0:07 We're going to have >> [clears throat] >> time of questions and answers. So, there are 80 questions here. But, we're going to have two sessions. 0:27 So, I marked 40 for today and 40 for tomorrow. So, we have to finish by 4:00, so answers will have to be brief. >> [clears throat] [snorts] >> And I always say that if 0:46 the answer didn't satisfy you or it didn't you didn't understand it, God has given us the Holy Spirit. And He's appointed teachers in the church. But, the best teacher 1:05 is the one who points you to Jesus. There's a verse I'd like to show you before I start. John's Gospel >> [clears throat] >> chapter 1. This is a good verse for >> [snorts] 1:24 >> all who are >> [clears throat] >> preaching God's Word or teaching God's Word. So, [clears throat] the verse that has challenged me >> [snorts] >> is talking about John the Baptist. Says here verse 30, verse 35 with two of 1:42 his disciples. And he pointed to Jesus, verse 36, John 1:36. And said, "Behold the Lamb of God." Now, the verse I have in mind is verse 37. The disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. What a lovely word. 2:01 They heard him speak. They followed Jesus. >> [clears throat] >> I've often felt that's a good verse for a servant of God to have on his tombstone. You know, people write all types of things on their tombstone. They heard him speak. 2:18 And they followed Jesus. What a wonderful thing to live for if it can be said about you. >> [snorts] >> That people heard you speak. You don't have to be a preacher. Just in your conversation with people. They heard you speak. 2:36 And they followed Jesus. May it be so. >> [clears throat] >> Okay, the first question is um What advice do you have for couples dealing with long-term separation? I'm sorry to begin with this question. That's number one. 2:55 But that's number one on this list. It's not the most important thing in the Christian life because >> [clears throat] >> very few people have to deal with this. I don't mean I don't understand what is meant by long-term separation. 3:09 If it's permanent, like if somebody has divorced you. >> [clears throat] >> You can't do anything about it. You know, you should have tried your best to prevent it. God hates divorce. Malachi chapter 3 says he hates chapter 3:25 2. He hates divorce. So, >> [clears throat] >> I must hate what God hates. And I must be willing to suffer anything to prevent a divorce as far as lies within me. That should be your attitude. So, >> [clears throat] >> but in some cases 3:44 the partner can be evil or could have lost her salvation. Or his salvation if it's a wife, then there's nothing you [clears throat] can do except pray. You pray till the end that it will not happen. 4:02 And yet, it did happen. So, [clears throat] what do you do? Then you just accept it and pray that God will guide you concerning the future. And >> [clears throat] >> in such cases, we cannot tell a person a standard rule 4:17 what you should do because I don't have words in scripture. But still such people need advice. And godly shepherd will consider the circumstances and give advice in the way that Jesus would do. Jesus is full of compassion. 4:35 But at the same time, he has certain standards. And marriage is a very sacred event and something that God takes very seriously. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 that if a person divorces his wife except for 4:56 her being unfaithful, he commits adultery. So, it's you can't divorce a wife unless he's committed she's been unchaste. But even there, >> [clears throat] 5:14 >> it's not a law that you should you can forgive. God's will is that married people are married to stay together forever. But this is a matter on which you should seek advice from some godly older person. Okay, the next question is that I'm 40 5:33 years old. And if if I fail in many decisions that I take, I do fail. After that, I realize and I get up and start all over again. How can I avoid the wrong decisions and choose the right way? In the beginning itself, is it possible 5:52 to live a life like that? >> [clears throat] >> The Christian life I see is a growth. And the way children grow up and learn to walk is a good example. Now you see a little 10-month-old child stumbling and falling, it's not a 6:09 serious thing. It's normal. But if you see a 10-year-old falling like that so many times in a day, something seriously wrong. So in the early stages of our Christian life, >> [clears throat] >> uh we'll find it'll take some time for 6:25 us to come into a life of victory. And continuous permanent victory takes many years. But what we should do is every time we slip up, even if it's a hundred times a day, which means in 12 hours, every 8 minutes you're falling, 6:45 or every few minutes, we must repent each time. Say, "Lord, I'm sorry." And repentance is >> [clears throat] >> not just saying I'm sorry, but turning around, "Lord, why did I do that?" Every time I've [clears throat] slipped 7:00 up, I've always gone to the Lord and said, "Lord, I'm sorry, but tell me why did I do that? What happened? Was there something >> [clears throat] >> I was careless in some area. Let me be more careful in that area." Otherwise, you'll keep slipping up again 7:11 and again. >> [clears throat] >> So, it's normal up to a certain point, but if you as I said, if grown-up person is falling falling all the time, something is wrong. A grown-up person may fall, but it'll be occasional. So the Christian life, there is a 7:29 growth. And in the early stages, there will be a number of falls. Okay. The next [clears throat] question is, "I start my day rejoicing, but by evening time, I feel dry and my mind is tired. And sometimes I divert divert myself for 7:46 entertainment. Clean entertainment only. Like watching the news or some clean comedy. But I feel I'm wasting my time. How can I overcome this? Now here again, >> [clears throat] >> there is no scriptural teaching or example. 8:02 And of course in the those days in the days the scripture was written, there's no such thing as TV or YouTube or computers or newspapers or any such thing and this type of diversion was not possible in those days. I don't know what type of entertainment 8:19 they had. But >> [clears throat] >> any type of diversion which is for relaxation, there's nothing wrong in it. Even going for a walk or playing a game. >> [clears throat] >> And if 8:36 uh I'm not against people watching a I mean not a I don't mean I'm not talking about Hollywood movies. But some type of movie, comedy perhaps that is clean. And >> [clears throat and snorts] >> if you're watching it with your 8:54 children, it's very very important that you see it yourself first before you let your children watch it because suddenly you may find some of these movies all of a sudden something crops up and you're almost embarrassed 9:09 that they watched it. >> [clears throat] >> So, we have to be very careful about and I'd be scared of watching Hollywood movies. Be very very careful. But relaxation, watching the news, 9:28 so long as you don't get addicted to it. It's good for us to know what is happening in the world. And I you know, I used to think about that, would Jesus be uh watching the news if he were alive today? Let me read you a verse. 9:48 >> [clears throat] >> We read in Luke chapter 13. People came to Jesus and said that [clears throat] Pilate had mixed the blood of some Galileans in their sacrifices. And Jesus said, "You think those Galileans were greater 10:05 sinners?" And then he said in verse 4, Luke 13, "When the tower of Siloam fell and 18 people died, were they bigger culprits or criminals than the others?" Now, my question there is, 10:23 how did Jesus know that? He was aware of what is happening around him. That in Siloam, that's not where he was. Somewhere else, a place called Siloam, a tower fell down. And he knew the exact number of people who fell. So, when the twin towers fell 10:42 in New York, if Jesus were alive, he'd know about it. And he'd also know the exact number of people who died there. There's nothing wrong in that. Knowing knowing the news is perfectly in order to know that there's a war going on 10:53 somewhere and other things. For example, Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars and many things that happen to uh us uh that are happening in the world today are indications of the end times. See, for example, when Jesus said once, 11:10 "When the armies surround Jerusalem, you know the end is near." So, when I see wars around Jerusalem, I say, "Lord, I hope there'll be more armies around Jerusalem cuz that's one day I pray, 'Lord, come soon.'" I I really I say, "Lord, it'd be 11:26 wonderful if more armies come around Jerusalem right now because then your coming is very near." Because quite honestly, I'm sick and tired. I'm not sick and tired of living in this world. I don't mind living another 100 11:36 years if the Lord tarries with me. So, I enjoy being a witness for Christ for any number of years. But, when I see the number of innocent people suffering, being exploited, innocent women being exploited, children being exploited, it really makes me mad 11:52 at the evil that's being done by people inspired by the devil. And only for that reason I say, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." That's the thing that prompts me to say, "Lord, let all this suffering people I'm not suffering, but all these 12:03 poor people are suffering everywhere. Please come soon and put an end to this and bring judgment on all these criminals who are doing evil to so many people." I believe every Christian should have that desire and So, we wait for the coming of the Lord 12:16 and so, knowing hearing the news is a good thing. But, don't become addicted to it. Everything you know, you can take something legitimate and become so make take so much of your time that you're addicted then it becomes wrong. 12:30 Everything must be kept in proportion. >> [snorts] >> It's like eating is a good thing, but you can eat so much that you become a glutton and you get sick. Everything like even what I said, watching a little entertainment is okay, but that can 12:41 become such a big thing in your life that it occupies so much of your time. There are people who are taken up with entertainment, they don't have time to read the Bible. So, you see you give permission for something and then 12:54 they take [clears throat] advantage of it and goes beyond the limits. So, >> [clears throat] >> please take what I say with caution that everything must be kept within its limits. One of the things that has helped me is 13:07 whenever you're watching anything and there's so much of that on the screen nowadays. >> [clears throat] >> Remember, Jesus is everywhere. Lo, I'm with you always. Okay, Lord, I'm sitting on this couch and you're sitting next to me. 13:25 Can you enjoy what what's going on on the screen? Can you and I watch that together happily? If there is some point at which Jesus will get up and go, I should get up and go. That's the test. If you want to have any guideline. 13:42 >> [clears throat] >> Okay, I'm Uh if you have if you have a decision for personal discipline, which are not sin, without making any vows to God, how can you make sure to be free from condemnation on the days that you decide to relax 14:00 from those disciplines which you imposed on yourself, which are not a sin? No, if you have made a It's good to make certain disciplines in our life. For example, that I will read the Bible for so much time. Or to keep yourself healthy if you're an 14:14 older person like me, to go for a walk or take some exercise to keep yourself fit. That's fine. It's very good. And if in some particular time you're not able to do it, you don't have to condemn yourself because 14:32 uh our program every day may change. So, don't condemn yourself. If you have chosen something for personal discipline, the only thing you need to be convicted about is disobedience to a clear command of scripture. Okay, I'm struggling [clears throat] 14:46 with the same with same-sex attraction. That means being attracted to the same sex as I have. And lust. My triggers are identical to short temperament for anger. How can I overcome it? 15:04 Can I even consider marriage? Now, I'll tell you an actual [clears throat] case. There was a brother who as a young man came to me and told me, "Brother, I'm attracted to men. What shall I do?" 15:22 I said it's a sin. And God's word says it's a sin. I don't care what people say or what doctors say. It is a sin. Because attraction must be for the opposite sex, not for your same sex. So you have to first of all recognize it 15:37 as a sin. And don't just say, "Well, that's something I'm born with." Person can be born We are born with so many filthy things in our flesh. So I don't indulge in all of them. And this is also one of those filthy things. 15:49 Some people have a violent temper. Others are more subdued depending on their temperament. But it's still evil. So you don't say, "Well, I was born with it. I was born with a violent temper, so I keep on getting angry." No. 16:02 You're born with the same-sex attraction, so what do you do? Um go to someone of your same sex? No, wrong. I said you fight it. Confess it. Every time you feel attracted, go to the Lord and confess it. Confess it every time. 16:14 Even if it's 10 times a day or 20 times a day, do it. He took my advice, that brother, finished with it, and is happily married today to a woman and has children. So you see, it can be overcome. And that's very simple advice that I 16:30 gave him. >> [snorts] >> Is it a sin [clears throat] to have sex on Sunday? Wow. I mean, I presume it's with a with with your marriage partner. >> [laughter] >> If it's with somebody else, it's wrong every day every day of the week. 16:48 >> [laughter] >> But if it is with your marriage partner, why why does such a question come? Because I don't want to say you did it, but because people have watched movies so much that they think sex is a filthy thing. I ask people this question. Who created 17:08 sex? Was it the devil? Whose idea was it? Whose [snorts] idea was it to put such a strong desire in a man for sexual union with his wife it was God and uh uh provided in 17:28 woman the facility for that sexual intercourse and then gave not only that, he could have created sex in such a way that you don't get any pleasure out of it. Isn't it good that he created sex in such a way there's pleasure in it so 17:43 that one is a drawn to one's wife? So, very very good thing. You don't have to be ashamed of it at all. And not only to have sex on Sunday, you can have it more than once a day or two, three times depending on your ability 17:57 and how you how young you are also. But there's nothing wrong in it. This is wrong concept of sex being evil which you have got from the movies. That uh it's always wrong when it is with someone other than your wife. It's always wrong when you are doing it 18:14 in your imagination with someone else. With your wife, it is always 100% right. Okay, now I appreciate this question. I don't want to make fun of it. It's a genuine question I believe whoever asked it. So, please don't think I'm making fun of 18:29 you, brother. It's a genuine question you have and I believe you asking it with a desire to do what is right. But I want to remove the wrong concept of sex from your mind, that's all. Is having a female close friend a sin for a single man? 18:49 I don't believe you should have a close friend with somebody of the opposite sex unless you're married. Because even if it's before marriage, you must keep a respectable distance because temptation is very very strong. And even if there's no physical contact 19:03 or um sexual union in the mind you you know, there's a natural attraction between man and woman. So, you have to be very careful that you don't the indulge in that because it lead to sin in your mind even if there's no physical contact. 19:21 So, I believe it's wrong to have a close friend as a person of the opposite sex. And is hugging a female as close friends a sin? Yeah, because that also, apart from your wife, if you hug someone, there's a temptation in 19:38 physical contact. Because in physical contact with a woman, I don't believe we should have frontal embrace with any woman. Because that is temptation. I mean, the person who says he's not tempted, I'd say he's not a man then. He must be a 19:53 eunuch or something. But every normal man is tempted if you hug a woman to the front. And don't say you're not. >> [clears throat] >> And so, it's a question of how high your standard of purity is. If your standard is the highest like Jesus, I cannot 20:09 imagine that Jesus would ever ever hug a woman from the front. Never. He would avoid even contact as far as possible. >> [clears throat] >> And uh what does the Bible say about it? And Bible says we must avoid temptation. 20:26 That's all. Okay, I sincerely confess my sins and examine myself thoroughly before taking part in communion every time. Well, I would say you should examine yourself and thoroughly not only when you take communion once a month, but every day. 20:45 Every time before you go to bed or many times a day. I don't judge myself even once a day at night. I judge myself throughout the day if there's anything that my conscience says that's that's not right. That attitude or that thought, 20:58 immediately I judge myself. So, we got to confess it immediately, not when we communion once a month. But after a few days I fall into the sin again and regret for falling and ask God to forgive me. How do consistently stay free from 21:13 conscious sin? Well, the way to is is to ensure that you confess immediately each time. If it's 10 times a day you had a dirty thought, confess it 10 times a day. You'll start after some time you'll get fed up that you are doing it so many times and 21:28 you'll go to God and say, "Lord, why is it happening so often? Is it because I'm looking at things and reading things which are not right and I'm being stimulated? Let me avoid certain magazines. It doesn't matter if I if I if I'm going to the news, for 21:42 example, there may be some news programs. I don't know all the news programs which are on the internet. But there may be some news programs which because I've been sometimes to some of them and I find and almost all those news programs 21:56 there'll be some advertisement with some half-dressed woman. And I say, "Is it worth seeing all that?" Turn Turn it off. Turn it off and be careful that as soon as something comes up like that, turn it off. And then little bit of extra news that you did 22:11 not get, it's not going to kill you if you don't read that news. Turn it off. Be very careful. If God sees that every time you see even a temptation or a flash of some uh improperly dressed woman being put up there to advertise to attract men and 22:30 you turn away, turn away, you'll you'll be amazed to see how quickly you become an overcomer. And how you'll be freed from that and you won't be addicted to some of these things. So, >> [clears throat] >> I'd rather not know the latest news 22:47 about the war in Iran or anywhere else if the price I have to pay is watch all these occasionally half-dressed women on the screen. Take it seriously. You'll have a much closer walk with God. You don't need to know the latest news 23:03 about everything. So, be very careful. We need to know the news as I told you earlier, but if there's a price to be paid for it if every single magazine I got which gave me the news had something filthy in it, I just throw away that magazine. I don't want 23:17 to see it. If you're radical, you'll get victory soon. I believe most men don't get victory because they're not radical. In You see, think of how I'll give you one example. About 7 years ago, there was a terrific um 23:36 danger that spread around the world called COVID-19 or whatever number it was. And a lot of people, almost everybody, started covering their mouth and going everywhere you see them with this. How careful we were that this chap's little breath should 23:53 not come to me. I thought when I saw that, boy, if Christians were so careful about sin, what a lot of victory we'd have got in our life by now. We are more afraid of a little COVID's sickness than about something a million times 24:11 worse than that, sin. And God sees that. You're more afraid of sickness than of sin. And sickness only affects your body. And sin is affecting your soul and your spirit for eternity. You're a worshiper of your body, not a worshiper of God. 24:31 You say that to yourself, "Lord, I'm so careful with my body. Some little ache or pain, I rush to the doctor and say, 'Is this cancer? Tell me, doctor, is this cancer? Is there a cure for it?'" Perfectly all right. But I say, 24:47 ask the same question when there's sin in your spirit as you ask I'm not saying you shouldn't go to the doctor if you suspect something is serious. But why not take sin in our heart and conscience just as seriously. That's all I'm saying. 25:01 Okay. I sincerely Uh sorry. I've hurt someone but they don't know it. Do I need to confess to that person? Well, it's it's a question of how you hurt that 25:19 person and did it hurt that person in what way? If it if what you did and that person did not know that you did it, >> [snorts] >> but it hurt him in some way, you need to set it right in some way. Did he suffer some loss of money? 25:34 You have to give it back. Did he get injured in his body? I don't know what exactly in what way that person was hurt. But just because he doesn't know it, doesn't mean you don't have to set it right. You have a harmed somebody 25:51 and you have to set it right. Now, >> [clears throat] >> the only place where you need don't need to go and go to that person and confess it is if you can set it right and the person has suffered no harm as after you've set it right, then 26:05 there's no need for you to go and acknowledge to him. Best is to because unnecessarily you'll tempt him to have a wrong attitude towards you for that reason. But otherwise, uh [snorts] I believe we should set it. The main thing is we should set it right 26:20 in some way. What what we have hurt that person. I'm thinking of supposing you've done harm to someone's property. You did accidentally or deliberately you did something to someone's property and he doesn't know you did it. 26:32 Okay. If you [clears throat] can rectify that damage you did his property without his knowing it, it's perfectly all right. You don't have to go and tell him and create a distance between you and him. So, be wise in all these things. 26:42 And if you have a doubt about it, go and ask a more godly person what to do. I'm attending a local CFC church for a few years and the elders have approached me to consider marriage. In my backsliding days, I had sexual relationship with a girl. 27:02 If I have truly repented, should I inform the elders of the girl even if they don't ask me? This is a very, very difficult question to answer. I'll tell you why. Because I don't have a clear answer in scripture. I see in scripture that 27:21 if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us. And I also see in scripture that our sin your sins and iniquities I'll remember no more. So, I feel we also need to see whether saying something will cause a greater 27:38 problem than what has already happened. So, this is a question in which yeah, I would say that I won't give a standard answer because there is no standard answer in scripture. And sometimes I say something people can take take advantage of it and 27:57 do something wrong with that advice. So, I would say you should in such a case you should consult a godly older brother and explain the situation because the answer may be different in two different cases for the same problem. 28:12 And uh but generally speaking, I would say that you don't have to confess a sin which the other person didn't know anything about because you did not sin against that person. And so, >> [clears throat] >> many men before they get married have 28:28 probably fallen in some way sexually, maybe in their thoughts or attitudes or even physically. And if they have confessed it and forsaken it, generally speaking, I would say my advice is forget it. The Lord has blotted it out. It's cleansed in the 28:46 blood. And don't unnecessarily say that to your potential wife and disturb her mind because a woman can never understand how strong temptation is for a man. And that can trouble you for the rest of your married life. So, that's my general advice. 29:05 Though I don't have a scripture for it, but that's generally what I say to prevent long-term problems. Avoid it, but ask advice from some godly person if you have a doubt. >> [snorts] >> Uh 29:21 I don't neglect God's word. But outside of that, I've been a very lazy person. I procrastinate a lot. That means I postpone doing things. But I've always managed to get good grades 29:39 and produce good results in my work in spite of that. How do I become diligent and hard working? Yeah, sometimes it's dangerous to be so efficient that you can be lazy and still get good results. Because we do need to work hard. 29:55 And working hard is something that the Bible encourages. So, just because you got good results, don't be satisfied with that because working hard is a form of discipline that helps us in our body and in our life. Discipline is a very, very important 30:15 thing in the Christian life. And I believe that all of us should discipline ourselves in what we read, discipline ourselves to keep ourselves physically fit, and uh that you don't eat too much, that you do some type of physical 30:31 exercise so that I do it at the at my age also I do it because I don't want to ignore the laws of the body. Now, you see in the days of the Bible was written, everybody was walking so much that you didn't have to tell people to 30:50 walk. For example, it says Jesus went from Capernaum to Jerusalem. It's just one sentence here, but you don't realize that it took 3 days to go there and 3 days to walk back. You don't have to tell people in those days you must take some exercise, walk. 31:05 Nowadays, you have to tell people because people are going in cars and sitting at home most of the time and and many of them get sick because they're just sitting around all the time and not doing some physical activity and 31:18 exercise. So, I believe physical ac- activity uh you know, there's a verse in the Bible, 1 Timothy 4 says, "Bodily exercise You know the rest of the verse? profits a little." So, I say it does profit a little. Make advantage of that. 31:38 We need Don't say it profits nothing. So, it is a profit and I believe the older we get, I I certainly see that myself as I older I get, I need to keep myself fit because I don't want to do something that I die before my time. 31:55 You see, it's like a slow suicide then. I ignore myself. It is a form of slow suicide if I ignore keeping myself healthy. If I eat anything I like and ignore my physical activity and then I say in God's time only I die. 32:10 That's not true. You'll die before God's time. Because you're not following God's laws. So, if you overeat, for example, if you keep on overeating, I'll definitely tell you in Jesus' name you'll die before God's time. And you'll be 32:26 um you'll be blame yourself for it. So, like I said, the I read somewhere the best exercise such people can do is the push-ups from the dining table. >> [laughter] >> Which is one way of saying don't eat so much. 32:43 Because I really believe in our day most people are eating too much. I have checked my weight every day for a number of years just to make sure I'm not eating too much. I'm not worried. I want to follow 33:01 God's laws so that I can live as long God wants me to live. I don't want to live longer than God wants me to live. But I don't want to be a fat slobby person who's unable to move around and become a burden to other people and 33:14 die before God's time. And I'll just say God's time will be automatically it will not automatically be fulfilled. If I'm indisciplined, I will die before God's time and I will miss God's will for my life. And I don't want that. 33:31 So I must do everything possible as far as humanly possible that I keep myself I check my blood pressure, check my blood sugar, check my cholesterol level, have medical checkups once a year just to make sure that I'm physically 33:45 fit. And I pray. I trust God, but I have to watch myself in all these things and I encourage all of you to do that. And I wish somebody had told me all the importance of all these physical things when I was much younger. 33:59 Then I it would have been much better. But in God has mercy on me, but I will encourage all of you keep yourself physically fit. Because the days are evil, days are full of people overeating. I think most people eat far too much than they need 34:16 to eat. And I would really encourage you who have a habit of eating too much, get a weighing machine. I really encourage in Jesus name get a weighing machine and weigh yourself. Stand on it every day and see what your weight is. 34:32 And if it keeps increasing, uh do something about it. I've kept my weight steady for I don't know how many 20 years or something. And because I want to live for the Lord. Not because I want to just look physically fit. I want to live for the 34:45 Lord. I want to be It's not a question of how you look. It's a question of are you fit physically and healthy to be able to do God's work. And the end result will be you won't be sick. I've hardly ever been sick in the last so many years. 34:58 I'm thankful that as I try to obey God's laws, God rewards me for it and rewards you for it. He'll reward you also. So, be an example to your others and don't be lazy in this area. Uh >> [clears throat] >> Okay, how can I share the gospel to my 35:17 unbelieving colleagues? First of all, by your life. If you're in a place of work, you know, the thing I like about Joseph, why did God use Joseph? And how did uh Joseph become next to Pharaoh? You read the story in Genesis. 35:34 By one simple habit, which all of us can have. He saw two discouraged people in the prison. And he went to them. He didn't know them. >> [clears throat] >> He was the ruler of the prison. He could have ignored them. If that guy is 35:52 discouraged, what to do? That's his business. No. He went to them and said, "Hey, why are you fellows discouraged?" And they explained to him, and he uh uh you know, explained the meaning of that dream. And that is how that butler, Pharaoh's 36:08 butler, one day, 2 years later, told Pharaoh, "Hey, I know somebody who can interpret dreams." Pharaoh said, "Call him." And that's how Joseph went to the palace. And that's how he became second ruler to Pharaoh. How did it all start? With one good 36:25 habit that he had, which he was probably practicing all the time even before he went to prison when he was overseeing the work in Potiphar's uh home. If I see somebody discouraged, let me just go up to him and ask him, "What's 36:39 the matter? Can I encourage you in some way?" I encourage all of you brothers. Please develop this habit. In your place of work, you see somebody gloomy or sick, what do you lose by going and asking him, "Hey, what happened? 36:55 Can I help you in some way? Can I pray?" You may bring make contact with the person to lead him into eternal life. So, it's a very simple habit that we can develop. Uh >> [clears throat] >> that's how we can witness to our 37:10 unbelieving colleagues. Okay, in the matter of submission to authority, to what extent can a boss or a police officer exercise authority when it comes to asking you to give your property or money to another just because he's in 37:24 authority? No, you don't have to give your property or money because I say, "It's not mine. >> [clears throat] >> I believe if you're a real Christian, everything you have you say belongs to the Lord. Your bank account belongs to 37:35 the Lord. Your house belongs to the Lord. Your car belongs to the Lord. This is your the Lord's. And I say, 'Lord, I can't give that away to somebody just because he comes and asks me.' No, I'm not going to give it to him. 37:45 I'll say, "Sorry, sir, I can't give it to you. It's not yours. It's mine." So, I don't believe that we should just give away things like that just because somebody comes and exercises authority. We can ask for There's nothing wrong in 37:59 taking the matter to the court. If we are asking for justice, for example, if somebody's encroaching on your property, why should I allow him to do that? I'm not going to fight with him. But I have some legal rights and I say, 38:14 "This property is is belongs to the Lord. Everything I have belongs to the Lord. You're encroaching on the Lord's property. I want to defend it." There's nothing wrong in that. I'm not going to go fight with them. But in some legal way 38:25 I can ensure that I have my rights. So, Christianity does not mean I don't have any rights. If somebody takes away my rights in some communist country or something like that where my rights are taken, I'm not going to fight about it. But in a country 38:39 where there's freedom for us to have property and rights, there's nothing wrong in asking for it. And next question is after transitioning from high-intensity work to a slower role with dull tech, how do I avoid feeling 38:56 guilty for feeling lazy? The Bible says work heartily for the Lord. Should I take up my cross at this point? No, I say if you finish all your work in a sooner than you normally would have done, spend the rest of the time studying the 39:11 scriptures. Read good Christian books. It's always a good way to spend the rest of the time. You don't have to be lazy. If an accident If in an accident an accident damages another's property, how can this be handled in a Christ-like 39:26 way and a purp- And if a person purposely damages my property, how can I handle it? Well, if I have damaged somebody else's property, I must seek to rectify it at my own cost as soon as possible and go and tell him that I'm sorry for what I did and I'll 39:41 try my best to uh >> [clears throat] >> fix it. Or if he says it's a trivial small thing, then okay, I take his word, but I'll try my best to fix it or pay for it. >> [clears throat] >> And if a person purposely damages my 39:54 property, like I said earlier, I want to say everything of mine belongs to the Lord, so he's come and damaged the Lord's property. And so, there's nothing wrong in my going and telling him, "Sir, you have done something wrong. 40:07 You've damaged You hit my car and dented it." And nowadays there's insurance, so you can ask him to give his number, etc. Or if it's property in a house, you can go up to your neighbor and say that see this is wrong what you're doing. 40:24 And >> [clears throat] >> ask seek for wisdom. If he does not respond to you, seek for wisdom. Depends on how serious the issue is. Seek for wisdom from a godly person how to deal with it. And if it's a very serious thing, 40:37 there's even nothing wrong even in going to court because to get legal protection is perfectly okay. Uh in the book of Matthew it says your yes must be yes and your no must be no. But in the office sometimes my manager asked me not to tell others about 40:53 something. So if others ask me, what should I do? Well, >> [clears throat] >> I'll tell you a story. There was a secretary sitting with a manager in an office. And the phone rang. And the other type of phone where you pick up. 41:10 The olden days. And the boss said, "If somebody's asking for me, tell them I'm not here." So he picked up the phone and that asked me he asked for the manager. So he didn't want to tell a lie, so he put the phone back. And uh he told the manager, "Sir, 41:27 he's going to ring again. Please don't ask me to answer that phone. He wants you. Ask somebody else to answer that phone. I can't tell a lie." See, that's uprightness. And I believe that such a manager would respect such a 41:40 man that this uh chap doesn't tell a lie. I can trust him in the office. So, we have to be careful that we don't um >> [snorts] >> tell a lie even if it is to please our boss. So be wise. Ask God for wisdom in such situations. 41:59 When forced to dress in a certain color for days like Valentine's Day, how can a Christian who does not have the conviction for such beliefs rooted in pagan origins handle it in the workplace. Well, >> [clears throat] >> when you say forced to dress, 42:17 and what way are they forcing you? Maybe a circular went round everybody should dress like this on this day. And if you have the boldness, dress in a different way and go. Otherwise, take leave for that day. And don't go there. Always ways out of it. 42:31 If it's uh depends on each situation. I can't make a rule on that. If it's sometimes, you know, in in in India, there are situations which are related to worship of some heathen god, and celebrating something, and I say, 42:48 we have to say, "Sorry, sir, we don't celebrate that. I'm a Christian, and I don't celebrate that. So, please excuse me." And avoid such things. We mean we should not be afraid to confess our faith. Um how can I on honor God in my daily work 43:07 when the task itself feels secular and ordinary? Well, I think most of us work in offices where we are doing secular ordinary work. So, to honor God is to do our work faithfully according to our ability, whatever we are, how much 43:26 whatever ability we have to do that faithfully. Okay, another question is, "I'm working as a pastor of a local area here in and I need guidance on networking." Oh, you better ask someone who's knows about that in your church, 43:41 church, and they'll guide you. "I've been born again for over 10 years, but I've not made much impact for God. My spiritual life has not been consistent." I think you should take your life seriously, and I found in my own life 43:56 the thing that helped me was to meditate on the cross, and to meditate on how much Jesus suffered in order to forgive my sins, and to meditate on all the goodness that God has shown me from the time I was born again and 44:11 before I was born again, too. From the accidents he has protected me from which I could have died. So, meditating on the goodness of God is what enables us to uh be gra- grateful to him and out of gratitude we find doing 44:31 things for him becomes easy. It's very easy when you realize Take Take a human example. Supposing there's a person who's done a lot of good for you and you know nothing about it. You don't care much for him. But, one day if somebody tells 44:45 you, "Do you know what all this chap did for you when you were young? So many so many things you wouldn't even be alive today if it were not for him. And he helped your education. You would not be educated today if he had not 44:55 financed your education." You suddenly develop gratitude to him. Till then you did not know that he had done all that for you. But, once you know, you're willing to do anything for him. It's exactly like that in our relationship with the Lord. 45:07 I think most of us don't realize how much it cost Jesus to die for us. And uh I know from the time I was born again, the Lord kept on asking me to meditate on the cross, meditate on the cross that even today I meditate on the cross and what Jesus 45:22 suffered for me on the cross and in Gethsemane. And that's it's on the basis of that that I love and serve him and it'll be like that for you, too. So, if you've been born again for 1 year and you've not made much progress in your life, something is 45:40 seriously wrong. It's like a child hasn't learned to walk for 10 years. Hasn't Still in the kindergarten for 10 years. You'd be very concerned. And I would be concerned for you if you're like that spiritually. What is the overarching biblical 45:56 perspective on the interval between the death of a believer and the resurrection? What takes place during that intermediate state? As far as we know, Paul says in Philippians to depart and to be with the Lord. That's what he says in Philippians 1. 46:11 So, from that we know that the moment a person dies, if he's a born-again Christian and walked walked in the light with God, he's immediately in the presence of Christ. And you know, we read of a story where Jesus a true story 46:27 where a rich man and a beggar called Lazarus it is yet and he speaks there about Abraham. And as soon as that uh Lazarus the poor man died, he went straight up to Abraham. And the rich man in hell was conscious 46:44 and in fact he suffered some pain. He thought he was thirsty. He doesn't have a tongue in hell, but he feels that sense of thirst is there. And uh suffering some type of suffering and he can talk to Abraham. And Abraham can talk to him. 47:00 So, that's the one place that's not a parable, by the way. No parable did Jesus use names like Abraham, Lazarus. Whenever there's a name, you know it's not a parable. It's a real person. So, that's a real story. And that rich man is still in hell 47:14 today. And Abraham and Lazarus are there. So, they were alive not in their body. The body's on earth, but in some way they were alive in heaven and they could communicate. That's a very interesting parable cuz that's the one parable that tells us of 47:28 what after a person dies where they go. Uh grace is something we don't deserve. Then why is it not unmerited favor? Grace is not just grace. I tell you know, this is a very common definition of 47:47 all Christians. Grace means unmerited favor. I say wrong. Everything is unmerited. The oxygen I breathe, you think you deserving it? I don't deserve it. It's unmerited. Health that you have is unmerited. A job that you have is unmerited. 48:06 Everything on Earth other than hell, what we deserve is hell. Everything other than hell is unmerited. The very fact that you are alive till today, the very fact that you can come for a conference, the fact that you have 48:17 enough money to buy a ticket and come here, unmerited 100%. That's not grace. That's what every human being has on this Earth. Crooks, decoits, crooked people, all are getting unmerited favor. But grace, the Bible says grace is something that 48:36 enables us to overcome sin. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Romans 16, when you're under grace. So, grace is not just unmerited favor. Everything on Earth is unmerited. Grace is the power that helps us to overcome 48:52 sin in our life. And the devil has masked that and covered it up by calling it unmerited favor. So, don't believe all these definitions that we have heard from childhood. Christian definitions which are promoted by people who did not know the Lord or 49:10 did not have scriptural foundation. I ask people, where does it say in scripture it is unmerited favor? Then use your mind and think. What is it that you merit? What is it that you can go to God and say, I deserve this? 49:22 Can you tell me one thing in your life which you can go to God even your oxygen that you breathe. Can you say, Lord, I deserve it because I'm on this Earth? No. Every single thing on Earth is unmerited. So, that's not grace. 49:34 Grace is You can say that a person has grace when he overcomes sin. Otherwise, he hasn't got grace. He's got forgiveness of sins. He's got mercy. Mercy is forgiveness for the past. Grace is power for the future. Please remember that. 49:49 Mercy deals with my past life. Grace deals with the future. But people haven't understood that difference because mercy is not found in in the new in grace is not found in the Old Testament. You don't find that word grace 50:02 except some places where translated wrongly, but grace is a new covenant word, and I'll tell you why. John chapter 1 verse 17 says, "Grace came through Jesus Christ." A clearer statement of all. So, there was no grace on earth till 50:20 Jesus came. So, that is why I say grace is not But there was unmerited favor on earth? Oh, all the Old Testament people got unmerited favor, but that is not grace. Okay. See, these are The reason I say this is one reason I discovered all this is 50:37 because I never went to a Bible school. If I'd gone to a Bible school, they would have they'd have brainwashed me for 3 years that grace is unmerited favor. So, that's why I tell people, "Don't ever go to a Bible school." 50:47 And if you go to a Bible school, get it all out of your head. You know, that's why Jesus never sent any of his 12 disciples to a Bible school, you know that? >> [snorts] >> And there was one disciple who had gone to a Bible school for 3 years. 51:01 Paul. He had studied in the Bible school of Gamaliel. We read that. And so, you know what God did? You read in Galatians that God took Paul to the wilderness for 3 years. Why did Paul have to go to the wilderness for 3 years? The other 12 51:15 disciples didn't have to go because God had to thrash out from his brain all that he got from Gamaliel for 3 years in the Bible school. So, if you go to a Bible school for 3 years, you got to go to the wilderness for 3 years before you you can start 51:28 serving the Lord. Absolutely. And if you never went to a Bible school, be thankful. Okay. Is apostolic succession through laying on of hands required to plant and be a leader in a church? In every instance in the New Testament, 51:45 those who were were appointed by the laying on of hands. That is true. So, we are not against the gift of apostles. We are against all these people who go around in America today is calling up apostles and apostolic team and all that, but we believe what 52:02 it says in Ephesians in chapter 4 that you can't build the church, the true church, you can't build without apostles. You can't build the true church without prophets or shepherds or evangelists or teachers. There are five gifts mentioned in 52:20 Ephesians 4:11. And I believe they were for the entire church age. Apostles Ephesians 4:11 apostles, prophets evangelists, pastors, teachers. These are not Old Testament gifts, New Testament gifts. So, the New Testament 52:39 prophet is different from the Old Testament prophet. The Old Testament, there were no apostles. There were no evangelists. And the word pastor is not really pastor, it's actually shepherd. That's the correct Um some people have given it a dignified 52:53 title in English called pastors. It's actually just shepherds and teachers. And it says here, the the reason why God And remember this is not referring to Some people say this is referring to the 12 apostles that he appointed on the earth. No. 53:07 Because read carefully. You Trouble with a lot of believers, they don't read the Bible carefully. It says Jesus verse 10 descended into the verse 9 to the lower parts of the earth. Then, that is after he died on the cross, he was buried. 53:23 Then at that time the people who died went to the lower parts of the earth, but then when Jesus ascended he took all of those souls up to heaven, it says in verse 10. And from there ascended to heaven and from there he gave apostles verse 53:43 11. So those are not referring to the 11 apostles he chose on earth. Those are not after he went to heaven. Those are on earth. This is after he ascended up to heaven. In verse 10 he appointed some as apostles, prophets. So that's referring 53:56 to after the day of Pentecost. So there are apostles that Jesus has appointed after the day of Pentecost. In the first century and in the 20th century and 21st century. And he's appointed prophets. And prophets are not people who predict the 54:11 future like in the Old Testament. No, prophets we are told in 1 Corinthians in chapter 14 are those who speak to people >> [clears throat] >> and the result of their speaking is it 1 Corinthians 14:3 54:30 it builds them up. When a person preaches in a church in a ways that builds you up spiritually, that's called edification, that's prophecy. Or challenges you, that's exhortation. Challenges you to a higher standard of life, that's prophecy. Or comforts you, 54:49 consolation. When you're discouraged or depressed. So it's building up edification, challenging, exhortation, comforting, consolation. That is prophecy. And a person who fulfills that regularly not once in a blue moon, but regularly 55:07 is a prophet. That's not That's different from just preaching a message. And the next is evangelist. Evangelists are those who go out and bring people to Christ. Now all of us can be witnesses and somebody comes to Christ once in a 55:21 while, but an evangelist brings numerous people to Christ. Every time he goes he bring people bring could be individual evangelism or public evangelism. That is an evangelist. And the fourth is shepherd. I don't like the word pastor because that's a 55:34 unfortunately a title which we should never use for anybody. Jesus said, "Don't have titles." I said that earlier. The Lord doesn't want us to have these title. Pastors are not a title. It's a gift. So, a a shepherd a shepherd is exactly the 55:52 same as a shepherd who looks after sheep. And so, that is what a shepherd is and that means he cares for the people in the church just like a shepherd will take care of the sheep, feed them, clothe them, and take care of the sheep by feed them and 56:08 nurture them and take care of them in every way. And the fifth gift is teachers. That is those who can open the scriptures and explain what all the teaching of the New Testament is, explain the meaning of each episode. Those are So, these are 56:22 the five gifts and it says with these five these five gifted people, verse 12, equip the believers. And make the believers work to build up the body of Christ. So, read verse 11 and 12 and see who builds up the body of Christ. The saints. The believers build 56:39 up the body of Christ. Every believer has an responsibility to build the body of Christ, but the believers themselves are equipped by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And apostles are those who plant churches 56:54 whom God has given the grace to go to a place, gather people together, plant a church, appoint elders. I'm looking at the Apostle Paul now. Point elders, lay hands on them, appoint elders, write letters to them correcting 57:08 them, teach them where they go wrong like in the Galatians and Corinthians. He corrects people, disciplines people and like in the Corinthians. And like a spiritual father, 1 Corinthians 4, Paul says, "I'm your father. You can have 10,000 teachers, 57:22 but I'm your father." That's what an apostle is. And I believe there are apostles today and I believe we need need of them. Not wandering preachers who just preach and go away. And not evangelists who just bring people to Christ and leave them. Like 57:39 you know, there are some famous evangelists who have brought thousands of people to Christ, but you ask them, "Where Where are these people you brought to Christ in some country?" "I don't know." They say, "I hope they joined some church." 57:50 Paul wouldn't say that. You go to Paul and say, "Listen, Paul, I heard that you brought some people to Christ in Philippi." Paul says, "Come with me." He'll take you to Philippi. He'll take you to the church and say, "Do you see these 100 58:01 people sitting here? These are the people I brought to Christ. They're all here in the church in Philippi." And and come with me to Thessalonica. He'll take you to Thessalonica and he says, "See this church with 200 people sitting 58:11 here? These are the people I brought to Christ. They're in this church and I appointed elders." That is an apostle. Paul evangelized people and brought numerous people to Christ, but he was not like a mother who just delivered 58:22 babies and threw them on the street. Go somewhere else and have some more babies and throw them on the street. That type of evangelism is absolutely unheard of in the New Testament. We see it today. In the New Testament, every person was 58:35 put into a local church. And the apostles appointed shepherds to look after the local church. They were fathers who took responsibility for the children they produced. Okay. Next. Uh We know that the Holy Spirit will not 58:57 force people to do things against their will. Like demon possession. But in 1 Samuel 18:23 to 24, the spirit of God came upon Saul when he was going on to kill David and he prophesied and later became naked. Now, 59:17 his becoming naked is his own stupidity. That's got nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. Cuz there are people who Christians, I mean, you got the the Spirit. Well, most of you were born again, you got the Spirit, but haven't you done a 59:29 lot of stupid things? Don't blame the Holy Spirit for that. So, Paul did a stupid thing, you can't blame the Holy Spirit for that. And like you can't blame any stupid thing that you did just because you have the Holy Spirit. So, the Holy Spirit 59:41 came on him and he prophesied, okay? See, that those days prophecy meant something very different from today. In those days, Balaam, for example, prophesied, we read. And he was a he was against the Lord and the Lord finally killed him. 59:56 So, a lot of things in the Old Testament there's a partial sort of situation and it's not exactly like God's perfect will what's happening there. A lot of things God permitted in the Old Testament. He permitted divorce, for example. He hates 1:00:10 it today. So, there are many things God permitted. For example, I know I read the Old Testament, I see David going around killing a thousand people and somebody else going killing the Lord was with him and he killed a thousand people. 1:00:22 Not today. There are a lot of things God permitted in the Old Testament which were not His perfect will. Today it's not God's will for that that I should kill even a one person or hurt anybody in any way. Christ came and revealed God's perfect 1:00:39 will. And during the period of we can say it was a period of ignorance right up to the timing of coming of the Holy Spirit. It's a huge period of ignorance of 4,000 years from Adam to the day of Pentecost. God permitted many, many, many things 1:00:54 which is not His perfect will. Divorce and killing and all types of things. Okay? So, the next question, since the Bible does not prohibit things like having a girlfriend or living wrestle relationships, how do 1:01:12 we know if such things are wrong? There are many things [clears throat] the Bible does not specifically forbid. But we have to see the principle of scripture that marriage it says marriage is honorable in all. There's a great verse in 1:01:31 if Hebrews 13 which says marriage must be Hebrews 13:4 marriage must be held in honor among everybody. And the marriage bed must be undefiled. That means there must be no adultery. That's the meaning of it. Because if there are fornicators 1:01:48 fornicators are those who commit sexual sin before marriage. Adulterers are those who commit sexual sin after marriage. Both of them God will judge. Marriage is to be respected and held by honor. That is God's will. So, uh 1:02:05 you can say God hasn't prohibited it. He has prohibited it. Having a girlfriend or what is the purpose of it? To know a person as a friend is okay. But, if you get involved sexually, it's completely wrong. Next question is Deuteronomy 13:11 to 14 1:02:22 says the old covenant law was something not out of reach and that and that could be observed. However, in Romans 7:8 Paul says I had coveting of every kind. In Acts 15 Peter says he could not bear the law. Well, it's very interesting. 1:02:39 Paul says that there was one particular commandment that he could not keep. You know, there were 10 commandments. And if you look at the 10 commandments, nine of them can be kept even by an outright unbeliever. Hindus and Muslims and atheists can keep 1:02:55 nine commandments. And there are people who have kept it. But, when it comes to the 10th commandment you shall not lust with your eyes after a woman. Nobody no man has been able to keep it. And Paul is just being honest and saying 1:03:10 God left it there just to see how many people would be honest and say I can't keep it. You remember the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus? You read that in Mark chapter 10. And Jesus said uh maybe he kept all the commandments. He 1:03:27 listed I've kept it, kept it, kept it, but he did not mention lusting. But he knew he hadn't kept it. And uh so that was one commandment that nobody could keep and God kept it there to see how many people would be honest when 1:03:41 when it came to the 10th to say, "Lord, I'm not being able to keep it." And the word of God says, "If you cannot keep one commandment, you're guilty of all." So the very few people would acknowledge that. And Paul was honest and so he got 1:03:52 victory. Uh in the temptation where Peter denied Jesus, why does it seem that God allowed him to face a temptation too much for him to handle? See, the God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle is a New 1:04:08 Testament commandment after the day of Pentecost, 1 Corinthians 10. 13 it was not given to Peter because it is given to those who have received the Holy Spirit. Paul had Peter had not received the Holy Spirit at that time. 1:04:20 If he had received the Holy Spirit, he could have overcome it. >> [snorts] >> So God does not allow us ever to be tempted today beyond our ability. You can never say about any temptation that's too much for me. Learning that dreams really don't come 1:04:35 from God, how are we to handle it in a spiritual way or just throw it in the garbage bin? No, sometimes God can speak through a dream. I've had times when God has specifically spoken to me through a dream. But 90% of my dreams mean nothing. 1:04:53 And I think I have most of dreams that I have God spoke to me was in my younger days when I did not know how to listen to the Holy Spirit. So when a person doesn't know how to listen to the Holy Spirit, God does speak through dream. You see that in the 1:05:03 Old Testament, too. And even Joseph uh Mary's husband, Joseph God spoke to him through a dream. So God does speak through him. I'll give you one example of God speaking to me through a dream, one example. This is when I was very young 1:05:18 and after CFC started I saw myself coming back from speaking from a large Christian conference. It was not a CFC conference, some other conference I was speaking at and I was coming back to my room and I heard a voice behind me saying, 1:05:35 "That was not good enough. That was not good enough." And I said, "Lord whenever you speak to me from the front, you always encourage me. But whenever you speak to me from the back, you're always discouraging me. It was not good enough." And the Lord said 1:05:50 to me in my dream, "Turn around and see who it is." And I turned around in my dream and I saw a black figure running away. I learned something that day I've never forgotten. It is the devil who always comes and says, "That was not 1:06:04 good enough." And I learned a lesson as a father. I tell fathers, "Never go to a child and say that was not good enough. That's not the way to You'll discourage that child." It's better to go and say, "Listen, let's do it in a better way. 1:06:21 I'll help you." That's the way to do it. You can say the same thing and accomplish the same thing without discouraging the child. God never discourages. Discouragement is a no entry road. I drew a diagram once with this no entry 1:06:37 sign saying, "Discouragement. No entry road. Self-condemnation. No entry road." Please remember these two no entry signs on discouragement and self-condemnation. Never enter those roads. It's forbidden. You'll have an accident 1:06:53 if you go in. Um most often while praying my thoughts wander. Thoughts like I'm walking in the streets of childhood or how to focus. Should I men- meditate on the cross or something like that? It happens to everyone. In fact, I've 1:07:13 sometimes told people if you have forgotten something, just start praying and you'll be reminded by the devil of all the things you've forgotten to do. Cuz the devil tries to take your mind off concentrating on prayer. So, 1:07:26 we should discipline ourselves in that area, and I say as you discipline yourself more and more, it becomes more and more easy. And I say, try and develop the habit of worshipping God, of concentrating on the person of God 1:07:39 and Jesus Christ, and praising him and thanking him instead of just making a you know, big list of what all you want from God. And then you'll find your mind does not wander so much if you are concentrating on meditating on the cross and meditating 1:07:55 on the person of Christ. We notice that whenever we try to stay disciplined in Bible study and prayer, one of our kids suddenly falls seriously ill, disrupting everything. Could this be Satan trying to keep us from growing 1:08:09 closer to God or spiritually? Don't be superstitious. I'd say that >> [clears throat] >> if child is sick, go and do something to help that child get over it, but that shouldn't hinder you from studying the scriptures, or don't blame the devil for everything. 1:08:26 I think people give the credit to the devil for a lot of things he never did. I mean, there's a lot of evil in the world. That sense, all evil is from the devil. But, if there's a sickness around, it may be because your child got picked it up in 1:08:39 the school. And we just got to deal with that sickness, and don't attribute it, "Oh, I started praying, so my child got sick." No. I'm not going to stop praying because of that. Uh what should someone do if the elders in the church are not setting a good 1:08:58 example, and they don't feel comfortable having them bless their marriage. Well, you should not ask somebody to conduct your marriage whom you don't have confidence in that he's a godly person. And if your elders are not godly, I would not ask a ungodly 1:09:14 elder to conduct, if I was single, to conduct my marriage. I'll tell you honestly, I would rather go to the court and get a secular marriage than have an ungodly person take the name of Jesus and uh conduct my marriage. 1:09:29 But you should also wonder why you're sitting in a church in such a church if the elders are ungodly. You should ask God to lead you some other church where there are godly elders. Unless there's no such church like that 1:09:41 in your location, then you should pray. Lord, please plant a godly church here. George Müller, by the way, if you don't know who he was, he was a man who re- took care of orphans in England in the 19th century. Dod- George Müller said, "Dead to the 1:10:00 approval or blame of even my brothers and friends." How do I do this while remaining humble and balancing it while still recognizing my need for my brothers and elders and their good opinion? It's an attitude I have before God 1:10:15 that Lord, I want your approval. The approval of men doesn't matter. But I must qualify that by saying, "If a godly person says there's something wrong with me, I should consider it seriously. His opinion is important." 1:10:31 If the Apostle Paul, for example, I was living in his time and he said, "Zac, I think there's something seriously wrong with you." I would say, "Paul, please tell me what's wrong. I really want to know because I respect your 1:10:42 opinion very much." But if Judas Iscariot came and told me something is wrong with me, I wouldn't pay much attention to him. So it depends who is saying it. Uh so don't reject the advice of anybody and everybody. We are free from the 1:10:57 opinions of men. We live before God. But I would always value the opinion of a godly man who knows me. Because he'll be able to tell me a lot of things about myself which I don't see. I want to honor my elders and submit to 1:11:11 them, but how do I overcome seeking the honor of my elders and uh That is something you have to fight inwardly. Lord, I want to honor my elders, but I don't want to seek their honor. If you are given a responsibility in a 1:11:23 church and are tempted to become proud because of it, what should we do? Should we ask to be relieved of that responsibility? Because it's too much temptation. No. I think you should take it and overcome the temptation. 1:11:35 Every temptation can be overcome. And if your elders have given you a responsibility, don't palm it on to somebody else saying I'm tempted to get proud. No, do it and battle that temptation. Otherwise, you'll never overcome pride. 1:11:48 It's these opportunities you have to fight. You know, like it's like going into a gym and exercising yourself and your muscle becomes strong. What if you say, "Oh, it was too much of a strain that first day I went to the 1:11:58 gym. My muscles are aching, so I won't go again." You'll be a weakling all your life. Everybody finds his muscles sort of aching the first day he went for exercise. But he kept on doing it and then the aching stopped and he became strong. 1:12:12 So, don't be disturbed that you're tempted to become proud. Battle it and overcome it. Brother Zac, you have become an elder for many years. What is the one important quality needed to work in with fellow elders to ensure 1:12:25 we don't give way to the devil? And what is your strategy for overcoming the devil in church life? In church life, well, first of all, you must respect your fellow elders. Even if you're more mature than them, I worked with elders who are much less 1:12:40 mature than me, whom I myself appointed as elders. And I worked with them and I've always recognized them as my equals when I'm an elder with them. And if they disagree with me, I say, "Okay, I take your word seriously. Let's work 1:12:56 towards the place where we can be united." I don't say, "Hey, you're 10 years junior to me. I don't have to listen to you." Such a person is an arrogant person. I'd say he's not fit to be an elder. An elder must be a humble person who 1:13:06 recognizes that God can use a weaker person to produce some aspect of truth. To me, it's, you know, four elders discussing a certain situation to me are like this. Four people taking a photograph of a building from north, south, east, and 1:13:24 west. You get a much better picture of the building, but the photographs don't look alike. All photo photographs all four photographs look like four completely different buildings, but they're not completely different buildings. 1:13:36 They're the same building, the photograph taken from four different angles. So, I look at it like this. When I work with other elders, they are seeing the same building, same concern for God's glory from a different aspect. I must 1:13:48 pay attention to it. And then we can do better work better together. Can you Dear brother, can you show me some passage that equates or relates to Noah's ark Noah's ark to the church? Cuz I think people have heard me say 1:14:03 that. Noah's ark is a place of like you get in there. Well, there is a verse >> [clears throat] >> 1 Peter 3 verse 20. It says, "In the days of Noah's construction of the ark, eight persons were brought safely through the water." 1:14:20 Eight persons is a picture of the church. Very few people. All the rest were destroyed. And then it says here that being saved through the water is a picture of baptism. 1 Peter 3:21. Noah saving those people in that flood is a 1:14:33 picture of you getting baptized and coming out and becoming a different person and part of the church. So, there it is. You can meditate on it. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 20 and 21. Uh >> Brother Sam said Christ is coming back 1:14:51 for his bride and not for individual Christians who are not integrated to a local church. Is the statement true? What's your opinion about it? Christ is coming back for all his children who are ready in to for his coming with a clear 1:15:06 conscience. Some people may be in a place where there is no church. He will but being a clear conscience is important even you're sitting in the best church in the world. If you're living not living with a clear conscience, you are not ready for 1:15:17 Christ's coming. Let me tell you that clearly. Is every ministry there's an outward factor to measure the progress. How can we measure the growth progress of a church? In the church the important thing is not numbers. Cuz all these mega churches, I don't 1:15:32 believe they are spiritual. The importance of the influence of a church, the growth of a progress of a church is seen how much have these people learned to love one another. Jesus said all men will know you are disciples when you love one another. Is 1:15:48 this church growing in love? In love for the Lord, which means greater purity. In love for one another, forgiving, working together. That's the test of spiritual growth. In the midst of many ministries like missionary work, evangelism, prison 1:16:02 ministry, what makes church building the most needed that last for eternity? In other words, why is church building special? Because Jesus said I will build my church. Matthew 16:18. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. 1:16:16 And all the apostles in the Acts of the Apostles always led people to make a local church. So every other ministry must fit into building a local church. And that church can engage in so many ministries, even feeding the poor or 1:16:30 anything, but the church is God's ultimate goal because that is what we read in Revelation. Uh it's not ministries that end up there in Revelations. The church, which is the body of Christ, that becomes the bride of Christ over there. 1:16:43 Okay? Uh Uh I'm currently at a church where one of the elders keeps chewing tobacco while leading the Bible studies. Well, quit that church and go and join another one. It seems in this area everybody accepts it. Well, a lot of things are accepted 1:17:01 by everybody, but certainly when taking a Bible study, he shouldn't be doing that. What does it mean to be lukewarm today? This is the last question for today. Lukewarm means neither hot nor cold. We read that in Revelation chapter 3. 1:17:18 That means I'm not on fire for God. At the same time, I'm not an unbeliever. And a lot of believers are in that condition. So, what I see is we must ask for the baptism of fire, the Holy Spirit setting me on fire for the Lord, which means a passionate 1:17:32 desire to live a holy life. Fire is purity. And holiness is purity. And from there to encourage others also into that life. Yeah, it's not yet 4:00. Thank you for your patience in listening. 1:17:51 God bless you all. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that whatever we heard will produce some lasting fruit in all of our lives. And thank you for helping us in Jesus' name. >> [music]
