0:01 [Music] So I want to share with you beginning with Matthew chapter 11. If you can turn to that chapter in your Bible. It's good to see the scripture in your 0:20 own Bible so that you know where it is. In my first Bible, I used to mark so many passages which were very important for me. It became very easy for me to look it up because the Bible's got more than a thousand pages and uh because I 0:36 marked certain important verses, it helped me tremendously later on. So one of the things that you all know that we proclaim in the church in CFC which is different 0:54 from many other Protestant churches and not that we are better that's for God to decide but we proclaim some things which are not proclaimed by others just like 500 years ago Martin Luther began to proclaim something which the Roman 1:11 Catholic Church was not proclaiming that is justification by faith and that produced such a movement around the world that the whole Protestant movement Protestant means protesting against the Catholic Church began which 1:25 brought so many people to salvation and then through the years different ones began to proclaim water baptism which had not been proclaimed for a long time and holiness and the baptism in the Holy Spirit and different things like that. 1:39 God raised up different people to proclaim different truths so that the whole of God's truth can be recovered through the years because they all they had it everything right at the beginning in the first century when the apostles 1:52 were living but after that time it just declined like anything and we can say it's like truth was buried under mountains of mud and sand and theological rubbish that uh people like Martin Luther had to sort of clear out 2:10 that rubbish and gradually uncover, you know, like people do archaeology and discover some hidden city and little by little they discover more and more and more and more. And so in the last 500 years, God has exposed and uncovered 2:24 more and more of the truth. One of the things that God's brought to light more in these days is the new covenant being superior to the old covenant. And that's one of our major themes beyond just the baptism in the Holy Spirit. So I want to basically 2:43 speak on that. But I want to begin with Matthew chapter 11. So in Matthew 11, here's an amazing statement that Jesus makes in Matthew 11 and verse 11. truly you know whenever Jesus everything Jesus said was true but sometimes when 3:02 he emphasized what the King James version says verily verily or here in the NASB truly I say to you take those particular statements to heart he spoke about being born again like that here's another one which is truly I say to you 3:19 Matthew 11:11 among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist. That means from the time of Adam, all the people that were born on the earth, whether it's Moses or Samuel or 3:38 David or Elijah or Elisha or anybody right up to the time of Jesus and before Jesus, every person born among them, Jesus proclaims that the greatest is John the Baptist. Greatest 3:55 means great in God's eyes, not in the eyes of man. You remember in Luke chapter 1, the angel told uh Zachchariah, the father of John the Baptist, who never had any children till then. Let me read to you what he said because that's always been a great 4:14 challenge to me in my own life. What he said to Zachchariah. He said that you're going to have a son and his name, you must name him John. Luke 1 and verse 13. 4:30 And it says in Luke 1:15, "This person Luke 1:15 will be great in the sight of the Lord." It doesn't matter what he is in the sight of men. When I read that as a young 20-year-old born again Christian, 4:48 I said, "Lord, that's what I want. I don't want to be great in the sight of men. I want to be great in the sight of the Lord." In other words, God's opinion. Dear brothers and sisters, you'll find one day, if you haven't 5:05 already found it, that it's only God's opinion about you that's important. and to be great in the sight of the Lord. I'm not talking about greatest. I'm not in any competition to be greatest. But I want to be great in the sight of the 5:22 Lord. And it should be the desire of every one of you, my dear brothers and sisters, to be great. That means valuable in the sight of the Lord. So turn back to Matthew 11 again. Matthew and chapter 11 in he said something astounding even 5:42 after that. So we saw here in Matthew 11:11 among those born of women there's no one greater than John the Baptist. But then he said listen to this this is the amazing part the least in the kingdom of heaven 5:59 the kingdom of heaven is the church. the new covenant church. Israel was the kingdom of earth. Israel was also a kingdom, but it was an earthly kingdom with earthly kings, 6:15 earthly wealth, earthly greatness, earthly enemies whom they fought, earthly victories, nothing of heaven. But then Jesus came and he said in verse 12 here from the 6:34 days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven is proclaimed and that is being attacked by whom? By Satan. When it says the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. Israel seeking a kingdom on earth in the land of Canaan suffered violence from 6:53 the Moabites, Abonites and the Philistines and all types of people. And they had to fight them, fight them, fight them. In fact, the Old Testament is full of the histories of Israel's battles with the people who tried to 7:07 possess that kingdom of earth that God had given them in Canaan. Now, here when it says the kingdom of heaven is also being attacked, it's by the devil, not by earthly people. Earthly people are not interested in the kingdom of 7:21 heaven. They're only interested in money and property and pleasure here on this earth. But from the days of John the Baptist, John the Baptist was the forerunner for Jesus Christ and for this new covenant. He did not enter into the new covenant 7:36 himself, but he prepared the way. In fact, he said the message I have is prepare the way. Raise up the low places and make the crooked places straight and prepare the way for the Lord to come. not only for Jesus to come but first the kingdom 7:53 of heaven the church to come following on from that and he says this kingdom of heaven as John the Baptist began to proclaim it right from the early days right from the time of Christ the devil attacked it that's why it says suffers 8:05 violence and the only way we can take that kingdom of heaven and make it ours is by doing violence ourselves. You see if we uh doing violence means 8:23 spiritual violence not physical violence like the Israelites. No. So the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and only if you're a violent man you'll be able to take it. Otherwise you won't be able to take it. So here we see 8:43 all the prophets. Now listen to this. The Old Testament is summed up as in this phrase, the law and the prophets. And it says here that Old Testament, the prophets and the law was until John. That's all. 9:00 And John is like a new Elijah who's going to prepare their way for the first coming of the Lord. So he says, "If you have ears to hear, listen to this message." One of the important parts of this message is in verse 11, the least person 9:19 in this new covenant church. Even if you think you're the weakest believer on earth, my dear brother, sister, if you're the weakest and the least and the lowest of all the born again believers on earth, I'm not talking 9:36 about Christians. 90% of Christians are not born again. I'm not talking about them at all. I'm talking about born again Christians. Those who have repented and accepted Christ as their savior and in whose heart Christ has 9:49 come to dwell. Even if you feel you're the least and smallest and weakest among them, I want to say to you that the least one is to be greater than John the Baptist. Have you ever taken Matthew 11:11 seriously? I want to ask all of you. I'm 10:07 sure all of you have read it. Who has not read the Gospel of Matthew? Every Christian has at least read the Gospel of the Matthews, the first book in the New Testament. You must have read Matthew 11:11. When you came to this 10:19 verse, did you try to understand how you can be greater than John the Baptist? I took that word seriously. John the Baptist was the greatest human being between Adam and Christ. 10:39 And now I even if I'm the least in God's kingdom have I have the potential to be greater than him. It's not automatic. Nothing is automatic in God's kingdom. No, there are conditions. Even salvation has got conditions. Repentance 10:57 and faith. It's not automatic. Ask and you will receive. If you don't ask, you don't receive. Seek and you will find. If you don't seek, you don't find. Knock and it'll be open to you. If you don't knock and if you don't keep on 11:12 knocking, it'll nothing will be open to you. If you knock once and go away, you're going to get nothing. If you're going to ask once and go away, you get nothing. You got to ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Like 11:25 the two parables Jesus spoke on prayer. One is the widow who went to the judge, Luke 18, kept on banging at his door at 2:00 in the morning and kept on banging till the judge said, "Okay, what do you want?" Jesus said go to God like that in 11:39 prayer day and night. And the other parable Jesus said about prayer is in Luke chapter 11 where he spoke about the man who went to his neighbor's house to ask for some bread and he kept on knocking and the neighbor said please don't disturb me. My 11:54 children are asleep. He said no I'm going to keep on disturbing you cuz I need some bread. And then it says there in that passage, amazing verse, he will open the door and give that man who knocked persistently 12:10 as much as he needs, as much as he needs. Imagine God is going to give me as much as I need. But I have to keep on knocking. And there in Luke 11:13, finally he said he's referring to the Holy Spirit. You know why many people never get filled 12:29 with the Holy Spirit and even some who are filled never remain filled with the Holy Spirit? Go and read Luke 11 and verses 1-13 and you'll see the answer because you don't keep on persisting in prayer. That's the reason that's the 12:48 only reason why many people never get filled with the Holy Spirit. very that parable from Lukeap 11 and verse 5-13 very important passage about being filled with the Holy Spirit go and meditate on it and see how that man 13:05 asked and at the end of the parable Jesus said this is how you must ask for the Holy Spirit you know the greatest need in the Christian church is to be have a genuine infilling of the Holy Spirit I sought for it for 16 years I 13:18 didn't have to seek for 16 years but I grew up in a denomination that never preached the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then never preached about being filled with the Holy Spirit. And then I went to other groups which had a fake 13:31 counterfeit fullness of the Holy Spirit. Do you think don't you think the Holy Spirit's fullness will be counterfeited? Of course, if the fullness of the Holy Spirit is the most valuable thing for Christians, you can be pretty sure it's 13:45 is going to be counterfeited. The devil will counterfeit the fullness of the Holy Spirit more than he counterfeits the Bible. Yeah, because what do people counterfeit in this world? Nobody counterfeits brown paper or toilet paper. People counterfeit 14:03 valuable dollar notes. Not even $1 notes, $100 notes. So what is the most valuable thing in prison? Being filled with the Holy Spirit, you can be absolutely sure the devil will produce a hundred counterfeits of it. Um, Matthew chapter 11, 14:20 John the Baptist said that Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest of everyone under the old covenant. So in what way is are we superior to John the Baptist? That's very important to know. 14:39 And basically it is this that even though it says in Luke chapter 1 that the angel told Zachchariah in Luke 1 and verse1 15 John the Baptist will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 14:59 Luke 1:15. And this is what Jesus said to his disciples too. And the acts of the apostles is full of people about whom it says they were filled with the Holy Spirit. So in what way were those new covenant Christians 15:16 greater than the greatest man born from the time of Adam? There's one thing that made the difference and that is the Holy Spirit was upon John the Baptist. Now when the Holy Spirit is upon a person, he equipss him 15:35 to a ministry. He doesn't change his life. It's like a a bottle of water, sorry, a bottle with a lid on it or a glass with a lid on it and you keep on pouring water on it. Not one drop goes inside the bottle. The outside of the bottle may be clean, 15:55 but the inside can be filthy, dirty, but the out from the outside the water flows and may flow out in many directions. It could be even like rivers, but nothing inside the bottle changes. And that's how it was with all Old Testament 16:09 people. The Holy Spirit came upon their hearts remain dirty, but they could do amazing things. Samson, for example, his heart was absolutely filthy with adultery. But the spirit of God is upon him. And uh David, the spirit of God is upon him. 16:29 But he committed adultery. Elijah the great prophet, the spirit of God is upon him. But he would get so depressed that because the queen Jezebel threatened his life that he said, "Lord, take away my life." There's a tremendous difference. 16:46 These are the great men of the Old Testament, Moses. We're told that there's no one who's as humble on earth as Moses. But yet he could not enter the promised land and he lost his temper and because of that he lost the opportunity to get into 17:04 the promised land. So we see that this is the distinctive thing in the new covenant that the Holy Spirit comes inside and the as if the lid is taken off of the bottle or the glass or whatever you think the lid is taken 17:23 off and now the Holy Spirit comes inside first when we are born again. And if we open up every area of our life to him, he fills us and then overflows first a trickle. You read read about it sometime in Ezekiel 47. First a trickle 17:42 and then as it becomes bigger and bigger and bigger like Jesus said in John 7:37-39, rivers of living water. This is the main way in which the new covenant Christian is greater than John the Baptist. Like Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, let me read that 18:01 verse again. The one who is least in the kingdom, Matthew 11:11, remember that verse is greater than the greatest in the old covenant. Nobody in the old covenant could ever have the Holy Spirit with him. The first person who walked on 18:14 this earth with the Holy Spirit with him was Jesus Christ. And from him, rivers of living water flowed. And he said to the disciples, "You wait. don't dare to go out into the world without being filled with the Holy Spirit. And they 18:28 were all scared and sitting inside a room we read in Acts chapter one scared for their lives. But suddenly the heaven was open on the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit came and filled them and began to overflow and they they did not 18:42 take 10 years to change. It was immediate. The fear went away. They were suddenly they had an anointing to speak and they spoke spoke prophetically. I mean you read Acts chapter 2. Peter spoke for just 10 minutes perhaps. 19:01 That whole sermon takes about 10 15 minutes. And do you know how many people were converted through that 10 15 minute sermon? And it doesn't sound like a fantastic sermon either. He just quoted a lot of scriptures and said what Jesus 19:14 had done and how he had risen from the dead and he told them to repent and they would receive the Holy Spirit. Do you know how many people were converted? 3,000. Now for 3,000 people to be converted after a 10-minute sermon is 19:27 itself a miracle. But when you see that those 3,000 were rabid Jews who hated Christ and thought he was a false prophet. 3,000 Jews. Can you imagine even one Jew being converted with a 10-minute sermon? This is the result of 19:44 being filled with the Holy Spirit. And I know in my own life for 16 years I lived believing Christ died for me and confessing and repenting and confessing and repenting until one day I remember in January 1975. 16 years 16 and a half years after I was 20:06 converted God one day filled me with the Holy Spirit and everything began to change. I didn't suddenly shoot up but gradually the graph of my life started going up and it was 6 months after that that CFC was born and since then so many 20:21 other churches but I know the it's got nothing to do with me like Peter he was the same person before the day of Pentecost and after the day of Pentecost something happened the Holy Spirit came and filled him I want to say this dear 20:34 brothers and sisters I fear that many of us who keep listening to so many good messages of giving up this sin and giving up that sin and all that and we're trying our best but we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not to 20:47 be satisfied until we're filled with the Holy Spirit. It's it's it's like the difference between darkness and light as we are discovering right now. It's the fullness of the spirit that makes all the difference. And so many people think well does this mean 21:05 that I'll have complete victory over sin? So that's another thing I want to explain. When the Holy Spirit comes in, he doesn't suddenly make us like Christ. Why? Because then I'll tell you why he doesn't do it. Because he would have to 21:21 make us robots if he suddenly made us like Christ without our making a choice on our own. The power of choice is something that God has given to angels and to human beings. And it is with that power of choice that we choose God over the 21:40 devil. Choose the fle choose the Holy Spirit over the flesh. And uh you know that Jesus came to earth with the power of choice. There was no sin in Christ. But it says in Hebrews 4:15 that he was made exactly like us. 21:58 In what way? I'll tell you. Very important to understand this. John chapter 6 and verse 38. It says John chapter 6 and verse 38. Please turn in your Bibles. Jesus said, "I have come down from 22:15 heaven." Now, in one sentence, he gives us an autobiography of his entire 33 and a2 years on earth. In one sentence, what did he do in 33 and 1/2 years? Yeah. He healed the sick and did miracles and preached sermons and died 22:31 on the cross. But all of that can be summed up in one sentence. John 6:38. He never did his own will, but he always did the will of the father. So that's how he that's how he 22:54 u accomplished God's will on earth. He never did his own will. and he always did the will of his father. So when he says asks us to follow him, he's telling us to never do our own will. That's basically what he's asking us to do. 23:11 It's not a question of just overcoming lust and overcoming dirty thoughts and overcoming bad language and overcoming anger and overcoming the love of money. That's all good. But it can all be summed up in saying I will put my own 23:25 will to death. When it says to crucify your flesh, your flesh is your self-will. And if you consistently put that to death, the Holy Spirit begins to have power in your life. 23:44 So that is the way God seeks to lead us on. So I want to show you something which the apostle uh Paul wrote in second Corinthians 23:59 chapter 3. 2 Corinthians in chapter 3 we read here about the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17. Please turn in your Bibles. It says there the Lord is the spirit. This 24:17 is the only place in the whole Bible where the Holy Spirit is called Lord. Everywhere else Jesus is called Lord. Here the Holy Spirit is called Lord. And he says where the Holy Spirit is given liberty in our lives. What 24:34 happens? He shows us verse 2 Corinthians 3:18. The first thing he does to us is to show us the glory of Jesus Christ. the life that Jesus lived on earth, which is basically never doing his own will. 24:52 And then once he shows us what Christ is like, the next thing he does is in verse 18, he changes us into that likeness. Please remember, dear brothers and sisters, the purpose of the fullness of the Holy Spirit is to show you the glory 25:12 of Jesus. every day. And if you're not seeing the glory of Jesus more and more in your life, you're missing out on what God wants you to experience. Nobody in the old covenant could experience this. John the Baptist could not experience this. Even 25:27 at the end of his life, he when he's in prison, he sends a message to Jesus saying, "Are you really the Messiah or do we have to look for somebody else?" He lost faith. But the Holy Spirit when he comes and fills us, this is the way you'll know 25:43 that you're really filled with the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18, he will first of all verse 17, he'll give you freedom, liberty, more and more freedom from doing your own will. More and more freedom to do the will of God 25:59 in your life. And he will show you verse 18, the glory of Jesus Christ. And then next up, as he shows you that glory, he conforms you more and more into that likeness. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 26:19 Speaking in tongues is a special gift. Teaching is another gift. Evangelism is another gift. Being an apostle is another gift. These are all gifts. And that he doesn't give that to everybody. Very, very few people have these 26:31 outstanding gifts. But every one of us can have 2 Corinthians 3:18. Seeing the glory of Jesus and being transformed into that likeness. So don't seek to preach like somebody else. Don't seek to have a ministry primarily. 26:49 Seek to have a life primarily. That's what we need. So if you understand that, you'll understand the main purpose of the Holy Spirit coming and filling us. And when he does that, he will also give us gifts later on, different gifts to 27:07 different people just like the different parts of the human body. Some are like the tongue who can speak, some work with the hands and different parts of the body have different functions. And a lot of hidden parts of the body like the hidden like the heart, 27:19 the liver and the kidney and the body of Christ also most people are hidden. Most of the parts of our body by the way are hidden. I think more than 90% of our body up that mean 98% of our body is hidden inside all the organs and veins 27:34 and everything else inside the arteries and everything else inside the tendons and bones and these are not clean now liver the kidneys the pancreas and so many other things inside they fulfill a tremendous function and yet we don't see them it's like that 27:51 in the body of Christ why do you see very very few people who are up in the pulpit who have the to speak or to do other things even miracles and healing because on the outside. So 28:10 God's will is that we should seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit and primarily as I said to be transformed. So I want to say something further. 28:30 Let's turn to second uh 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians in chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Here Paul is giving us a testimony of 28:56 his own life. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4. It's an amazing statement he 29:12 makes here. Just read it carefully. 1 Corinthians chapter 4:4. I am conscious of nothing against myself. Imagine being able to make a 29:30 statement like that. In my life, I'm conscious of nothing against myself. What a life he lived. But yet he says, "I'm not thereby acquitted. Just because my conscience does not convict me of anything 29:49 does not mean that I'm clear before the Lord." Because there's a whole lot inside us which we cannot see. which God sees. So that's what he's saying that I'm not yet acquitted just because 30:07 I don't see any conscious sin in my life. So teaches us there is conscious sin and there is unconscious sin both in our life. Paul says an amazing statement here. Imagine standing before Almighty God and saying, "My conscience 30:25 convicts me of nothing." My dear brothers and sisters, even though John the Baptist was the greatest person from the time of Adam, he could not say that. He could not say, "My conscience does 30:42 not convict me of anything." But Paul could say that and he kept that testimony throughout his life. And this is a far greater thing than being an apostle or speaking in tongues or anything. If only you could understand this, it'll be really amazing 30:57 if you could understand this. So this is what we should aim for. So I want to show you the reason why Paul could have this attitude. Turn with me to Acts of the Apostles in chapter 24. Acts of the Apostles in chapter 24. 31:16 Here Paul says, "I have a hope." Verse 15. I want you to turn to Acts of the Apostle chapter 24 in your Bibles to verse 15. He says, "I have a hope." Like all the other Jews also have that there will be 31:35 two resurrections. Do you believe that there'll be two resurrections? Revelation 20 makes it very clear. a resurrection of the righteous and a resurrection of the wicked. That's what's mentioned here in Acts 24:15. 31:54 And then he says, because there are going to be two resurrections and I want to be in the resurrection of the righteous, there's something I do. And if you want to be in the resurrection of the righteous, read this verse. 32:11 I've taken this verse very seriously. Acts 24:16. It's been one of my favorite verses because I do not want to be in the resurrection of the wicked. There are going to be two resurrections and I want to be in the right one. The 32:26 resurrection of the righteous. And here is it's very simple to be in the resurrection of the righteous. I do my best. Every word here is important. I do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience before God and before men. There are some number of 32:45 statements here. Nobody in the Old Testament could say this because they did not have the Holy Spirit within. Not even John the Baptist, the greatest person. How did Jesus say the least person in God's kingdom is greater than 33:00 John the Baptist? We're not going to be greater preachers. We're not going to have a greater ministry than him. But here is where we're going to be greater than him. That where John the Baptist could not keep his conscience clear all the time. 33:14 I can I do my best. That's the first thing I want to go step by step here. If you want to enter into this spiritfilled life, the first thing is you have to say I do my best. 33:33 I'm doing the very best possible. What for? Now in the world, people are doing the very best to make money. They're doing their very best to advance in their profession. Well, that's fine. But he says, I do my very What about you? Before we go to the 33:50 next phrase, what in your a what is your primary aim in your life? Ask yourself is it to get on in this life? There are some Christians who want striving to be great preachers. One day I will preach in the church. If that is your ambition, 34:05 I'll tell you something. You will never be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are people I know even in CFC, their great ambition is to become a great preacher like somebody else whom they admire because they'll get honor in the 34:16 church. Oh, I wish I could speak like that person. Boy, I could stand up in the pullpit and preach. My brother, I don't even know whether you'll get into God's kingdom. If that is your goal, forget it. I tell you in Jesus name, 34:29 forget it. Make this your goal. I do my best to keep my conscience without blame 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Then I will be in the resurrection of the righteous. And that's more important 34:49 to me than preaching in the pulpit or traveling the world and preaching definitely or having some supernatural gift. Tell me honestly all of you to whom I'm speaking right now. Can you honestly say that the main goal in your 35:03 life is not to advance in your profession but to keep a good conscience 24 hours seven a day seven days a week. If you can tell me that I'll tell you God will do amazing miracles in your personal life. He may not do any 35:16 external miracles like healing the sick but your life will be transformed. You'll become more and more like Christ. Why is it that many of you, if you're honest, you have to admit that your Christian life is a bit frustrating, 35:30 you don't seem to be able to get into that life that you've heard proclaimed in U CFC. You know, somebody once told people, "Oh, this type of life is only possible for brother Zach." Absolute rubbish. It's possible for you. Don't believe any 35:48 rubbish. This is only for some people. It is for you, my brother and sister. You are a child of God. You are more valuable than John the Baptist. Jesus said, go back to Matthew 11. He said, the least person, even if you consider 36:02 yourself to be the least in the church. Jesus said, the least person in God's kingdom will end up as greater than John the Baptist. I believe that. I say, Lord, even if I'm the least in the church, that's fine. I can come to a 36:14 greater life than John the Baptist. I believe that. But this is the way I keep my conscience clear all the time in two directions. That's the important thing here. Before God, that means in my thought life, I keep my conscience clear. In my 36:30 attitudes towards people and things, I keep my conscience clear. My attitude towards material things, my attitude towards my enemies, my attitude towards praise and honor. What is my attitude in all these things? Do I humble myself and 36:43 give the glory to God? That's what I mean by keeping my conscience clear before God. Areas of my life which nobody can see and I keep my conscience clear before men that is in the areas they can see. Maybe I hurt them and I 36:57 apologize immediately. Yeah. I want to keep my conscience clear before all people so that nobody can say that I hurt them without apologizing. and also that I forgive every single human being who's ever done anything against me. That is how I can keep my 37:15 conscience absolutely clear. That is why Paul could say that verse we looked at in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse four, I am conscious of nothing against myself. My dear brothers and sisters, I plead 37:32 with you, Christ is coming soon. Please don't seek to be a preacher. Seek to live with a good conscience. That'll do you a lot of good in that final day. If you pursue after the wrong things and try to get honor in the church or 37:46 anything, I tell you, you're going to lose out. Do not seek honor in the church. If you've been doing it, repent of it. Go to God and say, "Lord, I'm sorry. I've been seeking honor in RLCF or in the church I belong to. I don't want to 38:01 do it anymore. I want to direct all my energy towards keeping my conscience clear before God and before men. And I'll tell you where that has to begin. In your home where you are quick to apologize to your wife or to your husband. As soon as you 38:19 spoke one one word which is out of place, you apologize. And you don't wait 10 minutes to apologize. You apologize immediately. Then you can say 24 hours a day, I am conscious of nothing against myself. What did we read in Acts 24:16? 38:38 Paul said, I do my best. Compare it with a businessman who's doing his best to make money and advance in his profession. I do my best to keep my conscience clear. I wish I could emphasize this 24 hours 38:56 before you. is the most important thing. It's not being emphasized in Christendom. The Holy Spirit has come to help me to keep my conscience absolutely clear. And wherever God sees one person or anybody who makes that his goal, the 39:12 Holy Spirit will increasingly transform him into the likeness of Christ because he will show us more areas where we don't have light. So 1 Corinthians 4 again the verse which I just quoted I'm conscious of nothing against myself but 39:29 the next thing he says in 1 Corinthians 4:4 is that does not mean I am like Christ. No it doesn't mean I'm I can go scot-free. That's what he says there. I'm not acquitted. I'm still guilty. Not acquitted means still guilty. 39:46 You say well I keep my conscience clear. I'm still guilty. Yes. Because the Bible says there is nothing good that dwells in our flesh. Romans chapter 7 is very clear. In me that is in my flesh that dwells nothing good. From the time of Adam's sin, we 40:05 got a black big black circle inside our system. Not in our heart, Christ dwells in our heart, but in the thing called the flesh. The flesh is my self-will and it's like a big black circle. Nothing good dwells there. One day Christ came 40:20 into the midst of it in my heart. It's like a little white little white circle came in the middle of that black circle. And on the rim of that inner white circle, can you understand this? I try to make a diagram of it. In the rim of 40:35 that inner white circle, we are tempted. Tempted. Tempted. Tempted. Tempted. Tempted. We keep our conscience clear and we overcome one temptation. anger perhaps or getting offended. Let's start with getting offended. One of the 40:51 easiest things to overcome. You're tempted to get offended and you battle it, battle it. A time comes in your life, you just don't get offended. That white circle increases in size, became a little bigger because that in 41:05 that rim you overcame something and then you get tempted in another area. Maybe some of you are tempted to watch pornography or something and you overcome it. You overcome it and you battle it, battle it and you finish with 41:16 it. that you never see it again. The circle has become a little bigger or it could be keeping a grudge against someone which you refuse to keep it, refuse to keep it, refuse to keep it. Finally, the work circle becomes a 41:27 little bigger. With each of us, it is different. I don't know what your besetting sin is. But that is the area where you must ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to keep your conscience clear. Not before men, before God. And little by little that 41:42 white circle increases. And the area where you have light, you always keep your conscience clean. That's the meaning of I know nothing against myself. But this still black circle is still there. I'm still not completely free. But little by little, 2 41:59 Corinthians 3:18, I'm transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ. Which means this little white circle becomes bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. The ultimate aim is that the entire circle becomes white 42:15 completely like Christ. No place for the flesh. That is the goal towards which God is working through the Holy Spirit. And it's a wonderful possibility. That's far more important to me. That's far more important than planting churches. 42:32 That's far more important than preaching powerful messages. That's far more important. If God gave me an option, do you want the power to do miracles and to raise the dead or the power to overcome the flesh? I say, Lord, no doubt at all. 42:44 I want power to overcome the flesh. You can do miracles and go to hell. Do you know that Jesus said in the last days many people will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, we did miracles in your name. And I will say to them, I don't 42:57 know you. Where are you from? Whereas he'll never say that to a man who strove to keep his conscience clear in the power of the Holy Spirit. So I believe God is testing us in these days. He's testing all children of all his 43:11 children. Whose approval are you going to seek? Are you striving to sort of impress people or are you striving to please God? Keep your conscience clear. Seek for the power of the Holy Spirit primarily not 43:30 to speak in tonesues. If God gives you tongues, use it. God gave it to me, I use it privately. Or God gives you gave me the gift of teaching. I could not produce it. He gave it to me and is my teaching is effortless because God gave 43:43 me that gift. And if God gives you a gift, it'll be effortless. If God gives you the gift of tongues, it'll be effortless. If God gives you the gift of evangelism, effortlessly you'll go around winning people to Christ. God did 43:54 not give me the gift of evangelism. So I don't find that fruit in that area but he gave me the gift of teaching and I find in that area God's continuously gives me liberty liberty. So ask God to show you what is your particular gift. 44:11 Say Lord I want to grow in likeness to Christ and be useful in your kingdom. But don't seek for a public ministry first. Seek for a hidden ministry. Seek to do the lowly things. I remember when I started serving the Lord, 44:26 I started by cleaning the floor in the church meetings, laying the mats. They used to sit on the floor and u serving the food after the morning meeting was over. Everybody would sit on mats and that's where the food was served and I'd 44:39 go around distributing the rice and the curry fine. I wasn't preaching those days, but I said, "Lord, whatever I can do, I'll do. Don't seek for the big things." Many people seek for the big things and that's why they destroy themselves. 44:51 Start with the small things. Be a servant. I say Lord, even today I say, "Lord, I want to be a servant of all men." Because Jesus was a servant of all men. I see that becoming like Christ is like this. He was in heaven and he came all the way down to earth. 45:07 That itself was a great thing. But here he became a servant washing people's feet. On the last day of his earthly life, he was washing people's feet. He was down at their feet. Which way do you want to go? I said, Lord, I want to go that way. I want to 45:24 go down and down and down and down to the feet of people where I'm not interested in sitting on top of them as some great ruler or something. I want to be at their feet and wash their feet and bless them. May God help you all despite the 45:40 interruptions of this meeting. I trust that the Holy Spirit spoke something to you that you can hold and carry on for the rest of your life. Let's just bow before God in prayer. Don't miss out on the one thing, whatever it is that God spoke to you 46:00 today. Heavenly Father, I pray for myself and all the brothers and sisters here who have heard me that we'll follow the example of the Apostle Paul who said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." 46:20 I do my very best to keep my conscience always clean 24/7 before God and before men. because I want to be in the resurrection of the righteous and I want to please 46:38 you and I want to be able to say I know nothing against myself 24 hours a day I want to say that seven days of the week I want to say that yet I'm not acquitted I want to get light on those hidden areas the dark black areas of the flesh 46:54 more and more so that I conquer them so that the life of Christ like that little white circle increases and increases So that I become more and more Christlike inwardly not for people to appreciate me but almighty God my father that you can look 47:10 at me and say this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased this or someone here this is my beloved daughter in whom I'm well pleased that I pray that every one of us will have that longing. So Lord, we pray that despite all the interruptions, you 47:25 will take home to everybody's heart here today a word that will transform their life for all the coming days. We thank you that Satan was defeated on the cross. He has no victory over us. We thank you that in spite of the 47:37 interruptions, you were able to communicate your word to many people. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen. [Music]
