 Corinthians See what it says about You know, so many I'm trying to remove all these wrong conceptions of what it means to be a spiritual Christian from 30:58 our mind. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 the Corinthians were saying about Paul. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31:16 10. This is the Apostle Paul. They say his letters are weighty and strong. Boy, he writes strong letters. But his personal presence is unimpressive. I'm not impressed by his his personal presence. And his speech is contemptible. He's not a 31:35 cultured type of speaker. You know, these cultured speak people always speak very cultured and gracious way. They don't offend anybody. Jesus was offending people all the time. Paul was like that, too. Sometimes we have a wrong understanding 31:54 of the most godly man in the first century, what he was like. Why did God make him like that? Didn't God know that he was going to be the greatest apostle of his time? Why didn't he give him a more impressive personality and a tall 32:09 Why didn't he make him tall, good-looking person? God didn't want anybody to be attracted to his physical appearance cuz that was not what Christianity is all about. It was character. And even though most of us agree that 32:22 it's character that matters, yet we can be so concerned about are we impressing people with our appearance and our language and this, that, and the other? It's a deception. And the more we are occupied with that, we'll be discontent with the way God has 32:36 made us. God is in God decided everything about us, that our appearance and our intelligence and everything before we were born. We are accept ourselves and be content. Then only can we say I'm seeking God's kingdom first. I 32:54 want God to be completely in control over me. In Hebrews 13, it says, verse five, 33:13 make sure that your character is free from the love of money. That's not easy to obey, I'll tell you that. Be honest. If you're honest, you'll admit there's a love of money inside your heart, which is gone if you've cleansed 33:32 yourself from it. But every human being is born with a love of money. I've never seen a beggar in my life who doesn't love money. I've never seen a homeless man who doesn't love money, and I never seen a rich businessman who doesn't love money. 33:49 It's there in everybody, except those who have cleansed themselves from it. It's like in every man there is a tremendous sexual passion, and if it's uncontrolled, it'll become uncontrolled lust. And the only person who's free from the 34:03 only man who's free from it is the man who's cleansed himself from it. If he hasn't cleansed himself from it, he's full of sexual lust. And he's fooling himself if he thinks he's a disciple of Jesus, far from it. How can a disciple of Jesus be filled 34:18 with sexual lust, impure sexual lust? Everybody has it, but except those who cleanse themselves from it. Who acknowledge it, Lord, it's in me, I want to be free from it. Lord, I got the love of money, I want to be free from it, because I want to walk 34:31 as Jesus walked. As Jesus is, so am I in this world. You see, the wonderful thing is that if I take this seriously, there'll be a spiritual authority in my life, which even the devil will be scared of. I don't know whether you believe that 34:48 it's possible for a Christian to live in such a way that the devil himself is scared of him. That's what I got from that verse, as Jesus is, so am I in this world. And I said, "Lord, I want to I want to walk like you to the best of my ability. 35:03 I want to be free from everything that you tell me to be free from. I'll acknowledge it is there. I want you to cleanse me from it. I want you to bring me to rest so that I can live as Jesus lived on this earth." You know, at 35:16 at each grade, progressively, not that all of a sudden we become like that. But I believe that I believe the devil's scared of him. Now, that's not arrogance. It's because I believe the Bible, which says, "As Jesus is, so am I in this 35:33 world." 1 John 4:17. And I asked myself, was the devil scared of Jesus? Of course, he was. He was mortally scared of him. All the demons would be saying, "Hey, he's coming here. He's coming here. Be careful now." I want the dev- demons to say that about 35:53 me. "He's coming here. He is coming. Be careful." You should be like that, brothers. We shouldn't be timid and afraid. The devil can't harm us one bit. He was defeated on the cross. The None of you must be scared of the 36:07 devil. He cannot do anything to you. He cannot mess up your life. If you walk in humility and say, "Lord, I believe that you will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability, and I'm perfectly content with the way you have made me." I just 36:23 look into the mirror and say, "I'm perfectly content with my color of my skin, my appearance, and my features. I've no complaint at all. Have you ever said that? Have you ever looked in the mirror and said, "Lord, I have zero complaint about my 36:39 color of my skin, or my appearance, or my features, or my height, or whatever it is, or my weight? I'm perfectly okay. I have no complaint. I accept the way you made me. I The important thing when we used to walk like Jesus walked. 36:56 Otherwise, you know, we really got a doctrine. With the doctrine, we can say, "I'm better than other denominations who don't have this doctrine. We can speak high-sounding things." But if you're not content with the way God has made you, 37:12 and the measure of ability he has given you to earn money. If it's very limited, and God's on a small financial circle around you, and you can never earn more than that. Say, "Lord, I'm quite happy 37:31 to be here." I I've learned it. God taught me through the years. And one at one time it was a very small circle. I said, "I will never go outside that circle." I decided My wife and I decided we will never be in debt for a single day of our 37:47 life. And we've never been in debt. Even when we had little, because we were content with the circle God drew around us, our financial circle. And we never coveted what somebody else's circle was bigger. Okay, God bless him. 38:01 I don't want what he has. It was Almighty God who decided the circle inside which I must live. And if you live in that circle, two things will happen. Let me show you two verses. First of all, in Acts of the Apostles, in 38:18 chapter 17. Acts of the Apostles in chapter 17. It speaks about the boundaries God has drawn around us in verse 26. Acts 17:26, God made from one man every 38:39 nation of mankind. And he has determined the appointed time and the boundaries of that habitation. I believe God allowed me to be born on Earth in the 20th century 38:59 as the appointed time. And he determined the boundary everything about my habitation and my life and my circumstances and my finances as a boundary that God has drawn around me. The measure of intelligence I have, the measure of ability I have, 39:17 etc. And you, every child of God, and how much I can earn, the circumstances he arranges for me to go to different places. Maybe some can earn more, that's fine. I don't envy them. I don't judge them. And I'll tell you why. This is the one 39:36 verse about the boundary. The other verse is in Ecclesiastes in chapter 10. Ecclesiastes in chapter 10. It says here 39:54 in verse 8. Ecclesiastes 10:8, the last part. If you break through a wall, a serpent may bite you. The boundary is a wall that God has drawn around me. And if I break through it saying, "I'm 40:14 not content with this. I want to go outside." Then don't be surprised if the devil bites you. That's the reason why I decided I would never borrow money in my life. If God wanted me to have more, he would 40:33 give me more. And the picture I got in my mind was I can't imagine Jesus going to somebody and saying, "Hey, my heavenly father has let me down, so can you please give me a little money today?" I can't imagine Jesus telling someone, "My heavenly 40:52 father let me down, and I need a little money. Can you help me out?" And I said, "Lord, I'm supposed to be a representative of you on this earth. I will never do it. I'd rather starve than bring reproach on your name by giving people the impression 41:11 that the heavenly father let down one of his children." No. He'll never let me down. He may allow me to go through very trying circumstances. And I learned a great deal in the times of my poverty. And I've also had to 41:31 learn when God gives me abundance. We need to learn both ways. I'm not saying you learn only when you're poor. You know learn a lot of lessons when you're God gives you more as well. But in everything in life to say, "Lord, 41:44 I want to walk as you walk. As you are, so am I in this world." Think if you take that word seriously. As Jesus is, so am I in this world. If he was despised, okay, I'm quite happy to be despised. 42:04 If he was ill-treated, that's fine with me. And the boundaries that the father drew around Jesus. I sometimes use my imagination to think of how it was for Jesus in his home 42:22 with imperfect parents. Joseph and Mary were imperfect and with imperfect brothers and sisters who irritated him, troubled him. It says his brothers didn't believe in him. It's quite a verse, you know, in John chapter 7. 42:38 He had four brothers and two sisters as far as far as we know. Born of Mary, living in the same house. And it was a poor carpenter's house. I'm absolutely sure all the five brothers slept in one room on the floor. Cuz I've seen how people live in poor 42:54 homes in India. Poor carpenters. That's how Jesus lived. And it says in John 7:5, his brothers did not believe in him. And I can imagine when his brother younger brothers were born to Mary as they grew up, Mary must have told 43:12 them, "Listen, your older brother is not an ordinary man. I was a virgin when he was born. The Holy Spirit came upon me. It's almighty God who came as a man. That's your older brother, Jesus." If they believed their mother Mary, they 43:32 would have respected him tremendously. They didn't. It says they didn't even believe in him. They would have said, "Mom, don't try and fool us. No no no human beings born that way." They didn't believe him. They despised 43:48 him. But it didn't bother him. He didn't go out trying to convince them that he was. He didn't do miracles to prove to them that, "Hey, you know, I am what I I'm the son of God." He had absolutely no desire to prove himself to anybody. 44:08 If he did a miracle for someone, it was to bless that person. Not to prove anything about himself. If a demon shouted out, "You're the son of God." He would say, "Keep quiet." He did not want a testimony from a demon. Imagine if you were casting out a demon, 44:27 the demon said, "You're a holy child of God." Would you shut up that demon so that the Because demons are liars. What is that testimony worth? So, I find so many things I can learn from Jesus if I really want to be like 44:42 him. And I see that's what it means to seek God's kingdom first. To let God rule my life completely in every area. To be content with the boundary God has drawn around me. To be absolutely sure that I will never, never, never be tested in a single area 45:00 now or in the next 100 years as long as I live in a which is too much for me to bear. But, he will give me grace at that time to overcome. Every circumstance, there's not a single temptation I can face in life where I can be tempted beyond my 45:19 ability. You know, some people think that if I confess like that, the devil will really bring up some terrific temptation for me to knock me down and make me lose my testimony. Really? You think that the devil is more powerful than God when I confess God's 45:35 word that I cannot be tempted beyond my ability. Yeah, that's really true. And coupled with that You see, these are familiar verses. This is a very well-known verse in Romans 8 and verse 28 45:53 which we all know. Romans 8:28 says, "We know that God causes, just like he doesn't allow us to be tempted beyond our ability, he causes all the things that are happening to me not to work individually for my good. 46:12 Individually, they may not work for my good. But, coupled with all the other things that God permits, they work together for my good. And the only requirement is that I love God, number one, and I have no desire to do anything but 46:30 his purpose for my life. That's all it says there. If I say, "Lord, I love you more than anything else on this earth, and I only want to fulfill your purpose for my life. I have no other ambition." I have the absolute assurance, 46:45 and I can tell you that from 59 years of being a believer, that it's absolutely true. Every single thing, God will make, together with other things, work for my good. And the good, this is very important, 47:04 and the good is mentioned in the next verse. Romans 8:28 must always be taken together with verse 29, which is that he has destined from the beginning, predestined, 47:21 that I should become like Jesus Christ. He has predestined that his children should become like Jesus in their character. So, that is the good. The good is not that I'll get a better salary or that you'll marry a prettier woman or 47:37 a richer man. That's not the good. God doesn't think at those levels. He's thinking of that which is going to eternally satisfy me. Money won't satisfy you eternally. That's only temporary. Marrying a pretty woman or a rich man is 47:53 not going to help you eternally. The thing that will value you will help you the most in eternity is if you become like Christ. That is the good that God is planning. Everything that happens to me going to make me a little more like 48:09 Christ. Now, if you really believe that, I believe it with all my heart, more and more as I've grown Christian life, I've come to complete rest in this. Nothing can happen to me that God does not permit. He will not allow me to be tempted 48:27 beyond my ability. And all the things that do come will be designed to make me more Christ-like. So, why should I resist it? It's a wonderful way to live on this earth. I will always be at rest. 48:45 You really You really believe what Jesus said, "Don't be anxious about anything." Because the hairs of your head are numbered. He cares for you more than he cares for the birds of the air. He's got no plan for the birds of the air. He just gives 49:01 them food and clothing. And our food and cares for them, but for us, he Jesus used that example of the birds and the flowers that he'll give us food and clothing like that. But more than that, that everything is planned to make us more like Christ. And 49:18 that's why I can be content. I must be content with the boundary God has drawn around. Say, "Lord, I never want to break that wall and go outside any situation." In a church, for example, if God has not given me 49:36 more ability than some of the others, okay, that's my boundary. Fine. I'm quite happy to fulfill it. I don't want to sit there sour that I don't have as much gift as somebody else. No. I believe that every member of the body 49:51 of Christ, if you are has a gift from God. If you don't have a gift from God, I would say you're not a member of the body of Christ. Definitely not. I mean there's a if I got an artificial hand, that's not connected to my head. That's 50:04 can't do anything. So, if you're an artificial member in the church, not really born again, not really connected by the Holy Spirit to the head Jesus Christ, then I agree you have no gift. You're sitting here and imagining that you're a child of God 50:18 when you're not. But if you're really born again, that is the Holy Spirit has come into your heart and made you a new man. And one of the marks of the new man is I don't want to sin again. I believe that's one of the primary 50:34 marks of a new person. When a person comes to me for baptism, I ask them one question. Do you want to sin even once for the rest of your life? Do you want to sin even once? If you can say no, I never want to sin again, you're born again. 50:51 The question is not will you sin again? That's not my question. Nobody can answer it that yes or no, but do you want to? Is that want to? Which is the difference between the old man and the new man. And the Bible speaks of the old man and 51:05 the new man. The old man is the one who wants to sin, especially when other people are not looking, to do something unrighteous and the new man is the one who never wants to sin. Whether people are looking or not makes it no difference at all. I 51:19 don't want to sin. That's how I knew I was born again. But I sinned many times after I was born again, but I never wanted to. I was there was And the proof of it there was remorse in me every time I fell. It's It's like the cat falling into the 51:38 muck and the pig falling into the muck. Pig just enjoys it. The cat jumps out immediately. Both cats and pigs may fall into the muck, but the cat will jump out immediately. That's the difference between the believer and non-believer. 51:50 It's not that the believer may not fall into sin, but he he wants to get out immediately. That's the test. And I hope it helps you to see whether you're really born again or not. What's your attitude when you fall into sin? 52:05 Now, if a cat falls into the mud and looks around to see if anybody's watching it and then enjoys it, it's not a cat. It's a big big with the cat's color. And when you fall into sin, the only thing you want to find out is did 52:18 anybody see me? You're not really born again. Let me tell you the truth. If it matters to you that other people saw you falling into sin, and that's what bothers you more than the fact that God who sees you all the time saw it, 52:38 I would ask you to go and check up whether you're really born again or not. If you're born again, it wouldn't make the slightest difference whether other people saw you or not. Lord, you saw me in those secret times when nobody saw you. 52:52 I don't want to sin. I don't want to sin when nobody's watching me. And if I slip up, there's remorse. These are one of the clearest indications that a from the moment you're converted, a new nature comes in. It's the pig becomes a cat. 53:08 Wants to be clean. And if I live like this, I believe that we can fulfill our purpose on this earth. And I want to say that every person who's born again has got some gift to fulfill, some function to fulfill in the body of 53:26 Christ. Just like every part of this body is connected to the head. The fingers, even the nails, every little thing, the smallest little thing you can think of, even the hair on our head, everything has got a function. There's nothing God created in our body 53:44 without a function. So, when we are called the body of Jesus Christ, it's a very meaningful title. It means that every every member in that body is got a function to fulfill. And so, you need to ask the Lord. That's the next thing I began to ask the Lord 54:03 soon after I was baptized. I said, "Lord, what's my Lord, what's my function?" I don't want to sit like one who warms the chair there every Sunday in the service and get up and go away. There's something I have to do for the body of 54:15 Christ. It may not be some public ministry. It's something I have to do for the body of Christ. I want to find out what it is. And if you have a passion for that, Lord, what is my function? I want to fulfill it. It may not be spectacular. 54:28 It may not be big. It may be very small. But some of the very small parts of the body have got a very important function. And I often say that if you don't know what it is, we can all start with one thing that every one of us can do. 54:46 And that is to encourage one another. The Bible says, "Encourage one another." Hebrews 3:13. And that is the easiest thing which even a new believer can do. Somebody you meet, to speak a word of encouragement to that person. 55:04 Do not judge. We don't know what pressures they're going through. You don't know what grade they're in. Judge yourself. That is enough. In 1 Peter chapter 4, I see this is one of the marks of 55:22 a really wholehearted Christian who's a member of God's family. 1 Peter 4. It says here, "Those who are of God's household speaks of the family of God in 1 Peter 4:17. And it says, in the household of God, 55:39 judgement begins with us first. I've taken that very seriously. I'm part of the household of God. And I'm not called to judge other people first. I'm called to judge myself first. And God is my witness. 55:57 Every single thing I preach is what I've judged myself first in. I will not preach about something I have not judged myself in. Then I'll be a hypocrite. And if you have judged yourself in some area you can bless other people in that area. 56:17 The household of God, we judge ourselves first. And we are merciful to others. And it's very easy to be merciful to others. If you say, "Well, I don't know what grade that person is studying in." Maybe that that obvious that thing which 56:33 looks so terribly sinful for me is not sinful for him. I found it very easy once I understood this. That we are all in different levels. Okay, that person does that. 56:50 For me it's sin. For him it is not. Let me show you a verse in scripture that proves that. In James chapter 4 James 4 What is the definition of sin here? 57:07 4:17 James 4:17 To the one who knows the right thing to do and then does not do it, it is sin. You know what you should be doing in that situation and you don't do it. That's sin. But that brother and sister does not know. 57:26 They haven't come to that level. They haven't studied subtraction and division and multiplication. They are still in 2 + 2 level. So, it's not wrong for them. It's not sin for them. They don't know. They haven't come to that grace. 57:44 So, I can be merciful to them very easy. If we keep these things in mind, I believe we can build a wonderful body here. Body of Jesus Christ there. We don't become busybodies in other 58:02 people's affairs. We judge ourselves. And we never stop judging ourselves. And God is my witness that I judge myself every single day of my life. And that brings some spiritual progress. Maybe a little bit if small, but 58:20 I want to live like that cuz that's the mark of God's household. I want to stay within my boundary. Recognize that other people are not at the same level as me in understanding what sin is. But in the measure in which God has 58:35 shown me sin, I have to judge myself. And always be at rest. To me, whenever there's unrest in my heart, that's the mark of my having gone either outside my boundary or 58:52 allowed something to come in which has disturbed me. Let me show you that verse in Colossians in chapter three. Colossians chapter three, it says in verse 15, "Let the peace of Christ" in the margin of my Bible says be the referee 59:12 in your heart to which you are called in one body." In our relationship in the body of Christ, it says in verse 15, "The peace of Christ is the referee." Anything that you do or say or think 59:30 that disturbs the peace in your heart is wrong. The referee's blowing the whistle and saying, "You've committed a foul." Whether it's basketball or soccer or football or anything, the referee blows the whistle. 59:46 It's no use arguing with the referee. The peace has gone in your heart and you know it. There's some unrest in your heart. Just humble yourself and say, "Something is wrong in me. 1:00:05 The referee's blown a whistle and I must fix that. I must take the ball to the exact spot where the foul was committed." I must say, "Lord, where is Where did I commit that foul? Why did you blow the whistle? The peace seems to have gone from my 1:00:20 heart. Show me where the foul was committed." And the referee will point you to the exact spot where the foul was committed. Set it right and you can move on. It's been so blessed for me to follow 1:00:36 this rule. Never, never to proceed when the where referee's blown the whistle. Get back, set that right. And if in a particular situation you find that the way somebody's behaving or the way somebody's speaking to you 1:00:54 agitates you, that's the best time to zip your mouth. Make sure you don't open it. I would not even speak in a meeting if I'm in unrest in my heart. Cuz something I say 1:01:12 will be the result of that unrest. I I made that a rule in my life. If you're at unrest in your home, husband, wife, something your partner did, something your children did, brought unrest, the world won't collapse if you keep 1:01:31 your mouth shut for a little while. Just come to rest in your heart and then open your mouth and speak. Do not open your mouth till the foul has been set right, that peace has come back to your heart. It's a very simple rule. 1:01:51 And then you let you will see that life become more peaceful for you at home. You'll be a blessing in the church. You will grow spiritually. All good things will come out of it because you are seeking God's kingdom first. In 1:02:04 other words, you're allowing God to be you're coming under God's government. You're obeying the laws of this government. And one of the laws is when your peace is disturbed, something is wrong. It's a foul. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you 1:02:25 help us to understand your principles of your word and live by them. Give us grace, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.
