0:07 Praise the Lord, brothers and sisters. We want to have a question and answer time today. There are a whole lot of questions, so at the most 0:25 1 and 1/2 minutes per question. If you want to finish all of it. Why is it hard to have faith, especially in the face of many previous failures? Some preachers say start with confessing over and over. Now, after many confessions, faith 0:43 develops. Can you please shed light on how we can develop a childlike faith? Turn with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans 10 and verse 17. Faith comes 1:03 from hearing. And hearing by the word of Christ. What does that mean? Hearing what? I believe it means hearing God. So, when you read the word of Christ, which is the New Testament particularly, the Bible is called the word of God. The 1:20 word of Christ is referring to the New Testament particularly. You must try to hear what God is saying through that passage to your heart. And you if you meditate, since the trouble with a lot of Christians is they don't meditate on scripture. 1:38 In the early days, nobody taught me. I used to read whole sections of scripture and I got very little out of it. Now, I read a very small passage and meditate on it. Sometimes just two or three verses. And I read mostly in the New Testament. 1:53 But then I read large chunks of the Old Testament to go through the whole Bible in once in a year. But in addition to trying to read large sections of the Old Testament, finishing it once in a year, in addition I read small sections of the New Testament 2:08 regularly. That is the way I do my Bible reading. And that way I get an overall picture of the whole Bible, but at the same time the New Testament, the word of Christ I seek to hear what God is saying and I get faith from 2:22 Faith is a gift of God. But God rewards those who diligently seek him. So if you don't seek and you don't obey what you already know you're not going to get more faith. It's like saying uh you can't get promoted in India 2:37 anyway to the second grade before you finish the first grade. If you're failing in everything in the first grade you can't go to the second grade. So don't seek faith for great things when you don't have faith for the small things. 2:50 Beginning with faith that your sins are forgiven and that Christ has come into your heart and you're a child of God. That's where you begin. And to me that came by simple faith in John 6:37 where it says him that come into me I'll 3:06 never cast out. That is that one verse on which I dropped my anchor to speak in the language of a ship and all these 65 years ship never drifted from there. Him that come into me I'll never cast out. I said, "Lord, I've come to you. I 3:21 believe you will not cast me out." And I can say that was dropped into my heart by God and I've had faith. So faith is a gift of God, but if you persist in seeking it will come in your heart. Second question. Is it possible to live in total freedom 3:39 from a particular sin which easily entangled us earlier without sinning even once for the rest of our lives or until Jesus comes again? Absolutely, yes. There are sins that take a little longer to overcome depending on how much you 3:56 have indulged in them or how seriously you take them. For example, there is an Old Testament law which thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit murder. So, anybody here who's committed murder? Supposing you did do it, 4:12 I'm sure you can stop it. There's an example of something that can be stopped. In fact, you can say I never did it. But, Jesus explained murder as originating in anger, Matthew 5. So, you have to kill it there. 4:30 So, I believe it's possible uh to overcome sins like anger, dirty thoughts, despising others. If you work at it and work at it, particularly if you've indulged in a sin a long time, it takes a longer time to get out of it. It's 4:46 like if you Every time you sin, you're digging a pit. Another time you do the same thing, you go down one more foot. And you sin again, you go down one more foot. And like that, some of us have dig dug pits which are very miles deep. 5:01 And now we're trying to come up. God's forgiven us all. Everything is forgiven. All that you did. But, you're not going to come right up to the top completely free in a moment because you've indulged in it so much that it is almost become part of your 5:14 nature. Now, the Holy Spirit has come in and is trying to deliver you from it. And God is in his wonderful way allowed you to fight and overcome. Otherwise, you know what will happen is you'll be like a robot. You can program a robot 5:33 in such a way that it never says anything wrong, never does anything wrong. It's programmed. There's no free will there. You think of the stars and the planets. For thousands and thousands of years, they've never disobeys God even once. 5:48 God could have made man like that. Looking like a man, behaving like a man, talking like a man, but never sinning because he doesn't have free will. The thing is this, planets and all don't have free will. Obedience to perfect obedience. God 6:03 doesn't want us to be like that. He loves children. Let me ask you, would you rather have a small robot? Soon as you open the door, you come back from work and say, "Hello, Daddy. I'm so happy to meet you." and hugs you. You 6:16 want a robot? Or would you like a naughty child who disobeys you now and then saying, "Daddy, I'm angry with you. You didn't come home in time."? That's the one you love. Because when he loves you and hugs you, your world falls apart. 6:31 Because he's doing it freely. In seeing the difference between a child who hugs you and loves you and a robot who's programmed to say the right words, you see why God did not want us to have be like robots where our free will is 6:45 taken away. So, he has not taken away the free will even after you're born again. You know, even in heaven, I will have free will. Free will. Then you may say, "Well, you may sin after you go to heaven." No. Because when before I get to heaven, 7:02 I'll be made like Christ. We will be like him when he comes. And Christ never sinned for 33 years. Even if he lived 33 million years, he would not have sinned. So, when I become like him, I can live 100 million years and I will not sin 7:16 because it's gone, the desire for sin. In fact, desire for sin is almost gone right now. It's the ability to overcome that very often takes time. I know we have such a desire, really born again, filled with the spirit, we 7:30 have such a desire to please God that you never want to hurt him or grieve him in the slightest way. I've experienced that for a number of years. That it brings tremendous grief to me if I slip up even slightly. If I spoke one 7:44 rude word to somebody, really disturbs me. Why is that? Because as you walk with the Lord, his nature takes over in you that you detest anything that's filthy. Think of a person who's grown up in a slum. Got used to filth and rubbish and 8:01 everything. And they live like that. And one day the person really gets rid of that and comes to a very clean surrounding that he's even smallest bit of dirt in his house, he wants to clean it away. This is what happens when we are born again. 8:14 So, it's possible to live free from a particular sin if you really trust the Lord. And he can deliver you. Don't ever say there is a sin which Jesus cannot help you to overcome. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Romans 6:14. Because 8:26 you're under grace. And grace is given to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5. So, if you're not I I remember times when I was defeated by sin. I said, "Lord, why?" Lord says, "You're proud. Somewhere you're proud." That's why you couldn't get grace. Every 8:40 humble person gets grace. That's like saying water always flows to the lowest place first. Why was there no water in that high place? Too high. Why did the water in the rain when it rained come down to the lowest place? It 8:52 was low down. Why did that guy get grace and you didn't get grace? Because you were too You had such high thoughts about yourself. How did he get grace even though he came to the Lord 10 years after you? Because he was humble. 9:03 It's humility, not number of years of you being in the Lord that determines it. God gives his grace to the humble. And when you're under grace, sin cannot rule over you. I've heard in church that the Lord fills me with the spirit based on the size of 9:17 my cup. What exactly is this cup? Practically, what it This is in picture language. You can't define it exactly. Illustrations are all limited. The meaning is that our capacity, call it a cup or whatever you like, is very 9:30 limited in the beginning. And the Lord fills us to the measure of that capacity. Knowledge of the Lord is limited. Our understanding of how much sin there is in our flesh is limited. But as you walk with the Lord in faithfulness, that 9:44 capacity of that vessel in our heart grows in size. I begin to know the Lord better. I begin to know what sin is more seriously. I begin to discover areas in my unconscious area which I never knew before. That is one mark of growth that you 9:58 discover sins in your life that you never knew existed before. You know, that's it's one of the things that the Lord's been showing me more and more areas in my life which I never even thought was sin. For example, I'll give you I mentioned this before 10:14 once. When you do something good for somebody, and he you expect him to say thank you to you. Is that a sin? We teach our children to say thank you to others. It's a good habit. But to expect someone to say thank you to you for what you did for him, 10:33 I did not think it was a sin for many, many years till the Lord showed me. And I'll tell you how the Lord showed me. There was a young man in our church whom we helped tremendously in our house. And uh gradually he did well in his studies and went to 10:50 another city, got a good job, and didn't and we never heard from him after leaving even though he'd been in our house, even stayed in our house times. Never wrote a word to us. Never wrote a letter saying how he was getting on. 11:04 We heard from others about him. And I thought, "What an unthankful young man that he is." And the Lord convicted me. And said, "You're the sinner." I said, "Me?" I said, "What what did I do? I helped him every way possible." 11:18 And the Lord said, "Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these my disciples, you did it to me." You know that verse? Where the Lord said to the people who helped poor people. He said, "You it unto me because I was there and you did it to 11:35 one of my disciples, you did it to me." So, the Lord said, "If you've done it to me, who should thank you? That disciple or me?" I said, "Lord, you should thank me." "I'll thank you in the final day. Why are you expecting him to thank you?" 11:48 That day I realized that when I do good to somebody, "In as much as you did it to the least of Jesus' disciples, you've done it to him. And if you've done it to him, who should thank you? He." Then why are you expecting thanks from 12:00 this man? Yet there are so many believers who go around life wondering, "Why didn't he thank me? Why didn't he thank me?" You're the sinner. At least you understood today. You're not You're guilty from today onwards if you expect thanks 12:14 from someone. I'm just giving you an example of how what you never knew was sin, you suddenly discover it's a sin because you God shows you his standard of life. It's like, you know, people who live in a slum have a very different understanding of 12:32 uh living a clean life. Whereas you come into a hospital or a surgery unit and you discover what true cleanliness is with the doctor washing his hands seven times and scrubbing it again and again and even top of that putting a glove before you touching your 12:47 body. So, that's a degree of cleanliness you don't have in a slum. You don't have it in the average home either. So, God's standard of cleanliness is very high, but you discover it more and more. Okay. Um so, as you follow the Lord in the 13:01 light you have, you get more understanding of what is sin and you cleanse yourself, your cup becomes bigger. Then you get a little more understanding of what is sin. Become bigger and like that, you partake more and more of God's nature in 13:13 different areas. Do you know there are a lot of Christians who don't feel getting angry is a sin? Many. There are a lot of people who feel that looking at a little pretty woman and admiring her beauty is not a sin. You say, "I'm not lusting after her. I'm not 13:26 I'm only admiring her beauty." The says in Proverbs, do not admire a woman's beauty. They don't know it's sin. One day they discover it. So, that's how we grow spiritually and then our capacity and our capacity increases, 13:39 we can be filled with the spirit again and again. I've heard in very often I'm getting reminded of my past sins. How do I overcome or forget those sins? You can never forget what you have done because memory is a part of our 13:52 mind, a part of our system which God never removes completely. You can remember clearly good things you did, bad things you did way back in the past, particularly bad things you did. You'll remember way back 50 years ago. 14:08 But if the Lord has forgiven them, he says, "I will not remember." Now, there's a difference between God saying, "I have forgotten." and saying, "I will not remember." What is the promise in Hebrews chapter 8? It's a great promise, new covenant 14:24 promise. Verse 12, Hebrews 8:12, the last part, "I will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:12. I'll be merciful. I will remember their sins no more. Let me paraphrase it. I've not forgotten their sins, 14:43 but I choose not to remember it. That's the meaning. How can God forget when I have not forgotten the stupid things I did 80 years ago or 70 years ago? How can God forget it? But he says, "I choose not to remember." In other words, 14:58 "I don't hold it against you." It's a wonderful thing that when I come to God, he does not hold against me all the foolish things I did even after I became a believer because I confessed it, it's gone. I can stand with a clear conscience before God 15:12 clothed in the righteousness of Christ. So, uh that's very important to remember that. And and that uh capacity grow. So, when you're reminded of your past sins, you must remember this verse. But it's also a reminder to 15:30 tell you to humble yourself and recognize from the pit that God delivered you from. Be careful of that particular sin. Don't fall into it again. Is restitution necessary for salvation? If I confess all my sins, isn't he going 15:43 to forgive me? Yeah, he'll certainly forgive you for the sins you've done against him. But if you stolen somebody else's money, you've not only sinned against him, you've sinned against that person, too. If you go and slap somebody, 15:58 that is a sin against God and against that person. If you only had a dirty thought, that's only against God. That you need to only confess to God. But if you hurt somebody in any way, you cheated somebody, you borrowed some 16:10 money, you didn't return it, or some type of cheating, you can be forgiven only when you set that right. The example of that is in Luke's gospel and chapter 19, there was a tax collector called Zacchaeus who had cheated many people in his 16:29 lifetime. He used to collect go around collecting income tax from people and he collected much more than is needed and he cheated them. And it says here when the Lord met him, he the Lord said, "I want to stay in your house." 16:43 And it's a very interesting word. As soon as they came near Zacchaeus's house, Zac Luke 19:8, Zacchaeus stopped. It's amazing verse. I've never read it anywhere else in the gospels. Zacchaeus stopped. He he he's walking with Jesus and he 16:59 said, "Lord, hang on." Outside the gate of his house, he stopped. And I want to paraphrase the rest of his words. "Lord, this is house is built with a lot of money that I cheated from other people. Lots and lots of money. I wouldn't have 17:14 been able to build this house otherwise. This grand building. I can't let you you wanted to stay here. I can't let you come into this house before I say something to you. I'm going to settle all the cheated money as soon as possible. 17:29 Those whom I know where they are, I will go to them one by one. End of verse eight and give back four times what they took. Imagine, Zacchaeus going around house to houses giving back four times and the news got round that Zacchaeus is 17:44 returning four times. People say, "I wish he had cheated me." And then got back four times now. That's how he returned money. And then he said there's a whole lot of other people. I don't know their address. I don't know where they are 17:56 living. He could have conveniently said, "I can't give it because I don't know where they are." No. I don't know where they are, but this is unrighteous money. I cannot keep it with me. What shall I do? When you don't know where to give it, 18:08 today in the new covenant, put it in the offering box. I've told that to people. You don't know where that person is whom you cheated money from. So, you can't return it to him. Put it in the offering box because in 1 Corinthians 10 it says the whole 18:22 earth belongs to the Lord. All the silver and gold belongs to God. So, you're giving it back to the original owner, which is God. And in the old covenant, they didn't have this type of offering box or maybe the Pharisees were crooked and cheated 18:37 people, so they'd give it to the poor. So, Zacchaeus said, "Half my money I give to the poor." Why? Those are the people he didn't know the address where to return it. Then the Lord said, "Salvation has come." Verse nine, 18:51 "Today." Only after he said that, Jesus said, "Salvation has come." So, we know from that that making restitution, returning what is cheated wrongfully is very important to get salvation. Next question, how can I know whether 19:09 something good like humility, gentleness, self is from self or from Christ? Because I see some unbelievers who are humble and merciful. It all depends on motive. You know, I told you the other day there are sins of deed, word, thought, 19:24 attitude, and motive. And sometimes I can do a very good thing with a bad motive. And I can act humble to get honor. And it's motive that determines whether something is a sin or not. I can act in a certain way to get some benefit for 19:38 myself, get a reputation for myself. And with most people it's like that. But when you come to Christ also it can be like that. You can do something in order to get honor from the church. Then it's a sin. That good act becomes a 19:50 sin. So, we need to do everything in the presence of God. It says, "Humble yourself." 1 Peter 5 Uh read that verse in 1 Peter 5. In the presence of God, humble yourselves in the sight of God, not in the sight of man. A lot of humility in the sight of man is 20:06 honor-seeking. It It doesn't get any valuable or you won't get grace. But if you humble yourself before God, you'll get grace. And how do you know that you get grace? Because you overcome sin. If you are still defeated by sin, you 20:20 can write it across your life, you are not humble. Say what you like about yourself. The whole world thinks you're humble, but God doesn't think so. That's why he doesn't give you grace to overcome sin. I've said that to myself. Anytime I'm 20:32 defeated by any sin, I used to say, "That proves that I'm not, whatever people may think of my humility, God does not think I'm humble. Because he's not giving me grace. I'm defeated by this particular sin." I tell you this, 1 Peter 5:5, 20:47 "God gives grace to the humble." But he resists the proud. When sin comes against me, God gives me grace to overcome it, if I'm humble. If I'm proud, God will push me back. Imagine God himself pushing you back. There's no hope for you. 21:05 But it says he resists the proud. Even a believer, if he's proud, God will fight against him, push him back. That's why you see some believers backslidden. They fall into the same thing that they overcame some time ago. They became 21:18 proud. God became their enemy. They lost grace. But if they had remained humble, God would have been always behind them, pushing them forward, pushing them forward. Make tremendous progress because sin cannot rule over you when 21:30 you're under grace. The rain cannot fall on you when you're under this roof. And grace is like a roof over me. Let any amount of rain fall on top. Let any amount of temptation come. I will not fall. Not a drop of rain will hit me 21:46 because I'm under the roof. No sin can overcome me when I'm under grace. When it has overcome me, I have moved out of grace and the rains falls because I'm out of that protection. And why am I moved out? Because pride. God doesn't He removes that protection 22:03 immediately as soon as he sees somebody has become proud. So, please remember all sin is because of pride in a believer. Okay. So, live your life before God's face. How can I know for sure that a trial or sickness or difficult situation is a 22:22 discipline from the Lord? Well, God desires what is good for his children just like a father. And so I must believe that everything that happens in my life, even if I can't explain it immediately, is for my good. Romans 8:28. 22:37 God makes all things work together for good to those who love him. And Romans 8:29. By the way, do you all know Romans 8:28? I think most of you know it. All things work together for good to those who love God. But most people who 22:50 know that verse don't know the next verse. What is the good? The good is not you'll get a promotion or you'll get a uh better job or marry a prettier woman. No. The good is verse 29, that you'll be made more like Jesus Christ. 23:06 Which is the greatest good that God can do for you. Not a better salary, not a better job, not a prettier woman or a richer husband, no. He'll make you more like Christ. That is the good. So when you say all things work together for good, 23:20 the good is explained in the next verse. You'll make me more like Christ. So if that is not happening, then uh you can be sure that something is wrong. God will allow every trial and every sickness to work for your good. But sometimes it 23:37 can be a discipline, also. Because you were proud and you fell and some discipline comes, some sickness comes. It's good to say, "Lord, are you trying to tell me something?" Ask God to show you. How can I practically move past head 23:51 knowledge and experiencing it in my heart or my life? Well, you know easily whether you're experiencing it or not. God gives grace to the humble. Is your humility head knowledge or real? You'll get grace when you're tempted. 24:04 When you're tempted, if you sin, that's God's shouting at you, "You are not humble." And that falling into sin is God's loud voice saying, "You are not humble." "My son, my daughter, you're not humble. You lost your temper at your husband or 24:19 your wife. Whatever you may think of yourself, in my eyes, you're not humble." So that's something you can keep in mind that uh there are laws of God which cannot be broken and you will know whether it's head knowledge or whether 24:35 you experience. Okay, another question. What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord always? Philippians 4:4. This is a command. I would say one of the most disobeyed commands by believers. 24:54 If you were to you me, what is the most disobeyed command by that believers disobey all the time or most of the time?" Philippians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always and you feel like saying, "Lord, Paul, did you really mean that?" That's why he wrote after 25:10 that, "Again I say, I meant it. Rejoice." Can you have seen a verse like that where he writes something and says, "Hey, I want to repeat that in case you didn't believe it. I meant what I said." Again I say, rejoice in the Lord always. 25:24 Do you know the definition of always? How many days a week is always? Six days a week or 12 hours a day or 24/7 as they say. That is the only definition of always. He doesn't mean I'm shouting and praising. That's different. Praising is 25:41 different from rejoicing. Rejoicing is an inward attitude. It's not Praising is a vocal expression of praise. It's not smiling. I don't think Jesus went on smiling all the time. Do they think he's an idiot or something? 25:53 Sometimes you see people on the streets smiling all the time. You wonder if there's something wrong with them. He didn't say smile always, rejoice always. You may I've never seen in the Bible Jesus ever smiling. Have you read a verse like that? Jesus 26:06 smiling. People say you should be smiling always and all that. I say you must rejoice always. Different people give expression to it in different ways. Some people have a personality that expresses themselves in a cheerful way. 26:21 Some people are more serious. But joy in the heart has got nothing to do with your facial expression. It may affect a person's facial expression, but we're all different temperaments and personalities. So, don't try to be like somebody else. 26:36 But if joy goes out of your heart, that means how do you know joy has got out of your heart? You're complaining against something. You got a bitterness against somebody. You're angry with something. There's no joy there. 26:49 Joy means I'm perfectly happy in my heart. No matter what has happened. Why why am I happy? Because my savior is on the throne. My father runs this universe. My father runs this universe. And my savior is there at the right hand 27:06 praying for me all the time. Yeah, I can't explain why the some of these things have happened to me. I can't explain why this sudden financial loss came to me. Maybe to teach me a lesson. Maybe to teach me to be more careful with my finances. Maybe to teach 27:21 me not to spend so much on myself. Maybe to be teach me to be more disciplined. Maybe to make me trust the Lord a little more. Whatever reason. But I believe it's for my good. And I will rejoice that even my the disciplines 27:38 are for my good. See like a child will not appreciate your spanking. It But you know that's good for it. Because it's the the Lord uses a rod on us and fathers should use the rod on their children according to Hebrews 13. 27:54 He says, "Which father is there who does not discipline his child?" You know there's a question like that? Which father is there who will not discipline his child? Hebrews uh And I say, "Lord, today I can show you so many fathers like that." 28:08 They think they've found a way better than uh scripture. Let me show you that verse. You should see it. Because it's the word of scripture. In Hebrews chapter 12. What is verse seven, last part? What son 28:27 is there whom his father does not discipline? The Holy Spirit's asking that question. And I say, "Sorry to say, Lord, there are many even among Christians." Fathers who think they have found a better way than the way the Bible says. 28:45 I will bring up my children in a godly way without discipline. Okay, try it. See what your child becomes when he's 25 years old. Then it'll be too late to discipline him. Discipline him when he's young. So, rejoice in the Lord always means I 29:02 can't understand why this is happening, but I rejoice because my savior is pleading for me. My father runs the universe. My sins are all forgiven, blotted out. There's nothing for me to be disturbed about. Okay. Well, now Now, next question. When 29:17 I fell down, I have a desire to get up quickly and follow the Lord. And I have zero desire to do that sin again. But I do not have tears or deep pain as some say in the church. Am I really repenting? You don't have to have tears 29:28 and deep pain. That depends on personality. Some people's personality is such they weep and do all that, but it doesn't matter. If there's a deep sorrow in your heart, repentance is a turning away. It's not weeping. Some people weep 29:41 and they don't repent. Some people repent and weep also, but repent is a turning away. If you're turned away from it and you're going to avoid it the next time, you're taking the right attitude. How old do I have to be to get baptized in water? 29:55 There's no word in scripture which says you have to be baptized at this age, but you must do whatever you do, you must do with understanding. There's no use doing something mechanically. In the Old Testament, they circumcised a 30:07 child when he's 8 days old. The child didn't have a clue what it means. But in the new covenant, we choose ourselves. So, a child, a son or daughter must choose themselves. I want to follow the Lord. You cannot accept the Lord on behalf of your child. 30:26 You cannot take a decision, spiritual decision for your child. So, it's varies in different ages. I can only give a guideline, not a command. I'd say usually a child, when when becomes a teenager, 13-14 years old, and he's going into a higher level of 30:46 school. He's And not everybody, some get that understanding only when they are 17 or 18. But that's about the earliest, as soon as they enter the early teenage years. I don't think it should be before that. This is not a law. 31:00 I'm giving an opinion. So, there's no rule on that. Sometimes my heart condemns me even if it's not a sin. Does that mean my standard of self-righteousness is too high? I'm not sure how to evaluate my hidden thoughts. Well, 31:15 if your heart condemns you, how do you know it's not a sin? Other people may think it's not a sin, but if your heart condemns you, you need to ask yourself, is there something there which is wrong? You don't have to have a specific word 31:27 in scripture. All the sins that we commit are not mentioned in scripture. It's the Holy Spirit that convicts our conscience about something. You know, like I told you, expecting thanks from another person. To me, it's a sin. Now, it wasn't a sin for so many 31:41 years. So, it's better to consider Don't Don't condemn yourself. Romans 8:1 is a great verse. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. I told you yesterday, don't ever listen to anything which is said in this 31:54 church as if it's condemnation. If it comes to you as condemnation, it's because the devil is twisting it to condemn you. But it's not A truly godly man will never speak to condemn you. He'll speak to challenge you to a higher 32:08 standard of life, never to condemn you for your past. Cuz there is no condemnation. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. Romans Sorry, John 3:17. So, condemnation does not come from God, it comes from the devil. 32:24 So, if your heart condemns you, you're got a wrong understanding of who's speaking to your heart. It doesn't mean your self-standard of self-righteousness is too high. It does It just means you have You don't I don't God's nature is. 32:38 So, I'm not sure how to evaluate my hidden thoughts attitudes. God will give you light if you walk in the light. The Lord has helped me to forgive others, but I can't seem to forgive myself. How do I do this? I don't know what you mean by forgiving 32:50 yourself. You've lost your reputation before people. And you're worried about that, that your reputation is gone. Bury your reputation. Let them think less of you. What does it matter? It's much better than they're thinking more 33:03 of you. If somebody thinks less of you, you're saved from pride. So, don't worry about other people thinking less of you. So, if you've forgiven others, just leave it with God. It's finished. If you're If you're to know God and lay 33:16 hold of eternal life here on earth, what happens when we see Jesus? See, eternal life is the life of God, which has no beginning and no end. And we can't lay hold of all that in 30 or 60 or 100 years on earth. I believe if God is eternal, 33:35 it'll take all eternity for me to plumb the depths of God's nature. Even when I get to heaven, I'll say, "I've become like Jesus, but the vastness of God's nature it'll take me all eternity to discover. And we don't know much about life in 33:53 heaven, so that's all I can say about it. I myself don't know much. We'll know more when we get to the other side. Our mind is limited today. We can't understand what heaven is like. So, I'm giving you a faint picture. Um 34:07 I read that every believer is given some gifts. How can I identify which gift God has given? Well, as you seek to serve the Lord, you will discover what your gift was. In the beginning, when I was converted, all I knew was how 34:18 to give the gospel to others. So, I'd give out tracts. If I traveled in a bus or a train, I'd hand out tracts. I'd stand in the streets and preach, but hardly anybody got converted. Hardly anyone. And I discovered I was not an evangelist. 34:36 But at the same time in the same year in the Bible studies that I took among the people in the church, people were tremendously blessed and challenged. And I also had great liberty, so I discovered that my gift is more teaching 34:50 more than evangelism. Evangelism is one gift, teaching is another gift. God appoints some as teachers and some as evangelists and some as apostles who plant churches and some as prophets and speak in a prophetic way. Some people have more 35:04 than one gift. God decides what that gift is and as you exercise and serve the Lord, it will become more and more evident what your burden is. The burden God gives you in your heart is an indication of his will for your life and his gift. 35:20 Uh could you please expand on not seeking the gift of tongues in the context of 1 Corinthians 14 verse 1. 1 Corinthians 14:1 says Pursue love, yet earnestly desire 35:44 spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. That is only one gift we are asked to earnestly desire and that's not tongues. It is prophesy. What is prophesying? It's not predicting the future. That is Old Testament prophecy. New Testament 36:01 prophecy is defined here in verse 3 as speaking to people to build them up. Edification means to build them up. Exhortation means to challenge them. Consolation means to comfort them. So if you can speak to a person even one 36:18 sentence on a telephone or when sharing with somebody not necessarily from a pulpit which challenges them comforts them builds them up. Any one of them you're prophesying. It sounds like a big word, but that's 36:37 all it means. And that is the one gift we are told to pursue in verse one. We are not told to pursue after gift of tongues because that is a gift God gives to some. It's very clearly written in chapter 12 and verse four. There are many, many 36:52 gifts by one spirit. Verse eight, to one is given wisdom, to another knowledge, to one faith, verse nine, to another healing, to one miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, and to some various kinds of tongues, and to 37:09 some interpretation of tongues. Not for everybody. And he goes on in chapter 14 to say at the end of chapter 14 in sorry, the end of chapter 12 uh verse 30, 12:30. Do all have the gift of healing? No. Do all speak in tongues? No. 37:27 Clear answer. Do all speak in tongues? No. That's the end of that. Okay, next question. How can I determine the difference between temptation and sin? The difference is when you yield to it. And the best example used in James 37:43 chapter one is the example of conception. It says here when for James 1:14 We are tempted when we are enticed by the lust. Enticed means attracted by a particular lust. 38:02 And when you yield to that lust, a conception takes place and gives birth to sin. To use an example Here's a girl who's walking down the street and a very handsome boy, rich boy say hey, come along with me. And she feels really attracted to him. 38:21 Because he's such a good, handsome boy, rich and very well-behaved and nice. But he's not She's not married to him. Is she attracted? Yes. When she comes home, she's attracted, attracted, attracted. But no conception took place in her 38:39 body. Because she did not give her body to him. If she gave her body, then he had sex with her, then a child was born. So, but the fact that she was attracted doesn't mean anything. So, temptation can be attractive. 38:58 Oh, that's very attractive. But I don't yield to it, then I've not sinned. It's The picture used here is exactly of when a girl conceives, conceives because she gave herself to that man. But the mere fact that she was attracted 39:14 does not mean she sinned. That's the difference between temptation and sin. Of Because if you say I'm not even attracted, then there's no temptation. Then you're not even tempted. The temptation is when you know uh gold can be attractive, but if somebody 39:31 offers you some rubbish, there's no temptation there. So, it's only when something is attractive that you can be tempted. But you don't yield to it, you overcome that temptation. Okay, how do I judge myself without coming into self-condemnation? 39:46 I'll tell you. Judge yourself in God's sight, not on by yourself. Don't look inside and judge yourself. I always tell people, never look inside yourself. Because it's corrupt. I mentioned yesterday how Isaiah saw the Lord and he saw what was 40:04 He said, "Woe is me." He didn't look inside and say, "Woe is me." You look inside, you'll condemn yourself. We're not supposed to look inside. The Bible does not say, "Let us run the race." Hebrews 12:1, "looking inside." 40:17 No. Hebrews 12:1 says, "Let us run the race looking where? Unto Jesus." As I look unto Jesus, I see my corruption. You know, it's like when you see blazing white, you'll see, "Hey, my dress is not so 40:35 white as I thought it was." Something like that. When you see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, you see sin yourself. And then I don't condemn myself. I judge myself, "Lord, this is not like you. I want to be like you." 40:51 Can you give some practical tips to memorize scripture and references? Constant use is the only way. Constant, constant use. That's the way it has come to me. In my first Bible, I would also take a red pencil and color it, that particular 41:11 verse. I mean, I got to be careful that if it's a thin Bible, thin paper, you'd come to the other side. Be careful that you don't rub it in such a way that the verse on the other side, which means something else, also gets colored. So, 41:24 do it in such a way I found it very helpful because then I could skim through the Bible and pick out those verses that helped me at different times, which may be here, here. I could just skim the pages and see, "Oh, there's a 41:36 promise that blessed me. There's another promise that blessed me." So, I found it very useful to underline the Bible in that way so that I could then remember that. And then frequently to use it myself to remind myself. Oh, you Some 41:49 people write it in a little card and keep it in their pocket and they're trying to memorize the verse. They memorize it, then they can throw it away or keep it somewhere and take another card, write another verse God spoke to you. These are ways in 42:00 which you can memorize the scripture. Very, very useful. And uh when you using the Bible regularly, you know, for example, if you're using the Bible on a phone, you can't get familiar with the Bible like using an actual printed Bible. 42:15 I feel sorry for people I I use a phone when I'm traveling, but I prefer a printed Bible because it's much easier to refer. For example, a lot of verses you hear me turning to that reference, I could never do it if it was on a phone. 42:30 But I got so familiar and particularly if you have a particular one version of the Bible, you turn to it, you get familiar with that particular version. It's very easy to where you're counseling somebody. It's good to be able to know where the 42:41 where the verses are. Okay, I'm a very introverted person from my childhood, extremely shy. Now I am born again, will God change my character? I believe slowly, little by little, he'll make you more and more like Christ. 42:58 Because if you're always inward looking, you'll get depressed. The Bible says there's nothing good in my flesh, so what's the use looking inside? You say then how do you discover what's wrong in you? How did Isaiah see what was wrong in 43:13 him? By seeing the glory of the Lord. We must see Christ, no, sorry, we must see sin by seeing Christ. And I see myself. By looking inward, this is sort of introspection they teach in Hindu yoga. That's a false religion. Look inward and 43:31 cleanse yourself. No. I look at Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and then I get light on myself, exactly like Isaiah. I see the glory of God and I say, "Woe is me." I see an area of myself where I'm not like Christ. That's the way to 43:46 do it. In my early 20s, I have a job that didn't require a college diploma. I'm earning a decent income now and feel content with my current situation. Is it wrong that I don't aspire to pursue a higher salary or obtain a diploma? See, I'm not 44:04 here to tell you how far you should study. There are a lot of people who out in many of the in the Mennonite areas that I've traveled, they don't go for degrees. They never go past high school. Many of them study only up to eighth 44:19 grade. But some of them are millionaires because they work in construction and things like that. They haven't studied far, so each person's ability is different. And the main thing is not to study. The main thing is to earn a living. 44:36 God wants us to earn our own living, that we should not be dependent on others. So, in each society, in each country, is different how you earn a living. And in many places in India, it's very clear that if you don't have a 44:49 college degree, you won't earn much. You'll have to live in a very low income area, and it'll be very difficult to get clean clean surroundings. So, even those who live in those poor areas want to educate their children to 45:05 at least get a degree, definitely in India, so that they can earn a decent income when they get married. Among those who earn degrees, there are different levels, depending on ability, certain fields. For example, if you study computer 45:18 science or medical science, you get more than if you were studying English literature, for example, where you'll only be a teacher. So, there are different fields in which you choose what to study, depending on the country you live in, and 45:31 so, as I said, if you go into these areas where the Mennonites live, you don't we don't need to go to college at all. A lot of opportunities to learn, and they learn from their parents. It's been going for generations, and they're 45:41 very well off, very comfortable. So, there's no law on how much you have to study, depending on your circumstances. What boundaries must I place as a single woman concerning men and interactions with them, even as friends? You have to be 45:55 extremely careful. Because a woman does not understand how strong the sexual urge in a man is, even if he calls himself a believer. You must keep a respectable distance, 46:14 otherwise you're going to tempt him. And even if he's a believer, I tell you you will fall into sin. How can I do this with liberty in my spirit without constantly being introspective and overthinking it? Well, just keep a respectable distance and be 46:32 modest. And if anybody tries to be too friendly or too close to you, keep a distance. And be restrained in all your dealings with uh men. There's an exhortation for men in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. You know, I think it's a very 46:52 good one. You know what it says in 1 Corinthians 7? And verse 1, the last part of verse 1, it's good for a man not to touch a woman. It's good for a man not to touch a woman. 47:12 Even touching can stimulate desire in a man. You got to be very careful. Some men, even if they shake hands with a girl, they can be stimulated. If they are honest, they'll tell you they are. Not all, but some can. 47:31 So, one has to be very careful. That's all I say. I'm not making a law. Um so, keep where If you're not sure of the boundary, make it a little closer to yourself. You don't give that much freedom. The more you extend that boundary, the 47:49 more danger of you falling into sin. And the woman has always got more to lose if she becomes free with a man. I'm having trouble staying away from men and leading me to sexual sin. Boy, that's pretty serious for a girl to say, 48:06 I'm having trouble staying away from boys and and it leads me to sexual sin. Boy, for a girl to go into sexual sin, something is seriously wrong. You don't understand what a terrible 48:25 thing sexual sin is. I want to show you 1 Corinthians 6. You know the Bible divides all sin into two categories. We say invisible sin, visible sin. No, that's not how the Bible divides. 48:44 Listen to me first. The Bible divides all sin into two categories. Adultery and all other sins. Have you ever heard that? 1 Corinthians 6 49:02 verse 18. Flee from immorality, which is sexual sin. Every other sin is outside the body, one category. But immoral is inside his body. See two categories of sin in verse 18. Sexual sin, one category. All other 49:21 sins, other category. Have you ever seen that division between sexual sin is one you draw a list of sins, one is sexual sin. The other is all other sins. You see these things, you say, "Boy, sexual sin must be very serious if it's 49:38 got a category all by itself." So, I say you're playing the fool with sin and I I say you will destroy your life, you'll destroy your relationship with God. It is 100% wrong or as they say it's 1,000% wrong. And 49:57 you don't know what to do, stay away from men. Stay away from Keep a distance from women. Keep a distance. Otherwise, I guarantee you're on your way to hell. I've no doubt about it. These other sins, some hope of escape, 50:15 but you keep on in this one category of sin of adultery, you're on your way to eternal damnation. I can only warn you. I can't stop you from falling into hell one day. But please hate it. Hate it. If you hate it, 50:33 like I say, if I You know how children can go and put their hand inside a unflushed toilet. You see an unflushed toilet, you don't even feel like seeing it. But little children will go and put their hand inside and play around with 50:46 that. They don't have any sense of cleanliness. Now, when you play around with sin, it is exactly like that. It's like putting your head inside a toilet bowl, which has got a lot of muck inside there. There's solid waste there, and 51:03 you put your head inside. That is adultery. That is lusting after women. You want to do it? That is pornography. Look at it like that. Next time you're tempted sexually to pornography, say, "I'm going to put my head in that toilet 51:17 bowl now. And I'm going to lick it before before I come out. And then, of course, I'll have a wash. I'll ask Jesus to cleanse me. But I'm I like this toilet bowl so much, I'm going to lick it tomorrow again. And I don't want to miss one day without 51:33 licking that toilet bowl." Oh, boy. Do you love it? Oh, it's really enjoyable. Uh feels a bit bad after I finish it. The taste is bad, but when I go in, boy, I love that. I love the color of it, and I just love to plunge 51:46 myself in. How dirty can I make it for you to turn away from pornography and sexual sin? I'm trying to help you. Okay. Well, you say you don't know what to do. Well, this is what you should do. See it 52:05 as a terrible sin. Okay, I'm spending hours in YouTube every day and I condemn myself at the end. I want to be faithful to the time that God gave me. Can you give me some practical advice? Only one button you have to click. 52:22 Practical advice. How long does it take? Not even 1 second. It's gone. You don't want to do it. There's no need. You It's It's It's a You know, there are people addicted to 52:41 something because they keep on doing it. Keep on doing it. Keep on doing it. And I tell you when you're tempted, I've told people shut the computer, switch off the fan and go for a walk, go and meet some brother, go and see meet 52:52 somebody you know and spend some time with him till that urges subsided, then come back to do your work. But, run away. Here's the good exhortation. 1 Corinthians 6:18. I read it to you before. Flee. It doesn't say walk away from 53:11 immorality. It doesn't say run from immorality. It says flee. Do you know the meaning of flee? Flee is one of the strongest words in the English language. To run for your life. Like a lion chasing you. Picture yourself a lion's chasing me. 53:26 What are you going to do? Slowly walk away? No, brother. You better turn around and run. Do you see pornography as a lion chasing you? Run. It doesn't say stand and resist devil. The devil Jesus said the Bible says 53:46 Ephesians 6 stand and resist the devil in Jesus name. But when it comes to immorality, sexual sin, don't try to stand and resist it. I guarantee you will fall. Even the Holy Spirit says don't stand and resist it, flee. You mean there's no ability to overcome 54:05 it? Yes, but you haven't come to that place yet. It's such a strong sexual desire is so strong that the only way to escape is to get up and run. If you're being tempted by a girl, get up and run. If you're tempted in the computer screen 54:21 or a get turn it off. Switch off that phone. Okay, now I've been listening to good sermons and trying to follow them for 4 years, but I don't see spiritual growth. Well, listening good sermons and trying you have to deny yourself and say I am going 54:38 to die to myself and obey that word and seek with the power of the Holy Spirit. Then only it will things will happen in your life. Then you'll see spiritual growth. At times I'm frustrated and the repeated sins like getting angry and 54:51 feeling discouraged. How can I have a spiritual life and joy in my heart at the same time? I'll tell you for myself, when you see sin as something filthy and horrible in God's eyes, then you'll turn away from it. That's why I use the picture of 55:10 putting your head into an unflushed toilet bowl. Can you picture a worse picture than that? And you fall into it. Or picture yourself falling into a dirty sewer where all that toilet stuff is flowing and you plunge into it. 55:26 And the worst part of it is you enjoy it. It's something terrible. You got to see it as a horrible thing. Lord, what type of person am I plunging my head into a soiled bowl and enjoying it? Something seriously wrong. Help me to 55:39 hate it. And the day will come when you hate it. So, just listening to good sermons won't help you. Ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit to stay away from that toilet bowl. When you're tempted next time. Getting angry is a serious sin. 55:57 In Matthew chapter 5 Take God's word seriously and you'll run from sin. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 22. Everyone 56:16 I say to you Every word is important. Everything Jesus said is his word, but sometimes he's emphasizing, "I say to you." It's like banging the table and saying something. "I say to you." Isn't Lord, isn't everything you said 56:31 said? Yes, but this is particularly important. Everyone doesn't exclude anybody, believer or unbeliever. Everyone who's angry with someone is guilty already. Just one anger and then on top of that if he lets his 56:51 anger come forth, you know, sometimes a husband and wife, one of them will go and say something to the other than an anger and then go away and then feel, "Hey, I haven't said enough." And come back and say something more. Have you had that 57:00 experience? Yes. Yeah, if you're honest, you've done it. He said, "Then what happens is you go back again and say something more. Say a stronger word, 'You good for nothing.' You'll be even more guilty. And then you go and say something more a 57:16 third time you're ready to go to hell." Verse 22. Can anger lead a person to hell? According to Matthew 5:22, Jesus says, "I say to you, it can lead you to hell finally if you don't stop it. So, at the first attempt, 57:35 stop it. Anger, especially. See what it says in Second Corinthians, chapter 2. Second Corinthians, chapter 2. It speaks here. Sorry, no, Second 58:03 Corinthians 2. It says here, yeah, it is here. It says about don't let Satan take advantage of us in verse 11. He's talking about having an unforgiving spirit. 58:21 This phrase, so that no advantage should be taken of us by Satan. That's the principle. Satan is trying to get some advantage over you. And particularly in the area of anger. Turn to Ephesians 4. You see, anger particularly is mentioned 58:37 where Satan tries to get an advantage over you. Ephesians 4, it says here, verse 26. Ephesians 4:26, be angry, but don't sin. You say, you mean there's a righteous 58:56 anger? Sure. When you see a preacher making money out of the poor people, what should you do? Are you angry with him or not? Jesus was so angry, it's the only time in his time when he took a whip and chased people, and turned over the 59:12 tables because people were exploiting the poor people for money. Now, I want to say to you, if you see on your TV screen or your laptop or your phone, one of these charismatic preachers in America who is preaching in order to get money 59:28 from poor people and living as a millionaire with his private jets and all that and you don't get angry, you are sinning. Because the command is be angry. And at wrong times when you should not be angry with your wife, you're angry 59:42 with her. You should be angry against these preachers. But you're not angry in the right place and you're angry in the wrong place. I get furious when I see these preachers exploiting poor people of their money. When I see it anywhere or read about it, 59:57 it really makes me angry. I'm just obeying Ephesians 4:26 to be angry. Like Jesus was angry when uh they were exploiting others. So, if we take this seriously, God can deliver us 1:00:16 even from anger. Next question is, can you explain the balance between building a local church and building a godly family? The illustration I have used is the three-story building. The foundation is knowing God as a father. You cannot live the Christian 1:00:33 life properly if you don't have this foundation. God is my father, Jesus Christ is my savior, and my life is built on that. Our Father, who art in heaven. I have a father who loves me and a father who runs this universe. Those are 1:00:49 the two things. Our Father, who art in heaven. That is the foundation. You cannot build a proper house without that foundation. It is shaky. On that, you build the first story or the first floor. Living with a good conscience always. 1:01:08 Very, very important. If you don't keep a good conscience, that first floor is shaky. Then you can't build the rest of the house. Imagine if you have a first floor that's shaky, how can you build the second floor, third floor? Many people cannot 1:01:21 build anything more in their life cuz they don't live with a good conscience. The second floor or the second story is the family life. The way you live at home, the way you live with your wife, your husband, the way you bring up your children. 1:01:34 It has to be really good, a good example. And being patient and loving and kind with one another. On top of that, you have what is called the local church. So, don't try to build the church if you haven't got a first story and 1:01:50 second story, good conscience and a good family life. There are lots of preachers in America and around the world who don't have a good family life. There are preachers who have married divorced women. There are preachers in America, 1:02:07 even Pentecostal churches, divorce their wives and marry their secretaries, but they continue as pastors. They can never in a million years build the church of Jesus Christ. They can build some structure which they call a 1:02:20 mega church or whatever it is, cuz they are gifted. But, it's not the church of Jesus Christ. It'll crumble and fall when Christ comes back. Because they've violated God's law. God has allowed many of these things to exist, but that's like he's allowed 1:02:33 Islam to exist and Hinduism to exist and Buddhism to exist and all types of false religions. There are multitudes of false religions in the world. God has allowed them to exist. He's not destroyed anything. And he's not destroyed these 1:02:44 churches where divorced pastors who married divorced women or divorced their wives are still continuing to do things and pastors who are exploiting others of money. God allows so many things. But, one day the whole thing will collapse. 1:03:00 So, this is how we build a local church, clear conscience, godly family, and the local church. And so, that's what we have taught in all our churches. And if a person has not brought up his children right, I have always thought he should resign 1:03:19 from eldership. That's what we have taught in all of our churches. Your children are wayward, you know what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3? I'm only quoting scripture. 1 Timothy 3, qualifications for an 1:03:40 elder, verse 2. An elder or overseer must be so-and-so, so-and-so. Verse 4, he must be able to manage his own family well, keeping his children under control with dignity. Because if a man does not know how to control the three or four 1:03:57 children in his family, how in the world is going to take care of a church with 50-60 people? He can't bring up three children at home properly, and he's trying to build a church of 50-60 people. Forget it. Go and do something else. 1:04:11 Go and do some other job. Don't try to be a pastor or an elder of a church. That's God's standard. Tell me how many churches are following it. We follow it very strictly. We followed it for 50 years. I have removed people 1:04:24 from eldership if their children are wayward. Brother Zac, we'll have less leaders. Better to have less leaders, but with good standards, rather than to have more leaders with third-rate standards. That's how all these churches 1:04:37 are destroyed in the world with third-rate standards who don't respect God's word. God says it and the Holy Spirit says, "How can a man build the church when he's not built his own family?" And do you know the number of preachers 1:04:50 today in America, pastors, well-known pastors? You go and check what their children are doing. Children are atheists or not following the Lord or have taken advantage of the fact that pastor is a big well-known man, taking advantage of that. 1:05:05 This is what Christendom has come to. This is Babylon through and through. And there are very few people standing against it. Okay. I have not found a local church with the same vision as CFC. And I feel convicted about not attending 1:05:20 in person. So, I join by Zoom on a Sunday service. And RLCF's weekday meetings. Is it necessary to attend a church in person? If you're not able to find a good church in your locality, Zoom is next best. It's a very good gift 1:05:36 God has given in these last days, Zoom. Attend it, but personal fellowship is not possible over Zoom. And that is why it's good to come for a conference like this once in a while. And to seek fellowship wherever possible, even if it's not in a church. 1:05:51 With some pray that God will give you fellowship with one godly family in your locality. Say, "Lord, I don't have a local church here which is in going godly, but can you lead me to one family that our family can fellowship with?" 1:06:05 Okay. Where two or three are gathered in my name, there's a little church there. Not asking you to start a new church, but during the week, you can fellowship with them and try to build something. It's very important that we fellowship together. Otherwise, 1:06:16 our children will go astray. I tell you, you lose your children one day if you don't seek to build fellowship with others. Okay, next question. In a church, how do we balance upholding God's standards versus submission to authority? 1:06:32 Yeah, definitely it can be practiced. And we've seen it practiced in many, many places. And practicing humility with gentleness, we can hold up God's standards. Because we're not seeking for a reputation for gentleness. 1:06:46 If I sought a reputation for gentleness, I would stop preaching long ago. I'm not bothered what people think about me. I say, "I have to uphold God's standards." My gentleness is in my dealing with people. When I deal with my wife, I must be 100% 1:07:00 gentle. When I deal with my children, gentle. When I deal with people, with sinners, I must be gentle. But when I proclaim God's word like I say, I must be like a lion in the pulpit and a lamb outside. So, you see me at home, I'll be like a 1:07:16 lamb. You see me in the pulpit, I must be like a lion. That is a true servant of God. That's how any true servant of God must be. Okay. We don't seek honor. For the elders encourage me to share sometimes two for two to five minutes 1:07:30 every week in the church. But I'm afraid to share anything which is not yet life in me. Should I avoid sharing until the words become life? No. Can you speak on be anxious for nothing? Why not? Say, brothers, I want to speak today on 1:07:43 be anxious for nothing. I want to be honest and say I haven't got there. But I'm telling you that's the goal I'm running towards. And it's getting a little better. I used to be anxious about so many silly little things. It's 1:07:54 become a little better for me. Have you reached your goal be anxious for zero? No. I still get anxious about something or the other. My children don't come home from school in time and I get a little anxious and worried. There's a little bit there, 1:08:05 Lord, but I'm working towards it. You're encouraging other people. So, don't wait till you reach perfection. Then you won't say anything till you get to heaven. So, as we pursue you can say I haven't gone all the way. It's like climbing a mountain. 1:08:21 Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. Think of a mountain covered by snow. Paul sees the footsteps of Christ. He says, I'm putting my feet there. I see Christ has reached the top. Paul says, I'm pressing on. I'm way behind Paul, 1:08:33 but I see Paul's footsteps. And I see I put my feet on Paul's footsteps. I can tell people by me, "Hey, look at my footsteps. I haven't reached the top. I haven't even reached as far as Paul. Much less than Christ. But I'm going 1:08:44 that way. Follow me." That is what all of us can say. Okay. The And don't talk about something way ahead of you when you haven't reached there. Do you know any new covenant church in Hawaii? No, I don't know any. I hope 1:09:01 there'll be one. From what age should I teach my children how to conduct the children of the opposite sex? I think those desires come up uh I remember years ago reading a book by the man who wrote The Living Bible, Kenneth Taylor. I met him, a very very 1:09:18 humble godly man. And he wrote a book called Almost 12. Years ago for young children in America. So, I realized at that day 12 was the age where sexual desires got stirred up in people in America. Today, I'd say almost nine or something 1:09:37 like that. It's because of all the time things that are going around in society and the things that young children in school are showing to others and all that. You got to be very careful. But share share it wisely. There, I remember years ago there was a 1:09:55 little booklet which explained the matters of sex and how children are born, etc. I remember I gave it to my children in India at the age of 13 or so. It was okay at that age, but now the age is lower. You got to show that even 1:10:09 earlier. And um let us help them and I'd say if you have any doubt on that, ask me cuz sometimes it can be embarrassing to speak directly to children. Give them something like this to read then ask them to ask you questions. How can I 1:10:21 share the gospel to my colleagues? First of all, by your life. By when you see somebody discouraged in your office, when you go up to him and say, "Hey, can I help you in some way? Can I pray with you? I believe in Christ." 1:10:36 Something like that. If you help somebody in need, that's one of the first way to open up somebody to give the gospel. Is there a way to get advice on our personal work via email? Yes. You can write to cfcindia .com and one of our elders 1:10:53 will give you a reply. Be a very brief reply. and we don't encourage elders to do more than two or three replies with a person because so many people write. I say beyond that, please go to your own elders, but initially we can give you a 1:11:08 little start on that. cfcindia.com is the email address. at or cfc, sorry, cfc@ cfc@cfcindia.com. How does one do both providing for our current needs and retirement with serving the Lord 1:11:27 making disciples? It seems that one is at the expense of the other. No. Nobody's asking you to First of all, in our churches we don't ask anybody to give money. You know, in our church, on top of the offering box, we say, "Please answer these five 1:11:41 questions before putting money in the box." In fact, if you go to our website, cfcindia.com, and go to our financial policy, you click there and you'll see a picture of that box. Uh Are you born again? 1:12:01 If not, don't put money here. This is only for God's children. Have Is there something unsettled between you and another brother? Matthew 5. Go and settle that and then bring your offering. Don't put money here. And third, 1:12:17 have you got any debts to somebody? Owe no man anything. Romans 13:8. Don't put money here. Give it back to that man. If you put money in your giving, his money, not yours. You're in debt to that man. Number four, do you have any needs in 1:12:31 your family? 1 Timothy 5. If a man does not care for his own family, he's worse than an unbeliever. Take care of your family. God's got millions. He doesn't need your money. Take care of your family. And number last one, are you giving cheerfully or 1:12:48 grudgingly? Don't give it. So, we put five stop signs. Don't Don't put it. Don't put it. Don't put it. Don't put it. Don't put it. Somebody asked me, "Brother Zac, with all these stop signs, does anybody put any money in this box?" 1:13:02 I say, "We have so many millions of rupees in this box that we can help hundreds of poor widows in the villages and even educate some of their children in colleges who cannot afford to educate themselves." Cuz our elders don't take a salary. 1:13:17 So, people give voluntarily, cheerfully, because their sins are forgiven and they're so happy. Is uh Is there Is candid photography considered wrong since we don't ask permission then before snapping a photo at weddings or functions? 1:13:32 I don't believe it's right to take a photo when without letting the other person know that you're taking that picture. It's not decent. You must allow that person say, "Can I take a picture of yours?" And to do the sneaky way without his 1:13:47 knowing is I don't believe it's right. That's my uh belief. And uh It's not like news reporters who are going around taking pictures. It's different. Since accepting the last question, since accepting the Lord as my savior, 1:14:02 I've been excessively apologizing to people for all types of things. I accidentally touched somebody in the metro and I apologized to him. And for if my wife's cooking is not up to the not up to the mark, I apologize for that. If some visitor is there, 1:14:17 uh or I stole her time and energy thereby. People think I'm going crazy with this typology. You probably are going crazy, brother. With this behavior. That is not spirituality. When you're convicted that you have dishonored God 1:14:34 by You can be oversensitive, just like you can be can be under sensitive. You can be oversensitive. Ask the Holy Spirit tell you where you've really grieved God by something you you Or actually hurt somebody, not accidentally touch somebody's hand. I 1:14:49 mean, of course, if you accidentally stamp on somebody's foot, you have to say I'm sorry. That's decency. Or accidentally you hurt somebody while you're walking by. Say, "I'm sorry, sir." It's like you say thank you. So, 1:15:01 that's different from uh you know, that type of apology we must offer is just a matter of decency. But that's different from apologizing for sin, cuz there is no sin there. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, please help us to have wisdom 1:15:19 to know the right way to walk, not going to one extreme or the other, but seeking to glorify you. Help everyone here, Lord, to have an understanding of your way through the Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. Thank you for bearing with these long 1:15:35 question and answer sessions. I hope you got some profit out of it. God bless you.
