0:00 A pilgrim was I and a wandering. In the cold night of sin did I roll. When Jesus the kind shepherd found me, 0:16 and now I am on my way home. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. 0:32 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. He restored my soul when I'm weary. 0:50 He g me strength day by day. He leads me beside the still waters. He guards me each step of the way. 1:07 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow 1:23 me all the days all the days of my life. and I walk through the dark of my savior will walk with me there 1:41 and save me and will be to the man he's gone to All goodness and mercy shall follow me 1:59 all the days, all the days of my life. Show me goodness and mercy shall follow me. All the days, all the days of my sh 2:21 forever. I shall stand the table for me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow 2:33 me all the days all the days of my life. Turn to song 8. Psalm talks about our Lord. You were despised. You were rejected. Lord, those who passed by even averted their gaze from the sight. Such was the suffering 2:52 you bore for us. How many of you know this song? It's a beautiful song and uh let's focus our eyes on him. It says God has highly exalted your name. He's enthroned you on high. There is no other name given to 3:11 us, given to men by which we can be saved except the name of Jesus. Let's all stand. We sing the song. [Music] You were despised. 3:33 You were rejected, Lord. Those who passed by, even their gaze from the side. Such was the suffering you bore for us. Like a lamb 3:55 to the star. You spoke not a word but chose to be silent. Though you did no wrong, nor was deceitfulness found in you. 4:13 Yet by your wounds our salvation has come. Yet by your suffering our freedom is one. For God has highly exalted your name. 4:36 He has enthroned you on high. He gave you a name of Christ. For God has 4:52 highly exalted your name. He has enthroned you on high. Jesus the name of me. 5:10 You were led like a lamb, a lamb to the slaughter. You spoke not a word. Who chose to be silent, though you did no wrong, nor was deceitful as found 5:29 in you. Yet by your words our salvation has come. And by your suffering our freedom is one. Look at the voice. 5:45 For God has highly exalted your name. He has enthroned you on high. He gave you the name above all 6:05 named for God has highly exalted your name. He has enthroned you on high. 6:22 Jesus the name above all name. [Music] Amen. You may be seated, please. So, we'd like to invite brother Sundep to come up and share God's word with us 6:41 and what he has on his heart. So I want to use this session to just 7:04 build on what Santo has said. I was tremendously blessed by that analogy of the sun. It's a beautiful picture I think for us to always ask ourselves if if we're focusing on the stars or if we're focusing on the sun. That's 7:22 another expression. That's another picture to think of self-centered versus God- centered. That's something that really hit me from the conference where um it's such an evil life. I think that's something the Lord is showing me. 7:38 It's a very evil life to be self-centered. It's not a bad life. It's not a less than ideal life. It's an evil life. And if you if we see it as an evil life that our gazing at the stars is an 7:55 evil thing because in a way we are stopping the sun from rising because we say Lord don't let the sun come up because I want to gaze on the stars. I think if I see that I'm pushing Christ 8:12 down I'm singing Lord you're enthroned and all those things. Yes, wonderful. But in my life, because I'm self-centered, because I love stargazing, I'm pushing Christ down. If that can become a reality, maybe then we'll it'll be easier for us 8:31 to stop being self centered where all the planets and all the friends and all my activities and even my parents must revolve around me and my problems and my feelings and I'm in a bad mood. So you must cater to me. If I can get out of 8:48 that to say, Lord, I want to be centered around you. It's your world. It's your kingdom. It's you. And I think that's the daily life we ought to live. When you're feeling ignored by your friends, maybe at lunch or wherever it 9:03 is to get out of yourself and say, "Lord, this is your world. I want to be centered around you." I hope that that's the pictures as as Santos was talking about the sun and the stars and the sun rising and how we push him down in our pride. The hum the 9:21 humble person's life is that is where we're not trying to push God down but we're saying Lord please rise even if it is the expense many times at the expense of ours. I wanted to share from Colossians chapter 1. What were the 9:36 things about Christ that makes him a son to me? So I wanted to use this session. We talked a lot about how we shouldn't have the stars take preeminence over the sun and that the sun must have preeminence. And in Colossians chapter 9:53 1, it's a beautiful passage where he talks Paul talks in a few verses about this Christ. And I just wanted to underline a few words. We can't the whole Bible is full of wonderful things about Christ. So in this these few 10:08 minutes that I have, I just wanted to underline a few things that stood out to me in this passage about who Christ is. In Colossians 1:13, [Music] look, I'm going to talk all the way to verse 18. I think of verse 18 as kind of 10:27 being that the summary from 13-18 to being Paul talking about Jesus in that section and he's building on different things about Jesus and at the end of it in verse 18 he says so that he might himself come to have the first 10:43 place or to have the preeminence and everything. So I think of that as being the final conclusion of what he's talking about Jesus. So that's the way I'm thinking about it. And he starts in verse 13 at least for me in this passage 10:56 that I'm concentrating on. For he rescued us is one of the word ways that word isated. For I don't know how it is in your translation in your Bible. For he delivered us or he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred 11:12 us to the kingdom of his beloved son. This son of God, this son in the sky that is supposed to be incomparable, that is supposed to be otherworldly. What? Why he Why is he such a son to me? Why is he overshadow every single star? 11:31 It's because he rescued me. And I I just want to underline it in a few minutes, but I want us to make it a habit to recognize that we were in dire straits. We were in a very bad place. We needed 11:50 to be rescued. I think of that play that we watched yesterday at this at the birthday celebration where think about this and maybe some of you have even kind of known that in parts of the world today there are people who are 12:05 being killed and they're showing the videos of these people getting killed too. We saw a little enactment of there where they were singing I have decided to follow Jesus. Imagine yourself kneeling down and there's a man with a 12:17 gun right pointed at your head and said, "Will you deny Christ?" And if you say, "No, I won't deny Christ." You die. Now, this has happened. This has happened to people in the last few weeks in other parts of the world. We know that cuz 12:30 there are videos of that. Not a gun, maybe some other more brutal instruments, but it's happening. It's not to be true. Just imagine that that was the setting. And let's say they're not talking about denying Christ or not 12:41 all. Let's say they were coming to get you. They steal all your money to grab something from you. And can you imagine how horrible that situation is that the enemy has you? And instead in that particular situation, if that's the 12:58 picture you have in your mind on your knees hopeless, somebody putting a gun to your head and somebody rescues you, comes and rescues you. somebody, let's say you're a woman and you're walking down the road late at night and somebody comes and 13:14 across you and wants to steal you or maybe wants to abuse you. Imagine how you must feel. I'm sure some of you girls probably have to deal with that in some places where you live. And just imagine if that is right there and then 13:27 somebody comes and rescues you. That's the reality of our lives without Christ that he came and rescued you. Romans 5:8 says that while we were still enemies, Jesus died for us. While you were still 13:47 an enemy of Jesus, he came and rescued you. So, not only was it a great thing that Jesus came and rescued me when I was at gunpoint and when they were just about to molest me or abuse me at that time when the devil had seduced me, had 14:04 enslaved me by desire and now was about to molest me and completely kill me and take me to hell or whatever it was. Jesus came and rescued me. And the greater thing about this was and I were enemies. That's what Romans 5'8 says that while I 14:23 was an enemy of Jesus, he rescued me. In fact, I was thinking that this person who was about to molest me was my friend was the devil. That's what it means. I was friendly with the devil and I was Jesus out to be my enemy. But Jesus, who 14:40 was the truth, saw that this person, the god of this world, the devil, is out to steal, kill, and destroy. And I'm fooling around with him, seduced by all his pleasures. We saw that in the enactment yesterday. Whether it's the 14:54 pride of life or the the music that I being tempted to listen to that draws me into the world or the the fashions or whatever it is, all these things start to seduce. It doesn't look like a devil in with a horn and everything and the 15:07 the tails and the red whatever it is. He doesn't come with the hell right behind him. He comes seducing us and we are enslaved by it and we're all thinking this is so beautiful and we become an enemy of Jesus Christ. But all the devil wants to do is have 15:28 his way with us. The god of this world wants to have his way with me. And I'm completely blinded. But I'm telling Jesus, I'm an enemy of yours. May not be with my words, but with my lifestyle. And at that time, at that time when I 15:44 was hanging out with the god of this world and I was saying, "Jesus, you're my enemy." At that time, Jesus came and rescued me. I was flaunting it and telling Jesus, "You're my enemy." At that time, Jesus came and rescued me. Right at the point 16:02 when I was starting to see how horrible this person I had been seduced by was. When I was starting to see, wait a second, I thought all of the things of this world were going to help me. And now it's completely bringing me to my 16:16 ruin. And I started to say, Lord, help me. And then Jesus, who was my enemy, rescued me. I'm not good at explaining this, but I'm realizing that I have to stay in this truth. Cuz a lot of us grew up in Christian families, and maybe you 16:35 didn't, but I don't know how many of us have remained realizing what a good work Jesus did for us. How lost we are. I know we all know it in our heads. We all know it in our heads. Every single one of you will get the question right. But what I'm trying 16:54 to do for myself and what needs to happen for all of us is for us for it to abide and reside in our hearts. The same old truths that you were an enemy of Jesus Christ and Jesus rescued you. Because the reason I say that is 17:12 because I don't know if you and I act as people who are rescued from such an evil person called the devil and the god of this world. I don't know if we act towards Jesus with that such deep sense of gratitude in our 17:30 daily lives. I've noticed that in my life and so I noticed there's a disconnect. I know Lord Jesus that I'm supposed to be so thankful to you. I sing a lot of songs that make it sound like I'm really thankful to you, but the way I act 17:44 doesn't act like someone who's so deeply thankful for this Jesus who rescued me. What's wrong, Lord? I've clearly not grabbed a hold of this Jesus who rescued me. Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit. Open my eyes. Give me back that first 18:02 love of realizing that I was an enemy of yours and you rescued me. This is a big truth young people. I know this is old news for you. Maybe you accepted Christ a few years ago. Maybe you were baptized. But as I said in the 18:20 conference too, our joy is based on the reality that your name was recorded in heaven. that you were an enemy and Jesus rescued you and said, "I'm going to write your name in my palm." Now, that's always going to be your joy. It's never 18:36 going to be in some greater truth than the fact that your name is recorded on the palm of God Almighty. And so, we have to stay in that truth that Jesus rescued me. He rescued me and transferred me to the kingdom. I had to realize that I was 18:53 seduced by desire, enslaved by those desires for this world. And now then at the point of death where the god of this world was ready to even take my life and I suddenly realized that this man I thought was this beautiful person always 19:07 interested me was just about to kill me. And I see the reality of the gun and now I in despair and at that time this person who I call my enemy Jesus Christ came and rescued me and I have to live in the gratitude of that and somehow I 19:24 don't know if it is using mental pictures or if it's the songs you listen to whatever it is it must draw you to this Jesus. We heard Christian music, worldly music, Christian music, sermons, whatever it can be, career, good or bad, 19:37 can all be stars if they don't draw you to Jesus. If they don't make you see the sun as brighter. Christian music can do that. Worldly music can do that. So just because you're listening to songs about Jesus doesn't mean that you're now 19:53 seeing the son of God, Jesus Christ, like the sun in the sky in everything. Whether you're listening to worldly music, Christian music, the point is, is it drawing you to worship the son of God? Is it drawing you to take your eyes 20:08 out of the stars that are artificial lights to the real light which is the son of God? So then everything that we do, we must try to recapture this Jesus who rescued us. This family of God is the starting point. This is the foundation. We call 20:27 that justification by faith. We call it the forgiveness of sins of what Jesus did on Calvary. It's this basic sense that Jesus rescued me. It is this which is what we will stand on. And that when somebody comes with a gun and say deny 20:44 this Jesus, I will say no because I have immersed myself over and over again for years on who this Jesus is. That he was this one who rescued me. How can I deny him now? It's very personal. This Jesus 21:02 is not some belief system I have. He rescued me. Some of us may not feel we are in need of being rescued and the Lord will need to continue to wait and allow you to come to your senses till you see that this world system that you're fooling 21:21 around with is not has your best interest in mind that you need to be rescued and when Jesus becomes your rescuer then you'll be thankful to him, you'll be willing to give up anything in this world for him. 21:41 So maybe that's a place where some of us need to start and that will be your foundation cuz that'll be the foundation of your joy that Jesus rescued me and wrote my name in the book of life which is his palm. That's going to be 21:59 what will be the foundation. So I hope you you that's been very clear to you now that what I'm talking about the very first thing for me as my foundation all these truths justification forgiveness of sins I'm just using a different word 22:12 in my talk here today is he rescued you it's just another word picture trying to sing the same thing that Jesus while you were his enemy he came and grabbed a hold of you snatched you from the fire grabbed you as you were sinking in into 22:28 the into the sea of death whatever Whatever picture you want to use to that makes you think of rescue. Think of that. And that's who Jesus was. When you were almost about to die, if it's somebody putting a gun to your head or 22:40 knife to your throat or sinking in the sea, whatever that picture is, that's where you were. Jesus grabbed a hold of you. If I did that to you, if I did that to you when you were outside on the street and a bus was coming steaming down the road and I 22:57 grabbed a hold of you and grab pulled you out and I died in the process, I guarantee you you look my wife and children up. You'll call them up and say, "What can I do for you? What can I do for you? you, your husband, your 23:12 father gave his life and I'm living here because he grabbed me and pulled me out of the bus, but he lost his life. Can I do something for you? Can I help your children in any way? Cuz he gave his life for me. That basic sense has to 23:29 grab a hold of us. And that fundamental sense of that's what Jesus is doing for us has to completely dominate my life. As I said, it's the foundation on what this building that we're building for Christ is going to last. That he rescued 23:44 me. We were so close to death, spiritual death. It's on that foundation that we do everything, that we try to live a holy life, that we do everything. So, let that be very clear. You hear a lot about holy living in CFC. You hear a 23:59 lot about denying yourself and all of that. Let it be very clear. I'll never get tired of saying it over and over again. All of that is the structure of the house that's building on a foundation of what Jesus already has 24:15 done for you that he rescued you. And so if you start wondering, oh, my house is in shambles. It's okay. God may have to break down some of the walls cuz he said, I wanted a window there and you just put a a wall there. Let's break 24:27 down the wall. Don't be discouraged because the foundation hopefully is going to be set, which is what Jesus has already done for you. Let that be very clear. Then on top of that, he becomes this Jesus. If we go on to read by in verse 24:45 16, all things were created both in him and in the heavens and on the earth. All things have been created by him and for him. Verse 17, and he is before all things and in him all things hold together. I just want to use that 25:03 expression. Jesus is my rescuer and Jesus is the one who holds everything together in my life. That's who he wants to be to you next. Now, so he rescued you. He grabbed you from the point of death. That's where he grabbed you from. Now, it says we read 25:21 that he transferred us into a new kingdom. But in this new kingdom, this is who he's trying to be to you. He wants to be the one who holds things together in your life. Are things not being held together? Are things feeling like they're all 25:40 falling down around you in your life? Wonderful. Because the good news is Jesus wants to hold all things together in your life. That is what it means to say, "Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those when things are not going well." 25:59 Because Jesus is the one who can hold all things together. Who's the cursed one who thinks all things are holding together by themselves? The proud one. The one who thinks I've got everything under control. 26:17 Who doesn't think that they need Jesus to hold all things together? What does God do with people whom he rescues out of certain death? Brings them into his new kingdom and now they think Jesus I don't need you. 26:36 Thank you for saving me. Now I've got it from here. He has to try to rec help us recognize that he alone can hold all things together. So in his sovereign way, as a tender father can, he tries to help us recognize 26:56 in what we call trials, breakings, things that try to break us. And he's only trying to break us because he wants us to recognize that in him all things hold together. 27:14 that when we think we are all well put together because of our job, because of our looks, because of our bank account, because of our one we've married, because of the one because of our children, whatever it is, because of the 27:27 cars we drive, because of the house we have, no matter what it is, if we start to think in some area, we are put together. Cuz I have such a sense of fashion and all my friends don't have that sense of fashion. So, I'm put 27:42 together and I don't need Jesus to put me together. Then the Lord has to try to break me. Not because he's trying to get at you or because he's a mean God. He's trying to drive in you a principle that in Jesus 27:59 alone all things hold together in your life. That is what Jesus does when he breaks us. You that was the theme of the conference. Deuteronomy 8:3. Deuteronomy chapter 8:3. 28:18 Remember this passage. Remember Deuteronomy 8:3. I hope that you'll be able to underline this verse somehow and remember this passage. And let me tell you why I'm saying you should remember this passage. Because you know 28:30 Deuteronomy 8:3, but you just know part of the verse. And you only know part of the verse because it's quoted by Jesus in the New Testament. And so you only know the part that Jesus quoted in the New Testament, but it's good for you to know to know 28:46 the whole verse. Deuteronomy 8:3. Now you know it quoted in the New Testament. I even know the reference. Matthew 4:4. And it's the first response that Jesus gave to from what I understand was the first temptation that we is recorded in 29:00 scripture that the Jesus was tempted by the devil to turn stone into bread. And Jesus quoted the last part of this verse where he says man does not live by bread alone but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I used 29:14 to think honestly I thought that was the whole verse till earlier this year before I came to the conference a few months ago. I was doing a study and I happened upon this verse and I realized that that wasn't the whole verse and I 29:27 realized that the whole verse was even more beautiful that he humbled you. Look what God did to these people. He humbled you and listen to what he did. He let you be hungry. Which father lets his children be 29:45 hungry? Jesus said, "You have a heavenly father who when a child asks for a bread, he won't give him a stone." But here we see that this father, God, he let them be hungry. And you may be asking yourself, why does a good God allow this bad thing to 30:03 happen to me? You keep telling me God is good, God is good, but no God in his good mind will allow this thing to happen. And I'm sure it could, you could kind of say, I have trouble with this. how good this God might be. 30:20 See that? Cuz he's trying in the middle part of that verse, he he did all of that so that he might make you understand. So that he may make you understand that man does not live by bread alone. He'll cause you to be hungry. He'll 30:39 allow all of these situations to come into your head because he's trying to make you understand that in him all things hold together. That's all he's trying to do. He's trying to make the sun come up so that you might see the sun and stop 30:59 obsessing over the stars. That's all his purposes. He's not a mean God. And he'll even allow hunger. He'll even allow trials where you may lose a job or something or the other. Some proposal may not work out. The person 31:16 you're interested in actually likes somebody else. I don't know what it is. He may allow that to happen. He may make it to happen cuz he's trying to make you understand that he puts together everything in your life 31:32 and he is sufficient. He is enough. We just sang about him. He's enthroned up high. Yes, that's all he's trying to make you understand. And when we don't get it, when we complain, then we have not understood. And so he has to maybe repeat the test 31:52 in a different area. And we think we understand it. And these trials come up and we realize that we don't understand. This is not a So let me give you a very practical word of hope in this in this situation. When you realize and I speak 32:11 from experience and I speak from the testimonies I have heard from people among you too of the way of escape when these things man happen when God causes you to be hungry. That's just an analogy for whatever you're going 32:29 through in your life that you don't understand. When things are being shaken in your life, that horrible things happen, things that nobody would wish on their worst enemy happen to you. I have seen in my own life, not all the 32:43 time, but sometimes. And I've heard testimonies of people in this room who have found a way of escape when they've been shaken. And you know what it is? a word that proceeds from the mouth of God that brings rest. 33:02 When they're being shaken by really hard trials, I've heard of a word that proceeds, maybe through a sermon, maybe through a song, maybe through a dream, maybe through a vision, maybe through some 33:20 random coworker sending an email. It doesn't have to be a Christian. It could be anybody, but you hear it as a word from God for you. And the proof of it is it brings rest amidst the shaking 33:36 cuz he tells you, "I've got you. I've got you and I've got this situation under control. I have this. I, creator of the universe, have it under control. And I hold all things together. I'm just trying to make you understand I 33:55 hold all things together. And when you get it, you're at rest and it's still shaking and the tears are still coming and it's still so painful. These things don't go by easily, but you rest amidst the shaking cuz you realize, cuz you're 34:13 understanding because of the word from God that he has everything under control. He's holding it. He's holding it together. And the only place where the shaking gets too difficult is when you don't have your eyes fixed in him. That's when Peter 34:28 started to sink amidst the storm. Amidst the storm, he was shaking. But when he had his eyes on Christ and he Christ put everything together, he was fine. The moment he stepped outside that and looked around to all the storms and 34:44 all that, he started to sink. Seek for a word that comes from the mouth of God. Some of you have experienced it. I hope all of you have experienced it. I have experienced this in situations. There's a word that proceeds that can bring rest and then it 35:00 is settled and then the shaking is like oh really is it shaking? Yeah, I see it is shaking but I find rest. This is the life God wants to give you and it's not by cutting and pasting some. I have such a deep appreciation 35:15 for CFC, but CFC doesn't hold all things together. We make a big deal about what the Lord has done through this church, but we all know, we should all know, and it should be very clear, it's not CFC that holds all things together and all of that. And 35:30 God says that that doesn't hold you together. I do. You got no time for me. You're always thinking about how you can make more crows and more lacks. He may if he's if you're lucky, he'll try to break you. He'll try to shake 35:45 you. It's not because he hates you. He's not trying to get you to read your Bible more. He's not trying to give you He's He's not trying to get you to give 10% to 15% or 20%. He's trying to make you understand that in him all things work 35:58 together. Did you get that? Have you grabbed it into your heart? Then you'll be able to say, "Lord, all I need is you." That's what he's trying to make us understand. And then he, it goes on to say in Colossians chapter 36:15 1, that he's also the head of the body, the church. So he grabs you out of that's verse 18. He grabs you out of the kingdom of darkness. He rescued you. He's my rescuer. Then he he wants you to become he wants 36:34 to also be this person in whom all things hold together. And he also wants to be to me my head where different people that the Lord brings into my life are just equally 36:52 connected to the head and our body parts. Let me share with you something that transformed my life and opened my eyes to the message of what CFC was preaching. As I said, CFC doesn't hold all things together. Christ does. But 37:08 this is one thing that really opened my eyes to what CFC was preaching that I heard nowhere else and I've heard some of the most famous theologians of our day preach and I've not heard this truth from them. This is why I value the 37:23 message that comes from this pulpit so much. One of the reasons I used to think and if you talk to many Christians, many sincere holy Christians, I they'll think to and I used to think too that the top of the mountain that we were climbing 37:38 was holiness. I used to think that the top of the mountain that we were climbing was to be holy and pure as Christ was pure. There are verses that can show you that too. 1 John chapter 3 2 and 3 that the top of the mountain I used to think that the 37:55 top of the mountain was holiness and purity. I don't think that anymore and I have seen a deficiency in my life when I thought that that's not at the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is unity 38:12 of holy people. Think about your life. Holiness is the base camp towards the top of the mountain which is the unity of holy people gathered together. I got that from many different passages, but 38:32 John chapter 17, Jesus's thrust, Jesus's passion was, "Yes, Lord, sanctify them. Make them holy. Consecrate them in thy word. Thy word is truth. Sanctify them in the truth. Make them holy." That was part of his prayer, but is the real 38:49 thrust of Jesus's prayer. This dying man right before he was to leave this earth. Imagine my dad about to die and his last prayer for all of us, his children. We take those very seriously. He's got only a few breaths left on this earth. 39:06 What my dad chooses to pray at that time for all of us, his children, we should take it seriously. Now, here is another dying man, Jesus. He was going to die in a few hours. He had a few breaths left. That's it. After years of teaching, 39:18 after 33 years of breathing and saying all kinds of things, now he had just few breaths left. And in that dying moments, he had a prayer for us. And he prayed specifically for us as you know in John chapter 17. And he said, "Lord, yes, 39:33 make them holy, but all of that holiness making that you're we're trying to do is so that they may be one as the father and I are one." And I realized that unity with other Christians was the peak of the mountain, not holiness. for many 39:48 years and I know you hear a lot about victory over sin and seeking to be victory over sin and it's very important as I said the foundation is the justification of Christ and that he rescued you and we appeal and you hear a 39:59 lot of appeals pressing on to perfection a holy life and that's very important but that's not the top of the mountain god wants you to be holy but then he wants you as you're growing in holiness to be united with other people that is why the church is 40:15 so important that That is why the local church is so absolutely critical because it's the top of the mountain that we're trying to achieve. We're not trying to get more money. We're not trying to build a CFC club. That's not at all part 40:29 of my focus. It's part of God's vision because unity is the top of the mountain. Who are you united? Dear brother, dear sister. Yes, I see you trying to live a holy life. God bless you for that. Really, God bless you for 40:43 that. That's an amazing thing. But it's not the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is that you will be united, not friendly with, not tolerating, not enjoying, united with like a bridegroom and a bride are united that you may be 41:02 united with other such holy people, not half-hearted people. When I saw that and when the Lord, as we've heard, the the building of the church is a revelation. It's not some intellectual concept. When the Lord opened my eyes to that, I said, "Wow, 41:22 I can't be a lone preacher speaking to thousands anymore. I can't be this person who builds his own ministry together. I need to find one other person if I can, and that's good enough. And I need to be one with them cuz unity 41:35 is the top." Not some half-hearted Christian, but somebody who's interested in holiness. That's a requirement. But once I find such a person, I need to be one with them. And you got to see a couple of them who came to the conference today. 41:48 We're not perfect, but we're trying to be holy. And as we are individually trying to be holy, we get together and we're seeking to be one. We're building one building. We're building one local church to build it up. I'm not 42:01 interested in all the other churches in the area that I'm living in. God's got to do a work through them. And God is doing a work through them. I just have to answer God's call for my life that I'm seeking to go to the top 42:14 of the mountain, which is unity. He's the head of the body, the church. And I encourage myself over and over again that what we're doing is we're building this body is one picture but we are 42:32 preparing a bride for this Jesus cuz that's the son of God and it takes my focus all off the stars that can be so beautiful. But the son of God if I really want him to be preeminent think about this. If Jesus really is to 42:51 be preeminent in our lives, isn't the girl he's going to marry supposed to be also somebody we really honor and respect? Isn't that girl whom Jesus is going to marry be somebody we say, "Hey man, what can I do for you?" 43:08 Suppose there was a man who you really respected and he was out of town but his wife was here. Would you try to help her? Would if she said, "Hey, look, can you go get me some food? Can you please help my children out?" Wouldn't you do it because you 43:24 esteem this man so much? If Jesus is indeed preeminent, if he is the one who indeed rescued you, if he indeed is the one who holds all things together for you, he says, "I've got this girl I'm going to marry in a few days. 43:44 Any minute now. Any day now, it's going to happen. the marriage is going to happen. Will you help her? I don't know what's going to happen in heaven. I don't know if there going to be golf courses. I don't know if there's going to be 43:56 skydiving. I don't know what's going to happen. I do know one thing. There's going to be in heaven. There's going to be a wedding. We all know that. There's going to be a wedding with this man Jesus who we all worship now 44:13 and his bride. That's the one thing is guaranteed is going to happen. There's going to be a wedding. And I hope all of you are going to go and be with us in heaven. But when you're there, imagine the pride and joy in your face as you witness this wedding 44:32 because you were a part of it. Imagine the joy, Brother Ian and Brother Babu. Not in a negative sense, but just genuine joy with all the people who helped. Somebody put up the lights. The way the lights just turned down and was 44:47 so beautiful. It lit up the room. Imagine how they felt as you all walked in and enjoyed this building. As we all walked in and enjoyed this building, there was a satisfaction. Man, I I was just looking at the pillars and the the way how the circles were 45:02 done. I'm like, man, what care was taken into that? And I don't know who supervised it, but I know that they'd probably look at it and say, "That was a job well done. Look how it is so symmetric and everything and there's a sense of 45:17 satisfaction because of the care that was taken into it for all that time when we didn't see it. And finally last Sunday it was unveiled and we all got to enjoy it. That's a small glimmer of the joy and satisfaction we would have when we get 45:34 to heaven and the one thing we know is going to happen which is a wedding feast happens and the bride of Christ is finally presented to Jesus and the father administering the wedding and we are part of that saying I spent 45:51 my small 50 years when compared to eternity I spent my small 50 years in this life getting that bride ready for the most amazing wedding of all time. 50 years that was like a little breath. We heard last night life is like a 46:08 vapor. I spent that small period of time for that eternal wedding. We even read that Jesus seems to make it say make it sound that all of our marriages will dissolve once we go to heaven. That we're married only for this life only. Not sure how 46:27 all that works out, but it seems in some sense that my marriage with my wife Laura is for this world, but there's an eternal marriage of Christ and his bride. And to think that God has given you and 46:44 I the possibility of getting that bride ready. Christ is ready. He's been ready. He lived on this earth and he was perfected from all the things that he suffered as he obeyed. And now he's ready and he's waiting till all the 47:01 enemies are made a foottool for his feet. It says in Hebrews chapter 10. And he's waiting for his people who he rescued. And he's teaching that in him all things work together to get the bride of Christ ready, to get his bride 47:16 ready. And he's waiting. He's ready, but he's waiting for his bride to be ready. And he says, "Among all the people who claim to be Christians, I'll have few who prepare the bride to be ready." And that's not working in the office, 47:31 although that's must we must do that. It's not cleaning the toilets, although we must do that. But it's being united with your brothers and sisters in the local church. Whichever local church you go to, if CFC is not the local church to do, fine. go 47:48 and be united with the church that you feel is going to be the bride of best the bride of Christ that you can be that's going to be ready and go work on that and then in in heaven God will unite all of our different churches 48:01 together as he sees fit according to his wisdom but don't reject the work that God is calling each one of us to do which is to build that church and be one with other believers dear young brother dear young sister are you seeking to be 48:18 one with the people you call yourself friends with. The one with the people you call brothers and sisters in Christ. That is why there should be no empty conceit or selfish ambition. How can that exist when you're trying to be 48:36 one with them? How can it be me and them? They can't be that. There can't be any. Let no nothing be done out of empty conceit and selfish ambition. Philippians chapter 2. Why is that? Because you have to be one with them. 48:51 There's no eye in you. It's us. That's why we need to get rid of all selfish ambition. Let her look more beautiful. Let him get all the girls to get the proposals for him. It's okay, Lord. I want to be one with him. If he's getting all the proposals and 49:09 you are not getting all the proposals, you know how difficult it'll be for you to be one with him. You'll be tested. But God says be one. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit. Same with the ladies. If she's getting all 49:23 the attention of the boys, you know how difficult it'll be for you to be one with him with them. You'll be like, "Well, let all the you hang out all the boys. I'm not going to give you my love. I'm not going to give you my friendship. 49:35 Do nothing out of empty conceit or selfish ambition. Seek to be one. Seek not to become part of CFC church and get married to a CFC boy or girl and have all your children in CFC. No, seek to be one with other believers who are seeking 49:50 to live a holy life and hopefully CFC is a place in which you meet other such people because for sure it's a place where I find the elders and the leaders are trying to keep it that way. So that's why I can trust it cuz I'm 50:05 submitting to the elders and I know that this these elders and the leaders are trying to manage this group called CFC and keep them holy and keep trying to make them one. So this is a good place for me to for me at least for me to 50:17 spend time with. And in where I'm living now, I'm trying to do the same thing. No different. Trying to get a group of holy people of people who are seeking to be holy and saying, "Let's be one with one another. Let's pray as one together. 50:34 That's what we ought to seek to do. Let me repeat, recap what I've said so far. Jesus Christ, he rescues us. That's the foundation of what we do. And then as he rescues us and brings us into this new kingdom, he's trying to make us 50:49 understand that in him all things hold together. And then he's trying to open our eyes to the revelation that he's the head of this body called the church. this church which is the bride in waiting and it's just Jesus just waiting for this bride 51:05 to get herself ready and then finally he reveals himself as the firstborn from the dead firstborn from the dead. That death has no sting anymore. The only sting of 51:24 death, there's only one sting that death comes with and that is sin. Let me show that to you. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It's good for you to know that because some of us may have to deal with death either in our own lives or in our family 51:40 lives. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 44. There's a pain associated with that. There's a grief associated with that. And all of us deal with that. And there's nothing sinful about it. If my dad cries, if my dad dies, I will cry 51:59 like a little baby. I cry like a little baby or many things less triv more trivial than that. So I definitely will cry a little like a little baby if my parents die. But that's okay. It's not a sin. There's grief. That's okay. But there's a sting 52:15 that has been removed from death. 1 Corinthians 15:54. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying, then it will come about the 52:28 saying that death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. That's the sting. And whenever I face death, I will re I must realize that the 52:45 sting has been removed. that the the only thing serious is sin. That's the only thing that has a sting associated with it that can poison you and kill you. And so when you're st when you're facing physical death, if that's 53:02 going to be you what you have to deal with between now and the next time I see you, if that's going to be then you're going to be facing physical death, you must have this confidence that the only sting that comes from death that can 53:16 poison you and kill you is sin. And that sting has been removed in verse 57. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ that they may kill the physical body that that physical body is just a little 53:28 temporary house but the sting has been removed that if it is me or any of my loved one that dies that sting if they have died in Christ has been removed and that they are sinless people who go into the presence of Christ. 53:48 That is our hope. That is our future that we're looking forward to. That that they say that the greatest fear is the fear of death. There is a I'm sure the fear of physically dying because we are mortal people and we get scared and different 54:01 things. But we have to become spiritual people as we heard a different race. We have to become a race of people of the people of God of the kingdom of God who recognize Lord Jesus I'm going to do this for the rest of my life from today 54:14 to the rest of life. I'm going to keep telling myself that there's only one sting that comes from death. There's a lot of grief. There's a lot of pain. I'll miss the people. All kinds of things. If my child dies, I don't even 54:26 know how long it'll take. I may never get over that fact. But I will also keep reminding myself that the sting associated with that death is gone. Cuz the only thing serious is sin. And God has taken that out of that. that 54:45 when I die, I can go to be with the Lord in whom there's fullness of joy. It's all a culmination, dear brothers and sisters, for the wedding feast. And I must comfort myself in that. And you must comfort yourself in that. That 55:01 if you ever face death and then yourself or somebody else, you must remember that it is just that final step to the wedding feast. You're going to live your life and it's a countdown 55:18 to the wedding feast. Step by step, one day closer to home. One day's journey closer to the wedding feast. And we must live our lives with that kind of adoration for Jesus. 55:36 And that when death comes, we'll realize that's the last step before the actual wedding. And as much as it might hurt if some of us we have to lose loved ones or whatever, we know that they have took that last step to the wedding. And now 55:55 it's our turn. And the countdown continues. I don't know if it's 5 days left for somebody here, 1 hour left for somebody here, or 500 days or 50 years, I don't know. But it's a countdown all of us. 56:14 Tick tock, tick tock, countdown. Don't be scared. It's a wedding on the other side of that. It's a most magnificent wedding, an eternal wedding for the one who rescued us, for the one 56:32 who holds all things together, and the one who's the head. He's the bridegroom. It's all it's all shaping up for that. Don't be discouraged. Pick your head back up. If you're facing some fiery trial, he's trying to make you 56:47 understand that in him all things hold together. This man who's going to be your bridegroom, that's all he's trying to make you understand. He's trying to get you understand that he's the only son. You don't need to worry about the 56:57 stars anymore. Stop pushing the sun down. Let's humble ourselves and have the power of grace to overcome sin and see the son of God for who he is, the bridegroom. And we'll work on ourselves to be the bride of Christ, getting rid of all selfishness, getting 57:14 rid of all empty conceit and seeking to be united with one another until that day comes when we follow him in his footsteps of being the firstborn from the dead. We too will be the next borns from the dead. And for thousands of 57:29 years, people have gone ahead of us. The Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, our grandparents, some of our parents, some of our brothers, sisters, maybe some of our children, too. They've gone ahead of us. Next borns from the dead. And we'll 57:41 follow suit. 500 billionth from the dead. That may be me. All stepping that last stage into the wedding. Dear brothers and sisters, I've tried to give you a little picture of what sustains me every day. Life can be hard. 58:01 Life can be challenging. There can be all kinds of trials. There can be all kinds of stars that distract us. But I hope I've tried to share with you a little bit of this sun that must grow brighter as if the noonday sun as we heard till it shines 58:19 so brightly like it says about Enoch. He walked with God and God said, "You know what? The sun is so bright for you. The son of God is so bright for you. Just come on up. You're ready. This thing of death is sin." And there's 58:36 no power of that over you. And may that be true in our lives that we will walk closer and closer to the son of God, this bright son who's our bridegroom. And that we will walk with joy the rest of our lives. That joy of that 58:54 wedding feast set before us. We'll endure all kinds of hardships, endure all kinds of crosses because our eyes are fixed on Jesus, our bridegroom, knowing that on the other end of this life is a 59:10 wonderful wedding. Let's bow our heads. Dear father, I pray that Heat. 59:28 [Music] Heat. [Music] 59:54 [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] 1:00:18 [Music] [Music]
