0:00 *music* 0:30 It's a meeting for young people and I want to read a couple of verses. First of all from Psalm 78. Psalm 78 and verse 3 onwards. 1:00 I'm sorry, verse 5 onwards. I'll read in the message translation. He planted a witness in Jacob, we can say in the church. He set his word firmly in the church and commanded our parents to teach it to their children. It's for our generation to know what we are to teach the next generation so that the next generation will know and the next generation after that. 1:27 And all the generations to come will know the truth. And their children can trust in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter. And heaven forbid that they should be like the older generation that never stayed true to God. 1:48 One of the great burdens that some of us have who are growing older is to see that another generation rises up in all of our churches. And those of you who are older as elders need to have that burden. We should start training them from very young. 2:09 Jesus selected young people to be his apostles. The oldest apostle on the day of Pentecost was 33 years old. The youngest was probably 30. And one of the missing messages in Christendom is that we think a man has got to be 50 before he serves the Lord. 2:27 If the devil can convince you of that, he's destroyed the church. Joseph was ruler of Egypt when he was 30. David was king over Israel when he was 30. Jesus got into his ministry when he was 30. Daniel was around that age too. 2:47 Jeremiah, Samuel, they were all young people. Timothy, they came into a ministry when they were young. And sometimes older brothers hinder younger brothers in their churches from coming up for their ministry because they say they'll make mistakes as if you didn't make mistakes when you were young. 3:05 We have to, the time has come when we have to encourage younger brothers and sisters to come forth in the ministry in all of our churches. We must encourage them to be filled with the Holy Spirit, study the word, and proclaim the word. 3:21 And especially those who are around 30 years old should be ministering the word now. I know, do you know how old I was when we started the church in Bangalore? 35. Do you know how many stupid things I did after that? Mistakes. 3:37 But we learned, we struggled. God didn't wait till I was 50 or 60 before giving me a ministry. And I want to tell you this, I want to see more and more young 30, 35 year olds, brothers and sisters, coming forth in our churches, the ministry, and we will not see that unless we encourage them. 3:55 We want our young people's meetings to be led by people who are between 30 and 35. Why not? Why should older people lead their meetings? When will we learn? Otherwise, the thing that's missing in Christendom will be missing in our midst. 4:09 Another generation of younger people, we have to encourage them. I want to read this verse also, Isaiah and chapter 59. I don't know what you pray. Many of you are parents. I don't know what you pray for your children and your grandchildren. 4:28 Over the last year, I've had two grandchildren born into our families. And I was seeking God. We have to pray. It's a gift of God, grandchildren. And this is the word the Lord gave to me. Isaiah 59 and verse 21. "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the Lord. 4:50 "My spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your children, nor from the mouth of your grandchildren, from now and forever." I say, "Lord, that is my prayer. 5:05 I pray that the anointing of God will be on my children and on my grandchildren as they grow up. They will speak forth your word in each succeeding generation. I want each of you parents to seek for the anointing of God yourself and pray that that anointing will be upon your children and if you have grandchildren upon them too." 5:26 We want God's word to go from generation to generation and never to stop till Jesus comes again. So, I've invited Santosh Hunan to speak to all of you young people. 5:46 Let's pray. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your mercy on our lives, your goodness. Lord, your love is so great. You redeemed us. And as if that would not be enough, you blessed us with spiritual blessings, Lord. You brought us into a church where we can be safe, safe from the dangers of this world. 6:03 We pray that each of the young people here, represented here, and the older ones too, will find a home in the church, Lord. And find the counsel and the wisdom of the godly older brothers as their safety net, Lord. To protect them from all the temptations that the devil has out there, Lord. 6:19 Thank you that you were a young person too at one time. And you overcame, Lord. And you are our godly example in all things. And so, let your Holy Spirit be present in our midst this morning and the rest of this conference. 6:32 And the rest of our lives, Lord. The devil may put thoughts in our mind that it won't be so. But we will say in faith that it will. In Jesus' name. Amen. God is good. All the time. All the time. You know, one of the truths that has really challenged my heart over the past few years as a young person. 6:54 I still like to think of myself as young, even though some of you may think otherwise. One of the truths that has really challenged me is that God has a plan for my life. And you know, it sounds generic. It sounds kind of like, okay, God has a plan for my life. 7:08 But he has a very specific plan for my life. And the reason that's important, I think, for us as young people is because we're all struggling to find recognition, to be accepted. That's probably the biggest struggle that young people face. 7:23 And when we realize that God has a specific plan for our lives, that means that his plan for my life is different from the plan for your life for each one sitting here. So think about it. There may be 700 of us here. And for each one, God has a different plan. 7:42 Now, the reason that liberated me, it was a few years ago when this truth, I'd heard this from a very young age. My Sunday school teachers taught me. The youth leaders taught me that. But when it sank into my heart, it liberated me. 7:58 Because it meant that I could be myself. I don't have to try to be like anybody else. So God has a specific plan for my life. Think of it like a destination. In the youth retreat that we just had over the weekend, we thought about that. 8:10 A destination. God has fixed that destination. So if God has a plan, do you believe that the devil has a plan too? Not sure? Not sure? Yes, absolutely. And what is the devil's plan? The devil's plan is to do the opposite of God's plan. 8:26 Which means if he knows, the devil knows. Believe me, he knows. He's read the word of God. He knows that God has made a destination for me. The devil's plan is at all costs that I should not reach that destination. Right? 8:40 Now what is God's plan? What is that destination? In Romans 8:29 it says, you don't have to turn to it, that he predestined us. He made the destination that we would become like Christ. That's better than just being saved from my sins, from being blessed materially, and things like that. 8:56 We would become like Christ. That's the perfection. That's the end of the journey. So what's the devil's goal? Is it that we shouldn't be saved or anything else along the line? It's that if he can prevent me from reaching that destination, then he has succeeded. 9:12 So, initially he may try to trap us with something sinful. So, for most people in the world, they're trapped with something sinful. They're tempted by sex or money or music or whatever the temptations are that pull them into sin into the world. 9:29 That's for them. Now, maybe you're in the church and that's not as much of a temptation. You're not tempted to go out and kill somebody. You're not tempted to go out and commit adultery. But, there are other things. Like I said, the devil's plan is that you just don't reach your destination. 9:45 So, maybe you go a few steps along the way, but you never make it to your destination. And that's what I want to talk about today. You know, like I said, God's goal is divine nature to become like Jesus Christ. That's the end goal. 9:58 So, that includes divine joy, divine love, divine peace, completeness. Completeness of joy, love, peace. All those things that we think of as divine nature. If the devil can get me to be satisfied with just a little bit of that, I have some joy. 10:12 I have some love. I have some peace. I don't have divine joy or love or peace yet. If I get satisfied halfway along the way, the devil has accomplished some of his goal. And that's what I think is important for us as young people. 10:25 You know, I believe that he targets us as young people especially because he wants to destroy the rest of our lives. He's been doing that since the beginning of time, Jesus said, to steal, kill, and destroy. And especially for us as young people. 10:38 You know, I believe, therefore, that the most miserable, listen to this sentence. The most miserable people on this earth, I've come to see, are lukewarm Christians, half-hearted Christians. Because God's not happy with them, and the devil's not happy with them. 10:53 He wants all of them, right? And God wants all of them. The most miserable people on this earth are half-hearted Christians. Turn to Revelation chapter 3, and you may not believe me, but look at what the Lord says at the very end of the Bible, almost. 11:07 Revelation chapter 3, and in verse 15, he's speaking to the church in Laodicea. He says, "I know your deeds." This is a church, and he's speaking to the elder of the church. So this applies to us who are sitting here, people who think I'm saved, I'm going along the way, and this is what the Lord has to say. 11:33 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would, I wish, that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Look at what he says at the end of verse 15. 11:49 I wish, can you imagine the Lord Jesus saying, I wish you were cold. I wish you were cold. Better that than to be lukewarm. So if you're sitting here in the church, if I as a young people sit here in the church, as a young person sit here in the church and think I can be lukewarm, I can have half the world and half of Christ, God says he will spit me out of his mouth. 12:11 And you know there's a saying in the world, the best of both worlds. And I think as a young person, that's probably one thing I struggled with. Why do I, why do I have to give up all those things in the world? Why can't I have some of that and some of this? 12:22 And the reality, as Jesus is pointing out here, for our own safety and instruction, young people, is that the best of both worlds is actually the worst of both worlds. If I allow a little bit of the world, a little bit of the devil to have a foothold in my heart, he's going to want more and more and more. 12:38 And think about how many people in this world have started out as good Christians, attended church and all that, maybe even were used of the Lord, but they left a little bit of the world in their heart and that got bigger and bigger and eventually destroyed their own soul. 12:51 And some of them are probably burning in hell today. So that, I think, is one of the, we're thinking about messages that are missing in today's Christianity. Most places in the, most churches in the world will not teach this sort of thing. 13:04 That most of them say, okay, give your life to Christ, come forward, altar call, give your life to the Lord and then go. You're happily, you can go along your way. Most churches will not tell you that there is a destination that we have to make it to. 13:17 It's not enough that we have started. It's good that we have started on this journey. Now we're going in the right direction at least, but that's not enough. We have to reach our destination. So what is that destination? 13:27 You know, we talked about the life of Christ, divine nature. And I think a word that encompasses that is excellence. Excellence. You know what excellence means? Excellence means perfect, the end. There's nothing past that. 13:40 And that's what divine nature is. There's nothing past God. There's nothing past his nature. So as long as I'm going along that way towards excellence, I still have more to go. And God wants excellence for us. Nothing less than that. 13:53 Turn to Philippians chapter one. We saw this verse on the first day. Philippians chapter one. Now as young people, the devil also battles for our thoughts. Because that's the way he starts sin. You know, it says, James says, every man is tempted. 14:08 Temptation comes through thoughts. We see it through our eyes or we hear it through our ears. And then thoughts come into our mind. And that's where the temptation starts. So what does Paul tell the Philippines to think about? 14:19 Philippians chapter one, verse nine, beginning at verse nine. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. You see that more and more? It's like a progression. It's going more and more so that you may approve. 14:34 And my margin says discern. Discern means distinguish the things that are excellent. So if you're, when you're discerning something, let's think about this for a second. When you're trying to discern something, there's one thing and there's the other thing, usually opposites. 14:47 So if there's the excellent, there's the opposite of that, which is the not excellent. Now, excellent, let's say, is 100%. Is 99% excellent in God's kingdom? So if I get stuck anywhere between zero and 99%, the devil has somehow robbed me of something. 15:05 And when that truth really sinks into us as young people, it should light a fire behind us and get us to say, Lord, nothing, nothing less than 100%. Nothing less than that perfect will that you want. So now I want you to remember something, though. 15:18 The good is not in itself bad. Good cannot be bad, right? Even in English, we know that. Good cannot be bad. The good is good. That seems like an obvious statement. But when is the good bad? There's a saying in the world, the good is the enemy of the best. 15:33 And that's what I want us to think about today for this next half hour or so. The good is the enemy of the best. And like I said, the good cannot be bad, right? Good is good. But the word enemy has a bad connotation. So when does the good become bad, as it were, is when it prevents me from getting the best. 15:53 That means I have the good, which is a good thing. But then I get satisfied with that and I say, okay, this is enough. Oh, I've given 60% of my life to Christ. I come to the meetings. I play music. I sing. I attend the young people's meeting. 16:06 That's enough. But when I go to my college, I need to be like a regular worldly person. I need to dress like them. I need to be able to laugh at their jokes. That's good. I'm attending the church. Okay, that's better than nothing. 16:19 But it's the enemy of the best because I've stopped. I've said I'm happy with this. I'm happy with this. I'm happy, Lord, don't take more of my life. Here's my space. Here's your space. The good is the enemy of the best when it prevents me from going further. 16:30 You remember, I think, also on the first day, we heard the story of Elijah and Elisha. And each time along that journey, Elijah asked Elisha, okay, you can stop here and you can go back. He had something good. He had been with Elijah for a little while. 16:43 And Elijah said, hey, have you had enough? Elisha said, no, I want more. He went further. Have you had enough? No, I want more. What is that more? Essentially, he said, I want an anointing of your Holy Spirit like you had. 16:53 Double anointing is what he asked for. That perfection. That was the perfection that God had for Elisha. And God was testing Elisha through what Elijah said, are you going to be satisfied with anything less? Are you going to be satisfied with 25%, 50%, 75%? 17:08 Elisha said, no. What a good example for us. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. And you'll see the example of somebody else in the Old Testament or some other people in the Old Testament. You know, in the Old Testament, we call the patriarchs. 17:22 Patriarchs is a long word, but all it is is the forefathers of the nation of Israel, which is God's people in the Old Testament. The patriarchs, as we know, are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, what was it about these people that distinguished them from others? 17:38 Why did God pick Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Let's see what it says about them here. Hebrews 11, verse 13. All these, it's talking about, if you read the previous verses, it's talking about Abraham and Sarah, and it talks about Noah and Abel as well. 17:53 But let's think about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, having confessed them that they were strangers and exiles on this earth. 18:07 And then skip down to verse 16. As it is, they desired a better. They desired something better. Now, in the Old Testament, this is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You look at what amazing people they were. God had something better for them, and they desired it. 18:22 But it says in verse 13, they couldn't get it because Jesus had not come in the Old Covenant. God could not allow them to achieve that excellence. But as we're no longer in the Old Covenant, thank God. Thank God that He has made a destination for us that's far greater than any of these patriarchs could attain. 18:42 Far, far greater. It says in verse 13, all these died in faith without receiving the promise. Now, do you think that there's people living in the New Covenant today, attending church, for whom it is said, about whom it can be said, they died in their faith without achieving their promise? 18:59 Wouldn't that be a sad thing? That Jesus came and died and made a new way, made a destination for me, and somehow I died and missed out on it. What a sad thing that would be. So, you know, I think of it like this. It's a destination, right? 19:15 Imagine that I'm going along on a train, and I'm trying to get to Mumbai. And halfway along the way, I reach a station that says Mumbai. It says Mumbai, and it looks like Mumbai. But then I look at my map and says, no, or the timetable, I should get there only tomorrow. 19:32 What am I doing here already? And then I realize that somebody's painted a sign that says Mumbai. That's what the devil is doing today. He's made people seem like this is the destination. You've reached. But then you go back to the map. 19:44 You go back to the train schedule and you see, no, God has so much more that He has planned for me. This cannot be it. If this was all it was, why did Jesus have to live His whole life just for me to reach halfway, a quarter way? 19:58 You know, most Christians are probably stuck at five or ten percent. Ninety percent of what's in this word and what the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to them, they're missing out on. And think about it, young people, if we can determine at a young age that we're going to achieve the fullness of Christ that He speaks about in this word. 20:14 The fullness. The fullness. Reach that destination. What a wonderful thing we'll do. Now, what I'm going to do is we're going to take seven examples from Scripture. And if you have a pen and paper, I encourage you to write it down. 20:26 Seven examples of things that are good and things that are excellent. And how, if you get satisfied with the good, it can prevent you from getting that which is excellent. Seven examples. And, again, I want to emphasize that, like I said, the good is not bad. 20:41 It's good. But it becomes a hindrance and it becomes a bad thing when it prevents me from achieving that perfection. And the vast majority of Christians today in the world are satisfied with the good, with some form of that good. 20:56 Now, this may not be all the examples. I'm sure each of you could think of other examples of this. But I picked seven, which I think summarize a good segment of the Christian life. The first is initial repentance versus continual repentance. 21:12 All right? Think about that again. Think about that again. Initial repentance versus continual repentance. Most people who call themselves born-again, most people who call themselves born-again Christians have an initial repentance. 21:25 That means they felt sorry for their sins. Maybe they were in a meeting and they got really moved. God stirred them. They had a moment of repentance. And they thought, that's it. I'm done. Initial repentance. That was a good thing. 21:37 Oh, it is such a good thing. I thank God for my initial repentance. Because that's what turned me around in the right direction. So, if I was facing this way, it's a good thing that now I'm facing the right direction. But it becomes a bad thing for me when I stop. 21:53 When that continual repentance. Now, this is symbolized by the baptism in water, which is the initial repentance. Versus the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And we heard a little bit about that also on the first day. The baptism in water is a good thing. 22:05 The baptism in the Holy Spirit represents continual repentance. Because it's something I need all the time. Every day. Turn to Matthew chapter 3. Do you know, and this is something I... It didn't really sink in until I studied this. 22:19 That in the Old Testament, they had baptism in water. How do I know that? Let's look at this. In Matthew chapter 3. Now, you may... A lot of us are probably baptized in water. As I am. And it's a good thing. But just that initial repentance, you know, that they had in the Old Covenant. 22:35 Look at this. Matthew chapter 3, verse 11. As for... This is John the Baptist saying. Before Jesus has started in ministry. Before the New Covenant. The New Covenant started when the veil was rent. Right? We know that. The veil was rent from top to bottom. 22:49 A new covenant was opened through the life of Jesus. And we could enter into the most holy place. Have fellowship with God. So anything that happened before that was still the Old Covenant. So here's the Old Covenant. As for me, John the Baptist, I baptize you with water for repentance. 23:04 But he who is coming after me is mightier. You know what comparison words are? Good, better, best. Might, mightier. So there's this comparison there. And like I said, again, good and excellent. So the good was what John was saying. 23:20 I baptize you with water. Initial repentance. Turn around. You look at the previous verses. He says, bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance. That was the gist of his message, was repent. But he said, I baptize with water. 23:33 That's the good. What's the best is that Jesus who's coming after me, who's mightier than me. I'm not fit to remove his sandals. And what do you think that means? That means that the excellent is so far beyond the good. 23:48 That John the Baptist wasn't even fit to tie Jesus' sandals. That's how much greater the excellent was. And he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And verse 12, it says, his winnowing fork is in his hand. He will thoroughly clear his threshing floor. 24:03 He will gather his weed into the barn. And he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. That's that. Continual repentance. That means I'm not satisfied with something good, with just the initial repentance. And you as young people, I hope that most of you have given your lives to the Lord. 24:19 That means you've turned around in the right direction. Now, don't let it stop there. Don't let the devil fool you. Don't let him fool you into thinking that you've reached the destination. That's it. I'm saved. The people in the world are not saved. 24:30 They're Hindus and they're Muslims. They go to their churches and they're mosques. So I'm okay. Let not the devil fool us with that. Let's be convinced that God has far greater things for us. So that was the first. Initial repentance versus continual repentance. 24:44 Now the second one. It's good to have our past sins forgiven. But the best is that God would have us overcome our sin. And we heard about this also over the past couple of days. It's good that God has forgiven our past sins. 25:01 But the best is that he brings us to complete victory. You know, that's symbolized in the Old Testament by coming out of Egypt. How many of the people who left Egypt attained to God's plan for them? So let me back that up a second. 25:18 God, when he took his people out of Egypt, what was his plan? That they should somehow make it to halfway there or the wilderness? Or that they should make it all the way home? What was his plan? All the way home. That's right. 25:31 All the way home to the promised land. Do you know how many people of the people who left Egypt made it all the way home? Two. Joshua and Caleb. Because they had a faith. And you can read about that in Exodus. Maybe numbers. 25:47 So Joshua and Caleb were only two out of probably more than 600,000 people who left Egypt. So think of Egypt. You know what Egypt is? It's released from bondage. They were slaves. And that's what we were in our sins. It says we were dead in our sins. 26:02 That's worse than a slave. We're dead. Nothing left of me. And then God freed my chains. We turned to him. And we had our past sins forgiven. And then what? And then we got some of us. A lot of people in this world are stuck in the wilderness. 26:16 And they die in the wilderness. Never reaching home. We heard about mercy versus grace. Mercy forgives our past. Grace is greater. It says grace came through Jesus Christ. And that was greater because it meant that no longer am I just satisfied with, okay, I don't have the baggage behind me. 26:33 I was reading a little bit of Pilgrim's Progress this morning. And I was reminded of that when you see Pilgrim wearing that burden. Now what happened after his burden got dropped? Was that it? He reached? No, he had a whole nother journey to do. 26:46 A destination to get to. The celestial city. So, let's not be satisfied. You know that in the Old Testament, they had forgiveness of sins also. And I think this is a verse we saw yesterday. Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 3, it says. 27:10 Verse 1. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Forget none of his benefits." What are his benefits? "Pardons all your iniquities." I think that David could say this 1,500 years or so before Christ. 27:25 That he pardons all our iniquities. He says the same thing in Psalm 79, I think. Verse 9. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name. Deliver us and forgive our sins for thy name's sake." So, it's a good thing to have that forgiveness of sins. 27:43 But is that enough? Let's compare that with what our New Testament calling is. Turn to 1 John chapter 5. So that was in the Old Testament. Forgiveness of sins? Yes, that's a good thing. And true forgiveness of sins is only possible because of the death of Jesus Christ. 27:59 And even the forgiveness that they experienced in the Old Testament, I believe, was because Jesus Christ was still to come and die for that. 1 John chapter 5 verse 4. Remember, we're thinking about forgiveness from past sins? 28:11 That's good. But yet, what the best is, complete victory over every sin that would tempt me. And that's the destination. And we're all along that journey. Overcoming. For whatever is born of God. Now, let's stop there for a second. 28:24 Born of God. You know, you hear people say, born again. So, you hear people born again. Most of us have an idea of what they mean. That means that they came forward for an altar call one day. Gave their lives to Christ. 28:35 They're born again. They're born again. What does the Bible say about those who are born again? Whatever is born of God, that's born again, overcomes the world. Not just has this forgiveness of sins for the past. It overcomes. 28:49 That's the destination. Think about how the devil has again fooled people because they haven't studied the Word of God. Where they think, okay, what is... They read it like this. For whatever is born of God has their past sins forgiven. 29:04 That's... Most Christians, probably even a lot of preachers, would say that. Whatever is born again, whatever is born of God, has their past sins forgiven. But that's not what the Bible says. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. 29:17 And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world but who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? And in that, He is our example. As the Son of Man, also, we heard yesterday. 29:28 He's our example for us to follow. That's our destination. So, the emphasis in most of Christianity today is, if you're born again, born again, I'm born again. Yeah, we even had sports personalities and presidents and famous... 29:45 All kinds of famous people saying, "Oh, I'm born again." And it became a very cool thing to say, "I'm born again." But this is what the Word of God says. The Word of God is born of God, overcomes the world. So, think, apply it to our lives, young people. 29:59 There's so many areas that we still have to go. We're young. And, yeah, it may seem like there's a long journey ahead of us. But I'll tell you, that's a good thing. There's a lot of old people in this world who wish they could be young again. 30:11 Who wish, who after they reach the end of their life, realized that they never made it to that destination. There's a lot of old people who died in their old age who are maybe in heaven today, maybe in heaven today, that I wish I could be like you, sitting in that chair. 30:27 I wish I could be young again and have these things planted in my spirit so that I don't waste the time that I have. We have years before us until we die or if the Lord comes before that. I think about how, it's like we're early on in the destination, in the journey, right? 30:42 Imagine if, again, Bangalore to Mumbai. And I got just to the outside of Bangalore and somehow the devil convinced me that that was it. I think of that as young people. We're early on in our journey. And it's like we just got outside the city limit. 30:58 Mumbai, you're here. In two minutes you reached. Think if that, what a travesty that would be if somehow as a young person ready to go, it's like the Lord thought, okay, here's a young person who's got a full life, who's going to make it to their destination. 31:13 They made it to the outskirts of the city and they stopped. What a work the devil has done in fooling the young person that God had a purpose for. Let's take a hold of that, young people, that we have a whole life of us. 31:25 It's not a burden. It's a thing of excitement. A thing that should bring joy. That we have our strength, our youth, where we can serve the Lord and we don't have to even think about things in the world. We can use them where God gives us grace to do it. 31:39 But our goal is that destination. Let's not be satisfied. Let's set our eyes on Jesus, the end of our destination. Okay, so that's, the good is having our past sins forgiven. The best is to not only have all our sins forgiven, but to have overcome sin as Jesus did. 31:56 To have complete victory in our lives. The third thing. It's good to keep God's law. It's a very good thing to keep God's law. And the Old Testament teaches that very strongly. That's why God gave us the Old Testament. So that we could keep it. 32:10 And he was teaching people, you know, look at the books of Leviticus, Numbers. Deuteronomy. He gave the law. And then you look about, read the Psalms, which I'm going through the Psalms these days. And I see how David had such a love for God's law. 32:23 That's a very good thing. Here's what I think is the best. Is that that love of God's law should translate into helping other people. If the law of God only helps me, I believe we have missed something. And that's another challenge that we can lay hold of as young people. 32:41 Let me show you this from an example in the Gospels. Turn to Matthew chapter 19. Remember, we're talking about how there's the good and the best. And the law of God is good. It's perfect, it says. But how I apply the law of God to my life, if I just read it and meditate it like they did in the Old Testament. 33:01 The Levites were specialists at this. The Pharisees, Jesus' greatest enemies, were specialists at the law. But where did they fall short? Their study of the law didn't translate into helping others as well. Love for the people of God. 33:19 So they got satisfied with the good, which is God's law. The best was that what God intended in giving His law is that it would bring out compassion and mercy in our dealings with other people. So, Matthew chapter 19 and verse 16. 33:37 "Behold, one came to Him and said..." This is the story of the rich young ruler. Most of you probably know this already. "Behold, one came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing..." See that word good? "What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" 33:53 And Jesus said to him, "Why are you asking me about what is good? There is only one who is good, but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." That's what's good. And he said, "Which ones?" So what is good? 34:05 He's being more specific. Jesus said, "You shall not commit murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 34:17 Now that, as we know, is the Ten Commandments, or at least a portion of them. Jesus was saying, the law. What Jesus was saying to this rich young ruler was, "Okay, what's good is the law of God." That's good. And look at what he says. 34:30 The young man said to him, "All these things I have kept. What am I still lacking?" So here's the good. The law of God. And this is a young man. Think about it. A young man, zealous for God. Imagine if I don't even think that can be said of me. 34:45 Except for the blood of Jesus Christ, that He has cleansed all my sin. And this is before that, a rich young ruler to claim, at least to claim, in all honesty, that he has kept all the law of God. Think about the plans that God had for that young man. 35:00 Think about, maybe there was a sister like that. Think about the plans that God had for that young sister. Think about the plans that God has for you. He has brought so much truth into your life. So here's a young man who experienced victory, it seemed like. 35:14 He's kept all these things from his youth. What am I still lacking? He says, "If you wish to be complete." You know what complete means? Perfect. The end. Excellent. The very end of the destination. My margin says, "Perfect." 35:28 If you wish to be perfect. Go and sell your possessions. Give to the poor. And you shall have treasure in heaven. And come follow me. That was perfect. Here was a good man who did everything right, it seemed like. He didn't harm anybody. 35:37 So that's kind of like a negative testimony. I didn't do any bad. Would you want a testimony like that? I didn't do any bad. And Jesus said, "Do some good." Go sell your possessions. Give it to the poor. Come and follow me. 35:45 We'll change people's lives. You know the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is something that I picture this way. The start of the Old Covenant was with, or the Old Testament starts with which man? 36:09 Anybody can tell me? Hey, Job. You've listened to a lot of my dad's messages. Adam. At least in the book of Genesis. It starts with Adam. And then the start of the New Testament begins with Jesus. So the difference between Adam and Jesus, I think, is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. 36:30 Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And here, Paul talks about the difference between how Adam lived and how Jesus lived. Which, in a sense, I think captures the difference between what it means to live in the Old Covenant and what it means to live in the New Covenant. 36:48 Remember, again, we're talking about the good is keeping God's law as the Old Covenant, the Old Testament is full off. And the perfect, like Jesus said, that which you still lack, that which will make you perfect, is helping others as well. 37:00 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 45, it says. 1 Corinthians 15:45. "So also it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." Now, study, look at this carefully and see what it means when it says, "The first Adam became a living soul." 37:21 I think that just means he lived. What good would it be in eternity if all that the Holy Spirit could write about you, he lived? That's Adam. I got stuff. Living soul. I lived. I got stuff. I got stuff. I lived. Look at the difference between that and how Jesus lived. 37:42 The second Adam, the last Adam, that's Jesus, became a life-giving spirit. You know what's the difference between taking life and giving life? That's the New Covenant. That's the excellent. The law gives me something. Maybe I get benefit from that. 37:56 But the New Covenant that Jesus brought helps other people. That means I give life to other people. That the life of Christ in me translates into the life of Christ in other people because they come in contact with me. Think, young people, if that was our vision, that the life of Christ in us could actually translate into the life of Christ in other people. 38:22 Adam was a living soul. Christ was a life-giving spirit. You know, I think about it this way. A lot of young people in this world won't come to church. You can't get them to come here. They're Hindus. They think church is a dangerous place. 38:41 Muslims, they go to their mosque. So, most people, young people, I want you to think about your closest friends who are not Christians at this time. People in your college or your place of work. People who have never set foot into a church. 38:56 You know that there's millions of people in India that have never set foot into a church. Think about some of those whom you know. If they won't come to church, I believe that it's our responsibility to take church to them. 39:09 Because we have heard from the very beginning that this isn't church. The building is not church. It's represented by each one of us. And especially us young people. Because you go to work. You go to college. And if they won't come here, church ought to go to them. 39:24 That you can have church. Can you have church when you're sitting and studying history in 10th standard? Can you have church when you're doing your work at some office at a call center or something like that? Can you have church there? 39:37 Absolutely. The Holy Spirit lives within us. And we can have church there. That we can take church to them. That's what it means to be a life-giving spirit. To not be satisfied with just the fact that God has done some good things for me. 39:52 That I have the law of God in my heart. Not satisfied with that. But challenged by the excellent. That God wants the life of Christ in me to translate into the life of Christ in them too. I'll tell you this, in eternity, those young people that you're thinking about, 40:09 they're going to wish that they had come to church. They're going to wish that they had come to church. And they're going to wish that you had taken church to them. Because you, that's, I believe that's why God brought us here. 40:21 You know, I was born into a godly home. From the moment I was born, I heard the word of God. And so the judgment upon me will be very great in eternity. The Lord will say, I allowed you to hear it from the day zero. How much should I not have shared with other people in my life? 40:39 In my workplace? In my college? And think about all of you young people that are young. Some of you are teenagers. Think about the years that are ahead of you. And how much God wants to, how many people you will come across in the years left in your life. 40:53 And God wants to reach each of them through you. Let's not be satisfied with just the good of keeping God's commandment. Oh, I didn't, I don't smoke. I don't go to the movies. I don't drink and get drunk. I don't do all these things. 41:05 I don't, I'm not in a gang. That's good. What's better than that? God is using me to change somebody. Somebody looks discouraged in my class. And they're made fun of. And I go and make friends with them. Somebody, I sense an opportunity where somebody is kind of lost. 41:21 Maybe they lost a mother or a father. Some child in my school. And I go and talk to them. And I say, there's somebody who can bring you comfort. There's, think about all the, think about how many accidents there are on the roads these days. 41:33 Some of the, some of those killed. Even today, I read, what was it yesterday? Some girl was run over by a lorry somewhere outside Bangalore. Think about, that's a girl. I don't know what, how old she was. But think about the young people that are killed on the roads today. 41:46 Going straight to hell. Because Christians have been satisfied with the good. Now you may think that, hey, what's wrong with being satisfied with the good? I was satisfied with the good. Here's what's wrong. That God had a perfect plan for me to save somebody else. 42:01 For him to be able to save somebody else through me. And yet I neglected that. I was satisfied with the good. I was satisfied that I got something. I got salvation. My name's in the book of life. Oh, all good. But think about somebody else whose name is not in the book of life. 42:15 And God wanted to be able to put the life of Christ in me so that I could bring life in other people. A life-giving spirit. So the good is keeping God's law. The best is that that law translates into helping others as well. 42:29 And as I said at the beginning, that's the difference between the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisees kept God's law and they were righteous about it. They were greatest at keeping God's law. And yet they were the worst when it came to helping other people. 42:44 That's why probably a lot of Pharisees are burning in hell today. Okay, number four. And again, remember these are messages that are missing in today's Christianity. You won't hear a lot of this in churches. They will teach you don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't smoke, don't commit adultery, all that stuff. 43:04 You won't hear, make a difference in your church. You won't hear those sort of things very often. Here's another one. It's good to forgive our enemies outwardly. I mean, somebody comes and asks me for forgiveness and I say, okay, forgiven. 43:18 That's good. In fact, God requires that of us. But what's the best is to forgive our enemies from the heart. Do you think there's a difference? If you're in doubt, let me show you a story in 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 19. 43:35 This is a story that involves David. Now David was called a man after God's own heart, but he was in the Old Covenant. So, remember what we read in Hebrews 11. Those in the Old Covenant could not attain this perfection. 43:48 They could attain the good, but they could never attain that perfection because that could only come through Christ. So, they had what was good. What was good? It says about David. You know, David, there was this time when his son Absalom rebelled against him and David had to run for his life. 44:05 And here was a guy who hated David. His name was Shimei. Shimei. He hated David. He carried a grudge in his heart. And he saw David running for his life. And he thought, this is my chance to make fun of David. So, he cursed him. 44:16 You can read about that in chapter 16. I won't have you turn to that. But look at what happens. Eventually, Absalom is defeated. He is killed. Most of you know that story. And then, all of a sudden, Shimei is like, oh man, I spoke too soon. 44:31 I thought David was going to be finished. Absalom was going to be king. And I could get my revenge on David. Now, David is king again. What happens? 2 Samuel chapter 19. Look at verse 19. Shimei is pleading to David saying, "Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember 44:50 what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king should take it to heart." What he's saying is, "Please don't take it to heart. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean that. 45:01 It was a moment of pressure, temptation, blah, blah, blah. For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph, to go down to meet my lord the king." Then David, one of his generals says, "Abishai, the son of Zerui, answered and said, "Should 45:19 not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?" You know that it's a dangerous thing to curse the Lord's anointed? In the days of Moses, people went straight to hell for doing that. And so, Abishai is saying, "Oh, should we curse the Lord's anointed? 45:33 Or should we kill him?" And then David says, "What have I to do you?" Verse 22, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? 45:46 For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?" And the king said to Shimei, "You shall not die. I forgive you." David forgave Shimei. Was that a good thing? Absolutely. But do you know that there was a perfection even in that forgiveness that God had planned 46:04 for David that he could never attain to? And that same perfection he has for us today. Think about a situation in your life today where somebody does you some grievous harm, wants to kill you maybe, curses you to your face like Shimei did. 46:18 And then he comes and pleads for forgiveness. So she comes and pleads for forgiveness to you. What do you do? You say, "Okay, forgive." Yeah, I forgive you. What's the perfection? See, the way the story ends, if you go to 1 Kings 2, David, I don't know how many years 46:35 he lived after that. Maybe the scripture tells us, maybe it doesn't. But David, if you don't know this, carried a grudge against Shimei for the rest of his life. Here are his last, I believe, his last recorded words. Imagine, if you could go out in a blaze of glory. 46:52 I'm dying. David was probably the best king that Israel ever had. Here are his last words. 1 Kings 2 verse 8. He tells Solomon, his parting words to Solomon. "Behold, there is with you Shimei. Now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day. 47:12 But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, "I will not put you to that. Now, therefore, do not let him go unpunished. For you are a wise man. And you will know what you ought to do to him. 47:23 And you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood. Then David died." David could never attain that excellence, that perfection. Because all the rest of his life, from the point when Shimei cursed him, and David forgave him, he forgave him outwardly. 47:41 He says, "I forgive you." But inwardly in his heart, he had not forgiven. You know that Jesus talks about exactly this thing. Turn to Matthew chapter 18. This is the parable of the unmerciful servant, the unmerciful slave who was forgiven. 48:03 Matthew chapter 18. He was forgiven a lot by his master, but then went out and took to task his slave. And got him by the throat and said, "You repay me." And at the end of it, Jesus says, "So shall my heavenly father," 48:18 that means he'll hand him over to the tormentors, "do," "to each of you if you does not forgive his brother from your heart." And that's the difference I want us to see. There's the good, forgive, outward forgiveness, and there's the forgiveness from the heart. 48:34 You know, what does it mean to forgive from our heart? I believe that when we truly forgive from our heart, here's what will happen. Turn to Luke chapter 6. When we truly forgive from our heart, here's the test. Here's the test of whether we have truly forgiven those who have hurt us from our heart. 48:57 Luke chapter 6 verse 27 it says, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you." That last line again. If you have truly forgiven that person from your heart, you'll find a prayer coming up from your heart. 49:19 A prayer to the Lord for that person. And I would dare to say that if that prayer does not come up within your heart for that person who hurt you, for that person who mistreated you, if you're not finding a prayer come up for that person, 49:35 maybe you're still holding a grudge. Maybe you haven't really forgiven from your heart. Because from that heart ought to come a prayer, like Jesus said, "Pray for those who mistreat you." That's the excellence. Do we want anything less than that? 49:49 Do we want to stop halfway along the way to Mumbai? No, there's a destination. The destination is, "Lord, I want to get to the point where when somebody mistreats me, almost immediately my response is, "Lord, bless them. 50:02 Lord, release them from the bondage of Satan. Lord, do a work in their lives." Whatever that is, whatever the prayer that should come out, that's the test that I've truly forgiven from my heart. So the good is forgiving our enemies outwardly. 50:16 The best is forgiving them from our heart. That was number four. Number five, it's good to be blessed by God materially. It's a good thing. The Lord provides for our needs and it's good to be blessed by God materially. The best is to be blessed by God spiritually. 50:34 Now this is, like we've heard in a few of the meetings so far, definitely not one of the things you will hear in churches today. Today, the prosperity churches, they'll say, "Hey, the perfection is to be blessed by God materially. 50:46 If you have ten cars and a ten-bedroom house and whatever else, and the fanciest job, you rise up to the top of the ladder in your company." All that stuff, if you have all of that, you've reached perfection. No. Here's what, listen to this. 51:00 So, it's good to be blessed by God materially. The best is to be blessed by God spiritually. Do you know that in the Old Testament, people were blessed materially? Turn to Genesis chapter 13. Now we thought about how Abraham, who was one of the greatest people in the Old Covenant, 51:17 he wasn't a prophet, we heard about the great prophets, but Abraham was one of the greatest men in the Old Covenant. Do you know that the one chapter in the New Testament that talks about the Old Testament almost entirely, actually entirely, is Hebrews 11. 51:31 We all know that chapter very well, the popular chapter, that chapter on faith. Do you know that in that chapter, there's 40 verses? Of those 40 verses, 12 are devoted, I counted them yesterday. 12 are devoted to Abraham alone. 51:45 So, in a sense, Abraham was the epitome. Epitome is a big word. He was the symbol of everything that the Old Covenant stood for, to some extent. Right? So, look at what the best that Abraham could attain. Genesis chapter 13, verse 14. 52:02 And the Lord said to Abraham, after Lot had separated from him. See, Abraham had to choose land or God. And he says, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are." Genesis 13, verse 14. "Northward, southward, eastward, westward. 52:17 All the land which you see, I will give it to you and your descendants forever." Can you imagine a material blessing like that, that you stand here, look to the horizon this way, turn around, look to the horizon the other way, turn around, look to the horizon the other way. 52:31 That was material blessing. What was the spiritual blessing? Matthew chapter 6, verse 24. Turn to that quickly. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24. And we know the last verse. I'll just read that last verse. All these things, these material blessings, the Gentiles seek. 52:48 For your heavenly Father knows that you need them, but you, the best, don't be satisfied with the good, the best, seek first His kingdom. That perfection. So it's good to be blessed by God materially, far better to be blessed by God spiritually. 53:01 Number 6, it's good to have gifts, spiritual gifts, a wonderful thing. But it's far better, far better to have spiritual fruit. Look at, you know what the chapter on spiritual gifts is? 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Details most of the gifts there, list by list by list. 53:20 Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And it says in the last verse of 1 Corinthians 12, "Earnestly desire the greater gifts." Desire the gifts, that's good. And then what does he say? But, I show you an excellent way. I show you the end of the destination. 53:39 Love. And we know that 1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter on love. That's the far better way. You know what the fruit of the Spirit are? Love, joy, peace, etc. Galatians chapter 5, you read that there. That's the more perfect way. 53:51 How many people, the Charismatics, the Pentecostals are happy? Gifts. Oh, if you get gifts, then you're perfect. No, perfect is love. That's the perfection. That was number 6. It's good to have gifts. The best is to have love. 54:03 And the last one. It's good to be a single witness for Christ wherever you are. But it's far better to be united. And that's something that only the New Covenant could talk about. Turn quickly to Ecclesiastes chapter 4. 54:16 Ecclesiastes chapter 4. It says there. I'll read this out quickly. And if you can't turn to it in time, you can look at it later. Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 9. It says, "What profit is there to the worker from that which he toils?" 54:31 No, I'm reading the wrong chapter. Okay. "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor." And it goes on in the rest of the verses to say, "Two are better than one." If you're a single witness somewhere where you are, that's a good thing. 54:43 Seek for the excellent. Unity. Fellowship with other brothers. So how do you know that whether you have the good or the best? I believe it's the Word of God. We heard Jesus say when the devil tempted him, "It's written. That's the good." 54:57 The best was, "It is also written." You know, I believe as young people that our calling is to abandon ourselves to God. I think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You know what they said there? Look at it sometime, Daniel chapter 3. 55:10 They said, "Even if God kills me, we'd much rather serve him." Let us, as young people, take that to heart where it doesn't matter what the devil tempts us. Even if our lives should be put to death, we're going to settle for nothing short of that excellent, excellent destination. 55:27 I hope that's a challenge to your hearts, brothers and sisters, especially young people. It's gripped my heart even just studying this as I prepare to share with you. May the Lord really strengthen you. Seek His Holy Spirit. 55:37 He will give you His help. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for just the amazing calling you have over our lives. Lord, thank you that you didn't call us to be just useless in your kingdom. You didn't call us just to sit here and be comfortable. 55:56 You called us with a mighty, mighty calling, Lord. And I pray that we will never lose sight of that. The devil tempts us with such flashy temptations in this world. All sorts of things constantly hitting us, especially as young people. 56:10 I pray that you will allow us to fix our eyes on you and to see the glory of that calling, the glory of the way that you went, Lord Jesus. How you were able as a young person to cast aside all these distractions and to attain that fullness. 56:25 Thank you, Lord. It would be enough if you had done it, but yet you called us to partake in the same because you wanted us to have the joy that you had. Thank you that you were unselfish. You weren't satisfied with just experiencing that joy yourself, that fellowship, that unity. 56:39 But you wanted it for us too. Thank you that you wanted it for me. And let me not fall short of that, Lord. Let us not, especially the young people and the children here. I pray that your hand will be upon us and that the efforts of Satan will be thwarted. 56:52 The gates of hell shall not prevail against your church. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
