0:00 So in this message, I want to 0:29 explain to you what it means to be born again. What do Christians mean or what does the Bible mean when it says we can be saved? Generally speaking, in the church meetings, we preach about holiness 0:51 and growth mainly because most of the people who are here, I hope, are saved and born again. But there is always a need to explain the gospel of salvation 1:14 because we are a growing church. Every year new people are coming in. And I'll tell you something that I've heard from many people in our church in the last 32 years nearly. 1:35 Many of them have told me we thought we were saved before we came here. When we came here, we discovered we were not saved. And we got saved after coming here because we never knew what repentance was till we came here because we never knew what sin was. 1:58 You cannot turn from sin until you don't know what sin is. It's something like if I tell you stand up and face towards the north. How can you do it? Unless you know where the south is. If you know where the south is, then you can turn towards the north. 2:19 But if you don't know where south or east or west or anything is, then you don't know where north is. And a lot of people are being told to turn to the north because they don't know where the south is. In the same way, a lot of people are being told 2:33 to turn from sin but not being told what sin is. Or if sin is described in a general way like drinking, smoking, cinema going, gambling. A lot of people in the world say I don't need to be saved because I don't do those things 2:51 in any case. So there's a lot of false understanding of repentance because of a false understanding of sin. And I'm sure that there are many people who thought they were saved before they came here. It's only when they heard 3:06 the message of against sin and repentance that they really got converted. And also, there's another reason and that is we live in a world where the standards in Christianity have come down tremendously. Now, if you were living 3:24 70, 80 years ago or even when the time when I was a young boy 50 years ago, it was much easier to hear a clear gospel in many, many churches. At least, there were churches that just didn't preach the gospel and there were churches 3:42 that preached the gospel. And in the ones that preached the gospel, you could hear a clear message. But it's not like that today. Today, it's become a big hotch-potch of compromise in many churches and what you hear is not necessary. 4:01 It's not necessarily the truth. And also, we have so many public meetings where people are told to believe in Jesus. But believing in Jesus doesn't bring salvation. There is no repentance. There are a lot of television programs today 4:19 where they are more interested in your money. They also don't help you to become saved. So, it's not only newcomers who come here, but we've got children growing up in our church who from from the time they begin to understand 4:36 if all they hear is about holiness and growth, what they are hearing is how to build the building but having laid no foundation. Being born again is like the foundation of a building. If you don't lay the foundation and just 4:57 try to live a good life, it will be like following any other religion in the world which teaches live a good life. And many people find a satisfaction in that. Yeah, I want to live a good life. That, those are the walls 5:17 not the foundation. The foundation is you must be born again. You must come to a new life. When Jesus used that expression in John's Gospel chapter 3, he used it to a man who was a bishop. 5:40 Now think that many of you have seen what a bishop looks like. He doesn't wear the white dress of priests because he's a little higher. He wears purple and he'll have a cross around his neck and a dog collar around his neck. 6:00 Suppose he's sitting there and you tell him, you must be born again. That's what Jesus said to the bishop Nicodemus who was probably 60 or 70 years old. He said, you must be born again. It was Nicodemus 6:20 an adulterer. John chapter 3 said, verse 3, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. See, Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, it says in verse 1. A Pharisee who lived a very upright life. He wasn't fooling around 6:35 with women. He wasn't cheating and things like that. But he was not born again. It's not enough to be good. And also, Nicodemus had the true religion. He was not in some false religion. He had the true Bible, the Old Testament 6:56 with him. He followed the only true religion there was on earth in those days. Religion which Moses taught. Jesus said, you have to be born again. Otherwise, you can't see the kingdom of God. You can be an Israeli, a Pharisee, 7:13 a ruler of the Jews without being born again. That's okay. You can get up and preach in the pulpit without being born again. But to enter God's kingdom, you must be born again. You have to have a spiritual birth. And he said, 7:24 how can I, verse 4, how can that be? Can I enter a second time into my mother's womb and be born? You see, his mind was only thinking of earth. How can I go into my mother's womb and be born a second time? And Jesus said, 7:37 no. Verse 6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. If you get into your mother's womb a hundred times and come out, it'll still be flesh. That doesn't help. Any number of that type of births doesn't help. I'm talking 7:50 about a spiritual birth, that which is born of the Holy Spirit is something spiritual. So born again is to be born of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said in verse 6. And he said in verse 7, you must be born again. 8:11 It's interesting that Jesus didn't explain so many steps over there. He just told him a simple thing that Jesus, he himself, would be lifted up on the cross to die, verse 14. And he also said that it was God in love who sent 8:29 him to the world, verse 16, to die so that those who believe in him would have eternal life. And in verse 17, he said he had come to save the world. And such a person will not be judged in the final day. But the judgment is 8:49 this, verse 19, that when he came into the world, men love darkness rather than light. Those who love darkness, that means they want to hide something. Who's the man who likes to walk in the darkness or do things in the darkness? 9:06 Always those who want to hide something. If you've got nothing to hide, you'll come out in the light. And so the one who practices the truth comes to the light, verse 21. So the whole thing holds together. If you want to 9:24 be born again, you've got to come out of the darkness first. That means don't try to hide anything in your life. I don't mean hide it from me. You can hide it from me because I don't want to know your past life. But don't 9:35 hide it from God. Come to God and be open with him about everything. You can't remember everything wrong you did that means coming into the light means being honest and 9:55 not hiding anything. That's one of the first steps. And when you first come to Christ naturally you will not know everything about sin. Because sin is a very big area and you may be just seeing a small part of it. 10:16 It's like you can live in India and see only a small part of India. India is a very big country. Sin is like that. You may see a little bit of it. But if you are willing to turn from what you see that indicates that you 10:32 want to turn from all sin. Because you cannot give up what you don't know. So coming into the light we come there first and then the Bible speaks about walking in the light. That is like living walking through the whole 10:50 land of India and seeing the whole country little by little by little by little. So sin is something like that where you come and see a little bit in the beginning and you cleanse that and then you little by little by little 11:00 you go or use another illustration you're going into a house which has got many dirty rooms here thousand dirty rooms and you're going to live you won't let Jesus come and live in a 11:20 dirty room so you start with one room and you cleanse it thoroughly and that's not enough because the whole house is dirty little by little the house gets cleaner and cleaner and cleaner and cleaner and cleaner that is how 11:37 we progress from being born again to growing up into Christ so we're not talking about that growing up part we talk about that often in the church but we want to talk about how to lay a foundation and how to be born again 11:55 I want to read a verse in Acts chapter 20 the apostle Paul was a man whom God chose to preach the gospel widely in the first century and he says Acts 12:16 chapter 20 he was speaking to the elders and he told them that wherever he went let's read verse 20 Acts 20 verse 20 I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable for you I 12:38 taught you publicly and from house to house and what did I preach everywhere I spoke to Jews and to Greeks see the Jews in those days probably even today divided the world into two parts Jews non 12:59 Jews it's like in our country we have Brahmins dividing the country into two parts Brahmins and non Brahmins so the expression he uses here is speaking to people who are Jewish background he said you divided the world into 13:13 Jews and non Jews well to the whole world to everybody Jews and Greeks I preached the same message that is repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so those are the two things that everybody 13:34 needs to hear if they want to lay a foundation if they want to be born again these are two things that God has joined together repent and believe now man has always tried to separate what God has joined together you see 13:54 all the divorces and marriages nowadays what God has joined together man is separating and here also in the message of the gospel God has joined repentance and faith together but preachers have separated it and generally 14:11 speaking it's only faith left now now if you have only faith you can't be born again it's like saying a woman alone all by herself can't have a child no matter how hard she tries a man alone 14:32 can't have a child repentance alone can't bring salvation it's a man and woman together that bring a child to birth and it's when repentance and faith come together a new birth takes place in our spirit and this is as 14:52 real as physical birth just as real and it happens in a moment it's not gradual there may be a preparation for it over 20 years or two days or 15:12 two minutes or half an hour there may be a preparation for it like a baby in a mother's womb being there for nine months but the birth is like that in a moment I mean babies don't get born over a period of days out of the 15:28 womb in a day in a moment they are out and the new birth is also like that but it is possible particularly for those who are lived fairly decent good lives that they may not know the exact moment when 15:48 they were born again I don't know for example exactly when that transition took place that's something like if I'm traveling from by train from or even more difficult by plane from Kerala to from Cochin to Bangalow I 16:08 may not know the exact moment when I cross the border it's not important the important thing is I came to Bangalow I crossed the border you can't come to Bangalow from Cochin without crossing the Kerala border but you may 16:23 not know the exact moment but you can't come here without crossing the border the same way you may not know the exact moment when that took place but it's an act it's something that happens in a moment or like a person who 16:41 doesn't know his birthday person may be more alive than the fellow who knows his birthday and who is sick and about to die so knowing a date is not the important thing the important thing is you cross the border that you 16:57 are born again and and that you are sure of it so many people are not sure because they don't believe what God's word says or maybe they haven't really repented so I want to try and make this very clear so that before you 17:17 leave this meeting at least you will understand what it means to be born again and saved even if you are not actually and hope you will be the foundation the Christian faith many people say don't all religions lead to one 17:35 God the answer is no people tell me why are you so narrow minded why are you so Christian so narrow minded to say that Jesus is the only way why can't you accept other religions also is all good people 17:55 trying to go to God but I say let's be honest I say to such a person you don't know anything about God I don't know anything about God we are human beings born into the world none of us have seen God at any time so our opinion 18:10 is worth nothing I mean it's like if you have never seen an elephant never seen a picture of an elephant never seen an elephant how will you know what an elephant looks like supposing you try to draw a picture of an animal 18:21 you have never seen or even a picture you can't draw a picture of that it will be wrong you may think you know I may think I know but both of us will be wrong so I say it's no use your opinion and my opinion are both worthless 18:35 but Jesus Christ came from heaven his opinion is worth more and you are telling me to say that Jesus is the same as all other religions and gods hang on you are asking me to call 18:55 Jesus Christ a liar and a deceiver you want me to do that you are telling me to call Jesus Christ a liar and a deceiver you say no no no no no no no no no I'm not asking you to I'm asking you to respect him and respect other 19:07 gods I say hang on Jesus said in John 14 verse 6 I am the way no one comes to the father but through me is that right or wrong if it's right then he's the only way if it's wrong 19:28 either he was a liar or he was a deceiver or deceived so what do you want me to call him you want me to call him a liar you want me to say Jesus Christ is a liar Jesus Christ is a deceiver or Jesus Christ was deceived which 19:44 of the three do you want me to say no no I don't want you to say anything and the only other alternative is he spoke the truth which is I am the way the truth and life no one no one no one no one no one comes to the father 19:59 but through me I can't go to God except through Jesus Christ and I'll explain to you why truth is always very narrow minded many people say why can't you be broad minded nowadays in the world everybody likes to be broad 20:19 minded don't get into controversy with anybody accept everything I say 2 plus 2 is 4 somebody says no it's 3 somebody says no 2 plus 2 is 5 let's accept everybody or let's at least accept those who are pretty close to us 20:33 like somebody who says 2 plus 2 is 3.9 somebody says 4.1 they are much closer you say I'm sorry I'll get all my calculations wrong if I say 2 plus 2 is 3.9 or even 4.1 or even 4.0001 truth is absolute 2 plus 20:54 2 is 4 I say you also follow that I would say to such a person your mathematics is pretty ruthlessly narrow-minded you don't give any option to another fellow to have a different view so don't call me narrow-minded 21:14 you're narrow-minded too what if I say the earth goes around the sun no no let's accept the other fellow who says the sun goes around the earth also I mean let's be broad-minded about these things I see you can't be broad-minded 21:30 everything all your physics calculations will go wrong if you accept this fellow says the sun goes around the earth that fellow says the earth goes around the sun and somebody else says something else truth is absolute whether 21:43 in the realm of astronomy or mathematics chemistry H2 plus O is water it's not salt no let's accept the fellow who says it's salt I'm sorry I can't accept it two parts of hydrogen plus one part of oxygen is water it's not 22:01 salt you see how truth is absolute in every area only when it comes to faith they say no no no let's be broad-minded broad-minded people people are in error in mathematics physics chemistry astronomy and religion but 22:22 people are willing to be very narrow-minded in all those other areas and don't recognize that truth is narrow-minded here too Jesus Christ said I am the way no one comes to the father but by me so I say I am not you're not 22:34 arguing with me when I say that you're arguing with Jesus so Jesus was either a liar or he was a mad man or he was a deceiver or he was deceived or he is God you can have your choice but don't say he 22:54 was a good man how can he be a good man if he told such a lie like this no don't say he is a prophet I don't accept I'm not excited when somebody says Jesus was a very good man are you excited when somebody says that it's 23:16 like somebody saying your father is a very nice dog what do you mean my father is a very nice dog he's not a bad dog he's a nice dog that's exactly the same when you say Jesus was a nice man he was a good prophet no 23:36 he was almighty god my father is no dog and Jesus Christ is no ordinary man or prophet so I mention that because sometimes Christians are excited when somebody says Jesus was a good man no he was God came in human form you 23:56 need to understand why it was necessary some of these things are very simple but if you understand it will help you the Christian faith teaches that all human beings are sinners if you come to God if you come to Jesus as 24:15 a Christian sin cannot be forgiven because Jesus did not die for Christians he died for sinners so the only person who can be forgiven is one who comes to Jesus and says I'm a sinner anybody sitting here you come to Jesus 24:30 saying I'm a Christian Jesus will say I didn't die for Christians you can't come to Jesus as a Hindu Muslim Christian Buddhist atheist nothing he said I came to the world to die for forgiven you come as 24:50 a Christian you will live and die in your sins and go to hell because that's the punishment that's the first thing I want to say and it's very easy for us to know that we are sinners your conscience God's given you a conscience 25:07 everybody's got a conscience in particularly children they're very sensitive conscience as you grow up you can kill that conscience kill that conscience with all types of doing wrong things and when your conscience tells 25:20 you something you say shut up I'm not going to listen to you ultimately our conscience is dead it may stop speaking to you but that doesn't mean you become holy no see our little children if you want to go to a home and find 25:39 out the truth about something who should you ask ask the three year old he cannot tell a lie you ask the grown-up people with a straight face they'll tell you a lie but the three-year-old tell you the truth but that three-year-old 25:59 you wait another 15 years it has become a perfect liar just like just like you and me because we kill our conscience we are all born with a very sensitive conscience have you seen the feet of a little baby so soft and tender 26:16 but look at your feet now that's what happens to our conscience also hard the feet of a baby one small pin it'll feel it our feet some people so hard even a drawing pin won't hurt them that's what 26:37 happens to our conscience but our conscience is what God's way of saying you're doing something wrong you can kill it and that's why I tell you the most useful gift God's given you like your conscience Jesus called it the 26:54 eye the eye of the heart is the conscience keep it carefully otherwise you won't be able to see you live in darkness like a blind man the more you kill your conscience it's like poking your eyes keep on poking it poking it 27:09 poking it poking it one day you can't see anything but your conscience tells you you're a sinner and it doesn't matter when you look at a baby the baby you go to see all the babies in a hospital can you tell me which one 27:24 is Hindu which one is Muslim which one is Christian no they're all the same they're all sinners you go and see those same babies playing grown up and playing in a kindergarten playground who's the Christian who's Hindu they all 27:37 fight with each other all goes to show that they're all the same when they are born they're all the same when they grow up but the parents will take one to a church a temple and they become their own religions that's all 27:50 your religion you have is most probably because your parents took you to some place like that Jesus didn't come for religious people he came for sinners your conscience tells you you're a sinner you come to Jesus and say 28:03 Lord I am a sinner I've done so many wrong things now the next question is can't God overlook our sins I mean won't a good God overlook our sins isn't he a father like you know if my son went and bashed up my scooter and 28:21 blew the whole thing up and he says dad I'm sorry can't I forgive him oh yeah of course I can forgive him for something like that I can forgive him or if I gave him a thousand rupees and he went and lost it somewhere he 28:34 said dad forgive me I can forgive him those things are those are not moral issues if our sin was just like that like breaking up a scooter or even burning a house oh we can forgive him but sin is not like that sin is a crime 28:50 supposing I'm a judge my son is standing there he's committed a crime can I say I love you my son I won't punish you even an earthly judge will not do that because he's got a sense of justice 29:10 not because he's going to be caught some people just won't do it because they've got a sense of justice and that sense of justice he's got in his mind is a fraction of the perfect justice of God almighty so when I've done 29:23 something wrong God is the judge and he looks at me he says but you say judge you're his father can't you just let him go he's sorry however much my son may sorry to me in the court if he's done something wrong I have to 29:42 punish him let's say he robbed a bank or did something like that and I have to fine him your fine is ten lakhs pay the fine or go to jail people say boy what a strict he doesn't love his son his son also may turn 30:02 around to me and say dad you don't love me punishing me like this can't you let me go you're the judge you've got all power no son I'm your judge here fine I signed the court order ten lakhs or go to jail and while he's 30:21 looking sad at such a hard judge I get up from my seat and take off my judge 's robes come down become an ordinary man again take out my check book and write ten lakhs to my son here go and pay the fine you're 30:41 free can anybody in the world accuse me of not doing what is just no I gave him the full penalty of the law can he accuse me that I don't love him no I punished him as a judge I paid the punishment maybe I emptied 31:01 my bank account entire ten lakhs gone to save his life and go to jail he will know I loved him as a father that is what God did on the cross he cannot overlook your sin he forgives you only because the punishment has been 31:20 yes the punishment has to be paid but I pay it myself now listen to this if Jesus Christ was not God like the Jehovah's witnesses say like some other cult groups say and 31:41 God punished him for our sin that would be the greatest injustice of all God cannot be God isn't that right supposing I punish you when in the court and somebody else says okay I'll take the punishment for him you 32:01 are to be hanged to death for the murder you committed and your mother comes and says no don't hang him he's a young man please hang me and the judge says okay you can be hanged instead of your son how long do you think 32:19 that judge will remain in his seat can a mother be hanged in place of her son even if she wants to that will be injustice so even if Jesus is a high created being if you punish him for my sin it 32:40 can't be right and secondly one mother cannot die for a million murderers supposing a million murderers are here all condemned to be hanged and one mother says come and hang me how can you take the punishment of all these 32:56 million people one if Jesus was a created being he could not take the punishment for millions and billions and billions of human beings impossible so all this teaching that Christ was created and they take some misunderstand 33:11 misquote some verses which they don't understand properly they don't think about it what are you saying that means you're still in your sin then I would say to every Jehovah's witness ah you may sound so nice but you're 33:22 still in your sin no created being can die for your sin sorry but God himself he can die for our sin because he's the judge he's ruler of the universe he can punish us and take the punishment himself that's why God had to 33:42 come down in the person of Christ and another thing if God was only one person and not three persons that's another thing some Christians teach God is only one person but how in the world then can God come down here and 33:58 become a man and still be God up there in heaven to whom Jesus prayed do you know there's some Christians who believe that they baptize in the name of Jesus only you know why because they say there's no three persons Father 34:10 Son and Holy Spirit even though Jesus said you must baptize in the name of Father Son and Holy Spirit because they deny the Trinity 1 John chapter 2 says if you deny the Trinity that's Spirit of the Antichrist why is that 34:21 because then you're denying that God came in the form of a man and took the punishment in the presence of God the Father who was in heaven how can that be there's only one person so these are just a few things I want to 34:37 say of wrong understandings a lot of Christians have about Christ being deity himself when he was on earth he was God people worshipped him and he accepted it which even angels don't accept proving he was God but he did 34:56 not use his power as God when he was on earth otherwise people wouldn't even have been able to look at him once he lifted the veil on the mount of transfiguration for just a few minutes and Peter and James and John fell 35:09 down like they were struck by lightning if Jesus had lived on earth as God everybody would have fallen down flat some of the Roman soldiers who came to capture him suddenly got a flash of who he was and they fell down but 35:30 he did not use that power just briefly sometimes he lifted the veil only once or twice in his entire earthly life but otherwise he lived on earth as a man not using any of his powers as God because he wanted to be an example 35:45 for us so Jesus was fully God and fully man and he came to earth and when he died on the cross he was taking the punishment for our sin and the punishment for our sin is eternity in hell and when Jesus hung on the cross 36:02 for three hours what he faced was hell that means being forsaken by God that is the most terrible thing any human being can ever face think of the worst suffering you can ever face multiplied by a million and more and you 36:17 understand what being forsaken by God is we think of hell as some geographical place somewhere maybe it is but the worst part of hell is that is a God forsaken place that means God is not there and it's terrible to be there 36:37 because God is not there God is in this world today that's why even for unbelievers things are very pleasant but when you go to the place where God himself has withdrawn his presence all the evil in the devil and the man 36:50 and all comes out fully it will be terrible that evil is what makes the fire of hell being forsaken by God for three hours the earth shook the sun was darkened and all types of things happened in those three hours in the 37:10 last three hours he was six hours on the cross the last three hours he was forsaken by God because that is the only way he could take our punishment not just by physically dying but a spiritual death took place there his 37:25 connection with God was cut off the Bible says the father is the head of Christ and the head was wrenched off for three hours on the cross can you imagine if your head is wrenched off what it's like 1 Corinthians 11 3 says 37:37 father is the head of Christ and the head was wrenched off on the cross and he suffered hell not just for you and me but for the whole world because that one man was God he 37:58 was infinite so the punishment that billions of people will suffer for eternity could be concentrated into three hours in one man and he was God we don't know what agony that was that 38:19 is the price he paid for your sin mine that's the first foundation of Christianity Christ died for our sins that's not enough he rose from the dead if he did not rise from the dead I would not be a Christian I would waste 38:34 I wouldn't waste my time preaching this message his rising from the dead is the proof that all that he said on earth was true no man died for the sins of the world no man rose from the dead no religion even claims that somebody 38:53 died for the sins of the world except Christianity and no religion even claims that somebody who died came out of the grave after three days so the foundation of the Christian faith is not do good be kind don't hurt others 39:07 it is Christ died for your sins and he rose up from the dead you remove those two things Christianity becomes like any other religion in the world that's why it's unique you need to understand that you are a sinner and you 39:21 deserve to go to hell for all eternity to be forsaken by God forever and you have lived for yourself you are created created to belong to God but you live for yourself and when you come back to God you must come back like 39:34 a thief who has stolen what belongs to God for so many years how old are you 25 30 so many years you have stolen something that belongs to God you can come back to him in sorrow Lord I didn't know this was your thing I stole 39:49 so many years I want to come back to you and give my life to you thank you Lord Jesus for dying for me I believe you rose from the dead if you didn't rise from the dead he wouldn't be living you can't pray to good people 40:06 who are dead the apostle Paul was a good man but I can't pray to him because I can talk to him and more so because after he rose from the dead he went to heaven after 40 days and he sent his Holy Spirit you 40:26 know just like God sent his son to walk on this earth for 33 and a half years and the son of God went up to heaven the third person of the Trinity came down to earth the Holy Spirit just as real a person 40:47 power he gives power but he himself is not a power it's a person just as real a person you don't look at a person and say he's a force he's a person who gives power like a king who's got tremendous power the Holy Spirit 41:06 is a person just like Jesus he came to the earth but because he didn't come in a human body like Jesus he says to you I want a human body yours it's wonderful that the Holy Spirit 41:26 can come and take this body and if I respond to him do in this body exactly what he did in Jesus body when he was on earth it's a wonderful thing to be a Christian see that's the thing that challenged me that's why the Bible 41:43 says that the Holy Spirit comes in you you can walk like Jesus walked you couldn't do that before the Holy Spirit came before that you could only improve your life on the outside so a lot of Christians are trying to live 41:54 like that improve the life on the outside and be a good person like the Old Testament people that's not the way however much you improve you'll never be like Jesus the Holy Spirit the God himself is 42:15 but you'll have God living inside you helping you to behave like him that is why I'm so disturbed when I see so many people who talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit and telling lies getting angry loving money especially 42:32 loving money fighting taking people to court so many things I say this is not Holy Spirit this is an evil spirit Holy Spirit will make you like Jesus and maybe the Holy Spirit came in you but he probably left you long ago 42:48 because you didn't respond to his romptings you know the Holy Spirit doesn't stay anywhere where people don't want him I believe that you can invite him in and if you don't respond to what he's saying he'll say goodbye live 43:00 your own life you still live a good life like Abraham and Moses and a lot of other people in the Old Testament who didn't have the Holy Spirit you live a good life but you won't be a child of God so this is the wonderful 43:13 message of the gospel that you can turn and receive Christ through his spirit into your heart that your body can now be the house of God I was speaking to somebody once who was smoking cigarettes I said will you smoke a 43:31 cigarette inside a church building I never smoke inside a church building why it's the house of God I said do you know your body is supposed to be the house of God not this building how can you do something wrong in God's 43:49 house if you want to commit adultery will you commit adultery inside a church no not in the house of God if you want to watch internet pornography will you watch it inside a church building no no no no that's a holy place 44:04 we don't have an understanding what is the holy place it's this body this is the temple of God anything that people won't do inside a church building you can't do it here why do I say we must be careful about how we treat 44:21 this body the habits of drinking and smoking and things that destroy this body taking drugs and many other things it's like would you go to a church building and break the walls and windows you wouldn't do it this is the 44:34 church building this is God's house don't destroy it by bad eating habits bad habits in your life spirit to be a true christian that doesn't mean we reach perfection in a day the christian life the bible says 44:54 like a race being born again is coming to the starting line that's all it's a marathon race of 70 years where you run run run run as you run you get closer and closer to the finishing line but don't stay at the starting 45:12 line when you born again when starting line all it means is you turned your back and come to the starting line now I want to run or to use another illustration I've laid a foundation now I want to build a house so it's the most 45:32 wonderful life you can ever live because if you respond to the teachings of the bible you'll just go more and more higher up the mountain become more and more like Christ in your life and all the that so what must you do 45:48 practically to become a Christian a true Christian to be born again first of all you need to acknowledge you're a sinner how much you're aware of your sin maybe very little maybe you think only two or three rooms in your 46:02 house are dirty never mind actually all your house is dirty all the thousand rooms are dirty but maybe you don't see it but you see that there's dirt sin in your life you're wrong even a little child little children know 46:14 that they've done wrong things that's the first thing acknowledge it come to the light and say Lord I am a sinner I'm not a Christian I'm a sinner I'm not coming to you as a Christian I come to you as a sinner then you recognize 46:30 that that sin has to be punished you have to go to hell that's the punishment even for one sin that's what you need to recognize Lord I deserve hell for my sin I may not be as 46:50 bad as the murderer and the thief and the adulterer but I have also sinned I violated your law the Bible says if you violate one law it's as bad as if you got a good chicken curry how many lizards do you have to put inside 47:07 to spoil it 10 20 or one supposing you put only one another fellow put a 500 you say my curry is better than yours yours is unfit for eating too how many drops of poison do 47:28 you need in glass of milk to corrupt it one drop or 20 drops one enough to kill one sin makes you as much a sinner as someone who has committed 500 or 5 million because sin is poison it's polluted your whole system so 47:48 don't compare yourself with others finish with that today lord i'm a sinner i deserve hell see if you don't take this position if right at the beginning you think you're a little better sinner than the other fellow i've 48:01 got only two lizards in my curry he's got ten or i put only three drops of poison in my glass he put 500 this these are the type of christians who never make progress 20 years later they'll still be like that pathetic if 48:17 you want to make a good start in your life recognize that you are no different from the worst sinner in the world i am just as guilty as anybody else even though i haven't put so many drops of poison as he did but i deserve 48:32 hell i tell you it's what i did to change my life radically i know many people in cfc and other places who have never come to that place in their whole life you see them 20 years later they still think they're better than 48:44 somebody else they don't grow spiritually you want to be like that or you want to be a radical wholehearted christian be a good christian right from the beginning don't be a drifter so that's important lord i deserve help 48:59 but i know with all my heart that you died for me it was my sin that crucified you on the cross you died because of my sin i want to hate sin in my life because you died there and i believe with all my heart that you are 49:12 the son of god you rose from the dead i want you to come into my life rule my life as my lord i want you to give me your spirit to dwell in me i want to be born again and then you can be born of the holy spirit because god's 49:29 word says in john 1 verse 12 it says as many as received him john 1 verse 12 as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of god even he gives me the right to be a child of god 49:49 so faith means committing of myself to him not just believing you can believe in somebody but you may not commit yourself to him it's like asking a woman at the marriage at the wedding ceremony are you willing to give yourself 50:09 to this man that is faith supposing she says yeah I believe he's a good man I think he's a very good man actually you want to marry him no that I have to think about you can't be married what is that woman choosing in marriage 50:28 she's saying I'm going to change my name from today I'm going to be Mrs. So and so I'm going to I'm not going to live with my parents anymore I'm going to live with this man I don't you know what the word Christian I 50:50 could say it reverently it's like saying Mrs. Christ I got married when did my wife take my name when she got married to me you can't take Christ's name till you're married to him of course so many people can go around saying 51:07 they are Mrs. Poonin or my name but they're not so many people can go around saying they're Christians they're not are you married then you can take his name have you surrendered to him have you said I'm yours now not just 51:21 for one or two days people don't get married for one or two days they don't drift in and out of that fellow's house so many people are like that and they think they're Christians they're not Christians no Christian I've 51:37 committed believe means that that's the meaning of believe I've committed myself totally to this person from this day so I'm not asking you for any half-hearted committal total commitment if you don't want to get married 51:49 go home and think about it come back tomorrow or 10 years later whenever you're ready to be totally committed to Christ that is what we preach in this church that doesn't mean you're perfect you may do something wrong your 52:04 husband will forgive you but you're going to live with him when a wife gets married she's not saying I that's what she's saying I'm not saying you'll never do anything wrong I'm saying do you want to be committed to Christ 52:20 totally permanently for the rest of your life and you can be that today and then we can take baptism baptism is like a marriage certificate you can't get married just by going and getting marriage certificate right and you 52:38 can't become a Christian just by getting baptized after you get married you get the marriage certificate so after we give ourselves to Christ we take baptism which is like a testimony I finished with my whole life now I 52:50 belong to Jesus he's my Lord he's my bridegroom he's my husband I'm going to live with him forever and husbands and wives they if they are good husbands and wives they'll talk a lot to each other and 53:10 that's what we have to do with Jesus from that day onwards talk to him listen to him talk to us from the Bible and a good wife will never do anything that her husband does not like think of a husband and wife really love 53:28 each other and the wife says I want to watch this movie and the husband says no it's not a good movie and she says no I don't care what you think I want to watch it you sit in your room I watch by myself you think they're 53:42 going to have a happy marriage tell me you know the believers who watch movies today that Jesus would never watch they have sent off Christ out of the house Lord you get out of here we are watching something we don't want 53:57 you to see they don't realize that and that is why what such people have is religion not Christ God wants to use them mightily for his kingdom but he cannot use them because their Christianity is in spurts Sunday morning 54:15 they are married they live with their husband and so much you are the greatest you are the most wonderful etc etc etc all the songs we sing Monday you kick him out of the house the Sunday you come back again this is how 54:32 many Christians live I'm not inviting you to a marriage like that let other people live like that don't you get into that type of marriage what your husband does not like you not going to do from today do you want a Christianity 54:46 like that if not there are many churches in Bangalore that will give you an easier way which will not be the truth and you will risk your life you will risk your eternity by listening to something which is false the 55:07 truth may be difficult but God will help you to do it he will never ask you to do something which he won't also put his arms underneath and help you to do it but it's the most wonderful life you can ever live I'll tell you 55:20 that I started living this life 47 years ago and I have no regret my only regret is I wish I had started earlier it's the most wonderful life you can ever live you won't find many people living it many who call themselves 55:37 Christians even those who say they are born again Christians spirit filled and all I don't find that they love their husband I don't find that they will say to their husband I never do what you don't like I always try to 55:54 say to Jesus Lord I never do what you don't like I never speak what you don't like I tell you I love my husband I want you to invite you my friends to respond to Jesus Christ like that to give your life totally to Christ 56:08 today can you be sure that you're born again Romans 8 verse 16 says Romans 8 16 says the Holy Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God God 56:32 Holy Spirit will tell that spirit you're a child of God I can pray with you or you can pray yourself and say Lord Jesus come into my heart come into my life but I will not tell you you're a child of God I leave that to the 56:45 Holy Spirit it's better he tells you you read God's word and the Holy Spirit will come and tell you you're a child of God and you know what happens as that time as time goes on you come to know your husband better and better 56:58 and better and better I know Jesus so well today I'm never lonely I cannot be lonely because I can't go to a place where he's not there there's no problem I have which I cannot tell him it's a wonderful life it's 57:18 the best life it's the way God wanted man to live life full of joy it's a life free from anxiety and fear because I give my future into his hand and say Lord you hold the future lead me just make sure I want to hold your 57:36 hand I'll go only where you go I'll tell you most born again Christians do not live like this so don't make them your example look for the few who live like this make them your example and your life will be wonderful 57:56 and God will make you a blessing to others want to bow our heads now in prayer while our heads about in prayer you can pray a simple prayer sitting in your seat Lord Jesus I 58:17 am a sinner I acknowledge it Lord God I may not be as bad as others but I deserve hell thank you for dying for me I never knew till today how much you love me that you took my punishment you died suffered hell on the cross 58:37 for my sin help me to hate sin I want you to come into my life and be Lord of my life be ruler of my life I want your spirit to come inside and give me a new birth I 58:58 believe you rose from the dead you are living today that's why you can hear me I receive freely your gift of forgiveness I forgive everybody who has harmed me help me to forgive them Lord I want to turn from everything that 59:16 I know to be sin in my life everything that I know is displeasing to you I don't want to do anything that you don't like Lord I don't want to have any practice in my life where you will have to walk out saying I don't like 59:32 that I want to please you from today help me Lord I believe you have received me listen to this word of Jesus if you come to me I never cast you out believe that today Lord Jesus I believe those of you who are not sure believe 59:53 God's word if you have done your part he has done his it does not matter whether to know the date maybe you were saved ten years ago or now it doesn't matter but you are sure today Jesus has accepted you you are forgiven 1:00:07 and you are going to be a child of God now you need fellowship you need to be with God's people you need the food of God's word you need power you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit pray to God he will give you all that 1:00:21 seek fellowship with God's people don't try to live this alone the seek fellowship in a good church you 1:00:42 can make that decision in your heart and if you want help after the meeting you can talk to folks here they will help you heavenly father I pray for those who are responding in their heart to you now I pray a miracle will 1:01:01 take place in their heart right now a miracle of salvation and a new birth give them real repentance real faith they will trust you be filled with the Holy Spirit 1:01:21 give them a hunger to be filled with God's Holy Spirit and power hunger for fellowship and hunger to read your word bless them we pray in Jesus name Amen.
