0:00 work is done. Hallelu for the fight the battle won. Hallelu our son's eclipsees. 0:19 [Music] Oh, he sets his blood no more. Hallelujah. In the storm though watch 0:39 the sea. Brother, sing with me. Christ has burst the gates of hell. Hallelujah. Let the living for him rise. Christ has opened 1:06 parise. Hallelu sisters go first again. [Music] Your death is 1:31 now. Once he died, our souls say hallelu. and thy name to bee. Oh great hallelu. Let's join together and sing. 1:53 So we now in Christ had led following our exalted headlike him. Like him we rise. 2:19 Hallelu the cross the grave the skies. Hallelu. Last verse. Let's sing it together. Hail the Lord of earth and heaven. Praise to thee be 2:39 [Music] given. Praise to thee by belelu. [Music] We re triumpant now the 3:04 resurrection now. [Music] Hallelu. Please be seated brothers and sisters. Give him all the glory. We lift up our eyes to the risen Lord and 3:21 King. Unto him be glory in the church. For now and ever more. Unto him be glory in the 3:36 church. Both now and ever more. Unto him unto him. Unto him, unto him, unto 3:52 him, unto him be glory in the church, both now and ever more. Unto him, unto him, unto 4:10 him, unto him, unto him be glory in the church. Both now and ever more. Mighty is our 4:28 God. Mighty is our king. Mighty is our Lord. Ruler of everything. Glory to our 4:45 God. Glory to our King. Glory to our Lord. Ruler of everything. His name is higher, higher than any other 5:04 name. His power is greater. He has [Music] 5:22 created mighty Lord, Ruler of Glory to our God. Glory to our God. Glory to our 5:41 king. Glory to our Lord. Ruler of everything. His name is higher, higher than any other name. His bar is 5:59 greater. For he has created everything. Mighty is our God. Mighty is our King. Mighty is our 6:18 Lord. Ruler of everything. Ruler of everything. Ruler of everything. One more time. Ruler of everything. Wonderful grace of 6:40 Jesus, greater than all my sin. How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall it praise begin? taking away my 6:57 burdens, setting my spirit free for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonderful grace 7:15 of deeper than the mighty for the scope of my 7:34 transgressions. Greater Father all my sin and shame. Oh, magnify the precious name of Jesus. Praise his name. Wonderful grace of Jesus. 7:55 Reaching to all the Lord. I have been pardoned. S to the other. Chains have been tort for the wonderful grace of 8:20 Jesus reaches me. Wonderful the master's grace of Jesus. Deeper than the mighty rolling sea. Higher than the mountain. Sparkling 8:37 like a fountain. Sufficient grace for even me. Broader than the scope of my transgressions. Greater than all my sin and shame. Oh, magnify the precious name of Jesus. 8:56 Praise his name. Wonderful grace of Jesus reaching the most [Music] divine wise transforming 9:15 power making him God's dear childing peace and heaven for all eternity wonderful. reaches 9:38 me. Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus. Deeper than the mighty rolling sea. It's higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain. All sufficient grace for even me. 9:57 broader than the scope of my transgressions. Greater Father than all my sin and shame. Oh magnify the precious name of Jesus. Praise him. Oh magnify the precious name of 10:21 Jesus. Praise his name. [Music] As we sing the song, think about all sovereign, almighty God. All our changes 10:39 come from him who never changes. He lowers [Music] us that we might trust him more. Whatever is his 10:58 way, all is [Music] well. All my changes come from him. He who never changes. 11:16 [Music] I held firm in the grass of the rock of all the aes. All is well with my soul. 11:40 He is in control of all his 12:09 I'm in his hand. Brother sisters, can we stand as we [Music] sing? He moves us out and strips us with his word equips 12:33 us. Whatever is his way. All is well. Your season change, we still exalt his 12:56 name. Whatever is his way, all is well. [Music] All my changes come from 13:13 him. He never changes. I will the rest of the rock of all the aes. [Music] 13:59 Oh, all his name. [Music] But I know I'm with his hands. Sunday school children can go for 14:17 Sunday [Music] school. All within me falls at your throne. [Music] King of kings, 14:41 majesty, God of heaven, living in me. [Music] And a savior closes his friend. Strong 15:00 deliverer beginning and end. Lord within me falls at your throne. Your majesty I can worship 15:24 you. To your throne. [Music] Majesty. Shall we bow our head? 16:16 Let's quieten our hearts this morning before the Lord. Lay aside all distracting, disturbing thoughts away from you. Forget about your troubles. Concentrate on him. For he is 16:40 worthy, worthy to receive all praise, glory, honor, and adoration. The Bible says, "Lift up your heads, O 17:00 gates, and be lifted up over ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift 17:18 them up, O ancient doors, and the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory, the Lord of hosts? He is the King of glory. We worship you, dear Father, this 17:38 morning. You are the conqueror of death, hell, and grave. You burst the gates of hell. Lord of heaven and earth. Your name is 17:56 higher. Your power is higher and greater than anything. We give you glory. Our God, our king and our ruler. We worship you, Father, because of your wonderful 18:15 grace that's deeper than the rolling sea and higher than the mountains. Reaching to the most defiled out of the pit, you picked us up and placed our feet on the rock to stay. 18:33 We bow before you this morning and acknowledge who you are Lord, King of the whole universe, father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the creator, the redeemer, the rock of 18:51 Israel, all ages. We come before thee. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Give glory to him that only belongs to him. He alone is worthy, worthy of all praise, glory, honor, adoration, our worship. We bow 19:09 down before you this morning, our heavenly father. We give you all glory that's due unto thee. Be exalted. You have not dealt with us according to our iniquities. But you forgive all our sins, cleansed us and washed us and made 19:25 us your children and call us your children whereby we call you Abba and our father. We bless you father. We worship you for Jesus, for sending him, for allowing him to take our place on the cross, taking our punishment on 19:42 himself, for redeeming us through his blood, for purchasing us with his blood and cleansing us, for filling us with your Holy Spirit and giving us the Holy Spirit as a pledge in our heart and as a helper, as a strength and as a 19:56 sanctifier in our hearts, in our lives. We worship you, Father. Thank you this morning. Be exalted. Be glorified. We join the angels in heaven in saying, "Holy, holy, holy, thou art Lord God Almighty. Be exalted in our midst." 20:13 Thank you this morning, dear Father. We look unto you for a word from heaven. Pray that you will anoint your servant. Give him grace and liberty to speak to the church what you have to speak to us this morning. We pray, Father, that you 20:29 will be glorified in our midst. We bless you in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Now we hear God's word from brother Zach. I'm not sick. Thank you for praying for 21:05 me, but it's been very unusual that I've been down with a cough and a cold for so long. Uh when I spoke to you two weeks ago, I was still struggling with it and I'm sort of getting over it now. I want to thank all those who 21:24 prayed for me. The tongue speaks because the heart pumps the blood. And if the heart doesn't pump the blood, the tongue can't speak. I've learned that through many years. Nobody sees the heart. People see the tongue. 21:43 But God sees and that's the important thing. So I want to say that you know last week I was um I had to go since I met you. I mean 22:01 before I came here I had gone to Tudtorin for a conference where I had uh Can you turn this off please? And uh I managed to speak there eight nine 22:22 times without a problem by God's grace. And then I came back here and after three four days I had to go to Kakinada and I thought I'd get better but it got 22:38 worse. So I almost cancelled my trip. You know, Kakinada is a place where they get 3,000 4,000 people coming to the meeting and I always look forward to sharing with these very poor people who come from the 22:57 villages and um and the day before I went I I almost never done this. I always very considerate of people who are waiting for me to hear me. I don't want to disappoint them. But it was so bad my 23:16 cough. I say I don't want to go and trouble those people. That the night before I left, I thought maybe I'll just tell them I'll cancel my trip. And you know what Jesus said? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's 23:34 mouth. And um I've learned that through 50 years. So I said, "Lord, give me a word and I'll do what you say." And the Lord gave me a word. It was from Psalm 71 and verse 16, which in the King James 23:55 version says, "I will go in the strength of the Lord my God." You see, when I first studied the Bible way back 50 years ago, there was no NASB. There was only the King James version. And so, there's some verses there that stick in my mind which are 24:15 not translated exactly like that in NASB. So, I have the benefit of both. Psalm 71:16 in the King James version says, "I will go in the strength of the Lord my God." That was a word to my heart. And I said, "Wow." Okay, then I'm not 24:34 going to cancel it. I will go in the strength of the Lord my God. I will make mention of your righteousness. Verse 17. Oh God, you have taught me from my youth, and I will continue to declare your wondrous works. And even when I'm old and 24:50 gay-headed, oh God, don't forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come. So the Lord really helped me and uh I spoke in about 12 sessions there in 25:08 two and a half days. It was really supernatural help and then after that I had to go to Visag for another day for a full day's conference where I spoke three times. 25:25 So in the last couple of weeks, two three weeks when I've been sick, I've spoken more often than when I've been healthy. It's been a tremendous grace of God as I said because the heart has been pumping blood. People have prayed and 25:43 I'm very thankful for that. I'm also thankful that you know God uses human means that I had a doctor with me when I traveled. I used to I understood now 26:02 why the Lord sent Dr. Luke with Paul wherever he went cuz Paul was traveling so much and must have been sick many times and there was a medical person 26:21 there to take care of him. I think God must have commissioned Paul Luke to say, "Hey, you got to take care of my servant." Because that's what Annie told me that when brother Bak Singh told her to 26:41 consider me for marriage and I I had left my job. I had no income, no bank account, nothing that um her parents and others advised her not to consider it. God told her, "He's my 27:00 servant. I want you to take care of him. And she's done that. You know, when I read in the acts of the apostles, if you read carefully, there is a for the first 15 chapters, I don't know whether you've noticed 27:19 this, for the first 15 chapters, sometimes we read the Bible carelessly. We miss it. The first 15 chapters, it's describing about they they did this, they did this, Peter, Paul. After chapter 15 onwards, it's almost entirely Paul's story. Something 27:38 happens. And if you turn to chapter 16, you see something interesting. Acts 16. Um, two things I want to show you. One is it says here, you know, Paul had this tremendous burden to reach the gospel 27:57 everywhere. He was always traveling. Verse 6, Acts 16:6, they passed through Friia, Galatia region. And when they were in the Galatian region, it says the Holy Spirit forbad them from speaking the word in Asia. That means they wanted 28:14 to go to Asia and somehow the Holy Spirit stopped them. Now, how does the Holy Spirit stop a person? Well, two ways. One is you feel very uneasy in your spirit as you think about doing something. You know the Bible says Romans 8:6, the 28:31 mind of the spirit is peace. When you have peace in your heart, you know that's the right way to go. When you have an uneasiness in your heart about anything, you know, when you're considering marriage, when you're going 28:40 planning, considering a job, going somewhere, that's one way the Holy Spirit stops us. So I was trying to find out how did the Holy Spirit stop Paul in Galatia. So when I turn to Galatians chapter 4, I discover in Galatians chapter 28:57 4, it says Galatians chapter 4, it speaks here about the time when he 29:15 was visiting Galatia. And he says in verse 13, Galatians 4:13, you know, you Galatian Christians know Galatia was an area, not one place. It was like a state that it was because of a bodily 29:34 illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time. So how did the Holy Spirit stop Paul and Galatia? Through a bodily illness. He says that's why I was there the first time otherwise I wouldn't have been I was planning to go to Asia and 29:52 the Holy Spirit stopped me with a bodily illness and it was such a trial to you. That means the Galatian Christians felt sorry to see Paul with this sickness and this bodily condition. He says I don't know what it was. Paul doesn't tell us about 30:10 his sicknesses. Uh so when he doesn't tell us that means it covers all illnesses. It was a trial to you, my bodily condition, and you did not despise me. And maybe it was a problem with his eyes, because he says, "I bear you 30:27 witness in verse 15 that you would have plurled out your eyes and given them to me when you saw the condition of my eyes." So, I don't know what it was, but that's how the Holy Spirit forbad him from going to Asia. That means he wanted 30:42 to go to Asia and he was suddenly knocked out and he was there. in Galatia. And the result was churches were planted in Galatia. God's plan can never be hindered. See, when we get sick, I I never say the devil made me sick. 30:56 Never. Because even in the book of Job, you see that Job could not get sick till God opened the wall around him and that told the devil, okay, you can go in. So, it's always with God's permission. We I don't give credit to the devil for 31:10 anything. If the lights go out, I don't say the devil put it out. I say, "Well, the generator failed or the electricity was cut off." I don't say the devil did it. So many times we give glory to the devil. He did this. He did it as if he's 31:21 almighty. He's not almighty. He can't do anything to me or to you. He can't even do anything to the electricity. So, uh, I say we have a God who's in control of everything. So, be careful that you don't glorify the devil 31:36 saying he did this and he did that to me, he did that to me. What do you mean? He was defeated on the cross and his armor was taken away from him and I don't I'll never say the devil did anything to me. Impossible. He can't 31:47 even kill me. My life is in God's hands. It's wonderful to have that faith. And I I want I'm what I'm saying is not just for myself. I hope it'll encourage all of you. Paul says the things I go through are so that I can share with 32:06 you. He says in 2 Corinthians 1:4 uh what I went through so that you can be helped when you are going through similar situations. So God takes his servants through certain situations so to help those they minister to. So turn back to 32:20 Acts 16. So that's the first thing that he was forbidden in Galatia Acts 16:6 from going to Asia. So that was the Holy Spirit. Now you would have said oh the devil made Paul sick. No, the Holy 32:39 Spirit stopped Paul. It's not that God makes people sick. God doesn't make anybody sick. God didn't make Job sick. God allows us to be sick. God doesn't tempt man, but it says he allows us to be tempted. God gives only good gifts, 32:53 but he allows God didn't kill Jesus. He allowed Jesus to be killed. So remember this, the devil killed Jesus, but we don't give credit to the devil for that. to say God did it with his permission. So um before we continue in Acts 16, turn 33:12 to Acts chapter 2. I must mention this list. I forget it. When the very first day of Pentecost when uh Peter preached, he speak speaks about Jesus. How was Jesus nailed to the cross 33:30 by godless men? Okay, godless men nailed Jesus to the cross. That is in Acts 2 verse 23. But before he says that, he says this was the predetermined plan and fornowledge of 33:49 God. So he says according to the predetermined plan of God from all eternity, the lamb that was slain before the worlds were created. It says that in Revelation, the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. According to the predetermined 34:06 plan of God, godless men killed Jesus. So according to the predetermined plan of God, Paul got a sickness. According to the predetermined plan of God, maybe something happens to you. Don't give glory to the devil for that. But it was godless men who killed 34:24 Jesus. It was the devil who instigated those godless men. So what? It's according to the predetermined plan of God. To me, it's been a tremendous blessing and encouragement to know the sovereignty of my heavenly father. Jesus told us to pray. Whenever 34:41 you pray, think of two things. Before you pray, our father, the one you're praying to is your dad, not some chief executive officer or some manager. No, no, no, no, no. That was Old Testament. It's not, "Oh, Jehovah, Almighty God." No. Oh, father, 35:00 daddy. That's the first thing. Many have not learned to pray like that. And that's why they don't have faith. They're always still praying to Jehovah and sing to Jehovah. And I never sing to Jehovah. I sing to my dad. You often heard me say that that my 35:18 children don't come to me and say, "Mr. Pune, they call me dad." That's why I don't call God Jehovah. That's his name. But I don't call him that. Maybe the Israelites can call him that because he was not their father. But he, as far as 35:31 I'm concerned, he's my dad. And secondly, our father who art in heaven. That means one who is in absolute control of this entire universe of demons and Satan and circumstances and all the evil people in the world and all the good people and 35:49 everybody. My father created this universe. My father chose me before he created the universe. He looked forward in time to millions of years and saw 36:06 me and put my name in his mind in the book of life. That's true for you, too, if you surrendered to the lordship of Christ. But if you don't believe it, it doesn't work. It's like a check somebody sent you. It's lying in your drawer at 36:21 home. You don't get any money. I don't keep it in the inside the Bible. I take it and cash it in the bank of heaven. That's what makes the difference. There's absolutely no difference between you and me except that I may have cashed 36:35 a few checks in the bank of heaven which you still have not cashed. You kept it inside the Bible. I want to encourage you to take it out of your Bible and go and cash it in the name of Jesus and say, "This is mine." That's 36:49 boldness. If you're surrendered to the lordship of Christ, that's yours according to the predetermined plan of God. Please remember that expression whenever something unexpected happens to you. I want to say that's not the devil. 37:05 That's the predetermined plan of God to accomplish something. Maybe some churches have to be planted in Galatia. And so Luke records Acts of the Apostles. How does he write it? Hindered by the devil? No. Forbidden by the Holy 37:24 Spirit. I like that. This is how the inspired word of God describes Paul's sickness. Okay, turn back to Acts 16. Here's something else you may not have noticed. It says in acts 16:9 uh so they came down to trrowaz verse 37:48 8 another place verse 7 they wanted to go to Bethnia and the spirit of Jesus did not permit them I don't know how that may not have been a sickness that may have been through some physical opposition that is also the predetermined plan of god that means 38:01 some people hindered you from going there okay it doesn't tell us because I don't know what happened. And passing by Messia, they came down to Trrowaz. Verse 8. And then a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia was 38:18 standing and appealing to him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." A vision is different from a dream. A dream is when you're asleep. A vision is when you're awake. and 38:38 praying and you see something while you're awake. Um he saw a man from Macedonia saying, "Hey, come and help us." And 38:55 so when he saw the vision immediately, notice this next word. What is it? We we as far as I know that never occurs in 39:11 the Acts of the Apostles before this point. Before this point, it's always they, Peter, Paul. You remember Luke is writing it. If you're writing a an article or a description of a story, at what point in that story does it become 39:31 we? That's a point where you joined that. So this indicates to me that this is the point at which Luke joined Paul. And so I have a feeling he was that man from 39:50 Macedonia whom Paul saw in a vision. Paul saw in a vision someone coming saying help us. And when later on during the day Luke comes, Paul says, "Hey, you're the guy I saw and my 40:07 vision." After that, let's go together. And that's when Dr. Luke joined Paul. And from that time he was a not always but a fairly constant companion of 40:25 Paul taking care of him medically and in other ways and also to write the gospel of Luke and the acts of the apostles. Sometimes we don't appreciate Dr. Luke sufficiently. It's a ministry he had to 40:42 Paul to keep him healthy to keep him going right up till the day he was beheaded. with all the different types of food and climate and all that Paul went through which is a hundred times worse than what people experience today in 40:57 traveling. So God has what I'm trying to say is God where he sees a need for any of his servants. He's always made a provision and I've seen that in all these 50 years since God called me first to leave my job. I've seen numerous 41:12 things. I could write a whole book about that about uh the way God provides in different different things without my thinking about it. I mean he's planned ahead. I mean God knew that Paul needed someone because he's going to travel so 41:27 frequently that he said okay I better give him a compion. Timothy is okay. Because he had already picked up Timothy if you see earlier on in chapter 16 verse1 he had already said hey I need a companion. He got Timothy and Paul said 41:43 and God said that's good. You need a coworker Timothy to preach the word and to train him to be another apostle but you also need a doctor. So in acts 16:1 he gave him a coworker to be a apostle as after Paul dies and he in Acts 16 42:00 verse 9 and 10 he gave him a doctor to accompany him. What I'm trying to say is God cares for our every need. And if you have faith, our father who art in heaven, that's how we must begin our prayer. My dad who's sovereign control 42:15 of everything and who's got a predetermined plan for all of our life. I also want to say that that works only if you're seeking God's will. If your aim in life is to make a name for yourself, if your aim in life is to 42:33 make money, please forget about everything I'm saying, just go ahead and do what you take care of yourself best you can like everybody else in the world. But those here whose only ambition in life is to do the will of God, these promises are for you. 42:58 Paul's only ambition in life was to do the will of God. And God takes amazing care of such people. Amazing. If you want God to constantly watch over you, constantly watch over your children, make that your 43:18 goal. Let me turn you to another psalm. That is Psalm uh 112. Psalm 112. I want to read it to you in the Living Bible. Psalm 43:43 112. We'll begin at verse one. Okay, from the Living Bible. Praise the 44:02 Lord. For all who fear God and trust in him are blessed beyond expression. Yes, happy is the man who delights in doing God's commands only. His children will be 44:22 honored everywhere. For a good man's sons have a special heritage, and he himself shall be wealthy spiritually, and his good deeds will 44:40 never be forgotten. They'll bless people for ages. When darkness overtakes such a man, light will come bursting in from the Lord. Such a man is kind and merciful to others and everything goes well for him because he's 44:57 generous and he conducts his business very fairly and uprightly. Such a man will never be overthrown verse six by evil circumstances. God's constant care for him will make a deep impression on all 45:16 the people who see it. They say, "See how God cares for this man." And such a man does not fear bad news at any time. Nor does he live in fear of what may happen in the future. For he is settled in his 45:33 mind that his father in heaven will take care of him. That's why he's not afraid. Verse eight, but he can calmly face all his enemies. And he's a person who gives generously to those who are in 45:50 need. And his deeds will never be forgotten. He will have great influence and honor in the world. Evil-minded people will look at such a man and get very angry, jealous. 46:09 They will nash their teeth in anger, but they won't be able to do anything to him. And all their hopes to try and harm him will be hindered and thwarted by God. Hallelujah. Oh servants of the Lord, praise his 46:28 name. Many years ago, the Lord gave me that psalm. It's a wonderful psalm and the Living Bible brings it out so beautifully. What I want to share with you, by the way, that was just an introduction. And what I want to share 46:45 with you is more of a personal testimony. On the 12th of January 1975, just over 40 years ago, something happened in my 47:05 life that turned my life around completely. And two or three weeks ago on the 12th of January this year, that was a 40th anniversary of that day when God filled me with the Holy Spirit. And my life was sort of going downwards 47:30 inwardly. Going upwards in the eyes of the Christian world. Going downwards inwardly. My walk with God was not all that it should be in 197374. And I was so 47:47 desperate in those years that many people didn't know. I mean even Ian who was with me in Emanuel church that time didn't know. I said Lord I can't continue like this. I'm just a hypocrite and I will quit the 48:06 ministry quit preaching. Go and sit in the back of a church. not quit being a Christian but quit preaching because what I'm preaching is not true in my life unless you do something for me and I didn't ask for money I didn't ask for health I 48:21 didn't ask for any of earthly thing I said Lord I only ask you for one thing that's all only one thing make my inner life true to what I speak that I'll never speak what's not true in my private life my home life, my 48:40 thought life, my inner life. That's all. You grant me that request and I'll never ask for anything else. I won't ask you for money. I won't ask you for anything for my children. I won't ask you for anything. And it didn't seem to happen for a long 49:00 time. I prayed and sought God. And but outwardly in those years, this is I'm talking about 71 to 74 were sort of the peak years of my ministry. I was traveling the world as a deeper 49:20 life speaker in Australia and Ireland and Japan and Singapore and parts of India, different evangelical conferences. I was the main speaker. Well, I was just what 33 years 49:38 old and I had written six books. I was speaking every week on a radio program that was going all over Southeast Asia. It was like a star that was ascending in Christendom. But nobody knew my inner life. I was defeated. My thought life I 49:57 was defeated. And yet I was preaching and becoming famous. I've learned from that something that lot of these big preachers whom you hear don't believe that they live what they preach. But they preach is true. And you can sit 50:16 there with your mouth open wondering, "Wow, what a wonderful and be a bad condition. It was 50:52 a Lord said to me today when you go to speak in the church when you go to the church are you willing we had another speaker that day in the church but he said are you willing to stand up there in the presence of all that church where you've 51:06 been speaking everybody knows you're a great speaker and stand up and tell people I have been a hypocrite. I'm not living in my inner life, my thought life. What I'm 51:23 preaching external life is good. I'm not committing adultery or stealing money or cheating on taxes. No, no, no. Externally was okay. It is all inward in my private life getting angry at home and which nobody 51:42 knew. Are you willing to stand up and say I'm a hypocrite and let all their high opinion about you go crashing to the ground? I said yes. I don't care for the opinions of men. I'll do what you say, Lord, 52:01 today. And I went to the church that day and I was not the speaker that day. We had invited a a brother from England to come and speak that day who spoke on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And a brother who always every time I've heard him at 52:20 different places would give an invitation for people to come forward for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I decided I'm going to be the first person to go forward today because that's what I need. But amazingly, he never gave an 52:34 invitation that day. I don't know why. He must have listened to the spirit. So I was disappointed because I never got the chance to get up and tell everybody I was a hypocrite. And I came back and I felt the Lord say to me, 52:53 "Okay, I didn't want you to say it. You laid your Isaac on the altar. You're willing to die to your reputation. I accepted it. And as far as I'm concerned, it's as good as you've done it. And later on, I discovered that the 53:12 Lord didn't want me to say it because the people sitting in the church were bigger hypocrites than me. So, what's he confessing to them? So, I came home and I invited the speaker home that day for lunch. And after lunch I said hey brother I 53:30 want to talk to you. So I was living in my old house and we went upstairs and I said you know I seem to be I don't know how many years I've prayed prayed prayed Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit baptized me in the Holy Spirit. It never seems to happen. It's 53:46 like the old days in 1950s when I used to pray Lord come into my heart come into my heart come into my heart over a period of six years maybe 100 times and never sure that he came till one day bang I heard him that cometh to me I'll 54:04 never cast out that was it a verse John 6:37 and that happened 55 years ago I never lost my assurance after that you know it's something like that God drops a word into your hearts like an anchor Suddenly what never happened for 6 years 54:18 I got assurance yeah I'm saved man now I can testify to it and that's the time when I really knew I was saved so now I was going through the same experience about the baptism of the Holy Spirit never sure praying praying asking trying 54:31 to claim it and one thing about me you know I'm pretty stubborn about this that I will not allow a man to tell me something I want God to tell me. I will not accept the testimony of men. Jesus said, "I do not receive 54:49 testimony from men." And I've stuck to that. I will not receive testimony from him. Why? What's man's opinion is worthless? They don't know 90% of my life. So, I will not receive testimony from men. They can call me a devil or a 55:01 prophet. It's just the same to me. I said, "Lord, I want it from you. I want assurance of salvation from you. I want you to tell me you're baptizing me in the Holy Spirit." Not some man saying, "Oh, Brother Zach, you're definitely 55:11 baptized the Holy Spirit because you speak so well." No, no, no, no. I want God to tell me. And I said, I will not rest. And that's why it took long. And so I knelt down in prayer with him. And he said, "Zach, it is 55:31 unthinkable that God will call you to serve him and refuse to give you his power." Just that. And it was like a word that liberated me, a word of wisdom. I said, "Hey, that's right." Now, logically, I could have thought of 55:49 that long before he said it. But sometimes, you know, like him that come to me, I never cast out. I may have read it so many times, but one day it hit. So, it's like that. It just hit home and I said, "Hey, that's right." Well, then he said, "Let's 56:04 pray." And he prayed first and he rebuked the spirit of unbelief in me. And as we were praying, he laid hands on me and I just said, "Lord, I thank you." No experience, no 56:23 feeling, faith. I said, "Thank you, Lord. You have filled me with the Holy Spirit. I believe it." And suddenly I began to speak in tongues. I mean, I had no intention of speaking in tongues. Neither did he tell 56:42 me anything like that. I began to say something and I didn't know what it was. So, I stopped. I went back to English and again I started speaking in tongues. I was confused. And when I said amen, it was a very short prayer. It was just a few 57:01 words I said in tonesues. And then I said, "Brother, did you hear something?" He says, "Yeah, I heard you speak in tonesues." Oh, is it okay? So, he and I came down the stairs in my house and my wife looked at my face and she told me, "I know something 57:21 happened. I I didn't know what there was on my face, but it was obvious that God met with me." It was that simple. See, we have five senses. sight, smell, 57:39 taste, hearing, and touch. And a lot of people talk about I mean people don't sp speak about smelling God or tasting God, but they talk about seeing things, visions, and or 57:57 hearing or shaking. whenever they talk about the experiences with God and baptism of the Holy Spirit. I want to tell you something for your encouragement. In all these 55 years, I've never had any experience of God with these five 58:17 senses. Never. Never seen, never heard with an audible voice. of course never smelt or tasted and never felt any shaking or electric shock or any such thing that people talk about. I don't question other people. It's not my 58:34 business. But in my case, it was one not a 99% 100% by faith, not by sight, not by hearing, not by touching. None of these senses. I think of what Paul told the 58:52 Galatians. How did you receive the spirit? Wasn't it by the hearing of faith? Well, that's how it was with me. And we may think that feeling and seeing will be more convincing. It's not. We see the sun rise every day and 59:09 set and it's a deception. The sun does not move. That is to how our eyes can fool us. There's a thing called a dog whistle which if you blow the dogs can hear it immediately but our ears cannot pick it up. It's there a sound we cannot 59:27 hear it. Our ears fool us. Even sensation there are a lot of things where we think you know when people hypnotize people they can cut them and they don't feel 59:43 it. So don't trust your senses. your touch and hearing and sight and all can deceive you. The apostle who came to India was Thomas. And Jesus told 1:00:02 Thomas, you have seen because you believed. John 20 29 blessed are those who have not seen who have not touched, who have not heard, who have not tasted, who have not 1:00:19 smelt, zero physical senses, yet have believed. I'm in that category. I am more blessed than the Apostle Thomas. Believe it or not, according to Jesus words in John 20:29, I say that for the benefit of 1:00:39 those of you who are waiting for some sensation. And that at that low point in my life when I reached rock bottom, God in his mercy prevented me from falling over the cliff and lifted 1:00:56 me up. But I did not know what was ahead. But little later, you know how circumstances forced us to to get a 1:01:23 Christian, people who make me a better Christian. No. So don't ever complain. 1:01:40 So finally CFC was born in August 75. But it started with that. There would have been no church in the world today if only Jesus had died and risen from the dead. If that was the end of the story, there would have been no 1:02:00 church in the world today. All that was good. But the work was begun when with a mighty baptism in the Holy Spirit that came on the day of Pentecost. Jesus said that you see it's no use. He said don't go. Don't go anywhere. Wait. But Lord, we got to tell 1:02:19 people you risen from the dead. No, no, no, no. You won't be able to do it. You'll be a failure. Just wait. And they listened. And boy, when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, a few of those ignorant who didn't have any music to 1:02:40 entertain people who didn't have money, no music, no money. How can you do work, God's work today without music and money? Music and money has replaced the Holy Spirit. They didn't have theological degrees. The things which people think are so 1:02:57 essential, music, money, theological degrees, they didn't even have a Bible. No Bible was written those days. The Old Testament was only in parchments in the synagogues. But they had something which many people today who have music, money, 1:03:13 and degrees and Bible don't have the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit. That's how they planted the church. And that's how CFC began. And that's how the river started like a trickle. You read in Ezekiel 47, it started like a 1:03:32 trickle. And it became a mighty river. And it flowed many lands. Not in numbers. We're not big in numbers. In quality, in our attitude to money, because God and money are the only two masters in the world. 1:03:52 And many things that God has done through the years, we don't glory in them. So, I won't go into that. It's a big story. You know, I've always been very hesitant to speak about my personal testimony. There's a little book of mine 1:04:10 called Day of Small Beginnings with 48 chapters in it. I had absolutely no intention of writing it and I would never have written it because I am hesitant to write about my testimony for two reasons. One is I say Lord I may touch 1:04:27 your glory if I talk too much about myself and secondly people may think that they must have the same experience as me. No all of us are different. So for these two fears I never wanted to write till brother Joji Samuel our 1:04:42 brother in Kotm kept on pestering me saying please write something about your life for our Malala magazine I said no I won't do it I won't do it but he said okay but sometimes you give a personal testimony one small incident and that 1:04:56 helps people why don't you just mention those incidents he said just write one page in a month so I agreed and what started as one page in a month he said Hey, the next issue is due next month. So I was compelled. I had to 1:05:11 write another page. Then next month came and said, "Hey, next issue is due. You better send me." So 48 months he kept on saying the next issue is due. I had to write. Even if it was late at night, I had to sit down and write it. That's how 1:05:25 that book came. But anyway, God is sovereign. Uh but if you read that book, you read not only about what God did but also about my own failures. You know, like you read in the Bible about Abraham's failures, Jacob's failures, David's failures, Paul's 1:05:45 failures, Peter's failures. That's a real biography, not like a lot of biographies and testimonies today of people who act as though if they never made a mistake in their life and discourage people. So when the 40th anniversary of my 1:06:01 baptism in the Holy Spirit was coming up January 12th, I said, "Lord, what are you going to do for me? Are you going to give me some special gift on this 40th anniversary that I've never experienced so far? Some supernatural gift which not 1:06:21 for my glory, I don't want any glory, but to serve you and build your church. And on the 12th of January 197 2015 I got sick. I tell you honestly that was the 1:06:42 date exactly for you. I was praying Lord give me something. I thought some great gift of healing or miracles or God has ways of surprising us. I got sick. I still haven't got over it and it's 3 weeks 1:07:02 now. But it hasn't hindered me. You know, in western weddings, they hold each other's hands. Bride in sickness and in health. In poverty and in wealth, I will stand by you. That's how I serve the Lord. I 1:07:21 says, "Lord, sickness or health, poverty or wealth, I'm going to serve you." So, I began to seek the Lord in these. I say, "Okay, fine. Uh, I know God has surprising 1:07:39 gifts. It says he silently plans for us in love. He saw my desperate prayer. Lord, give me something on this 40th anniversary when you turn my life around. And he allowed me to be sick. And I said, Lord, I'm sure there's 1:07:55 something you're trying to teach me through all this. I want to hear. It's not always, you know, it's not something spectacular that God always speaks. Whenever anything happens to me, I always pray. If I get tossed from a 1:08:07 scooter, it's happened to me three, four times the those days when I rode the scooter. And I said, "Lord, what are you trying to say to me?" It's not any great revelation. God says just drive slowly. That's all. So sometimes God's answers are not 1:08:24 some spectacular thing. So I said, "What are you trying to teach me? Three things. That's what I want to share with you." I mean not they're not in a sense 1:08:41 new but more deeply impressed on me sometimes you know with a burning iron. You make an impression on a piece of steel or something. Burn it up and there's a permanent mark there. It's not 1:09:01 like writing with a pencil in a way that cannot be erased. The first is make sure there is zero 1:09:19 spirit of the accuser in your life. Revelation 12 verse 10 verse 11 sorry verse 10. Satan is called the 1:09:36 accuser of our brethren. The accuser of the brethren. He doesn't accuse the world. Verse 9, he deceives the world. Deceiver of the world but accuser of the brethren. And it says here, the accuser of the 1:09:53 brethren, verse 8, no place was found for him in heaven. And the Lord said, no place for any of that spirit must be found in your life. Now sometimes we don't realize, you know, we've all got the poison of Satan 1:10:13 from the what we call the flesh which we inherited from Adam with all its dirty lusts. So that spirit of accusation is there in the flesh whether you like it or not. We won't get rid of it till Christ comes. But we have to resist it. 1:10:32 The spirit fights against the flesh and I must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. And the spirit of accusation can come up in blaming people. That's one of the things the Lord said to me. Never, never blame anybody for 1:10:50 anything. Always think of the predetermined plan of God. Don't blame the devil. Don't blame people. I had already learned a little 1:11:12 you somebody did something I mean I've already experienced that in different times where doctors tried to help me in my body in different times years ago. 1:11:31 And they did some harm to me that lasted for years. Some of it till today. But I learned not to blame them. I said, "God, that was your plan. You wanted me to be weak in my body in Samaria. That's fine. I will not blame. I I learned not to blame those 1:11:52 who took me to court. They made me a better Christian. I've learned through the years not to blame people who don't do what I ask them to do sometimes. You know, I tell people in the CFC office or something and please do this sometimes. But before 1:12:07 I go, I tell them, say, listen, even if you forget to do it or don't do it properly, don't worry. The only thing serious is sin. So, it doesn't matter if you don't do it or you're not able to do it or you forget to do it when I come back. Never 1:12:19 mind. I'd learned a few lessons along that way, but the Lord wanted to impress it firmly. Mad never blame anybody for anything. That's the spirit of the accuser. I want to share that with you because you know I was seeking God. 1:12:37 Why is it so many people were baptized in the Holy Spirit never seemed to have that mighty power which accompanied the apostles? And I felt that the Lord was trying to show me these three areas where the power leaks out. You know, it's like a 1:12:51 vessel. You fill it and then you got three holes in it. After a little while, there's nothing there. So God was showing me three holes where the power leaks out. People are genuinely baptized in the Holy Spirit. And there's the 1:13:04 answer. They haven't got rid of blaming. Correction is okay. It's part of my responsibility as an elder to correct my children, to correct elders, to correct people in churches. And I'll keep doing that till Jesus comes. It's 1:13:21 not blaming. A good father, heavenly father corrects, the devil accuses. You need to distinguish between the two. So no blaming of anybody for anything. Did you get hurt through somebody else's 1:13:41 mistake? Did you suffer because a doctor gave you the wrong medicine or made a mistake in the surgery? Think of the predetermined plan of God to make you a better Christian. Never blame. Humble yourself under the mighty 1:13:58 hand of God. Did your husband forget to do buy something he you asked him to buy on the way back from office? Did your wife forget to tell you something? Maybe an important phone call came at home and you were not there and she didn't tell 1:14:11 you about it. Forget it. Don't blame. Give thanks. Number one lesson. And number two, learn to give 1:14:28 glory always to God for everything. Never touch the glory of God. Be particularly careful when you talk about yourself. That you don't act as though you did it. Give glory to 1:14:46 God. He did it. I used to say Jesus gave me victory over No, I used to say I got victory over sin. I finally got victory over sin. And the Lord said don't say that. Say Jesus kept you from falling. So that's what I say. Now it's the same 1:15:03 thing. I got victory over sin. Jesus kept me from falling. Same thing, but that's got a different tone about it. I got victory over sin means me. I say it in the same word. Jesus kept me from falling. And the emphasis moves away from self. And that's the 1:15:20 truth. And I've seen through the years that if the Lord had not kept me from falling, boy, all my so-called victory over sin wouldn't have lasted. And sometimes that's what happens. Somebody does come to a life of victory 1:15:34 over sin and he suddenly begins to boast about it and within a week he's getting angry again and getting upset. I wanted a life where I'd never get 1:15:52 angry except at moneyloving preachers and at people who harm others. But never concerning myself. Never. That is the life I want to live till Jesus comes. I believe it's possible. And I believed I've experienced quite a degree of 1:16:12 that. But if I take the credit of it, I'll be angry this afternoon. I will not. I say Jesus keeps me from falling. And it's moment by moment. The branch has to abide in the tree all the time. Even after 50 years in the tree, the branch has to say I 1:16:32 cannot produce even one mango by myself. I know I have 56 years of experience in producing mangoes. But it's the tree that does it today just like the first year. Never touch the glory of God. So often God can do something in 1:16:51 us and we ruin the whole thing by taking the credit to ourselves. And that's the reason why many backslide. There's a hole in the vessel. The power drains out. Be careful, dear brothers, never to 1:17:10 boast. Never to exalt yourself over others. Never to make another person feel small by giving your testimony as if you're some special favorite of God. Never. Never give that impression. Jesus could have overroled people with 1:17:27 who he was, but he lived on earth as such an ordinary man that the Roman soldiers and others who had seen him for three and a half years could not identify him in the garden of Gethsemane. Judas's carriage said, "I have to kiss him to show you who he is 1:17:45 because he looked so much like everybody else." He never overroed people. Be an ordinary man. Jesus always said, "I'm an ordinary man. I'm a son of man." And that's what the Lord told me. Be an ordinary person. Never give people 1:18:00 impression that you're somebody you're not. And it's not. It's not true. I'm not somebody special. I'm just one part of the body and I need I need other parts of the body all the time. I got to move on. The third thing, you know, this came particularly 1:18:19 to me when I was sick, that God says, "Here's another lesson you've learned, but you need to learn it more. That I'm going to manifest my power through your weakness." That's the lesson number three. God manifests his power in our 1:18:38 weakness. So, I don't want to stand up as some great mighty man of God. I want to be a weak person because the Lord says so everything is a scripture you know glory to God alone you remember the Lord taught us to pray in the Lord's 1:18:55 prayer thine is the kingdom the power and the glory always give the glory to God and the Lord told Paul my power 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 9 is made perfect in your weakness or like the Living Bible says listen to 1:19:14 This my power shows up best in weak people. You know it's like a light that shows up best when it is all dark. In a room which is well lighted with the sun, you put on the light and 1:19:32 you hardly notice anything. The light of the sun is already there. But when the room is pitch dark and you put on the light, wow. It's like that people be weak. what I said in that you're going down to 1:19:54 zero in God's weak degrees that brothers and sisters when God does something through 1:20:12 you or for You lifted up head lifted up before God. We have not I want to walk 1:20:37 softly to me. That is the great miracle in Jacob. And his miracle was this. 1:20:59 Hebrews 20. the last top of his about 20 but you live up to 100 1:21:27 comp. Can you imagine a 25 year old young man here walking with a staff? He'd say, "What happened to you, man? You look like an 80 year old man." There was no hip replacement surgery those 1:21:45 days. God humbled this man and said, "When you're like this, your name will be Israel, prince of God. You'll have power with God and power with men." until the end of his life he lived to many long years more than 150 or 1:22:04 something with a staff I say Lord that's how I want to walk till the end of my life spiritually leaning upon God as a broken man till the end of my 1:22:21 life may the day never come when I think oh I don't need the staff now I've got enough experience No, I want to be a worshipper leaning upon the top of my staff. My God who supports me 1:22:40 spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, leaning upon a God who will never let me down in all of my life or in eternity to come. That's how 1:23:00 Jacob became Israel. That's the reason why many people lose the power of the Holy Spirit even after being genuinely baptized in the Holy Spirit. They don't remain broken. They don't recognize that you're not so 1:23:20 indispensable. I remember years ago, you heard me, you use this story. I I read a poem about people who think they're indispensable. That means people who think, "Oh, this church can't get along without me. Oh, this work cannot get 1:23:34 along without me." In that poem, it said, "Anytime you think that you're indispensable and so important to a work and your ego is all puffed up, just follow these simple instructions. Take a bucket of water. You can do it if you like when 1:23:53 you go home. fill it with water and put your fist right inside that bucket of water and pull it out and the hole that is remaining there in the water is how much you'll be missed. That's how much people will miss 1:24:12 you. The hole that's remaining in that water. I I want to remember that I'm not indispensable. Not to this church, not to the work of CFC churches in India or abroad or 1:24:29 anywhere. God's work went on wonderfully before I was born. God's work will go on wonderfully long after I'm gone. I'm here for a short period. Like all of us, we got to be faithful and move on. And God raises 1:24:48 up other people. I thank God for people like Victor in Tamil Nad. I listen to him on the internet and I'm blessed and I thank 1:25:07 God for the anointing upon his life. I say thank you Lord for raising up people like that. Jog Samuel Carerala. I listen to him not on the internet in MP3 1:25:27 messages and I thank God for his ministry. The last few days I was listening to what he brother Ian spoke in Bombay. He spoke five messages there. I was listening to that on the internet and it blessed my heart to listen to him. the anointing, 1:25:46 the power, the freedom, the liberty. And I thank God for my brother. God has got many people and we must learn to appreciate them. I've learned to appreciate 1:26:05 them. When we started in CFC, we were poor. Poor in every way. Most of us were so poor. We were just living monthtomonth. Many were coming in cycles, 1:26:24 buses. I had a scooter because I was from the Navy. I had that scooter from my Navy days. Nobody had a telephone because my wife was a doctor. We had a phone. We were all poor. But we were a family. We were blessed. We have learned 1:26:42 that money doesn't make us better in fellowship or in godliness. We had such tremendous fellowship those days. And I pray we will never lose it. We were called to be a family. But with so many people coming 1:27:01 in now, children growing up who don't have those values, I fear we may lose it. And if you have lost it then with such a big building and so many people we have failed God. God wants us to be a 1:27:19 family where we care for one another. Excuse me. I remember in those days I knew Ian was struggling financially in the beginning before his 1:27:39 business took off. He doesn't even know this. I told Annie if necessary we'll sell our house and I'll give him half the money. we both can live in some rented house. That was the type of 1:27:58 relationship with which CFC began. We were willing to lay down our lives for one another. Are we in that position today or we got so much knowledge? We got so many wonderful 1:28:17 hymns and this that and the other. God doesn't care for these things. Come back to the old ways. Look for the old paths. Jeremiah said that's the way. There's a 1:28:35 song the American I think black people used to sing. Give me the old time religion. Give me the old time religion. It was good for Paul and Peter. It's good enough for me. That's what I say. Give me that old time Christianity. 1:28:51 the apostles had where music was not the big thing. They didn't have buildings. They didn't have great preachers. They didn't have internet. They didn't have screens or audio. But they had the power of the 1:29:09 Holy Spirit. And they were a family. I thank God for what God has spoken to me in this 40th anniversary. Not what I expected, not some supernatural gift, but something far better. How to plug the 1:29:29 holes so that the power never leaks out. I want to be like that till the day Jesus returns. I hope my brothers and sisters, you will be like that too. Let's pray. While heads are bowed in 1:29:59 prayer, dear brothers, sisters, have you started gloring in things that have no value in heaven? Things that will have no value in eternity. Do you take the credit to yourself for what God did? 1:30:17 Do you recognize your weakness? Will you get rid of that spirit of blaming, complaining, grumbling, finding fault with your husband, finding fault with your wife, finding fault with your children, finding fault with your neighbor, 1:30:32 finding fault with brothers and sisters, decide today, as there's no more place found in heaven for the accuser, there'll be no more place found in my heart. I want heaven in my heart and there's no place for the accuser in 1:30:51 heaven. Will you decide, Lord, please remind me never to touch your glory? And if I've accidentally touched it to repent, to give you the glory, never to give people the impression that I did something, but always to point people to 1:31:13 you. And Lord, help me not to glory in my strength, but in my weakness, in my infirmities. Help me to remember all my life that your power is made perfect through weak people. I don't want to be known as a 1:31:32 strong person. I want to be known as a weak person whom Jesus keeps from falling whom Jesus helps. Say, I will go in the strength of the Lord my God. Heavenly Father, help us all to be a family that 1:31:52 loves one another more than anything else. All these other things you've given us have no value. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Yeah. We want to praise the Lord 1:32:17 what we heard and in response we want to sing this song channels oneely blessed master. May the Lord help all of us to remain as clean channels of the Holy Spirit can flow through us and that we can be a blessing to others. Shall we stand up 1:32:35 and sing the song and let's sing it as a prayer and those who don't know can learn it. And the last verse says, Jesus, fill now with thy spirit, hearts that full 1:32:54 surrender know that the streams of living water from our inner man may flow. Oh may God give us grace to remain in that place where God's spirit can flow through us and make us a blessing to others. [Music] 1:33:22 How I praise thee, precious Savior, that thy love hold of me. Thou has saved and cleansed and filled me that I might thy channel 1:33:39 be channels only blessed master. But with all thy wondrous power, knowing through us, thou can use 1:33:53 us every day and every hour. Just a channel full of blessing to the thirsty hearts 1:34:10 around to tell thy full salvation. All thy loving massive son channels only blessed master. But with all thy wondous 1:34:28 power flowing through us, thou can use us every day and every hour. Empty death. Thou shouldest fill me a clean vessel in thy 1:34:47 hand with no power but as thou givest graciously with each command shadows only blessed master. But with all thy wondous power flowing 1:35:07 through us, thou consuse us every day and every hour. In the same thy save me, setting free from self and 1:35:24 sin. Thou has bought me to possess me in thy fullness. Lord come in shadows only blessed master blood with all thy wondous power flowing 1:35:43 through us. Thou can use us every day and every hour. Jesus filled now with thy 1:35:59 spirit that full surrender know that the streams of living water from our inner man may flow. Shadows only blessed master but with all 1:36:19 thy wondous power flowing through us. Dance use us every day and every hour. 1:36:32 [Music] Please be seated. President, we want to welcome all those who [Music] 1:37:03 are Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. 1:37:26 [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] 1:38:05 Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] 1:38:38 [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] 1:38:58 Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] 1:39:17 Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] 1:39:58 Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. 1:40:22 [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. 1:40:46 [Music] Heat. Heat. 1:41:03 [Music] [Music] [Music]
