0:00 Luke chapter 10. 0:30 I want to show four verses initially. These are good promises also. Luke 10.19, we read this phrase and nothing will injure you. 0:56 I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy and nothing will injure you. Nowadays, we see many people who are injured by the enemy in the world and outside in the world. 1:23 There are many who have been injured by money, by love of money. There are many who have been harmed by sexual lusts. Many who have harmed themselves or injured themselves because they have sought the honor of man. 1:51 There are many who have been harmed by false doctrines. For us, it is because of God's mercy that we are still remaining standing. Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. 2:18 For whom does this promise apply? Nothing will injure you. The answer for this question, Asaph proclaims that in his psalm. Psalm 73, verse 25, verse 25 and 26. 2:46 In the earth, besides you, I desire nothing on earth. God is my portion forever. God is my portion forever. Who are the people who will not be deceived or destroyed or harmed by the enemy? 3:14 They are the ones who have the Lord as their desire, the strength of their heart and their portion forever. I have, I desire nothing on earth beside you. 3:43 He is my desire, my strength and my delight. Not only Asaph. In Exodus chapter 20, among the 10 primary commandments which the Lord gave, we read this commandment in verse 3. 4:13 Verse 3. You shall have no other gods before me. I want to read this verse a little differently. You shall have no other ambitions before me. 4:34 Other than me, don't have any ambitions. We have many legitimate desires and ambitions in our life. For young people, there are a lot of ambitions. For young people, there are a lot of goals and ambitions. For young people, there are a lot of ambitions. 4:53 There are a lot of ambitions and legitimate desires. And those parents who have children, they also have legitimate desires and ambitions. Don't we need to have all those things? So, how should we read this verse? All my desires and ambitions should be inside God. 5:16 It should be within the will of God. It should be within the glory of God. Anything which goes outside this will harm me. I want to show another fourth verse. 5:41 It's a very pathetic verse. 2 Kings chapter 7. 2 Kings 17 verse 33. 33 and 41. 6:01 They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from whom they had been carried away into exile. So, while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their idols, their children likewise, and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day. 6:20 God plus. It was always God plus. They kept God. In addition to God, we can keep a desire and ambition. When I have God and serve other idol or some ambition, some desire, then this promise which was there in Luke chapter 10 verse 19 does not apply to me. 7:02 This evening, I want to show one idol. I want to show some characters who feared God, but also had their own lusts and desires. 7:25 There are characters in the Bible. There are characters in the Bible, those who feared God and served God only and not their ambitions. We read about the king, Saul, who was the first king. 7:46 We read about the king, Saul, who was the first king. He is the one who started in the spirit and ended in the flesh. We read about the king. We can see how this man who was anointed by the Holy Spirit, he backslid and went into carnal ways. 8:10 The idol which he served was seeking the honor of man. He feared God. He obeyed the commandments of God to a little extent. 8:30 He also worshipped his idol of seeking honor of man. And that injured him and harmed him. We read an illustration of that in the book of Judges. 8:52 Chapter 9. A beautiful illustration. We read about the trees in the forest. We read from verse 8. The trees went forth from the forest and they said to the olive tree, rain over us. 9:22 The olive tree said, I don't want to give up giving the olive oil and rule over men. My business is to provide olive oil. 9:47 I am the one who heals. The healing, I am the one who heals. I am a person who wants to heal those who brothers and sisters who have been injured. I want to heal them. 10:08 I don't want to rule over men. You want to keep somebody else as a ruler, don't keep me. So all these other trees, they went to the fig tree. The fig tree said, it's my business to provide only good fruit. 10:35 I don't want to give up that and go and wave over trees. Beloved brothers and sisters, all of us have a ministry in the church. To provide olive oil, we can be healers. Those who have been injured by the enemy, we can heal them. 11:01 And we can give people the good fruit and satisfy their hunger. And then the trees went to the vine. You come rain over us. Do I have to give up providing the new wine and then go and rule over men? 11:30 No, that's not my business. Leave me out. I have to provide new wine. I must cheer people. I must encourage them. This is my ministry. I don't want to go and be a king and command people. 11:57 All these trees which are 1,000 feet and 2,000 feet, they come. They come finally to the 14th verse. They came to the bramble. They told the bramble, you come and rain over us. 12:19 And the bramble said to the trees, "If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out from the bambble." 12:39 Just see this, it's so surprising. There are these cedar trees which are 2,000 feet tall. There is a shade for this. This bramble is just one span length. And there is a shade for this. If you have a shade for this. 13:01 If you have a shade for this, you will come to the bambble. If you are not here, you will be in the same place. If you are in the same place, you will be in the same place. If you are in the same place, you will be in the same place. 13:12 If you are in the same place, you will be in the same place. The bramble was saying that I may be so short and my shade may be very small. But you have to make yourself so small and come so that I can rule over you. If you don't come under my authority, fire will proceed from me. 13:30 I will destroy you. There will be fire coming out from me. The lust was there in this bramble. This lust to destroy. It was not there in the fig. It was not there in the olive. It was not there in the wine. 13:52 Only for this bramble was this evil lust. People must be under me. I must rule over them. I must exercise my authority over them. If you are not under my authority, I will finish you. 14:13 This is how. This king Saul was the one who began like a fig tree. He began as an olive tree. He began as a vine within a few years. 14:42 When he was small in his eyes, he was like that. Within a few years, he became a bramble. There was always a fire coming out from him from that bramble. 15:03 And he was so eager to finish off David. He wanted to bring David under his control. He was like that. We can read in 1 Samuel 10:10 how Saul was an olive tree and a fig tree and a vine. 15:33 We read in 1 Samuel 10:10, we read in 1 Samuel 10:10, the Holy Spirit came upon him. And the spirit of God came upon him mightily, we read in 1 Samuel 10:10, the people who are outside in Christianity, they keep asking what is the sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit? 16:10 Are you speaking in tongues? Are you speaking in tongues? Are you making noise? Are you exercising your gifts? There is no anointing in your church. There is no noise. There is no speaking in tongues. They are speaking like that. 16:32 There are two signs which the Holy Spirit has written in this chapter, in this verse about the marks of a person who has been anointed in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, he came upon mightily on Saul. 16:54 We read in verse 20:20, we read in verse 20:20, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot. And that Lot fell on Saul. And that Lot fell on Saul. 17:15 And when they searched for him, they could not find him. They could not find him. They could not find him at all. The man who was mightily anointed by the Holy Spirit. Don't make me a king. 17:37 Don't make me a king. I will not become a king. Like how Jesus Christ ran and hid himself. There was the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon him. Leave me alone. I won't be a king. He ran and hid himself and they tried to find him and they were not able to find him. 18:01 Then they had to go and inquire further of the Lord. Verse 22: Therefore, they inquired further of the Lord. Has the man come here yet? So, the Lord said, behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage. 18:21 He went and hid himself in a place, in a room where there was baggage stored. This is how King Saul, when he was anointed by the Holy Spirit, He began as an olive tree, a fig tree and a wine. 18:42 He went and hid himself so that people couldn't find him. He didn't hide him. He was not acting. He was not, you know, playing that, you know, just go hide behind the screen as if he's hidden himself and then we go and find him and then he comes and exposes, "Yeah, here's the king." 19:06 He didn't act like that. He didn't act like that. They had to find out on whom the Lord fell, they had to find out from God where he had hidden, they had to find him and then make him a king. The God of Israel is one who hides himself. 19:25 The Holy Spirit is one who hides himself. The Holy Spirit is within us, hidden. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of God, the Son of God, the Son of God, he is one who hides himself. The angels, they are the ones who cover their face and their hands and their legs. 19:47 God, His Son, the Holy Spirit and the angels, the whole family of God are those who hide themselves. The man who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit, he will also hide himself. 20:12 He will not project himself, he will not come out. This is the true genuine Spirit. If you want to find out what is the mark of the Holy Spirit, this is how we will identify the mark. We read in the same chapter one more, I didn't define mark. 20:36 There is one more mark of the baptism or the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Verse 27, they, you know, despise him and they speak so, they said, some worthless men said, how can this one deliver us and they despised him and did not bring him any present. 20:57 But he kept silent. He is one who kept silent when people despised him. How much ever you despise him and speak badly about him, it will not go inside him. And how much ever you appreciate him and speak, it will not go into his ears. 21:20 And how much ever you despise him and speak, that also will not go into his ears. Whatever is outside, anything from outside can never go into him and defile his soul. We see like that in some families. It goes and it falls on their ears. 21:45 Whatever the mother-in-law speaks, it falls on the ear. Whatever the daughter-in-law speaks, that also falls in the ear. Whatever the husband is speaking falls on the ear. But the one who's got the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it will not go inside. 22:06 He will be a person who's deaf like Jesus Christ. It says that, you know, he listened and then didn't take notice of it. He didn't bother about that. But Jesus Christ, like that. This Old Testament, Saul lived a life like that. 22:31 See how glorious, what a glorious beginning it was. It may not have been just two years. We read like this in Acts chapter 13, verse 41. 40 years, Saul was king. 22:57 For one or two years, he would have been like this, a victory. But what an unfortunate thing. For 37, 38 years, he was a bramble. 23:23 And there was a fire coming out from him. All his days, he spent only in trying to kill him. The ark of the Lord was captured. 23:46 The ark of the Lord, which was captured during the time of Eli, it was lying outside. We read that it is in the heights of Abinadab. It was for 20 years in that house. And that ark was in the rain and in the sun, and it was soaked in dew. 24:12 The first king of Israel, he didn't have even a small bit of concern for that. We should bring the ark of God into our place. The Lord may be a king for that. The ark of the Lord is outside. What counsel should I take for that? 24:34 How can I bring it back? There was no desire for that. There was no concern about the ark of God. My position. My honor. I must remain as the king. There is one person who has come for competition. 24:56 He became a big man in his eyes. He is a man who spent all his days just for himself. We read that due to his disobedience, the Holy Spirit had left him. 25:16 There is one verse which I read and feel very sad. 1 Samuel chapter 15. Instead of just telling lies once, but he told twice. Instead of once, twice. 25:38 It is the people who allowed them to escape. All the people, they were the ones who spared the flock. The Lord is speaking again and again. And again and again, he is telling lies. The Lord had removed his kingdom from him. 25:59 He was told like that. Verse 26. The later part. The Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. When we read that, how fearful it should be. 26:33 Even after listening to this frightful verse. The Lord has rejected you. He was only looking for one thing. That the kingdom of Israel. The people of Israel. They should honor him. Shouldn't your heart tear? 26:59 Even after the Lord had told that. You know, he has rejected Saul. Saul didn't feel remorse or a sorrow for that. But he just wanted to be the king. Beloved, these things are all written as examples for us. The later life of Saul is something which we have to fear. 27:26 That is why King David writes in the psalm. He is one who was with Saul and observed Saul. And the Lord has said, Saul is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. 27:42 He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. Lord, a small thing which Saul did not obey. This huge harm had come to him. He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. I have committed adultery. He is a sin of sin. He is a sin of sin. 27:54 I have murdered. He is a sin of sin. Oh, I don't know what will happen to me. We read in Psalm 51, 11 like this. Don't cast me away from your presence. Please don't take away your Holy Spirit from me. I will not be able to live a life after that. 28:17 I have been closely living with Saul and observing him. I know his condition. For the crime which I have committed, please don't push me away from me. Don't remove your Holy Spirit from me. Take anything from me. 28:40 Take away my kingship and my kingdom. Hit me. Punish me. Please don't cast me out. Please don't remove your Holy Spirit. The condition of Saul, it should not come to me. He feared like that and wrote Psalm 51. 29:01 Beloved, let us have that fear. It had harmed him, damaged him, injured him. The idol which he worshipped, it harmed him, destroyed him. In parallelly, there are other glorious men who are there. 29:28 2nd Kings, we read in chapter 5. Elisha, a prophet who lived in the Old Testament days. Syria, a prophet who lived in the Old Testament days. The captain of the, commander of the army of Syria, Nehman, he is coming to Israel as a leper. 29:56 Then the king of Aram, he is writing a letter to the king of Israel and not only that, he is giving him gifts, 10 talents of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold and 10 changes of clothes. 30:24 There was some misunderstanding in this letter. There was some misunderstanding in this letter. The letter had become, I mean, it was a wrong letter. It had this mistake in it. The king of Israel didn't understand that letter. 30:46 The king of Israel, he says, how can I heal a leper? So, maybe there is a plot in this letter. This confusion, no, Elisha knew that. He prayed to God. 31:10 And then he sends word to the king of Israel to send Nehman to him. He must be in some dilapidated hut. And this leper is coming in a huge chariot. 31:31 And he is coming with a huge expectation. He is coming with the expectation that this prophet will come and lay his hands on his head. And he will pray and heal him. 31:53 See the kind of expectation for a leper. We are also like that. We all see these characters and we can identify ourselves with them. How much of leprosy is within us. And how much we expect honor and respect. 32:15 And how quickly we can get offended when we don't get that respect and honor. But what happened there was. I imagine it like this. The picture, I mean, I think it must have been like this. 32:37 The man of God is one who seeks for the glory of God. He is a man who doesn't seek glory for himself. Elisha would have prayed like that in that dilapidated hut. I want you to listen carefully. And I pray, Lord. 33:01 This Nehman, the leper, is coming to me. That man should not see my face. It is not that I should not see his face, but he should not see my face. But if I lay my hands on his face, but if I lay my hands on his head and pray. 33:22 And if he is healed. After he goes back to Syria. You know what he would tell in Assyria. I went to Israel. There is a prophet called Elisha in Israel. 33:42 That man, Elisha, he kept his hand on my head and he prayed. I have healed. I have healed. There is a big man, Elisha, there. It should never be like that. In Assyria, the name of Elisha should not be known. 34:08 He must know that there is a God in Israel. He should not see my face. You are the healer. You are the healer, Lord. Not this empty Elisha. He should not see my face. He should receive healing from God and he should give glory to God. 34:30 This is how Elisha was praying in his room. And for this leper, it is honor seeking. What can we say? If we have that desire, this desire will be safe. 34:53 Lord, what is there in this hand? Emptiness. You give healing. I want you to be lifted up. I don't want to be brought to the scene at all. When he was nearing this hut, he sent word, 35:16 Go to Jordan and dip yourself seven times and be healed. We have read that story. We read here. He received the healing. 35:37 You can see whether that desire was there in the heart of Elisha or not. We read in 15th verse like that. When he returned to the man of God with all his company and stood before him, 35:57 He said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So, please take a present from your servant. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. This was the only thing that Elisha desired. It should never be Lord that I gave the healing. 36:19 They should know that there is a God in Israel. When this Naaman went back to Syria, how much the flag of honor God would have been honored. He desired that. He hid himself. He was really hiding. 36:40 He sought for the glory of God. It happened exactly like that. His desire was fulfilled. We read there. He said that, Please receive this offering from me, a present from me. It is not a small offering. 37:03 70 kilograms of gold. We can keep that and eat for the generations to come. 37:23 Oh, I don't need any of those things. Take it away. Just think a little bit. I have meditated about what was in the heart of the man of God. He just goes back to Assyria. 37:45 When they see Naaman, it is going to be a joyful celebration. The king is receiving him. He asks him, How is it that you heal like this? The God of Israel healed me. King, The 70 kilograms of gold you gave. 38:06 Take it here. This 340 kilograms of silver you gave. Take it. What happened? How come you got it free? He didn't take any money. He didn't take anything. Freely he gave. 38:29 And the name of God of Israel should be even more honored. But the sad thing is, It didn't happen like that. Who came in between? Gehazi. A little bit. A little bit. 38:50 A little bit here. A little bit there. A little bit. A little bit here. He came in. Now he is going and giving it. The initial desire didn't get fulfilled. Now what has happened is, Out of the 70 kilograms of gold. 39:13 69 kilograms of gold. 300 kilograms of silver. Instead of 10 dresses, 6 or 7 dresses. Where are the remaining? A little bit here. A little bit I gave for that God there. 39:34 Oh, what a sad thing. Aren't we getting angry? Aren't you getting angry over Gehazi? This is how God also became angry with Gehazi. Even the preachers who are there today are just like that. They are begging little bit here, 39:54 little bit there. They bring dishonor to God in the midst of all the Gentiles. You who have, I mean, freely received, freely give. That is why Gehazi was harmed. 40:17 It injured him. He is the man who was injured by money, love for money, love for, honor for men. Sexual lust. Samson who had the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he was harmed because of his sexual lust. 40:41 Beloved, we should desire the glory of God. I will not, you know, touch it. from the initial days, what we have been hearing in the church here, in CFC Bangalore, there are three things which belong to God. 41:01 These are things which were Zach told. All glory belongs to God. We should not touch it. Might or power belongs to God. We should not touch it. Revenge or vengeance belongs to God. We should not touch it. 41:22 They all belong to God. If I touch them, I will be injured. All honor and glory belongs to God. We should keep on giving it to Him. It's not for us. This is how the man of God was. 41:44 This morning also, we heard about this Old Testament man, Joseph. A man who was in the Old Testament with the New Testament spirit. Genesis chapter 41, there is a beautiful verse. This is a sign or a mark 42:06 of a person who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit. We read this about Joseph who had received the Spirit of God. He is one who had been spent many years in the jail and he has now come out of jail. 42:27 This is the first encounter which is going to take place with the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh. We read in Genesis 41. Verse 14. He had shaved himself and changed his clothes. He came to Pharaoh. 42:48 Verse 15. Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream but no one can interpret it and I have heard it said about you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. This is a good word. first encounter. This is the first encounter 43:07 which Joseph had with Pharaoh. I have heard about you. I have heard that, you know, if I tell it, if you hear about a dream, you will be able to immediately give the meaning for that. just see how spontaneously the response is coming. 43:30 Verse 16. The spontaneous response. Joseph then answered Pharaoh saying, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh. Not me, God. Beloved, this is the spirit. 43:51 This is the man who had received the spirit of God. This is what Pharaoh is saying. Verse 38. Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this in whom is the divine spirit? 44:12 The people who are not believers, they are the ones who can say that this man has received the spirit of God. He identifies that man like this. This man has received the spirit of God. What is the mark? Not me, but God. 44:35 Anything which is concerning us, it is not that it has to be mentioned literally every time. It is the spirit which is there inside, not I, but God. It was there in Joseph. I heard about you like that. 44:56 You can hear thousand things. It is not on me. It is only God. Beloved, this spirit, the man who has received the spirit of God will have this in him. It was there inside Elisha. Not my name, Lord. 45:16 Not me. God. Only God should be known. I should not be known. this is the spirit which was in this man. Yes, beloved. When we go on a journey, 45:37 on a path, we can cross many people like Joseph. Like how Pharaoh could praise Joseph. Matthew 21, Matthew 21. Matthew 21. 46:00 We read here about a donkey of Bethphake. when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphake, verse 1, at the Mount of Olives, the Lord says, you will find a donkey 46:20 and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me, verse 2. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord has need of them. 46:41 Beloved, what does the Lord need? You please say that the Lord has need of them. It is an ordinary donkey. It is something which is a waste. Nobody desires 47:02 that donkey. When somebody wants to scold someone, they will use this word donkey very commonly. The Lord has need of that donkey. The Lord doesn't need elephant. 47:23 The Lord doesn't need horse power. Elephant power. The Lord doesn't need them. It is only that ordinary waste, that kind of a donkey. He saw that it was tied. The Lord crossed that 47:44 and he noticed that it was suffering because it had been tied. The Lord saw that. The Lord's eyes fell on the donkey He said untie that and bring it. I will ride on that. Beloved, I know 48:06 where I was tied. I know that before my 21st year in my life how I was bound. I know I know how I fell like how the Lord's eyes fell on this donkey 48:26 at Beth Pagge His eyes fell on me. The Lord untied me. All praise and glory and glory to God. Beloved, we had been tied by so many ways in so many times. How many sinful 48:46 bonds how much the Lord has released us. I want to ride on you untied donkey untied donkey the Lord is riding on the donkey I should never forget that. 49:08 We read here verse 7 and brought the donkey and the colt and lay their coats on them and he sat on the coats. We see here in verse 8 how the crowd spread their coats in the 49:28 road. And others were cutting branches from the trees. And they kept singing Hosanna. Now what should the donkey think? 49:48 If the donkey only said Oh look at me and silk sari there is some silk sari on me. Silk sari on me. All on the road silk sari flowers Hosannas Hosannas It's not 50:15 for the donkey it's the one who's riding on the donkey. If you forget what happens. This is the sin which is just around us surrounding us. It's something close to 50:35 us. I heard about you. No not me it's God. for God. 51:13 we should be people with that spirit all the time. Not me. Only God. Not for me. For the one who's riding on me. Beloved, let us remain in that spirit always. We will seek for 51:33 his honor all the time. We will seek for his glory. the name of the Lord is blasphemed among the peoples like that too much. In the midst of that we should be the people who will search and seek for the glory of God. 51:55 If we are people with that kind of a spirit we will be people who will be a blessing for those who are in the church. We will be of much help to the church. I want to tell something finally and feel close. Acts chapter 18. 52:21 We read here about a Jew Apollos. Acts chapter 18. I had learned humility of mind from him. We read about him in verse 24. 52:42 We read the first qualification here an eloquent man. He was mighty in the scriptures. In verse 25 this man had been instructed in the way of the Lord. 53:02 And we read the next thing being fervent in spirit. He was speaking and teaching accurately accurately the things concerning Jesus. Eloquent man. Mighty in the scriptures. 53:23 Instructed in the way of the Lord. Fervent in spirit. Could teach accurately. This was a young man who was preaching in the church. tent makers, Aquila, Priscilla, they were taking him aside. 53:44 They took him home. They spoke to him and encouraged him. Verse 26. They explained him the way of God more accurately. He is a man who was already 54:04 preaching the word accurately. This Aquila and Priscilla, they are not Bible scholars. They don't know all those things. They are only tent makers. Ordinary believers. they are the ones who are living zealously 54:25 for the Lord. They took this young man aside. They more accurately explained things to him. And this Apollos received it with humility of mind. 54:48 I didn't have light in this area. I had been speaking accurately but I needed light to become more accurate. Thank you. I am already a scholar. Do you know I am a 55:09 zealous brother? You know I can speak very accurately. Are you coming and teaching me things? Are you correcting me? if Apollos had been speaking like this he would have lost his job in the kingdom of God? he learned humility 55:29 from this. Thank you brother. Thank you brother. Thank you brother. Are you opening? Thank you. Thank you. How much my eyes has been opened because you taught me more accurately? in the spirit if we have this kind of spirit 55:45 in verse 28 he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. Verse 27 last portion He was greatly helped those who had believed through grace. 56:08 Beloved let's be with this spirit. When did I receive this word? I was speaking in the Chennai Church I was translating in English in 56:29 my message I used some words which came in the Tamil cinema song it was a good point I spoke that 56:49 point brother didn't translate it I told a good point he didn't translate it this brother didn't translate it I also thought that I had spoken very fast 57:10 and quickly and then I dropped it we both came and spoke sat down brother came near me I told that you had mentioned this word from the cinema song 57:30 and I didn't translate it and then I spoke immediately isn't that a good thought then brother Michael told in the gutter there will be lot of pearls there are 57:52 lot of pearls here you've left out this pearl why should I take the pearl from the gutter and then use it thank you brother thank you brother from 58:15 that day till today I have completely avoided speaking those things brother help me we have to be humble and take help let's give glory to God brother beloved we should be able to receive 58:35 any correction I know I am expert I am mighty I am fervent very accurate just put all aside let it be 58:55 from someone above us or below us near us we'll take it humbly we can be of great help to the people in the church amen I just want to read a verse in Matthew chapter 7 we are in danger when God 59:16 does not bless us we are in greater danger when God blesses us it's very easy for God to bless us it's very difficult for God to keep a man humble after he has blessed him we read here of some people in Matthew 7 22 59:37 who were so tremendously gifted by God blessed by God to preach to cast out demons perform miracles I mean there's nobody here who can do all of these things I can't I can't do it but here 59:58 was somebody who could do many miracles is there anybody here who can say I have performed many miracles we maybe have cast out a few demons but all these things prophesy in your name cast out demons and you 1:00:19 know in verse 23 he says I never knew you because depart from me I was reading a paraphrase of this in another paraphrase where it says go away from me because all you did was use me Jesus says to make yourself important 1:00:39 that phrase stuck with me is do you ever use Jesus to make yourself important that's what the Lord tells some people in the final day you used me you used my name to 1:00:59 promote yourself to make yourself important to get some advantage from other believers for yourself to get some admiration or acceptance for yourself it's one of the things we have to be very very careful about you may not 1:01:19 be a preacher you may not do miracles or cast out demons but I'm never to use the name of Jesus to make myself important to get anything for myself from others because if we are called to be servants we don't 1:01:39 think of receiving we think of giving and it's because we are not careful in this area that we can find in the final day that the Lord says that we have to be very very careful when God blesses us we 1:01:59 have to be very very careful when God gifts us with something I learned this as a young man when I was meditating on the temptations where you know the devil told Jesus see God has blessed you you're 1:02:19 the son of God just few days ago you were anointed voice from heaven said you're my beloved son now use that power to get something for yourself some bread what's wrong in getting bread you're hungry you're not stealing 1:02:35 you're not asking anybody else you're not begging you're just using your power which God gave you a few days ago you're not asking for ice cream or something excessive and Jesus said no I will never use the power God 1:02:55 gave me to get something for myself later on he used that power to make bread for 5,000 other people that he will do but for himself no it's very difficult to find men and 1:03:15 women like that those are the people who will build the church who never use Jesus to get something for themselves you know even in our fellowship with one another we can say we are brothers with us and we take advantage 1:03:31 of one another you've seen that I have seen it happen in CFC because of the name of Jesus we can take advantage of others and get some benefit for ourselves and make them do something we have to be very very very careful 1:03:48 our whole attitude must be I will never use the name of Jesus or the power God has given me to ever get anything for myself you know the world is full of preachers today who are using the gift God has given them to make 1:04:07 money for to get power over people to control them and that's why Christendom is in the state that it is and we must be alert to that that's why I always tell people whenever you go to a church see see see whether that preacher 1:04:24 is trying to use the name of Jesus to get some power over you to take some advantage over you to make you his servant to make you listen to him and everything he does everything he wants to control you beware of such people 1:04:40 stay away from such people people who want to use the name of Jesus to make themselves important Paul could say to the Corinthians an amazing verse after being with them for so many years 2nd Corinthians 7 verse 2 make 1:05:05 room for us in your hearts 2nd Corinthians 7 2 we did not wrong anybody we did not corrupt anybody we did not take advantage of anybody will you be able to say at the end of your life I 1:05:26 did not wrong anybody I did not corrupt anybody I did not take advantage of anybody Paul was so upright in that area that it says in 2nd Thessalonians 3 that 1:05:48 when we stayed with you 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 7 you know how you should follow our example we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you we did not even eat anybody's food without paying for it 1:06:09 can you imagine an apostle who blessed people so much by his ministry and brought people to Christ and blessed them in numerous ways that when they give him some food he pays for it you ever heard of that I 1:06:29 don't mean that when he just went for one meal he gave some money for it that would be an insult he was in Thessalonica for a number of years and I think some brothers were probably regularly supplying some family was regularly 1:06:43 supplying him with breakfast and lunch and dinner so he could have said well I'm an apostle I'm glad these fellows are giving me food every day no he was receiving food from them every day he said I'll pay for it I'm sure 1:06:57 they refused but he said no if I don't pay you for it then I will not be an example he says in verse 9 I've got a right I'm an apostle I have a right when I come here to serve you I didn't come here to make money I came 1:07:14 here to serve you and I have every right to receive what you give to me but I will not use it because I want there's a lot of it going on in Christendom where 1:07:35 we use our relationship in Christ to take advantage of one another some brother maybe he is in a particular business and you ask him to make some something for you maybe he's a carpenter 1:07:55 or some other metal worker or anything and you want to use his business to ask him you got every right that's his business you can ask him to do it for you but will you pay him as much as the secular person pays him I think 1:08:13 you should pay him more because he's a believer but very often people don't do that they take advantage oh he's a brother so I don't have to pay him so much you buy something second hand from a brother and you try to bargain 1:08:27 with him to beat him down to a cheap price these are the ways in which we take advantage I've seen it happen in CFC we take advantage of others in the name of Jesus I say do you think Jesus would do that do you think Jesus 1:08:43 would go bargaining with somebody no no no I can't pay so much I'll beat him down and because he's such a good man he says okay take it for whatever price you want these are the things my brothers and sisters we've had cases 1:08:57 of people take advantage of somebody to work in their house and they don't pay them properly because he's a sister in the church you have used me to gain something for yourself you're no better than those Pentecostal pastors 1:09:15 who make money from others let's live in fear before we point fingers at others you must have this testimony at least from today your past God forgives you if you've taken advantage of others please go and make some compensation 1:09:34 or repayment for them now for what you've done like Zacchaeus did make a decision from today onwards that until the end of your life you will have a testimony we wronged nobody we corrupted nobody we took advantage of nobody 1:09:50 may God help us let's pray our Father in heaven please help us to honor you in everything we do we want to be a living testimony we don't want to just talk about perfection we want to press on to it in every area help us 1:10:07 all we pray in Jesus name Amen
