0:18 Praise the Lord. It's the first Sunday of the new year. In the world, they make new year resolutions which if you are wholehearted will last about one week. 0:37 Doesn't last too long. And many of us who have made new year resolutions have discovered that in the past that it doesn't last long. But I tell you one way in which we can make some decisions we make 0:54 last longer. You've heard me say this more than once. What are the first four words in your Bible? In the beginning, God Try 1:12 throughout this year to keep that in mind every day. And when you wake up, remember that. And remember this verse I've often quoted 1:29 in Isaiah 50:4. is God who wakes me up in the morning by morning. You know this is a prophetic reference to Jesus Christ. Isaiah 50 because later on it says about 1:48 he gave his back to those who strike me in verse six and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard and my feet. I did not hide my face from spitting is very clearly referring to Christ. So verse four also refers to Christ 2:08 he wakes me up middle of verse four morning by morning and when he wakes me up he awakes the ear of my heart to listen as a disciple as a disciple means one who listens in order to obey. 2:25 So here is a easy resolution that we can make not some great promise that we can't keep. All of us wake up in the morning sometime. 2:41 Shall we try and practice this this year that when we wake up you won't do it every day because it'll you got to get used to it. But if you get used to it, by the time 2 or 3 2:56 months are over, it'll become a habit. So it says so an action and it'll become a habit. But you got got to keep doing it. And that is when you wake up in the morning, say, I want to speak to you, daddy. 3:15 You woke me up. Please wake up my heart to listen what you're saying to me. And there is only one thing that will prevent you from hearing what God is saying. Sin. 3:34 Sin plugs our spiritual ears. You can't hear. Even if John said that at the age of 95, he said in Revelation 1, I heard his voice like a trumpet. I've often thought about that. Lord Jesus, I want to be like John. 3:53 that when you s when your voice is like a trumpet you know just shakes me up out of my sleep your voice such a loud voice I want to hear it like that in my heart but it won't come overnight John said that at the age of 95 4:11 he had walked with God for more than 65 years and he could say I hear the voice of the Lord like a trumpet We can work towards that. You won't get it overnight. But develop this habit. Lord, please 4:29 let me hear you in my heart today. I want to call you daddy and I want you to speak to me. So, as I said, what is it that can block that sound? It's something not settled in our life. 4:49 We've often said about that and I want to repeat it again and again. Make sure there's nothing unsettled particularly within your own home. Husband, wife, please begin the new year 5:07 the good relationship. Agree to forgive and forget everything you can't forget. Okay, that'll remain in your mind. But to forgive and instead of saying forget, I say don't bring back to your memory. That means don't make an effort to 5:26 remember. Now when it comes to my mind, I'm going to reject it. It'll come to my mind. I reject it. I say I'm not going to. You can't stop memory from reminding you of what evil somebody did or the way somebody spoke to you. You can't stop it, but you can 5:43 reject it. I don't want it. It's somebody flinging mud into your memory and you say, "I don't want it. I don't want that rubbish." Please follow this simple rule and let it become a habit. It took me time, I'll tell you honestly, 5:59 to make it a habit. Anything takes time to become a habit. You teach your children when they're very small to brush their teeth. They'll forget some days. But when they grown up, where do you find grown-up people forgetting to 6:11 brush their teeth? Because it's become a habit. Habit. Habit. You can walk in your sleep and go and brush your teeth because it's become a habit. Anything that you keep on doing will become a habit. So that's I want you to develop 6:26 this habit this year. May take a whole year perhaps, but worth it. When I wake up in the morning, I say, "Daddy, I want you to speak to my heart and I want to make sure there's nothing in my heart." I know you've heard me say 6:41 this a hundred times. I will say it a thousand times because this is what blocks the ears of many of God's people from hearing what God is saying. Your life will be transformed if you hear what God is saying. I have tried my best through all my life 7:01 to hear what is God saying to me. That is how I heard such a clear call from God more than 60 years ago to quit my job. It was a very clear call. And now when I 7:17 look back at that chapter Isaiah 49 at which God spoke to me years ago and I see so many things in that chapter being fulfilled in the last 60 years. This is like that. Listen to God. Listen to God. Sometimes he'll speak very clearly directly to 7:36 your heart. So develop the habit of listening. Listening Lord I want to hear you. I want to be you know it says about Mary and Martha. Martha was so busy doing things for the Lord. Don't get so busy doing things for the 7:52 Lord like Martha that you don't have time like Mary to sit at his feet. We have to do both. We had to sit at his feet and listen and we had to serve him. I try to sit at his feet and listen and I try to serve him. But I know definitely which is more 8:07 important. Jesus said that the one thing needful Luke 10:42 is not to serve me. Did you hear that? The one thing needful is not to come to the church meeting. That is necessary. That is second. First is to sit at my feet and hear my word. 8:26 One thing is necessary. to sit at my feet and listen to my word and Mary Jesus said has chosen the good part years ago the Lord said that to me and I it's I wrote that in the first book I ever wrote the supreme priorities one of 8:44 the chapters there is one thing is needful that is to sit at Jesus' feet and listen that beautiful song sitting at the feet of Jesus oh what words I hear him say develop that habit brothers sisters all you children it's very easy you before 9:04 you don't you don't have to kneel down if you it's very good habit to kneel down if you can kneel down um by all my early years I used to always get up in bed and kneel down beside the bed and pray that's the best way to do and to 9:20 concentrate on the lord and if you are an early waker then you see nobody else is awake in the house is a wonderful time undisturbed and even if you don't have the opportunity to kneel down and pray when you're awake in your bed without 9:37 disturbing maybe others are are already awake don't disturb them you can even pull the sheet over your face and talk to the Lord quietly in your heart but please develop that habit this year to allow God to waken you in your heart 9:55 and to speak to you to awaken in your ear and to listen not to listen to get information but to it says here to listen Isaiah 50:4 as a disciple Lord what do you want me to do sometimes the Lord may say something to you which 10:12 is very precious which is very necessary which can change lives around you listen the whole secret of Jesus life was this he would get alone before other people were awake 10:30 and he did not go by the opinions of people. I want to show you one example in Luke's gospel chapter 4. We read here towards the end of that chapter the verse 37 the report about him was spreading in every locality in the 10:46 surrounding district. Luke 4:37. And then he got up and left the synagogue and he entered Simon's house and he stood over her and prayed over her. He rebuked the fever. And then at the end of the day verse 40 when the sun was 11:05 setting read carefully sun setting means after 6:00 in the evening all the people who were sick with various diseases brought them. Imagine 6:00 in the evening the whole city or town whatever it is brings all their sick people and 11:25 he did not pray a general prayer for all of them. It says he laid his hands on each one of them. Verse 40, separately and healed them. And then there were demons coming out of many shouting, "You're the son of God." And he rebuked 11:43 them. He would not allow them to speak because he did not want a testimony from a demon that he's the son of God. I mean, you'd be excited if a demon said, "You're a son of God." Oh, everybody heard the demon say, "I'm a son of God." Do you want a testimony 11:58 from a demon? Jesus never wanted it. He rebuked them because they knew him to be the Christ and he did not want a testimony from a demon. He wants you and I to give a testimony about him. And now you see this must have gone on late into 12:18 the night, probably midnight or past midnight. I don't know when it all finished laying. Each person he laid, he did not pray a general prayer. Something wonderful I see about Jesus that he was so careful that this poor sick person 12:30 must know that I'm interested in him personally and would touch him. What a difference it makes when personal touch and then late at night he goes to bed but early in the morning verse 42 12:48 he did what we read in Isaiah 50 he went to a secluded place nobody could know where he was the crowd searched for him and came to him and said, "There's a revival here. Tremendous revival last 13:07 night. Stay here." And he said to them, "I cannot stay." Common sense said, "You must stay here. So many people are revived. This is the God is moving here. Stay here." But he did not go by common sense. He went by the witness of God. He heard 13:25 that morning. God told him, "Don't stay here. Go to other cities." and he says I have to preach to other cities and he went. So Jesus allowed his himself to be led in a situation like that where common sense 13:43 sort of told him this is the best place to say a great revival is happening and so one night tomorrow more people will come and many of them will surrender to the lord. No he listened to the father early morning and decided what to do. 13:58 It's a wonderful thing if you keep listening to that you know during the day God can guide you as to what you are to do because you got in touch with him in the morning. It's a wonderful example and you read that in many times he would go like that and we 14:17 read also further down in chapter 6 verse 12. Another time he went alone off to the mountain to pray and he spent the whole night in prayer. That is a very important decision. It was a decision that's going to affect 14:37 the world for 2,000 years. That's why he spent a whole night because he was going to select disciples the next morning. Those are the apostles who are going to change the face of the world for the next 2,000 years. So 14:56 sometimes the Lord prompts us to pray a longer time and things are more important. I want to show you a couple of other verses in Matthew chapter 4. When we get alone with the Lord 15:19 early morning, it's not a time to keep asking, "Give me this, give me that, give me that." You can do that. The Lord doesn't mind you're asking. Just like you go to your daddy and say, "Daddy, I'm hungry." Or, "Daddy, I want this." 15:35 And your daddy will give you what is good for you. He may not give you things that are not good for you. He won't give you and he may not even give you things you ask for because you're not yet old enough to handle them. 15:47 So sometimes when God says no to us in our prayer, remember it's like if your little three-year-old child says, "Dad, give me that 500 rupee note." A 500 rupee note is a very valuable thing, but you won't give it to your 16:02 three-year-old. Not because you don't love him. you'll be willing to spend 5,000 rupees on him later on for his education. But right now, you won't give him that 500 rupee note. You see, you can't you're not able to handle it. So there are things when 16:17 God doesn't give something to you that you ask for. Remember there's a very good reason. Don't argue with him about it. Lord, you know what is best for me. You realize this thing I asked for. I thought it was good for me, but you say no. I bow and 16:33 accept it. But here we read the Lord told Satan when Satan said, "Bow down and worship me." Luke, Matthew chapter 4, the Lord said to him, "It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him." 16:51 You see the order, you must worship and then serve. I'm very thankful that I learned that fairly early in my life. I have been serving God for many many years. 60 years almost full-time and even before that I mean I started 17:09 serving the Lord and preaching when I was 23 and that's 62 years ago. And one thing I learned very early in my life that if I want to effectively serve God, effectively preach God's word, I 17:26 must be a worshipper first. You shall worship and you shall serve. I want to say that to all of you. Those you want to them some brothers here who here who are very eager to preach. 17:42 Be careful brother. Don't have a lust to preach. It is as bad as lusting after women. Did you hear me? The lust to preach. The lust to stand up here and let everybody 17:59 hear you is as bad as lusting after women. If God makes it such that you have to stand up here, that's different. That God thrust you here. But if you try to lust after it and you want to be honored and even in your little house groups, you want to 18:17 be honored to get up and speak. I can tell you, you will destroy yourself. God kept me in many situations for many years where I was not allowed to preach and God said keep your mouth shut and sit there quietly and I sat and sit 18:31 quietly even though I had gift that could bless others because I had done that before but the Lord said keep your mouth shut and the Lord tested me for years to keep my mouth shut when I had a gift to speak and I know why he was teaching me he was 18:47 teaching me to get rid of this lust to preach when you're young you have a lust to preach particular Particularly if you feel you have a gift and sometimes people who don't even have a gift have a lust to preach lay it aside and say Lord 19:00 let me have a great lust means great desire let me have a great desire to worship and I want to tell you something about worship because it says here you cannot serve effectively if you don't worship first so you have a before you have a great 19:16 desire to preach to others please develop the habit of a great desire to be a worshipper How many people have a great desire to worship? Very so many people. Because in worship, you're doing in secret. You don't get any honor. The great desire to 19:31 preach in public is because we want honor. Kill it. It'll it'll ruin you. I warn you, it'll ruin you. Does ruin many, many young people. It's a different thing when God thrusts you into a position. But worship is in secret and it's a 19:48 wonderful thing to do. So I want to tell you something about worship that you understand which you probably will never hear in any other church like many other things you hear here. There are three steps to worship. First of all learn to thank God. That's 20:08 number one. If you have not developed the habit of thanking let me tell you the three. Thanksgiving, praise, worship. You hear it? Thanksgiving, praise, worship. Those are three different things. So go step by step. Don't jump to the 20:24 third step. You can't get there. Don't jump to the second step. Start with the first one. Thanksgiving. When should we give thanks? I'm trying to teach you how to worship. Ephesians 5 verse 20. Ephesians 5:20 says, "Always give 20:47 thanks." And verse 18 says, "Be filled with the spirit." What happens when you are filled with the spirit? You will always give thanks. There are many people in the world, particularly in Pentecostal churches, who say you must seek for tongues. I 21:06 say, "Seek this one. Be filled with the spirit." Verse 18, "And learn to give thanks always. in your own language. That's fine. That is the mark. It doesn't say here you're filled with the spirit and you speak in tongues. You 21:20 filled with the spirit and you will give thanks always and you'll be use giving thanks in psalms verse 19 psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and singing and making melody in your heart always giving thanks. So to me that is the mark of a 21:36 spiritfilled man. He has a spirit of thankfulness for everything that happens in his life and he's always got a thankful spirit. It's a wonderful thing to meet a brother who's always thankful who's very quick to thank you 21:51 for very small things you do for him or any little thing you do. He's thankful. He's deeply thankful. He doesn't take for granted. So so many so many of us can take for granted. For example, you may never say thank you to your wife 22:07 or your husband. They do things for you and we can take for granted even if you don't actually say the words. Have a thankful spirit even to your husband and wife. You children, one of the most important things you children must 22:19 develop is to be thankful to your parents for all that they sacrificed for you. Some of you children are grown up. Are you thankful to your parents for what they've done for you? What they sacrificed for you? Develop that habit. 22:31 You can be filled with the spirit. Always give thanks. So thanksgiving is recognizing the Lord has done something for me and I don't deserve it. When is it that you don't give thanks? You don't give thanks when you think you 22:47 deserve it. If you get your salary from the office the first of the month, you don't go and bow down before your boss and say, "Thank you very much for my salary." Because you deserve it. You worked hard and you got it. So learn 23:03 this that when you don't give thanks for something, it's because you feel you deserve it. When you feel that you don't deserve something, you will readily give thanks. And that's the story of the 10 lepers. You know the 23:20 story in Luke's gospel where 10 lepers were cleansed. I don't have to turn to that. You know the story. 10 people were cleansed and as they were going to the priest to show the law was that you have to show yourself to the priest. This is it's in 23:39 Luke 17:1 onwards in case you want to see it. And as they were going, it says here verse 14 last part. As they were going to the priest, they were cleansed. Leprosy disappeared from their hands. Their nose came to proper shape and they 23:57 said, "Hey, this is amazing. Something has happened. It's not like some inward sickness going. They le let's perceive something they could feel and is they're getting sensation in their hand. I'm healed. 10 of them. One of them 24:13 came back. When they asked for healing, it says in verse Luke 17:13, they raised their voices said have mercy on us. But when it came to giving thanks, they 24:29 didn't say a single word. But one man, verse 15, he shouted out with a loud voice. The same loud voice with which we with which he asked for healing. The same loud voice, it says in verse 15, he shouted and thank you. And he fell on 24:45 his face at Jesus' feet. And he was a Samaritan. He was a Samaritan means he was the one of those whom Jews despised. Sometimes the one whom we despise turn out to be more spiritual than 25:02 those whom we think should be more grateful. Jesus said, "Where are the 10 cleansed?" Verse 18, isn't only one come back and he's a foreigner? He's not even a Jew. He's an outsider. The Samaritans 25:21 were Jew outsiders. And he's come back to give glory to God. And you know what he got? He got something more than healing. That's the wonderful thing. When you come back and give thanks to God, you'll get something more than what 25:35 you got initially. It says, "Stand up." Jesus said in verse 19, "Your faith, as the margin says, has saved you." Your faith has saved you. My margin says, that's a real word there. What you got before is healing. What you get now 25:51 is salvation. How did he go from healing to salvation just by giving thanks? Do you know that you can get something more from the Lord when you learn to give thanks? Here's an example of that. And you miss out when you don't give thanks. 26:08 So please develop that habit in this year. If you want to be a worshipper, first step, give thanks. And if you don't develop the habit of giving thanks, I'll tell you what will happen. Romans chapter 1 verse 21 26:26 it's talking about the decline of man they went down down down at the bottom of it you read in verse 32 uh verse 30 rather they became verse 29 they were full of wickedness greed evil murders strife deceit malice slanders haters of 26:45 God all types of wicked things mentioned in verse 29 and 30 but you go backwards god It says in three times it says God gave them up. Verse 28, God gave them up. Verse 26, God gave them up. Verse 24, God gave them up. Three times it 26:58 says God gave them up, gave them up, gave them up. Because they went sinking, sinking, sinking right down to the bottom. It's a they went into in verse 32-32. But where did this start? What was the first step downwards? 27:13 Verse 21. When they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. So learn the first step downwards to backsliding and sin is when you stop giving thanks. So if you don't have the habit of thanksgiving, I want to tell you right 27:32 now, you're a backslider. You may not know it. The outward evidence of backsliding may come much much later. But if you don't have the spirit of giving thanks to God, you're already backsliding. It may be a little just a matter of time before you hit 27:49 verse 29 and 30 and 31 here. But giving thanks to God also makes us thankful to people. I hope you have the habit of being thankful. Even if you don't say thank you thank you to your husband and wife to be have a thankfulness 28:05 for what she does for you or what he does for you. Your children learn to be thankful for your parents. You may find so many faults in them but be thankful for all the sacrifices they make for you. Be thankful for the elders in your 28:18 church. They are not paid for it. They do far more than many, many people realize. We have to be thankful. I was making an inquiry how many people were involved in 28:37 yesterday's program and Charles told me about 300. I said we got to get make them stand up today. They won't fit on this platform, but they can stand up where they are. I'm deeply thankful for them. They have done a fantastic job as you saw 28:56 yesterday. I want to be thankful. I want to be thankful to God that God has raised up such people. What did they do it for? They didn't do it for honor. Nobody knows all their names. They didn't do it for money. They wouldn't do 29:12 it for money. They do it because they want to serve God and they're grateful for what the church has done for them. Spirit of thankfulness so important. We need to learn. Okay. Thanksgiving. One more verse. 1 29:34 Thessalonians and chapter 5 and verse 18. What we read in Ephesians 5 was always timewise 24 hours have a spirit of thankfulness. But what we see here is 1 29:53 Thessalonians 5:18. In every situation, that is in terms of time and this is in terms of situations. In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you. Many times people tell me, "Brother Zach, I can't seem to find God's will 30:08 here." Well, I'll tell you one thing which is God's will for you. Here, 1 Thessalonians 5:18. This is God's will for you. Give thanks in everything. So perhaps you're not doing this. That's why you can't find God's will in something else. You're trying to 30:25 read a book before you learn the alphabet. Is there any school that tells people to read a book before they learned ABC? So here's the ABC. Give thanks in everything. Then you can start reading the books and Lord, what is your will here? What is your will 30:40 there? Yeah. Yeah. We'll come to that. But first, learn the ABC. In everything, give thanks. This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Lord, I don't know your will in many areas in my life, but I know your will in one area definitely 30:54 that in every situation, I must learn to give thanks. Shall we learn it this year? Yes. Praise the Lord. We'll try to learn it. The ABC of knowing the will of God in every 31:11 situation. I may not understand. How can I give thanks in this situation? All right. Lord, I don't know how this is going to work out, but I'm your child. If I've done something foolish, please forgive me. Cleanse me. He'll do that 31:23 immediately. But Lord, can you still make things work out for my good? Yes. He can make everything work for my good. So I will give thanks. So one reason we give thanks is because turn turn to Romans 8. Our favorite verse. Romans 8 and 31:40 verse 28 and 29. Shall we turn to that verse? Romans 8 vers 28 29. Romans 8:28. It says God causes all things to work together for good. Now many people have read that verses. All things work together for good. That's 31:59 also right. But here, I like it. In the NASB, it says God causes all things to work together for good. That's the wonderful thing. These things don't automatically work for good, but God causes all things to work together 32:14 for good. Not to the not for everybody, but to those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. Now, tell me, if you know that something is for your good, can't you give thanks? Sure. we hesitate to give thanks because this 32:29 doesn't look as if it's for my good. But when you read that God can cause everything that comes into your life to work for your good if there's a condition. For every promise there's a condition. If you love God and he has called you to fulfill his 32:48 purpose. In other words, you say, "Lord, my only desire is to do your will on earth, your purpose and I love you and I want to fulfill your will in my life." It's a wonderful promise. I said that to God many years ago when I was 20 years old. I said, 33:05 "Lord, I love you and I want to only fulfill your will for my life. When I look back over these 65 years, what a wonderful life it has been." We are to be examples to others how wonderful our life can be when we choose God's will alone. 33:24 And if you get to my age and you've been ser for 65 years one day, I hope you'll be able to tell people it's a wonderful life God has made for me. And if you choose to do God's will and you love him and you want to fulfill his 33:42 purpose for your life alone, that will be true in your life as much as it was in mine. I'm not special. God sometimes takes a person and says, "Here's an example. Follow him. You may not have the same calling as I have. You may not have the same gift as 34:00 I have." God has different gifts in the body. But he's got a specific gift for you. There's no part of this body that does not have a function. I often use the example of nails. We value hands, ears, eyes, wood. Do you value your nails? 34:19 If I feel itchy somewhere, there's only one part of my body that can help me at that. That's my nails. Such a small little thing. It's so useful at certain times. So many times, thank God for nails. So even if God is you're a nail 34:36 perhaps in God's body, what's what does that mean? You can scratch somebody's back when he can't reach that place. That means you're an encourager. A man who scratches a back is an encourager. Can you encourage people? Can make a 34:51 tremendous difference. It's just like relieving a man whose back is itching and somebody scratches his back say I feel so good. Encourager. Be an encourager. Be a back scratcher. An encourager. You're a small part of the 35:03 body of Christ. Very important. You may not be the tongue or the eye or the ear or no no I'm just a nail encouraging people. Great ministry. If you have there's a purpose for your life, you say, "Lord, I want to fulfill 35:16 that purpose. I want to tell you a promise from God. Everything that happens in your life, Romans 8:28, will work for your good." And that good is not that you will if you're married, you'll get a beautiful wife or not married, you'll get a beautiful wife or 35:30 you'll get a better job. No, the good is in verse 29, you'll become more like Jesus. The good is that he'll make you more like Jesus. And if you realize that is the greatest good that God can ever do to me. I am absolutely convinced that the 35:46 greatest good that God can do to me is to make me like Jesus Christ. Not to make me rich or famous or strong or powerful or anything, but to make me like Jesus Christ and to make me his younger brother. That's what it says 35:59 here. He'll make me like Christ and he'll make me the younger brother of Christ. That's why I give thanks for everything. Okay, thanksgiving is the first step. What is the next thing? Praise. Praise is different from thanksgiving. 36:16 In thanksgiving, I'm thinking of what God did for me. In praise, I'm thinking of who he is. Praise God for the fact that he's holy, that he's ruler of the heaven and earth, our father who art in heaven. I praise him for his love for me. I praise him 36:34 for the fact that he that he does everything for my good. I praise him for that he runs the universe, that everything is under his control. I praise him for how holy he is and how pure he is and how he never does anything evil to us or to anyone else. 36:51 how he's pure and loving and how he wants us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I praise him for all the attributes of his holiness and purity. I praise Jesus for who he is, for coming down to earth. I praise God for his love 37:04 in sending his son to die for a wretch like me. Praise, praise, praise, praise. Different from thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is for things that happen in my life. And I thanks him for good things, bad things, and all for my good. 37:17 I praise him for who he is. And then what's the third stage? Thanksgiving, praise, worship. Now what we hear, what we had this morning, not really worship. I mean individuals sitting here may have worshiped while 37:36 this was going on, but it was praise and thanksgiving. Yeah. Thank Lord, thank you for saving me. Maybe we sing songs like that. That's thanksgiving. Praising is for who he is. Even if he did nothing, Lord, I praise you for who you are. Thanksgiving 37:52 is for what he's done or what he's going to do. Praise is for who he is. Even if he did nothing, I praise him for who he is. It's a higher level. My God, how wonderful thou art. I'm not thanking him for that or praising him. How wonderful thou art, 38:11 Lord. I'm praising him for who he is. Thy majesty, how bright, how beautiful, thy mercy seat. So in depths of burning light, that's I'm praising him. So thanksgiving leads to praise for who he is. Many times you read in the scriptures about praising 38:30 God for who he is. And then the third stage is worship. And worship it's very difficult I would say to do it publicly. Worship is something secret 38:45 between you and God alone. Very very few believers have ever learned what it is to worship. And that's why their service is also limited because Jesus told the devil you 39:02 shall worship then you shall serve. So I found in my own life the importance of worship to be that this I told you when you get up in the morning it's a good thing to do to not ask God for anything to worship him to get alone to recognize 39:21 what is worship it's not even praise I'm not praising him for years I'm gone beyond that to bow down before him and acknowledge him as God Almighty who has absolute right over your life the first place where worship is mentioned in 39:37 scripture is very interesting to see. It's in Genesis in chapter 22. In Genesis 22, you read God told Abraham, "Take your son." He He said it very clearly. It's very 39:55 interesting to see how God said it. Genesis 22:2. Read the scripture carefully. He could have said, "Take Isaac and sacrifice him." That would have been a message. But he doesn't say that. See what he says. Take your son 40:13 number one, your only son, two, number three, whom you love. See the emphasis there. Your son, remember he's your only son because Ishmael is gone. And remember, he's one you love so much. 40:31 Take him and go and offer him as a sacrifice to me in the land of Moriah. The land of Moriah in the mount Moriah was three days journey away. Why did the Lord tell him take him 3 days journey? He could have told him go around the corner and sacrifice him. 40:50 Because God does not make a person do things in a rush. Take three days to think about it. While you're walking to Mariah, think about it. Is it worth serving a God who's asking me to kill my son whom I love so much? My only son. My other son 41:08 is gone. Is it worth living for a god and sacrif serving a god who asked me to sacrifice my only son? Think about it. Think about it. Think about it. For 3 days, Abraham, you know, when you read scripture, meditate on it. Abraham 41:21 thinking walking down walking down and what is he his mind on if you were asked to kill your son 3 days from now and you're going to that place what will you be thinking about you won't be thinking about making money or any such thing I'm 41:33 going to lose my son I'm not going to see him on my way back I'm not going to see this boy young boy is maybe been about 25 years old by then I won't see him when I come back often looking at him I won't see him when I come back 41:45 he's gone don't know anyway and when he came to the place where he had to sacrifice on the third day was four. The young man he the people who helped him with the luggage and all that and went he said stay here with the donkey. 42:03 Now listen to this. This is the first time in the Bible the word worship comes and the first occurrence of a word in the Bible is always interesting to study. Abraham said, you know, I'm going to go and make a great sacrifice for God now 42:19 to show him how much I love him. No, no, no, no, no. He said, I and Isaac will go there and worship. I'll come, we'll come, both will come back to you. Look at that. Both of us will come back to you. He is expressing his faith that if God 42:38 has already promised that the my seed is going to be through Isaac, he tells me to kill him. This is the first instance of a man who believed in the resurrection. He believed that God would raise him from the dead on the he said I want to go and worship 42:56 and return to you. So it's interesting to see there what Abraham believed that what he was doing was an act of worship and the Holy Spirit who inspired scripture 43:15 inspired Abraham to use that word worship there. So I have learned from that verse what worship is. Worship is something you do in secret. You don't Abraham did not get a whole congregation to see do you know see what I'm see the sacrifice I'm going 43:29 to make no no all alone nobody saw the sacrifices I want to say to you my brother sisters that wor in worship there's a sacrifice and you don't want anybody to see it even your wife may not know the sacrifice you make or the 43:43 husband may not know it's between you and God alone Abraham and God alone said Lord I love you so much the most precious thing in my life I offer up to you. Sometimes the most precious thing in our life is our self life. We try to defend 44:01 ourselves, rise up for ourselves. You know, we we are so easily defend ourselves. When you get upset with somebody for anything, think about it. Do you ever get upset with someone? Do you get upset with somebody the way somebody speaks to 44:17 you? You get upset with what somebody does when you expect him to do something else. Let me tell you it is because you worship yourself. If you worship God, you won't get upset. You say, "Lord, what am I? Why should Why should anybody treat me with 44:37 respect? I don't want it. I want to die." Dead people don't get upset. I'll tell you that. They don't get upset. Whatever you call them or whatever you do to them, Lord, I want to be a person who's not disturbed. I want to come to the place 44:51 where I have really died. I want to be crucified with Christ and it's no longer I that live. Jesus was never upset with people. Never. What a wonderful life to come to. We may not get there overnight. But do you want 45:10 that life? I want it with all my heart. All my heart. I want to come to a place where I don't get upset. I may correct people. I correct my children. You may correct husband. You may correct your husband. You may correct your wife. Not because you're 45:23 upset cuz you say there is a better way. I'm telling you the top of the mountain. You won't get there overnight. But if you slowly slowly tread, you will get there. It's getting upset will get less and less and less and less and less till it 45:41 gets to zero. So say to the Lord, Lord, I want to be a worshipper. I want to go beyond thanksgiving and praise to worship where I when you get up in the morning and to bow down and worship God just 45:58 like those angels in heaven. See those angels in heaven can't say because you died for me. He didn't die for them. We can that is thanksgiving. Because you did this for me, I thank you. And then praising him for who he is. But worship 46:16 is much beyond all that. I want to give you an example of what happens when you worship. Turn to Isaiah chapter 5. In Isaiah chapter 5, you read about the great prophet Isaiah 46:33 who was exposing the sins of peoples. Prophets are called to expose the sins of people. And this is how Isaiah exposed the sins of people. Isaiah 5:8, he was led by God, the Holy Spirit, to say this. Wo unto those who 46:53 add house to house and field to field till there's no more room and you occupy all the property in the land. You know people who had money were buying buying buying buying buying all the property so that poor people could not buy anything. 47:06 All the places are occupied by the rich people because they had plenty of money. Woe unto them who make the poor people suffer like that is Isaiah the prophet. Then verse 11. Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning just to get drunk and stay up 47:22 late in the evening and they wasting their money and wine and with all their banquetss and the music in verse 12 and liar and harp and tambourine and flute and they don't pay attention to what the Lord wants them to do. They don't 47:35 consider the work of God's hands. Therefore, they'll go into exile. Then he says into verse 18, "Woe unto those who drag iniquity by telling lies." the chords of falsehood. They keep on telling lies and keep on committing sin. 47:54 And then verse 20, another group of people. Woe unto those who call what is evil good. And what is good they call evil. They've turned values upside down. They've substituted darkness for light and light for darkness and substituted bitter 48:12 things for sweet and sweet for bitter who are wise. Another group verse, woe unto those 21 who are wise in their own eyes, proud people who think that everybody else is stupid except me. Verse 22, woe unto those who keep 48:25 drinking wine and drinking wine and thereby just and who justify the wicked by taking a bribe. And then one day, chapter 6, when Uzziah died, 48:42 Uzziah was a king who dared to go into God's temple. Only the priest could go there and tried to offer a sacrifice. And you know what happened? God smoked him and became a he became a leper in a moment. And all his life he was a leper. 49:01 It was a he was a warning. his nose beaten and spots all over his body and he was a testimony and he had to sit alone. People saw the king has become a leper and one day he died and Isaiah was a prophet in those days. He saw what 49:16 happened to him and he says in the year King Uzziah died. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne. He got a vision of worship there. See a picture of worship seraps where seraps means angels. Verse two 49:34 they had six wings with two they covered their face. With two they covered their feet and with the two they flew. Service was only one/ird. 2/3 was worship. They worshiped and they served. But how much worship? 2/3. Four out of the six 49:52 wings. Service two wings. That's the proportion. And he saw how it is in heaven. They worship and then they serve. They cover their faces. They cover. They don't. So worship is to cover my face and cover myself and hide myself and all my 50:08 service with me. I don't want people to see my face. God alone must be exalted. When a person worships, he he's scared that people will give him credit for something he does. Are you scared that people will give you credit for something you do for 50:23 the Lord? I hope you are. If not, please develop that habit. Sometimes God gives us a gift and we serve him whether it's in singing or musical instruments or preaching or anything and people look at us and admire us and say wow how they 50:39 play the instrument how they preach or brother sister please cover your face cover your feet be a worshipper. That's the best way to the best way to serve is by covering your whole body so that you don't I don't mean physically 50:56 but that you have no desire for people to see you. No desire for people to think that you're a great preacher or you're a great singer or a you're a great musician or you're a great server in the church who does things secretly 51:08 and help. No desire for honor at all. Hiding hiding that is a true worshipper. And Isaiah saw that how they have six wings and they use four of them to worship and two to serve. And they heard him saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." They're not 51:27 saying anything about themselves. They're speaking about the Lord. Holy, holy. And then that sound it says the foundation of the thresholds trembled. And when he saw that this man Isaiah who till now was saying wo is so and so and 51:42 wo is unto so and so and wo unto so and so and wo unto this group and w to that group. Suddenly he said verse five woe unto me. See how it changed. That is a result of worship. You won't be looking at the faults of other people so much. Those people are 52:00 still guilty. Those people who are drunk and those people who cheat others and those people who do 101 other things, they are still there. They're doing the same things. But now you see yourself. Lord, I am the chief of sinners and 52:15 inward things. I'm not doing these external filthy things other people do. I'm not taking property and getting drunk and all that. But woe is me. Why Isaiah? I ask him is why are you worse than those fellows who are getting drunk 52:28 and calling evil good and cheating others and occupying property and robbing the poor? I'm not interested. I see the corruption in my own heart. That's what happens when you worship. I know it's happened to me again and 52:42 again. It doesn't happen all the time. I wouldn't be able to bear it. But now and then you suddenly Isaiah couldn't see it all the time. But now and then suddenly gets a glimpse of how heaven is like. and he suddenly says, "Oh God, there's 52:53 no sinner on earth like me." I want to ask you, have ever had such experience. I've had some experiences like that. Not regularly. I wouldn't be able to bear it. But once in a while, I suddenly get a feeling, not because it says in the 53:07 Bible, the chief of sinners, not trying to quote something, but you really feel before God, boy, there could not be a sinner worse than me on this earth. If you feel like that, in that moment, you're a worshipper. Not because you say something to quote 53:23 something, but where you really feel there's nobody as bad as me, Lord. It's so your holiness is so great. Isaiah says, "Wo is me. I'm ruined. My conversation is so bad." He was immediately convicted about his conversation. 53:40 When you become a worshipper, you'll be convicted about the things you say and the way you say it. And I say, "Lord, I'm surrounded by people who also speak like that, but I become like them. I'm trying to preach to them, but I'm behaving like them, 53:56 speak like them. Have mercy on me. I've seen the king." And my I became a worshipper. And when he comes to that place, people seek the baptism of fire. Here it is. How you get the baptism of fire. God told one of the angels, "Take a 54:16 burning coal from there and go and touch his mouth." And the angel did that. You know, it's very interesting to see something here. You read carefully. The angel could not touch that coal. It was a burning coal. The angel could not touch it. He had to 54:34 use a tong, you know, metal tongs. Verse six, to pick up that coal. But the fire which could not an angel could not touch could touch Isaiah and it did not burn him. If the angel had touched it, it would have burnt his hand. So the angel 54:51 takes it with a tong, but when it touches Isaiah's lips, it does not burn him out. Instead, it sets him on fire for God. This is the baptism of fire. I want it. I prayed and prayed and prayed for it. I long for it. I said, "Lord, I'll give up 55:09 anything in the world for this. I want to live in this baptism of fire all the time." And the Lord said, "Your sin is taken away. It's cleansed, purged, it's forgiven." And not only that, now that my fire has touched your lips, you're 55:24 ready to preach to others. And you said, "Lord," he said, "Lord, here I send me." This is a new Isaiah going out to preach. This is not the old man who just said, "Wo to me, won't this to this?" He goes out and then the Lord says to him, 55:37 "Go. I'll give you a message to these people." Brothers and sisters, you may not stand in the pulpit to preach. You can be a sister. God can give you a message like this to other sisters with your lips touched by the fire of God. If you stop 55:56 saying wo unto and say, "Lord, woe unto me, let me see your glory." Then God can touch your lips with a fire. And you sisters, make you a blessing to other sisters. Speaking one-on-one, you may not ever stand in the pulpit in your 56:10 life and you can be a servant of God. So worship and serve. The secret of everything is humility. Jesus said, "Learn humility from me. Be willing to fall into the ground and die to your own reputation and name and everything." 56:28 This is what we have preached in CFC for 50 years. is if you fall into the ground and die there'll be much fruit. I remember years ago before CFC started a godly man once told me when you go to the Bangalore go and fall 56:46 into the ground and die there. It was long before CFC started. I've never forgotten that the only way fruit will come is if you fall into the ground and die there'll be fruit. I said Lord I'm ready. I'm willing to go to Bangalore 56:59 and fall into the ground and die. It's not by activity. See around us the crops that grow, they all came by some seed that fell, hidden underground for a long time, dies. These big oak trees, one seed 57:18 falls into the ground and dies. Nobody sees it. Gradually it becomes such a solid oak tree, you can't even shake it. May God help us to be like that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 57:34 it's so easy to be stirred temporarily by stirring messages. Speak to our hearts in a permanent way. Deliver us from the desire to promote ourselves, to be seen, and to be made visible. 57:53 Make us like the angels who cover their face, cover their body and seek to worship you. Make us worshippers. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
