0:00 [Music] We'll continue this evening 0:20 from the Gospel of Luke. We finished at the end of chapter 14 this morning. And we'd like to look at chapter 15. We are so grateful that Luke decided to 0:40 make a careful investigation and get an accurate record of all that Jesus did and that Jesus spoke. Because of that, we have the story of the prodigal son, which we would never have got if Luke 0:57 had not made a careful investigation. Now, here there are three parables in Luke chapter 15 about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. And there are a number of things that we 1:17 can learn from these. First of all, the lost sheep refers to a sheep that has gone astray and the shepherd going looking for that sheep. That's a picture of 1:36 Jesus the shepherd. The prodigal son is a son who has gone astray coming back to the father and that's a picture of God the father. So we have one parable depicting God the 1:55 father and another parable depicting God the son. So if we have three parables which should the third parable represent the Holy Spirit. that's pictured like a woman searching for a lost coin. 2:15 So why is the Holy Spirit pictured like a woman? I think it's because the woman is the church. And the Holy Spirit when the spirit of God fills people in the church, he's the church is going to be searching 2:32 for lost souls. go looking for them and finding them and search until they find. So if we are in tune with the Holy Spirit, we will do what that woman did to search for lost souls and that will be our 2:52 longing. Not only lost souls in terms of people who are not converted, but I can imagine that this woman had these 10 coins. They were his hers already and then she lost one of them. 3:10 The sheep were already in the fold and then he lost one of them. The son was already in the house and he went away. So they picture backsliders too. People who were in the church and fell away or 3:29 backslid. And when the Holy Spirit fills us, we have that same burden that he has who does not want anybody to perish but that all should come to repentance. I would say that any believer 3:47 who does not have a burden and a passion in his heart for lost souls and backsliden people and that the church of Jesus Christ should be built. He's not in tune with the Holy Spirit. It is impossible. He's completely out of tune 4:05 with the Holy Spirit, completely out of tune with the Son of God, and completely out of tune with God the Father. Whatever else there may be good about him, we must remember this. There are believers who pursue only holiness 4:22 and who have no burden for the lost. They're just interested in purifying themselves. I believe such people are totally out of touch with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I don't know who they are in 4:36 touch with. They're probably just in touch in tune with themselves. And there are many churches like this who don't have a desire to reach out. One of the prayers I have prayed myself for many many years and that I've encouraged all the elders in our 4:52 churches to pray is Lord if there's anyone in this area seeking for a godly life please bring us in touch with him. Bring him in touch with us. And if you don't do that, tell us what is wrong with us so that we can set it right so 5:11 that we can be in tune with you and find those people. It's very important that the type of fold into which we bring the lost sheep is a good fold. If a sheep is lost out in the wilderness 5:30 and here are here is a fold where 99 sheep are biting and tearing each other and fight and full of disease and sickness. Don't you think that sheep is safer out there than coming inside such a fold? What's use bringing a lost soul into a 5:50 church where people are fighting and quarreling with each other? where people are backbiting, where people have got sin in their life, that soul is far safer there than here. That's the condition of a lot of churches. So, we not only need a ministry that 6:07 goes goes out to bring lost sheep in, we also need a ministry that keeps these 99 sheep healthy. Because Jesus said in Luke 15 and verse 7, he described the 99 sheep like this. Please read carefully. There is more joy in heaven over one 6:27 sinner who repents. That's the last sheep. Than 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. What a wonderful church this is. This is church comprises of 99 righteous people who don't need to 6:47 repent of anything. Now, how is it that you get a church where there are people who don't need to repent of anything? Is it because they are perfect? There is no perfect church on earth. There are no perfect people on earth. And yet, if you read your Bible 7:03 carefully, Jesus said, "This flock is not a bunch of 99 people who are half-hearted and fighting with each other. These this flock consists of 99 believers who are righteous in their life and who don't need any repentance. 7:19 Why? Because they are repenting every day. The true church of Jesus Christ comprises of people who judge themselves every day. This has been the habit of my life for many many years. And as a result of it, I've discovered 7:38 sin in my own life which nobody else can see every day to cleanse myself. And if you are like that, you won't have time to find fault with other people and criticize others because you'll be so busy cleansing yourself. That there you 7:55 can build a church where that lost sheep can come and be healed. 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. So if you are an elder of a church, what type of church should you build? I know I'm an elder of a church and I know what type of church I want to 8:13 build. I want to build a church where everybody judges themselves every day so that they don't need any repentance. And those who are not willing for that, well, they just get offended and leave the church. And how are we going to 8:31 build a church where people are going to repent every day and judge themselves every day? Because we preach repentance. Because we preach from the word of God that we must judge ourselves every day. And we preach continuously again and 8:45 again and again and again and again a hundred times a year that we must judge ourselves and that we should not judge other people. Gradually over a period of time you get a church where people have learned to judge themselves 8:58 and not judge other people. That's the church I want to be in. That's the church into which the lost sheep should be brought. And if you ever build a church, build that type of church. and the lost coin. It's amazing. It says 9:14 here that she lit a lamp, swept the house, verse 8, searched carefully until she finds it. She had a passion. She had lost something and she searched until she found it. And 9:34 if this is the Holy Spirit moving through the church, what a passion to light a lamp, sweep, search until you find it. This is no casual half-hearted seeking. It's a tremendous passion for lost souls. The Lord has taught me 9:58 when I stand up to speak God's word to think of so many people sitting in the congregation who are bound by sins which they are too ashamed to admit. secret sins, fears, 10:17 slaves, the Lord says, are sitting in front of you who should be kings. Slaves who should be kings. And the Lord says, "Make them kings. Make them kings. Don't let them sit in 10:34 front of you forever as slaves." That's the commission the Lord's given me. When you get up to preach the word, make those slaves into kings. Let there be a passion in your heart, the passion of the Holy Spirit to 10:52 search, sweep, light a lamp, find until you find. The third story is of the prodigal son. And notice one thing similar. Sometimes we don't notice that in these parables. 11:10 When the shepherd lost a sheep, whose was the loss? The shepherds or the sheeps? It was the shepherds. When the woman lost a coin, the coin didn't even know it was lost. And that's 11:29 the condition of a lot of lost people. They don't even know they are lost. You think that coin lining lying under the bed knows it's lost. That's the condition of lost people. But the woman, it was her loss. And the father, it was his loss that he 11:46 lost his son. In all the three parables, the loss was the shepherds and the woman's and the fathers. It's God who is the loser. We think we are lost. 12:04 In these parables, Jesus taught that God is losing something. And our work in the church is to bring back what God has lost. That's the message of these parables if you understand it rightly. And anyone who's in fellowship with the 12:21 heart of the father will seek to cooperate with God in this ministry. And when the son came back, you know one thing the son knew that my father loves me. He came back and when he came back the father put the best robe on him, 12:37 took out the ring from his hand and put it on his hand, anointed him with the holy spirit and said come and sit with me. Now in the story there's an elder brother and the elder brother did not share the passion of the father's heart. 12:53 And that's a picture of a lot of Christian workers who are doing a good job. This he never left the father's house. Look what his testimony is. Verse 29. For so many years I have been serving 13:09 you. This elder brother was no lazy man. He was a hardworking. In fact, he was coming from the fields, out in the hot sun, working hard for God, serving the Lord out in the fields, never always serving. And not only 13:27 always serving, he was an upright man living a good life. Verse 29, I have never neglected any command you gave me. A wonderful example, an upright man with 13:44 eager to serve the Lord, working out in the fields, in the heat, but with no passion for lost souls. Do you think there are Christian workers like that today? Thousands. No fellowship with the heart of the father. 14:04 Never once did he tell his father, "Can I go and look for my younger brother? see where he's lost. Never let him go. I take care of myself. How is it that the father saw the son so far away? 14:23 Shall I tell you? Because he prayed for his son every day. He would pray and look out of the window. He would pray and look out of the window. Like Elijah, Elijah when he prayed for rain, he prayed and looked to see the 14:40 cloud has come. The father was like that. That's why when he looked out of the window one day after many many many many months of prayer for his lost son, he saw him and he ran and welcomed him. But there are Christian workers today 14:56 who never pray like that for lost people. They have no burden. They are doing professional work. Okay, I have to teach the Bible. Let's get up and do that. Sunday morning I have to give a sermon or I have to do some other work 15:11 for the Lord and I'm doing it very hard. I'm working in the field and I satisfy myself. Lots of people like that but no burden. You know I see that there are two types of Christian workers. One is like the father in this story 15:27 who's got the heart of a father and the other is like the elder brother in the story who has no interest in his younger brother but he does a faithful work for his father. And you can have a you can make a choice today which type of servant of God 15:43 you're going to be. We're all going to be either like the father like Jesus or like the elder brother who is a picture of the Pharisees. And sometimes I feel this story was spoken to expose the elder brother. 16:01 Remember this. The story begins with the elder son inside the house and the younger son outside and the story ends with the younger son inside and the elder son outside. Many Christian workers will be outside the kingdom because they had no 16:18 fellowship with the heart of the father. Am I talking only about elders? Every brother and sister in the church must be a servant of the Lord. Every single one of you sitting here, if you're born again, you're a co-orker with Jesus 16:35 Christ. And you must share fellowship with the father's heart for people who are lost. How much of a burden do you have for people who are lost in other parts of India? I had a great longing when I was young to be an evangelist to go to North India 16:55 and live all my life there and I said Lord I'm ready to go but he never called me and I wouldn't go if God didn't call me. So I have done through these years the next best God called me to teach. I've taught but I've kept a very keen interest 17:12 in all those who work in North India. I get magazines. I read about it for years. I've done that in my house because I'm interested in what my fellow workers in other denominations are doing in Gujarat, in Rajasthan, in 17:31 Himachal Pradesh where I could never go. I want to ask some of you who are living very contented lives here. Do you have any desire even to know what other people are doing? Even to know okay you don't go but do you have any interest at 17:46 all in paying 25 rupees and getting a magazine to find out what is happening? You got all your doctrines right and you got everything right and you got such a wonderful holy church 18:04 but you are just like that elder brother. You are not like the father. I'm sorry to disappoint you but that's the truth. You're fooling yourself when you think you're spiritual. The elder brother said, "Oh, I don't obey. I don't disobey 18:18 any commandment. I've got victory over sin. I've got victory over anger. I've got victory over the lust of my eyes. I'm doing such a wonderful thing, but I have zero interest in people who are lost. Is that God's heart? 18:31 It's the heart of a Pharisee. Pharisee of the Pharisees. And there are a lot of people sitting in separated assemblies who think they are very holy, exactly like this elder brother. May God give us light. Chapter 16 to chapter 21 18:49 is a long uh a number of chapters dealing with the subject of money. Some people think I talk too much about money. Jesus spoke about it more than me. You know, if you were to count all the verses in the Gospels, here's a good bit 19:08 of homework. If you want to do some homework in your spare time, read all the verses of Jesus teaching in the Gospels, the teaching sections of Jesus in the Gospels, and you will discover 16% 19:24 of that teaching is on money. Do you know that one in every six verses is on the subject of money? That's the importance Jesus gave. I don't believe I give that much importance to it. And most preachers don't speak about it 19:41 at all except telling people to give their tithes which is what Jesus never spoke. Six f this six chapters here are all got to do various things about money. First of all this man who was an unrighteous steward. He planned for the future. 19:58 That's the essence of that story. I don't have time to go into it in detail but the point is he knew he was losing his job. His future was on this earth. So he did some crooery and um crooked things and he prepared for the future so that when he loses 20:15 this job he'll have friends out there to give him another job. And Jesus said make friends for eternity through the mammon of unrighteousness. That means for that steward his future was only on this earth. For us our future is in 20:30 eternity. What did that fellow do? He prepared for his future with the use of money. The Lord says you prepare for your future with the use of money. He made friends for the future with money. You make friends for eternity 20:42 with money. How do you make friends for eternity with money? When you use your money for the spread of the gospel. And because you used your money wisely for the spread of the gospel. One day somebody will come up to you in heaven 20:56 and say, "Brother, I'm so thankful that you gave money which resulted in the gospel coming to me and because of which I was saved and because of which I'm here." That's what Jesus said here. So that when you die, 21:12 those people will receive you verse 9 into eternal dwelling places. When you fail and when all your money has failed on earth, when you get up there into eternal dwelling places, somebody will be there to welcome you and say, "I'm here because you gave some 21:30 money for God's work. That's how I got that tract. That's how I got that tape. That's how somebody came here to give me the gospel because you supported him." That's what Jesus was saying. And he said it immediately after this parable, 21:45 immediately after this story of all these lost sheep and the lost coin and the lost son. And then he said these very strong words. I don't I wish I could spend a whole session on it. Verse 10 to13. If you're faithful in a very little, 22:02 then you'll be faithful in much. And if you have not been faithful, verse 11, with unrighteous mammon, who will give you the true riches? The true riches are revelation on the word of God. Original revelation on the word of God. 22:19 I want to ask you brothers here and sisters, how much have you got of original revelation on the word of God? I don't mean what you heard from some brother or what you read in a book or heard in a tape. That's good. That's 22:33 second best. Along with all that, how much are you getting original revelation from the Holy Spirit when you read the word of God? Shall I tell you why you're not getting it? You're not faithful with money. I don't know anything about your financial 22:52 dealings, but I can tell you straight. You're not faithful with money. He will not give you true riches. The second thing we could call true riches is the character of Christ in our life. The character of Christ are the true 23:09 riches. God gives it to those who are faithful with earthly things. No servant can serve two masters. Very clear. You got to either serve God or money. Verse 13. The Pharisees who had missionary programs and who are very 23:25 religious were also lovers of money. Verse 14. And they just laughed at him. Oh, this extreme preacher from Nazareth has come always preaching about money, money, money, money, money. They laughed at him. And there are people who laugh when we 23:42 hear such things. And Jesus said to them, you justify yourself in the sight of men. You appear very spiritual in the sight of men. But God knows your hearts. And what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God, 23:55 detestable in God's sight. Remember this verse. I have it hung up in my sitting room to so that I can look at it and remember it all my life. I've had it for 20 years at least. That which man esteems greatly is detestable in the 24:10 sight of God. Make a list of all the things that man esteems greatly and say, "Lord, this is all detestable in God's eyes. I don't want any of it. I will not glory in anything that man values highly." Have you got things that man 24:25 values highly? Okay, you have them. What can you do about it? But don't think they have any value before God. Don't gloat over it. Don't meditate on it. Have you got a good-look face? Well, I'm not saying cut it up and make it look ugly. Leave it as 24:41 it is. But don't think that that helps you to serve God better. Have you got a lot of intelligence which man values highly? Okay. But don't think it has got any value before God. Have you got a good house, good job? No value 24:56 before God. Have you got degrees and titles? No value before God. That anything which the world values highly is detestable in the sight of God. God values humility, the fear of God which the world does not value. You value those things and your 25:15 service for the Lord will be far more effective. And then another story about money. The rich man and Lazarus. Verse 19 onwards. Again, a man who was entrusted with money by God, a rich man. And he did not use it faithfully. He did not care for 25:35 the poor. And that poor man sitting at the door was his own brother. Do you know that he was a son of Abraham? And the rich man was a son of Abraham. Every Jew was a son of Abraham. That person sitting 25:54 there was his own brother, his own family member. And if a man does not know how to help his brother when he's in need, if he just praise the Lord, be warmed and filled, and you do not give what he needs, the Bible says, how can 26:10 you say you have faith? Faith without works is dead. That's why the rich man went to hell. He had no faith. And I've noticed here that um it's very interesting that what Jesus 26:28 said the beggar died, the poor man, verse 22, died. The rich man died, verse 22, and was also buried. And I can imagine he must have had a 26:45 fantastic burial with the bishop coming there and saying he was a good man and all the nice things people say when a man dies. But the man is in hell while all this funeral is going on. And the poor man, he doesn't even say he 27:01 was buried. You know, there are some people who join certain churches because they want a decent burial, marriage and burial. That's why they joined churches. The poor man was not buried. I don't know whether maybe they tossed his body 27:16 into the garbage bin and the corporation came and took it off perhaps. But the man was already in heaven. What does it matter what they did with his body? And there in heaven, this rich man could see this man whom I despised is up there. With all my money, 27:34 I didn't make it. God has chosen the poor of the world rich in faith. Faith without works is dead. If God has given you money, he expects you to use it to bless other people. Why did the rich man go to hell? He knew the 27:53 answer because he said to Abraham, "Please send Lazarus to warn my five brothers because unless someone goes to them from the dead, if someone goes to them from the dead, verse 30, they will repent." He knew why he went to hell because he 28:10 did not repent of his sin. And he knew why Lazarus went to heaven because he repented of his sin. Repentance. 99 righteous persons who don't need repentance. That's what Jesus was emphasizing here. He knew that he went to hell because he didn't repent. He 28:26 said, "Please go and tell my brothers." They go to church, but they don't they haven't repented. And then we come to um in chapter 17, Jesus says about another uh he says, "If your brother sins, verse 28:46 three, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you 17:4, seven times a day, forgive him seven times a day. And the apostle said, "Increase my faith." And then he gave another parable about someone who 29:06 is um who's working for the Lord. And when he comes back, the Lord says to him, "Now prepare something for me." And this is the word I wanted to show you. Verse 10. When you have done every single thing which the Lord has commanded you, say we 29:25 are unworthy slaves. We have only done that which we have we should have done. The Lord was teaching his disciples humility. He said after you've done everything possible, come to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm still an unprofitable servant. Keep that 29:43 attitude all your life. When can you get this degree? Unprofitable servant, unworthy slave. According to verse 10, after you have obeyed every single command of the Lord. When you have obeyed every command of the Lord, you get a degree from the 30:01 Lord. Unworthy slave, unprofitable servant. It's a long road for most of us, right? To get there. When are you going to finish obeying all the commands of the Lord to get this degree of unworthy slave? But long before that, most of us think we are 30:17 pretty profitable and pretty worthy. And that's why the Lord cannot use us any further. We don't take this seriously. Just because he blessed you a little bit here and a little bit there, you suddenly begin to think you're somebody. 30:33 After you've obeyed everything, the Lord says you're still an unprofitable servant. And then we have a lesson on thankfulness. verse 11- 21 about this leper who was cleansed and because he came back to the Lord to express his thankfulness, he also got 30:52 salvation. Your faith has saved you. Verse 19, the others only got healing from the leprosy. This man got salvation as well. You always get more from the Lord when you come back to thank him. You come to him for for prayer. You ask him for 31:08 something, you get something. And after you get the answer, you come back to thank him, you'll get something more. Remember that. And then he spoke about his second coming. And I want to say something here about the second coming of the Lord. 31:26 The time will come when you long to see verse 22, the days of the son of man. And they will say to you, "Look here, look there. Don't go running after them." Because just as the lightning when it flashes out of one part of the sky and 31:40 shines to the other part, so will the son of man be in his day. Now let me express my conviction. You've probably heard a lot of things I say in these days which are quite contrary to the traditions that you have believed. Let 31:53 me shock you one more time. I do not believe there is a secret coming of Jesus Christ 7 years before uh his public coming. I believe there is only one coming as the lightning flashes 32:11 from one part of the sky to the other. Christ will come at the end of the tribulation. We will be here during the tribulation. We will suffer. We'll stand for the Lord. God is not going to take his best soldiers away at 32:27 a time when he needs a witness for him in the days of the antichrist. It's very clear. You read in Matthew 24 after the tribulation the like the lightning in the sky when when people say no no no no he's come secretly there he's come 32:41 secretly there verse 23 says don't believe them I don't believe them that was a doctrine that originated in England 150 years ago and the echoes are heard all over the world that's all but nobody ever believed it for 1850 years 32:59 that's how it will be ready for the coming of the Lord and for the persecution that will come before that. And in that day, what will happen? There will be two people in one bed. Verse 34, one will be taken and the 33:17 other will be left. There will be two women grinding together in the same place. Verse 35, one will be taken, the other will be left. That's how it's going to be at the coming of the Lord. And so the Lord said, "Always be ready 33:32 for it." For example, if you're on the housetop, verse 31, you should not have to go down to your house. If you're out in the field, you should not have to go back. Today, those days they worked in the field. Today, we work in an office. 33:45 I I read it like this. If you go to the office and the Lord comes, you should not have to go back saying, "Lord, I had a quarrel with my wife this morning. I have to settle that." No, no, no. You must always be ready before you go to 33:58 the office. Please settle that quarrel with your wife and then go. So that in the office if the Lord comes, you don't have to say, "Lord, please, I have to go back home." You shouldn't have to turn back. You're up on the roof of your house. You 34:10 shouldn't have any attachment to anything inside the house. You must be ready to go from there. No attachment to anything on this earth. Nothing to set right. And absolutely clear conscience every day of the year, ready for the 34:23 coming of the Lord. That's how we are called to live. Chapter 18:ES 1-7 he speaks on um about prayer and here he speaks about persistence in prayer. In Luke 11 we saw about persistence in prayer and that was to deal with getting 34:42 power to help another brother in need. Here it is persistence in prayer for my own need. You see we need to persist in prayer for two things. One for our own need Luke 18. And the other is for other people. Luke 11. Here it is. Lord, my 34:57 enemy is harassing me. Every day is harassing me. Every day is making me fall into some sin. Please help me. No answer. The judge says, "Don't disturb me." And the widow doesn't give up. It's interesting that the Lord pictures 35:15 us like widows. A widow without any male member in the house is one of the most helpless human beings on earth. And the Lord pictured us, the church, and we believers like that. Widows, helpless. If some of you think you're not 35:28 helpless, maybe that's why you don't go to God in prayer. The more helpless we are, the more we go to God in prayer and say, "Lord, deliver me." I've had young people come to me and ask me, "Brother, how to get victory over dirty thoughts?" 35:42 I said, "I'll tell you. Every time you get a dirty thought, repent deeply. Cry out to God and say, Lord, I'm sorry. I've slipped up. weep on your pillow at night and cry out for victory. That's how I got it. I want to ask you, 36:00 when was the last time your pillow got a little wet with tears because you were crying out for victory over sin? Never. And you're surprised that you don't get victory? I'm not surprised. Who are the ones who get victory? Those 36:23 who weep in sorrow because they dishonored the Lord by sin in their life that day. The others will only argue whether it's theologically possible to get victory. You can keep arguing about that. The ones who weep get the victory. That's 36:38 all I can say. Blessed are those who mourn. They shall be comforted. Lord, my enemy is troubling me. Lord, my enemy is troubling me. Lord, my enemy is troubling me. And Jesus says, "Do you think God who listens to his elect, verse 7, 36:56 crying to him day and night?" When you cry at night, what happens? Your pillow gets wet. It's there in the Bible. It's not my doctrine. They cry to him day and night. And do you think God will not answer them? He will speedily 37:15 give them victory. Take that seriously. Cry out to God, Lord, my enemy is harassing me. Then another parable on prayer about the Pharisee and the publican. That is particularly for those who think they are very righteous and everybody 37:30 else is not so righteous. There are multitudes of Christians like that in the world who consider themselves to be extremely holy and other people are not so holy. And this prayer, if you're in that category, this parable is 37:41 especially for you. And this Pharisee, he was praying. He wasn't even praying to God. It says he uh have you noticed that verse. To whom did the Pharisee pray? Have you noticed it? Verse 11, he prayed to himself. 37:58 Who was his God then? He himself was his God. He prayed to himself. Verse 11. Oh God. He's talking to himself. Oh God, I thank it. It's written there. Jesus said it. He prayed to himself saying, "Oh God, I thank thee that I'm not like 38:18 other people." This is basically a proud man. A proud man basically worships himself. And he's very proud of his fasting and his praying and his tithing and his service and his missionary work and this and that and the other thing. 38:30 And he worships himself. And the poor publican over there who belongs to some despised denomination, he says, "Oh God, I'm a sinner." And that man goes home justified. Remember that the first will be last and the last will be first. And 38:48 here's another story about money. Verse 18 onwards, the rich young ruler who was not willing to pay the price. And another story of money in chapter 19 of Zakius. Zakius was a rich man who had cheated many people in his life 39:08 and one day but he had a eagerness. Sometimes we think these crooked tax collectors and all they will not find God. Even today you know we have these income tax inspectors and sales tax inspectors we think they're all crooks. 39:22 They all just take bribes and they're not interested in God. But Jesus loved even them. Among them Jesus knew some of them are interested in the Lord. Zakius was so eager. He climbed up a tree. And I I see something about the way 39:38 Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived on earth as a man. As he walked through the road, the Holy Spirit said to him, "Just look up now. There's a man in that tree." And he looked up. There was 39:57 It's wonderful to listen to the Holy Spirit. That's how you can be led to lost souls in the most efficient way. Learn to listen to the Holy Spirit, my brothers and sisters. And he and he told him, I want to come to your house today. And it says, as 40:17 soon as he came to the house, Zakius stopped. Verse 8, he stopped outside the house and he said, "Lord, you're a holy man. You can't come to my house. I built this with black money. I cheated so many people. I didn't pay the wages properly 40:33 to the laborers who built this. And I've taken a lot of money wrongfully. There lot of things inside this house which I got with illegal money unrighteously." I know I've got a verse there said saying, "God bless our home." All that is there. 40:48 It's uh I know you can't bless it. I got light on it. Did Jesus give him a sermon on righteousness in money matters? No. He was so Jesus was so holy, so pure that light just went out from him that Zakius just got convicted without a 41:06 sermon. And he said, "Lord, I'm going to give half my money to the poor and anyone whom I've cheated, I'm going to give back four times." Now, the Old Testament law said in numbers chapter 5 that whenever uh is it 41:25 chapter 5 or chapter 6, I don't remember. We did it in our study that when you make restitution, you must add 20%. Here, Zakius was adding 300%. because he's cheated so people so many years ago he calculated the interest 41:43 quickly in his mind and he said it must be at least 400% now I have to give back when you return money where you have wronged people don't give back just the amount you stole give back with the interest give more 42:02 that's what Zakius did and as soon as Jesus heard that he said salvation has come to this house. Here is a man who's willing to set right his financial unrighteousnesses of the past. Here's a man who's willing to give back what he 42:17 has done taken wrongfully. Salvation has come. I will not say that salvation has come to somebody till I see that he has set right the wrongs of his past life. When I see that he's willing to do that, I also will say salvation has come. 42:33 Another parable about money. He said about a noble man verse 11- 27 about whose went far away and he called his 10 slaves and said do business with this till I come gave them each some money and these people these servants were 42:51 some were faithful and some were not and one man was so faithful with that one mina that he produced 10 mas with it another man not so faithful he produced five mas with it. Another man, he wrapped up that Mina in a handkerchief, 43:10 buried it under the ground and gave it back exactly like that. When the master came, he didn't steal anything. He just wasted his one life. Now there's one, you know, all of them got one Mina in Matthew 25. There's another parable where they were given 43:26 different one was given five, one was given two, one was given one. That pictures, you know, some are given more gifts and some are given less. But what is it where all of us are equal here? Everybody got equal amounts. It's 43:40 different from the Matthew 25 parable that refers to gifts. Somebody as an apostle, somebody's an evangelist, somebody has more opportunity than you. You're a mother with children. You don't have the opportunity to travel the 43:51 world. So God expects more from the one to whom he has given five than from you to whom he has given two. But here it is different. Everybody's got the same. What is it that you can say? We've all got the same. We have all got 24 hours a day. There's 44:09 nobody who has 25. Every person gets 24 hours a day. It is his decision how he spends it. It is your decision how much time you spend studying the word, how much time you spend in spiritual things. That's your decision. and how much time you 44:27 spend playing the fool and in useless conversation. Another thing that all of us are equal in is we all have the same body with the same lusts in the flesh through which we are tempted. Everybody in the world we are tempted to impatience. We are 44:47 tempted to anger. We are tempted sexually. We are tempted to jealousy. We are tempted to love money. We are tempted to pride. We are tempted. It's the same thing for everybody. But there are different degrees of faithfulness in these people. God gave 45:01 me a body. That's like one Mina. God gave you a body. And God gave another brother a body. And that brother may have been so faithful because he was so diligent in putting the flesh to death, taking up the cross, that he made 45:14 tremendous use of his body for the glory of God and produced 10 mas. Another brother not so faithful produced five. And maybe I was so unfaithful, I just kept it like this and say, "Lord, I've got a place in heaven. That's enough for 45:27 me." And I wasted my body. I wasted my time. Not all believers are equally faithful. So please remember that it's a parable about faithfulness. And then we read of the story where Jesus 45:46 rode on a donkey. Verse 30 and onwards. and verse 35 and entered the city of Jerusalem. In those days, kings used to ride on horses. But Jesus chose a donkey. He was always like that. When he was born, he chose a 46:05 stable. When he when he had a job, he chose a carpenters's job. When he wanted to ride as a king, he rode on a donkey. Have you ever seen a man riding on a donkey? You've seen people riding on horses. It's looks grand. See a man riding on a 46:23 donkey. And there you see a picture of what Jesus took. It's so humiliating. He wanted to all that is big and great in the eyes of men is an abomination to God. Jesus chose donkeys. In the Old Testament, he spoke through a 46:41 donkey, Balam's donkey. He rode on a donkey. Jesus has chosen the weak people and that's a great encouragement to you and me. Even if you're as stupid as a donkey, you know, Jesus can sit on you and ride on you, speak through you, that's what 47:01 the message comes through. And when Jesus speaks through you and uses you and people throw their shirts down and say, "Boy, that was tremendous." Don't think they're praising you. If that donkey got little ideas in its head, oh, this is 47:17 wonderful. Everybody's throwing their shirts in front of me. I'm an important donkey. Well, he was important as long as Jesus sat on him. The moment Jesus stepped off, he was just the same old donkey as he was before. And nobody threw any 47:29 shirts before in front of him after that. And that's a lesson to you and me. When people appreciate you for something you have done for the Lord, remember you're just a little old donkey. Because Jesus sat on you, some people 47:43 appreciated you. The moment Jesus leaves you, you'll be the same old donkey again. It's a wonderful story to tell us what we really are. We read in chapter 20. I want to read one verse. Verse 25, 48:00 Jesus said about money again, render to Caesar what is Caesars's and render to God what is God's. Don't cheat from the government and give to God's work. Don't steal from the government taxes and then give to God's work. Pay your taxes and then give to 48:20 God. Very important principle. Chapter 21, we read in about the second coming of the Lord, a number of signs that the Lord gave about wars. Verse 9, earthquakes, famines, verse 11. 48:39 and times of persecution you will be delivered up by your parents and brothers and relatives. Verse 16, but don't be afraid. A word that we need to keep in mind the future. Verse 18, not a hair of your head will perish and so on. You're familiar with all 48:57 that. And then we go to chapter uh 22. Here we read first of all in verse 24 how even after all these years of preaching to them they were still 49:15 discussing who is the greatest. So we see that the Lord did not choose disciples who were perfect. He chose people who even after so many years of listening to his preaching were still struggling for position and honor. Now 49:31 to me that's a great encouragement that the Lord did not call perfect people. Peter was not perfect. James was not perfect. John was not perfect. They were struggling for position. But the Lord when they were filled with the Holy 49:42 Spirit, everything changed. They were not struggling for position anymore. And then I see here in verse 31, Jesus speaking to Simon. Simon, Simon. 31 and 32. Satan has desired to have you to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed 49:58 for you. Not that you will never fall, but that your faith may not fail. Some of us would like the Lord to pray for us that we never fall. Why is it the Lord did not pray that Simon should never fall. No, he prayed that when you fall, your 50:17 faith should not fail. Because, and here is a word of encouragement, when we fall, that is fulfilling a purpose in our life. God allows us to fall to humble our pride and we fall and fall and fall and 50:35 fall till finally we say Lord I'm no good I can never get victory I'm just failing so often and when you come to that zero point if at that point you don't lose your faith and say Lord even though I'm failing I 50:54 believe in you I believe you love me I believe sin will not have dominion over me, you'll do a work in me, it will be accomplished. Remember that failure serves a purpose. So that's why the Lord because failure was the way Simon's pride was broken. 51:10 Simon said even if everybody denies you, I won't deny you. Such a man has to fall. He has to deny the Lord three times within a period of a few hours. And that breaks him. It breaks him so badly that later on he says, "I'm going 51:22 back to my fishing." That's the man. That was his preparation for Pentecost. If he had not fallen that day, he would have stood up on the day of Pentecost like an arrogant, proud man. But do you think he could stand on the day of Pentecost as an arrogant, 51:37 proud man, looking down on all the poor sinners underneath beneath him? No. He stood there as a broken man saying, "You are just like me, sinners. I'm the biggest sinner of all." That's the type of person whom God picks up, fills with 51:50 the spirit, and uses in his service. And then we see the story of the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus knelt down and prayed, "Father," verse 42, "let this cup pass from me." Three times he prayed. What was this cup? 52:10 It was certainly not the physical death on Calvary. There are many martyrs who've gone singing to the cross. I cannot imagine Jesus being scared of dying on the cross. He was not a coward. What was he what was he praying? Father, 52:23 take away this cup from me. Let me explain to you. There was only one thing Jesus was afraid of. And that was a break of fellowship with his father for 3 hours on the cross. He had fellowship with the father from all eternity. And he knew that when he 52:39 took the sin of the world upon himself, he would have to suffer the punishment for sin, which is not physical death. Physical death is not the punishment for sin. eternal death, separation from God. That's what Jesus endured on the cross 52:57 for 3 hours. He endured hell on the cross for 3 hours. Hell is a place where God forsakes people. And that's what Jesus endured for 3 hours when he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And he said, "Father, isn't there 53:13 any other way?" There was no other way. And he said okay for their sake I'll do it. You know in my younger days I used to see the love of Jesus for me on Calvary. The more I understood this passage I saw the love of God more in Gethsemane in 53:32 Jesus love for me than on Calvary. Calvary he died physically. In Gethsemane he made that choice for my sake to be willing to lose fellowship with the father for 3 hours which he cherished more than anything else. Take the most valuable thing you have in 53:48 life. Fellowship with the father was more important for Jesus than even that. He gave that up for me. That's what you must remember. Ask God to show you how much he loved you from Gethsemane. And then we read of how the Lord looked 54:06 at Peter. Verse 61. In the midst of his trial, he remembered Peter and he looked at him saying, "I've forgiven you, Peter." And that's what turned people turned Peter back to him. I want to ask you, is there somebody who has wronged 54:21 you? Who perhaps needs a look of forgiveness from you today? Who's waiting for you to look at him with forgiveness, but you won't look at him? You're angry. Please learn an example from Jesus. Chapter 23, 54:40 we read about the cross. Just one thing I want to say here about this thief who hung on the cross. How is it he recognized that this man Jesus had done nothing wrong? He says that the one thief this man has done nothing wrong 54:59 because of the way Jesus conducted himself when he hung on the cross. That thief had seen so many people crucified, cursing, swearing everything. But here he saw someone saying, "Father, forgive them." And he was and not 55:16 criticizing them or cursing them. And he was convicted. Do you know when other people around us will be convicted? When they see our forgiving nature, when they see a Christlikeness in our life, that's what made the Roman centurion 55:33 say, "This is the son of God." That's what brought conviction to that thief. And he said, "This is a righteous man. He's not like us. He took the blame for his own sin. Unlike the other thief who said, "I don't deserve this." But these 55:48 thief said, "I deserve my death." You know who paradise is reserved for? Those who admit that they deserve hell. One thief admitted he deserved crucifixion. The other thief did not admit it. That's what opened the door of paradise for 56:03 him. One last thing in chapter 24 we read of Jesus walking on the road to Emmas with these two disciples and there's a wonderful word it says that it's a 7mi journey 7 milesi they must have taken two 2 and 1/2 hours to walk and for 2 56:19 and 1/2 hours they had a Bible study on the scriptures as he opened their eyes we read in u 24 and verse he verse 27 he began to explain the scriptures to 56:35 and their hearts burned within them. Verse 32, as Jesus spoke. That's how it is when Jesus speaks. My dear brothers and sisters, those of you who are called to preach the word of God, let this be the longing of your heart 56:54 that when you preach the word of God, if Jesus is speaking through you, like it says in verse 32, the hearts of people will burn. Pray that God will set your heart so much on fire that when you expound the 57:14 scriptures as Jesus speaks through you, he's the same yesterday, today and forever, the hearts of people will burn within them. That's what we need in India today. Many many preachers through whom Jesus speaks and makes the 57:33 hearts of people burn. Even if it's a 2 and 1/2 hour sermon. Finally, he told the disciples, "Go and wait in Jerusalem till you are filled with the Holy Spirit." Verse 49. See how the Holy Spirit comes right through the 57:49 book of Luke. Wait for the promise of the father and wait until you are clothed with power from on high. And they went and did that. And they went to Jerusalem till the Lord met with them. Let's pray.
