(2017 Atlanta) Questions & Answers - Part 1 - Zac Poonen

so we have two sessions on for questions and answers the reason we keep questions and answers immediately after lunch is because we feel sleepy questions and answers are more likely to keep you awake than a sermon because we keep changing the subject you know each question is on a different topic first question is how do you know that you're really born again there are two witnesses one is the Word of God you know there's the Holy Spirit so in the Bible it says that when we receive Christ John 1:12 as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God so when we receive him with the councilman of God and the word belief in the Bible is more than intellectual belief it's a hard belief and the best way to picture that is in a marriage you know when a bride is saying yes I will marry this man she's expressing her faith in him that I can trust this man with the rest of my life that is faith it's not an intellectual belief that I believe 2+2 is 4 or the earth goes around the Sun these things don't affect our life say when a bride says yes to the bridegroom she's saying more than 2 plus 2 is 4 she's committing her whole life that is the type of faith that we exercise when we say I give my life to Christ and the Holy Spirit it says in Romans 8 bears witness with our spirit let the other children of God so we have the Word of God and the children of God so people have asked me how do you know the Bible is God's Word I'm going to begin with well today I know the Bible is God's Word because I've read it for 58 years and it has changed my life and I've never found a contradiction in it in any moral issue in anything and I've never seen a book like that in the whole world because it has changed my life and God speaks to me through it even though I've read it for 58 years he still speaks to me I know it's God's Word but when I first was converted you see how did you notice God's Word then well I went to it with an open mind and I said Lord this is your word teach me but every now and then in my younger years I would meet someone who I really felt was godly and knew Christ and was a christ-like man it was very rare there were not many like that but the few that I met in my younger days when I got close to them and inquired about that testimony there were two things I always found about all of them one is they all believed that the Bible is the Word of God and second they all had an experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit always so I see there must be something about these two things so in the beginning I had to depend on people whom I trusted a lot and they their lives were changed by the Bible they believed no least read so I trusted that but today I speak from my own experience that I know the Bible is God's Word that's why when I say that if we receive him we become children of God but that's not enough the Holy Spirit must also bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God so that's how we know that we are born again and the other is that we will see a change life jesus said by that fruit you shall know them a good tree brings forth good fruit so you'll find in yourself a changed attitude to sin not that you become perfect because that's maturity we must not confess confuse birth with maturity you know a child that is born is not mature but it can be perfectly healthy free from sickness so freedom from sickness is not the same as maturity maturity takes years but I can be free from sin even as a little baby is free from sickness we can be free from known sin so it's a changed attitude to sin that indicates another indication that something has happened in me I don't want to sin anymore not I will not sin anymore but I don't want to sin anymore so I never ask people will you sin again because nobody can say no to that I ask people this question when they come for baptism do you want to sin again tell me from your heart oscar's say to yourself ask yourself do you want to sin again if a person is really born again he will not want to sin again he will not want to hurt the Lord or die for him okay what do you do when you've made a mess of your life I think sometimes God allows us to make a mess of our life it happened to me so that we see how corrupt our flesh is and how our own strength we cannot overcome just like the disciples toiling all night to catch fish and not catching anything it was my experience there's a book of mine there called the day of small beginnings where I've written a lot about my own testimony how I came to that point in my life of rock bottom and God lifted me up from there and another little booklet called the purpose of failure which describes why God allows us to fail and make a mess of our life so that he can Humble us and we must not give up faith you remember when the Lord told Peter you're going to be the ninety three times but I'm praying for you Luke 22 that your faith should not fail that means when you hit rock-bottom still trust that your father and heaven loves you don't give up faith in that so if you don't give up faith and you trust the Lord God will take care of you the number of questions here on tithing this church attendance and tithing is the church in order to require repentance of his members who do not attend or tides regularly let me tell you something about tithing nowhere in the New Testament is there a command notice what I'm saying a command to pay your tithe no we're just like nowhere in the New Testament does it say you must offer a lamb as a sacrifice nowhere in the New Testament does it say you must bring a grain offering or the rules of law you must build a tabernacle it's all in the Old Testament and Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant and in the New Covenant we read in Hebrews chapter eight I don't have time to show you all these verses you can look it up later that the Old Covenant has been abolished so we don't go back to the rules of the Old Covenant anymore like in India the British stopped ruling India in 1947 we are not under the British now the British stopped ruling America in 1776 you're not under the British anymore neither your country no my country wants to go back under the British so we don't want to go back to the Old Covenant no it's finished so in the New Testament there's not a single command about tithing jesus said to the Pharisees you must die Matthew 23 because they were still under the law the Old Covenant ended on the day of Pentecost before that naturally Jesus told the lepers to go and show themselves with the priests and he told people to keep the Sabbath and he because the law is not to still get rid of the Old Covenant that's why he told the Pharisees to pay the type but after the day of Pentecost there's no command to pay the type and it's only covetous pastors who are interested in your money who tell you to pay the tithe we have planted nearly a hundred churches over the last 42 years and let me tell you something not only we don't ask people to type we've never taken an offering with an offering bag in 42 years in any of our hundred churches because but also says God loves a cheerful Giver now how do you know that a person is giving cheerfully just take a bag in front of them you may doing and you may be putting his putting money inside because everybody is watching him and Jesus said you must give secretly so how do you make sure a person gives secretly and cheerfully so what we do is we keep a box near the exit those who want to put can put secretly cheerfully they don't want to put they don't have to put we don't put pressure on anyone that is how Jesus did it so we try to follow Jesus in everything in this area and there are people who quote Hebrews 7 that Abraham gave type to Melchizedek but if you read there he was actually giving money to Melchizedek for all the food that he brought you know Abraham a318 servants who fought that battle you read in Genesis 14 and Melchizedek brought food for 320 people now some friend of yours brings 304 for 320 of your friends if you are a decent person you're given some money I will in anyway you and also what did he give not from his pocket in those days the rule was if you defeat your enemies everything that belongs to the enemy is yours Abraham had defeated all the enemies of the sodam overcome those things all that spoil was their gold and all that from that it was not his money he took money and paid Melchisedec for bringing food for these 320 servants and when the king of Sodom said Abraham you won the battle this is all yours Abraham said I will not take one shoelace from you it's yours only what the servants have used give it to them at all so there's no command on Titan the New Testament them God loves a cheerful Giver so what we've taught and we experienced it you've never had a lack I've never been in debt for 77 years I've tried my wife and I are married nearly for 50 years we've never been in debt we've trusted God to provide all our need how churches have trusted God we have never been in debt in our churches and God's taking care of us so we don't believe in tithing we've never preached typing we preach give cheerfully as God has prospered you okay what is your number one advice for a person seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit jesus said two things in John 7:37 2:39 thirst and faith If any man thirsts let him come to me he who believes in me out of his innermost being the rivers will flow so thirst and faith are the two requirements thirst is like I said earlier I'm willing to pay any price to be filled with the Holy Spirit in other words being filled with the Holy Spirit is more important to me than anything in this world I'm willing to give up anything if you've got a girlfriend or boyfriend you're willing to give that up to be filled with the Holy Spirit you're willing to give up any sinful habit see being clearly the Holy Spirit is something like opening up every part of your heart to God you know it's like if all the windows in your house are covered with blinds it's all dark inside the moment you lift one blind the sunlight comes in you don't even have to invite the sunlight the sunlight is so eager to come in that you lift one blind even slightly the you see the sunlight I mean that is how eager the Holy Spirit is to fill your life but you have to lift up you have to open the door and let him come in there's one door in a one room in our heart we all open the door to that is the guilt room I feel guilty about my past and I say Lord come in cleanse me from sin that we all want but there are other rooms in our life where the Holy Spirit will come in if you open the door he will not force you because Jesus and I stand at the door and knock for example he knocks at the door and says can I come into your television room and decide what programs you watch and what programs you should never watch when I tell you to turn off or turn the channel and go somewhere else will you listen to me will you get rid of the DVDs that you have which you should not be listening to whether movies or music and you say Lord no please give me some freedom there the Holy Spirit says sure but don't ask me to fill you no no you keep that room dark the Lord asks you can I come into your library and see the books you read the magazines you read the papers you read and you say no no the certain things I want to read myself okay the Lord says I will not come there keep that room dark or can I come into your finances room see how you earn your money is it all 100% righteous and you say well Lord you know this world is so crooked you can't do everything righteously okay well Lord says I will not come into that room you run your life and are you generous are you large hearted no no no Lord I don't allow you to come there there are many rooms we lock up and we keep yelling and praying Lord fill me the Holy Spirit it won't happen in a hundred years I'll tell you that because you're locking certain doors you open up all those doors and you see you don't even have to ask the Holy Spirit will come and fill you like sunlight it must also believe that God is more eager to fill you with the spirit then you are to be filled with the spirit this is my definition of faith if God has promised something in scripture faith means God is more eager to fulfill that promise in your life then you are eager to receive it I've heard people say oh I pray and pray and pray to be filled with the spirit and God doesn't fill me in spirit well you'll never be filled because you believe you are more eager than God that is unbelief you must believe that God is more eager than you but make sure every room is open that is the main reason why God is very eager that everybody here should be filled with the spirit but if you have locked up certain doors in your life and you don't want God to come into those areas for example the Lord to say are you ready to ask forgiveness from everybody you hurt as soon as you hurt them including your wife not next day as soon as you hurt them you say lord I can't do that okay keep that door room locked can you forgive all the people who we have whom who have hurt you and you say well there's some people I can never forgive okay keep that room locked but don't ever pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit won't work in fact you may even lose your salvation if you don't forgive others because jesus said if you don't forgive people my heavenly father will not forgive you so I have found because I've met so many people I met a man who said I've been praying 40 years to be filled with the spirit and God has not done it well if you keep certain rooms locked even a hundred years you will not be filled is always filled but if you open every door you'll be there in one day immediately so don't ever think God is reluctant you have not opened certain doors in your life you have not for example an unforgiving spirit it's a very common thing among believers they say how can I forgive that person he did such evil to me okay keep it locked you God has forgiven you more than any man could ever have done harm to you so these are some reasons okay do you recommend people only to listen to CFC teaching or do recommend acknowledge other ministries also as freaking victorious gospel I wish that everybody would be preaching the victorious gospel but from what I have heard in many churches and I've traveled many churches in my 58 years as a believer I've read so many books of so many different groups I've listened to so many messages on the internet and I find that a very very few who are preaching an actual practical way to victory I mean if you hear some message on the internet that practically tells you how to overcome anger how to overcome sexually dirty thoughts how to overcome the love of money how to forgive everybody who harms you I'm talking about practical things not general way of saying Ivy what you must preach you must have victory over sin no no if you go to the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was not general he was specific he said if you have hurt your brother with anger don't give your offering till you go and ask forgiveness specific if you lust after a woman with your eyes you're on your way to hell specific if you're angry with your brother you're in danger of hellfire he was specific you must love not only your neighbors you must love your enemy he was only specific when you give money don't give to show other people all that Jesus spoke in the mouth Sermon on the Mount was not generally you must have victory over sin he was specific about you go through the Sermon on the Mount and find out how many breaches you hear on the internet speaking about all those things written on the Sermon on the Mount about being merciful to others hungry and thirsting after righteousness many many things any fine there are so few so people have asked me brother Zack whom will you invite to preach in your PFC pulpit I say okay number one I want to see if this preacher is a humble approachable man that means if he's got bodyguards around in like so many preachers have nowadays I don't want to go anywhere near him he can live with his bodyguards all his life or if you can't access him we can't easily speak to him he is unapproachable or it disappears after is spoken on the pulpit like some people do nowadays I am NOT interested in even meeting such people leave alone invite them to speak in my church I don't care how famous we are that's number one because you're humble approachable man secondly what is his attitude of money is he eager to collect money from people in retelling people might always give give give give I don't want that man anywhere near our church leave alone our pulpit will never allow him to come anywhere near a pulpit because jesus said you cannot serve God money here to make a choice that guys serving money I don't care how famous he is so my standards are in God's Word I never find Jesus telling people give give give give I never find any of the Apostles saying it Paul once told the Corinthians to give money for the poor Saints in Jerusalem never for himself for his ministry never so that's the second thing I will keep people far away who have any interest in money third the Bible says that if a man cannot bring up his children properly he's unfit to be an elder in the church you read 1 Timothy 3 so the third question I ask myself is how are his children are all his children born again I'm not saying all his children should be preachers like him but are they born again and following the Lord because your children know you much better than everybody in your church people in your church know 10% of your life your children know almost hundred percent they know how you talk to each other as father and mother and if they see ungodliness and hypocrisy there they will not follow the Lord so I want to see what types of children you have that shows me something about your private life so I want preachers who preach in a pulpit whose children are following the Lord because they have seen in their parents the same life that the parents have preached in the church so that's the third thing are his children all following the Lord then number four I want to see what his closest co-workers are like not all of them but some of his closest co-workers in other words if I see somebody like Timothy I can find out how Paul was like I get a good impression about Paul by looking at Timothy customer T is close co-worker of Paul and he has imbibed Paul's spirit so that's the other thing I'd look for someone let me look at some of his close co-workers and see if they have the same spirit that the leader has and number five I want to see at least one church that he's built somewhere which is following New Testament principles just one I want to see a church that he has planted which is following New Testament principles in every area of that church at least proclaiming it I'm not saying that everyone in that church is a wholehearted believer no even Jesus had a cook in his church so I'm not talking about that but I'm saying some you we judge a church not by the people who sit in the back rows and the people who come now and then we judge a church by its leadership hi judge Jesus Church by the leadership so the leadership of a church as they built the church which is according to New Testament principles in the inner core and the pulpit preaching of that church those are the five things I look for before I would recommend someone to preach in our pulpit and when I look for the all five to tell you honestly I find very few but there are a few and those are the ones I welcome to speak in our pocket so it's not only necessarily a particular denomination okay this is related to that you have any man of God that you look up to currently I have been tremendously blessed by the writings of many godly men through the centuries and I read a lot of them really godly men this is people who speak to my heart and draw me closer to the Lord and there are a few that I respect even today very very few but I'm not a person who mentions names in the pulpit either negative or positive so I don't mention names the reason is Jesus never mentioned anybody's names so I don't either okay this is also related does it bother you when members of CFC are constantly saying Zachman and says this or succulence is that we are part of Zachman is church and things similar rather than sharing what they are found to be true and reading the Bible themselves and keeping the focus on the Church of Jesus Christ now I believe that we must love all of God's people and all of God's people are not in CFC so our CFC members are you've seen a few fanatics all the others really believe there are God's children in many many churches personally I believe there are many born-again believers in the Roman Catholic Church I have a great respect for Mother Teresa in India I didn't I don't go to her to get doctrine because he prayed to Mary and all that as a head problem but her heart was right she loved Jesus and whether you believe it or not I believe Mother Teresa will be way ahead of me in God's kingdom she was not part of CFC but she was a godly woman I appreciate godly people who I met a few people like that in different churches are really godly I appreciate them and I met people in CFC who are not godly so I see if a person draws you closer to Jesus draws you away from himself to Christ was it right for Paul to say in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1 follow me follow me do you know there are two people in the Bible in New Testament who said follow me one is Jesus the other was Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 he said be imitators of maybe followers of me just as I am following Christ he also said that in Philippians 3 join in following my example now that sounds very arrogant Paul why do you say should follow your example because I'm following Christ and there were not many people who could show them the way to follow Christ I picture it like this here's a mountain following Christ perfection is the top of the mountain Jesus is up there now I see the footsteps of Paul in the snow way ahead of me and I can follow his footsteps because I see the man is following Christ and so I would follow anyone who I see is following Jesus in the principles of his life as I said in his humility attitude to money and attitude to building the church etc and I find if that man is not drawing you to himself but pointing you to Christ which I always say it always family a sign pointing towards Atlanta and that the lander is not here this is only a pointer there so we point to Christ but there's nothing wrong in following that sign in that way his right to follow a man who's leading you to Christ and it unfortunately there are people who are carnal in their attitude well what can there are can of people in every church but I'm not disturbed when people say they accept my teaching because God has appointed teachers in the church for example supposing there's a very well-known and a heart surgeon in Atlanta who's always had success in heart surgery and he does his surgery free without a charge and somebody in your home has got a serious heart problem and you go to dr. eggs and you keep saying why does everybody go to dr. X what about dr. XY and Z and all why not a and B no we go to dr. X dr. X dr. X why because he had so much success with heart surgery because you've seen the people have gone to him how the heart problem was solved so that's why I would go to a man through whose ministry I see people's lives are changed I don't mind referring people to such a person just like I prefer go to that heart surgeon but people don't seem to realize that there's nothing inconsistent in recommending a heart surgeon and keeping using that name I should be hesitate and recommend a teacher or a preacher who's drawing people to Christ that's how I look at it okay how do you reconcile a Christian who is living in defeat when it says in 1 John and chapter 3 verse 8 and 9 that [Music] the one who practices sin is of the devil no one is born of God practices sin in some translations like in James Version it says commit sin now you know that the Bible the New Testament is translated from the original Greek and there is such a thing as continuous tense and something that's once for all event so if the translation here is not the one who commits sin is of the devil but the one who keeps on committing sin is of the devil no one is born of God keeps on committing sin it's because this continuous tense is not often expressed clearly in English that some people have misunderstood as though you've just commit one sin you belong to the devil that's not what it means in the NASD which I believe is the American Standard Bible is one of the most accurate translations of the New Testament says the one who practices sin is of the devil no one who's born of God practices sin keeps on committing sin so that's the meaning of that verse is it proper to soak ourselves in the blood of Jesus that's the wrong expression there are people who talk about soaking themselves there are people who being under the blood I thank God I'm not under the blood under the blood is for people who are living in Egypt and putting the blood of the lamb outside the doorpost and saying I'm under the blood the Angel of Death will not come in you never find that expression in the New Testament you find it in some Christian songs and those songs those songs are written by people who didn't read the New Testament in the New Testament they'd always speak about being cleansed by the blood of Jesus or justified by the blood of Jesus that's all and I prefer to use New Testament words for example covered by the blood never in the New Testament that's Old Testament blessed is the man whose sin is covered now I'll tell you the difference between covered and cleanse bulling my sin is written here on a slate and I cover it okay you can't see it what is there underneath if I lift up the papers there that's covered cleanses if I take a wet rag and wipe it out is gone and the Old Testament sin could only be covered by the blood of bulls and goats today the blood of Jesus cleanses us and the Lord says I will not remember your sin anymore so make sure you use expressions which are found in the New Testament very important I'll tell you a very common expression which is never found in the New Testament sinful nature try and find that verse user concordance she's never found in the New Testament but everybody uses it because people are ignorant of the Scriptures I'm not saying I'm better than you but God has called me to be a teacher so he teaches me things because he's giving me the gift so I'm not blaming you for being ignorant but it's important for me to teach you that the words the Bible uses our old man and flesh not sinful nature old man is the one to sin that I had which I got rid of I don't want to sin now I have a new man now which does not want to sin but if I don't feed that new man properly he will sin but he doesn't want to sin but the flesh is that self will by which I fight against it fight against the Holy Spirit in the Holy Spirit fight against it so always use scriptural language ok how do you provide for your family being a full-time minister in your younger years now I don't know whether this is someone asking for yourself or asking about me I'll tell you I'll be very honest I've also written it in my book they have small beginnings so it's it's open for everyone to read when I left then I was a naval officer that was my goal in life to go right up to the top to be an admiral in the Navy and I got converted when I was in the Navy when I was 19 and a half and I said Lord if you want me to serve you I'll serve you full-time but till then until you call me I shall remain a Christian in the Navy and God kept me in the Navy for five years as a naval officer and I learned a lot of lessons as a Christian then God called me when I was 24 and a half years old and I put in my resignation and it took two years for the Navy to release me when I was 26 and a half I left and I did not know much because I did not have a spiritual father to guide me exactly according to scripture how to serve the Lord so I knew one thing I must not write prayer letters asking for money I never did that in all my 50 years of full-time Christian work and I knew that I must not go somewhere to preach in order to get money all that I knew but I saw in Luke chapter 8 verse 2 and 3 that Jesus received money when people gave it to him freely without his asking for it so I said okay I'll never ask people what is people give me something because I'm serving the Lord I'll accept it but I'll never ask and I'll never make my needs known and the Lord told me even when you have nothing you must give people the impression that you have plenty and I said I'll do that so that people don't give you money like they give a beggar because the Lord said you're not a beggar you're a servant of a king King of Kings and I said yes I'll do that but because my wife and I we were serving poor villagers and students got very very little in terms of gifts but we decided we live simply and we lived in almost rock-bottom poverty but God took care of us we never starved and the Lord tested us particularly the first three years of marriage we had tremendous financial difficulty but we trusted the Lord and it was such a blessing to us to trust the Lord in that period that sometimes I have told wedding couples new people getting married I wish the Lord will give you a wonderful gift of three years of financial poverty so that you learn to trust God is one of the best wedding gifts you can ever get from my experience I love you my wife and I will agree on that because we learn to trust the Lord you can trust the Lord so much when you're wealthy and today I find so many people get married they have everything they want and I say I don't envy them I feel sorry for them these guys will never get a chance to trust the Lord and I find even people go into full-time Christian work as soon as they enter in to join some organization that guarantees them a pay and a house and all that I said I feel sorry for them they may get a good salary but they'll never experience the joy of trusting God a heavenly father who meets our need and that's been a wonderful experience my wife and I married for 49 years we are entering our fiftieth year of marriage now and God's provided all our needs till today we have never sent a prayer letter we've never asked anybody for our needs when we have a need we tell our Heavenly Father and he takes care of it and we approved that for 50 years not 1 or 2 years that's how I live for the first nine years and in those nine years you received a gift we got it and we lived simply we never got into debt but once we started CFC in our house with two families in 1975 42 years ago then we decided we want to be an example in India and we want to not depend on anybody giving us gifts to support ourselves you're not against kids I mean if somebody gives you a birthday gift or any other gift take it or for the ministry we take it but we didn't want to depend on people for our family support so I prayed to God and in my case God provides in different ways some people God provides by giving a job and I was ready to do a job but being in the Navy all I knew was how to fire guns and torpedoes and blow up submarines and things like that and you don't find jobs like that easily in Bangalore for such an experience so I said Lord you've got to do something else for me and at the same time I wanted to travel to plant churches and in amazing way God provided me a small inheritance from My Father when he died and that was certain investments that he had made in some companies I did not know anything about share market and I never got into the share market because that's a dangerous place to get into but I said Lord I can do one thing I can pray that you will bless these companies in such a way that they profit and they think it's because their smartness they may not realize this because I'm praying for them that they're doing well but please provide my need so that I will take care of all my needs and never be dependent on a human being at all and believe it or not that's how God has met our need for 50 years so that's how and some of my fellow co-workers we have I work with about more than one hundred hundred and thirty elders in many many churches every single one of them supports himself and one way or the other and that's how Paul was he supported himself serve the Lord and this is the way we have felt particularly in India where there are so many Christian what I call them Christian beggars who send letters which are called prayer letters was actually begging letters please give us money it's an absolute disgrace because I cannot imagine Jesus ever sending a letter like that saying I'm not doing a great work and I need a new chariot to travel from Galilee to Jerusalem every now and then so I don't believe that Jesus never talked about such things so we don't believe in such things either and God has provided Arne not only mine in all our churches we have thousands of believers in our churches and that's what we have taught and you've seen how God works if you trust him you'll find that God honors those who honor him if you seek his kingdom first you will never starve Psalm 37 verse 25 says I've never seen a righteous man his children or his grandchildren ever looking for a job or in other words ever begging for bread so learning to honor God have you can you impart spiritual gifts on brothers I don't have the gift the early apostles had so I don't have the ability to lay hands on somebody and give them a gift and I think some of the earlier were given that authority by Christ not me I encourage people to seek God earnestly for the gifts of the Holy Spirit the other question is have you seen any miracles it's a question of what you mean by miracles there are many types of miracles have I seen blind eyes open no I've never seen that I've seen a few cases of healings not many spectacular but small things and I've seen a lot of other people I prayed for were not healed also I want to be honest about it that's not my gift my gift is teaching and telling another thing I have never till today seen a man who has a gift of healing not even one don't be fooled by the fake I'll tell you why I believe I have a gift of teaching because anytime morning noon or night I can teach you wake me up at 2 o'clock in the morning and tell me to teach I can teach because I have the gift and I can clarify doubts to people very clearly even people who are dumb spiritually because I have a gift of teaching so if a man has a gift of healing he should be able to heal not that one in a thousand people get healed that's not a gift of healing when I teach it's not one in a thousand two understands all will understand that's how you know whether a person got a gift that's what I mean by I have not seen a man who every person lays hands on is healed not even one why I don't know but I know why God didn't give it to me I pray to God numerous times for the gift of healing because I've seen sick people in churches I said forget about the unbelievers I said Lord your children I see your children dying of cancer I see your children so seriously sick please give me the gift of healing I can't remember the number of times I prayed for it and I promised the Lord I said Lord I will never take any money from any of them I don't preach for money I will not heal for money I promise you and I also promise you I will to the poor people the rich people can go to the hospitals I'll go and pray for the poor and still the Lord didn't give it to me and I said Lord why the Lord gave me an answer he said if you have a genuine gift of healing and everybody you pray for is healed thousands of people will come to your church maybe 50,000 people will come easily and you will not know how many of them want to become disciples my jesus said go and make disciples in all nations he didn't say go and heal all the sick people go and make disciples in every nation and I discovered 550 thousand people I mean having 300 people alone is difficult to make disciples imagine if I have fifty thousand I'll be overwhelmed so that's one reason and secondly you said your phone will ring day and night you won't even get any sleep because you want to serve everybody who is sick then I realized why God has not given me that gift because he wants me to make disciples and teach so I am addressed in that matter that's just for your information I want to be honest and I think a lot of people who claim to heal are not very honest with you always follow an honest man because that's the person who'll lead you to the right to Jesus how does God chastise how do we know whether we are being chastised I think it's an inward thing I whenever I have a fever or a sickness I always ask the Lord Lord why is this and always pray for healing for myself but I also say Lord are you chastising me are you giving me a little rap on my knuckles is something I did wrong I'm not perfect and sometimes the Lord may remind me maybe something the previous week I spoke rudely to somebody or I was a little puffed up and the Lord's humbling me you know even the Apostle Paul he says he was in danger of becoming proud in 2nd Corinthians 12 and he says to prevent me from becoming proud the Lord gave me a sickness which he called a thorn in the flesh so it was a discipline the Lord saved him from prying so if Paul was in danger of pride where are you and I so God does that so it's always good to ask but don't condemn yourself sometimes it may not be sickness you know i I've written a scooter two wheel scooter for forty two years in India because gasps what we call petrol and India's expose expensive it still is and that's why I ride a scooter but God protected me we now not hurt anybody in all the 42 years I've ridden a scooter but in the early days I have sometimes had a toughs from the scooter and I said Lord why was that there was not any great spiritual reason the Lord just said drive a little slower okay that is to protect you from more serious accidents sometimes the reason is very practical so it's always good to ask God what are you trying to teach me through that there's not no harm in that but revelation 3:19 the Lord says those whom I love I discipline and I rebuke when I was young believer if you ask me how do you know Jesus loves you I have said he died for me on the cross today if you ask me how do you know Jesus loves you I say he rebukes me he disciplines me as many as I love revelation 3:19 I rebuke I discipline brother sister does Jesus love you you'll say yes does he ever rebuke you or discipline you never then I wonder whether you're listening to God at all if you are reading the scriptures and you're never reduced or disciplined I wonder whether you're hearing God at all are you so perfect that you don't need rebuking discipline No thank God that he loves me and disciplines me because he wants me to be perfect like his son so it's good when God chastises us it's a mark of his love okay how can we best correct things like spending a being critical of others it's very easy recognize what I told you earlier that Satan is the accuser of the brothers don't hold hands with him and have you seen that sign before you get angry with others no before you point out others faults count up to 10 there's another variation of that before you find fault with others count 10 of your own and then decide whether you want to find fault with somebody else and what the main thing is I don't want to hold hands with Jesus with this Satan you know there are two ministry is going on all the time in the heavenlies Satan it says he had Revelation 12:10 he accuses believers day and night 24/7 Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus is interceding for us day and night 24/7 so there are two ministries going on in the heavenlies day and night accusation of the brothers intercession for the believers so it's like some believer slips up makes a mistake the devil is quick to accuse them Jesus quick to intercede them and let me tell you something all of us are in one of these two teams they're like two teams in a football game or any other game and whether you know it or not you're in one of those two teams oh you're just a sideline doing nothing Jesus intercedes the devil accuses you've got to make a choice which you want to join when you see the seriousness of it you will overcome it how can we be committed to the building of the body of Christ you've got to see what Jesus said I will build my church and that's what we are also we are co-workers with Jesus you remember when God told created Eve to be a helper for Adam and we are called the Bride of Christ which means we are a helper for the word our divine bridegroom is doing what's he doing he's not making money he's building the church and Eid is a picture of the Bride of Christ and the Lord said let me make a helper for Adam and the Bride of Christ is a helper for Christ I must help him in the work he is doing and if you're the Bride of Christ you'll be helping Christ in the work he's doing and he is building the church I hope you're helping him in that and when you're good by that you'll be committed to it how can i if I'm part of a church that's claims to be separated but is always winning in size and winning in fervor for the Lord if it's dwindling in size because you're preaching a wholehearted gospel that's good but if it's dwindling in zeal for the Lord there's something seriously wrong it shouldn't be like that I was in for the Lord my zeal for the Lord should be more today than it was 50 years ago otherwise I'm a backslider I mean if I ask a kid hey son which class are you in the news is in the second grade and three years later my asking hits on this class and he says he's in the first grade how's that three years ago you were the second grade now you're in the first grade what happened that never happens to a child but it does happen to a lot of believers they were ahead spiritually three years ago than they are today why is that they're defeated by sins which they overcame three years ago some of you please examine your lives think of how zealous you were the time you were converted to avoid certain sins to avoid watching movies that were suggestive but today you can with a clear conscience watch r-rated movies uh-huh you think you're going is growing spiritually maybe nobody sees you except the devil and the demons who enjoy watching you seeing all that of pornography you think nobody's watching you when you sit alone with that computer or your phone watching pornography do you know how many angels are looking over your shoulder and you know how many demons are watching over your shoulder and stirring you up and say come on go to the next site go to the next site if only you could see that you would stop immediately they are there believe it or not there are demons rejoicing when you watch pornography rejoicing when you yell and shout at your husband or wife and that our angels who are sad so we're not alone there are demons everywhere there are angels everywhere and in Gilad many families have come and subsequently left for filled with ill-will we must get away from a church where there's a lot of conflicts it's not good it's like you wouldn't want your children to live in an area was infected with disease they'll catch it very easily you don't want your children to live in that area would you go and live in a slum where everybody's sick why are we so careful about health and physical surroundings but not careful about the friends we keep spiritual surroundings it's far more serious okay how should a believer seek victory over things like sports and other forms of entertainment see it's a question of keeping all this in its proper place Paul once said in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 12 all things are lawful but all things are not profitable there are many things that are lawful but that may not be profitable now I believe that we all need a certain amount of relaxation because you know we live in a world where there's so tense doing work learning our living we got to work so hard and we need relaxation and different people find their relaxation in different ways some people by listening to some gentle music some people by going out for a picnic or going on a brief vacation there are different ways in which and some people by watching a football game or a basketball game there's nothing wrong in that I think what's dangerous is seeing some of the advertisements that come in between which you've got to be careful about but sport is not games are not something you got to stop playing in order to be at this Christian I think is good to be healthy to do a little exercise play some games but when it comes to entertainment we have to be careful that it's not entertainment that draws us towards the world for example music there is a spirit in certain types of music which is very difficult to define but if you look at the DVDs produced by a lot of rock so-called rock musicians or early rock musicians just look at the way they dress and just look at the symbols they have something demonic about the whole thing but I I don't want my children ever to listen to that and I remember in young people are you know sometimes you can't blame your chill and they are influenced by others in school or friends etc when you got to be the head of your home if you're the father and I told my kids I said listen I am the head of this home and I determine what type of music and what type of things are watched and seen and heard in this house and that's the way I protect my children and gradually teach them from early in life the things that are not good I mean it's not enough just to teach our children to brush their teeth and have a shower and then allow them to listen to dangerous rock music and filthy movies it's better they don't take a shower and don't brush their teeth that's not as bad as watching all this filthy stuff but we're so careful when it comes to their hygiene and physical things and so careless when it comes to spiritual hygiene boy are you got some sense are you like the animals only caring about physical things no we're believers are very careless so we must see what are the things which are harmful and avoid them and your conscience will tell you okay mother says I still have the gift of speaking in tongues but I like the passionate love for Jesus well when something is wrong if you speak in tongues but you don't love Jesus because the first commandment is not speaking tongues first come on when there's love God with all your heart soul strength and mind sorry what time is this meeting finished oh we started late okay so we stop now and continue after break okay okay we'll start with this question and then continue afterwards speaking in tongues let me mention this to you it's a gift of the Holy Spirit it's not everybody if you want an all complete study of it go to CSC India calm which is our website look for articles and under articles search for the truth about speaking in tongues which I have written just for pages for small cages or to a4 sheets and there I have spoken from my personal experience I spoken in tongues for 42 years but it's not the biggest thing in my life I say all the things that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14 about speaking in tongues and I'll tell you some other things he said I thank God I speak in tongues more than all of you he said that I also say that second he said but in the church I would rather speak five words in a known language than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue so known language is 2,000 times better than an unknown tongue simple mathematics 10,000 divided by five and the third thing Paul said is he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself good another thing he says is he who speaks in a tongue speaks to God and not to men so primarily tongues us to speak to God not to impress men so if you follow all these things more is in that article you'll understand that the main thing is not speaking in tongues do you know that Jesus never spoke in tongues why because this communication of the Father was so perfect he didn't need tons tons of the help because our communication with God is so imperfect that's why when we go to heaven we never speak in tongues it'll be the end because our communication will be perfect it is a help for this imperfect age and you know who is the first to speak in tongues in the Bible Balaam's donkey suppose spoke in a language it never learned so it's not such a great thing I hope to remember that keep it in its proper place it's like a little finger some people are so upset with it because some you know some people make this speaking in tongues 20 feet long supposing I had a little finger just 20 feet long I'd be nuisance everywhere I go and so some people get so upset with it and say cut it off completely I say no no no no don't cut it off just keep it the same to enough inches that God made it don't make it 20 feet long don't cut it off that's my position on speaking in tongues it's useful sometimes it's not the most important thing in my body I can live without it but since God has created it I accept it that's the balanced view of speaking in tongues this last question is I want to love Jesus more than anything else what do I do two things 1 John 4 says we love Him because He first loved us 1 John 4:19 so the more you understand the love of Jesus for you the more you love him and secondly Luke chapter 7 and verse 47 if you're forgiven much you love much if you think you've been forgiven very little you will love little all of us have been forgiven much but some people think they've been forgiven little that's why they love little so ask God to show you how much you've been forgiven ask God to show you how much Jesus loves you the love of Jesus will increase let's pray we'll have a little break and continue

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Length: 59min 6sec (3546 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 08 2017