0:07 Good morning, dear family. It's good to be back here. I was telling somebody earlier today um it's nice to have a place that you miss when you're away. And that's RLCF for us. 0:25 Our home wherever we travel the face of this earth, I find a longing to be back among you all. And I'm thankful for that. For many years, I um prayed. This was in my late teens and early 20s. 0:42 I prayed that the Lord would give me a home, a spiritual home. Spiritual shepherds who would watch over me. Those that I could submit to who had spiritual authority. And I'm deeply thankful that after many 1:00 years of searching and seeking like a man wandering in a desert, I found a true oasis. And I had to go through a few mirages on the way. You know what a mirage is? It looks like an oasis, but it's not really. I'm thankful that RLCF is an oasis for 1:18 me. And I believe for many others also who um watch online, come here for conferences. And many of you have moved here because RLCF has been an oasis from a distance 1:36 and now you're seeing that. And I encourage you, dear brothers and sisters and children with this reality that God's longing is for us to be planted in his body in a real way. And that means more than just attending a church on a Sunday morning or church 1:55 gathering on a Sunday morning. Sadly, the devil has blinded the eyes of many that for them church is just a building and a place they go on a Sunday morning at a particular time. But and it's possible to even sit in a church like this and for that to be the 2:14 extent of our experience. And for me, the journey is constantly one of growing deeper in fellowship with Christ. And the consequence of that is in reality deeper in fellowship with you all. 2:32 And I'll tell you honestly I don't fool myself into thinking that I have deep fellowship with Christ if that's not being experienced in a deeper fellowship with you all. Uh it's the real test. John says, "How can you say you love God if you don't 2:48 love the brother whom you see?" And I use that same test of an increasing love of God to be manifest and to be confirmed by an increasing love for his body. See, Jesus isn't just a head anymore. He is the head. But since the day of Pentecost, when the 3:07 Holy Spirit came and united his disciples with him the head, that's the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now the head is attached to a body. A body in which God has placed each of us. And the more my connection with the head 3:24 is strengthened and grows the more my connection and fellowship, true fellowship with the body will grow. So I pray that whatever that looks like for you might not all be the same, but pray that it will grow. 3:43 And grow in increasing measure, deep fellowship. It's a reality I'm it's it's taught in God's word and I'm experiencing it. I believe many of you are as well. May the Lord cause that to increase until we are all of one mind, one faith. 4:01 All of the same level of faith as well when Christ comes. We've heard recently uh over the last few weeks about being ready for Christ's return. And I hope that warning and that encouragement and exhortation is something that you've taken to heart 4:19 to be ready for Christ's return. For me, that readiness has looked different over the years. Looked differently. For example, when I was first born again, when I first became aware of the fact that Jesus Christ had cleansed 4:37 me from sin because I uh confessed my sin, repented of it, asked the him to cleanse me from all my sin by the blood of Jesus. At that moment, even though I was young, I was a young boy the first time I prayed that prayer, 4:56 there was a sense of yeah, I'm ready. I'm cleansed. I just believed it. And I'm sure all of you who have been truly born again and repented of your sin can testify to that to some extent as well as well. I sensed you know, even though I probably didn't 5:16 think all these thoughts that I'm about to express back then cuz I was a little boy. But even over the years as I've confessed sin that I've committed since then, there's that peace. Romans 5:1 says, having by by believed in him and by justification, 5:33 we have peace with God through Christ. So, I had peace. And if I could use these words to describe it, that's this is what that meant. That if Jesus was to come at that very moment, I would I would I was ready. 5:51 I had been repented of all my sin. He had cleansed them all. And in a sense, I could say, "Jesus, you can come right now. I'm ready to meet you." But since then, over the years, my definition of being ready for Christ's 6:06 return has changed. Has increased, if you will. I still seek to live always with a clear conscience. Paul says, "I always keep my conscience clear before God and with men." Because I know that there is a resurrection of both the righteous and 6:24 the wicked. And we will all have to give account before God. So, I I live in that state of constantly having a clear conscience. And dear friends, dear brothers, sisters, dear children, this is a life you must have. I was 6:40 going to say you can have, but I'll say it even higher, you must have this life. That's why we gather. That's why we meet. That's why we encourage each other. Make sure that your conscience is always clear. Yes, you can come to a life of 6:56 increasing victory over sin and overcoming. But even if you fall, immediately set your conscience right. Make sure you have a clear conscience. With God first of all, the moment you're aware that you've done something wrong, 7:11 you've sinned, set it right. Confess it before God. And if you hurt somebody by your action, whether it's a lie you told or something you stole or a word that you spoke that was unkind or careless, or you physically hit somebody, set it 7:28 right with that person as well, immediately. You can and you must live constantly with a clear conscience. But as I was saying, my definition of being ready for Christ's return has increased. And while I will stay still say that I'm 7:47 ready cuz I'm I confessed I don't have any known sin in my life. Any sin that I've committed that I'm aware of, I've confessed and I have a clear conscience even as I sit here before you today. But there's a sense in which I If the 8:03 Lord was to say, "Santosh, can I come right now?" There's a part of me that says, "No, Lord, not yet, please." Because my definition of being ready, even though I am ready, my heart is clear, my conscience is clear. I say, "Lord, I don't think 8:21 you've finished the work for which you called me on this earth. That's not done yet." So you see how that readiness is more than just "Okay, I won't go to hell." It's much more than that. If Jesus came, you know, 8:40 I think about it like this and I I don't think I'm imagining things here because Jesus, as far as I remember in the scriptures, only once said, "I have finished the work for which you have called me on this earth." He didn't say that when he was 12. 8:59 He didn't say that when he was 18 or even when he was 30. Even though he never sinned once in his life, I believe that based on what I read in scripture, if you went to Jesus at the age of 18 and says, "Can the Father take you home now?" He 9:15 would have said, "No, Father, not yet." Because there is a work that was yet to be done. He had never sinned, lived a perfect life, and the the Father had said, "Can I take you home now?" Jesus would have said, "No, Father, please, not yet. 9:33 I must finish the work for which you have placed me on this earth. That was Jesus' standard of his existence on this earth. And that must be our standard as well, dear brothers and sisters and dear children. I'm not here on this earth just to get 9:50 to go to heaven. If that's all it was, then sure, I'm ready to meet Jesus. But because the standard of being ready for Christ's return is much higher now, say, "Lord, I cannot fit I cannot reach the end of my life without having accomplished, having 10:09 finished everything for which you placed me here on this earth." I hope, dear brothers and sisters and dear children, that that's what captivates you. Not because you want to have a 100% score on your test at the end of your life, but 10:25 because Jesus finished. He loved you so much that he finished the work. Why did Jesus want to stay until he was 33 and 1/2 years? Was it just so he could say, "Yeah, look at me. I got 100%"? No. If that was the case, he would never 10:44 even have come to this earth. He was perfect all along. He didn't come here to impress anybody with scoring 100% and being holy and pure. He was holy and pure before he came down to this earth. But he wanted to set us an example. 11:01 He wanted to open a new and living way from beginning to end. Author and perfecter. Beginning and end. Alpha and Omega. He had to open that new and living way all the way to the end. 11:19 And that's why he was even willing for his father to forsake him. And that's why in Gethsemane he was in torment and agony. Such agony that the sweat came out of his body like drops of blood. Why? Because he said, "I have to finish 11:39 the purpose for which you sent me on this earth, Father, and that purpose includes your forsaking me." And if he would love me so much, how can I say, "Lord, get me out of this difficult situation. Get Take me out of this earth before 11:56 that difficult trial I'm about to face. Rapture me." I'm not looking to be raptured any earlier than God finishing his purpose here on this earth. And that's why I say, "Lord, if I look at my life, if I examine my life, 12:14 and I see un-Christ-likeness still there, and I see a lack of patience, and I see a lack of trust, trusting in you, I see anxiety popping up every now and then, I see a lack of peace suddenly and when I'm caught off guard, I see a lack of joy 12:31 24/7, I say, "Lord, give me a little bit more time, please, so that I can finish saying thank you," as you've heard my dad say often. So that I can finish giving myself fully to you who gave yourself fully to me. I don't want to get to heaven and meet 12:51 the one who gave himself fully to me and say, "Here, I gave 90% to you, Lord." I think I would live with regret for all eternity because there's no more time to finish that 10%. Or even if it was 99%. Yes, there is fullness of joy in heaven. I believe 13:07 that with all of my heart. And yet I I don't know what that would be like for eternally to know that there was a little bit more that God wanted to finish. Not me to do. It's not my work. I'm not going to get any credit for it because it was zero of 13:26 me. But But I wanted to yield a little bit more for the Father to take me through a little bit more of a trial, perhaps. A little bit more of a squeezing. Paul says in Colossians 3 that he wants to fill up that which is lacking 13:44 of the afflictions of Christ. In other words, he says Christ filled up his cup of afflictions, and I want to say, "Well, Lord, just give me half cup of afflictions." And I think about me standing with my half cup of afflictions, and Jesus shows 13:58 me the barrel full of afflictions that he suffered all the way to the end, and say, "This is how much I loved you. I gave all the way to the end. And even on this earth, words cannot describe how much Jesus suffered for us." 14:13 And now, how can I say, "Lord, get me out of this suffering. Get me out of this difficult situation. I don't want to face that. I don't want to face this." I say, "Lord, give me a little bit more time, please. And help me live with such abandon, with 14:28 such complete devotion to you, that you can take me through whatever. And I know at the right time, when you call time on my earth, I trust you that you will have finished the work for which you placed me on this earth." 14:44 Jesus said in John 17 at the last day of his life, "I have finished." He told his disciples, Father he he prayed in John 17, "I have accomplished that for which you placed me on this earth." Having accomplished it. And then there was a little bit more. 14:58 There was the actual forsaking he had to go through. And at the end of it, he says, "It is finished." The man who never sinned didn't say it was finished at the age of 10, at the age of 20, at the age of 30. It was after he had accomplished 15:15 everything for which his Father sent him here on this earth that he said, "It is finished." Is it finished for you, brother, sister, child? Yes, I hope you're sitting here cleansed of all sin. I hope none of you still has unconfessed 15:30 sin in your life. That shouldn't be ever the case. But as cleansed as we are, as justified as we are, as perfect as we are, I say, "Lord, let me finish the purpose for which you placed me on this earth." Let's turn to 1 John chapter 2. 15:53 1 John 2 There's a lot in this chapter you can read. You go all the way back where he says, "Do not love the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you." And you can sing with all your heart, "I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice." 16:12 And all of that. But if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. 1 John 2, but let's skip down to verse 24. "As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning." If what you heard from the beginning 16:30 abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. Now, remember, he's writing to brethren. He's writing to believers. He calls them children. I love that word that John uses. You're a child of God, children of God. 16:46 He says verse 18 and multiple times before that. But he says, "You've You've heard from the beginning." So, he's not talking to unbelievers. Want you to see that right away. He's talking to believers, to children of God. 16:59 And he says then in verse 25, "This is the promise which he himself has made to us, eternal life." Then he goes on to say verse 26, "These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you." Deceive who? Believers. 17:17 You at RLCF. John wrote these things and the Holy Spirit recorded it and preserved it for 2,000 years almost so because there are those who are trying to deceive you. People will come with some other gospel 17:36 or some other message. Verse 27, "As for you, the anointing which you received from him abides in you and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie 17:54 and just as it has taught you, you abide in him." Okay. So, verse 28, "Now little children, abide in him so that when he appears, we, who are children, who are born again, who have been cleansed from all sin, who have a 18:13 clear conscience, who can say, 'Yes, Lord Jesus, I'm ready for you to come.' We so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming." Why would John take the pains to write 18:32 this to children, to believers who are cleansed from all sin, who are walking in the light as he says in chapter 1? Why? He says, "When Jesus comes, there will be those who will shrink back even though they were cleansed from all 18:51 sin, children of God, who will shrink back and say, 'Oh, that's it. Jesus is here.' We will not be like those who shrink away in shame at his coming, but we will have confidence where when Jesus actually says, 'Are you ready to meet 19:09 me?' I will say, 'Yes, Lord, I'm ready.' It's been years that my since my you first cleansed me from my sin and you consistently cleansed me. The blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin, but I am actually ready to meet 19:22 you. You finished the work in me that you began. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of him. See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we would be called 19:39 children of God and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, we are children of God, but you see it? As yet, there's more. 19:56 First John 3:2-3, verses that have captivated my heart for many many years. Beloved, we are children of God, yet I hope that word yet is there in your Bible in verse two. Beloved, now we are children of God and 20:13 it has not appeared as yet what we will be. John was saying, "Yes, I'm a child of God, but I'm not yet ready." And I want to press on. It has not appeared as yet what we will be. 20:32 We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. John had that confidence. So, I want uh before I move on, I want you to know that the essence, the most important part of this message is you can have an assurance 20:48 that when Jesus comes, you will be ready. You must have that assurance. John had it because he said, "When he appears, we know that when he appears, I will be ready." So, this isn't to strike fear in your heart like, "Oh, man, will I be ready?" 21:04 and to bring some sort of uncertainty about your salvation, it is intended to strengthen your salvation and you strengthen your hope. To say, "Yes, Lord, I believe." Like John said, "I know." I hope you can say with John, the last part of verse two, 21:21 "I know that when he appears, I will be like him because I will see him just as he is." I've reminded myself of that often. I want to tell you when especially, when I fall. When I slip up, when I commit some sin, 21:38 I speak a rude word, or I'm tested in this area and I fall and I and I and I fall down and then I get up and I repent and I confess it, I turn from it, and I thank God for the blood of Jesus, but then I say, "I know THAT WHEN 21:54 YOU COME, I WILL BE LIKE YOU." OH, that the next time you fall, if you fall, you will get up and remind yourself, "Lord, I know I just fell, but I have this hope. You haven't yet come. And when you come, I will be like you." 22:12 Oh, that you will take courage, brothers and sisters and children in this comfort, that when he appears, you will be like him cuz you will see him just like he is. So, what should you do? Some people their gospel ends in verse 22:26 two. They say, "Well, I I guess when he comes, I'm going to be like him. So, all right." Shrug my shoulders. No, verse three. Everyone who has this hope, the proof that you actually have this hope, the proof that you really believe it, 22:40 like I've said often, on the last page of your book is written, "Conformed into the image of Jesus." If you really believe it, when he appears, you will be like him. If you really believe it, here's the proof. Because you're somewhere here, in the 22:52 pages yet to reach the last page of your book, everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself. Purifies himself. Why do we speak about repentance and purification and a zeal to examine, to have the Holy Spirit search our hearts and see, "Lord, 23:11 is there anything in me that's not that's grieving to you?" Psalm 139, "Search me, oh Lord, try my motives, try my anxious thoughts, search me here, search me there." If that cup of water that I think is sweet is shaken, as Amy Carmichael says, 23:28 and a bitter drop comes out, HELP ME TO REPENT. HELP ME not to just take comfort in the fact that it took 10 days of shaking before that bitter water finally came out. Help me not to take comfort in the fact that I made it 1 month before a bitter 23:42 word came out. NO, THE FACT THAT IT WAS THERE OUGHT TO cause a seriousness. What about anxiety? I hope, brothers and sisters and children, that it's the passion of your life to get to the end of your life with zero anxiety left. If it's buried deep 24:01 down in your cup, say, "Lord, shake me, shake me, shake me and shake me and shake me till all the other stuff that I think is pure is out and I find that last drop of anxiety that's buried deep BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO stand before you 24:15 with even one drop of anxiety in my heart or uncertainty or unbelief or fear or worry. I think I think that many of you are going through circumstances of trying and shaking. God is, we read in Hebrews 12, shaking 24:34 everything that can be shaken. Let's turn there. Are you going through a shaking trial in your life right now? Maybe not, but I can promise you it will come. It's a promise. Why? 24:53 Cuz God is in the business of you know, you think you look at your cup. I think of it like a cup full of what I think is Christ-likeness. And he says, "San- Santos, that's great. You have allowed me to build Christ-likeness 25:05 in you, but what you don't realize is 10 ft deep in that cup is some un-Christ-likeness left." What un-Christ-likeness? A lack of patience, a lack of trust, some anxiety, some worry. Is he really going to come through? I don't know. 25:20 Yeah, I am uncertain. Or am I really going to make it? Maybe maybe you're battling in sin. You're bound by some addiction and you keep falling into that and you wonder, is that one of those times when I fall going to be the time 25:32 when my life ends? And you're you're you're worried about that. You think, "Lord, will I always be like this?" Let him shake you. Let him pull the rug out from underneath you so completely that you have to fall on him, the the eternal God, 25:48 who is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms, he tells us. But Hebrews 12, we read verse 26. His voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised "Yet once more I will shake your life." 26:11 Not only the earth, but also the heaven. Are you in a trial where it seems like even heaven is being shaken? It's one thing for the earth to be shaken. Underneath you is being shaken. On top of you also is being shaken. He 26:22 says it's a promise. Have you seen the shaking of God as a promise? That's in your Bible, isn't it? It's been there all along. Hebrews 12, verse 26. Underline it or write it down. Memorize it. Yet his voice shook the earth. Now 26:38 he has promised that he will shake everything in your life. He will shake that cup so completely. And you say, "How's that a promise? You mean I'll lose my job? You mean I'll lose this and I'll lose that? And I'll for for a long period of time I will 26:52 have no answer. The heavens will seem silent. It's a promise, brother, sister, it's a promise, child. Verse 27, this expression expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken. Oh, what a promise. 27:09 That God says, "I'm so committed to you, Santosh. I'm so committed to you." Put your name there, brother, sister, child, "because I see in you a desire that nothing of un-Christ-likeness will be left in you. That no unshakable thing 27:25 will be left in you." He says, "I'm going to shake you. I'm going to shake it and shake it and shake it." It's a promise. So that those things which can be shaken, created things, your job, your health, your future, all of those things 27:42 which can be shaken, created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken will remain. So that what's left in your cup is complete unshakableness. We're told in Hebrews 7 that this is what we're given, an unshakable life. 27:59 Do you want that, brother, sister? Do you want that? And are you willing for the Lord to take you to through such trial and turmoil and pain and suffering and disappointment and loss because the passion of your life is this 28:12 and this alone, Lord, "I want to finish the purpose for which you placed me here on this earth. I want there to be nothing shakable left in my life." You see You see the reason why God has been shaking your life, why he's allowed disappointment, 28:29 unanswered prayers or what seems like unanswered prayers, loss, failure, to leave you with that which is unshaken. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters and children, verse 28, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, 28:47 let us show gratitude. Let us show thanks in the midst of that trial. In the midst of that unanswered prayer. And again, I want to say what seems like an unanswered He's answering. I don't like to use that phrase unanswered 28:58 prayer anymore cuz God is answering your prayer, brother, sister, child. It's different from what you think. He's answering your prayer with an unshakeable kingdom. Not the shakeable thing that you're looking for. Saying, 29:12 "Lord, give me this. Give me that." He says, "I don't want to give you that because you will have regrets in eternity if I give you that. I want to give you my unshakeable kingdom." So, let me just show gratitude. By which we can offer to God an 29:26 acceptable service with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. Let's go back to 1 John chapter 3. Verse 3, everyone who has this hope for an unshakeable kingdom 29:45 purifies, fixed on him, purifies himself just as he is pure. My hope is fixed in Jesus, not on anything on this earth. My hope is fixed on him and he's never changing. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. My hope is fixed on 30:00 him. Everyone who has this hope fixed on Jesus does what? Purifies himself. Purifies himself. Sees that little bitter drop come out and says, "Lord, thank you for showing it to me. Thank you for taking me through that trial 30:13 that I saw that little bit of bitterness, that anger, that lust, that unthankfulness, that discontent, that jealousy, that impatience. Thank you, Lord." So, as you think about this this this purifying yourself, think back. Has your 30:33 life changed in the last year? Here we are. What are we? Janu- July 20th, 2025. Can you remember July 20th, 2024? Oh, let's go back. 2015, 10 years ago. That now that might be more than some of you even been alive. Most of you been 30:51 alive at least 10 years. Has your life changed since 10 years ago? I hope that that's an easy question to answer. Yeah, yes, it has. Yes, it has. God has done a work in my life over the last 10 years. Praise God for that. 31:05 July 20th, 2015. Um I was here in Loveland. I can see the Lord's changed my life. Now, I think over what all has happened in the last 10 years for the Lord to be able to change my life. There's been a lot of joy. There's been painful circumstances. 31:23 There's been loss. There's been disappointment. But there's been the presence of God through it all. Jesus holding my hand, walking me through it. And times where he carried me. And the waters haven't overflowed me. And the fire hasn't 31:36 destroyed me. But it's cleansed away the dross like we sing in that wonderful hymn, "How firm a foundation he saints of the Lord he's given you in his word." That soul though all hell shall endeavor to shake, that soul that on that on 31:49 Jesus has leaned for repose, I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake. He has not forsaken me. Now, think back over the last year. Has there been a change in your life in the last year? Has Has the Holy Spirit actually been able to change you? That's 32:04 not that long a period of time for some of us, old people like us. Um Has there Has there been a change? I hope so. I hope that's also an easy question. You think back July 20th, 2024. Yes, Lord, I remember. How anxious I used to be and 32:23 uh bitter thoughts or jealousy plagued me and un- and and doubt, unbelief. And you brought me through and today I'm more trusting of you. Yes, thank God for that. What about in the last month? Since June 20th, 2025, has the Lord been 32:42 able to change you? Is there more Christ-likeness in you? Has he cleansed you? You know, we're talking about purifying ourselves as he is pure because I have a destination TO GET TO. TIME IS SPEEDING TOWARDS THAT TIME WHEN CHRIST WILL ACTUALLY COME. 33:00 In the last month, have you purified yourself? Has the Holy Spirit been able to cleanse you from un-Christ-likeness since June 20th, 2025? What about a week ago? June 13th, July 13th, 2025. This time last week, most of you were here. 33:20 And we were all at some place. Has the Lord been able to change you over the last week? If not, and the reason I'm distilling it down to this is because the devil wants us to lull ourselves into a a sleepiness, into think, "Ah, 33:35 it's just been a week." You know, at at our at our workplaces, often we're asked to give weekly reports or monthly reports. They have this thing in work called daily stand-ups, where it's just like every day you got to say, "What did you do yesterday? What 33:50 are you going to do today?" The world knows that that's an effective way to grow as a company. Most Christians, unfortunately, don't do that. And yet, this is the thing that will matter in eternity. What the devil wants us to to do is to 34:04 go through periods of time where we're just sort of lulling ourselves to sleep. A day goes by, a week goes by, and I just think, "Yeah, I'm not really examining my life. I'm not really purifying myself as he is pure." Let's turn to 2 34:20 Corinthians, chapter 4. As I examined my life and thought, "Okay, over last week, it's been a week. It's not that long a period of time. And I can think, well, Lord, how much change can you really do in a week?" 34:39 Right? How much can God actually do in your life to make you more like Christ in a week? And has he been able to? Second Corinthians 4:16, we read, "Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet 34:57 our inner man is being renewed every day." Which means IF YOU WENT TO PAUL AND SAID, "PAUL, have you become more Christ-like since 24 hours ago?" He said he would say, "Yes." Every day. Oh, wow. 35:16 Paul had such a passion. He said, "Lord, I know it's just been 24 hours, but show me a little bit I know there's un-Christ-likeness in me. I know there's something that's not of Christ STILL THERE. PLEASE SHOW IT TO ME BECAUSE I 35:28 can't just I I'm not ready yet, Lord, and I want I want to have a passion. I want to run." This is how I understand what Paul meant when he said, "Run so as to win." Don't just be content that over the last year God has been able to give you a 35:43 little bit more un-Christ-likeness. If over the last year God has been able to give me this much more of Christ, okay, that's good. But for Paul, it was 365 worth OF CHRIST-LIKENESS BECAUSE HE JUDGED himself every day. He was renewed every day. 36:01 And I have a longing, brothers and sisters and children, to come to a life like Paul had. And that Christ showed us an example for, but Paul spoke about here where every day he was made new, a little bit more of Christ-likeness in him. 36:17 Don't lose heart. If that's your passion, like it was for Paul, then you won't lose heart. And then that's why he says, "When you have that passion, and you're seeing God actually bringing Christ-likeness into you every day, verse 17, you'll realize 36:33 that this light of this affliction you're going through is momentary and light. And it's producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are 36:50 not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, temporary. But the things which are not seen are eternal. You see how now you're able to go through that trial, through that difficulty, that affliction, because your focus is not on the 37:03 affliction anymore, but you're saying, "Lord, give me more Christ-likeness." As that cup is being shaken, you're seeing that bitter drop come out, and God is cleansing it and replacing it with a drop of sweet water. And now the shaking 37:18 continues. Another bitter drop comes out. Okay, Lord, you're taking out the bitter and replacing it with sweetness. And when your focus is on that transformation, that daily transformation, he goes on to say a couple chapters 37:33 later, "Today is the day of salvation." Second Corinthians 6:2. Um for he says, "At the acceptable time, I listened to you, and on the day of salvation, I helped you. Behold now, today, right in the midst of that affliction and that trial, is the day of 37:52 salvation." Today is the day of salvation. What does that mean? Today is a day in which God wants to make you more like Christ. Now, I I want you to understand that it may not always be perceptible. Perceptible, okay, that's a big word. 38:08 You may not always be able to analyze it exactly. I'm not trying to bring you into a state of discouragement where, like they say in the world, paralysis of analysis. That means you're so hyper-focused on that growth that you 38:20 just kind of get discouraged and you shut down as it were. No, that's not what I'm talking about. But there must be a passion, a yearning to say, "Lord, every day you must be doing SOMETHING IN ME. WHETHER you show it to me or not, 38:31 give me an assurance, Lord, that Paul like Paul I can say, 'Lord, you're changing me every day.'" This is our hope. And there's a few things that I'll close with. Four things, you can write them down if you think about them, for this to 38:46 happen. Four disciplines. I believe that this life will not happen unless you discipline your life. Jesus said we are called to be disciples. Disciples, that same word, and discipline are from the same root word. That means a disciple is one who 39:01 has been disciplined. And there are disciplines, that means daily practices, daily things that you must do to ensure that this change is happening. You don't have to make the change. The Holy Spirit is the one who will do it. 39:15 He is the one who will transform us into his image. He is the one that's doing it through the Holy Spirit, but there are disciplines that allow him to do that. And the first of these is daily listen to God. Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 50. 39:33 Please write this down if you have I think in our bulletins we intentionally give the blanks the the back side of that blank so you can write it down. Children, it's good for you to write it down as well if you can so you don't 39:43 forget it. The first discipline I want to encourage you, encourage all of us at RLCF to develop, is the discipline of every day, daily listen to God. Daily listen to God. You know, sometimes you're asked to share something, let's 40:00 say. And if let's say somebody was to say, "Hey, can you speak for 10 minutes on something. Come and share. We didn't give you any earlier notice. You come up and speak for 10 minutes. If you are practicing this daily 40:19 discipline of listening to God, if you did that every day for the last week, you should have at least 7 minutes of sharing. One for every day of the week. That's good because then you won't go beyond the 10 minutes. You'll stick to a 40:32 minute. If God gave you something that you can share for 1 minute, 60 seconds worth of listening to God, in 1 week you would have 7 minutes of sharing to to give. And you know, suddenly if if one of us elders says, "Hey, the brother who was 40:48 going to share for 10 minutes is not here. Can you share for 10 minutes?" You say, "Brother, you should have asked me 3 days ago. I got to prepare something." Then I My encouragement to you would be, "Brother, sister, listen to God every 40:58 day." Isaiah 50 verse 4, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciple." That is the sharing part. But "that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word." But what did did he do before he gave you the tongue of a 41:13 disciple? He gave you the ear of a disciple, an ear to listen. Isaiah 50 verse 4, "He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple." As a disciplined one. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear 41:31 children, get in the habit of disciplining your ear to hear from the Lord as soon as you wake up. As soon as you wake up. Don't reach for your phone. Don't Don't Don't Before you even get out of bed, even if you're halfway, even before you open 41:46 your eyes, open your ear. Disciple your ear. Discipline your ear to listen to him. Allow him to awaken your ear as it were. And the Lord God will open your ear. And then he says, "I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back." So, 42:03 daily develop the habit of listen listening to God. Jesus said the same thing. Matthew 4 verse 4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that is proceeding from the mouth of God. God is speaking. There is words proceeding from the mouth 42:21 of God. Catch them. As it were. Imagine yourself laying there in your bed and your eyes are not even open and now you imagine this like rain water coming. Words proceeding from the mouth of God and open your ear and say, "Lord, let 42:36 those words come in. Let those What do you want to speak to me today?" Even before you open your Bible, Lord, speak to me. Give me a word. Give me a word. Open your ears and he'll give you a word. Maybe some some something he'll 42:50 plant. He'll remind you of something. And I'll tell you honestly, as I've been This is not something I I'm preaching that I don't practice. I've seen the growth and the benefit of it in my own life as I've trained my ear 43:04 and disciplined my ear to hear from the Lord. And he speaks something and sometimes, I'll tell you honestly, I don't I'm not aware of what it is that he's spoken. He doesn't It doesn't Sometimes it's a verse. Sometimes it is a specific word. He 43:18 says, "Okay, that's a word." So randomly some words will come to my mind while I'm there. And this this week I actually had a really interesting experience. I I the word the Lord specifically planted a word in my heart and then I opened to 43:30 my Bible reading for that day. It was the same verse. It was just the next reading that I didn't know that it was there in the passage I was going to read and it was that. Now, it doesn't always have to be like that. That 43:40 That just so happened. But there's a way in which God wants to speak to you and your awareness of it may come later in the day or later on even, but just open your ear and trust him. And it doesn't have to be something you 43:53 comprehend with your mind, but that he can plant in your heart. But open your ear to him. Because there's words proceeding. So picture your ears kind of getting big like elephant ears, if you will. Make big elephant ears. Lord, I want to 44:06 hear what you trying to say. And he'll speak. So, daily develop the habit of listening to God. Secondly, the second discipline, daily ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Every day, Lord, I want to be filled afresh with your Holy Spirit. 44:24 Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians 5:18, "Do not be get drunk with wine." You know, it's interesting that this command to be filled with the Holy Spirit, he's writing to people who are born again, 44:43 have received the Holy Spirit in some measure. The church in Ephesus did experience the Holy Spirit coming upon them, but to this church he says, "Be being filled with the Holy Spirit." Here you are, you can say, "Yes, Lord, you baptized me in 44:57 the Holy Spirit back then. I can remember that first time when you did." And the Holy Spirit says, "No, keep being filled." But, it's interesting that he says that in the context of With the first part of that, he says, "Do not be drunk with 45:08 wine." You know, for some people, they can't make it through the day without a glass of wine. Or they need a beer. They need a little bit of alcohol to get them through the day. A little bit of this earthly chemical substance that 45:22 lets them get through. For some people, it's pills. It's sad that they're That's what addiction is. In order to get through, they For some people, it's marijuana. They're like, "Okay, I feel good." He says, you know, it's interesting that 45:33 the Holy Spirit contrasts that. Back then also, there were those who couldn't make it through the day without some glass of wine or they can be a little bit more patient, a little bit more tolerant. He says, "You don't need any 45:44 of that junk. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Do not be drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be being filled with the Holy Spirit. And let that overflow by speaking to one another, your wife, your husband, your 45:58 children, in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, and be subject to one another in 46:11 the fear of Christ. And then he talks about marriage relationships. Wives, be submissive to your husbands. Husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Employees, be good employees 46:22 with your employers, etc. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Make it the constant daily and more than that, constant prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You know, Jesus set us an example for in this. Luke chapter 3. 46:40 If you go with me to Luke chapter 3, how was Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit? No, we know that Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. And that's why he 46:58 was not born in sin like we are. He was born pure, but he still had to be tempted. And he preserved himself from impurity by crying out with loud cries and tears, we read in Hebrews 5:7, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he 47:15 was heard, and he was saved from death because of his godly fear. But this same Jesus, who was born of the Holy Spirit, had to pray for the Holy Spirit. Pause for a moment and think about what I just said. The Jesus, our forerunner and example, 47:33 the pure sinless Lamb of God, the Son of God, lived without sin his entire life, and yet he had to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke chapter 3, verse 21. Now, when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also 47:50 baptized, and while he was praying, the heavens were opened. Yeah, really? Somebody is living in victory over sin, has the Holy Spirit within him. I mean, you cannot overcome sin except by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God that was upon him. 48:08 He was The grace of God was always upon Jesus. That's why he never sinned. And yet, he prayed, "Father, baptize me afresh with the Holy Spirit." How do I know that that's what he was praying for? Because that's the next thing that happened. While he was 48:23 praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came out from heaven saying, "I've answered you. You are my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. In you, I am well pleased." 48:37 So, if Jesus, who had never sinned, had to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, now, how much more you and I? And the reason that so many Christians lack a power, lack an anointing in their life. There's no anointing in their 48:52 words when they speak. There's no power in their lives, in their family lives, and in their church experience. They're not bold witnesses for God. Why? Because there's no passion to be filled with the Holy Spirit. THERE'S NO BURNING 49:05 DESIRE, "LORD, I WANT TO BE FILLED." And I tell you, my life was changed many years ago when it became the increasing passion of my life, "Lord, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit." And it's something I pray for every day and 49:17 constantly. Luke chapter 11, few few chapters later. This is the second discipline I was talking about. Discipline They develop the discipline of daily asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But not just asking, 49:37 believing as well. And that's why Jesus told us this parable, Luke 11:5, after he had taught them how to pray. It's interesting that he's The disciples saw him praying, and they said, "Lord, teach us to pray." He says, "Okay, I'm 49:50 going to give you these words that as a template of a general principle if you will. And then what does he say? Why you should pray. He didn't just say, you know, many people in the world know the Lord's Prayer or the disciples 50:06 prayer as I like to call it, Luke 11 verses 2 through 4. But then he said, here's why I'm teaching you to pray. SO THAT YOU CAN ASK TO BE FILLED with the Holy Spirit. Not so that oh Lord, let me get married to the person I want to get married to, 50:21 heal me from this disease, give me, you know, take care of that problem, help me to have victory over sin, give me a good job. That's what most Christians are praying for. He says, listen, I taught you to pray so that you would ask FOR THE HOLY 50:35 SPIRIT. How much does the desire and the passion to be filled with the Holy Spirit control why you pray? I'm convicted by that, brothers, sisters, children. I pray for so many things. How much do we pray to be filled with 50:50 the Holy Spirit? He taught them the prayer and then in verse 5 he says, suppose one of you has a friend, etc. Verse 9, he goes on to say he taught them to ask. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Why am I teaching you to 51:04 pray, Thomas, Philip, Peter, Andrew? So that you will ask. And you will seek and you will knock. Because everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be opened. And you read all of that, I don't have time to read 51:19 it all, but he says verse 13, if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. The main reason Jesus taught us to pray 51:35 was so that we would be asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Think about that this week, brothers and sisters and children. The main reason Jesus taught us to pray was not so that he would give us this day our earthly bread and all forgive us 51:50 our tre- No, that was secondary. The main reason was so that he would give us the Holy Spirit and then we could say, "Lord, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth because you've given me the Holy 52:01 Spirit." The main reason God taught us to pray was so that we would ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, develop that discipline of doing that every day. For many Christians, they pray when it's time to eat or the start of the day or before a big 52:18 exam or a big interview or something like that. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, brother, sister, child and it'll transform your life. The third, daily yield in obedience to God. Daily obey God. Develop the discipline of 52:34 every day obeying. You ask to hear and then you ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit to have the power. Now, obey. Genesis chapter 1, it's very interesting that we read you know, it's the Genesis 1, the first page of the Bible, 52:50 you see something happening. God spoke and something happened. And then there was evening and morning, another day. I believe God was showing us from the very beginning that he's he works in days. Don't say, "Lord, okay, you've 53:05 spoken. Now, give me a month to obey you. Give me a year to obey you." No, today. Today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart cuz tomorrow he's got something else he's going to speak to you. And today is your day of salvation. 53:17 Today is the appointed time. Today is the day for you to yield in obedience and you see that every day he spoke and every day something happened. And in verse 12 we read a very interesting thing that earth he says, "Then God said, 53:34 um this is now the third day." Uh God said verse 11, "Let the earth sprout" This is God speaking. Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them. 53:50 So, think about this earth that he's speaking about in verse 11, like your heart. Let Santosh's heart bring forth patience and joy and peace and love and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness, self-control, and 54:07 a lack of jealousy, and every word being seasoned with salt. Let Santosh's heart bring it out. AND IT WAS SO. Verse 11. Verse 12, the earth brought forth, Santosh's heart brought forth vegetation. Plants yielding seed, that word 54:25 yielding. My heart was yielded to God after he spoke. Make that a discipline. Say, "Lord, I've opened You've opened my ear to hear you. I've asked you to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Now, Lord, I want to yield to you. I want to obey you every day. Every 54:41 day yield to the Holy Spirit. Let his Let there be an obedience. Ask God to speak to you specific words, and then obey it throughout the day. Daily yield, submit in obedience to what God has spoken to you. 54:59 And the last one, daily deny yourself and take up your cross. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 10. God spoke to you. He opened your ear first thing in the morning. And then you asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that you would have the 55:17 power to live this life. And now you're obeying him, yielding to him in obedience every day. And now he says, "Okay, what's that a yielding going to look like?" Deny yourself. You know, sometimes these phrases that we use in our church, take up your 55:32 cross, deny yourself, can sort of become this vague thing. But let's let's boil it down. If you want it, say no to it. That's what deny yourself is. I want this, Lord. God says no. Say no to it first. I may still give it to you, but my giving 55:49 it to you will not come from your wanting it. It will come from your saying, Lord, I give it up. That That's what denying yourself is. What I want, deny yourself. I want this, Lord. God says you must say no to it first. Then I'll give you to you if it's 56:04 my will. Or I may not give it to you if it's not my will. Matthew 10 verse 37. Let's read. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Now, 56:18 everything else is less important for most people. Job, health, all those other things. He says, "And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life" Did you find that thing you wanted somehow? You 56:35 twisted God's arm or you did this and did that and finally you got that thing you wanted? You're going to lose it. And he who has lost his life he who has denied himself, he says in Luke 14, "He who has said, Lord, my everything within me wants that and 56:51 craves that." May be sinful things. It may be good things. Whatever it is, I crave it, Lord, but I'm going to say no to it. I'm going to deny myself. I'm going to deny what I want to do. I'm going to say, Lord, I I give it up to 57:04 you. Now, you give it back to me if you want me to have it. The one who has lost his life, who has given up his life, who's put that big ambition, that goal, that desire on the cross, God who says you'll find it. It's a desire to have only that which 57:22 God gives me, not that which I want. Can you make this the desire of your life every day? Lord, today I don't want I I Give me not what I want but what you give me. Not my will, not my want, not my desire, but your desire. 57:40 This is the one who's purifying himself or herself every day, who one day will reach the end of his life having denied himself, denied herself every day, every day, day by day by day. This is not a deny yourself once a month or once a 57:54 year. That's why he said, "If you only denied yourself every now and then, over 1 year you might see a little bit of progress." But think about the progress that a man or a woman is making who's denying themselves every day, exactly 58:05 like Jesus said we should. And this is the promise that if I deny myself every day, I will find it every day. And I can look back and say, "Lord, you're giving me peace. You're giving me assurance. It's only been 24 hours, but 58:19 you took me through that trial. And you've given me a little bit more of Christ. Purifying myself, purifying myself, denying myself, saying no to myself, saying no to my own desires. This is true Christianity. At least that's the way I read it in the Bible. 58:35 The devil may have blinded our eyes for so many years with so many things so many other things. Let me just recap really quick. Every day, develop the habit of listening to the voice of God. Secondly, every day ask to be filled 58:48 with the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, every day yield in obedience to God what he has spoken to you. And fourthly, every day deny your own desires. Take up your cross and follow him. Brothers and sisters and children, he's coming soon. 59:05 We have a short time to finish the course that he has placed for us. Only one life, it will soon be passed. Only what Christ does through us will last. Help us, dear Father, I pray. Lord, I lift up my cup to you afresh, the cup of 59:21 salvation, and ask you to fill it. Fill us, Lord, I pray with your Holy Spirit. I believe you planted a desire in our hearts that not a single person here listening to this message will reach the end of our lives without 59:31 having finished the work for which you placed us here on this earth. Lord, we empty ourselves of everything. We lay every desire, every ambition, every goal on the altar. Lord, send the fire on this sacrifice even right now. Pour out 59:43 your Holy Spirit, Lord, and lift us up into this higher life. We believe you will in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
