0:00 One of the things which I wanted to stress is >> [clears throat] >> we must come into a life where we know how to overcome discouragement. 0:17 Because that is the thing which hinders so many believers from making progress. So much of their time is spent in being discouraged about something or the other. And uh 0:38 like that a lot of time is wasted. So one of the primary reasons why people are discouraged is because they are not sure that God has accepted 0:56 them just as they are. Somehow or the other devil the devil convinces people that God's always sort of uh seeing finding something wrong in us here or there and you feeling guilty all the time. Because we preach on such a high 1:15 standard in CFC it's very easy for people to feel convicted and guilty all the time. And so it's very important for us to know how we are accepted in Christ. So even though that's foundational I find very often you need to go back to 1:34 the ABC very often. So let me turn you to a few verses that teach that. First of all Romans chapter 5. This is a beautiful verse Romans 5:1. Now what you hear may be very familiar 1:53 truth but I want to encourage you to be established in it in such a way that you can never be shaken. Am I accepted by the Lord or not? This is the first thing that I need to ask ourselves. Once we're established on that foundation 2:12 then we need to check whether we are keeping walking in the light so that God continues to be happy with us. But first of all am I accepted or not? On what basis does God accept me? This sounds seems to be very elementary. 2:31 And yet I find so many believers are not established in it. On what basis does God accept me? Is it because I live a holy life or because I'm overcoming all sin? That's why the book of Romans is a very 2:49 good book to follow. The first [clears throat] few chapters first three chapters speak about the sinful condition of man concluding with Romans 3:23 where it says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And that's a very important verse to tell us 3:06 what sin is. If someone were to ask you for a definition of sin here it is. Romans 3:23 all have sinned which means they have come short 3:24 of the glory of God. That is sin. Anything that comes short of the glory of God is sin. All have sinned which is they have come short of the glory of God. But from there the very next verse says we are justified. 3:42 Now what is justified mean? Justified means the word just is another word for righteous. We are just or we are righteous. So justified means declared righteous. That means God looks at us 4:02 not just as if we have never sinned. If we have confessed our sin the Bible says the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. We are familiar with that. If we confess our sins he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and 4:18 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But let me stop there a moment. I feel there are people who have heard these truths for years. But I'll tell you where they backslide. They have some wrong attitude towards 4:37 somebody else. They judge somebody else. Maybe you sit right now and judge somebody in the church. Usually we judge people who are very close to us. You don't judge strangers. We don't judge it's people who are very close to us that we judge the most 4:55 unfortunately. And particularly if you have had some misunderstanding or problem with somebody then you begin to judge that person. Or you have the other problem is we all have we can have prejudices. We have made up our mind about certain 5:11 people and they are wrong and we are right. When you have that attitude I can guarantee in your entire life you will not have peace with God. There is a judgment of God upon you for having a wrong attitude towards one of 5:25 his children. Dear brother sister die. What does it mean to die? To die with Christ. The Lord said take up your cross and follow me which means to die and I've always used this example. If you see a dead man lying on the floor 5:42 there in front of you tell me answer these questions. I'm trying to explain what it means to die with Christ. And this is the way I've applied it to myself. If you praise that dead man is he going to be disturbed is there going to be any change in him? 6:00 Zero. If you criticize that dead man is he going to be disturbed with you? Not at all. No change in his attitude towards you whether you praise him or criticize him. He's not going to be very happy with you if you praise him and he's not 6:14 going to be disturbed with you one bit if you criticize him. That is the meaning of death. And the other thing about dead people is they don't have any opinions. We have so many opinions about people prejudices. Particularly if you have conflicts with 6:28 some people you have built up a prejudice against that person. Brother sister I would say to you one word die. And I'm going to keep repeating that. Because I find with Christians that is the biggest need for them. Jesus said 6:47 take up your cross and follow me. You want to you know what Paul said? I die daily. Not only I die daily he says in second Corinthians always bearing in my body the dying of Jesus. See see that beautiful verse it's been a 7:04 verse that's helped me tremendously. Second Corinthians 4 and >> [clears throat] >> verse 10. Second Corinthians 4 and verse 10. Always 7:23 you [clears throat] know the meaning of always. I'm telling you the secret of overcoming discouragement. I used to be a terribly discouraged person for about 16 years after being born again. And I can honestly say it's gone from my 7:36 life completely. I never get discouraged. I'm telling you the truth before the Lord. I'm tempted of course but I don't yield to it. I don't go to bed any night discouraged. I don't wake up in the morning discouraged. But it was not like that for for the 7:53 first 16 years of my Christian life because I had so many opinions about people. And I did not choose to die. So this is a great verse it helped me tremendously. Second Corinthians 4:10 11 and 12 if you're serious about living 8:07 the Christian life. First of all remember God has accepted you in Christ declared you righteous in Christ because you believed and you have come to him and accepted his death for you on the cross believed that he rose up from the dead asked him to come 8:23 into your life. Okay. Now what must you do? Always Second Corinthians 4:10 you know the meaning of always 24/7. Always carrying about in our body the dying of Jesus. What is the dying of Jesus? Jesus was always 8:46 dead to the opinions of people. He never bothered what people thought about him or said about him. He was always dead to their opinions and God calls us to walk that way always 9:04 bearing in our body the dying of Jesus. Jesus because he was dead to the world's opinion he could be alive to what the Father thought about him. The death and resurrection go together. That's what we see here. Always bearing about in our body 9:23 the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in my body. So we all want the life of Jesus to be manifested in our body. That's a wonderful thing. The life of Jesus being manifested in our body just meditate on 9:42 that. I feel we I want to encourage all of you whenever you read a verse of scripture to not quickly go through it go over it and finish with it but to meditate on it. What does it mean in practical terms that the of Jesus is always being always 10:01 first of all 24/7. Think of each word. The life of Jesus, not my own life. My own life is being replaced by the life of Jesus. Always means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's the first word in that verse. And the life of Jesus is that perfect 10:20 life free from anxiety, fear, discouragement, criticism, judgment of others, everything being manifested in my body. Isn't that what you want? Any true Christian, that's what he wants. That the life of Jesus should be manifested in his body, not once in a 10:36 while, not in spurts, but all the time. Paul experienced it all the time. He didn't reach there overnight, but he got there. And when you see somebody in the Bible got there, then you say, "Lord, I can get there, too." Paul was not an angel. 10:55 He was not some supernatural being. He was an ordinary person. And let me tell you this, he lived a much worse life than you and I lived for the first 30 years of his life. He killed Christians. How many of you have killed Christians? 11:09 Paul was persecuting Christians. And yet he comes to a place where he says, "The life of Jesus is always manifest in me." What a wonderful way to live. And that's a tremendous challenge to all of us. And so, when someone like Paul says that always 11:29 the life of Jesus could be manifested in his body, one who began in such a pit, it's a tremendous encouragement to us. And so, the solution is to bear in my body the dying of Jesus. Why is it called the dying of Jesus? Because 11:48 that's something he had in him every single day. There was something he died to every single day. And that's why the life of the Father was manifest in him. What do you have to do? I have to die to 12:05 my own Adamic life, which is called the flesh, my will, which is there within me, always seeking to rise up. And I'll tell you, here's an example of it. Add the Adam Adam's life comes forth in us by giving us certain opinions. 12:25 I have an opinion. And if you stop and analyze that opinion for a moment, particularly your opinion about other people, you have a certain opinion about other person. Now, think of one person whom you don't like too much. All of you, 12:40 think of somebody you don't like too much. I'm sure there's somebody you don't like too much. Or somebody you had some conflict with. Now, ask yourself right now, what is your opinion about that person? Maybe in your office or your place or 12:51 some relative or neighbor or whatever it is. Somebody you don't like too much. Somebody you had a conflict with, perhaps. What is your opinion about that person? Okay. Now, I be honest. Now, ask yourself, is that the opinion 13:05 that Jesus has about that person? You immediately know the answer is no. Then why do you retain it? Why do you retain your life and your opinion when you know that is not the opinion of Jesus Christ? That shows that all that you say about 13:25 wanting the life of Jesus is a lot of garbage. You don't really want it. You want to say that once in a while in a meeting or sing about it and talk about it, but it's not really your passion of your heart. I've discovered 13:38 one thing in my life. If I'm not passionate to become a wholehearted disciple of Jesus, I never will become one. If I'm not passionate that I want the life of Christ to be manifested in me always, it will not happen. And if it is not happening in you, it 13:55 didn't happen in me for many years because I was not passionate about it. And if it is not happening in you, I'll tell you it's because you're not passionate about it. Why not start now? Life is so short. When are you going to 14:07 start? So, let me encourage you, dear brothers and you and you young people and older people, say, "Lord, I want to seriously like have the life of Jesus manifested in me all the time. A life that is free from anxiety and 14:23 fear and is not always passing opinions about other people, even in my mind. I'm not their judge. And the word of God is clear, which says, "Judge not." Two words. >> [clears throat] >> "Judge not." Words that I can keep in front of my 14:41 mind all the time. Obey those two words, my dear brothers and sisters. Your life will be very different from tomorrow. Just those two words, judge not. It's a It's one of the most disobeyed command in the Sermon on the Mount. Judge not. 15:00 We don't lust after women all the time. We don't tell lies all the time. We don't get angry all the time. But judgment, so often, so many times in the day, something or the other. That's the one command in the Sermon on 15:12 the Mount that we judge and that we disobey. And it's very interesting that Do you know where that command comes in Matthew chapter 7 verse 1? At the end of the lot of teaching that Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount 15:26 in chapter 5 and chapter 6, so many things about how we should pray and we shouldn't be anxious and don't love money and whole lot of things and don't get angry and don't lust and all that and love your neighbor and all that. At 15:40 the end of it all, you know, when you read all that, you your temptation is to judge other people. They are not like this. They are not like that. Just forget it. Judge yourself. And that's why immediately after that, Matthew 7:1 begins with judge not. 15:55 So, it's very important, brothers. I'll tell you from my experience, my life has been very peaceful, very happy. I sleep well at night. And God speaks to me when I wake up in the morning. What a wonderful way to live. That's why 16:06 God wants every one of you to live like that. But if you spend your time judging others, you will not wake up in the morning and hear God speak to you. And you have missed out so much in your life all these years. Why not finish with this habit? 16:22 And say, "Lord, I want to bear in my body the dying of Jesus." If your problem is lusting after something, always desiring Lusting means a terrific desire for something. Always unhappy with what you have. 16:40 Always unhappy with your circumstances, with your house, with your job, with your income. Uh unhappy with the people around you. Die. Learn to accept the circumstances God has placed you in. And say, "Lord, I want to die 16:59 to wanting this and wanting that. I want to accept my circumstances 100%." And don't compare yourself with somebody else. Don't wish that you had that person's circumstance or that person's situation. No. God has designed exactly what is 17:17 right for you. Now, these are not some brand new truths that I'm teaching you. What I'm saying is what you've heard me preach for years, if you've heard me ever. But I see that we need to hear these things again and again and again. 17:33 Cuz if we bear in our body the dying of Jesus, the life of Jesus will definitely be manifest in us. That's God's promise. I do my part, he definitely will do his his part. My part is I choose to bear the dying of Jesus in my life. 17:46 I say, "Lord." And it's interesting to see that this is called the dying of Jesus. Which means that in his earthly life, he also, because he had a flesh like ours, a selfish like ours, he didn't have sinful flesh, but he was tempted like us. He could do 18:02 his own will, and he chose not to do it. And in in a in a nutshell, the dying of Jesus means to say what he said in Gethsemane in one sentence. Not my will, but thine, Father. Not what pleases me, but what 18:20 pleases you. That is the dying of Jesus. He died to what pleased him. He died to his own will. And all our sin, all the problems in families, all the conflict comes out of my wanting my will and feeling that I'm right. Die. 18:39 A dead man has no opinions or anything. Die. And so, the first thing is, when I die, the life of Jesus will be manifest in me. And then it goes on to say, "This is why God brings us into situations 2 Corinthians where we are delivered over 18:54 to death." But God will bring you and me into situations where you have a choice. Some of you may be facing something like that right now. In all your opinions and situations and all that, opinions about people and situations that God has placed you into, 19:12 God's asking you one question. Are you willing to die to yourself? You have to say yes or no. That's the meaning of Jesus saying in Gethsemane, "Not my will, but thine, Father. Not as I want, but as you want." 19:32 My dear brother and sister, if you keep saying those that verse all the time to the Lord and you to your heavenly Father, "Not as I will, but I as thou will. Not what I want, Lord, in this situation, but you want. Not my opinion 19:43 in this situation, but your opinion. Not as I think in this situation, Lord, but the way you think. I I want to have my opinion about that person anymore. I want your opinion about that person. If you take that attitude, 19:57 your life will change from tomorrow. I guarantee. You try it even for 1 week and see what a peaceful life your life will become. I'm telling you from my own experience. I also had, you know, trying to live with all types 20:10 of opinions about different people. It made my own my life miserable. And I was not effective for the Lord. I believe many of you could be extremely effective for the Lord. If you humble yourself and say, "Lord, I could be 20:23 wrong in all my opinions." Can you say that to the Lord? All the opinions I have about other people could be 100% wrong. I want to die to that. Try it. But you may some of you may be so stubborn in your opinion that you won't 20:38 change. Okay, well, I have no hope for you then. But those are willing to die, I want to say to you in Jesus' name, go this way. The Lord will really make a difference in your life. Even in family relationships, husband 20:51 and wife, the most important thing is for both of them to die. This is not a new message. This is what I've been preaching for 50 years. And I'll continue preaching it because I find people still need it. It's like food. 21:04 You eat the same food that you've been eating for 20 years, but you still need it. You don't get a different dish every day. Your mom makes the same food for your wife makes the same food every day and you eat it. And so, we need to hear the same message 21:18 again and again. And it goes on in 2 Corinthians 4:11 to say we are delivered over to death for Jesus' sake. We God, imagine God delivering you over to death, just like Jesus was delivered over to death, and God permitted it. God delivers over 21:37 you to death in certain situations. And the purpose is so that the life of Jesus will be manifested in your mortal body. And the wonderful thing is, if you walk this way, first of all, the life of Jesus becomes manifested, 21:55 verse 10, in your own life. And that is why God delivers you over into situations where he asks you, it's almost as though he puts you into a certain situation and God is asking you, "Are you willing to die here? Are you willing to die to your choice? 22:12 Are you willing to die to your opinion? Are you willing to give up your opinion and die and trust me to resolve the situation?" And you have to say yes or no. And if you say, "Yes, Lord, I'm willing to die to this situation," 22:27 the life of Jesus will be manifested and then the wonderful thing is, amazingly, as death works in you, verse 12, life will come in other people. This is how the resurrection life of Jesus, you know, the guarantee of when 22:42 Jesus raised from the dead, God was saying this to all Christians. If any of you choose to die like Jesus, I guarantee I will raise them up from the dead. That's why we're not afraid to die with Jesus, to carry the dying of Jesus. We 23:01 are happy to do it because God has a guarantee, "I will manifest the resurrection life of Jesus in you and it will bring life, verse 12, in other people." And here Paul tells us a secret in 2 Corinthians 4 to 10 to 12. This is This 23:19 is my favorite passage of mine for decades now, for 30 years almost or 50 years, that if I bear in my body the dying of Jesus, number one, the life of Jesus will come forth in me. The life of Jesus means also that in situations that I face in life, God will 23:37 give me wisdom. One of the great needs for us is wisdom, to have the mind of Christ. So, to have the mind of Christ, I must bear the dying of Jesus. Lord, I don't want my will. Heavenly Father, I don't want my will in this situation. 23:53 God, give me the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ will keep my keep me at peace and at rest, no matter what circumstances there are. And God in His sovereignty will then work out everything perfectly. Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good." 24:10 will work fully only for someone who goes through 2 Corinthians 4:10. If I don't go the way that Jesus the dying of Jesus bear the dying of Jesus in me, I cannot claim Romans 8:28. Because Romans 8:28 says, "God makes all things work together for 24:26 good to those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose." Let me read that to you. If you're not familiar with Romans 8:28, we know all things work together for good, but that's not the whole verse. That's just the good part of it. Romans 24:43 8:28 says, "We know that God causes all things I'm reading it to work together for good to those who love God." That's a very important condition. To those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. 25:02 And His purpose is that you might die in every situation with Jesus. Now, if you're not willing to go according to that, I want to say to you, all things do not work for your good. You can't claim that promise if you're 25:13 not willing to fulfill God's purpose in your life. And God's purpose is that you must die into Jesus. I claim that promise many, many situations. I said, "Lord, to the best of my knowledge, I want to walk the way of the cross. 25:26 I don't want live in this wretched life of living with my own opinions and judging others and feeling that this is how it should be done and that's how it should be done. You're going to churches, sometimes you young people. I've seen some people in 25:39 some churches. They are have so many opinions. The elders should do this and the elders should do that and the elders should do that. They are the most miserable people that I've seen in our churches. There are other people who are at rest 25:52 and who humble themselves and say, "Well, God hasn't appointed me as an elder here. And so, I'm willing to humble myself under the mighty hand of God." I mean, that's another very, very important verse that all of us need to take heed to. 26:09 Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. Turn with me to that verse in 1 Peter and chapter 5. As I said, nothing new, 26:29 but the same old truth that needs to be emphasized. 1 Peter 5, particularly young people, verse 5, "You younger men, many of us are young. God has appointed 26:46 elders in your church. Let me encourage you to submit to them and not to have high thoughts about yourself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. You younger men, verse 5, 27:02 be subject to your elders. Many of you are young, younger than your elders. I want to ask you, do you obey that verse? Or are you so full of your own opinions that you think the elders should do this and the elders 27:21 should do that? I I've talked to different young people in some of our CFC churches in India. They have problems because they think that an elder is not doing this right and an elder is not doing that thing right. And I say and 27:33 I'll tell you, those young people I've met are the most miserable young people I've met. There are others who say, "Well, I don't understand all everything in all the aspects of life in the church, so I will not judge them. 27:45 I will submit myself to the elders in the church. Whatever they say, I will do it." You younger men, be subject to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourself with humility towards one another. What a wonderful verse. 28:03 If you meditate on that and don't don't rush through that. All your you clothe yourself with humility in relation to one another. That means when you relate to other people, don't go like a proud, capable person, but as a humble person towards 28:19 one another, especially if you're young. Because God is opposed to anyone who's proud, and He gives grace only to the humble. That verse has gripped me for many, many years, and I said, "Lord, I always want 28:37 your grace." And the Lord said, "Always humble yourself." In every situation, I have tried my best for many years now to humble myself. I've never expected that people should give me some respect or treat me like somebody important. 28:54 A lot of young people treat me as if I'm one of the one at the at the same age as them. I say, "Fine. I'm perfectly happy. I don't want to talk to any young person as if I'm even 1 year older than them." And I mean, I'm a very happy person 29:08 because God says, "Humble yourself," and He gives grace to the humble. And I have experienced remarkable grace in my life to overcome sin, to have a peaceful home life, to guide so many churches, to guide elders. I all need I need wisdom all the 29:25 time. God says, "Humble yourself." Treat everybody as more important not a more important than you. And God is realistic. He doesn't say, "Consider everybody as more spiritual than you." It's not true. I do not consider everybody in every 29:41 church as more spiritual than me because they are not. If you ask Jesus, "Jesus, do you treat other people as spiritual than you? No. Nobody is as spiritual as Jesus. To follow Jesus does not mean we have to treat other people as more spiritual 29:55 than than us when we know they are not. So, if you ask me, "Brother Zac, do you treat other people as more spiritual than you?" I say, "No." I know they are not as spiritual. Bible doesn't tell me to treat other people as more spiritual than me. The 30:08 Bible tells me in Philippians 2:3 and 4, Philippians chapter 2, verse 3 and 4, treat others as more important than you. That I seek to do. I don't consider myself more important. That's why I never take any titles 30:26 and never go after any of those things that other people go after in terms of position and honor and all that. Because I want to treat other people as more important than me. And if you do that, God will give you grace. And I can tell 30:40 you God's given me remarkable grace through all these years of my life, for my family life, for my ministry and everything. And I wish this for every single brother and sister in all our CFC churches. That God will give them remarkable grace 30:55 to be overcomers in their life. And therefore, because of this this is a law of God that he's opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourself under the mighty hand hand of God. And humility is the way that leads us to 31:11 that, and God will exalt you at the proper time. That's a problem in verse 6. I want to say to all of you people, young brothers, and those who are new in the church, God does wants to exalt you. And when you when you read that word, God will exalt 31:27 you, what are you thinking of? Huh. One day I'll be an elder. Garbage. Get rid of that high thought, I will be an elder. I'll tell you what he'll exalt you over. He'll exalt you over sin. Not over people. 31:46 Tell me honestly, do you want to be exalted over all the others in the church and be appointed as an elder, or do you want to be exalted over sin in your life? I told the Lord many years ago, "Lord, I don't want to have authority over anybody in the 31:59 world. I want to have authority over sin and the devil. I want sin under my feet and the devil under my feet. I don't want to exalt myself over anybody else. Go to God like that." Some of you may be having high thoughts 32:14 about yourself and hoping that one day people will recognize you and appoint you as an elder or some garbage like that. Say, "Lord, I want to be exalted over sin." When it says, "God will exalt you at the proper time." 1 Peter 5, verse 6. When you read that, 32:32 what did you think of? To be exalted in the church? No wonder you're so miserable. Always longing to be exalted in the church. Let me tell you, humble yourself. Don't seek to be exalted in the church. Go down. Say, "Lord, I don't want to be exalted 32:49 in the church in my entire life. I want to live and die as an ordinary brother in this church, but I want to be exalted over sin. I want to be exalted over the devil." If you go like that, I'll tell you God will do amazing things in your life. 33:04 I tell you that honestly. He will exalt you at the proper time, but keep humbling yourself. Keep considering others as more important than yourself. This is what it means to always bear in our body the dying of Jesus. And then we will 33:19 overcome discouragement. God has accepted us in Christ. And he tells us, "Do you believe that the way Jesus lived on earth was the best way that any human being could live?" And he never sought position. 33:37 One of the blessed passages I see in Jesus' life is John chapter 6. I want to encourage you to do what I've done, study the life of Jesus. When I read the gospels, I don't read them as stories. I read it to find what is the life of Jesus like. 33:55 Turn with me to John's gospel in chapter 6. It says here that Jesus fed the 5,000. That is John chapter 6 and verse 10 to 14. 34:15 John 6, verse 10 to 14. He fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. And everybody was so excited. They said in verse 14, "This is truly the prophet, the Messiah, who's to come to the world." Now, listen to the next verse. 34:27 Very important. John chapter 6 and verse 15. Jesus perceived that the they were intending to come and take him by force and to make him that king. Uh appoint uh appoint him as their king or in the 34:45 church perhaps appoint him as an elder or leader. He withdrew. He ran away from there. He had no desire to be a king. It's an amazing verse. When when he saw that they were going to forcibly make him their ruler, he said, "No. 35:04 I don't want it." He withdrew in the mountains to be alone with the Father. And he gave the glory to the Father. Father, it was through you that those that multitude was fed with five loaves and two fish. It's so important. 35:22 When God has done some mighty work through you, to get alone in some place. You may not be able to go to a mountain or a forest. You get alone in your room somewhere and say, "Lord, I'm sorry. You did something through me. I 35:35 I don't want to touch that glory. I give it all to you." It's so very important, my brothers and sisters, whenever God has accomplished something through you, I urge you, humble yourself. If God has used you in a mighty way to share the word somewhere 35:52 or to bring somebody to Christ, or perhaps some of you are good at some other thing that you're good at and you God accomplished something through you, particularly if it's something spiritual. Get alone before God. Jesus always did that. He whenever God 36:08 used him, you read that he went to prayer and then he went out and God used him. And after he he did something, he'd go away again. Now, most people pray before they have very important work to do, like you're to preach in a church. 36:24 You prepare and you pray, "Lord, help me. Help me. Help me." Very, very few people go away after the the work is done and say, "Lord, I want to give the glory to you." And that's why they sink into sin, the sin of pride. 36:39 And they don't grow spiritually. I'm trying to show you the way where your life can grow from one degree of glory to another. It won't be up and down and up and down and up and down. Do you find your life over the past few years or months has 36:51 been up and down and up and down and up? That's not God's way. It was like that for many years in my life till I got fed up. I said, "Lord, that's not the way you have for me. I want you to lead me to a life in the spirit where 37:05 I'm not going to shoot up like an uh like arrow like that, but slow and steady progress, but it must be upwards. The graph of my life must go upwards, not down in the dumps and again up up and down like a sine wave. That's not the way I want it to be. 37:23 I want it to be continuously with maybe a few dips along the way, but generally going up. And I ask you to pray that that that is God's will for you. Will you pray that God will do that in your life? If you have faith, he'll do it for you. 37:35 And the solution is this, humble yourself, die to your own opinions about people. "Lord, I don't want to have any opinion about anybody. You are the judge of the universe and you judge them. I want to judge myself. There's enough I have to do judging my 37:51 own self, getting rid of the wrong attitudes and wrong thoughts and self in so many ways. I want to overcome it all." When I have so much work to do in myself, why in the world do I want to be a busybody in other people's matters? 38:08 Let me show you what it means to be a busybody in other people's matters. 1 Peter in chapter 4. Here is an area where we have to die to ourselves. 1 Peter 4. Let none of you make sure, 1 Peter 38:26 chapter 4, verse 15. Make sure that none of you Let me say that to all of you. Please listen carefully. 1 Peter 4:15. Make sure that none of you suffer as a murderer. Let me stop there. 38:44 Don't be a murderer of a person's life or his character. Don't murder somebody's character. Don't be a thief. Don't steal somebody's reputation. Don't be a thief. Don't be an evildoer. 39:08 Don't harm anybody in any way. Don't spoil somebody's name. Don't be an evildoer. And don't be a busybody in other people's matters. Most important. 39:28 Busybodies, those who are occupied with other people's why that person is doing this and why that person is doing that, and why that person is behaving like this and why that person is behaving like this. I'll tell you what, that is none of your 39:40 business, brother. It's none of your business, sister. You are not their judge. One day God will judge them. You don't God doesn't want your help to be a judge. You know, in a court there are various people. You have a judge. 39:57 You have a lawyer. You have an accuser. And you have witnesses. Which are you? You're not the judge, God is the judge. You're not the lawyer, Jesus is the only lawyer there. I hope you're not the accuser. Satan is the accuser. If you join up 40:15 join with him, you'll be an accuser. What are you called to be? Jesus said, "You are witnesses." Now, when you see in a court, there's a judge, there's an accuser, there's the uh the the lawyer who pleads on the side of 40:30 the uh the person who's being defended. And then there's a witness. Now, which of these do you want to be? Think of a court scene. I'm not called to be the judge. I'm not called to be the accuser like the devil. I'm not even called to 40:48 be the advocate. Jesus is the advocate. If you want, you can join up with him, but I am called to be a witness. Jesus said, "You shall all be witnesses unto me." So, give up being a judge. Give up being a accuser. If you want to be an advocate, 41:06 be an understudy for Jesus and say, "Lord, I'll join with you as an advocate for the sake of your people to defend them against the devil's accusations." That's good. Otherwise, just be a witness. I want to be Jesus said, "You shall be 41:20 my witnesses." These are simple lessons. I'm not talking postgraduate Christianity here. Simple ordinary things that you have heard many, many times, and we need to be reminded of it again and again so that you can be cleansed. And maybe some of you have 41:36 already got gone past all this and come to a very great height spiritually. Praise the Lord. Thank God. Then help other people also to come to your level spiritually. If you have attained to some height, praise the Lord for that. But don't be 41:48 satisfied with that. Do your best to lead other people around you in your church to the height that you have come to of a life in Jesus Christ. Wonderful. I'm delighted if some of you feel you have come to a wonderful life in Christ 42:01 overcoming all these things I spoke of today. Praise the Lord. Then please help other people to come to that height that you have attained yourself. And if you have not attained there, then press on. If you find you yourself are living an 42:13 up-and-down life, say, "Lord, deliver me first of all, and don't let me waste my time judging other people." My life has been extremely peaceful, and I find a lot of spiritual growth in my life when I stop judging other people. 42:27 I say it's none of my business to judge anybody else in the world. God has given me a job to be a witness. So, I was telling you about Romans chapter 3. This is a very important. Let me come back to that. 42:46 Romans chapter 3, we are all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then we are declared righteous as a free gift, Romans 3:24, through the redemption that is in Christ. 43:04 So, I just want to move on quickly. It says in Romans 5, this is the first step. Once we are forgiven, we are declared righteous. Justified means declared righteous as if we were righteous from day one. This is a wonderful truth. 43:22 I have been declared righteous by God, Romans 5:1. As if not only as if I've never sinned, that itself is a wonderful thing, but as if I was righteous from day one. This is a When I'm clothed with the righteousness of Christ, it's 43:37 not just that God looks at me as if I never sinned. That itself would be great. But looks at it at me as if I've lived righteously all my life. That's the meaning of justified. Just as if I was always just and righteous 43:51 all my life. And this is through my faith through the justified by his blood. It says further down in Romans 5 and verse 9, being justified by his blood, declared righteous because the blood of Christ has done such a thorough 44:10 work in me. I'm accepted by God. That is Romans 3 to 5. And the same thing is mentioned in Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. 44:28 A beau- beautiful phrase. The Lord has made us accepted. Verse 6, Ephesians 1 and verse 6, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. 44:47 And in the King James version, I think it says he's accepted us in the beloved. And he chose us, verse 4, in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him. Now, these are truths that you all know. 45:04 But I want to keep that before my mind all the time that God chose me before the worlds were created. He brought me into the world through my mother's womb to be holy and blameless before him. Will you keep that as a motto in your 45:24 life, all of you, dear brothers and sisters? Lord, you called me to be holy and blameless before you every single day. I want to live that life. Holy and blameless before you. 45:42 That's what you chose me for. Chose me before the worlds were created to be holy and blameless not before men, but holy and blameless before the Lord. That means as soon as you are aware of something in your life which is 45:56 displeasing to the Lord, the thought, a word that you spoke to someone, some attitude towards someone, some action, some wrong motive in what you're planning to do something or did something, Lord, cleanse me. I cleanse myself many times a day. 46:15 I Lord, that thought that that attitude towards that person was wrong. I never said anything to her. It's just a little thought come up in my moment, I want to crush it immediately. If you crush something immediately, it'll never come forth. 46:31 You kill it at the root. And the root is in the heart. All the time. When it says, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." That's what it says in Proverbs. Keep your heart with all diligence, 46:48 for out of it are the issues of life. Be careful as soon as some thought comes up in your heart, you know that that's not a Christ-like thought, put it to death. Make that your habit from today onwards towards people, towards circumstances, 47:08 even thoughts of anxiety. It's not Christ-like. You know, some people have said, "Brother Zach, you preach too much. You preach that anxiety is a sin. 47:27 Anxiety is a weakness people have." Really? It's not a weakness. They ask me, "Why do I preach so much that you should be anxious for nothing?" Because Jesus said that. Do not be anxious. Let me turn to that for a moment. 47:46 It's a result of having thoughts in our mind which are not from God. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 5 and 6. I want to show you something and see how inconsistent people are. In Matthew 5 48:05 and verse 20 and 21, he tells us, "Do not be angry." In a nutshell. Verse 28, he says, "Do not lust after women in your heart." Do not be angry. 48:23 Do not lust after women in your mind. Thirdly, don't tell lies. Verse 33 to 38. Always speak the truth. And don't take revenge. Verse 38 to 42. 48:44 Don't hate your enemy. Verse 43. Don't give money. Don't do what is righteous to impress people. Chapter 6, verse 1. Don't pray. Verse 5. See, chapter 6, verse 5, to get 49:03 honor. Verse 16, don't fast in order to get honor. All these things we agree with. Don't get angry. Let me repeat again. Don't lust after women. Don't tell lies. 49:23 Don't take revenge. Don't hate even your enemy. Don't do your righteousness show off to people. Don't pray to impress people. Don't fast to impress people. Everything we say yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, but when it comes to 49:42 verse 25, don't be anxious. Which again Jesus says in verse 31, don't be anxious. Don't worry. Verse 34, don't worry. Three times. You say, brother, that it happens, brother. What to do? We are weak. We'll be anxious. 50:01 But it's the same Lord who said don't tell lies and don't kill and don't steal and don't seek your own honor and glory. He continues to say don't be anxious. That point we say no. And that is why our life we we are selective. 50:15 We take certain commands and say, yeah, that I'll keep. This one, yeah, it's not not so important. That's how we miss out on God's best. I was like that myself. I never took anxiety as a serious sin. Or it's a weakness. 50:32 I've had circumstances in my life but I brought up children and we've gone through all types of pressures and all that. And sicknesses in our family and all types of things. Financial difficulties. Because I was trusting the Lord for my 50:47 needs. The Lord's word was don't be anxious. The same the Lord who said don't kill, don't steal, don't lust after women, don't seek honor from people. Everything I say yes, yes, yes, yes. Why should I stop at this point don't be anxious and 51:01 say no, Lord, that's a little difficult. The other young man will say, Lord, don't tell me not to lust after women. That's difficult. You agree with him? It is difficult but what do you tell that young man? Okay, if it's difficult, 51:15 do it once in a while. So when somebody says, brother, it's not possible to be free from anxiety, okay, get anxious once in a while. It's the same as telling a person telling a lie once in a while is okay. Lusting after women once in a while is 51:28 okay. Getting anxious once in a while is okay. I say no. I say it's always wrong to lust after women. It's always wrong to be angry. It's always wrong to seek honor and pray. It's always wrong to hate your enemy. It's always wrong to be anxious. 51:43 You take that position, my brother sister, your life will change tremendously. This is what it means to be at rest in God. My heavenly Father cares for me. My heavenly Father cares for all for all my need, for my children, everything. 52:02 Like I've said once before, Jesus said the birds, your heavenly Father feeds the birds. There's a little little rhyme where it says one bird tells one bird is talking to another bird and says, uh why are these 52:21 human beings always so anxious all the time? And the other bird says, uh I think it's because they don't have a heavenly Father like we have who cares for us. These poor human beings, they don't have a heavenly Father like 52:34 we birds have who care for us. That's what Jesus said. Does Does any bird say that about you and me, brother? When he sees us worried about something and the bird says, look at that guy. He doesn't have a heavenly Father like 52:47 me. Or when we criticize and pass judgment on others, let's finish with these things. I want a strong church to be built there in Austin. A church that glorifies Jesus Christ. A church that reflects more and more the life of Jesus in each of the members. 53:06 And don't just think of yourself. We are members of one body. We should be concerned if another person in the church is slipping up. It's like one part of your body is got paralyzed. Or one part of your body is injured. If 53:21 you really look at the members of the Austin church as members of your own family, if you really believe that and not just say that it is they are members of your family, you'll be concerned if one of them has a weakness. Lord, help me to be 53:37 burdened about it. I may not be able to help that person but at least you can pray about that person and be a little concerned about it. And the last thing you should do is criticize him. May the Lord help us. If we take these things seriously, I 53:52 believe God can lead that church from strength to strength. Let us pray. You stop for a moment and think. Can you think of one thing the Lord 54:08 spoke to you today or maybe two things? And will you take that seriously? Not what you heard from me but what you heard from the Lord in your heart. Not what you heard from me through your ears 54:28 but what the Lord spoke to your heart. One thing, two or three things. If the Lord spoke something to you, you can be pretty sure that he'll help you to keep it also. So say, Lord, please help me. 54:49 I want to live according to what I read in your word, to the standard of your word. I don't want to be selective to take some verses in chapter 5 and ignore some verses in chapter 6. I don't want to take seriously your command which says don't lust after 55:06 women but to ignore your command which says don't be anxious. Cuz you spoke of spoke that in the same message. Don't lust after women, don't be anxious. I want to take it, Lord. And you also said in the next chapter don't judge. 55:22 I want to take all of them seriously. Don't get angry. Don't lust after women. Don't tell lies. Don't judge others. Don't be anxious. Don't seek honor of yourself. All these things I want to take equally seriously. I want to give you a little homework. 55:42 Today or tomorrow, read Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Only three chapters. It will only take a few minutes. And whatever the Lord says don't do this, don't do this, take it seriously. And if one of these is your weakness, anger or lusting after women or anxiety 55:59 or seeking honor, say, Lord, please help me in that area. And say, Lord, I really mean this. Please help me. I want to be an overcomer. And then as it says in the end of that my sermon on the Mount, your your life will be founded on the rock 56:16 because you read it and you wanted to obey it. But if you read it and ignore it, your life will be on sand even if you say Jesus is my foundation. You're building on sand according to Matthew 7 and verse the last three verses of that 56:31 chapter. He who hears my word and does not do them is like a man who built his house on sand. Matthew 7:26 and 27. And the floods came and destroyed it. That will actually happen to people who have heard these words and 56:47 don't obey it. Heavenly Father, let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for these dear brothers and sisters who really have a desire to walk in your footsteps. I believe that. Please encourage everyone here, Lord. Let not a single person go away from 57:02 this meeting discouraged but with faith that you will help them to live an overcoming life. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name.
