0:01 There are a number of questions here which I will try and answer. >> [clears throat] >> First few are concerning our relationship with the Lord. >> [clears throat] >> How do I say whether the Lord is 0:20 punishing me, disciplining me, or refining me with a trial? First of all, we It's very important in our relationship with God 0:38 to know one truth that never changes. The Bible says God is love. There's nothing unloving in God, absolutely nothing. And we must be convinced about it in our mind because 0:57 one of the devil's great techniques is to give us a wrong picture of God. And I know in my younger days spiritually, I had those wrong concepts as if God is a strict God who's always 1:16 wanting to punish me, correct me. But how much Jesus tried to convince his disciples that God is a loving father. And I've come to see that the problem with many, many believers, and probably 1:34 a number of you sitting here, you're not absolutely convinced that God is a loving father. If you can think of the most loving father, maybe some of you didn't have loving fathers, okay. Then don't think of your father, but 1:50 think of someone you've seen somewhere who's a really loving, sacrificial father. And then multiply that by a thousand or a million and you understand what God is like. If we don't keep that picture of God in our mind, 2:09 you will suffer in your Christian life. You will not make the progress God wants you to make in your Christian life because everything depends on your understanding of what God is like. Look at this verse 2:27 in John's gospel. The Everybody in the world in in Israel had a wrong concept about God when Jesus came. Because the Pharisees had portrayed God as a very strict person who was 2:46 very demanding and if you would make a small slip up, he'll come and hammer you. And that's the thing they heard sun Saturday after Saturday after Saturday in the synagogue, they heard the Pharisees describing God like this. And these were all ignorant 3:01 people sitting there. They never had a Bible in their hands. The Pharisees were supposed to be the great scholars and they proclaimed God as a very strict God who's demanding. And the way the Pharisees treated even the poor widows 3:14 and took advantage of so many people and make presented God as a very strict person. And then Jesus comes along says God is a very loving, compassionate father. So, think if you were one of those Jews 3:33 sitting there and all your life you heard God is a very strict demanding tyrant and then Jesus comes along and says he's a loving father, which would you prefer? Which would you choose? It's very clear. We want No, God is a loving father, and 3:52 yet I know that I sometimes have not understood that God is a loving father, and I believe the problem with many of you your spiritual growth is hindered because you're not absolutely convinced that God is a loving father. 4:11 That's one side of it. The other side of it is there could be people here who take advantage of the fact Oh, God is a loving father. So, I can behave as I like, and I do what I like, and God will overlook. And there are people like that also, I've 4:28 seen. Even in CFC who take advantage of God's goodness. And you can see in their life, they never develop. They become irresponsible and not committed to the church. And there are people like that. 4:47 But if you know God in his balanced way as a loving father, but he's not a he's a father who's strict. And he'll discipline us. We read in Hebrews 12 that he disciplines, but his discipline is always out of love. Then you will never have a fear that God 5:05 is punishing you. He may discipline you, but he punishes only those who go to hell finally, and he waits. You know, the difference between God punishing and man punishing is I'll show you. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9. 5:25 In Hebrews chapter 9, you read verse 27. How have you meditated on this verse? It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment. What do you learn when you meditate on that verse? That God waits 5:48 until a person dies before he passes the final judgment. That is the difference between God and us. We pass judgment on people within 1 day. Or we've seen a person for a few days and we have passed a judgment. 6:06 That is how unlike God we are. God waits until a person dies. It's okay, then I'll pass a judgment. We are so impatient. No, no, no, I know what that person is like. And he's like this, he's like this, like this. My dear 6:21 brothers, sisters, be a little more like God. Be patient. Don't judge people so quickly. If God can wait, almighty God can wait till a person dies to judge a person, why are you in such a hurry to judge that person? Why not be a little more patient? 6:37 Perhaps he will change. Why does God wait till a person dies before passing a judgment? Because he's always hoping. Guy is bad, but I hope he change. Maybe next week he'll change. Maybe next month he'll change. That is what God is like, and that is 6:50 where most believers are 100% unlike God. You ask yourself how quickly you have passed judgment. And I ask myself, I have been so foolish and stupid in that area. So, I'm not saying I have learned from my mistakes. Learn to be patient in judgment. God 7:08 doesn't punish you. He's And whatever he allows in your life, it's out of love to discipline you to make you a much better person. When a father is strict in sending his children to a school and sends them to school where the 7:25 demands are high. We say the child may think, "Why is my dad sending me to such a difficult school?" Years later when he gets a wonderful job, then he realizes, "I'm glad my father sent me to a school that had a very high standard. Because of that, I 7:42 could get a good job. But that child doesn't understand that when he's going through that tough standard in the school. So, remember that when you think of God as a heavenly Father. Uh another [clears throat] question. Sometimes I don't want to complain, but 7:57 because that's sinful. But how can we share our burdens to God without complaining or sinning? Again, remember God is a Father. You can go to him with anything. You can go and tell him the most stupid thing in the world. 8:09 And he'll understand. He He will not be unmerciful. Think of God as a Father. I believe that many, many believers do not know God as a loving Father. And Jesus tried so much to convince his disciples that, and they still didn't 8:28 understand. I believe there are people sitting right here. You do not know God as a loving Father, that his strictness is a part of his love. And he never, never has anything but your good at heart. He's always got the highest good for 8:46 you. Just like a good father will challenge his children to aim for the highest and say, "Hey, you're capable of more than that. You're capable of more than that." Just like a Think of a father who's helping his child to 8:59 play in some athletics or something. You can do better than that. You can better do better than that. He's not taunting him. He wants his child to achieve something. That is how God is also. Please remember this always. Don't 9:12 have a wrong picture of God. Another question is, "How do I say no to social media?" Social media and video games. This is by discipline. And there's a verse on discipline which we must remember. I find it to be a great help. 1 9:28 Corinthians in chapter 9, where it says the Christian life is like a race. The Bible says that in a number of places. Let us run. Let us run means it's a race. And in 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 24, it says, "Don't you know 9:46 that everybody runs in a race, but only one receives the prize? You must run in such a way that you will win that prize." So, in other words, you know, we don't send our children to take part in a uh race and say, "Don't aim to come first. 10:04 So long with you finish the race, it doesn't matter even if you come last." No father will say that. "Never mind how weak you are, my son, my girl, run [clears throat] and try and come first." That's exactly what God also says. 10:19 "Run in such a way 1 Corinthians 9:24 that you will win the first prize." So, I want to ask all of you, are you living the Christian life, your Christian life? Forget of the others. Your personal daily walk with God. Are you 10:37 living it in such a way that you want to come first in the class? You want to win the first prize. If that is your aim, you'll be very disciplined. That's what he says here. The one who competes in a games exercises self-control in all 10:57 things. He says the question is, "How can I say no to social media and video games?" If you're really serious about winning, think about it. I've often used the example of these uh Kenyan athletes who very often win the marathon race. 11:13 They are so disciplined. They For years and years and years, they get up in the morning and run and run and run the 26-mile uh >> [clears throat] >> marathon race, and then one day they come first. But, they came first because 11:25 they disciplined themselves so much. They were careful about what they If they If they ate whatever they liked, and they became fat, they'd never win that race. They were disciplined in what they ate, they were disciplined in how they spent 11:37 their time, they were disciplined in how much sleep they got, they got up early so that they could run the race because they wanted to win the prize. And here we say that we are seeking for something far superior to just a gold medal in a 11:52 Olympic games. And he says you should be much more disciplined in your life. Because the prize we are waiting for is running for is something far more important. So it's only if you see that goal you see if that if that Kenyan athlete 12:12 did not have a goal in mind he wouldn't be disciplined. You have you have always had a goal. How do people study hard in an examination? They have a goal, I want to come first. I want to pass this examination. How they prepare for an examination which is 12:27 going to give them a good job. They say, "I want to get that job at any cost and I have to discipline myself." So unless you look at the goal, you will not be able to discipline yourself in social media and video games and all this. 12:42 We have one life. Every one of us. And you can either accomplish something for the Lord in that one life or waste it. And if you keep that in mind, I've only got one life, I'll never get another chance to live this life. 12:56 And if I'm careless even for a few days of that life I'm going to have that much regret in eternity. And when I see Jesus face to face and I see how much he sacrificed for me, how much he suffered for me and I see the irresponsible way I lived 13:13 on this earth carelessly and not taking my Christian life seriously, I'm going to have regret in heaven. Now, many people don't agree with me on this. Some people say, "Oh, brother Zac, there'll be no regret in heaven." I'll 13:26 tell you this, I've known the Lord for 60 more than 60 years. 67 years I've known the Lord and I'm absolutely convinced that there are many believers who are going to have a regret in heaven 13:44 for eternity. I mean, I can't believe it. I can't believe that I won't have regret in heaven if I have lived in a careless way on earth. For example, if my Let Let's take my life. Supposing I was converted when I was 19 13:58 and 67, 68 years ago. And supposing I'd lived all these careless in a Supposing all these years I had just lived saying, "Well, I just want to go to heaven when I die. That's all." And I continued my uh career in the Navy and say, "I want 14:14 to become a big admiral, but I I've accepted Christ. I'm going to heaven. That's all that matters. But I want to do well in the world also. I want to enjoy life and I want to earn a lot of money and live comfortably and I trust 14:25 Jesus. I'll go regularly to church and I won't do anything seriously wrong. And I live a comfortable family life and enjoy myself and trust in the Lord. I don't commit any serious sins and then finally uh at a ripe old age 14:43 I die and go to heaven. And the Lord showed me and when I get to heaven that's not the way I wanted you to live. I wanted you to quit your job when you were 26 years old. And I wanted to use you to preach the word around the world. I 15:02 wanted to use you to bring a lot of people to Christ and lead people to a godly life and I wanted you to plant churches here and there and encourage people in different different countries and instead of that Zack you just sat back and said I'm going to 15:20 heaven. It doesn't matter how I live. I'm okay. Look at your life. Look back over your life now. And I'll show you a video of what your life could have been. And then I'll see how you lived. Are you telling me I won't have any 15:37 regret? If I had not lived the life I lived in the last 60 years, I just wandered around trying to make money and just say I'll go to heaven when I die. I cannot imagine that when I get to heaven, I won't have regret. I'll have such 15:52 tremendous regret that I'll say, "Lord, give me another chance to go back to earth and live my life again." And the Lord says, "No, there is no second chance." I'm absolutely convinced about this. That's why I know I cannot afford to 16:07 waste one single day of my life. Dear brothers and sisters, please take me seriously. I believe there are millions of believers who are going to have such regret when they see they're not going to be punished. No, no, no. 16:26 There's a greater regret when we see how much Jesus loved us and how thoroughly selfish and ungrateful we were and in order in my response to him. How we always sought to sought our own comfort instead of denying ourselves. 16:42 And then we see more clearly in heaven the tremendous way Jesus denied himself every single day of his earthly life. He denied himself, kept himself pure just for me. And how carelessly I lived on earth, how carelessly I spent my money, how 16:58 carelessly I lived my life, only thought of going to heaven when I die. I believe such people will have tremendous regret for all eternity, not for 1 or 2 years, for all eternity. Those who sought their own Those who come to Christ only go to 17:13 heaven. Is there anybody sitting here you want to accept Christ just to go to heaven, shame on you. You don't belong in CFC. You belong in some other dead church. We don't want people coming here who just want to go to heaven when they die. 17:27 I don't want a single person like that in this church. We want people here who are so grateful that Jesus sacrificed everything to live for them and say, "Lord, I don't want to live for myself. I don't want any honor. I don't want any 17:39 money. I don't want any gain. I don't want any comfort. I want to sacrifice my entire life to show you that I'm thankful that you died for me. I want to be a responsible person. If I'm If you're a father, you say, "Lord, I want to be a responsible 17:53 father who takes care of my children and brings each of them up in the fear of God. I want to be a responsible husband, not make my wife do all the work, and be lazy." There are lazy husbands, and they should be ashamed to be sitting 18:07 in CFC. I say, "Go and sit in some dead church. Don't be here and be a lazy husband or a irresponsible father." We want serious Christians in this church. Very, very important. I say this with passion because I'll tell you, 18:23 I'm not angry with you, far from it. This is what I would speak to my own children. And I speak to you as my children because I don't want you to have any regret when you see your savior face to face, and you see how much he sacrificed for 18:41 you. I'm saying this myself. I frequently meditate >> [clears throat] >> on how it will be when I see Jesus face to face, and I discover little by little how much he sacrificed for me. And I look at my selfish way of life. 18:56 I say, "Lord, even 1 day if I live in selfishness, I'll be ashamed of myself. I want every day of my earthly life to count for God because I have only one life. I hope you will be gripped by that. I want I want to avoid sin as much as 19:13 possible. 100% I want to be free from sin every day of my life because it was my sin that crucified Christ. That's why I want to hate sin. And I'm sorry to say that there are so many believers who get angry and it doesn't bother them. I tell you if I get 19:30 angry once, it'll bother me so much I won't be able to sleep properly at night. Is it like that with you? You get angry, you shout at your husband and it doesn't bother you. Shame on you. Jesus died for that. And you get angry and you're not 19:45 disturbed by that. You tell a little lie in the office and you're not disturbed by that. What have you understood about Christ dying for your sins? Why do I speak with such passion? I'll tell you this because I love you. 20:02 Because I don't want anybody who's a part of a Save the Children church for whom I have responsibility to stand there in heaven and say, "Lord, I never knew that it was so serious. I never knew I had to take the Christian 20:15 life so seriously. I just sat back and thought I'm going to heaven so it doesn't matter how I live." Dear brother, if you're if you're like that, please don't defile other people here with your spirit. Please go to some 20:30 other church and defile whomever you like here. But with that defiled spirit of trying to take advantage of Christ, don't sit here and defile anybody else. You're like a filthy person who's spreading a disease here. We don't want that. We want wholehearted 20:46 Christians. We want every single believer in this church to be wholehearted, radical because Jesus was wholehearted and radical in giving himself to us. That's very, very important. And I hope all of you will take it seriously. I hope you will realize I'm 21:02 not angry with you, far from it. I'm concerned that you should not miss out on what God has for you. God has a wonderful plan. I'm so thankful. I'll tell you the only regret I have is that it I did not give my life to Christ when I was 6 years old. 21:20 Why did I wait till I was nearly 20? 14 years wasted. I could have started when I was 6. I could have been a witness to others in the school when I was 6 or 7. If I'd been gripped by the fact that Jesus gave everything for me. 21:40 I regret that I surrendered my life too early when I was 20. And think of you some of you sitting here are still living for the world and thinking of making money and getting on in the world and you don't realize what you're going to feel when you see Jesus 21:56 face to face. And some of you who take this lax attitude towards the Christian life, I wonder whether you will meet Jesus face to face. I wonder whether you will get there with that careless attitude. It's very very serious. We're talking 22:14 about life and death issues here in this church. Okay. So much [clears throat] for walking with the Lord. Another question is how should I handle perplexity when making important decisions in life? God has allowed perplexity. 22:32 He permits it so that we depend on him more. And if God had made it all very crystal clear, there'd be no place for faith. But part of faith is perplexity where I trust him. And you know, as I was saying, when it looks as if so many things are wrong, to 22:50 still know I trust my God God is my heavenly father. He loves me and he cares for me. When it looks as if so many things are going wrong and so many people are opposed to me, I still say I trust God and I believe that he'll take care of me. My faith is 23:04 strengthened through perplexity. Okay, there are times when I feel uncertain and fear that I might miss God's will. It's good to have a fear that you might miss God's will. That's exactly what I have been trying to speak 23:16 so far. Lord, I don't want to miss your perfect will for my life. And good to have that that passion and to be eager. Uh Here it says, as we heard, I want to serve the Lord in his will for his glory, but often I wonder if I'm just acting for my own 23:35 ideas. So, I end up doing nothing. How do we bold not acting of self? Read God's word and say, Lord, I want you to guide me step by step. We're not going to God's not going to describe his will for us in so many words. He wants us to 23:50 experience in our inner spirit to get fellowship with him, and like that we come to know his will. It's not by mechanically do this, do this, do this, do this. He wants us to grow into maturity where we ourselves choose, 24:07 and we choose his will. That is how we grow up to maturity. How do we dedicate our work to the Lord? How do we know whether we are going in his will? That will only come as you walk with the Lord more and more. If you walk to the 24:21 best of your knowledge, being free from sin, you'll become more and more aware of what God's will is your in your life. To know God's plan for your life, the main thing is to be free from sin. Any small thing that you're convicted about, confess it, 24:38 forsake it, and say, Lord, give me power to overcome that. Have a passion in your life. Look at the As I said, I was talking about this runners who have such a passion to win. And that's why I'm I'm trying to share this with you 24:55 also. Have a passion to please the Lord. Um another question is, what is the difference between being filled with the spirit and being baptized with fire? Fire is just an expression that the Lord uses, just like the river, this Holy 25:15 Spirit is called like rivers of uh living water. Another picture the Lord uses is being set on fire. They're two pictures the Lord uses, both symbolize the Holy Spirit. And so, it's really the same thing. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be 25:31 baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. Baptized, see the word, because we use the word baptized and we don't understand it. Try and use an English word. Baptized is a Greek word. You can't understand it, don't use it. I understand it, so I use it. To be 25:45 baptized in the Holy Spirit. Baptized is a Greek word. The Greek word baptizo means immersed. That's all it means. And instead of using the Greek word, use an English word. Immersed in the Holy Spirit and fire. 26:04 And that doesn't sound so religious, but that's what it means. To be filled and immersed with the Holy Spirit and fire, to be set a flame with the fire of God. The and we should be like that all the time. I have the picture of 26:21 you know, how Daniel's three friends were in the fire. And how they must have been a flame there with Christ there. To be like that all the time. The flame of that passion for the Lord. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. If you 26:38 if if you're not filled with the Holy Spirit, your passion will die out. You'll be excited one day after a conference like this, you'll all get excited for one or two days, and then it'll die out. I guarantee it'll die out. 26:50 Because you're not seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit all the time. Every day I get up in the morning and I say, "Lord, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit today. I want to worship you today. I want to listen to your voice today." 27:04 These are some of the things I tell the Lord every morning. As soon as I wake up, I want to worship you. I want to be a worshiper of God. I want to be like those angels who cover their bodies and say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." 27:20 I want to be like that, Lord. I want to live in your presence throughout this day. I want to hate sin with all my heart. I don't want to ever lose control of my temper. I never want to get depressed today. I never want to get 27:30 discouraged. I don't want to do anything or think anything that will bring dishonor to your name. You who look at my inner life. Seek to live like that from the time you get up in the morning. Ask God to fill you. Lord, I want to be an overcomer 27:43 today. I don't want to fall into a single sin in thought, word, deed, attitude, motive. And if I'm tempted, give me grace to overcome immediately. Yeah, if you seek to begin your life like that and seek to live like that, 27:57 God will help you to live a spiritual life every day. And if you live like that every day, I'll tell you one thing. When you come to the end of your life, you'll have no regret. When you get to heaven, you'll have no regret. You say, "Lord, 28:08 at least from a certain point in my life, I took my life seriously." We can't do anything about the past. And there's a great verse for that. Acts 10:38. Sorry. Acts 17. It says, "The times of ignorance God overlooks." That's a great verse. I helped me a lot 28:27 and I would share that with you from Acts and chapter 17 and verse 30. Please remember this if you get discouraged about your past life. Acts 17:30. 28:44 "The times of ignorance, God overlooks. That means he forgets about it. I'm very thankful for that. I'm thankful that certain period of my life, God says, "I won't even look at it." Thank you, Lord. That delivers me from regret 29:02 and sorrow that I lived like that. God says, "I'll overlook it, but now to make up for that, he says, "Repent." I say, "Lord, I'll do that." Thank you for overlooking that period of my life that were not serious about my 29:16 Christianity, but I want to make up for that by repenting. Repenting means turning around completely, 100% 180°. That's how we have can live without regret. Okay. How to hear from the Holy Spirit. If you read the Bible regularly 29:35 and say, "Lord, speak to me. Speak to me." Gradually, you will get to hear the Holy Spirit speaking in your heart. But if you are too lazy to read the Bible, I'll tell you, don't ask God to speak to you through the Holy Spirit. Just forget 29:50 it. If you want the Holy Spirit to speak to you, read the one book the Holy Spirit has written and given to you. Meditate on it. Have you read through the whole Bible? I've often said to Christians, "If you've been a Christian for 2 years 30:09 and you've not read the Bible through completely, go and hang your head in shame and be thoroughly ashamed. I've been a believer for 2 years and I haven't read through the whole Bible. What have you been doing? Oh, I've been busy. 30:28 You mean you haven't no spare time to read a few verses of the Bible every day? You're not a serious Christian. Don't fool Don't tell me you're a serious Christian. You're not. You're sitting in CFC just taking advantage of others, but 30:40 you're not a serious Christian in your life. Take it seriously from today. Dear brothers, the way I spoke to you just now, this is how they spoke to us in the military. This is we're going into battle. We're not going to go there to play games. 30:58 We're going to fight a battle with the enemy and the enemy is serious about fighting against us. We got to be serious about fighting against the enemy. That's how we got to take the Christian life. The Christian life is a warfare, a 31:09 battle. And we don't play games when we go to battle. We have to take everything seriously. The Bible speaks about warfare with the enemy. And if you take the Christian life like that, I tell you you will have absolutely no regret when you come to 31:23 the end of your life. Your life will accomplish something for God. I believe that so many believers, the Lord could accomplish so much in the world if believers were wholehearted and radical. And if just a few of us sitting here 31:37 are going to be radical from today and wholehearted to follow Jesus, we'll make a difference in our community. So, don't be influenced by the lazy people in the church. Seek fellowship with those who are radical and wholehearted. Spend your 31:52 time with the radical wholehearted people and not with the drifters and people who just want to go to heaven when they die. I don't want to have anything to do with people who want to go to heaven when they die. I want to fellowship with those who are 32:05 radical and wholehearted. I want to live 100% for Jesus Christ. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> How to effectively juggle all the three floors of our Christian life, spiritual, family, and church? Yeah. Thank God that we don't have to think of 32:24 it all those things together at the time. All I say is moment by moment as whatever you get opportunity to serve, take the opportunity to serve. You got a responsibility for for family, take that seriously and say, Lord, please help me. 32:38 I find in everything I can always go to God and say Lord, please help me. He's such a loving father. Any area where you you have a problem in your work, please go to God and say Lord, please help me. I'm not able to do this work 32:51 properly. You have problem with your family, maybe your children are responsive. Pray for that child. Say Lord, I want to pray for this child. Please help me to be a good father to this child. It's a wonderful that we have a father 33:03 in heaven to whom we can go with the silliest problem and say Lord, please help me and he will help you. There's nothing the Lord will say no to you. He's waiting for you to come to him and say Lord, please help me. In fact, one of my favorite verses, let 33:20 me share this with you. It's been a tremendous encouragement for me. And you'll be surprised when you hear it. You already know the verse. It is John 15 verse 5. Apart from me, you can do zero. Isn't that a wonderful verse? 33:40 The Lord says apart from me, you can do zero in your life. I raise my hand. Yes, Lord. I 100% agree. I 100% agree with you. Apart from you, I will do zero in my life. It's a verse in the Bible. Jesus said that in John 15 verse 5, the last part. 33:58 So then what do you expect from me? Zero. Great. So please help me. Whatever you ask me to do, I'll do, but you got to help me. I I can do zero. But you will hold my hand. You'll speak to my heart. You will urge me on. I'll do it. 34:14 In other words, my job is to surrender and the best picture I've always used is the picture Jesus used here. The branch in the tree. You ask that branch in the tree, what can you do apart from the tree? Zero. Will you be fresh if you're cut off from 34:32 the tree? No, not even for one moment. I can be fresh only if I'm in the Lord all the time. I can produce fruit only if I'm in the Lord all the time. And if you see fruit in anybody's life, you can be sure that he's learned how to 34:49 live helplessly dependent on the Lord. Why does the Bible emphasize prayer so much? See, prayer has been made into such a religious thing. You know, my understanding of prayer is Jesus said, "Men ought always to praise." People ask me, "How long do you 35:07 pray?" I say, "24 hours a day, 7 days a week." That's what Jesus said in Luke 18:1, "Men ought always to pray." Always means 24/7. So, let me paraphrase that. Men ought to pray 24/7. You got it now? 35:23 That is Luke 18:1, "Men must pray 24/7." 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's how you should be praying. That means not that I should be mumbling something to the Lord all the time, but that I should be helplessly dependent on 35:38 the Lord. This is prayer. The branch in the tree. This is my understanding of prayer. It's not saying so many things. God already knows everything I need. I don't have to give him a big lecture. But this is what I need. This is my understanding 35:51 of prayer. A branch in the tree, absolutely helpless. I can do nothing 24/7. I'm stuck to the tree. And I never want to be separated from that. I may not be conscious of it all the time. I don't have to be conscious. 36:10 But if I break away from it, I'll be aware of it. The Holy Spirit will tell me, "Hey, you broke away there." You know, if you do something wrong or you have a wrong attitude, immediately that connection is broken. And as soon as, for example, a small 36:22 wrong attitude towards someone, just a small little thing, the connection is gone. Be sensitive to that. Immediately come back to the Lord. Lord, I'm sorry I slipped up there. I want to be back in the tree. If you live like that every day, I'll 36:37 tell you something. In the next 1 year, you'll see a tremendous difference in your life compared to your entire past life. Do you want that type of Christianity? Stick to the tree and say, "Lord, I'm helpless." And the other thing, don't compare 36:52 yourself with anybody else. Don't try to find out whether you're more spiritual than somebody else. You're not. Say, "Lord, I'm not in any competition with anybody in this church to show that I'm more spiritual. I'm not here to impress anybody. 37:11 I want to please you. Only you." This is very, very important. Don't try to impress the elders or anybody in this church, please. Stay away from that. And when you're tempted to impress, forget it. You say, "Get behind me, 37:25 Satan." Don't try to tempt me to impress anybody in this church. Don't try to impress me uh tempt me to impress the elders. I'm in the seriously in the business of trying to please God. That's all. That's how we can live. 37:42 Okay. Uh oftentimes I feel lacking in my spiritual life. Am I qualified to serve in the church? Everybody is qualified to serve in the church. Even a small I always use the example of a nail. A nail is about the smallest part of 37:56 a body. But it's so important. When you feel itchy somewhere, you need a nail to scratch. Every part of the body's important. And even if you came to the Lord today, you accepted Christ today. I want to say in this church, we believe you're 38:10 valuable. If you If you accepted Christ just today and you're committed to this church, you are a very valuable, useful part of the church. And I would say to you, we cannot live without you. We need you. Because I've learned to value every 38:24 single person in the body of Christ. And even little things I that they share, if I'm humble enough to listen to what people have to say, I'm sometimes blessed by I'll never I'll give you one example. See, a lot of my ministry in India has 38:41 been with people who don't know word of English. They don't know one word of English. They've never been to college. Most of them have not even finished high school. And a lot of the sisters in some of our churches in India, they can't even read. 38:55 Some of the sisters, they listen to the Bible audio because they can't read the Bible. And I praise God that I've moved around with such believers for 50 years. And they've been a blessing to me. Some of them have loved the Lord much 39:07 more than all the clever educated people in our churches. Simple people, they know that Jesus and they've come from non-Christian backgrounds. And they've come to know that Jesus loved them and died for them. And I'm very thankful that I have fellowship 39:20 with them. Now, I've often [clears throat] used the example of uh how sometimes they get revelation which I don't get. I'll give you one example. I mentioned this before, those who've heard it. At the end of one conference in India 39:35 many years ago, we asked everybody to share, "What did you get out of this conference?" So, one young brother who's uh come from a heathen background and was once upon a time demon-possessed and all that, delivered and wonderful brother in 39:53 Christ. He said, "I was blessed by John 3:16." And I thought, "What is he going to tell me from John 3:16? I've known that verse for ages." But I got a revelation that day I've never forgotten till today. He said, "John 3:16 says, 'God so loved 40:11 the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And he said the revelation I got was I have a small world, very small world of people who know me. He said none of you here know that 40:29 people, my friends, my relatives. It's a very small world of people who none of you know. They only I They only know me. That is my world. But God so loved that little world that he sent me, his son, into that world 40:49 so that none of those people should perish but have eternal life. Wow. I never got a revelation like that in all my life. Like that, brother God. Think of that, my brother. See how he got it from that verse? His advantage was he didn't have any 41:06 high thoughts about himself. He knew he was uneducated, illiterate. So he simply came to the Bible and he got a revelation which clever people don't get because God reveals himself to the humble, not to the clever. I just say that for your encouragement. 41:24 There are many things in the Bible that God can reveal things to you if you come in humility and brokenness like that brother came. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> Where's the line between giving God that which costs me something 41:40 in the area of money but not having a wrong attitude such as being a reluctant giver? Now, I don't believe that we should force people to give anything to the Lord. Everything that we give to the Lord I'm I've taken that position myself. I will 41:56 not force myself to give anything to the Lord. Many years ago the Lord said to me from 2 Samuel 24:24, "You must never offer to me that which costs you nothing." I said I I agree. I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing. 42:15 Everything I do, whether it's prayer or service or anything, it must cost me something. It must be something I'm devoted to. Otherwise, I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing. And the thing that encourages me to give 42:28 is to meditate on how much Jesus gave for me. We love him because he first loved us. We give because he gave so much for us. Why is it so many are so reluctant to give something to the Lord? They have not seen 42:46 how much Jesus sacrificed. Meditate on the Jesus sacrifice of Jesus more and more and then you'll have no reluctance in your life to give. You'll gladly give everything when people take advantage of you. Lots of people have taken advantage of 43:03 me in this 67 years of my Christian life, but it's been such a joy. Don't you Do you think nobody took advantage of Jesus during the 33 years of his life? I believe his brothers and sisters at home must have taken advantage of him 43:17 in so many ways. But he endured with them and loved them and then it's okay, I'm here to allow other people to exploit me. Let them exploit me. Let them take advantage of me. He had no complaints. So many believers I've seen complain, "Oh, this 43:31 person's trying to take advantage of me." Aha, you're such a great person that nobody should take advantage of you. That's the reason for the shallowness of some people's lives. Let me tell you, brothers, God has placed us in this earth for other people 43:43 to take advantage of us. You raise your hand to the Lord and say, "Lord, I'm willing to let anybody take advantage of me if I can bless them in the name of Jesus Christ." We are not called here to enjoy ourselves. Enjoying myself is when we go 43:55 to heaven. We are called here to sacrifice, to deny ourselves, let people take advantage of us, let people exploit us. That's fine. If I can bless them and lead them closer to God, that's enough for me. But this selfish, self-centered life 44:10 that some people Nobody must take advantage of me. Nobody must take take and exploit me in any way. You can't be a Christian then. You go and sit in some dead church and just go there to enjoy yourself. But we're not gathering people here to 44:24 want to enjoy themselves. We're We're gathering people here who want who want to deny themselves. Anyone will come after me, Jesus said. He never spoke about enjoying yourself. Try and read all the gospels. Where did Jesus say how we can enjoy 44:39 ourselves? See if that word enjoy is there in the words of Jesus. Deny. That's the word that's found more frequently in Jesus' teaching, not enjoy. When I deny, I enjoy God. The presence of God and his love for me, I enjoy it immensely. 44:58 But it comes through self-denial. And we live in a sinful world and the only way we can be faithful to God in the sinful world is by denying ourselves. That's why Jesus said, "If anyone will come after me, let him take up his cross 45:17 and deny himself every day and follow me." I'll tell you that from the little life I've tasted, it is the most enjoyable life you can ever live. And you'll be healthy. And God will provide all your earthly 45:35 need as well. You will not lack in anything. I don't believe Jesus ever ran short of money. Even though he lived such a simple life. He worked hard, but he never ran short of money. I don't believe you will ever run short 45:51 of money. I've never I mean I've never earned any I've never taken a salary for any of the 60 years. I've never run short of money even one day of my life. Even when I had four children to educate without a salary. Do you believe that? 46:07 I'll tell you you honor God, you'll be amazed to see what God will do to honor you. We need to be living demonstrations to the world around us. That God is a loving heavenly father. I often think of it like this. At the end of my life at the end of 46:22 apply to yourself at the end of your life when your if your entire life could be exposed, all the secret areas of the life and secret what you did what in secret what you thought and how you planned and all your private areas of your life and how you 46:36 handle money and except everything. People should look at that history and say there's no explanation for this person's life except that a father in heaven took care of him. Will Will people say that about you? Or will they say, "Oh, you were so 46:52 careful and all that. You avoided all the difficult things." No. You took risks for God. And you He never let you down. Whatever you gave up for him, he gave you back a hundred times. I can say that honestly. I've never given up anything for the 47:08 Lord which he did not give me back a hundred times. So, where have I sacrificed? Zero. I'm absolute I'm not trying to be humble. But I'm convinced that I have sacrificed zero for the Lord because I always got back much more than I gave. 47:22 Is that your experience? There are so many Christians who have complaints against God. Why he's not doing this? Why he's not doing that? I have zero complaint against God. He's done for me a million times more than what I gave up for him. 47:35 Dear brothers and sisters, that should be your testimony. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> As a Christian, what is the best way to plan for your retirement life? Yeah, we must save up for our children. Do you know the Bible teaches that? 47:53 It says so in Second Corinthians in chapter 12 verse 14. Have you read this verse? Parents must save up for their children. I did that. Even if I had little, I say I got to 48:12 help educate my children. I must take care of them, provide for them. So, even if it's little, parents, save up your children. That is how you plan and in in the process, save something for your own retirement of life also so that you don't depend on 48:31 others. We should Jesus was never dependent on anybody. He took care of his finances in such a way that he never had to borrow. Jesus never had to borrow one cent in his life. And that was the goal I had also. 48:49 And all my life I can testify before God and before you, I have never My wife and I never had to borrow one cent from anybody. When we had little, we lived with little. When we could not afford to buy something, we did not buy it. 49:07 We live in a world where we are taught you need to buy this, you need to buy that, you need to buy everything. No. You buy what you can afford to. Live simply. >> [clears throat] >> If you can't afford to have something, don't buy it. 49:22 Live without it. There are lots of things we can live without if we are careful. [clears throat] We and we can we can live at a much simpler level and never My aim was never to get into debt because I knew debt is a sin. Many 49:38 people don't see it that way. I saw saw that getting into debt is a sin. I don't mean if you want to borrow buy a car, you got to take a loan from the bank. That's okay because your car belongs to the bank so you're not in debt. 49:53 Or you borrow money to buy a house, that's okay. Your house belongs to that bank, so you're not in debt. But if you borrow money for which you have no capital to show for it, you are in debt. And Jesus was never in debt. 50:08 He was never never in debt, and I don't believe we should be. But so we must save something for the future. It's very important, and God will help you to do it. If God could help me with that, he can certainly help all of you. 50:21 Which all which which means that you must be very careful that you're not lavish in your expenditure. A lot of people when they have plenty of money, they spend it here, spend it there in unnecessary things. Be very careful. I'm not saying that you 50:34 should not take your children out and give have a good time with them or take them on a holiday and all that. So okay, but be very careful. Don't compare your life with other people's, and make sure that you live within your income. 50:49 Another question is what is the Christian view on dating, love, marriage versus arranged marriage? See, the Bible doesn't say anything about this. Different cultures permit different things. I know in India, in the Christians, if they go out with a girl 51:06 in dating, it can ruin their testimony in India. One has to be very careful, and so we were very strict on that in our churches to be careful, and we got to live according to the culture in which we live. Just like we dress according to the 51:24 culture in which we live, we must live according to the culture in which we live, so that we are not a stumbling block in our testimony for Christ. So, in within that culture, God is not a prisoner of any system. And within your culture, how marriage is 51:40 arranged, God can help you to find the partner God has chosen. And if you're a wholehearted Christian, I say to young people, if you're a radical wholehearted Christian and you want nothing in your life but the perfect will of God, 51:57 I'll tell you something. Somewhere on Earth, God has prepared some girl for you to marry. Or if you're a girl, some boy for you to marry. I had that faith. I said, "I don't know where she is, 52:16 and I don't know how I'll meet her, but somewhere on Earth, I had that faith when I was a young person, 23 years old. Somewhere on Earth, you've got somewhere some girl reserved for me. I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her yet, 52:31 but I believe that in your will, you'll bring her to me at the right time, and you'll enable me to get married." And it happened. And we're married now for 58 years, and I'm absolutely convinced this one God chose for me. It can be your experience, 52:47 too. Come to the Lord with that faith. It doesn't matter the system, whether it is through dating or through arranged marriage. That's up to God. God will arrange the right way, so don't worry about the method. Have faith that God will lead you to 53:04 that right person. What about if I had past relationships before I got married, and I had hurt those other people. Should I reach out and apologize to them? Please be wise in dealing with past failures. Please seek 53:23 counsel from a godly older person as to how much you should go and apologize. I believe we should apologize where we've hurt people, >> [clears throat] >> but need a lot of wisdom in that that you don't make matters more complicated for 53:38 somebody. If you go and apologize to someone who's you hurt somebody and that person has already married someone, you'll create a lot of problems if you go and apologize to that person. So, be careful and wise. Extend, ask for 53:54 wisdom from an older mature person. Okay, now about family. If I discipline my kids out of anger, uh which I say I should not have, I regret afterwards. What should I do? If your children are old enough, you must apologize to them. 54:12 But if they are very young and you got angry when you punish them, they may not understand your anger. And they may not understand your apology rather, because they may think you're apologizing for punishing them. You're not apologizing for punishing 54:25 them. I I'm sorry to say that I did get angry sometimes when I punish my children because they were so disobedient and I had to be strict. And sometimes I did not have victory at that time. I was a young father. But if I punish them and then I got 54:41 angry and I say, "Okay, I'm sorry for getting angry." That child thinks I'm angry for punishing it, which I'm not. So, he's not old enough to understand the difference between getting angry and righteousness in punishment. 54:56 So, I decided that I'll postpone all that apology till they are grown up and mature and then I'll give them a consolidated apology for all the years that I hurt them. Cuz then they'll understand it later on. So, be wise 55:12 and uh in apologizing. Another question is concerning schooling. Uh when publish public schools push secular ideology and Christian schools mix faith and politics, private schools push worldly success, homeschooling exceeds our capacity. How 55:30 do we choose schooling? I believe God wants us to educate our children. If you start with that faith, and if you don't have that faith, then I've got nothing more to tell you. But if you believe that God wants your children to be educated, otherwise how 55:45 will they live in this earth? How will they get a job? So, I don't care what type of schools there are in different countries. I'm If you're convinced about one thing, my heavenly father has given me children, and I must educate them. 55:58 And one way or the other, God will work it out for me. This school or that school or the other school, that's different. But if you have that faith, God will show you exactly what to do. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> How do we share new covenant truths 56:14 with unconverted family members? It's sometimes hard to know how to share to lukewarm people. Everything must begin with prayer. Say, "Lord, please open up door for me to witness to my relatives who are not born again, who 56:34 are only nominal Christians." And if you keep praying that, God will God will give you opportunity at the right time. You must have faith. Isn't God interested in the conversion of those unconverted relatives of yours? Yes. 56:49 Then, definitely he will help you. We must have faith that you know, you may have a great burden that that unconverted relative of yours must be converted. I tell you, God has got a hundred times more burden for that. Sometimes, the basis of faith is to 57:05 believe that God has got a more greater burden for that person converted than I have. If you think you are more burdened for that person to be converted than God has, then you have no faith. Faith is to believe that God is more 57:18 interested in that person's conversion than I am. God sent his son to die for that person. I didn't send my son to die for him. God is more interested in that person being converted than I am. That is faith. And therefore, I can come to say, "Lord, 57:32 please open a way." I believe if you come to the Lord like that, God will open it. I'm not saying all of your relatives will get converted. The vast majority of people will not get converted. That's okay, but God will give you an opportunity to 57:46 witness to them as as and when the right time comes. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> If I have hurt some of my relatives in the past, uh and I have apologized, but I can't talk normally to that person. 58:05 From your side, uh the memory may be there of having hurt somebody, but commit it to the Lord, and don't worry about whether that person responds to you or not. We have to be clear in our conscience and in our spirit towards that person. 58:20 And if the other person does not respond, we ignore it. If we feel that somebody in our family is being hard on somebody else, should we say anything to that person? Or will we be appearing legalistic? Listen to the prompting of the Holy 58:36 Spirit. Don't be quick to go and correct somebody. The desire to correct someone, if you're a father or a mother, you have to correct. But otherwise, be very, very careful in going around correcting people. Some people have a great itch. 58:52 I call it a itch, just like you feel scratchy and you feel like itching. They have a great itch to go and correct people. Correct this person, correct that person, correct even in the church they do it. They are idiots, spiritual idiots. Don't 59:04 follow their example. Look for the prompting of the Holy Spirit. And most of the time, the Lord will say, "Keep your mouth shut. Just pray for them." And I'll tell you on one thing, as a principle, never try to correct somebody 59:20 Are you listening? Never try to Never try to correct somebody whom you have not prayed for. If you have not prayed for that person, you are not qualified to correct that person. You spend some time in prayer for that person, then you'll be qualified to 59:37 correct that person. Lot of people have such an itch to correct, correct. Ask yourself, have you prayed for that person anytime? No. Then you are not qualified to correct that person. Jesus is a great intercessor. He prays. That's why he can correct us. 59:57 And that's our example. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> The question here is dealing with those who have left the church. Yesterday I said something, you know, you can take any statement of mine to an extreme. Yesterday I said, 1:00:14 "We must be open to all of God's people, even in other churches." I fully agree with that. All of God's people are not in CFC. God has his people in so many different denominations. >> [clears throat] >> But that doesn't mean that I agree with 1:00:31 all of them. And particularly if a person has been in our church and left, I have to be very careful that I don't go and mess up what God is seeking to do. I would be very careful 1:00:50 in dealing with people who have left the church. I would seek the advice of the elders in how much I must communicate and fellowship with them. I personally would avoid them. Because >> [clears throat] 1:01:08 >> 1 John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued to be with us." 1 John 2:19, "But they went out from us to show that they didn't really belong 1:01:25 to us. What do you do with that verse? I take that verse very seriously. Meditate on it. 1 John 2:19. They went out from us so that it might be manifest that they're not really of us. If they had been of us, they would have 1:01:40 remained with us. They went out so that it is shown that they are not they are not of us. That does not mean they're going to hell. That's not my business. It means they are not called to build a body along with us. So, don't waste your 1:01:55 time. You work with those whom God has called you to build a body with and don't try to be super spiritual and try to cause more confusion by creating problems for others. So, I would advise you to consult the elders whenever you deal with people who left 1:02:15 the church. We read >> [clears throat] >> in John's gospel that Jesus preached to the crowds and then as a result of it in John 6, many verse 66, many of them left him. Many. 1:02:34 There were about 10,000 people there in the beginning who have fed who took part in the feeding of the 5,000 men and many women and children. And at the end, that 10,000 got dwindled down to 11. It's what it says here. At the end of 1:02:51 John at the beginning of John chapter 6, it's 10,000. At the end of John chapter 6, it is 11 people. He says in verse 67, "Only 12 of you are left and one of you is a devil." 11. So, Jesus spoke in such a way that a lot of people 1:03:08 got offended and left. He didn't go He didn't go chasing after them. He said, "If they If they leave, let them leave." I never see Jesus going after somebody who just left. He said, "This is the price you have to pay? You're not willing to pay the price? 1:03:24 Goodbye." For example, think of the rich young ruler. He had so many good qualities. And Jesus said, "One thing you lack. Give up your money." He said, "No." He went away. As far as we know, Jesus never went after him. 1:03:42 I could show you numerous examples like that in the Bible. Don't try to be more spiritual than Jesus Christ. Be wise. And if you're in doubt, consult the elders. There are people we should sometimes reach out to. But there's a difference between a lost 1:03:59 sheep and a prodigal son. A lost sheep is a stupid sheep just wandered away and carelessly fell off the cliff. The shepherd goes after it. But a rebellious son who stood against the elders and stood against the other brothers in the church 1:04:18 and walked out. What did the father do? He just let the son suffer. He got news that the son is starving. Eating what the pigs are eating and the father says, "Let him eat what the pigs eat. I will not go after him. I will not send 1:04:35 him money. I will not send him food packets. I'll make him starve." Who is that? A father who's representing God in the story of the prodigal son. But some some believers try to act more spiritual than God. "I'll go after that prodigal son. 1:04:52 I'll go and give him some food." And you'll make sure that he never comes back to the father's house. That is the stupidity of these super spiritual Christians who try to act more spiritual than God and try to help prodigal 1:05:04 children but with total lack of wisdom. Remember there's a difference between a lost sheep and a prodigal son. Always remember that. And be wise as to whom you're going to go after. Are you messing up God's work? Or are you helping God's work? If it is his 1:05:23 lost sheep, by all means go after a bit. If it's a prodigal son, wait till he suffers and comes to the end of himself and comes back on his own. That's my policy because I'm following scripture. And when he comes back on his own, 1:05:39 we lay out a feast for him. So, that is the principle I see in scripture about those who left. One Another question is, can we invest in stocks? You need to be a lot of wisdom if you want to invest in stocks to make 1:05:59 money. 90% of people who invest in stocks suffer loss. Be careful. So, I would advise you to be extremely careful in attempting that. It's far better to invest money in a place where you're safe. And if you have a tremendous amount of 1:06:14 wisdom without taking risks, and if you're extremely careful in studying the market properly, then it is okay if to invest in stocks. You can earn money. I believe that. I've done it and I've learned. I've never lost anything. I've always been careful, but 1:06:29 I'm not I never speculate. I never say, "Oh, this is going to be a good company. Let me invest in it and make money." I never do that. I say, "I invest in things which are already doing well." Therefore, I'm safe. I may not make as 1:06:40 much money as the guy who speculates. I'm not interested. I just want to save something for the future to take care of my family. So, if you're wise, you can do it, but most people are not wise because after some time they get a bit covetous when 1:06:52 they gain something and then they suffer tremendous I have met numerous believers in some of our CFC churches who made a mess of themselves financially by investing in stocks. And there I know others I know who have been very wise 1:07:10 and who have earned money from it. So, there are these two categories. So, be wise in that matter in that area. >> [clears throat] >> Then I want to talk about people who, you know, in the early days of our CFC, people joined us 1:07:26 and always hoping to get something from the church. You know, in a country like India, that's very common. Many people will come, "Ah, this is a good church. But everybody's so kind and generous and helpful. I like to be in that church 1:07:40 because I can take advantage of them. They'll come and help me in this and help me in that. They'll provide me with this, provide me with that. When I'm sick in hospital, they'll come and provide food for me. They'll take care 1:07:49 of me." >> [clears throat] >> Those are the biggest problems in our church. People who come to the church expecting others to do something for them. I want to ask you, my brother, those of you who have joined newly, joined this church newly, 1:08:09 have you come here expecting people in this church to do something for you? To provide for you? To help you in some way? To do this and do that and the other thing? You have come to the wrong church. Please go and join some other church. 1:08:26 Don't sit here and try to exploit others and try to get advantage for yourself. That's not the way by which we should join a church. >> [clears throat] >> You're acting in a very criminal way. You're bringing a wrong spirit 1:08:43 into the pure spirit of pure church of Jesus Christ. Don't pollute this church with that spirit. Jesus God so loved that he gave. That's the principle. You join a church, you join a church to give, not to receive. 1:09:01 And then you'll be blessed. You know that Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." It's the one statement of Jesus. It's amazing it is not found anywhere in the Gospels. 1:09:21 Such a fantastic statement. "It is more blessed to give than to receive" is not found in any of the four Gospels. Even though there are all those people who heard Jesus so many times, Paul picks it up. Paul who never walked 1:09:34 with Jesus. He says, "Hey, Jesus said, Acts 20:35, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" I've always wondered why the It is not mentioned in the Gospels. It's an amazing statement. 1:09:53 Do you want to be more blessed? Join a church to give, not to receive. You'll be more blessed. It's a very selfish way to think of joining a church in order to get. 1:10:16 There's one [clears throat] last thing I want to say and that is concerning something that helped me in the area of temperaments. You know, in the church we have people with different temperaments. Some people are outgoing, extroverts, easily make 1:10:31 friends. And some people, like me, are shy, reserved, introverts. God has made us all different temperaments. And one thing I discovered was no temperament is better than the other. When I was a young Christian, 1:10:51 I used to be very discouraged that I was a sort of introverted type of person. And I used to envy the extroverted person who could slap people on the back and happy-go-lucky people who would easily make friends. And I said, "Lord, I'm not like that. 1:11:05 What to do?" Till I dis- I read a book called Spirit Control Temperament when I was a young Christian. That liberated me. Because I learned one thing in that. That all temperaments, and he said there were basically four temperaments, two 1:11:22 introvert and two extrovert types. And all temperaments have got strengths and weaknesses. That's what I did not know. I thought the introverts were full of the weaknesses and the extroverts were the ones who were strong. 1:11:35 But when I read that book, I it delivered me from it. It said, "Every temperament has got weaknesses and strengths. And when the Holy Spirit fills us, he helps us in the areas of our temperament where we are unlike Christ." 1:11:52 Christ was perfectly balanced. And the introvert is lacking in one area, the extrovert is lacking in another area. But when he's filled with the spirit, he'll be helped in the area where he lacks. And when this introvert is filled 1:12:06 with the spirit, he'll be filled helped in the area where he lacks. For example, an extrovert can easily make friends. Wherever he goes, he makes friends so quickly. Everybody's very happy to be with that person. But if you want a job to be done 1:12:21 perfectly, don't give it to the extrovert. He will not take it seriously. He'll waste time and not do it. Except where he's going to get some benefit out of it. If he can make money out of it or get some name out of it, 1:12:33 he'll do it. Otherwise, he won't do it faithfully with no profit out of it. The introvert, on the other hand, you give him a job, he'll do it meticulously. Down to the last detail, he'll double-check, double-check, triple-check, quadruple-check before he 1:12:49 finishes the work. And that's a very good quality. And I read in this book that introverts are the best authors, the best painters, the people who you want a job done meticulously, give it to the introvert, not the extrovert. 1:13:03 The extroverts are the ones who are great leaders and who can light drive people forward with passion. So, both are needed in the church. And whatever is lacking in our personality, the Holy Spirit will come to make us uh 1:13:17 like that. So, though I started as an introvert, I've become a little better in becoming a little more Christ-like in that area. And there are extroverts who come to the church with their lack who also become better if they've taken 1:13:30 the business of denying themselves and following Jesus carefully. I mentioned this in passing because it could be possible, particularly new people who come to the church, they can say, "Oh Lord, my personality is so limited. I 1:13:42 don't seem to be able to make friends so easily like some others." Don't get discouraged. That's what I want to say. You God has made you in a particular way and he will through the fullness of the Holy Spirit, he'll make up for the things 1:13:57 that are lacking in your personality. And that applies to every single person sitting here. Whatever your personality, God made you in a particular way in your mother's womb and he's got a plan to fulfill in your life. So, dear brothers, 1:14:13 please I spoke with a lot of passion today because I'm concerned that every single person in this church becomes a effective member in the body of Christ. That's the reason why I said that with strong passion and I hope you'll 1:14:32 understand that. Let's pray. Please think about all that you heard in these past 2 days and pray that it'll produce fruit in your life. And whatever you couldn't understand 1:14:51 fully, ask the Lord to explain it to you. And say, "Lord, help me to be a effective member of this church in the days to come. And help me to remain in humility. And help me to take 1:15:08 every opportunity I have to serve. To deny myself. To take up the cross. Die to myself. Never to seek my own in any area. Always to seek the good of the church. And the good of others. Help me, Lord. 1:15:28 Help us all, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.
