0:18 The last few weeks we've been looking at some foundational truths so that we can be established lay a good foundation and build a good Christian life. 0:35 So, just to briefly review we were looking at two passages which we said were like two sides of a coin two sides of the Great Commission. One is Mark 16 where Jesus said, "Go into all the world 0:52 and preach the gospel to every creature. And those who believe and are baptized will be saved. And those who go out and preach like that their ministry will be confirmed by their casting out demons in Jesus' name healing the sick and speaking in tongues 1:12 and many things like that, supernatural miracles that would confirm the gospel whenever it is taken to some new unreached area. It happened in the first century. It's happening today even in India. And 1:33 the other side of the Great Commission, which is mostly neglected This first part that I mentioned is being done by lots of people. Not enough because there are still millions of people who have not heard the gospel. So, there is a need for that 1:50 to continue. But if that work is done without the second part then it becomes an incomplete job. And even the effect of that evangelism will finally be lost. 2:09 So, in Matthew 28:18 we see the other side of the Great Commission where Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go." And I mentioned when we study that that the Lord never said, "Because 2:25 there's a great need, go." That's how a lot of preaching is today. No. If you go on the basis of need I can prophesy you'll end up confused end up as a grumbler, murmurer against others 2:44 and comparing your own ministry with others and frustrated and depressed and probably end up with a nervous breakdown. It's happened to many people. We don't go to meet a need. We go because Jesus has got all authority in heaven and earth 3:01 and tells us to go. That is why I don't believe that like some people do in our country when they have a baby they say, "Oh Lord, I'm going to dedicate this for your service like Hannah dedicated Samuel." You can't do that. 3:17 You can't do it because if God doesn't call your son, how in the world can he go out and serve him? That's a crazy idea. It's a non-Christian idea. The only person who can go out into full-time Christian service is one who goes because Jesus who's 3:34 going to wreck one who recognizes that Christ has got all authority in heaven and earth and he tells me to go. Then you better go. And if you go on that basis, he'll support you till the end of your life. So, that's the basis on which he said, 3:46 "Go." It's very, very important. Such a simple thing that many people don't notice. Matthew 28:18, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth." Do you submit to that authority in your life? Therefore Therefore means on the basis of that 4:05 authority, go. And every servant of God in these 20 centuries who has gone on that basis, not because there's a need but who's gone on the basis of the authority of Christ over his life 4:23 and Christ has commanded him to go, whether it's like the Apostle Paul in the first century or anybody in the 20th or 21st century they always succeed in their ministry because God backs them up. All the opposition of men 4:40 the criticism and abuse of men cannot touch them. It's very important. That's the only basis on which we can build a church and that's the only basis on which we built all CFC churches. Not because there was a need. A lot of people do evangelism on the 5:00 basis of need. Okay, God bless them. I don't criticize them. But I say we must look at the need. But then we must do God's will. And I'll show you, you know, when we see the balance in scripture I believe the fundamental problem with a 5:16 lot of Christians is they don't see the balance in scripture. Like people who talk about the fruit of the spirit but don't believe in the gifts of the spirit or people who talk about the gifts of the spirit and don't emphasize the fruit of the spirit. It's 5:28 always imbalance. Or people who emphasize grace but not truth or people who emphasize truth but not grace. And the glory of God was seen in Jesus full of grace and truth. And Jesus had gifts of the spirit and fruit of the spirit. 5:42 I'll give you another example of this very thing I'm talking about. Turn to John chapter 4. John's gospel chapter 4 The question is, should we look out and see the need in the world? Yes. But should we act on the basis of that 5:57 need? No. That's the point. John chapter 4 Jesus said in verse 35 John 4:35, "Don't you say there are four months yet to the harvest? I say to you, 6:15 lift up your eyes and look on the fields." What's he telling you to do? He's telling you to look at the need in the world. People who need to be saved, people who need to know about Jesus. "Look on the fields. They are white for 6:31 harvest." Now, I want to say to you, any of you who do not lift up your eyes and look on the fields, who have no interest in seeing the need in the world, you're just not obeying that command of Jesus. I've spent years, I think more than 50 6:46 years, looking on the fields, trying to find out where is the need? What is the need for people to hear the gospel, etc. in India and every I mean, that's my primary field is India. "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields." How many of us have obeyed that 7:04 command to lift up our eyes and look on the fields for they are white to harvest. But what must you do? Don't rush out. The principle of action is in the previous verse. "My food 7:22 verse 34 is not to go out and meet the need. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." There's a balance in those two verses. You must see the need but you must do the will of God. That's 7:38 why Jesus never went out of Israel even though there was a need in China and Africa and Europe. He never went there. Because his calling was to do the will of God. See the same thing in Mark Matthew chapter 9. I'm just trying to 7:54 show you this because when people accuse you saying you're not seeing the need you're not doing anything about it it's good to go back to the words of Jesus, not go by human reasoning. Human reasoning can lead us astray. 8:11 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean upon your human reason." Says in Proverbs 3. Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people Jesus saw the people he felt compassion for them. And we must also 8:30 because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. They were confused and aimless wandering around and his heart broke when he saw it. 8:47 So, he said to his disciples "The harvest is plentiful. The workers are few. Therefore rush out and meet the need? No. That's what today's Christians say. Therefore 9:04 pray to the Lord of harvest that he will send people whom he has chosen to each place. He's the Lord of the harvest. When you go out on your own you act as if you're the Lord of the harvest. He has to send out workers into 9:23 his harvest. I'll tell you from serving the Lord full-time for 46 years that I would never have survived until today if the Lord had not sent me out in the beginning. There was so much of opposition from demons and men that I'd have 9:41 become a nervous breakdown years ago. But if the Lord sends you you will complete your journey successfully in everything in your life come under the authority of Jesus Christ. Even if you're not called to full-time Christian work, to any 9:57 ministry, to anything, Lord, I want to live under your authority. And no one will be able to fight against you. All the demons of hell will be scared of you. All the human beings in the world can unite against you, they will not 10:13 succeed. The secret is to live under the authority of Christ. So, that's very important for us to remember and when we think of the second side of the Great Commission, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 10:26 If you have the slightest doubt about that, you're going to have problems all through your life. You know, whenever we get into a panic in some situation that you're facing, there's some threat that some people make against you. 10:41 Like, you know, when we faced the court case that religious people took against me. If you don't believe at that time that Jesus Christ has got all authority on earth, you'll get into a panic. And you'll compromise and do all types 10:55 of things. But, if you believe that Christ has got all authority on earth, everything is what he allows. And in his own time, he will make it subside. Every storm he can still. Very important, and there may be different storms that you face in life. 11:14 The answer is to recognize all authority in heaven and earth is given to Jesus Christ and not just to recognize it, that won't solve your problem. To come under that authority in your life. That's important. Not theoretically to believe, yeah, he's 11:31 got all authority. Have you come under that authority? Have you allowed him to run your life, to tell you what to do? Tell you what not to do, how to react in different situations? Have you come under his authority? Then 11:45 his authority will back you up. This tremendous authority that a Christian can have if he comes under the authority of Christ, like the Roman soldier said. I'm a man under authority. Therefore, I tell a soldier to go and he 12:02 goes. That's how whenever Jesus spoke to a demon, he never had to speak to that demon twice. I've seen a lot of people cast out demons. They're yelling and screaming and pulling people's hair. I say, you know the problem? 12:18 The demons are laughing at them. They're saying, you guys are not under the authority of Christ and you're trying to cast me out. You're not going to succeed. It's it's pointless. Don't even try it if you're not under the authority of 12:31 Christ. You leave them alone. Just go away. So, if you're under the authority of Christ, demons will be afraid of you. The devil will be afraid of you. Even all the people of the world turning against you. You don't have to fight with any of 12:46 them. When you fight with people, with human beings, you're showing that God is not backing me. He's not going to help me, so I better defend myself. Why is it Jesus never had to defend himself? Cuz his father would back him. 13:04 That's it. Why did Peter take out a sword? Cuz he didn't have faith that God would back him. And when you take out a sword, whether it's your tongue or anything else with which you try to fight with people, when you fight with your mother-in-law or 13:17 your relatives, it's because you don't believe God is backing you. Because you say God isn't backing me. Cuz I'm not under his authority, so I better fight for myself. I agree, you better fight for yourself. And that's how you create such a mess and you 13:31 dishonor the name of Christ when you call yourself a Christian. I've sometimes told people, you should not have a Christian name if you don't behave like a Christian. Cuz then you dishonor the Lord. Why not take some non-Christian name? So that at least you 13:45 don't dishonor the name of the Lord. But, if you take a Christian name and you dishonor the Lord the way you behave, that's a terrible insult. Recognize the authority of Christ in heaven and earth and therefore he said, 13:58 go and make disciples in all nations. We looked at that last time. Baptize them, we saw the meaning of baptism. And we just want to look at that last part of that. Teaching them to observe everything that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you 14:13 always. See, that's all authority in heaven and earth is given to me and I am with you always. If you submit to that authority, he's going to be with us all the time. Let's look at this. Teaching them. This is part of Jesus' command. 14:28 To observe some of the things I commanded you? No. Teaching them to observe every single thing that I commanded you. And I say that a person who comes under the authority of Christ and goes out to make disciples, it's not enough 14:45 that he's made disciples. After he's made disciples, the whole purpose of church gatherings, what's the purpose of our meeting together at church? We may think the most important thing in a church is what many people call praise and 14:58 worship. Singing a lot of songs to God. I I praise the Lord for that. And I'll tell you this, I don't praise the Lord just on Sunday morning. I want to have a spirit of praise and thanksgiving to God 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, which means zero murmuring, 15:15 zero complaining, zero grumbling. That is my type of praise and worship. 24/7 that I never grumble, never complain, never murmur about anything that happens in my life. I want to praise God and thank him. If you're not doing that, I want to say, your praising 15:33 God on Sunday morning is hypocrisy. It is hypocrisy. Here you pretend to be so holy and during the week you're complaining and grumbling about Okay, you're like that, but say, go to God and say, Lord, I'm a hypocrite. That's what I did. 15:51 I said, Lord, I'm a hypocrite. I'm praising you on Sunday. I also started like that. I'm praising you on Sunday, but not the rest of the week. What type of Christianity is this? 2 hours on Sunday morning Christianity? That's not Christianity. That's Old 16:06 Testament religion. Where on the Sabbath day they would come and clap and sing and I tell you, the way they praise God beats any Pentecostal church today. They would clap and blow trumpets and all types of things. But then, once the Saturday 16:19 Sabbath was over, Sunday to Friday they could complain and grumble and do what they like so long as they came back again on the next Sabbath day to praise the Lord. That is a Jewish religion. It is old covenant. And if you're like that, I want to say 16:32 to you in Jesus' name, you're under the old covenant even if you're sitting here. In the new covenant, it is give thanks to God at all times for everything. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18 or Ephesians 5:20. At all times for everything, in all circumstances. 16:52 That is new covenant praising and thanking God. So, Jesus called us to obey everything that he commanded and the purpose of our coming together is not primarily to praise God even though we do that. But, for some churches that is the big 17:11 thing. To me, it's not the big thing. If it helps me, if half an hour on Sunday morning of praise teaches me to praise God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, then it's a good thing. If it doesn't, if it's just to ease my conscience, 17:26 and you compare church with church saying, oh, they have a better time of praise. These others have a better time of praise. You got the wrong idea of Christianity. There's nothing wrong in praising God, but that's not the main purpose of 17:40 coming together in a church. I'll tell you what the main purpose in coming together in a church is. It's written here. After you make them disciples and baptize them and they become members of your church, what should you do? 17:52 Teach them to praise me? One of the things, yes, but teach them to observe every single thing I commanded you. So, the whole purpose of a Sunday meeting is to teach people to obey every single thing that Jesus commanded because they don't know what 18:08 Jesus commanded. So, that is why I was saying that when we started out 38, 39 years ago, we started with teaching people discipleship. The foundational truths, repentance, faith, water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit. 18:28 The imputed righteousness of Christ with which we are declared righteous before God and then the imparted righteousness of Christ by which we partake of God's nature. And discipleship, the conditions of dis- discipleship. Love Jesus more than all 18:44 human beings, number one, more than your own life, number two, and more than all your material property, number three. And then, in those early days, we decided to go to the next step, to teach people to do every single thing that Jesus commanded. 19:00 And I want to repeat it for the sake of newcomers, for the sake of children who have grown up in this church, who never were with us way back in 1975 when we started. And what we did was, we started with Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, 19:18 which is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Cuz there in a nutshell, it doesn't cover everything that Jesus commanded, but it covers a great deal of what Jesus commanded. So, in order to obey the command in Matthew 28:22, 19:33 teach everything that he commanded, we started with Matthew 5, 6, and 7. We didn't stop there. We went to other passages as well. So, I wanted to, you know, we don't have time to go in depth into Matthew 5, 6, and 7. If you go to our website, 19:48 cfcindia.com, there is verse-by-verse Bible study there of the entire New Testament that I've taken from Matthew chapter 1 to the last verse of Revelation. And if you go there, you can go go to a more detailed study 20:07 of the Sermon on the Mount, but I'll just go through it briefly so that we understand. Now, the reason why we take Matthew 5, 6, and 7 is it's the longest sermon of Jesus written in the gospels. There are different sermons of Jesus 20:22 here and there in the gospels, but the longest sermon of Jesus is Matthew 5, 6, and 7. The longest prayer of Jesus is in John 17. These are very important passages for you to know. How to pray, what to pray for, go to John 17. 20:39 Uh what to teach, what did Jesus teach, go to Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Good to remember these chapters in your head. And the reason why I say it is, I want to go to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount and then begin. Why do I go to the conclusion? Because I 20:56 want you to see what Jesus said about all these things that he taught in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Listen. At the end of Matthew 5, 6, and 7, he gave a conclusion in chapter 7 verse 13 to 27. 21:16 So, in verse 13 to 27, he speaks about two ways, two trees, and two houses. That's it. Two ways, two trees, and two houses. Very simple. Actually, the Bible is a very simple book, and Jesus' teaching is very simple. Only Bible teachers make it very 21:34 complicated. So, in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, after all that he taught, the very next thing that he says at the end in the conclusion is verse 13, "Enter through the narrow gate." 21:51 Never take a verse by itself. Always take a verse in its context. When you take a verse, a text out of context, it's a pretext 22:10 for you to teach whatever you like. If you want to understand scripture, take a text in the context. So, when Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow way" after giving all this teaching, what he's saying is "What I have just taught you 22:27 is a very narrow way." And as you study the Sermon on the Mount, you'll really discover that. It's a very narrow way. And he said, verse 14, "Very few will find it." 22:43 Boy, is that true? Absolutely. Very few Christians take Matthew 5, 6, and 7 seriously. There are many people who have Bible studies on it, but they don't find that way in the time of temptation. It's one thing to understand it. 23:00 It's one thing to have a Bible study on it. It's a one thing to go through a verse-by-verse Bible study on it, but to find it, you'll find it this evening when you're tempted or this week in some difficult situation. There you have to 23:13 discover whether you find that narrow way. For example, love your enemies. You can have a Bible study on it, define what enemies are, define what love is, but you'll discover it when you have an enemy this week. That's where That's where you find it. 23:28 Here you can understand it, but there you'll find it. And Jesus didn't say very few will understand it. I think millions will understand it, but very few, verse 14, will find it. The important thing, brother, sister, is whether you've found this narrow way. 23:46 This is the way Jesus said that leads to life with a capital L. Life with a capital L. Jesus said, "I came to give life and abundant life." John 10:10. And here is the way to that abundant life which anybody can enter if he wants 24:04 to. The gate is narrow, and the way is narrow. It's not just a crisis experience. There are crisis experiences in the Christian life like a gate, being born again, being filled with the Spirit for the first time. 24:22 And then there is a way of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit, of continually taking up the cross every day. That's a way. And it's not just a gate that leads to life like some people have taught. You've entered in through the gate. 24:39 Great. You've entered life. No, that's not what Jesus taught. The trouble with a lot of Christians is they're all gotten through the gate, and they're crowding around there. Millions of people hanging around the gate when they 24:48 should be walking away. It's the way that leads to life. There is a narrow gate and a narrow way. The gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life. There is a crisis that leads to a process. That is Christianity. 25:06 And very few find it. I think millions find the gate. Very few enter through it and walk the narrow way. So, make sure as you study the Sermon on the Mount that you don't just understand it. Say, "Lord, every one of these things, 25:21 I want to learn to follow it." Because you remember the what we saw in Matthew 28? Did you notice that? "Not teach them all that I've commanded, but teach them to do all that I commanded." There's a lot of difference between teach them what I 25:38 commanded and teach them to do what I commanded. That means I must not teach what I have not done. Acts 1:1 says, "Jesus began to do and then to teach." He did not practice what he preached 25:58 like people say. He did not practice what he preached. He preached what he had already practiced, and there's a lot of difference. He preached what he had practiced, Acts 1:1. He did and then taught. And Jesus said, "Teach them to do." So, 26:16 you must teach when you have done. The trouble with a lot of people today is they're preaching things which they haven't done. That's not the way Jesus taught. So, teach them to do. So, you can only lead people into that 26:34 narrow way if you're walking it yourself. And that's what I call it, the way of the cross, the way of self-denial, the way of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit, not once. Okay. So, that's about the way. There's 26:48 a broad way which is leads to destruction. And then the next verse is also connected. Don't take a text out of context. Verse 15, "Beware of false prophets." Again, in its context. What does it mean? 27:06 False prophets are those who say the broad way also leads to eternal life. Or you don't have to walk the narrow way to get to life. You can get to life without the narrow way. Those are the false prophets. Tell me if it means 27:20 anything else in the context. False prophets are those who will devalue the Sermon on the Mount and say, "It's not important." You know, there are believers who say that or they call themselves believers who say that the 27:33 Sermon on the Mount is not for us. Well, who's it for? The There are lots of people like that. They say, "Women veiling their heads, that was for the Corinthian Christians, not for us." Breaking of bread is written in the same 27:48 chapter. I suppose that's also for the Corinthian Christians, not for us. And what is for us? I don't find anything written for Zac Poonen in the Bible. It's the Philippians and the Colossians, and you find your name in the Bible. What's 28:00 written for you? It's amazing how when people want to get out of obedience to a commandment, they say, "That's not for us. That's for somebody else. That's for the Jews. Going through the tribulation, that's for the Jews. That's not for us." 28:15 It's not what Jesus said. Jesus said, "In the world, you'll face tribulation." The church will go through the great tribulation, whatever people may say. So, many things like this. Be careful that when you come to the New Testament, I 28:29 know that the Old Testament was for the Jews. Jesus said that. The Bible says the old covenant is abolished, Hebrews chapter 8. That's why I don't go there. That's why I don't go for tithing and all those other things, sacrificing lambs and 28:42 keeping the Sabbath. No, it's all finished. So, if Colossians 2 says it was a shadow. But when it comes to the New Testament, the things that Jesus taught, the things the apostles taught, that's new covenant. You can't write that off as for somebody 28:56 else. So, the false prophets are those who say, "That's not for us." Or those who say that this This way is not so narrow. You know how narrow the narrow way is? Jesus explained it once after a rich man came to him and would 29:14 not give up his love of money and went away. And he said to his disciples, "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God's kingdom." 29:32 There Jesus defined the only place where he defined the size of that narrow gate. The eye of a needle. That's pretty small. That's he said the way to life. So, 29:52 why is it a camel can't go through eye of a needle? Why is it you and I can't go through the eye of a needle? Why is it you can't even put your finger through the eye of a needle? You know the answer. It's too big. That's the thing. 30:05 People who are big in their own estimation will never get into God's kingdom. That's how you heard me say the three secrets of the Christian life are humility, humility, humility. I've expanded it to 10 secrets of the Christian life are, 30:23 you know, same thing. Cuz people haven't understood it. It's humility. You humble yourself, you get grace. You can't be saved without grace. God gives his grace to the humble. How will he give it to you if you're not humble? How will you be saved? Because 30:42 by grace are you saved? If God doesn't give you grace, how will you get it? Dear brothers and sisters, when we come to the word of God, we have to be willing to love the truth and be willing to set aside traditions and concepts that we have 30:58 absorbed through so many years from many denominations. I'm not saying you should accept CFC's teaching. No. I'm saying you should accept what the Bible says. That was the problem the Pharisees had with Jesus. They said, "Oh, this man's not teaching 31:14 what Moses." They didn't even know what Moses taught. Once when Jesus is walking with the two disciples to Emmaus, he took all the Old Testament. It says in Luke 24 and he explained to them from Genesis to Malachi, everything was teaching about 31:30 Jesus. Says that Luke 24. But the Pharisees didn't understand that. It was all talking about Jesus, but when Jesus came, they called him Beelzebub, prince of devils. That shows me how blind you can be in studying the Bible. 31:46 You can be so blind that you can think that's not of God, that's of the devil. That's a false teaching. That's what they said about Jesus. That's what they said about Paul. That's what the Roman Catholics said about Martin Luther. 32:00 That's what the Anglicans said about John Wesley. And that's what many Christians have said about every true prophet of God in his generation. Years after they die, the next generation will say, "Ah, he was a prophet." But in his generation, he was called a 32:18 heretic and a false teacher. This has been true in 2,000 years. Remember this. The only way of salvation, my brother sister, he was years let him hear, is to come to the Bible and say, "Lord, this is your word. I'm not going to listen to 32:33 what others say. I'm my mind has already been influenced by a lot of traditions I've absorbed, but I'm going to get rid of them. I'm going to obey scripture." I did that 55 years ago. I grew up in an Orthodox church that prayed to Mary and 32:45 prayed for the dead and all types of things that are child baptism. And I read the scriptures and I found that those things are not true. And I made one decision that day years ago and I've never regretted it. I said, "Lord, if I find anything in your Bible, 33:00 in the word, which is against what I've understood and what Christians teach, I will obey your word and not what Christians teach. That's been my salvation. That'll be your salvation, too. I'm not asking you to accept what I 33:13 say, but what the scripture says. So, let's move on. False prophets will come in sheep's clothing. They'll pretend to be sheep. They'll look like sheep. The doctrine will sound right. But inwardly, they are ravenous wolves. 33:32 And that's one way you can identify a false prophet. What does a wolf want when he puts on sheep's clothing? Tell me. His whole aim is to get into the fold. What for? To bless the sheep? To bite, get something from the sheep. 33:51 Ravenous wolves in the A preacher who wants to get something from you, your money, or to exploit a simple girl sexually or something. A lot of preachers are doing this. Exploit them for their money or for some sexual 34:10 satisfaction. Or for honor, to get you to give them honor. That's a ravenous wolf. He's not interested in your good. He's interested in what he can get out of you. Beware of a preacher. You got to discern this. Even if his doctrine is right, that 34:28 means sheep's clothing. If you find his desire is to get something from you for himself, steer clear of him. Give him a wide berth and walk away from that. It's my advice. He was years to hear, let him hear. Ravenous wolves, you will know them by 34:47 their fruits. Thank God Jesus gave us a sign by which to identify false prophets, not by their gifts, by their fruit. Very important. Do you think Christians listen to this? They don't. Jesus spoke about people who have gifts 35:06 and people who have fruit in the same passage. I'll just come to it. Just hang on. I'll show you how to identify a false prophet, by fruit. Not by the gifts of the spirit. Okay, I'll show you the gifts of the spirit later on. Here it is. 35:24 Go down to verse 22 and you see some of these false prophets. Who will come to Jesus in the final day and say, "Lord, Lord, do you know we exercised the gift of prophecy in Jesus' name? Do you know we exercised the gift of 35:40 casting out demons in Jesus' name? Do you know we exercised the gift of miracles in Jesus' name?" And I will declare to these people, great preachers who conducted big crusades and spoke on television and impressed multitudes of 35:54 undiscerning Christians who gave them millions of rupees, I will say to them, "I never knew you. Depart from me, you who live in sin." The only thing that'll matter in that day, my brother sister, 36:11 is not whether you cast out demons or healed the sick or prophesied, but what was your attitude to sin? You did all these miracles. Great. I'm not saying you didn't do it. Did you do it in my name? Yes, you did it in my 36:28 name. But you know, this paraphrase here that I have is beautiful. The Lord says to the those people in that day, "All that you did was to use me and my name to make yourself important." We heard of preachers like that. 36:48 You used me and my name to make yourself important. That's all you did. You don't impress me one bit. Get out of here. Do you believe those words of Jesus? How many preachers do you think will be there like that? One or two? No, Jesus 37:04 said, "Many." 22, that means many thousands of preachers are false prophets. You see then how to identify them? Because they exercise gifts in Jesus' name. Jesus said it so clearly. Don't look by Look for their gifts. Look 37:22 for the fruit in their life. Verse 15, you will know the Verse 16, you will know them by their fruits. And later on, as I showed you, not by their gifts. You see the contrast between fruit and gift. It's not that gifts are not important. Jesus cast out 37:38 demons. Jesus prophesied. Jesus healed the sick. But there was a difference. Jesus did miracles, but there was fruit backing it up. How much more important is fruit than gifts? Well, Jesus is our example. 37:56 He spent 3 and 1/2 years exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And he spent 33 and 1/2 years showing the fruit of the spirit. So, you work out the mathematics of that. The fruit of the spirit is 10 times more important than the gifts of 38:09 the spirit. That's how I worked it out. So, I say in my life, fruit of the spirit it must be 10 times more than any gifts I have. God's given me gifts. I I don't deny it. I don't have it myself. I can preach. I God's given me the ability to cast out demons 38:24 now and then. We prayed for the sick and they've been healed. But that's not the main thing. It's the character of Jesus is 10 times or a million times to me, anyway, more important than gifts. I'll tell you why. Because Satan's got 38:40 gifts. Tremendous gifts. He was the first person who brought down fire from heaven in the Bible, not Elijah. In the book of Job, chapter 1, it says Satan sent fire down from heaven and consumed Job's property. He has tremendous gifts. 39:00 Look at all these people who do witchcraft in India. They do amazing things. Yeah. Gifts is not the main thing. What does Satan lack? Character. I'll tell you what Satan has. Tremendous supernatural abilities and tremendous 39:15 knowledge of the Bible. So, if you are impressed by somebody with a tremendous knowledge of the Bible and a tremendous gifts, supernatural gifts, you one day you'll be impressed by the devil himself. But you'll identify the devil by the 39:30 fact that he doesn't have a Christ-like humility or purity or goodness. So, please bear that in mind, dear brothers and sisters. Look for the fruit. Then you will not be deceived. Further, verse 17, every good tree 39:48 bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A tree's fruit is manifest what type of tree it is. What type of tree is this? You look at the fruit. It comes out of the tree. 40:07 Have you seen a tree with gifts? I've seen it. Christmas trees. They're not really a lot of gifts hanging there, and I tell you some of them look more attractive and much more expensive than one mango. Some of those trees gifts hanging on 40:20 those trees, but it's not part of the tree. I look a lot of I look at a lot of preachers with gifts just like a Christmas tree with all these gifts. It's not nature. But Jesus spoke about a tree with fruit that comes out of its nature. 40:37 That must be That is true Christianity. That's the type of The only type of preacher I want to listen to. Cuz I know he can help me. Because it's I can see that it's worked in his life. So, dear brothers and sisters, we live in a world where multitudes of 40:52 television preachers and people with great charisma, but not character. And who are like ravenous wolves out to get something from you, from men and women. You got to be careful of them. That's all I say. I can't protect you 41:10 from them. But I can warn you from them, just like Jesus did. Even Jesus won't protect a person who will not listen to his warning. That's why so many Christians go astray. Jesus warns, but he's not going to catch a person by the neck and say, "Come on, 41:26 don't go there." Never. Cuz he gives you freedom. He told Adam, "Don't go near that tree." But he didn't catch him by the neck and pull him away. Okay, if you go to that tree, it's fine. You're warned against false prophets. 41:39 You don't listen, you say, "Oh, I'm okay." And you go there and you get led astray. God will allow you to go astray. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. Okay. The sec The So, there's two ways, two trees, and the third illustration 41:53 was three two houses. Verse 24. You know, we sing a song, "The wise man built his house upon the rock, and the foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the rains came down, and the floods came up, and the house in 42:08 the" The foolish man's house fell down, and the fall of that house was great, and the wise man's house stood. And then, do you know the last verse of that song? So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is not what 42:25 Jesus said. That's exactly what I'm trying to say, how you can sing and sing and sing and sing a song, and it is not according to scripture. You say, "You mean Jesus is not the rock?" Of course he's the rock. It says in 1 Corinthians 3, "There's no 42:40 other foundation that anybody can lay than Jesus Christ." But make sure how you build on it. In that context, it's right. But here, the wise man built his house on the rock, the foolish man built his house on the sand. See what Jesus explains what the rock 42:55 is. Let's listen to it. He doesn't say the rock is me. Like you sing in the song. There are many songs we sing, I want to tell you, which are not scriptural. And I don't sing those verses. Whenever I come to such lines, I don't 43:11 sing them because it would be telling a lie to God, which I don't believe. Many of us are not careful when we sing songs. Because we don't know the scriptures. I could show you numerous songs that are sung which are not according to 43:27 scripture. Here's one of them. So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not how I sing it. So, build your house on obedience to his word. See if that's not what he says here. The foolish man 43:47 um a wise man he is one, verse 26, who hears these words of mine. The foolish man is the one who hears these words of mine and does not act on them. You see that? And the 44:07 wise man is the man who hears these words of mine, and verse 24, obeys them. That's the contrast. So, the rock is, verse 24, hearing his words and obeying it. So, it's not build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ, build your house on 44:26 obedience to his word. I'm just telling you a little thing like this which can save you from messing up your life. To find out whether you're on the rock or not. Have you ever wondered when some crisis comes in your life and you begin to 44:43 shake and you begin to get anxious and worried? The rains and the floods are shaking you, brother. Why is that? You're not founded on the rock. Why don't you take that warning? Another bigger storm may come another day and collapse your house altogether. 45:01 That little warning that shook your house a little bit was a little warning for you to check your foundation. Before you have a bigger toss. It's like the early days when I was riding a scooter and I'd have a little toss 45:16 on the road and then I said, "Lord, what are you trying to teach me from that?" And the Lord's telling me, "Drive a little slowly and be more careful." So, when you got a little shaking in your life, some anxiety, tension, and you got all 45:29 worried, the Lord's saying, "Check your foundation." Get it right now because there are bigger storms coming in the future. Bigger floods, heavier rains. And if you don't check your foundation now, in that day your whole house will 45:47 collapse. Thank God for little warnings. He who hears my these words of mine particularly, that's why we emphasize in Sermon on the Mount. He who hears these words of mine, that's Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and obeys them, 46:07 he can be compared to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And he who hears these words of mine, verse 26. In other words, this is not an atheist. This is not a non-Christian. This is a Christian. Who are the ones who hear the words of 46:23 Jesus? Fellow who comes to church. Fellow reads the Bible. Who hears these words of mine and does not do them. Because he listened to some preacher who said this is not for us. Oh, it doesn't matter. You just receive Christ in your heart, 46:38 you're okay. It doesn't matter if you ignore all that Jesus said here. That's why such Christians' lives are always shaking till one day their whole life collapses. Yeah, I've seen people like this. They don't take warnings from the little 46:53 shakings that come in their life. And years later, they're gone completely away doing all types of things which non-Christians would not do. And they're gone. Lost their salvation. Cuz they wouldn't take heed to the little warnings. 47:12 When there's a storm in your family life, what's the Lord trying to show? What's the Lord trying to show when there's a storm in your family life? My son, I love you. My daughter, I love you. Something is wrong in your life. 47:30 Take it seriously now before your whole house collapses. Stop blaming your partner. Examine your own foundation. That's what I would say. Take it seriously. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 47:49 Let's go now to Matthew 5. Here's how the Sermon on the Mount begins. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And you know, Jesus used illustrations, so here's an illustration. Compare poor 48:03 in spirit with poor in body. A beggar. You know, lots of them in India. Always waiting for a handout. Even if you give them, they'll be back again soon. You ask them, "What about what I gave you earlier?" "That's finished, sir. I 48:20 need some more." That is poor in body. Poor in spirit is someone who comes to Not to comes to people like that. Beggars go to human beings. We go to God. Say, "God, I need your grace for today." "What about what I gave you yesterday?" 48:38 "That's over, Lord. I need for today. Every day I need to come to you. I see a need in my own life." Have you ever heard a beggar coming asking for some money for somebody else? No. They always ask for themselves. "I need money." 48:57 When you go to God, don't talk about the need of other people. It's not your wife or your husband or your brother or sister who's standing in need of prayer, it's you. "Lord, I am in need." That's why we have stressed in this church for 39 years 49:14 that in the church of the living God, we judge ourselves first. And those who judge other people first are not really a part of the church. They are a part of that other church of Satan who's the accuser of the brethren. 49:28 If you are the accuser of the brethren, that's the title of Satan, and you spend your life accusing others, "That person's wrong. The other person's wrong." Brother, you're in the wrong church. You should be in the church of Satan. 49:41 Believe it or not, you won't hear such straight words in other churches cuz they don't want to offend you because they want your money. This is the truth. In the church of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 4:17, we judge ourselves first. It's the household of 49:59 God, 1 Peter 4:17, where we judge ourselves first. And Revelation 12:10 is the church of Satan, who's the accuser of the brethren. Make sure you're in the right church. I am in need, Lord. That is poor in spirit. That's the opening verse of the 50:16 Sermon on the Mount teaching us that when you read the Sermon on the Mount, don't think of somebody else, but think of yourself in every verse. When it says don't lust after women, think of yourself. When it says don't get angry, 50:36 that's equal to murder, think of yourself. When it says you must love your enemy and forgive everyone, it's not other people forgiving you, it's you forgiving others. So, poor in spirit is the beginning. This is the master key that opens every 50:53 door in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is like a palace with rooms with many treasures. There's one master key, poor in spirit, that'll make you get the treasure in every room. It's by saying, "Lord, I'm in need." 51:07 Like that beggar, you come to God. I'll give you a verse for it. I like to show a verse for everything I teach. So, Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8. The blessing of the Lord comes on whom? Verse 34, Proverbs 8:34. 51:30 This is the man who gets the blessing of the Lord, the grace of God, the power of God, the wisdom of God. This blessing comes to the man who listens to me, who watches daily at my gates, like the beggars come to your gate, 51:48 waiting at my doorposts, like the beggars come to your door to your doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor, and that's an Old Testament word for grace. Grace from me. Waits daily. 52:06 Lord, I'm in need. Blessed are the poor in spirit. They will possess the whole kingdom of heaven. Meditate on that. The second blessing, verse Matthew 5:4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comfort comforted. 52:25 Comforted. The word comfort has got the word f o r t in the middle, which means strength. Will be strengthened. That's how I look at it. To be strengthened, you must mourn. What do you mourn for? For sin. We are not like little kids who mourn 52:42 saying, "Oh, my knee got hurt. I fell down." No. We mourn for our sin. I love that verse in that song, uh I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. One line of it always strikes me. I've ever since I heard it, maybe 30, 40 53:01 years ago. He had no tears for his own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine. He had no tears for his own griefs, and I say, "Lord Jesus, I'm following you. I by the grace of God, I will never shed one tear 53:20 for my own griefs, never in my life. I have no sorrows to complain to others about. I have no griefs to go and shed tears about. I follow Jesus who had no tears for his own griefs, but many tears 53:38 for the areas in my life where I am un-Christ-like still. I've not become Christ-like. I've got a long way to go. And the closer I get to God, the more I realize there are little little areas of un-Christ-likeness that I never even 53:55 realized or thought were un-Christ-like 1 year ago or 5 years ago. It's a whole refining process where God shows me what his nature is like. You know which uh you know when you're in the kindergarten class, you don't learn about calculus and 54:11 things like that. You think you've learned all of mathematics when you know 2 + 2 is 4. And in the early days of the Christian life, we think just because I accepted Christ and I've got to change my attitude towards drinking and smoking 54:22 and gambling and things like that, I'm a Christian. That's good. We start like that with a kindergarten. But as you move on in the Christian life, you discover many many subtle areas of selfishness, subtle areas of arrogance and pride, 54:36 which are there within you, which you got to which are unlike Christ. And you mourn. I hope you do. I mourn. I mourn regularly. Usually on my bed so that I don't disturb anybody else. For what? No griefs of mine. Nobody does 54:55 me any harm. Everything that people do for me works for my good according to Romans 8:28. I don't weep for that, but un-Christ-likeness. Mourn, then be strengthened. Blessed are the gentle. Matthew 5:5. Gentle means those who 55:12 will not fight back, meek. Will not fight back with people who want to fight with them. You must have a testimony that you cannot fight with me. You cannot get into an argument with me. I'll allow you to win, 55:30 even though I know you're wrong. I've had that type of wonderful experience with many people who tried to convince me that my theology is wrong. And uh I can know their theology is wrong by the way they get angry. And uh 55:47 I say, "Brother, I'm not going to argue with you. God bless you. Let's pursue humility." End of argument. A meek person will not fight. Be one like that. Reserve all your fighting for the devil. We wrestle not with flesh and blood. 56:07 Such a New Testament commandment, Ephesians 6. And the more you avoid wrestling with flesh and blood, the more you'll be able to fight the devil. Next, verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be 56:20 satisfied. If you're not satisfied with the measure of righteousness that should be in your life today, I'll tell you clearly the reason. You don't hunger and thirst. Because every person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, to be holy and pure 56:38 in his life, will be satisfied. Are you trying to tell me God didn't keep his promise? Or is it that you did not hunger and thirst? I also say, "Lord, I didn't hunger and thirst. I remember the days when I was a terrible 56:49 backslider 40 years ago, 1974. I didn't hunger and thirst for righteousness. That's why I was defeated in my inner life and thought life, and I could be a hypocrite. But when I got fed up of that, Lord, I said, "Lord, I don't want to be a 57:05 hypocrite. I never want to preach in my life if I can't preach what I practice in my life. I want to I hungered and thirsted, and God met with me. I can tell you every one of you, I'm not a favorite of God. You are as much a favorite of God as I 57:19 am. But if you fulfill the condition, he'll do it in your life, too. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not asking in a meek way, "Uh Lord, please give me some righteousness." Hunger and thirst for it. "Those who seek me with all their heart 57:36 will find me," says the Lord. Don't seek for God like you would seek for a lost 50 paisa coin somewhere. Seek for God like if you have misplaced 500,000 rupees somewhere in your house, or somewhere where we went out, some 57:53 shop, you accidentally left it behind. How would you seek for it? You wouldn't casually look for it like you look for a 50 paisa coin you lost somewhere. That's exactly how some people seek for God. Yeah, "Lord, please do something 58:08 for me." Nothing happens. Oh, I got more important things to do. Oh, you'll never be satisfied. I can honestly say before God without telling any lies, I'm perfectly satisfied with Jesus Christ and with the measure of righteousness 58:22 he's brought in me. I'm satisfied. But at the same time, I mourn because there's more I want. It's a continuing dissatisfied satisfaction. Satisfaction with what God has already done, but dissatisfied because I want to get a 58:39 PhD spiritually. That should be our position. Next, blessed are the merciful, verse 7, for they shall receive mercy. It's very very important. When you pursue righteousness, verse 6, the great danger is being unmerciful. 58:56 Very great danger. Because the more you holy you become, the more you become judgmental on other people who are not as holy as you are. That's why Jesus immediately spoke about mercy. Be merciful to others. Forgive them. 59:09 Over Assume that they don't have the light that you have. That's why they behave like that. Husbands and wives, why do you judge each other? Because you you think you should have the light I have. What stupidity. It's like an older brother telling his 59:27 6-year-old younger brother, "I'm in the 10th standard. Why can't you understand calculus like I understand? Who's the stupid person there? The 10-year-old. If God has given you more light, it should make you more humble. 59:41 Always assume. This is what saved me from judging people, that the other person has not yet come to the light that God has given you. That doesn't make you proud because there may be other areas where that person has got more light than you. 1:00:00 Yeah. You may be better than him in mathematics, but he may be better than you in science. That's it. So, you don't despise anyone, but don't look down on someone saying that you should have the light I have. No. Be merciful. Be merciful. 1:00:16 Whenever there's a conflict between a a desire to judge a person or be merciful to a person, James 2:13 says, "Let mercy triumph over judgment." There's a battle often in our heart. Mercy says, "Be merciful." And judgment 1:00:30 says, "No, let mercy triumph over judgment. Let mercy get the victory every single time." The next one, be Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. There are people who see Jesus very clearly in their heart. 1:00:47 The purer you are, the more clearly you'll see Jesus in your heart. You don't have to see him physically. You'll see him more clearly in your heart. Jesus said that to Thomas in John 20, "You're blessed because you've seen me. 1:01:02 More blessed more blessed are those who have not seen me and believed because they saw me in their heart." I learned something from that. That I can see Jesus physically and walk away from him and not follow him 1:01:20 like many people who saw him in Israel. But if I see Jesus in my heart, it's more blessed because I can follow him in all situations. Do you know it's more blessed to see Jesus in your heart than to see him physically? It really is cuz Jesus said that in John 1:01:38 chapter 20. So, the pure in heart will see God. And there's another thing I see in this verse, Matthew 5:8, and that is when you're pure in your heart, you see God everywhere. You don't see that enemy of yours. 1:01:57 You see God doing that. You remember what David said when Shimei cursed him? Second Samuel chapter 16. God has allowed Shimei to curse me. Why should I fight with him? God has allowed that fellow to come and fight with me. I'm not going to fight 1:02:14 with him. God has allowed that fellow to call me the devil. And God bless him. When you see God everywhere, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus saw the Father. The Father has given me a cup to drink. Of course, it came through the postman, Judas 1:02:32 Iscariot. That's okay. I'm not worried about the postman. The cup came from my Father. Supposing you're in love with somebody and your beloved sends you a letter and it's an ugly-looking postman who brought the letter, you don't reject the letter because the 1:02:47 postman looked ugly. That's how Jesus was. It doesn't matter. Judas Iscariot brought the cup sent by my Father. I'll drink it. But Peter couldn't see that. His heart was not pure. He couldn't see God. That's why he took out a sword and 1:03:00 fought. And I tell you, every time you fight, the problem is your heart is not pure. You don't see God there. You take out your sword, usually your tongue, and hit back cuz you can't see God. You're just like Peter. Jesus saw God. Blessed are the pure in 1:03:18 heart, they'll see God everywhere. They'll see God in a Shimei cursing them. They'll see God in a Judas Iscariot betraying them. They'll see God everywhere. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Do you 1:03:32 want to be called a son of God? Here's the way. Be a peacemaker. Or like it says here in the paraphrase, show people how to cooperate instead of how to compete and fight. Then you will discover your place in God's family. 1:03:52 Show people how to cooperate instead of compete and fight. Then you'll discover your place in God's family. Then you're really a son of God, a peacemaker. What are you known as in your home, a troublemaker or a peacemaker? 1:04:08 What are you known in your neighborhood for? Troublemaker or peacemaker? What are you known in your office for? Troublemaker or peacemaker? When everybody else has got road rage, you know what road rage is? When somebody does not obey the rules of 1:04:26 the road in front of you, are you a troublemaker or a peacemaker? Those are the places where you discover the narrow way that leads to life. Very few find it, but you can find it if you want to. This is what God gives us grace for, 1:04:42 otherwise we can never make it. And then, number eight, those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Jesus taught us very clearly that when you stand up for righteousness and you 1:04:55 proclaim righteousness, you will not be praised. You will not get the Nobel Prize. You will not get the Bharat Ratna. You will be persecuted because this world is in opposition to God. Jesus Christ has not become popular. 1:05:07 If he came into the world today, they'd kill him even today. And the true servants of Jesus Christ will be opposed, not honored by the world. Please remember that. Don't get excited when worldly people honor you. Maybe for something you did in your 1:05:23 office, okay. But if not for your true Christianity is always opposed cuz the world is against God. They'll love you if you care for the orphans and the widows, but you proclaim the way of the cross and show that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. 1:05:38 That's not going to be popular. No. And finally, the last of the Beatitudes, verse 11, Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. These two are combined. One is in verse 1:05:57 10 for the sake of righteousness, because you stood up for what is right and holy. But the second is because you stood up for the name of Jesus. That you said Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. And people call you narrow-minded. 1:06:12 I always tell people truth is narrow-minded. 2 + 2 is not 5. 2 + 2 is not 3. I'm sorry. 2 + 2 is 4. It's not even 4.1. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. There is no other way. Whatever you may say, I'm not going to 1:06:25 compromise there. And you're insulted because you stand up for me. What should you do in that day? Don't go and weep. Go and jump for joy. Rejoice and be glad because you're in line with the prophets of old. The prophets of old were all 1:06:41 persecuted like that. Dear brothers and sisters, that's just the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. You can read through it. Build your house on the rock. Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, 1:07:07 we want to really talk to you right now. We don't want to go through a formality of a closing prayer. We want to really talk to you, Dad. We are in need. Many of us here 1:07:26 are in desperate need to take your word seriously. We pray that your Holy Spirit will impress the seriousness of what we have heard today. Whatever you have spoken, Lord, 1:07:45 limited by my words, whatever you spoke, I pray that it'll go home to every heart and bring some eternal results. Only you can do it by your spirit. I pray that you'll do it in Jesus' name. Amen.
