0:07 I'd like to begin with a word in Matthew's gospel in chapter 9. Can you hear me all right? Okay. Here we read about 0:28 the call of Matthew. Matthew 9:9, Jesus went from there and called Matthew who was sitting in a tax collector's booth and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. Verse 10, it happened that as Jesus was 0:42 reclining at the table in the house behold, many tax collectors and sinners came who were dining with Jesus and his disciples. The tax collectors were the biggest financial crooks in Israel. And Matthew was one of them. 0:59 But he got converted and decided to follow Jesus. And this feast mentioned in verse 10 if you turn to Luke 5 you read there uh the same incident is given in a 1:17 little more detail. Uh verse 27 onwards Jesus called Levi who was Matthew. And he left everything behind immediately. Imagine, while he was writing his accounts he's got so gripped by the call of 1:36 Jesus. He must have heard Jesus somewhere earlier. He just dropped everything and followed him. He didn't even complete the day's work. And this Matthew verse 29 gave a big reception verse Luke 5:29 in his house. 1:55 And there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people. See, these were people who Matthew was gripped by the truth and he wanted to invite all his friends, all his fellow tax collectors, and there were a lot of other people who 2:06 were just uh maybe a lot of immoral women who these tax collectors were fooling around with. And they were all at the table. And Matthew had a great burden to that these people should hear the gospel that he 2:25 He had I've seen very few people like this. There are some who, you know, are saved from a life of sin and shame and they're immediately gripped to reach out to the same message to all the others who are their colleagues and friends. 2:44 So, that's exactly what Matthew was doing. And uh these others were there to criticize them. They I mean, they didn't have the same burden that Matthew had. Why did Matthew invite all these sinners? Because he knew what a sinner he was and 3:02 he was converted. And the Pharisees looked at this Turn back to Matthew 9. The Pharisees saw this and they said to his disciples, "Why is your teacher eating with tax collectors and sinners?" 3:23 They were concerned about that. And then Jesus heard this. He immediately rose up to the defense of Matthew. It's amazing to see how the Lord stands up 3:39 for his children. I mean, Jesus knew why Matthew had invited all these people. Because he wanted them to be changed by the same gospel that had changed him. And Jesus came to earth for sinners. But people who have no burden to reach 3:59 the lost feel happy only if they're in a meeting where everybody's a believer or they're all decent upright people. But it's amazing how Jesus was so often with people who are despised and sinners 4:17 because he wanted to reach them. I find a lot of believers they're when they get converted they seem to lose their burden to reach the lost. I mean there are a few very very few who continue to have that burden. 4:37 I believe that every Christian should have a burden to reach those who are unconverted. Just like Matthew had, you know, as soon as he was converted he immediately thought, "Let me have a big feast here for all my unconverted colleagues. 4:54 I mean my Jesus to speak to them." I've very rarely found uh people who have that burden. For example, if Matthew had told all those people, "Listen, we're going to have a meeting, all you tax collectors and sinners come." Nobody would have come. 5:11 But he had a feast. Yeah, everybody loves to go to a feast. And at the feast he gets Jesus to speak to them. What a wonderful way to reach the lost. As I said, a very very very few believers I've met who 5:29 have that type of burden to even arrange a feast to reach the lost. And then the the Pharisees are like some believers who lost, "Why are you having meetings with these people? Why are you inviting these people? Why don't 5:48 you have a feast for all the believers? But, Jesus defended Matthew. Matthew's decision was right. And we when we share in the same spirit of Christ, we will see the same thing. Jesus said, "All those healthy people 6:08 whom you invite to a feast, they don't need a doctor. It's not the healthy people who go to a hospital. It's the sick people verse 12 who who need a doctor." And there are many, many sick people around us. 6:25 And they need a doctor. And as we have opportunity, we should seek to witness to them, invite them to our meetings. Uh you think of when was the last time you 6:44 invited an unbeliever to a Christian meeting? Uh I think of some of the children I know back home in our Bangalore church who would invite some of their 7:02 schoolmates come for a meeting. And I know two families that are very active members in CFC today in Bangalore who initial contact was through one of the school children who 7:19 passed it on to her friend who was a from an unconverted family. So, you see how the burden that Matthew had as soon as he was converted, he's the same night he's converted in the morning, same night he has a great feast. And he says, "This gospel has 7:38 changed me. I must pass it on to others. You know, it's like a person who discovered a cure for some terrible sickness he had and some doctor or some medicine the doctor prescribed and he knows others who have the same 7:57 sickness and he wants those people to meet this doctor. I mean, we would do that if it was a physical sickness. I wonder if we feel that way about the spiritual state we were in from which the Lord saved us 8:16 to have that burden. Now, I know there are some people who are they are gifted to be evangelists. Not everybody's an evangelist. Says in Ephesians 4 that some are called to be evangelists. I don't deny that. And naturally, those evangelists will 8:35 have a much greater burden to reach the lost. And I'm not talking about full-time evangelists. We believe that every Christian must be a full-time witness for Christ. But if if in Ephesians 4 in verse 11 it speaks of the five main gifts 8:55 in the church. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or shepherds, and teachers. And when it comes to apostles and prophets and teachers, everybody recognizes we can't be that. The same with evangelists. Not everybody 9:12 can be an evangelist. It's a unique gift. But Jesus said that we are all to be witnesses. There's a difference between being a witness, sharing what the Lord has done, and being an evangelist. And there's only one thing 9:30 that prevents us from being witnesses. And I want to be very frank. I'll tell you what it is. We're not filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 1 verse 8 says, let me read to you Acts 1:8. 9:48 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And not you should be. I mean, if it says you should be, that would be like an exhortation. It's like telling people you should be 10:08 witnesses for me in different places, but that's not what he says. You shall be means it'll be automatic. You when the spirit comes upon you you'll be impelled or propelled 10:27 to go out and be a witness. And it won't be just in your own little circle of Jerusalem. It will spread from there. You start in Jerusalem. Like Matthew started with his own little group of immediate friends who were tax collectors, 10:43 all his fellow sinners. He started there, but then it will spread in concentric circles to Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. So that's a burden that everyone in this church must have if 11:03 you recognize that you were a rotten sinner whom Jesus picked up from the gutter and brought salvation to. And then you know there are a lot of people around you who are in that same gutter. Now, I realize we need to have a lot of 11:19 wisdom. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom. We were not to make ourselves offensive in the way we present the gospel, but there must be a burden. And that's the the Let's start with a burden. To me, every ministry 11:39 comes out of a burden. I I see a burden like a mother carrying a baby in her womb. I remember when I first got converted way back in 1959, I I hadn't even read through the Bible once. So, one of the first things I did 11:56 was to read through the whole Bible. Uh I was just 19 and a half. And in 6 months, I read through the whole Bible. Cuz I said, "I want to complete the Bible cuz I'm a Christian now." Uh I'm going to tell you honestly, I find a lots of Christians who haven't 12:12 read through the Bible even once. I would ask all of you listening to me today, ask yourself one question. How long have you been converted? More than 1 year? And you haven't read through the Bible once? 2 years? And you still not read through 12:31 the Bible once? I would suggest that you go before the Lord and confess your sin. It is a sin that you have despised his word. There's one letter that God wrote from heaven for man. Supposing you were a 12:52 a faithful wife and your husband is far away and he sends you one letter. And you just read one page or something and toss it there. You know, time to read it. Say, "Too too long a letter." But the husband took such a lot of 13:06 trouble to write that letter to you. Wouldn't you read through every sentence of it? Even if there were things you didn't understand. I did not understand 90% of what I read except the stories. But I read through the whole thing. 13:22 So, to me, that was an expression of my valuing the fact that God almighty decided to give me my word his word in my own language. And I respect that and I value it. And therefore, I'm going to read it. Even if I don't understand it, I'm going to read 13:38 through the whole thing. And then after that, I read slowly slowly slowly and I understood more and more and more and more. So, what it says here is when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will be my witnesses, not you should be. Please 13:52 remember this. What I'm telling you now is you should be witnesses. That's not what the Lord says. The Lord says when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will be propelled. It's something like a you light a match to a jar of oil or 14:11 petrol or something. You don't have to tell that, now you got to burn. You don't have to tell that oil to burn. It's just automatic. You light that oil, it burns like anything. You light that gas stove, immediately it burns. 14:25 There's no need of exhortation. That's exactly to me, that's how I see the Holy Spirit coming like a fire and just puts a burden. So, that's what happened to me. I remember in those days, there was such a burden to share this wonderful gospel 14:40 that it saved me way back in 1959 that I began to fill my pocket with tracts. Of course, I didn't always do it wisely. But, I when I got an opportunity, I'd have something with me to give to someone. See, would you like to read this? 14:55 Things are a little different now. We have to be wise in giving because a lot of people Christianity has brought so much offense. And many people are not interested and they'll think you're just being a nuisance by trying to convert them. 15:08 But, I'm thinking now not of just going around giving tracts to everybody you meet in a bus or on the road or anything. No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the people you know really well. Matthew didn't go out and 15:20 call everybody from the streets, "Come to my house. No. But the his fellow tax collectors they were not interested in the gospel. But he had a burden for those he was working with. Who were his colleagues whom he knew very well for many years perhaps. 15:37 So think of people whom you know very well for many years. Let's start with that circle. And say, "Lord, please fill me with the Holy Spirit in such a way that I can be a witness to them." Not in an offensive way. I felt this very strongly when I was 15:56 working in the Navy. Whether I was on a ship or a base Navy base, I said, "Lord, I'm not going to go go around everywhere preaching. No, I couldn't do that." In fact, in the military you can't go around doing it. But I said that it must I must try and 16:10 make it obvious to everyone that I'm a different type of Christian than the average Christian they have met. How you do that is up to you, but one of the ways we can do is to pray to the Lord to give an opening. So one of 16:24 the things I do, "Lord, if you you see now in where I'm living right now, I say, "Lord, give me an opening with somebody here to give me an opening. I'm available." I'm sitting in a plane sometimes. I don't preach to the person sitting next 16:39 to me automatically. He may just get offended and want to turn away, but I say, "Lord, if you give me an opening, I'll witness. Give me some opening with anybody anywhere. My place of work or somewhere I want to be I'm available. I want the 16:56 Holy Spirit to always push me to be a witness. That's what I see in Pharisees' burden. But there will be people to criticize. And who are the people who are criticizing uh Matthew here in Matthew chapter 9? Those who have no burden for the lost. 17:13 So you can be sure that even you try to witness to somebody you maybe you make a mistake, they'll criticize you. See, we told you that you shouldn't do it like that. And what do they themselves do? Nothing. It's better to do something and make a 17:26 mistake rather than sit back and just find fault with the others who are trying to be a witness for Christ. So, I want to encourage you, brothers, and not trying to say you should be witnesses. That's not what I say. All I say is seek God 17:42 for a genuine baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. Then you won't need any exhortation from anybody to that promise will be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and whether you like it or not, you will be witnesses for me. 17:59 First in your immediate circle, Jerusalem, then Judea, and Samaria, and then finally to the uttermost parts of the earth, maybe God perhaps wanted to widen the circle of some of you much wider than what it is right now to be his witnesses. 18:16 But, you did not allow the Holy Spirit to make you a witness in the small circle that you're in. And therefore, it doesn't ever expand. Imagine going through years and years and years and years and years and God never expands the circle of your 18:33 witness. When it could be so much more. You say, "Well, I'm not an apostle or a prophet." No, you're not even evangelist. Fine. But, what about being a witness? That is for every single Christian. You shall be my witnesses. 18:48 Going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's a command given to us just as much as the command which says, "Don't lust after women." Or the command which says, "Don't get angry." Husbands, live 19:05 in an understanding way with your wife. Yeah, that's a command. You shall be my witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth. It's God's will. It's a promise that See, we don't seek for the power of the Holy Spirit unless we have a sense of 19:18 need. Need is the way by which God propels us to seek God, seek him for something. It's just like you go to a doctor only if you know you're sick. If you're sick and you don't know it, you won't go to the doctor. If you're ignorant of your sickness, you 19:34 may be terribly sick, but you don't go to the doctor till you're aware of it. And I wonder if you're aware that if a lack of a burden to be a witness for Christ is a defect. It It's a It's a sin. I see it like that. 19:53 And I'm not judging anybody. I want to judge myself. I said, "Lord, make me more fervent to be a witness for you, not in an offensive way." It's like when Jesus said that your light so shine before men. Light doesn't make a lot of noise, 20:09 but you can go into a room and you'll know immediately whether there's light or not. And if someone is working with you in an office or your relatives who frequently associate with you, they must see clearly 20:27 that you are a different type of Christian than the average Christian they have met. That's very, very important. And it's a good thing for every one of you, my dear brothers and sisters, to ask yourself, your immediate circle 20:43 first. Remember Jerusalem first. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. In the immediate circle of people who know you, your family members, and your office goers whom you've been with 20:55 for a long time, do they know that I'm a little different from all the others? Do they know that I'm the type of person who will not laugh at their dirty jokes, and that I'm a little clean upright. And not only clean and upright, which is 21:10 a little easier to be, but considerate about others in the office who may be in need. I often Many often the Lord reminds me of Joseph in the prison. The way he got out of that prison. You know the story. It started by an act of being 21:28 considerate towards two discouraged prisoners sitting there. Joseph saw two discouraged prisoners, Pharaoh's baker and cupbearer sitting there. And sitting with maybe with their head in their hands, discouraged. Now, Joseph 21:45 himself had enough problems. He had been in the prison for so long and he'd been falsely accused and his parents were far away and his family members were far away. He could have sat down and worried about his own problems, but he was concerned about 21:59 these other guys. And he goes up to them and says, "Why are you looking so sad?" That one sentence was what opened the door for him to get out of prison. You read that story. You start If he had not said that, he'd have been in prison continuously. 22:15 One sentence out of a concern, a burden. These these guys are looking so sad. Let me go and ask them why. And then they You know the story. They told him what happened. They had some dreams that discouraged them. And so, 22:31 he explained the dream to them. And that's how later on, when Pharaoh's cupbearer went before Pharaoh, he could tell Pharaoh, "Hey, I know somebody who can interpret your dream." And that was what opened the door for Joseph to go into 22:46 Pharaoh's palace and become the second ruler in Egypt. So, um is that concern that I see there, which made him a witness. And then, a witness further in a much wider circle 23:04 in Egypt to others. So, that's what I see here in Matthew. It's a great example. As soon as he was converted, they he wanted to call his colleagues. You see something similar also in John's gospel. In John's gospel, you read about 23:29 you know, John preaching to his disciples. And it says here in John chapter 1 and verse 35, John was standing with two of his disciples. And he looked at Jesus and said, 23:48 "There's the lamb of God." And the two disciples heard John speak and followed Jesus. And they went with Jesus. And they spent the day with him. And uh one of the two, verse 40, was Andrew. He first went to his own brother. 24:09 He said, "My brother's got to hear this." And he said, "We found the Messiah." And you know, if you read the other places where Peter was fishing and all, he was not immediately responsive, as I understand, to what Andrew said. He 24:27 could probably a bit questioning, is it really so? But he came along and he turned out to be the greatest apostle of all. So, think of what uh would have gone what would have been missed there if Andrew had not done that. 24:45 He went and told Simon, he didn't go to preach to the world. He said, "My brother, he's next to me. I know we are good friends. Let me tell him." And then, the same way um when you read about another disciple who was what was John 1:43, 25:02 he next day he purposed to go and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow me." And Philip, it says in verse 45, he said, "Hey, I've got a friend called Nathaniel." Nathaniel was a bit skeptical of all these people who 25:19 claimed that they had found the Messiah. He said, "We found him whom who the prophet spoke." And Nathaniel said, "No, no, no, no, it can't be." So Philip said, "No, don't just say that. Come and see." And he got converted immediately. 25:32 As soon as he brought him to Jesus. So, we find something about these early disciples, they immediately said, "Hey, I found something in the Lord. I've got to pass this on to others." I know we have all found something in 25:47 Christ. Do you feel that is it is so such a tremendous value that we got of healing from some incurable sickness. And around us are people who have got 26:05 that same incurable sickness. Do we have a burden for them? That's the question. So coming back to Matthew chapter 9, we saw the same thing that Andrew did, the same thing that Philip did, and as a result, some others became 26:23 Nathaniel became a disciple of Jesus. That's how the early apostles were not just that Jesus went and called them. Jesus called one and that chap would go and call another, and that chap would go and call another. That's how these those 26:35 first 12 were not all direct contacts of Jesus as you can see here. So, when Matthew did this, you see the Pharisees criticizing this and saying, "Hey, why would you We are all holy people. Why does your holy leader sit with tax collectors and 26:54 sinners? And look at the Jesus Look at Jesus' reply in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 12. That's the other thing we need to bear in mind. One is that God wants to empower us by the Holy Spirit so that we become these witnesses to others in the circle 27:09 we are in. In a Not in an offensive way, but in a to our immediate circle. All these folks, whether it's Matthew calling his immediate circle, Andrew calling his immediate brother, Philip calling his immediate friend, Nathaniel. 27:25 It's It's that the ones who are closest to us, our family members, must have a burden to share with them, even if it means some reproach comes on you. There is a reproach. I know I have suffered a lot of reproach by seeking to be a witness for Christ 27:44 to my family members. So what? I mean, I continue to love them and act in a humble way towards them and help them and they gradually have come to respect me, even if they don't turn. I'm hoping that they will turn before they die and leave 28:03 the earth. But I don't want to be responsible for having failed the Lord when he saved me of not doing my part of being a witness to those whom the Lord wants to reach through me. You've heard me once mention in one meeting 28:20 how there's a young brother in one of our village churches who doesn't speak a word of English. He doesn't know English. But uh he's never learned. Now, he may have learned a little little bit being attending a lot of my meetings. 28:33 But he once remember I been testifying in a meeting which I'll never forget. He quoted John at the end It was a testimony meeting at the end of the conference where he said, "John 3:16 says, God so loved the world that he gave his 28:47 only begotten son and whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is for the whole world of millions of people. But he said, "In my case, I have a small world. A small world around me," he said, "of 29:02 my immediate relatives and colleagues, place of work, etc. And that's the world into which God has sent me, his beloved son." He was referring to himself. God has sent me, God's beloved son, into this small world of very, very few people, 29:21 the circle of people I know. And God so loved all those people. God so loved that little world in which I'm in. He loves that little world also of the people who know me. And that's why he sent me, his son, into that little 29:34 world so that some might come to everlasting life. And God sent his son into the world, Jesus into the world, and how many people have come to everlasting life? Not even 10%. And 90% are lost. We know that. So, it 29:53 doesn't matter if 90% of the people you are in touch with are lost, but at least there will be a 10%. There'll be a remnant. It's always a remnant that reaches out. And sometimes you'll be surprised to see people whom you least 30:04 expect to turn to the Lord and just because your light shone there, they got turned to the Lord. And maybe on their deathbed they will turn remembering that they knew one man who knew the Lord. If you're really a wholehearted Christian, 30:23 it's really sincerely not seeking to be preaching in an offensive way. I don't believe that. But living in such an upright way and sharing when you get opportunity or by the way by your light first of all. And then I believe this that 30:41 a true Christian, one who's truly following the Lord, they will never forget you. They will remember you all their life. I remember once I met a naval officer. He was an admiral. He was a colleague of mine 40 years earlier. 30:55 And he came up to me in a at a retired naval officers meeting and said, "Zac, I can never forget you." They remembered that I was different from the average person. I wouldn't drink along with them. I wouldn't be dancing 31:07 there with all the others. But I was different. That's all. I mean, I didn't go around preaching, but people knew what I stood for. If I had a table in some office if I worked in that the army is a Bible that I keep there so 31:21 that people know that I'm a Christian in some way. I don't I can't preach. Nobody can stop me from keeping a Bible there. And in Indian many Indian offices they permit you to have a calendar on the wall. I would put a calendar with a 31:34 Bible verse on the wall. In some way without uh causing offense to just make it known that Jesus Christ is my Lord. I'm not the usual run-of-the-mill Christian. I'm a little different. And there will always be people who 31:50 criticize. There are Pharisees all these 2,000 years there've been Pharisees who find fault with you. Just shut your ears to what they're saying. Then Jesus said it's those who are healthy uh who are sick who need a physician. 32:04 And listen to these words, very very important words. Matthew 9:13 that he speaks to those who are legalistic reminded uh like the Pharisees. Let's think of that also because there can be a tendency towards Pharisaism in all of us. 32:20 See, the Pharisees I read a little bit about how they started. I think it was around maybe 2 300 years before Christ's time, sometime after the time of Malachi. Malachi Between Malachi and Christ there are about 300 years. And during that 32:36 period, you know, you Malachi chapter 1 and you see Israel had drifted away tremendously. And at that time there were a group of sincere people who wanted to restore the truth. And uh you know, just like we in CFC have come out of dead churches and tried 32:54 to stand up for the truth in all of you in RLCF. So, this group of Pharisees came out trying to stand for the Lord and um started out very well. Like all good movements, God-fearing people starts out very well. And then, over a period of time, like in 33:14 every movement, decline comes in. They still hold to this doctrines. The doctrines the Pharisees held 300 years later um in the time of Jesus was the same as the doctrines there the founders 300 years earlier in Malachi's time 33:32 held. But the life was very different. Those people who first started was because they wanted to have a concern that God's people are drifting away, we want to stand up for the truth just like CFC or RLCF is standing today. 33:48 But over a period of time decline came in and that was a doctrine that was more important to them and not the life. That's what happens in every movement. Whether it's Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Brethren, anything, the 34:01 doctrine becomes important. And they evaluate people by the doctrine and not by life. And that's why very often such people, one mark of such people is they despise people in other Christian groups. They say there can't be any Christians 34:17 in other groups except in ours. That's a mark of a Pharisee. I've come to see some very good Christians in other churches who are much better than some CFC Christians. I just face up to it. They love the Lord. They seem to be witnesses for Christ. 34:32 So, the Pharisees became like that. The doctrine was right. See what Jesus Look at the two certificates that Jesus gave to the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Matthew 23, by the way, 34:49 is a is probably the one chapter it reminds me of Isaiah chapter 5. In Isaiah chapter 5, when you get time, you can look at it. Isaiah said, "Woe unto this group, and woe unto this group, and woe unto this group, and woe unto this type of sinner, 35:04 that type of sinner, the other type of sinner." Isaiah chapter 5 was full of that. And Matthew 23 is also like that. Jesus said, "Woe unto you for this, woe unto you because you do this, woe unto you because you're like this, woe unto you 35:15 because you're like the Pharisees." But, in the midst of all the condemnation of the Pharisees, where he finally said that you will not Matthew 23:33, "You will not escape the damnation of hell." In the midst of all that, he pointed out 35:31 two good things about the Pharisees. That's one thing about Jesus. Even among the worst people, you could find something good. And uh sometimes you can be so prejudiced against some group that you'll never find anything good in 35:45 them. See, for example, the Roman Catholics. You may find there's nothing good in There are some good things in them. Sometimes many of them stand more for the truth of the Bible than many so-called Protestants. Yeah. They have a strong stand against many 36:02 things that some Protestants don't have a strong stand against. So, Matthew 23, number one, Jesus approved of the letter of their doctrine. The letter which they taught according 36:21 to the letter of the law, they were right. See Matthew 23, he told his disciples verse three, Matthew 23, "Everything that they tell you to do, do." Do you think Jesus would say that about 36:40 the Roman Catholics today? No. "Everything they tell you to do, do." Definitely not. He won't have He will not approve praying to Mary or praying for the dead. Would he say that about the Jehovah's Witnesses? Would he say that about the 36:54 Methodists who practice infant baptism? "Everything that they tell you to do, do." Here he's saying 100% of their teaching is correct. How many Christian groups do you think today Jesus could give that certificate to? "100% of their teaching is correct." 37:13 That's the certificate he gave to the Pharisees. Now, you may say in RLC, "100% of the teaching is correct." Good. But, you could still be a Pharisee. Because the same certificate Jesus gave to the Pharisees. And one more One more thing. 37:30 Second certificate. Matthew 23 and verse 25. "You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside is full of self-indulgence." So, in a cup there are two parts, outside and inside. That speaks of outer life and inner 37:49 life. And he says, "Your inner life is full of corruption." Corrupt. It's like a full of dead men's bones, he says in verse 27. But, what about the outer life? Good. 38:07 "You clean the outside of the cup." What a certificate to get from Jesus. "Your doctrines are all 100% right. Your external life is absolutely upright. There are many Christians even their 38:26 external life is not upright. They cheat. They tell lies. Forget about their thought life, attitude, motives and all which we can't see. That's the inside of the cup. The outside of the cup. They speak graciously when they are with 38:41 others. The outside of the cup is clean. And we can be like the Pharisees the doctrine 100% right. External life 100% right. 38:58 And yet a thorough Pharisee. I wonder if all of you dear brothers and sisters who have chosen to be with RLCF because of its values, because of the doctrines it preaches. Do you feel possibly that you could be a 39:18 Pharisee? Do you ever think like that? That with all my correct doctrines and a very good external life that others appreciate. After all, remember all the people in your church can only see your external life. 39:38 They don't know what your thoughts are like. Even your wife doesn't know. They don't know what your inner attitudes are towards people. They don't even know the motives with which you do some good things. What do they see? They see your 39:54 doctrine. Praise God. Here's a church that has a right doctrine. And they look at your life. They say, "What a good life." But it may be only on the outside. I'm pointing that out to say that in the best of churches there can be 40:10 Pharisees who don't even realize they're Pharisees. So, if you see the danger that you and I face of being a Pharisee, then you'll be alert to it. The greatest danger is the one you're not aware of. Or you think that no, no, no, I'm not 40:30 dangerous. Suppose you someone were to say to you, "Brother, sister, do you consider the possibility that you could be a Pharisee?" Would you turn around and say, "No, no, no, no, I'm not a Pharisee. I'm a humble follower of Jesus." Really? 40:45 Yeah, and here's one mark of the Pharisees. Let's get back to Matthew 9. Jesus told the Pharisees, "Go and learn this lesson. What is that lesson? I want you to have compassion. Not all these sacrifices you make. Now, 41:04 sacrifice is good. The Lord calls us to sacrifice. When we follow the Lord, we have to sacrifice. But the Lord says, "More than all that, I want you to have compassion." Because I did not come to call the righteous people, but sinners. 41:22 If I have the spirit of Christ, the more I have it, I'll have that spirit. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. I may not be an evangelist, but I say, "Lord, I want to be a witness by my life, wherever I am, 41:39 in my office, with my relatives, even if I'm traveling somewhere or going to a store, the way I speak to people selling me something in a store, or the way I interact with people whenever I meet them on the road or in 41:57 my neighborhood or anywhere. Then they must see that I'm a gracious Christian. And I'm not offended by anything they say. I will not get hurt by anything they do. Cuz I'm different. The all my colleagues at work and my 42:15 relatives say that I will not be one who gets upset with them. But I can forgive their mistakes and overlook and see this person is a different. Not just that he's preaching something. The sad thing is that a lot of Christians 42:30 they preach more than they live. And there are two voices that come from us. One is the voice of our life and the other is the voice that come from our words. And like someone once said, "I can't hear what you're saying with your lips 42:45 because with your mouth because your life speaks much louder than that." And that drowns out these holy words that you're speaking. That should never be any accusation that anybody makes against us among our relatives or our 42:58 place of work. So, the Lord says we need to have compassion towards people we don't agree with. The Pharisees did not agree with these sinful people. On the world is Jesus mingling with these people. In fact, Jesus mingled with sinners so 43:13 much that he had a title called friend of sinners. That's a wonderful title if people give you a title like that. This guy is a friend of sinners, man. Not a friend of holy people. Jesus never had a title called friend of holy 43:26 people. He was a friend of sinners. And I want that people to see that in me that I'm not but but particularly those who are close to me. Place of work or my relatives, they must see I don't look 43:44 down on them because they disagree with me doctrinally when a lot of our fellow relatives may be nominal Christians who are in dead churches, not born again at all. It's very easy for us to have an attitude towards them of looking down 43:58 upon them as, "Well, you're not up to the mark." Well, you'll never bring them to the Lord that way. But if they can see Christ in our actions and in our attitudes, not despising them, let the world call us friends of sinners, it doesn't matter. 44:16 I desire compassion, not all the sacrifices you make. I desire compassion. That word has been coming to my heart quite strongly. And I want to share it with you. God desires that compassion is manifested in us. If you were to ask me, what is the 44:34 greatest danger that churches like CFC and RLCF face? What do you think it is? Is it the danger of our permitting adultery or permitting divorce or permitting unrighteousness in financial matters? No, no, no, no, no. 44:53 What is any danger we face particularly? What do you think? Have you thought of that? Because if you know there's a danger, you'll be careful. I mean, if you your children go to school and you find that people are circulating drugs there 45:10 in the guise of candy. Well, you'll warn your children. Don't Don't just take any candy that somebody offers. There's a danger there. So, if you're aware of a danger, we stand against it. If you're not aware, we can fall into a lot of traps. 45:30 So, what is the greatest danger that believers like us in CFC and RLCF churches face? I would say is the danger of being a legalist. Legalism, which is going by the letter of the law and judging others by the letter of the 45:49 law. That's what Jesus was so different in that area. You see, I'll give you two classic examples of that. Turn to Luke chapter uh John chapter 8. We all know the story. I desire compassion 46:09 and not sacrifice. Remember that's what Jesus said, I want compassion, not sacrifice. So, here's one example of that. The woman caught in adultery, you know the story. The Pharisees came and they didn't just say that, they 46:21 quoted God's word. Now, remember Jesus was always quoting God's word and the Pharisees knew that. So, they said, "God's word says John 8 verse 5, women who are caught in adultery must be stoned to death. 46:40 What do you say?" Now, they did not know that Jesus himself, when he was in heaven, gave that command to Moses. Who gave Moses that command? Yeah, from heaven, Jesus gave that command before he came to earth. So, he knew the law very well because he 46:58 had himself had given it to Moses. Women must who are caught in adultery must be stoned to death because that's the way you keep Israel pure from immorality. So, they said, "Jesus, you're the one who says you keep God's word. What about 47:13 this? Don't you know this word in scripture? What do you say we should do?" And Jesus waited for an answer from his father, that's why he was scribbling on the ground waiting for the father to give him a right word and the father gave him 47:25 a right word. He did not speak till he got a right word. Even if it took a little time, and then he said, "Okay, he was without sin." The father said, "Tell them he who is without sin cast the first stone." And he said that. 47:39 And they all went away because they knew that if any of them dared to pick up the stone, Jesus, who saw their inner life, would make a list of all their sins and they would be publicly humiliated. So, they dare not pick up a stone 47:54 because they They scared Jesus would They knew that Jesus could see through them. And so they It says from the beginning of the oldest, John 8:9, they all went away. But there was one man left who had never sinned. He was qualified to pick up a stone. 48:11 Here's the command was what Jesus said was, "He who is without sin take a stone and throw it first." And keep the law. I'm not saying don't keep the law. And Jesus was without sin, obeying his own practicing what he preached. He should 48:29 have taken up the stone and kept the law which he himself had given Moses from heaven. But he didn't do it. And he says, "Woman, nobody can condemn you?" "No." "Okay. I also I am without sin, 48:48 but I also don't condemn you." Verse 11. "Go. Don't sin again." Did Jesus keep the law there? Did he obey the law of Moses which he himself gave? Did he practice what he preached? What he preached means what he told 49:07 Moses from heaven. Why didn't he do that? I desire compassion and not sacrifice. We need to understand that. 49:23 It looks like a violation of the law. He was not violating the law. He was keeping the spirit of the law. The Pharisees were legalists who keep the letter of the law. And I When I say that in RLCF and CFC 49:42 churches, we're in danger of being legalists. It means keeping the letter. Taking that letter of the law and saying that fellow is not doing it. You can have that attitude towards divorced people who come supposing a divorced person comes to the church and 49:57 we know that Jesus strong standards on divorce. Yeah. And you can have a hard attitude towards them. What was Jesus attitude to the Samaritan woman who was divorced five times? I've often thought of that, you know, supposing a woman comes to your church 50:17 to our LCIF and she's been divorced five times. She's got rid of five husbands. And now she's sleeping with a man. I wonder if our attitude would be the same as the attitude of Jesus was to that woman to such an extent that 50:34 that woman Jesus used her to bring the whole town of Samaria to hear the gospel. It's amazing. It really humbles me to see the discernment Jesus had to know that this woman though she has sinned so much 50:53 is a needy person who's really seeking to know the truth. That's a great thing. I I don't want to miss out on that. I want to have discernment from God when I meet sinful people and others who come to the church. Lord, is this just 51:08 an outright hypocrite or is this person who's coming to our LCIF someone though he's a sinner though she's a sinner yet one who's seeking. Ask God for discernment. It's a great need. One more example. Luke chapter 7 uh 51:27 we read of this woman who came and anointed Jesus' feet with precious ointment. You know the story very well. Luke chapter 7 a woman who was known to be a sinner. Luke 7:37. That means she was a prostitute. 51:46 And that's the meaning of that. An immoral woman, that's what the margin of my Bible says. She was known to be a prostitute in the town. And she brings a very expensive alabaster vial 52:04 of perfume. Where did she get the money for that? Where did she earn the money? From her prostitution. And in Deuteronomy it says, you you must not bring the higher of a prostitute into the house of God. That's a law. 52:24 And Jesus knew that. Just like he knew the other law that woman caught in adultery must be stoned. Here's another law that Jesus knew that a higher of a prostitute must never be brought into the house of God. And here is this prostitute using the higher that 52:39 she earned through many years of prostitution, buys a very expensive vial of perfume. And Jesus knew it even if everybody didn't. And she pours it at his feet. Did Jesus accept it? He certainly did. Morally accepted it. He praised that 52:57 woman. He said, "This woman is a terrible sinner, but she's been forgiven so much." Verse 47, Luke 7:47, so she loves so much. So I ignore 53:16 the law which says the higher of a prostitute must not be brought to the house of God. There the house of God was Jesus himself. And this woman is disobeying the law. She was a Jew, obviously. Disobeying the law and bringing the 53:31 higher of a prostitute and pouring it out in the house of God. And Jesus who knew the law clearly accepts it, but the Pharisee he says, "Oh, no, if this if this man um knew who this woman was, he he would have verse 39. If this man 53:49 were a real prophet, he would know what sort of woman this is, and he would not allow her to touch him. He knew the law that uh a prostitute cannot bring her money into the house of God. And he quotes that verse, verse 39. 54:05 And he even doubts whether Jesus is a prophet. Think back what Jesus said to the Pharisees, I desire compassion. What I learned from that is if I really want to understand scripture in the right spirit, even the New Testament, 54:22 I need tremendous compassion in my heart towards sinful people. Otherwise, I'll be a legalist. What is the greatest danger we face in RLCF? Legalism. Now, if you don't If you take this as a law now, what I've said, you go by the letter of what I taught 54:41 today, you'll end up as a compromiser. All types of things you'll compromise and say I'm being compassionate. No, you cannot It can only be done by a truly spiritual person. You need to ask God to make you spiritually minded 54:57 to know where you have to be firm and where we need to be compassionate, where it looks as if it looks as if we are violating God's law, but we understand the spirit. We understand God's heart. So, what I'm trying to say finally is 55:15 dear brothers and sisters, let's not just be taken up with the letter of scripture, but beyond the letter, let's try to understand the heart of God, the heart of God for lost sinners, the heart of God which says in 2 Peter 55:31 3, he does not want anybody to perish, but wants everybody to come to I know many times the Lord sort of brought that word to my heart. God wants every single person, even those who committed terrible sins. 55:48 Second Peter and chapter 3, it says in verse 9, he wants every person to come to repentance. Think of someone who's done some terribly wrong things. And you say, "Well, there's no hope for them." I'll tell you, you may say that, but 56:05 the Lord says he wants even that person to come to repentance. Somebody who's probably created a lot of problems in RNCF. You feel there's no hope for them? You believe God wants them to come to repentance also? Not saying that we can accept a person 56:25 back who does not repent, but God wants all to come to repentance. But we can be strict with someone and stand up and confront a person when they're wrong, but yet long in our heart, I hope that person will repent. I don't want that person to continue in 56:43 that way. I want him to repent. Do you have that attitude to people who have done a lot of wrong things in RNCF or people you know? Uh Lord does not want anybody to perish, but wants everybody to come to repentance. 57:01 If you have that heart of compassion, and only God can give it to you. Then we will understand scripture all right. Then even sometimes it may look as if you're violating scripture, but you're not violating scripture. You're acting in the spirit of Christ. 57:20 And otherwise we will become Pharisees who keep the letter of the law, get a reputation before other legalists, but we will not find approval from the heart of God. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, this is not a subject we can understand 57:42 with the cleverness of our mind. You have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent. But we know that if we come with a humble spirit, acknowledging that we don't understand, you will teach us. We pray that we'll really have the 57:59 wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit to have compassion where we need to show compassion. And yet to reach out to the lost and to be your witnesses. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. There's a wideness in God's mercy like 58:19 the wideness of the sea. There's a kindness in his justice which is more than liberty. See, uh this is written by Faber and some of his songs are really very meaningful. Even though he was a Roman Catholic, he had a tremendous fear of God. 58:36 And I see in this song a tremendous balance, which is very important. In fact, this is a good song for all legalists to sing. Uh I sing it very often because I see that tendency towards legalism in me because we're standing up for the 58:55 truth. So, that's a good ex- way to express it like the wideness of the sea. There's a wideness. And in his justice also there is a kindness. It's not a harsh judgment of others, which is even more than liberty. You want to go to the next verse? 59:14 There is welcome for the sinner and more graces for the good. Think of that as all sinners are welcome. And those who are good, there are more graces that they can receive, which they are than they already have. There's mercy with 59:31 the savior and there's healing in his blood. We understand that. The same mercy that we have received from the savior is what we need to pass on to others. We are When we say that we are like a branch in a tree, whatever comes from the tree to us 59:46 is what we pass on. And the mercy we have received mercy from the savior, we need to pass that on to others. And the next verse is the plentiful redemption in the blood that has been shed. That's just telling that this doesn't 59:59 matter how great a sinner you are, that there's Redemption means to be purchased out of the slave market of sin. And that blood can deliver you and there's joy for all the members. This Christ has suffered many sorrows, 1:00:16 but for us, there is plenty of joy for every single one. There's no All the members means every single person in the body of Christ, there's plenty of joy for you because Christ has already taken all the sorrows upon himself. Let's remember 1:00:30 that. And the next line is, "But yet is the verse which is very, very often comes to our mind. We make God's love so narrow by false limits of our own." Just like we heard today. But the word of God says here, "The prostitute must be stoned." 1:00:50 So, Lord, how You are without sin. Why don't You throw that stone? Why are You disobeying Your own word? Or the word of God says, "You must not receive a single cent from a prostitute coming in with an offering. How is it 1:01:03 You all take such an expensive offering of an alabaster vial full of perfume?" We would even criticize Jesus himself. That is what the Simon the Pharisee did. And today it's not Jesus. You may look at a a godly man or a woman 1:01:20 who does something and we say, "How can he do that?" And we make God's love so narrow. Like I've said, you know, I've often publicly appreciated Mother Teresa for the great work she does among the poor people in India. I don't do anything for the poor beggars 1:01:37 in India. And she's done it so that you and I I don't know how much you and I have done for the homeless people on the street. But here's a woman who's done such a lot. And I appreciate her. I mean, okay, she's got some false doctrines 1:01:49 which I don't see are very serious. Cuz I see those are the matters of the head, worshipping Mary and all that. But in her heart, she had a compassion for the poor which far exceeds what I have. So, but we can make God's love so narrow 1:02:03 and say, "Yeah, but the doctrine is not right." Okay, we're not joining her church. Let's stick to our own understanding of doctrine on everything. But we can magnify God's strictness with a zeal that God himself does not 1:02:16 magnify. So, we need to be very careful. This is one of the most important verses in this song. We make God's love so narrow with all types of limits that we make by what we think is holiness. And we magnify its strictness. And 1:02:32 before we go to the next verse, I just want to read one verse from scripture and that's in 1 Thessalonians and uh chapter 3. I don't know whether you know this verse. It's It relates to this verse in this hymn. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 1:02:51 and verse 12 and 13. Read it together and see if you've ever seen the connection between this. What is the prayer? May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love. First of all, for one another. And then for all the people in the 1:03:09 unconverted people who need salvation. Just as we do for you. May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for all people. Your relatives, the people in your place of work, the circle that world in which he has placed you. 1:03:26 Why? So that he may you may be without blame and holiness. All of us want to be without blame and holiness. This verse tells us you cannot be without blame and holiness unless you abound in love for all the people around you. 1:03:42 See the connection? Holiness is not just doing certain right things and paying our taxes and doing certain things legally right. If you want to be without unblameable in holiness, you have to abound in love for all people and you can't do that. May the 1:03:59 Lord cause you. That means the Holy Spirit comes upon you, fills you, and floods your heart, Romans 5:5, with love for all people. Then you're unblameable in holiness. Otherwise, something's lacking in your holiness. Okay, the next 1:04:13 verse. And he says go down by saying the love of God is broader than the measure of our narrow minds. We we tend there's a tremendous tendency when we stand up for the truth to lose out on love. Stand up for truth and you lose out on 1:04:29 grace. But the glory of God was seen in Jesus full of grace and truth. And our tendency, generally speaking, is to emphasize truth and think we are upright and despise those who don't agree with us in some minor point of 1:04:43 doctrine. But the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind. And the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind. Is is this this these two verses, you know, they're really in this song. Many times I sing it to myself. Lord, this is 1:04:59 what I want to be. I I want to have that broadness, breadth that you have in your love. And I want to have that kindness that you have in your eternal heart. Okay. Is that the last verse? And then it goes on to say, "If our love 1:05:13 were but more simple, or I would say if our faith were but more simple, and if our love were but more simple, we would take him at his word and believe in all that we heard today, and our lives would be all sunshine in the sweetness of our Lord. There's 1:05:29 something sweet about the holiness of Jesus. And there's something that is full of chilies in the holiness of many Christians. But the holiness of Jesus was something sweet. Yeah, thank you.
