0:54 [Music] 1:12 Rejoice the Lord is king. Your Lord and King adore. Rejoice, give thanks and sing and triumph for ever more. 1:28 Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again. I say rejoice. Jesus the savior reigns. 1:47 The God of truth and love. When he had purged our saints, he took his seat above. Lift up your heart. 2:04 Lift up your voice. Rejoice again. I say rejoice. His kingdom cannot fail. He rules over earth and heaven. 2:22 The keys of death and hell are to what Jesus give. Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again. I say 2:40 rejoice. Rejoice in glorious hope. Our Lord the judge shall come and take his servants up to their eternal 3:00 home. Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again. I say rejoice. [Music] Please be seated brothers and sisters. 3:19 [Music] Glory, 3:39 honor, power belongs to you Lord. Blessing, [Music] praisees, wisdom and strength are yours. We cry holy Lord. 3:59 You are holy. Only you will we praise and adore. We cry worthy Lord. 4:16 You are worthy [Music] forever and ever. Forever and ever more. [Music] 4:35 Glory, honor, power belongs to you, Lord. Blessing, praisees, wisdom, and strength are yours. We cry 4:53 holy Lord. You are holy. Only you will we praise and adore. We cry worthy. 5:13 Lord, you are worthy forever and ever. Forever and ever more. [Music] 5:53 From heaven you came helpless fame [Music] entered our world your glory with not to be served but to serve. 6:12 [Music] and give your life that we might live. This is our God, the servant king. 6:31 He calls us now to follow him, to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to 6:50 the servant king. [Music] There in the garden of tears, my heavy load, 7:06 he chose to be his heart with sorrow was to [Music] yet not my will but yours. He said, 7:26 "This is our God, the servant king. He calls us now to follow him, 7:41 to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the servant king. [Music] 7:58 Come see his hands and his feet. The scars that speak of sacriice, hands that flung stars into space 8:20 to cruel nails. Surrender. [Music] This is our God. the servant king. He calls us now to follow 8:40 him to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the serant king. 8:57 >> Only voices. So let us learn how to serve >> and in our lives and thrown in 9:15 each other's needs to prefer [Music] >> for it is Christ we're serving [Music] This is our God, 9:33 the servant king. He calls us now to follow him, to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to 9:55 the serant king. [Music] The sun comes up. It's a new day 10:23 dawning. It's time to sing your song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening 10:45 comes. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, worship his holy name. 11:01 Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I'll worship your holy name. You're rich in love and you're slow to 11:20 anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind. For all your goodness I will keep on singing. 10,000 reasons for my heart to find. 11:44 Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul. Worship his holy name. Sing like never before. [Music] 12:02 Oh my soul, I'll worship your holy name. >> And on that day when my strength is failing, 12:19 the end draws near and my time has come. Still my soul will sing your praise unending >> 10,000 years and then forever 12:38 more. Forever more. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, worship his holy name. 12:57 Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. 13:14 Oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I'll worship your holy 13:33 name. I'll worship your holy name. [Music] There's no greater name than Jesus name 14:05 of him who came to save us in that saving name of Jesus, every knee he should bow. Let everything that is near the ground. 14:24 Let everything in the world around. Let everything that's high or the sky bow at Jesus name in our minds by faith professing 14:44 in our hearts by inward blessing on our tongues by words confessing Jesus Christ is Lord. There's no greater name than Jesus. Name 15:06 of him who lives to keep us at the preious name of Jesus every heart should sing. >> Let every thought that we cannot share. 15:25 Let every word sounding in the air. Let every deed be worthy and bear. Raise to Jesus name. Through our faith that's daily growing 15:44 through our hope that's brightly glowing. through our love that's clearly showing Jesus Christ is Lord >> through a love that's clearly showing 16:06 through his >> through a love that's clearly showing Jesus Christ is Lord Oh, King of Kings, 16:39 Majesty, God of heaven, living in me. Gentle savior, posest friend, 16:58 strong deliver beginning and end. All within me falls at your throne. Your majesty I can but bow 17:20 I lay my own before you now in royal robes I don't deserve 17:36 I live to serve your majesty Sing Earth and heaven worship you. Love eternal, 17:54 faithful and true. Brought the nations ransom souls. brought the sinner near to your throne. 18:13 All within me cries out in praise. Your majesty. I can but bow. I lay my all 18:31 before you now in royal robes. I don't deserve I live to serve your majesty. [Music] 18:50 Your majesty I can but bow. I lay my own [Music] before you now. [Music] In royal robes 19:09 I don't deserve. [Music] I live to serve your majesty. Let's all stand brothers and sisters. Jesus, 19:36 we enthrone you. We proclaim you as king. standing here in the midst of us. We raise you up with our praise. 20:03 And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship, 20:21 build your throne. Come Lord Jesus and take your place. [Music] >> Jesus, 20:38 we enthrone you. >> We proclaim you as king. standing here in the midst of us. We raise you up with our praise. 21:05 And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship, 21:23 build your throne. Come Lord Jesus and take your place. Come Lord Jesus and take your place. Brothers and sisters, let's bow our 22:05 heads in prayer. And as we stand before his presence, let this be the true desire of our heart, the deepest longing in our heart to see the Lord Jesus as truly the king and to give him the place which he 22:24 deserve, the highest place and to glorify his name to see his name honored in our midst. Let's also remember brothers and sisters each one of us who are standing here is so precious to the Lord because he has paid such a price to redeem us. He gave 22:44 his own life. So let's come draw near with that gratitude. Let's have that picture in our mind. He's clothed us with a robe of righteousness which we don't deserve and we stand rejoicing for what he's 23:01 done for us. I'd like to read a few words from Psalm 100. Says, "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him with joyful singing. 23:20 Know that the Lord himself is God. It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. We are the we are his people and the sheep of his pasture." Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks 23:37 to him. Bless his name for the Lord is good. His loving kindness is everlasting and his faithfulness to all generations. Gracious heavenly father, we really want to thank you for this day, this time. 23:57 As we just sang, we come to give our life as a pleasing offering to you. Lord Jesus, take control, full control of our lives and build us and mold us according to your image. Thank you for being so gracious and kind and 24:16 compassionate with us, dealing patiently with us and giving us chance after chance, expecting us to change. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for your servants who spoke your word and led and 24:34 guided us. Thank you for redeeming us with your precious blood. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for each family which you have given us in the church. Each brothers and sisters you've blessed us with. And 24:47 Lord, as we come before you, we really want to look up to your face and give you all praise and thanks. Brothers and sisters, lift up your hearts. Lift up your voice and give him thanks and praise. Lord Jesus, we give you thanks 25:00 and praise unto you. Let your name alone be glorified and honored. You are the king of king. You are the lord of lord. You deserve the highest place in our midst. Lord, you are the god who enthroned on all other all other powers 25:12 and authority. Lord, you have all power and authority over us. So we invite you Lord to take the rightful place and even as we come before you Lord this morning, we pray that Lord we will hear your voice and it will change us Lord. Fill 25:25 us with the Holy Spirit. Anoint us Lord Aresh with the power of your Holy Spirit that we may walk in a way lifting up our head. We walk in a way that which will bring glory to you and honor and satisfaction to your heart. Lord, thank 25:39 you Lord for hearing us. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen. Please take your seat brothers and sisters. Let's take a look at our memory verses. So last week we had a promise from Ephesians. Let's uh please repeat after 25:58 me. Ephesians chapter 2:8. By grace you have been saved. Through faith and it is the gift of God. And for this week we have a command. 26:17 1 Thessalonians 4:3. This is the will of God that you abstain from sexual immorality. Let's say repeat that again. 26:35 1 Thessalonians 4:3. This is the will of God that you abstain from sexual immorality. Amen. So this morning we are going to hear first a recorded message from 26:53 brother Sack and it's a 30 minutes message after that we will hear our dear brother Charles. We also want to just pray for brother John who is visiting in Chennai attending few meetings there and we also remember our teen boys who are 27:09 attending the camp near Hosour. We'll just pray and then after that we'll listen to the message. Dear heavenly father, we remember the meetings in Chennai and brother John and Shanker's visit. Please uh be with them. Encourage and build the fellowship 27:25 there. Anoint brother John and bless him as he speak your word. We also remember our teens. We pray that Lord you will touch many of our children's lives and build them Lord and uh fill them with the Holy Spirit. Bring them back and 27:40 give all grace and anointing to those who are ministering and those who are supporting. Thank you father for hearing in Jesus precious name we pray. Amen. Brothers we can play that message. One of the things that I have done 28:01 uh from many many years ago and I continue to do is to study church history mainly to find out why do we have so many denominations? 28:19 Why do we have so many junkets? You know, if you read the book of Revelation, the Lord told the elder in Ephesus, you have left your first love. That means you don't love me or love one 28:38 another like you did in the beginning. And that was the church falls. So, Revelation chapter 2 is the second letter to the Ephesians. first letter to this is the second letter and the lord said if you don't repent I'll take away 28:54 the lampstand that means I'll take away the weakness from you that mean Jesus himself would leave that because they left their love for him and love for one another what do you think would have happened now picture this in your mind way back 29:10 this that was written 95 AD when John wrote that to the elder in Ephesus And supposing the elder nurses did not repent and he said no we are okay who's this John to come and tell us there were people like that you know they wouldn't even respect the apostles 29:30 there was another guy called datrophies you read in third letter of John who said who's this John we okay and the lord said John says I'll go there and teach him a lesson wait till I go there so despising the apostles was 29:45 there Even in the first century, even the very apostles who had walked with Jesus, they would despise. But God spares nobody. He if you despise his servants, God deals with you. So what happened that 30:03 Elder in Ephesus backslid and then some people would see the presence of the Lord is no longer there. The Lord has taken away the lampstand. Those are the ones who at the end of that letter it says he who overcomes few people 30:18 overcome. So supposing they were in that church of 500 people in Ephesus 10 people who overcame and said they we sense that the Lord's not here anymore like in the days when Paul was here and Paul warned the elders that 30:34 time will come and wolves will come in in Acts 20. So these 10 people get together and say we we can't stay here anymore. The Lord's not here. In a wedding, when the bridegroom goes away, what does the bride do? Does she still hang around 30:51 there? No, she goes. The bride, my bridegroom is gone. I better go. So that's what those 10 people in Ephesus would have done. Jesus, our bridegroom, is not here. He's gone. We can't stay here anymore. And they would leave. 10 people. That's not 31:10 490 people would remain in that church. 10 people would meet in somebody's house, small little house. And the leaders in Ephesus will say that rebel group that has left us, don't any of you join them. They are bunch of proud people who think they are so 31:26 spiritual and they've gone. Keep away from them. And these 490 people would sing praises and clap their hands and but Jesus is not there. He left them long ago. So in Ephesus, where is Jesus now? He's with 31:44 those 10 people. And those who have eyes to see will go to there only two churches those days, the big one and the small one and go here and go there. And those who have a hunger will say, "Hey, we sense the Lord's presence there. 32:01 So we are going to go there." So one couple will go there. So that 10 becomes 12. And this 500 people are still warned. Don't go anywhere near there. But the Lord is there in that church. The presence of the Lord is there. 32:20 People become spiritually minded. They grow. In this church, everybody's backsliden and go into all types of bad habits with divorce and brokenness and division. Just like you see in churches today, divorce which God condemned 32:34 is practiced in many churches today. Even pastors are divorced. How did that happen? Even though Jesus spoke so clearly about it in Matthew chapter five because church lowers the standards. Oh, what can we? We must forgive them. We 32:49 must be good to them. So that's what's happened through the years. Now that church gradually little by little it grows. Give it 30 40 years the new church has also become about 500 people 33:07 and they don't follow what the early people who started that church taught and stood for cuz maybe those early leaders died and now they have come to the same condition as the first church in 33:25 Ephesus. So there's the first church in Ephesus there's the second church in Ephesus they would have taken different names you know spiritual names like Bethesda or some big big names but in that new church which is now backsliden 33:43 another group of maybe 10 people would say hey this is 50 years ago this was a good church but now it's all backsliden we can't go to the first one that's thoroughly dead this is also dying another 10 people would pull out and there'll be a third 33:57 church in Ephesus That is how all these churches started. Thank God that in every time there were people who said we can't stay in a dead church even though only two or three of us will come out. Every good church through the years has 34:16 always started with a few people who were more interested in the Lord's truth, the whole council of God than in a number. Let me show you Acts of the Apostles in chapter 20. Paul said, 34:33 "I did not shrink." was Acts 20 27. He's speaking to the elders in Ephesus. I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Think of a circle 34:54 with seven colors of the rainbow. That's the whole all the colors that make white. If one of those colors is not there, it's not pure white. All seven colors must be there to make 35:11 it pure white. But when a church backslides, one or two go away and is no longer pure. Just to use an illustration. And some people pull out and they start a church where they got all the seven colors. That means the whole council of God like it says here, 35:29 the whole purpose of God. But after a while, people say, "No, why should we be so strict against divorce?" people get a bit unhappy, let them divorce and marry again. God forgive Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery and the Samaritan woman was 35:45 divorced four times and sleeping with somebody but Jesus was good to her. Okay, but they forget what Jesus said. He who marries a divorce, he commits adultery. And 36:04 what Paul said much later in Romans 7, if a married woman marries somebody else when her first husband is living, she shall be called an adulteress. Pretty strong words. The thing is very few Christians stand by the whole council of 36:24 God. They try to be more compassionate than almighty God himself. It's happened through the centuries. It's happening all over America and it's not popular at all to stand for the truth. People will say you're hard 36:41 and you're unmerciful. Nobody can be a prophet who's afraid of such criticisms and unfortunately there are very few prophets. They're afraid of being criticized. But thank God for those through the centuries who stood Martin Luther was 36:57 one like that. You know the Roman Catholic Church wanted to kill him. They tried their best to kill him. But God had a purpose for that man. And he was a man who pulled people out of the Catholic Church. But give that Lutheran church another 37:12 200 years. And it backslid. And the in England it was called the Anglican Church. And into that Anglican church came a man called John Wesley, young man. And began to preach. They said, "You can't preach here." John Wesley was kicked out of the church 37:29 that Luther started. It's the old story I told you. And so John Wesley had to preach and he's outside and he gathered a few people together and they were the ones early Methodists because they stood for the whole council of God and different 37:43 different places in England. There were Methodist churches. Okay, give it another 200 years. John Wesley is dead. into that Methodist church. There was a young man called William Booth who about 120 years after John Wesley 37:58 died into a Methodist church he brought some prostitutes to make them hear the gospel. And those Methodists who were a little more dignified now they would move away and say don't bring please don't bring such people here go somewhere else. And they 38:17 kicked out William Booth. So he said, "Where shall I take these people? Bring them to Christ, these prostitutes and these poor children who are being exploited." He started what is called a Salvation Army. This has been the history of 38:31 Christianity for 2,000 years. Yeah. And I can tell you numerous stories like that. That's how the Brethren Assembly started and that's how the early Pentecostal started. When the Pentecostals backslid, then the Lord started the charismatic movement. And 38:48 it's always been like that. And that's what happened to us 50 years ago in Bangalore. We were going to two of us brothers were going to a Baptist church and they were not preaching the whole council of God. They were against the baptism of the 39:02 Holy Spirit. And they told me to leave. I said okay. So I had no plan to leave. I was preaching. I was not a pastor. I said I'll say I won't take a salary and I won't take a title. I'll preach here every Sunday. So that brother Ian Robson and I 39:20 they asked us to leave because they didn't want to hear the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And so we were kicked out. We had no desire to start a church. Zero desire. So I told what shall we do now this evening? Come to our house. We'll meet. 39:39 We prayed. What shall we do next Sunday? We are kicked out of there. Come here. We can meet again. And that is how CFC started. So when people say, "Brother Zach, did you start CFC church?" Not at all. That Baptist church that kicked us out, they the ones 39:55 who started it. Please go and thank them. If you want to know who started it, it was a Baptist church that started CFC by kicking two of us out. We had no intention to start it. And like that, it's been throughout history. 40:12 And when we come together, brothers, if you want to remain, you have to be absolutely uncompromising. And that is a responsibility of everybody here, not just the elders. And I'll tell you from my experience, 40:30 there are very few brothers and sisters who love Christ so much that they don't care for their reputation. They don't care if they are called hard, unmerciful, ruthless, any title, but they say we will not compromise God's 40:45 standards. I believe God wants many people like that here. Then God can use you. And that is the basis on which we come together. We don't compromise on God's standards. Zero. The other thing I want to say, but we don't condemn anybody. Prostitutes and 41:04 thieves and drunkards and gamblers can be converted and come and be a member of this church. They are forgiven. But we cannot give them leadership when they have that type of testimony. we have to restrict it and see they 41:24 prove themselves that there's a change and uh we to follow God's standards. The other thing is churches began to split. Now I told you churches began to split when they backslid. The other thing is and you've 41:43 seen that much in this country 200 years ago. They would split on the basis of race. So way back 150 years ago in the south of the United States, there would be the black people would meet in one church and the whites would meet in another 42:01 church. They would never allow them to come here because each was afraid that maybe my son will be interested in one of those girls and then it'll become mixed and we don't want that. Okay, whatever the reason, I'm not here to 42:16 judge anybody. I don't believe in judging. God is a judge. But that's happening today. I've been here in this the Bay Area. I've been to church where almost everybody's black. 99% is black. You go 42:33 to another church, it's all white. So even though there is no racial segregation in many people's minds when they come to a church they say we want the same type of people. There are Indians who only speak the Telugu language. 42:52 Everybody in that church will be the Telugu language person. I'm not against it. All I'm saying is that's not the church of Jesus Christ. It's a good fellowship. Don't call it the church of Jesus Christ. Here is the church of Jesus 43:06 Christ. Colossians and chapter 3 verse 9. You have put off the old man. Don't lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices. There's 43:26 an old that is the spirit of Adam which is the thinking of Adam. That's called the old man. Put that away. And you have put on the new man. What is the new man? The spirit of Christ, which means my heart is open to everyone 43:43 who Christ has opened his heart to. I'm not going to reject a man because he's not educated. That's another thing I found in some groups in India. This group is only for graduates and this group is only for people who come to a certain level of society. 44:02 Fine, I'm not against it. All I say don't call it the church of Jesus Christ. Call it a graduates group or Telgo group or any group you like, but don't call it the church of Jesus Christ. It is not the church of Jesus Christ. 44:17 Because there this in the new man there is no distinction. Look at this word verse 11. You're renewed in a way in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew and circumcised, uncircumcised and barbarian and cyian. 44:34 Do you know what you know what barbarians are? They're thoroughly uncultured people. They won't be dressed like you. They probably come with a vest or a feet around their 44:52 lower part of their body and they probably sit next to you and pick their nose. They're not cultured. Are you going to have such people in your church? Uncultured, dirty people. They don't use toilet paper in their homes, 45:12 but they're born again. You don't need to be cultured to go to heaven. That's a barbarian. And I'll tell you, you know who the cythian is? Do you read the word cyian? The cythian is the one who barbarian 45:31 thinks he's a barbarian. I'm not so bad, but this is cyian. Look at that fellow. These are the people who were in the church. And then slaves and free men. A slave is sitting there and his master is sitting in the next chair. That was 45:47 unheard of in Roman society. This is the church of Jesus Christ. Slaves and freemen. There's only one thing that matters. Christ is everything. Brothers and sisters, there are very few 46:06 believers for whom Christ is everything. You ask yourself, is Christ everything to you? Do you glory in the fact that you're educated and you're cultured and you like to be with cultured people? Then Christ is not everything to you. 46:25 I'm not speaking what I've not practiced. My father gave me a very good education and I grew up in a very cultured background and then I was in the in the military in the navy for many years very high level 46:45 of culture particularly among the officers and I saw in India that all the great evangelists would come and have their meetings only in the cities. big big cities, they'd have that what they call crusades and all. What about 47:03 the poor people in the villages, the hundreds and thousands of non-Christians? Don't they need the gospel? Nobody goes there. I prayed. I said, "Lord, if you call me out of the Navy, I'll go and preach to the poor." Because 47:23 I read, I'll tell you why. And the first sermon that Jesus preached in Nazareth. Do you know the first sermon Jesus preached in Nazareth? Luke chapter 4. He came to Nazareth. Luke 4:16. Look up this. And he entered the Sabbath. And they 47:40 gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened to chapter 61. And he said, "The Holy Spirit has anointed me." Listen to this. Have you read this? to preach the gospel to the poor people. 47:58 I said, "Lord, you were anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. I find everybody likes to go and preach to the rich." I said, "Send me to the poor." And then the time came and I had to get married. And I heard of a doctor who studied in 48:23 the top medical college in India who was going to work among lepers in a hospital where not a single lady doctor had ever gone there because people said nobody will marry you if you go and work in a leprosy hospital because you get infected easily. 48:42 So when I heard that I said that's the girl I want to marry cuz she has a care for the poor. She didn't go for money. Most of the other her classmates went to America as doctors. She went to the lepers. They said that's the person I 48:58 want to marry. That's Annie. That's how we got married. But we had this common desire to help the poor. And that's what we did now in India for 25 years. She would conduct medical clinics, free medical clinics for all the poor in the 49:12 villages in villages where there's not even a pharmacy. Those are the best years of our life. 40 years every single year. Take a bus or a train and go all the way down and have a conference down there in different villages. 49:28 I was so excited. I love them so much. They love both of us so much. And I praise God that our labor is not in vain. We have raised up many many leaders to 49:45 carry on the work. We have about 200 elders and deacons. We call them facilitators. So that I don't have to be involved. Now 50:03 they are preaching the same message I preached. They are appointing elders themselves because they become mature. They worked with me for 30 years. They know our ways. They're preaching the truth. Paul produced a Timothy and at Titus. 50:22 And so when Paul died and went, there was a work to carry. And this is how the true church of Christ has kept on, you know, holding up the same standards. And this matter of preaching to the poor. I'll show you one more verse 50:40 in Matthew chapter 11. When John the Baptist sent some people uh to see John to John, you know, John the Baptist 51:03 is in prison and he was wondering why doesn't Jesus is Messiah. Why doesn't he deliver me from prison? here I'm locked up in prison. So he sent some people in Matthew 11 to Jesus saying verse three, are you really the Messiah 51:17 or should we wait for him? This man saw the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus and heard a voice from heaven. This is my beloved son and he's having doubt now. John the Baptist was having a doubt because he did not have the Holy Spirit 51:34 inside him. That's why you know how Jesus said the least believer was 11 the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist how is are you greater than John the Baptist in one way yes you have the holy spirit in you he didn't have the 51:53 holy spirit in him that's why he doubted even though he saw all this he said are you really the messiah so then Jesus said he told those people go and report to John Matthew 11:4 Four, what you have seen. What are the things you have seen? 52:09 Blind receive sight, etc. What's the last part of verse five? The poor people have the gospel preached to them. Again, Jesus says it is the poor people to whom we preach the gospel. So the other day Susanil also mentioned 52:29 this in a meeting and I tried to count in this church how many different communities are there when you say Indians that's not one if you come to India you'll discover there's such a division between Indians they will not mix with people another 52:48 language you take some time and go through the list of people here. You'll be surprised to see how many different communities are sitting here in a small group like this. This is the church of Jesus Christ where there's no distinction between white or 53:08 brown, between Indian or Asian or American or black or we have all of them in the different parts of India. That's one reason I'm happy to be here. Eritrea. Thank God we have people from different 53:29 lands. I would not want to be in a church which is not representative of the gospel. So when we come to break bread, we are proclaiming that unity. One bread broken into pieces and each of 53:48 us taking apart. One jar of wine poured into little cups we are taking apart saying I am one with all of these people in the same body. They are different from me. I'm different from them. 54:07 But I need them. They need me. Some people think we need gifted brothers like brother Zach who can get up and proclaim. Hang on. Please read one Corinthians and chapter 12. Which are the members of the body that 54:32 you need the most? I'll tell you not the visible members. It says here in 1 Corinthians 12, no member can say verse 21 to the other, 54:52 I don't need you or I don't need you. On the contrary, verse 22, it is much more true that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are more necessary. The weaker members, do you need sisters 55:10 in the church? They called the weaker the weaker sex. We need them. And the members which verse 23 which are less honorable on those we bestow more abundant honor. There are presentable members in our 55:30 body and there are other members of our body we will never let anybody see because they are not presentable. That's what it says here in verse 23. We know that we cover up certain parts of our body because they're not presentable. 55:46 He says in the church also there are some uncultured people are not presentable but you need them. You value them much more than some of those presentable parts. You know that the greatest need in the church is to follow Jesus who said learn from me 56:05 for I am gentle and humble in heart. Matthew 11:29. Write it somewhere in front of your table or somewhere and always see it. Learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in my heart. That's how we fellowship with one 56:24 another. That's why we don't have a bigger slice of bread for some people and a smaller slice of bread for some. It's all the same size, same quantity of the wine in everybody's cup. You know the greatest need in every 56:40 church is humility, gentleness. Let's learn from Jesus and let us value one another and respect the authority in the church. There are reasons why they take some 56:58 decisions. You may not understand those reasons. Don't be so conceited as to think, well, I know better. Maybe you think you do, brother, but you don't. The very fact that God is not giving you grace in different situations 57:17 shows that you're not humble. God always gives grace to the humble. So, let us come to the Lord's table. The spirit of self judgment. I'm not here to judge anybody else. 57:35 You know, when I go to a shower, I scrub the dirt from myself, not from somebody else's body. When we cleanse ourselves, when we judge ourselves, scrub the dirt from your own heart. Don't worry about the others. And I believe we can be a wonderful 57:54 church manifesting the spirit of Christ. I never want the Lord to say to this church, I'm going to take away the lamp from here because you guys don't love one another. You, some of you got high thoughts and you think less of some of the others and 58:12 you never take an opportunity to meet any of the others. You're always hanging around with your special friends every single Sunday. I hope God won't have to say that to us. May God have mercy on us. Amen. The 58:51 title of this message, what we just heard is marks of a true Christian church. And uh many people go to different churches to find out whether this will fit me or I 59:10 will fit in that church. And uh over a period of time they get frustrated. They will keep jumping from one place to another. I did that in my 59:29 early Christian life. In the first 6 to 8 years, I went around trying different churches, different denominations, thinking whether this is the right doctrine or that's the right doctrine. 59:48 Will I fit in here or will I make this my uh home church? And I I was not happy in any of those until 1:00:05 I came to a house meeting in 16 D Costa Square where just a handful of people were meeting and they had a bad reputation that they were called by all sorts of names 1:00:21 and that was in brother Zach's house and when I came there in 1980 And I saw something different there. The spirit was different. Even though we didn't have a music 1:00:40 facility like we have today and the choir and all the extra embellishments, we didn't have it. But the word was powerful and that was 1:00:58 what attracted me and I I decided that I will stay here and my friends and my other uh believer friends they warned me don't go there that is a cult this that and the other and the 1:01:18 more I heard here the more I was convinced that this is the place I should and the marks of a true Christian church. We read about that in the Bible. Paul writes very clearly 1:01:40 in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, chapter 12, 14, sorry, 1 Corinthians chapter 14. He says one of the marks of a true Christian church 1:02:00 is this that when the message is being preached verse 24 and that man who walks in an unbeliever hears 1:02:18 and is convicted head and is called to account. And whenever you come to a church and you don't get convicted by the message or the message does doesn't make you 1:02:36 uncomfortable, doesn't shake you, then that is not the church you should be in. And the next verse says the secret of his heart are disclosed and he will 1:02:56 come to know that who told this preacher about me. He speaking about me. He's speaking to me as if he knows everything about me. and he is convicted 1:03:14 and his secrets of his heart are disclosed and then he will fall on his face and worship God declaring that God is certainly among you. This is the kind of church you 1:03:33 should be looking for. If you go to some church and they make you feel happy, they make you feel good and they pat you on the back. We're happy to have you, brother. Come again next Sunday. We want people like you and things like 1:03:52 that. They tell you what you want to hear and not what you need to hear. and you come back entertained. You know today many churches 1:04:10 in the world especially the charismatic ones have become more of a entertainment centers rather than the church of God. There is no proper word of God being preached. There are only entertainments 1:04:30 and songs and captivating stage flashlights, strobe light and smoke and jumping and dancing and heavy metals and confetti falling on you and so many 1:04:50 things and you think, "Wow, this is the place for me." Yeah, you will get what you want. Jesus said, "Seek and you shall find." If you seek for such churches, you will definitely find such backsliden churches 1:05:09 where Jesus Christ is not there. See, once upon a time, Jesus Christ was there in the church of Ephesus. It was one of the one of the best churches of those days when Paul spent three years 1:05:28 in Ephesus and he trained the people. He spoke to them and they heard him with wrapped attention and they were one of the best churches in the first century. And after Paul was gone 1:05:47 and you see in the second letter to the Ephesians that Jesus writes, the first letter Paul wrote, the second letter Jesus wrote and from heaven he sent that message to the church at Ephesus through John the Apostle. And he said to the 1:06:05 leader in Ephesus, you have left the first love. And then even to the le Leodician church he says that you are neither hot nor cold but you are lukewarm. 1:06:25 Isn't being lukewarm a little better than being cold ice cold? But the Lord says I wish you either hot or cold. At least there will be some hope for you if you're ice cold. But because you're 1:06:44 lukewarm, you think things are okay with me. When that's the problem you have. I wish you were hot or you were cold. And Jesus said to that church in 1:07:03 Revelation 3:20, he says, "I stand at the door." They thought that Jesus was in their midst. Claiming that verse where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst. They thought that 1:07:22 and they were carrying on with their routine. But Jesus was not there in their midst. Jesus was outside the church. And he says, "If any man, any one of you sitting inside this Levodian church 1:07:40 hears my voice and opens the door of his heart, I will come in and s with him and he with me." That was the state that such churches, some of those churches out of seven, five were backsliden 1:07:58 and Jesus had to rebuke them their elders and tell them to repent. And this is what happened in the old centuries. As we heard when Jesus was on earth, 1:08:20 he made certain things very clear. For example, when he began his ministry, he spoke the sermon on the mount in Matthew chapter 5 6 and 7. And at the 1:08:37 end of his ministry, on the last day rather of his ministry, he spoke in John's gospel chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. These were the last words of Jesus. Just go home and read 1:08:55 these Matthew chapter 5 6 and 7 and John's gospel 13:14 15 161 17 these are the first and the last words of Jesus and what did Jesus say there in the sermon on the mount Jesus addressed certain 1:09:14 basic things that we all need to hear such as in all seriousness Jesus spoke about these things. For example, he spoke about anger. He spoke about lust. He spoke about divorce, 1:09:33 swearing in. He spoke about revenge. He spoke about loving our enemies. He spoke about giving arms to the poor. He spoke about fasting and prayer. And he spoke about forgiving and money matters. 1:09:52 and anxiety which many people think is not so great a sin and judging others and the consequences of obedience and disobedience and most of these sins which Jesus is speaking about they are not external 1:10:11 they are internal and many people are just content and are happy when they have an external testimony Externally, you know, we all would like to have a good testimony. 1:10:29 Sunday, we come with our Sunday best and we put on a big smile and greet everybody with a smile and we act so humble and act so 1:10:46 pious and holy and people think we are saints. Yeah, Sunday we are saints. But between Sundays, oh what a different story it is. Ask your life partner. 1:11:06 You will know the truths. It's a different life that we live most of us. That's why Jesus addressed these hidden sins that we practice between Monday to Saturday. Sunday we are all 1:11:23 saints but Monday to Saturday we are quite a different personality. And you read in the chapter chapter 7 of Matthew Jesus spoke certain words 1:11:41 very strongly and he said he meant what he said. He said for example in Matthew 7:13-15 he said 1:11:58 enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. We read very casually, brothers and sisters. Read slowly and let the word of 1:12:18 God go through you. And he says in the next verse, for gate, the gate is small and the way is narrow. Maybe one person at a time 1:12:35 and that leads to life. and few are those who find it. We sing in that song to God be the glory. There is a line in that I would like to bring it to your notice where it says 1:12:51 and he opened the door that all may go in. Is that true? According to the verse, this verse Jesus said, "Many will try but will not be able to because the broadway 1:13:09 and the wide gate is the way to hell. And many will be there. Many will go on that and through that. But enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way 1:13:26 is um broad that leads to destruction, but many are those who enter it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few there be that find it. And immediately after that Jesus says that is very very important for you to 1:13:46 know. He says beware of false prophets. He's not telling that you know who are these false prophets. These false prophets are those who would like to speak to you what you 1:14:05 would like to hear. Some motivational talk, some pat on the back. Say God loves you, brother. Whatever is your condition, God loves you. God loves you unconditionally. That's another phrase that we have been 1:14:21 hearing these days. Is it in the Bible? It's not in the Bible. God doesn't love everybody unconditionally. God so loved the world true. But there is a condition that whosoever believes 1:14:39 believes is not just mental ascent saying yes. Believing is obeying. In the same chapter John 3:16 we read whosoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life. People take it very lightly but 1:14:59 try to understand the word what believe is. Go down a little bit and read the last verse in chapter 3 of John. It says he who believes will have eternal life. He who does not obey 1:15:17 will be condemned. So believing is obeying and having faith is not just mental ascent. Again having faith is being faithful all your life to the Lord. 1:15:35 Obeying him and being faithful to him till the end of your life will help you squeeze through this narrow gate and through the narrow way. Many will be there who try to enter but will not be able. 1:15:54 Luke the same similar passage it says Luke 13:23 Luke 13 23 it says Jes this is Jesus saying Luke 1:16:17 13:23 Jesus said strive to enter by the narrow door. No, there is a striving. It is not just just believing. Oh, I believe the whole world believes in Jesus. Do you know 1:16:36 that atheists believe that Jesus existed and non-Christians believe and nominal Christians believe that Jesus Christ came to die for our sins and some believe he is a good teacher. He's a 1:16:54 prophet and he's a miracle worker. Nobody was like that. And so many good things they say about Jesus. But Jesus is not bothered about that. They don't obey him. Jesus said, "By 1:17:12 this shall all men know that you are my disciples. If you, the 11 of you, love one another as I have loved you." If that is not the hallmark of a Christian, then he's deceiving himself. Jesus says clearly, 1:17:32 "Strive to enter by the narrow door. For many will many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able once the head of the house has I mean gets up and shuts the door and you begin to stand outside and knock the 1:17:51 door saying Lord open to us." Similar passage in Matthew 7:21 222-23 it says Lord Lord they say open to us didn't we prophesy in your name didn't we cast out demons in your name didn't 1:18:09 we do miracles in your name Lord don't you know us Jesus says here open to us Lord Then he will answer and 1:18:25 say to you, I do not know where you are from. And they say further, we ate and drank in your presence. Yes, one of them Judas ate and drank in 1:18:47 the presence of Jesus. And immediately after taking part of the bread and the cup, Satan entered into him. It says in John 13, you read that Satan, it's not some demon, ordinary demon. It is Satan 1:19:03 himself enters Judah's Scariot. They say we ate and drank in your presence and you taught us on our streets, 1:19:20 but I will tell you I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. That means these people had a form of godliness but no power. 1:19:38 And they thought they will make it, but they got the shock of their life when Jesus said, "I'm sorry. I don't know you. Please get out from here." Would you like to hear that? You hear things here that will disturb 1:19:56 you and you may get offended and leave. Please find some church where you'll be comfortable. in this church every Sunday you'll be uncomfortable you'll be shaken disturbed and I want to be in that kind of church 1:20:14 because I want to see all that can be shaken in me can be shaken and fall down fall off and only that which cannot be shaken might remain and increase in me that is 1:20:31 my desire I hope that's yours do and Jesus said that let your light shine before men that is not just on Sunday morning throughout the week let us not be Sunday 1:20:49 Christians let's be Christians between Sundays 24/7 and do what the Lord wants us to do and let's not think that we are good Christians we are not like those people. We are not like these sinners. Like that 1:21:08 Pharisee said, "I fast twice a week. I give my tithes. I do this, that, and the other." All those things he boasted about before God as if God doesn't know about it. And he said, "I am not even like that fellows standing there, the tax 1:21:27 collector. I'm upright in everything." And that man, he didn't even have the boldness and the courage and the confidence to lift up his head. He said, "Lord," he beat his chest and 1:21:44 said, "Lord, have mercy on me." The sinner. He didn't say a sinner. He said the sinner. He considered himself the greatest sinner of all. And Jesus said that man went home justified. Not this fellow who thought 1:22:04 I'm okay. Everything is fine with me. No. Such people won't make it. And also people who don't forgive each other. Jesus taught us to pray forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. God will take you by your 1:22:23 word. as you forgive the sins of those si who sin against you. But there are people who say, "Oh, that person I will never be I'll never forgive him or her for the things that they have 1:22:42 done to me." I have heard people like that. Jesus said, "Fine, you prayed that prayer, right? as I forgive those who sinned against me, forgive my sins. And I forgive that particular person. Jesus says, "Okay, then I'll not forgive 1:23:01 you either because you prayed for me, prayed to me." So then again that particular verse Jesus picked up and said in chapter 6 Matthew 14 and 15 1:23:18 he said if you from your heart do not forgive those who sin against you neither will your heavenly father forgive your sins. Can it be clearer than that? Jesus elaborated that and explained what 1:23:38 it means to forgive those who sin against us. When hanging on the cross, none of us is hanging on the cross. None of us even got a slap on our face, but Jesus was slapped, spat upon, stripped, nailed to 1:23:57 the cross, bleeding. In that, in spite of that, he said, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do and secret sins in our hearts which nobody knows." Jesus said, "There is nothing that is hidden that will not be revealed. 1:24:17 What is spoken in the bed chamber will be broadcast from housetops." So you think your sin, you're cheating on your partner or whatever in your business, you think nobody know will know that. But there is nothing hidden 1:24:34 that cannot be revealed one day or the other. It'll all be laid bare and open for everybody to see at the judgment seat of Christ. And self-righteous Christians who think, "Oh, I am not like that people. I am not like that group. 1:24:53 I'm okay. What did Jesus say? You Pharisees, scribes, you hypocrites. Read that in Matthew 23. Seven times Jesus pronounced O to them. What is O? O is a 1:25:12 curse word. Jesus cursed the Pharisees and the scribes. And he said to them, you are those who travel over land and sea to make one procelite, one convert. And after you 1:25:29 make one convert, you make him double the son of hell just like you. Because you are so legalistic. There is no mercy. There is no compassion. There is no love in you. which are greater than being legalistic, 1:25:48 giving tenth of your garden herbs and things like that. You do all that, but you have neglected the greater commands of love and compassion. And these self-righteous 1:26:06 Pharisees, Jesus said, "You clean the outside of the cup." What is outside of the cup? Being a Sunday Christian, I have an external testimony. Everybody thinks well of me on Sundays. Oh, 1:26:24 between Sundays, it's a different story. And the last one, it's being a Christless Christian. We call ourselves Christian, but where 1:26:41 is Christ in you? the hope of glory. Can anybody see Christ in you? When you are in a tight spot like some teacher asked in Sunday school a child, "What is a lie?" 1:26:59 And the child said, "A lie is a very present help in time of need." Yes, it is. But ultimately it'll take you where all liars will go to the same place and 1:27:22 check whether Christ is in you. It says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, I'll read that in the Living Bible. Just listen to this. Check upon yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? 1:27:41 Do you feel Christ's presence and power more and more within you? Christ's presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you are not? 1:28:00 So my dear brothers and sisters, the antidote to all this hypocritical living is to live before the face of God 24/7. Go home and read Psalm 139 1:28:19 where the psalmist says, "Lord, you know everything about me. You know my standing up. You know my sitting down. You know my walking. You know my um standing. You know what I'm going to speak even before I speak the first 1:28:36 word. And you are the one who knit me fearfully and wonderfully in my mother's womb. And where shall I run away from your presence? If I go up, take the wings of a bird and 1:28:54 go up in the sky to hide somewhere, you are there. If I go deep down in the depth of the ocean, you are there. If I go to the east or west, father, your eyes see me. How can I 1:29:12 hide myself from your presence? We have a God with whom everything is open, bare and naked with whom we have to do. Shall we bow our heads in prayer and ask 1:29:32 the Lord to save us from all this form of godliness and make us genuine from within? Father, thank you for what we heard this morning. 1:29:51 Help each one of us sitting here not to live in deception, but to face the fact and be willing to be disturbed and shaken so that that which cannot be shaken might remain and increase in us. the 1:30:09 fear of God and the reverence for God and obedience and love for him. We pray that you will do that in each one of us through your Holy Spirit. For 1:30:24 we ask in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen. Now we'll sing a song and then we'll have the announcements. Let's sing. We are one in the spirit. We 1:31:19 are one in the Lord. We are one in the spirit. We are one in the Lord. We are one in the spirit. We 1:31:35 are one in the law and we are unity founded on God's true and holy word. We will know we are Christians by Allah by Allah. Yes, they'll know we are 1:31:51 Christians by Allah. And we'll walk with each other. We will walk side by side. We will walk with each other. We will walk the dead in sand and together we'll spread the news 1:32:10 that God is in our land. And they'll know we are Christians by your love. By your love. Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love. We will work with each other. We will 1:32:28 work side by side. We will work with each other. We will work side by side and together we'll build the church to be his holy bride. And they'll know we are Christians by our love. By our love. 1:32:48 Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love. All praise to the Father from whom all things come. And all praise to Christ 1:33:05 Jesus, his firstborn son. And all praise to the spirit who makes us one. And they'll know we are Christians by our love. By our love. Yes, they'll know we 1:33:22 are Christians by our love. [Music] Presenting 1:34:01 the book of this month, A Heavenly Home by Brother Zach Punan. [Music] God wants the days of each Christian home to be like the days of heaven upon 1:34:20 earth. This book contains the transcripts of the messages brother Zach preached at the weddings of his four sons. It addresses topics such as how to have a heavenly home on earth, how to make the right choices in your 1:34:41 marriage, how to have a marriage like a garden. How to make your home a sanctuary for God. May this book challenge many married couples to raise the standard of their 1:35:01 own married lives to God's standard. [Music]
