5:14 Hey brothers and sisters, let's join together and sing. Lift up your heart, lift up your voice. Rejoice, the Lord is King. >> [singing] [music] 5:33 [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> Clap and sing. >> [singing] 5:55 [music] [singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] [singing] 6:19 [singing and music] >> Brothers sing. >> [singing and music] [singing] [music] [singing] 6:38 >> Join in together. >> [music] [music and singing] [music and singing] >> Sisters sing. >> [singing and music] 7:03 [music] [music] >> Amen. Join in. >> [singing] [music] [singing] [singing and music] 7:25 >> Just the voices. >> [singing] [singing] [singing] [music] 7:49 [singing] [music] [singing] >> Please be seated [music] brothers and sisters. >> [singing and music] 8:17 [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] 8:38 [singing] [music and singing] [singing] [music] [singing and music] 9:08 [singing and music] >> Once again. >> [music and singing] [music and singing] [singing and music] 9:33 [singing and music] [singing] [music] [music] 9:52 [singing] [music] >> Just the voices. to the king. Just the [music] voices. >> [singing] >> Hosanna. Hosanna. >> [singing and music] >> Hosanna to the king. >> [singing] 10:12 >> Hosanna. >> [music] >> Hosanna. >> [singing] >> Hosanna to the king. >> [singing] [music] 10:36 [music] >> My heart is filled with thankfulness. [music] My heart [singing] is filled with thankfulness to him who >> [music] >> bore my pain. Who >> [music] [singing] >> bore the 10:55 depths of my disgrace >> [music and singing] >> and gave me life again. Who [music and singing] crushed my soul of sinfulness >> [music and singing] >> and clothed me in his light. And 11:16 wore his >> [singing and music] >> all righteousness with power >> [music and singing] >> upon my heart. >> [music] 11:34 >> My heart [singing] is filled with thankfulness [music] to him who washed me saved. >> [music] >> Who >> [singing] >> fills my weaknesses with strength >> [music] >> and causes >> [singing] 11:53 >> fears to fly. Whose [music and singing] every promise is enough >> [music] >> for [singing] every step I take. Sustaining [singing and music] me with all his love 12:13 and crowning me >> [music] >> with grace. My heart is filled with [singing] thankfulness [music] to him who 12:34 reigns above. Whose wisdom [music] is [singing] my perfect peace. Whose every [music] thought >> [singing] >> is love. For [music] every day [singing] 12:51 I have on earth is given >> [music and singing] >> by the king. So I >> [music] >> will give my [singing] life, my all to love and [music] follow him. For [singing] every day I 13:10 have on earth For every day [music] I have on earth is given >> [music] >> by >> [singing] >> the king. So I >> [singing and music] >> will give my life, my all 13:28 to love and [music and singing] follow him. So I will give my life. So I >> [music] >> will give [singing] my life, my all to love and follow [singing] [music] him. >> [music] >> Let's continue in praise and 13:59 thanksgiving to our God. >> [music] >> Let's sing the song. It's It's a wonderful song. We haven't sung it for a long time. It says, "I am a new creation, no more in condemnation. Here in the grace of God I stand." Having our introduction to Jesus Christ, 14:17 we stand in his grace. And our heart is overflowing with love. >> [music] >> And we want to praise the Lord and sing of all that he's done. >> [music] 14:42 [music] >> I am a new [singing and music] creation, no more in condemnation. >> [music] >> Here in the grace of God I stand. >> [music] 15:00 >> My heart [singing] is overflowing. My love [music] just keeps on growing. Here in the grace of God >> [music] >> I stand. [singing] Let's sing that again. I'm a new creation. I am a new creation, [singing and music] no more in condemnation. 15:19 Here in the grace of God >> [music and singing] >> I stand. My heart [music and singing] is overflowing. My love just keeps on growing. [music and singing] Here in the grace of God I stand. And I will praise you, Lord. >> [music] 15:36 >> And I will [singing] praise you, Lord. Yes, I will praise >> [music] >> you, Lord. And I will >> [singing] >> sing of all that you have done. >> [music] >> A joy [singing] that knows no limit. >> [music] 15:52 >> A lightness in my spirit. Here in the grace [music] of God I stand. Let's sing that once again. I'm a new creation. I am a new creation, no more in condemnation. [music] Here in the [singing] grace of God 16:10 I stand. My heart is [music] overflowing. My love just [singing] keeps on growing. Here in the grace of [music] God I stand. And I will praise [singing] you, Lord. Yes, I will praise 16:30 you, Lord. And I will [singing and music] sing of all that you have done. >> [music] >> A joy that knows no limit. A lightness in my spirit. [music and singing] Here in the grace of God I stand. And I will praise [music] you, 16:48 Lord. And I will praise [singing] you, Lord. Yes, I will praise [music] you, Lord. And I will sing [singing] of all that you have done. >> [music and singing] >> A joy that knows no limit. A lightness 17:07 [music and singing] in my spirit. Here in the grace of God I stand. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] 17:38 >> I am not [music] skilled to understand. It's trying to say I am [singing] not skilled to understand >> [music] >> what God is will, what God [singing] is plan. I only [singing and music] know at his 17:56 right hand stands one [music and singing] who is my savior. I take him at his word [singing] indeed. >> [music] >> Christ [singing] died to save me, this I 18:14 read. And in [singing and music] my heart I find him near. >> [music] >> For him to [singing] be my savior. That [singing] he would leave his place on high 18:34 >> [music] [singing] >> and come for sinful man to die. [music] You counted strength, so once did I. >> [music] >> Before I knew [singing] my savior. [music] 18:53 My savior lives. My savior lives. My savior's [music and singing] always there for me. My God, he was. My God, he is. My God, he's always going to be. My savior [music] lives. My savior lives. My savior's [singing] always 19:09 there for me. My God, he was. My God, he is. My [music] God, he's always going to be. >> [singing] >> Yes, living, [music] dying with me free. My strength, [music] my soul is from 19:27 [singing] this free. That he [music] who lives to be my king once died [music] to be my savior. [singing] That he would leave his place on high. That he would leave [singing] his place 19:46 on high >> [music] >> and come for sinful [singing] to die. You counted strange [music and singing] so once denied. Before I knew my [music] savior. 20:05 My savior loves, [singing] my savior lives, my savior's always [music] there for me. My God he was, my God [singing] he is, my God he's [music] always going to be. My savior loves, my savior lives, >> [singing] >> my savior's always there for me. My God 20:24 [music] he was, my God he is, my God he's always going to [singing] be. And oh that [music and singing] he fulfilled me see the travail [music] [singing] of his soul in me. And [music and singing] with his work 20:46 contented me as I [music and singing] with my dear savior that he [singing] would leave his place on high and [music and singing] come for sinful 21:05 man to die. You [music] counted strange so once [singing] denied. Before [music] [singing] I knew my savior. >> [music] 21:39 [music] >> Glory, >> [music] >> honor, power belongs to you Lord. >> [music] >> Blessing, praises, >> [singing] >> wisdom, 21:59 and strength >> [music] >> are yours. We cry holy >> [singing] [music] >> Lord, you are holy. Only [music and singing] you will we praise >> [singing] >> and adore. >> [music] 22:21 >> We cry worthy [singing] Lord, >> [music] >> you are worthy. Forever [singing] and [music] ever, forever and ever Let's lift [music] up voices. Glory, 22:43 >> [singing and music] >> honor, power belongs to [singing] you Lord. Blessing, praises Blessing, [music] [singing] praises, wisdom, and strength are yours. >> [music] >> We cry holy Lord, 23:02 >> [singing] >> you are holy. [music] Only you >> [music] >> will we praise >> [singing] >> and adore. >> [music] >> We cry worthy Lord, >> [singing] 23:22 >> you are worthy. >> [music] >> Forever [singing] and ever, forever and evermore. [music] Forever and ever [singing] Forever [music] and ever, forever and evermore. 23:40 [singing] One more time. >> [music] >> Forever [singing] and ever, forever and evermore. >> [music] [singing] [music] >> Let's stand up brothers and sisters. Let's bow down in our spirits. 24:08 Come worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness or as it says another translation, with the beauty of holy lives. Let's just offer ourselves up to him brothers and sisters today. Anything that's holding us back, let's 24:28 put it aside, come to the Lord. Be lifted [singing] up. Be lifted [singing and music] 24:47 up as [music and singing] we bow down. Be lifted up. >> [music] >> Be lifted [singing] 25:08 up. >> [music] >> Be lifted up >> [music] [singing] [music] >> as we bow down. >> [singing] >> Be [music] lifted up. 25:36 Let the heavens [music and singing] rejoice, let the nations be glad, let the whole [music] earth [singing] tremble for you are God. >> [music] >> Come worship the Lord >> [singing] 25:53 >> in the beauty of holiness. [music] >> [music] >> Let the heavens [singing] rejoice, let the nations be glad, [music and singing] let the whole earth tremble 26:12 for you [music and singing] are God. Come worship the Lord in the beauty [music and singing] of holiness. Just the voices. As [music and singing] we bow down. Be lifted [singing] 26:33 up. As [singing] we bow down. >> [singing] >> Be lifted up. >> [singing] >> Be lifted up. Be lifted 26:53 up. Be [singing] lifted up. >> [music] >> As we [singing] bow down. >> [music] >> Be [singing] lifted 27:13 up. >> [music] >> Be lifted [music and singing] up. Be [music] lifted [singing] up. As [singing] we [music] bow 27:34 down. Be [singing] lifted up. >> [music] >> As we remain standing, let's bow our 28:12 heads in our in prayer. >> [clears throat] >> Let's keep ourselves from all distractions. The Lord deserves all our attention and praise. All the other things can wait. 28:39 World world has its own way of engaging us distracting us. Let's keep our mind free from all anxieties, worries, distractions. Let's come 29:03 before the throne of God with faith. Faith honors God. Unbelief dishonors God. Let's come with faith. 29:25 Jesus pleased the Father by faith. He was always with continual praise and the spirit of gratitude before his 29:43 Father. Let's come with that same spirit. Spirit of same spirit. Spirit of faith, spirit of gratitude, spirit of praise and thanks. Psalm says in 149, 30:06 "Praise the Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song. And his praise in the congregation of the godly ones. Let his people be glad in his maker. Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their king. For the Lord takes pleasure in his 30:29 people. He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. He will save us from all fears and anxieties past and future. So that we will dwell in safety, dwell 30:48 in rest and peace. And let the godly ones exalt in glory. Let them sing for joy. Let us give thanks to the Lord and give praise to him with spirit of 31:07 faith and gratitude. Let's take this opportunity, brothers and sisters. Father, we thank you. Father, we thank you and praise you. Thou art worthy of all praise and honor. Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice shedding blood for us. 31:22 Thank you. Thank you. You are the king of kings, lord of lords. And Lord, you have authority over heaven and earth. All authority is given to you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Father, for your love and compassion. Lord, you are long-suffering 31:39 and mercy. You have a wonderful [clears throat] plan for your people, Lord. Give us the spirit of praise and spirit of faith to honor you, glorify you. Father, praise you and thank you. Thank you, Lord. Be thou exalted. 31:56 Praise you. Praise you. Thank you. Dear Father, thank you. Thank you for your immense love bestowed upon us through Jesus, in Jesus. Thank you. You did not spare your own son. What else you will keep 32:15 for us, Lord. Thank you. >> [cough] >> Thank you, Father, for your goodness. Lord, open our blind eyes to see the greatness of your inheritance, to an extent with which you love us. And Lord, you have a good plan for each 32:34 one of us. Lord, you have a word for us. You have encouragement for us. You have a challenge for us. Your goal is sanctification and salvation, Lord. That we will be kept from all defilement and to present to you a heart of 32:51 a pure heart, a pure sacrifice to you in our everyday life, Lord. Thank you. Undefiled from this world and evil of this world. Lord, thank you. Thank you, Lord. We We thank you for your purpose and plans you have. 33:10 We commit ourselves, Lord. We believe that you have a word for us. You will speak to us. Anoint your servant. Pierce our ears and our hearts so that we long to hear your voice, Lord. Your voice will sustain us. 33:29 Your words will sustain us in every situation. It will lift us up. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord Holy Spirit. You move in our midst and take liberty to speak to our hearts and strengthen us. 33:46 Lord, in the meeting and also in fellowship. In every way, Lord, be thou glorified to see you more clearer and better so that we will present ourselves as a better witness for you, Father. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name we 34:03 pray. Amen. And please be seated, brothers and sisters. [clears throat and cough] We look into our memory verse. Last week we had a wonderful promise from Isaiah 46. It's a well-known verse. Um 34:21 Just to repeat after me. Isaiah chapter 46 verse 4. Even to your old age, I will be the same. And even to your graying years, 34:42 I will carry you. So the Lord is saying that I have done it. So far, I have sustained you. I carried you. And I'm faithful and I will continue to do it. Let's trust the Lord at his promise. Um 35:01 This week we have a command from Proverbs chapter 15. Please repeat after me. Proverbs chapter 15 verse 1. A gentle answer turns away wrath. 35:18 But a harsh word stirs up anger. Let's say that again. Proverbs chapter 15 verse 1. A gentle answer turns away wrath. 35:37 But a harsh word stirs up anger. As we heard last week about a wisdom from above. This is wisdom from above. A gentle answer doesn't come naturally, but 35:55 it is the help of the Holy Spirit. Now, when Holy Spirit helps us to guard our heart, he gives us that self-control and gives us the right word, a gentle word, gentle answer 36:12 that will subside um the conflict and helps us to handle issues better. But if you are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, we are human. Naturally, 36:29 um we will have wisdom from below, which is evil. Um May the Lord help us. Fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we will have a better witness in future. We are glad to have Brother Charles sharing the word. He will share what is 36:47 in his heart. Um Brother Charles, over to you. Would you please turn with me to 37:11 the Gospel of Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15 verses 8 and 9. Here the Lord says, "This people honors me 37:30 with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." We have heard this verse many times. This is 37:46 a quotation that the prophet Isaiah said about 750 years before Jesus was born. And it is always 38:03 God has always been disappointed >> [snorts] >> at almost every stage of um humanity. We can say God created Adam and Adam bungled it up. Then 38:22 God gave a son to Adam, Cain. He blew it big by murdering his own brother. Again, God was disappointed. And a few chapters later, we read in chapter 6 of Genesis, 38:40 the Lord was so grieved that he made man. We read about that. Maybe you can turn with me to sixth chapter of Genesis. Just the sixth chapter of Genesis. The Lord says here in verse 39:00 5, "The Lord saw what the wickedness of man was. It was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." It was not just once in a while man did 39:20 evil, but it says right from the beginning we saw and we read even till the end of the age, even in the book of Revelation, we read that man went from bad to worse continually. 39:40 And it says every intent of the thoughts of his heart And verse six, it says the Lord was sorry that he had made man on earth. And he was grieved in his heart. There's hardly any reference in the Bible that we see except one here and there, one 39:59 here and there. Just a handful of them who brought delight to God's heart. But we read he was sorry. And verse seven also, the Lord says, "I am sorry that I made man." But 40:20 Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. One here and one there like Noah, Enoch, and some very few people you can just count them on fingertips. 40:39 God was happy about certain people like that. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and King David, and then Apostle Paul, and the apostles. A few of them, not all of them brought 40:57 delight to the heart of God. Because man was injected as it were with the evil the poison of the serpent when 41:16 Eve disobeyed God's commandment and took the lead of man who was the head. She listened to Satan and that poison has crept into all of us and we're born with that. 41:34 And it's sad that God had to say these words. These people, generally he's speaking to everybody in the world, says, "These people honor me with their lips alone. 41:52 But their heart is far away from me." How sad when God wanted to have fellowship with man and wanted to walk with him everyday like he used to do with Adam. In the cool of the day, the Lord used to come and fellowship with them. And what 42:11 a glorious thing that was for them. But to forfeit all that and come under the wrath of God. God was so grieved. 42:29 All through from Genesis to Revelation we read except here and there, he is totally disappointed with what he made. And he felt sorry that he made man as we read. 42:47 But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. You know, we glory in so many things as human beings. We think everything is fine with me because I am not like so-and-so. 43:05 I'm not like my neighbor. I'm not like this tax collector. Like that Pharisee said, boasted before the Lord, "I am keeping the law. I fast so many times. I give tithes. I do offerings. I do this, 43:23 that, and the other." And so many things as if God didn't know anything. He's reminding God about all these things. And you know the end of the story. He went away without being justified. But that tax collector who was not even 43:41 willing to come forward and not even willing to lift up his head, he just beat his breast and said, "Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner." He said not a sinner. He felt as if he was the only sinner in the world. 44:00 And that man, the Bible says, went home justified. When we come to God with our own self-righteousness, God is not happy. Some of us may have come out from some good 44:17 upbringing, God-fearing families. And we think that we deserve God's mercy and God's forgiveness. And we deserve a place uh with him. 44:37 And fellowship with him, but it's not like that. God's ways are different. Man's ways are different. God says, "As high is the heaven 44:54 above the earth, so high are my thoughts from your thoughts. And my ways from your ways." And we glory in the fact that I come to church every Sunday. Some people feel bad that they if they miss one Sunday Sunday meeting, 45:13 they feel very disturbed. They come and they attend, they give their attendance, and they go back home. And they feel you know, satisfied. They Their conscience is eased that they attended church today. 45:32 And we pray morning, we pray at our bedtime, we pray at our meal time. And our day goes like that and we glory in the fact that I am a prayerful person. 45:49 I pray morning, noon, and night. And I read the Bible. And so on and so forth. And we glory in all these things. And we glory also in certain things that we do in church. For example, I met some people who 46:07 who had come here, who used to say, "When I was in the denomination, my earlier church, uh we were so busy with activities." You know, out in the world, out in other denominations, the main thing for them 46:23 is activities, activities, activities. And the more activity you do, the more you're accepted. They think that you're a spiritual person. But some of them who have come from such background, they told me that they thought that they were 46:40 somebody in this church. But when they came here, they came to know that the hidden sins like anger, lust, jealousy, arrogance, hypocrisy, and all these things, they 47:00 were not bothered about these things. These are the things about which the Lord Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. And these were not important for them. For them is to please the pastor and do some activity, Sunday school 47:19 activity, youth activity, some evangelism, and go and visit the sick and pray for them. And they glory in these things and think that they're doing some favor to the Lord and they're acceptable in the Lord's sight. God is not interested in all these 47:35 things. Tell you honestly. You know, we emphasize so much here in this church about the teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount. And there are two sins that Jesus spoke 47:54 of which he said very clearly, unlike other sins, he said, "Only these two sins will take you to hell." And we couldn't care less for those words of Jesus. We think, "Oh, that who can keep those things? 48:14 It's impossible." Yeah. Be it unto you according to your faith. But those who believe that it is possible by the help of the Holy Spirit will come to a place of victory sooner or later. And 48:34 one brother told me, "Until I came to this church, I didn't know that anger was sin." And I asked him, "Didn't your pastor speak about that?" He said, "No." Some men think that anger is a manly 48:53 character. It is not manly character to be angry. It is satanic. It is satanic, not manly. Ungodly. 49:11 And lusting with the eyes. Jesus said, "Anger is like murder. And no murderer will inherit God's kingdom. And lusting with the eyes is equal to committing adultery. And that is what will take you to hell." 49:29 Jesus said, "These two things what Jesus emphasized is hardly spoken in any church these days and the walls of um the church are being broken down are 49:47 being torn down day by day by all these diluted messages that the pastor gives and your best life is now here on this earth. Brother 50:05 where are you? Your best life is here on this earth. There are books, millions of them are sold. And do you read any such thing in scripture? 50:21 Did anybody have best life godly people in the Bible? Not even Jesus had, not even the Apostle Paul had. None of godly people had the best of this world. They were all treated as scum of this 50:41 earth and were were treated as unfit to be here on the surface of the earth. And this is the reward they got. And they looked for a place 51:00 where their citizenship is. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven. And this world is not our home. We are just pilgrims. And we glory in the fact that we um are 51:20 baptized. I was talking to one sister trying to find out whether she's really repented of her sins and born again. Um I didn't get any clarity about that when I spoke to her. Then she said, "Brother, but I'm 51:38 baptized, brother." She said. I mean, they think that by being baptized they have a license to heaven. Nowhere in scripture you read that 51:56 by being baptized you're I mean, you're all right with God. Jesus came with a different message. Jesus' first words was not be baptized. He said, "Repent of your sins." 52:15 And we think that because I said salvation prayer, somebody told me to repeat after them, I repeated after them salvation prayer or I'm wrote a decision card and gave 52:34 and I think that I'm saved. But what is the result? John said, John the Baptist "Bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance. If your repentance has not changed you and 52:52 you're not bringing forth fruit in keeping with your repentance, but your life is the same as it was before then no amount of prayer or decision making, none of those things will ever help you. And some people can boast about their 53:11 good moral life. I have not committed this sin like that fellow, I have not committed that sin like that fellow. I am upright, I'm better than them. That kind of thing also will put me in the category of this Pharisee who 53:28 boasted about himself and went home not justified. And we can be lukewarm. Jesus said it to one of the churches in the book of Revelation. He said, "You're neither hot nor cold. I 53:47 wish you were neither hot uh either hot or cold. But because you're lukewarm, don't you think being lukewarm is at least better than being ice cold? But if you're like ice cold, at least there is hope for us. But if I'm 54:05 lukewarm, then I'm deceiving myself. And the Lord says, "You're neither hot nor cold. Because of that, I'm going to spit you out." That means once upon a time I was inside him. 54:23 But I refused his discipline. I refused to be corrected. I refused to be digested. I refused all this hydrochloric acid that 54:40 falls on our food and breaks it down and you know, gets digested. I refuse it. Then what happens? Undigested food will be thrown up. That's what Jesus said, "I will spit you out of my mouth." 54:59 And then lukewarmness. Lukewarm Christians. This is also a very sad thing and the friendship of the world. The Lord said very clearly 55:16 "He who is friend of this world is in enmity with God." The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life these are not from the Father, but from the world. He who loves this world 55:34 will perish along with the world because this world and its fashions and everything will perish one day. And those who are after that, after them will also perish along with the world. And 55:51 another very important thing the Lord said that is in chapter 6 of Matthew. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach us to pray the Lord taught them 56:10 this prayer from verse 19 of chapter 6 of Matthew. 9 verse 9 to 13. And one particular thing Jesus picked up and he emphasized 56:28 that is when we pray "Father, forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." And Jesus picked up that one particular point and he spoke about that in verses 14 and 56:47 15. He said, "For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Why did he have to say this and emphasize about this? But if you do not forgive 57:04 men their trespasses, your Father will not forgive your transgressions, either. How many of us take this seriously? We want forgiveness from the Father and we ask but we don't want to let go of somebody who has 57:22 harmed us. Our uh hand is on their throat. We don't want to let go. In the same uh gospel chapter 18, the Lord reminds us about this again. He says 57:40 "You know this parable of a person who had borrowed a large sum of money from the king." That is it says about 10,000 talents. One talent is roughly about 34 kg. And if it is in terms of silver or gold, 57:59 if you calculate that in today's value if it is silver it comes to about more than 100 doll- 100 million dollars. That's in Indian currency, it is something about more than 58:17 10,000 crores of rupees. He owed the king, but the king was merciful to his um request and the king forgave all that. And this guy went out and caught 58:34 somebody who just owed him a pittance. And he threatened him and put him in jail. And when somebody came to know about that and went and reported to the king, the king called him back. And he said, "I forgive you so much, 58:49 couldn't you have been merciful to him like I had been?" Be merciful to others just as God has been merciful to you. And then what he says it says here the 59:08 verse 34 18:34 "The Lord moved with anger and handed him over to the torturers." Who are the torturers? Demons. Until he should pay. You know, this teaches me something that 59:27 God can forgive a man's sin. And he expects us to forgive others also who have sinned against us. But if you don't do that, he can unforgive my sins and hand me over to the torturers. This is scripture. I'm This is not some 59:47 CFC teaching. This is what Jesus Christ himself said. So shall my heavenly father also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart. So, dear brothers and sisters, take 1:00:06 these words seriously. The words of Jesus. Don't think that No, just your pastor said, "Oh, forget about all that. Just say sinner's prayer and God is merciful. He will forgive you. You'll He's a loving father. He will forgive 1:00:23 and he will take you to heaven." Read the Sermon on the Mount over and over again. Jesus himself said, "The way The gate is small. 1:00:41 And the way is narrow. Few there be that find it. Don't think that the God has opened up the way through Jesus >> [snorts] >> like we sing in that song 1:00:59 the wildest offender who truly believes that moment he receives pardon from God. And he opened the life gate that all may go in. This is unscriptural. Where do you find them? 1:01:19 He didn't open the life gate that all may go in. No, sir. Jesus said the the way is narrow. Few there be that find it. Be one of those who will find it. We will hear 1:01:37 a message of Brother Zac's now about building the walls around the church, which is a powerful message which he gave uh recently in NCCF. We will listen to that and be challenged by it and take 1:01:56 your Christian life seriously, dear brothers and sisters. I was thinking of the Book of Nehemiah in the Old 1:02:14 Testament recently. I'd like you to turn for a moment there. Some of these Old Testament books if you try and understand the spiritual lesson in it 1:02:31 there's a great message there. And >> [clears throat] >> a little history the children of Israel were sent into captivity around 600 years before Christ because of their 1:02:51 disobedience to so many things. But the Lord told them that I will after 70 years I'll bring you back. So, some of them came back in the days of Ezra and the temple had all been broken down. The walls of Jerusalem had been broken 1:03:10 down. And Ezra came back and initiated building the temple along with Haggai and Zechariah. And some years after that Nehemiah inquired about how things are 1:03:28 going on. So, that's the history here in Nehemiah chapter 1. And he says uh in verse 2, Hanani, one of my brothers, came sent some men from Judah. 1:03:46 See, Nehemiah was not in Israel. He was in the palace of a king, Persian king. And I asked them, "How are things going with the Jews who escaped and survived the captivity and gone back to Jerusalem? Are they doing okay?" 1:04:05 And he said, "The remnant there in the province who survived are in great distress and reproach. And the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and the gates are burned with fire." And when I heard these things, I sat 1:04:21 down and wept and mourned for many days. And I was fasting and praying for the God of heaven. I've discovered one thing throughout the scripture that whenever God uses a person, anybody 1:04:40 it always starts with a burden he has in his heart for something concerning God's house. Today it is God's church. In those days it was the temple and the city of Jerusalem which symbolized the church today. Throughout the Old Testament, wherever 1:04:57 people had a burden for that they would fast and pray and weep because God was not being honored. And I believe that is the most important requirement for all of us to be effective members of the body of Christ, to have a concern. 1:05:17 I'm not talking about how much you fast and pray. That's up to you. But to have a burden and a concern for the state of the church. That's what Nehemiah had a concern about. What is the condition of Jerusalem? Jerusalem in the Old Testament is 1:05:34 always a picture of the church all the way to Revelation. So if you want to be an effective member of the body of Christ, you have to have a concern. You know, just like when you say the Christ our our uh the church is the body of Christ. 1:05:53 It's like you have a concern for your body. We have a concern for our body every single day. I mean, even if you have a slight injury somewhere or ache somewhere, we do something about it. And that is the person whom God can use 1:06:07 because there's a person who's concerned about a small little injury or ache in the body of Christ. That's the thing that we need to ask ourselves. Very often we Many Christians just content themselves that I'm going to the meeting regularly. 1:06:24 I'm attending all the meetings and maybe I'm putting some a little offering in the box. That's not what God is looking for primarily. I'll tell you that. It's a question of do you have a burden to understand how are things going in 1:06:36 the church? Is it Is the church being built together as a body? And that's the burden Nehemiah had had. He says, "They're not The walls are broken down and the gates are burned." That's what he heard. "The walls are broken down." 1:06:51 Verse 3. "And the gates are burned with fire." >> [clears throat] >> So, everything in the Old Testament has a symbolical meaning. What are the walls and the gates? It's in Isaiah chapter 60 we read that 1:07:10 Isaiah 60 verse 18, "I'll call your walls salvation and your gates praise." The wall of the Jerusalem symbolized it being saved from the rest of the world or a wall of separation we can say. Salvation and separation are really the 1:07:29 same thing. When we are saved, we are saved out of the world. So, the wall of Jerusalem symbolized a separation from the spirit of the world. And the gates we are told symbolizes praise. So, applying that the spirit of separation from the world 1:07:49 is broken down in most churches. And I want to tell you in the United States that those walls are getting broken down more and more and more and more and more. And that is why I mean, it's happened throughout the generations. 1:08:05 And that's why every now and then from the beginning of uh Christian history in the last 2,000 years wherever such compromises come in, God's raised up somebody or a few people to stand against that and to start something new 1:08:24 because they say the old structures cannot be repaired. That's how you have so many churches today. All these churches that you have you know Lutherans and Methodists and Baptists they were not the worldly type of churches we see 1:08:42 today. When they started they started because Think of a man like Martin Luther. He was concerned that people were being taught that you can be saved by giving money to the Pope. And for years and years people believed that. And poor innocent people who 1:08:59 didn't know the Bible say they wanted to be saved, they'd pray for the dead and give money to the Pope so that that some dead person would go to heaven. And when Martin Luther heard that and studied the scripture and he found it 1:09:12 was all wrong, he stood against it. God has always stood by those who have the boldness to stand against corruption. I want to encourage all of you, my dear brothers and sisters. Be bold to stand against corruption. 1:09:29 Be bold to stand against backsliding, worldliness coming into the church, worldliness coming into your home. Very, very easy. So, it's not just in the way people dress, but the spirit of worldliness can come into a person's home or come into the 1:09:46 church very easily. This is the burden with which we started CFC 50 years ago. We felt the walls had broken down. And the world had come right in. You know, when the walls are broken down, the people in the world can come right 1:10:03 in. There's no difference between Jerusalem and the rest of the world. And you see that today in a lot of Christendom. There's divorce in the world and there's divorce in the church. Even though Jesus said committing divorce is like committing 1:10:18 adultery. And a woman who commits adultery commit is divorced is an is in Romans 7 says she shall be called an adulteress. Which church preaches that? Which church preaches that a woman who is divorced from her husband is called 1:10:36 an adulteress? Do you know that in Romans chapter 7? Let me show it to you. Romans 7 verse 3. If a woman, [snorts] while her husband is living, is joined to another man, she shall be 1:10:54 called an adulteress. Do you think that's being preached in Christianity today? It's not only not being preached, there are pastors whose wives are divorced. Pastors who themselves are divorced. Nobody bothers. 1:11:14 It's a complete God's word says that, I couldn't care less for what God's word says. That's what I mean by the walls are broken down. And like that, different things, you know, like people were baptizing babies and saying they become children of God 1:11:30 automatically till somebody stood against it. And said that's not how you become a child of God. You have to be born again and immersed in water. But there are even today there are churches where they sprinkle babies and 1:11:42 say it's a child of God. So, >> [clears throat] >> all Christians are not the same. That's why there's always been separation, separation, separation and then we seek to keep ourselves pure, but that spirit of the world can come in. It 1:11:59 may not be in terms of divorce. We've kept ourselves free from that. But in other ways, we have to make sure the walls remain erect. I was looking at Revelation chapter 21 and seeing how I don't know whether you noticed it. 1:12:23 There's a picture of Jerusalem, the church there. And it's all symbolic in Revelation. It says here in Revelation 21:16, the city is a picture of the church. It's like a square. Length and width and height are equal. Now, there's a meaning even in that. 1:12:43 That means what you see in the front has got equal depth as what you see in front. In other words, if it's the length and breadth has got the same amount of depth. That means no hypocrisy. See, a lot of people what you see is 1:13:00 just in front is very big. But you look in, there's no depth there. It's all hollow. But here it says the length and breadth and width are the same. It's 1,500 miles. >> [snorts] >> It's a picture of the church. 1,500 miles this way, 1,500 miles, 1,500 miles 1:13:16 this way, and 1,500 miles high. And then it's got a wall. The wall speaks of separation. Verse 17. And do you know how thick the wall is? 216 feet thick. I I hadn't noticed it for a long time. 1:13:37 The the thickness of the wall. Have you ever heard of a wall 216 feet thick? All around. What is God trying to say through all this? The Lord wants a tremendous spirit of separation of the church from the spirit of the world. 1:13:55 And if you read the Old Testament, Chronicles and uh Kings and Judges and Joshua, you find that what the Lord punished Israel for was always because they allowed the world to come in. And then they would lose out to their 1:14:14 enemies. And you The Old Testament is full of stories of how some prophet would arise and gather all the people together or some wholehearted king. And then a little while later the next king would come and they'd bring the world 1:14:26 right in. This is the continuous history of Israel in the Old Testament. And if you read church history in the last 2,000 years, it's been pretty much the same. Somebody would rise up and stand for stand for something and 1:14:41 bring holiness and righteousness, even someone like John Wesley in who started the Methodist Church. But that's not Methodist Church is nothing like it was in John Wesley's day. The walls are broken down. Or take the Salvation Army. 1:14:59 I mean uh man who started there was such a godly man. And he and his wife, they stood together, William Booth and Catherine, and had a concern for the poor. But it's such a compromised 1:15:18 organization today. So, throughout the centuries, God's raised up one church after the other and I believe this church is raised up in the same way. There were other churches in this Bay Area 14 or 15 years ago, whenever they 1:15:33 started. Why did God raise another church here? Why couldn't people just go to existing churches? There was a reason. We were standing for certain truths, particularly the fact that we could walk in the footsteps of Jesus 1:15:50 and be like him. Not just be saved and go to heaven. That's what a lot of churches preach. You say it and then you're ready to go to heaven. Whereas we emphasize from the beginning what Jesus said so clearly. Let me show you that. 1:16:07 Matthew chapter 7. Even a child can understand here. Even a 10-year-old can understand this. Matthew 7 verse 14. The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. And there are very few who find it. 1:16:31 Now, there are a number of things you can learn just from that verse. And that's the reason why sometimes a new church had to be started. Some people eliminated the way completely. It's as if Jesus said, "The gate is small that leads to life." 1:16:50 That's it. Half the verse is cut out. You accept Christ and you have found life. But let's read carefully. The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. You know, you ask a little child, "So, 1:17:08 what all are there to get to life?" Gate plus way. But that way is not mentioned in many churches. You say, "Oh, once you come in, you you got life." And you can never lose it. And that's what we stood against right from the beginning. That's what we stood 1:17:23 against in in India when CFC started. There was a gate and there's a way that leads to life. So, here's the gate, here's the way, and there's life. Life is not here. It's a gate and a way that leads to life. And there are very few who find it. 1:17:41 So, just because a church has got 10,000 people, in fact, I would doubt very much whether they are on the way. Because in a in there are very few who really find the gate and the way. So, these are the little, little things 1:17:55 in which compromise comes in. Or take something like the foundation. What is the foundation of the Christian life? I'm just trying to show you the places where this 216 thick wall has been broken down, broken down to broken down and made 1 1:18:12 foot or 1 inch and then it's finally broken down altogether. God made it such a thick wall around this church that of truth and it's broken down. You know, there's a >> [clears throat and cough] >> song which says the foolish man built 1:18:30 his house The children sing that song. The wise man built his house upon the rock and the foolish man built his house upon the sand. So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, Christ is the foundation. But let's read carefully. 1:18:46 Let's turn to Luke's gospel in chapter 6. I'm just trying to show you how compromise comes in. And if you are not careful, it can come in here, too. Luke chapter 6, Jesus said the 1:19:03 wise man and the foolish man. In the beginning, I thought the wise man was a man who found a rocky area and built his house there. And the foolish man was a man who found a sandy area and built his house there, easier to build. 1:19:17 Let's read Luke chapter 6 verse 46. Why do you Luke 6:46? why do you call me Lord, Lord and don't do what I say? That's a very relevant word to every Christian today. You read through the New Testament and 1:19:35 see anything that Jesus said and you're not doing it, anything, the Lord will ask you, why you call me Lord if you don't do what I say. And everyone who comes to my word me and hears my word and does them, he's like a man who built his house and 1:19:54 listen to this, he didn't go to a rocky area. He dug deep, went through the sand and hit rock and built. The other guy next to him, he 1:20:13 didn't go dig deep. That was the only difference, he was just next door. He built it on the superficial sand. And and what is the difference between the two? One heard and did. The other person heard verse 49 and did not do. 1:20:30 Now, all of us are hearing God's word in the meeting, but there's a division even here. There are those who hear and read God's word and do it exactly. Who they are the ones in secret, nobody sees it. 1:20:49 They dig deep and hit rock. And I'll tell you what that rock is that has to be blasted. That rock is what we call my will. If this thing called my will is not blasted, we will never build on this rock foundation. What is the thing that 1:21:07 brings conflict between husband and wife? It's my will. Husband says my will and wife says my will and they clash over something and argue about something. But if that my will is not blasted, you will never build on the rock. 1:21:27 But that's not taught. They're taught that you've accepted Christ, you've got the foundation. Yeah, it says that in 1 Corinthians 3, the foundation is Christ, but when it comes to what Jesus said here, if you hear what I have taught and you 1:21:45 don't do it, and he's talking about the Sermon on the Mount. And in the in the Sermon on the Mount, he talks about things like if you look at a woman and lust in your heart, you'll go to hell. I have almost never you turn to the 1:22:06 Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. I personally believe that 1:22:26 that Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7 is one part of this 216-ft thick wall around the church. And I want to tell you a lot of it has been broken down just like in Nehemiah's day. And Nehemiah wept 1:22:44 when he heard that and he went, surveyed the whole area at night, and gathered together people, and built the wall in 52 days, even [snorts] though there was a lot of opposition. You read the book of Nehemiah sometimes, 1:23:02 very interesting. Such a lot of opposition. And he built it. There are lessons for us today. God needs people like Nehemiah today. Brothers and sisters, so when you read Matthew chapter 5, I mean, you've heard me speak on it 1:23:20 umpteen times. The difference between Old Covenant and New Covenant, we call call ourselves New Covenant Christian Fellowship. What is what is the difference between an Old Covenant Jewish fellowship and a New Covenant Christian fellowship? Well, Jesus 1:23:39 explained it. The Old Covenant law was Matthew 5:21, don't commit murder. So, the Old Covenant Jewish fellowship is don't commit murder. In the New Covenant Christian fellowship, it is I don't verse 20 20 two, you don't lust 1:23:56 after women. This is the exact equivalent of the Old Testament law of don't commit murder. How many churches teach that? That as serious as murder was 1:24:14 uh sorry, not lusting after, it is anger. As serious as murder was in the Old Covenant is anger in the New Covenant. See that? I say to you, this is New Covenant verse 22, if you're angry, you're guilty. You see the contrast between Old 1:24:32 Covenant and New Covenant? Have you heard it in some other church? Have you heard any preacher tell you that the Old Covenant murder, thou shalt not murder, is in New Covenant, you shall not get angry? I never heard it in 60 years of being a 1:24:52 Christian in any church or any preacher. It's a pretty thick wall that's been broken down. It says you'll be guilty and how guilty? If you commit murder in the Old Testament, you go to hell. 1:25:10 Here he says also verse 22, the last part, you'll go to hell. How many Christians do you think believe that anger can take a person to hell? I don't think I've met any Christian outside of CFC churches who believe that. 1:25:30 They laugh at it. They say, "Brother Zach, you're making the standard so high, nobody will ever get in." Yeah, I'm sorry to say the wall is 216-ft thick and it's broken down. And we need a few Nehemiah's who are burdened and weep about it and restore 1:25:48 it to the same size. If that was Old Covenant, this is New Covenant, otherwise to call ourselves New Covenant Christian fellowship. Thou shalt not murder, you shall not get angry. This is the equivalent. And the people say, "Oh, this is too high a wall 1:26:04 or too thick a wall." Brother, there are many other churches. You can sit there all your life and go to hell. I'm not slapping you. But if you come here, we're going to tell you the truth because we don't want your blood on our hands in the day of 1:26:20 judgment. I believe that people will be judged according to what Jesus taught here. Okay, here is another Old Testament commandment. >> [clears throat] >> Old Covenant Jewish fellowship, verse 27, you [clears throat] shall not 1:26:39 commit adultery. New Covenant Christian fellowship, verse 28, you shall not lust after a woman. That will lead you to hell in the Old Covenant, adultery, this according to verse 29, last part, will take you to hell in the New Covenant. 1:27:01 And never taught. That's what I mean by saying the walls are broken down. And I believe those who preach, the blood of these people is on their hands. 1:27:20 If they are guilty of not warning people, this will take you to hell. I don't believe anybody's blood is in my hands. I preached this for 50 years that this is New Covenant and that is 1:27:39 Old Covenant. And I've also taught this in the Old Covenant and said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If a guy knocks you knocks out one tooth of yours, don't knock out two of his teeth, you're 1:27:58 permitted to knock out one. That is Old Covenant. If you knock out tooth you two teeth, you're guilty. He took out one tooth of yours, knock out one tooth of his. Verse 38, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That's Old 1:28:16 Covenant. In the New Covenant, don't resist somebody who comes and fights with you. Don't get in an argument. If he slaps you on the right cheek, forgive him. And if you don't forgive, turn to chapter 6 verse 15. 1:28:41 What if somebody knocks out one tooth of mine and I don't forgive him? I I don't knock out his tooth. The the I mean, I say I'm better than the Old Covenant. I don't knock out his tooth, but I don't forgive him. The guy knocked out my tooth. 1:28:57 I'm not going to forgive him. Okay, there's a verse for that. Verse chapter 6 verse 15, if you don't forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive you. New Covenant. Where do you go if your God does not forgive your sin? 1:29:17 I'm preaching the gospel. I'm trying to save people from hell. It's a slightly different gospel from accept Christ as your savior and you're on your way to heaven. Well, I want to say to you that's not the gospel that Jesus preached. 1:29:34 He preached a lot more than that. To receive Christ means to receive his life. And that's why I believe there's so much confusion concerning the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I was so surprised to hear 1:29:54 that somebody in one of our churches went around preaching that you don't need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Anyway, he's no longer an elder today, so it's okay, we removed him from eldership. Imagine going around telling Christians 1:30:14 you don't need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So, when you're born again, the spirit has come. I agree. But you're not filled with the spirit. It's like a a house. The light came into one room, forgiveness of sins, forgiven. 1:30:29 So many other rooms are empty. For example, the way I use my eyes. The way I react to people who hurt me. You know, if you read the Sermon on the Mount and you say, "Lord, what a standard this 1:30:47 is." That's why there are people in the Brethren assemblies who teach the reason why Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount was to teach you it is impossible 1:31:05 to ever get to heaven that way. That's why you come and say, "Lord, Jesus died for my sins. I accept him." And you're saved. So, you mean Jesus spent three chapters just to tell you that you don't have to keep any of this 1:31:16 but just to show you that you can't keep it and you have to be converted. It's one of the fantastic deceptions. Now, if you don't believe me you go and ask any Brethren person. They'll tell you. That's exactly I was in I was with them 1:31:29 for 7 8 years and I know. Deception. The walls are broken down. You don't have to keep Matthew 5 6 and 7. And what did Jesus say? What if a person doesn't keep it? He's built his house on 1:31:47 sand. All those who ignore Matthew 5 6 and 7, any verse in it. For example, this one. If you don't forgive others, Matthew 6:16 your father will not n o t forgive your transgressions. If you don't preach that, you're 1:32:06 breaking down the wall. That 216-ft thick wall is broken down. There's hardly anything left. And Nehemiah, when he heard the walls are broken down, he wept. And he had a burden. 1:32:23 He took leave from his job and he returned back to Nehemiah. He was an amazing man. He wanted to raise the standard back to where the God God had made made it. And it says here 1:32:41 Nehemiah chapter 3 he appointed different people to build that wall again. The high priest, chapter 3 verse 1, he had to get his hands dirty and build. There was no difference between high priest and the sweeper on the streets. 1:33:00 They all joined in. That's the church of Jesus Christ where there's no difference between a what do you call they call them reverend and rabbi, things that Jesus said you must never use such titles. The high priest was the 1:33:11 first person who arose and started to build a gate. And different different ones, you read that whole chapter, they all the way down there was no gap. Nehemiah made sure there was no gap in the wall and he built the wall and he this thing that is 1:33:26 broken and it is one man's who did the whole thing and you read that they completed the wall in 52 days. The [clears throat] preparation for that was a man called Ezra. And that's in the previous chapter. Now, this is a tremendous These two men 1:33:46 were the one who restored Jerusalem, which is a picture of the church back to the way God wanted it. And there's a big difference between Ezra and Nehemiah. It's amazing to see how God keeps brings workers together. Ezra was a very gracious 1:34:03 and gentle type of person. Nehemiah was a firm, strict, no-nonsense type of person. But he he was also strict with himself. For example I want you to see something about Nehemiah's personal habits. 1:34:20 It says here in Nehemiah was very careful in Nehemiah 1:34:38 chapter 5. Just a little thing you notice. All the work that he did in the last part of verse 18 Nehemiah 5 verse 18, he was the governor. I did not You see Nehemiah 5:18, I did not demand 1:34:58 the governor's food allowance. He wouldn't take any money for himself. Even for food. That's to be preached today to Christian people who think every preacher must be paid. Pastors have to be paid. Pastors go from one church to another wherever they can 1:35:17 get a higher salary. That's not Christianity. That's a broken down wall. It's paid pastors and people Jesus said don't ever be called rabbi. Today's equivalent of rabbi is reverend. Don't ever be called reverend. You think people care for 1:35:30 that? People don't care for the words of Jesus. And there are so many believers who just sort of sit back and say it's okay. Nehemiah was not like that. He didn't sit sit back and say it's okay. He said, "I'm going to do 1:35:44 something about it." I did not use the >> [clears throat] >> governor's food allowance. That means he paid out of his own pocket. He didn't take any advantage of even though he did such a lot of work for the whole city of Jerusalem, he 1:35:59 wouldn't take any allowance for it. And that's the type of person who God uses even today. That's how Paul was. Paul refused to take money from people. He said he supported himself. He worked and took care of himself. That's how 1:36:11 Jesus was. >> [clears throat] >> If people gave him a gift, he took it, but he never made it known that I was getting a salary of that type of nonsense. A Christian preacher getting a salary? Absolutely unheard of in the 1:36:23 days of the apostles. It's happening all over today. You think anybody's bothered? The people accept it. Those are the people who are not like Nehemiah. They have no burden that the walls are broken down. The wall of Christian workers do not get 1:36:40 a salary. That wall's been broken down. How many of you are disturbed by that? How many of you would go call calling people reverend so-and-so and all that? You completely ignore what Jesus said. Don't call anybody rabbi or reverend. 1:37:00 I'm just giving you some examples. You say it's a small thing. Jesus said even a small dot in the law if you break it, you're guilty. So, if we don't take [clears throat] these things seriously 1:37:18 I believe we will not be able to build a new covenant church. You can call it new covenant. The people who give all types of fancy names but if you want to know what new covenant church is, this is what it is. I remember when we started CFC 50 years 1:37:36 ago there were two passages of scripture we founded CFC on. Well, before I get there, I want to show you the difference between Ezra and Nehemiah just a moment cuz that's also important. In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, one of 1:37:53 the serious sins was that the Jewish people had married heathen wives. So, when Ezra confronts that in Ezra hears that the people have married heathen wives in Ezra chapter 9. 1:38:13 Ezra chapter 9 verse 1. The princes approached me saying, "The people of Israel and Levites have not separated themselves. They have married the daughters verse They've taken as as wives people from other nations." Ezra chapter 9 verse 2. What did he do? 1:38:32 You know what he did? Chapter 10 verse 1, he prayed and wept prostrating himself before God and said, "Oh God, we have sinned. We have let let you down. Our people have got married to heathen wives." 1:38:49 Okay, that is Ezra's temperament. Now, Nehemiah, who came a few years later he heard the same thing. I want you to see Nehemiah 13 that he also heard that the people had married heathen wives. 1:39:06 Nehemiah chapter 13 and verse 23 in those days I saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, Moab, and their children spoke half this language and that I What did he do? He didn't weep. It says in verse 25, he cursed them and 1:39:23 struck and pulled out people's hair and said, "How dare you do that?" Two completely different people. And they worked together for the glory of God. That's how God selected Paul and Barnabas in the New Testament. Barnabas was like 1:39:42 Ezra. He was called a son of encouragement. Paul was the fiery person who would not compromise on anything. And I'll give you one example of it how they reacted differently. In Acts chapter 13 is where Paul God selected 1:40:02 God selected Ezra and Nehemiah, completely different person. One person will weep when things are going wrong, the other person will just slap people and pull out the hairs from their head. Well, that's how they dealt with people 1:40:14 in the Old Testament. Acts 13 the Lord says in verse two, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul." Barnabas, by the way, was not his real name. His name was Joseph. And Barnabas means son of encouragement. The The apostles changed his name. You're no 1:40:33 longer Joseph. We'll call you son of encouragement because you're such a wonderful brother encouraging everybody all the time. So, the son of encouragement was joined up with Paul and they went to a place called Cyprus. 1:40:44 And there we read there was a magician in verse eight, is he Acts 13:8, who was opposing the proconsul from turning to the faith. Acts 13:8. And Saul look how he talks to him. This reminds me of Nehemiah. 1:41:03 Verse 10, "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, won't you stop making crooked the straight of the Lord? The hand of the Lord is upon you and you'll be blind for a time." 1:41:16 That's Paul. Now, if you'd asked Barnabas to handle this magician, how do you think he would have handled it? I think he would have put his arm around him and say, "Hey, let's have a talk. I don't want to tell you this is not a 1:41:26 very good thing. Why are you doing all this?" Nothing would have happened. That's why God chose a Paul and a Barnabas and they worked together. What I want to say The glory of God was seen in Jesus Christ, full of grace and 1:41:45 truth. That's the balance. It's two legs. That is Ezra and Nehemiah. That is Barnabas and Paul. It's always like that. Don't imitate another. I've often told people, "Don't ever try to preach the way I preach." 1:42:05 God's given me a particular calling. I stick to it. You got to go according to your calling. But in every new covenant church there must be this balance of grace and truth. The ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah, Paul and Barnabas. 1:42:22 That's the only way the wall will be built strong. We don't need two Pauls. We don't need two Nehemiahs. We need a Paul and a Barnabas. And we need a Nehemiah and a Ezra. 1:42:40 That's how it was with Jesus. He could touch the leper and heal him. And with the same hand he could take a whip and chase the money changers out of the temple. Jesus was the whole everything in himself. But today in the body of Christ, one 1:42:55 person fulfills this function, the other person fulfills the the other function. That's the only way we can keep the wall 216 ft thick around NCCF and preserve it from all the spirit of the world coming in. Could come into your homes. 1:43:14 It could could come in the way you allow your daughters to dress when they grow up. It's very easy. Everybody else is dressing that way, okay? Well, if you feel you I you know, when people ask me in Bangalore some sisters, "How shall I dress?" This 1:43:32 is what I told them. I said, "If Jesus said to you tomorrow morning, I want to go for a walk with you in the marketplace 10:00 If Jesus was living in Bangalore and came said, 'I'd like you to come to my house. Let's go for a walk in the 1:43:44 marketplace.' How would you dress? If you were walking in the marketplace with Jesus, that's how you should dress all the time." That's all I said. I said, "I don't have a measuring tape to go around uh checking what's the length of 1:43:57 anybody's dress. I'm not that type of person. I said, 'You ask yourself. If Jesus were coming to your house and taking you for a walk, what how would you dress? And don't you want Jesus to be with you when you go to the office? 1:44:09 When you go to college? When you go to school?' Well, if you want him to go with you, go in a way that he would not be ashamed to say, "This is my sister." the way she's dressed. This is the sister of Jesus Christ. So, if we keep those standards that the 1:44:26 Bible says of course, will we be will we be unpopular? Of course, we'll be unpopular. Jesus was the most unpopular person in his time. They got He was so unpopular that they killed him. And most of the apostles were unpopular. 1:44:40 That's why most of them all of them were killed. So, we we're not facing persecution these days. But I say that compromise is much worse. So, let's bear that in mind and say, "Lord, 1:44:59 let me have a concern in my heart like Nehemiah had. Are the walls being broken down? Are we keeping the wall as high and as wide and strong as they should be? Each of us has a responsibility in our home first. And then to the measure in which you 1:45:18 have responsibility in the church to be an example to others. Even if you don't have a responsibility as an elder the way you conduct yourself and the way you bring up your children you have a responsibility to the church. 1:45:33 >> [snorts] >> Let's pray. So, while our heads are bowed in prayer let's ask the Lord, "What does it mean for me to keep the wall of separation high and wide and strong 1:45:51 in my home? And what responsibility do I have with my family as we come to this church?" Heavenly Father we don't live by rules. 1:46:10 But we believe your Holy Spirit will guide us in all these matters. We [snorts] only want to please you in everything. We want to come to the end of our life 1:46:27 and say we spent our life pleasing you. Whatever other people may have said or thought. Help us, Lord, in every area to be upright to honor you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Can you Can you see the lyrics? They 1:47:51 come up? Let's sing this song, brothers and sisters. Thank the Lord for what we heard and examine our own lives. This song talks about separation. 1:48:12 Picking up the cross and following Jesus. >> [music] >> Jesus, [music and singing] I my cross 1:48:31 have taken. All to leave [music and singing] and follow thee. Destitute, despised, forsaken >> [music] >> thou from hence [singing] my all shall be. Perish every [music and singing] 1:48:52 fond ambition. All I've sought [singing] or in hopes or [music] known. Yet how rich is [singing] my condition. God and heaven [music] are still mine own. 1:49:12 >> [singing] >> Let the world [music and singing] despise and leave me. I have left my Savior, [music and singing] too. 1:49:29 Human hearts and love deceive [music] me. Thou art not like them, art [singing] Thou. Oh, let Thy smile >> [music] >> upon me, God of wisdom, [singing] 1:49:49 love, and light. Foes may [music] hate and friends [singing] disown me. Show Thy face and all >> [music] [singing] >> is right. Men may [singing and music] trouble 1:50:10 and distress me. 'Twill but [music] drive me to Thy breast. Life [music] with trials [singing] hard may press me. Heaven will [music] bring me sweeter [singing] rest. >> [music] 1:50:30 >> Oh, 'tis not in grief to harm [singing] me while that love >> [music] >> is left to me. Oh, 'twere not [singing] in joy to charm me were [music] that [singing] joy unmixed 1:50:50 with Thee. Go, then, >> [music and singing] >> earthly fame and treasure. Come disaster, [music] scorn, and pain. 1:51:07 In Thy service, pain [singing and music] is pleasure. With Thy favor, loss is gain. [music] I have called Thee [singing] Abba Father. I have stayed [music] 1:51:25 my heart on Thee. Storms may [music] howl [singing] and clouds may gather. All must work [music] for good >> [singing] >> to me. Haste thee on. 1:51:44 Haste thee [music and singing] on from grace to glory. On by faith [music] and [singing] wait by prayer. Hands eternal [music] days before Thee. God's [music and singing] own hand shall 1:52:02 guide us there. Soon shall [music and singing] close thy earthly mission. Soon shall pass thy [singing] pilgrim days. Hope shall change [music] to glad fruition. >> [singing] 1:52:21 >> Faith to sight and prayer >> [music] >> to praise. Let's sing the first verse once more. Jesus, [music] I [singing] my cross have taken. 1:52:38 All to [music] leave and follow Thee. >> [singing] >> Destitute, [music] despised, forsaken, Thou from hence [music and singing] my own shall be. Perish every [singing and music] 1:52:56 fond ambition. All that [singing] I sought or hoped or knew. Yet how [music and singing] rich is my condition. God and heaven are still >> [music] 1:53:14 >> mine Amen. We'll have the book of the month and the announcements. Presenting 1:53:44 the book of this month, A Godly Family Life by Brother Zac Poonen. The Christian life can be compared to a three-story [music] building. The foundation of the building is Christ Himself, in whom we see God's perfect, 1:54:00 eternal, and unchangeable love for us. The first story of the building is our inner life. The second story of the building is our family life. The third story of the building is the church and our fellowship and service in 1:54:16 it. We need the power of the Holy Spirit if we are to build these three stories as an unshakable structure. The big mistake many are making today is that they engage in the Lord's ministry, >> [music] >> in building the third story, without 1:54:34 having built a solid inner life, which is the first story, and a godly family life, >> [music] >> which is the second story. And it is in the second story of the family life where most have fallen short. The word of God contains the 1:54:48 manufacturer's instructions for the family life. Follow his instructions, and you cannot go wrong. Even if you have destroyed your family life in the past by foolish mistakes, [music] you can still set things right. As we approach the end of time, we find 1:55:06 that Satan's attacks are concentrated more and more on the family lives of Christians. Therefore, it is essential that we preserve our families within the boundaries of the teaching of God's word if we are to [music] glorify His name, 1:55:21 fulfill His purposes, and preserve our children for His kingdom in these days. May the Lord use this book to help you and challenge you to live for His glory alone as a family. You can read this book free online at cfcindia.com 1:55:40 {slash} books >> [music] >> {slash} A Godly Family Life. regularly 1:56:32 since 2020. That is post-COVID.
