Fellowship - Another Mark Of Growth by Zac Poonen

so three weeks ago or two weeks ago when I spoke here first Sundeep it said that since you've completed five years to speak a little bit about spiritual growth so that first Sunday I spoke on humility if you want to hear it it's on there and sees your website one mark of when primary mark of spiritual growth is that you are growing in humility now all of us can imagine that we are growing in humility imagination receives us tremendously and it's not even a question of whether other people in the church think we are humble the question is whether God thinks so or not humility is primarily before God it says about Jesus in Philippians two and verse eight he humbled himself to be obedient unto death even the death of the cross that is the classic statement on humility in the Bible he humbled himself to be obedient if I'm not obedient to God in my private life all my humility is imagined it's very easy to get a reputation for humility before people because it's a good thing to have it's fit for the trash can that type of reputation the only humility that's worth anything is that which is before God and there's a way to know whether God thinks I'm humble or not because the Bible says God gives us grace only to the humble he doesn't give us grace to the proud when he gets when a person is humble he gets behind him and pushes him forward the moment that person becomes proud no matter how many years he's being humble God turns around and comes to the front and starts pushing him back now a lot of people don't believe that I believe it because I've seen it happen in different places I've seen it happen in my own life and that's written in the scriptures God resists the proud and it doesn't matter who the proud person is proud believer proud unbeliever makes no difference it's a law of God 1 Peter 5:5 God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble so if you want God to get behind you and push you forward that's the meaning of giving grace to overcome sin to overcome temptation to overcome the devil to overcome the problems we face in life and everything if we want to receive that grace the secret is just humble yourself that means God must see that I'm humble and the way we can know that is Romans 6:14 sin will not rule over you if you're under grace so if you're receiving grace so it's a foolproof method you can't make a mistake and that for me for a number of years since I've got light on this which is nearly 30 years I think I have made it a law of principle and something which I remember always that if I fall into the smallest sin in thought or in word a rude word or an angry word you can say it slipped out of my mouth whatever it is we can make 101 excuses but sin is sin in thought or word or action or in an attitude to another human being especially to my fellow believers or in a motive these are the areas we sinned in thought word deed attitude and motive if I sin and I know it immediately I say to myself I did not get grace at this time because God's laws are unchangeable he always gives grace to the humble and when you're under grace sin cannot rule over you it is impossible sin rules over me when I don't get grace and that's why the devil has succeeded in deceiving what I think is more than 90% of believers they don't know what grace means the only understanding your grace is I sin and God forgives me I sin in and God forgive me it's a merry-go-round I sin and I confess and God forgives me I sin and I confess and God forgives me and the devil is happy to have Christians sitting on this merry-go-round all the time never never feeling that they got to get off it so it's a law that's helped me tremendously in my life to recognize that every time I sing it proves I did not get grace and I did not get grace because somewhere or the other God saw me proud thinking I'm somebody maybe comparing myself with somebody else and thinking I'm more important or better or more spiritual or whatever it is and exalted myself and God immediately turned around and pushed me back you mean you say God can push back one of his children well what to do God hates pride and it doesn't matter who it is and it's a sickness even a mother will hate a sickness in a child and do everything to remove it you know when you see a surgeon cutting open someone's stomach if you don't know what he's doing you'll think he's a murderer he's not a murderer he's doing that painful thing to deliver that person from a cancer so when God resists someone is like the surgeon cutting him opening you you think why does a surgeon do that why does God resist his children to teach them how terrible Fridays and so once I've understood that it's been a great help to me and I will to pass it on to you the mark of spiritual growth the primary mark is that you're growing in humility and it's not a question of what other people think of you it's a question of whether God is giving you grace which means you can overcome sin not all of a sudden that you become like Jesus but there's a progression that you become more and more like Jesus a progression in overcoming sin and thought word deed attitude and motive just like in the first chapter of the Bible I love to say that the first chapter of the Bible is like a the whole message of the gospel in a nutshell the God created the first verses God created heaven and earth perfect and between verse 1 and 2 is when the devil fell and spoiled and the earth became corrupt and dark and without shape and lost everything I mean the story of the devil's fall is mentioned elsewhere because the Bible was not written for angels it's written for men so but that's why it became corrupt and then what you see is in the next six days God progressively changing that corrupt dark shapeless earth into something beautiful which he himself can certify is very good that's the message of the gospel that God created man perfect but Satan came in and messed up and man lost the image of God and became dark and empty and immediately the Holy Spirit it says there began to move upon man and the Word of God went forth God said God said God said that's why it's important to hear God's Word every day and little by little by little God brings us to the place where he can say it's perfect now so that spiritual growth and humility is the number one secret and the other thing I mentioned last Sunday it's also on the web NCC website is the spirit of thanksgiving is another mark of spiritual growth if you're really growing spiritually that would be a spirit of thanksgiving in you for the things God is giving you if to you and for people and there will be less and less and less and less of complaining and grumbling and murmuring at home against husband and wife or when things don't seem to go right according to your understanding if that's not reducing your brother-sister let me tell you the truth you're not really growing spiritually if you're murmuring and grumbling and complaining it doesn't matter whether other people heard it or not it's a this is an inward thing if you if you find a grumbling I don't mean to be tempted we're all tempted to complain about many things but if you find you respond to that temptation and I don't want you to condemn yourself just because you're tempted will be tempted to the end of our life on earth that's never gonna change but even Jesus was tempted temptation is not sin in fact God allows us to be tempted to show the devil that we are overcomers so be careful about this the Bible says we got to put away all murmuring and grumbling and complaining because that's how the devil godliness with contentment is great gain a person who is godly a really godly is content content with his circumstances content with believing his faith acknowledges that his God is so mighty and powerful that he controls everything that happens in his life you know the thing is when I grumble or complain I'm saying for a short period the devil got power in my life and got power over the circumstances of my life I say never that that we can never get far over the circumstances in my life I mean he may have faro circumstances other people's life who have given themselves to him but not over my life that's impossible because I belong to God he's a wall of fire own up about me the Bible says he who touches me touches the apple of his eye so I don't believe that the devil gets power over me at any point but that's what we are saying when we grumble and complain about something oh this thing happened did God allow it to happen if God allowed it to happen it must be for your good Romans 8:28 says that God makes everything work together for your good if you love him and you're called according to his purpose of course you don't love him then it's not it doesn't apply to you you know if you get a check you got to make sure it's in your name otherwise you can't cash it and Romans 8:28 it's specifically meant for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose if you're a if you love Jesus and your desire is to fulfill his purpose for your life you can be sure one thing that God will make every single thing and when I say every single thing every little little thing because Jesus said even the hairs on your head are numbered he'll make every little thing work for your good and that good is not to make you richer or profit in the world but will make you more like Jesus Christ that's mention in the next verse the good is he calls us to become like Christ so that's why we never complain so that's another thing I another principle that I've learned in my life that if I complain about something at that moment I'm saying that devil's been in control you might as well stop complaining and just say the devil is in control of my life right now that's the same thing when you complain or grumble that means either you don't love God so you're not called according to his purpose then you better set that right but if you do how in the world did God forget to make that work for your good it could be something terribly evil that somebody did to you but you mean God couldn't control that and I mentioned this I'm just repeating this so we don't forget it I probably mentioned all this last time as well the most the greatest evil that ever took place on this earth was the crucifixion of Christ on the cross and that is the greatest good also that took place on the earth there's nothing better that happened on this earth and the Christ dying for my sins otherwise where would we be for our sins but that was also the greatest evil that any human being ever committed on this earth the crucifixion of the Son of God so what do I see on the cross not just that my sins are forgiven not just that Satan was defeated but the greatest this is a message from the cross of Calvary the greatest evil that man could do God turned into the greatest good for the human race that's the message of the Cross have you heard that have you understood it to teach us that any any evil that's happened to you from men or demons or anything is lesser than the crucifixion of Christ there's no evil that anybody can do to anyone which is worse than the crucifixion of Christ that is the greatest so anything that happens to you is lesser than that and if the greatest evil could be turned into the greatest good by God and this lesser evil that somebody did to you or that the devil did to you or that happened because of your own mistake God can turn it for a good that's the encouragement I found I found you know them God's used my mistakes also to work for good that's amazing only God could do something like that you know for example I've thought of it like this wasn't it a terrible thing that Adam did Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God oh oh if only they had not disobeyed God how wonderful the world would have been no sin nothing but see how God turned it for good we would never have known of the love of God of Jesus willing to die for us on the cross if Adam had not sinned I mean God would Estela mean they're full of love but do you think would have known it we would have known God is love but the see the depth of his love of willing to come as a human being like us to come into this sewer and muck in which we live and identify with us and take the guilt of our sin and the blame for all our sin does God love like that we'd never have known it so in one sense that happened because of Adam's sin we don't thank God for Adam's sin but God used it even that to show us his tremendous love which we would never have known otherwise so I see God is in the great business of turning even Adams mistake or sin God turns it for good so that's a great encouragement to me because none of us live on this earth without making mistakes even if you're utterly sincere you make mistakes but God can turn it for good that's why we don't grumble or complain that's why we give thanks in every situation whatever may happen it's not a blind monotonous habit it's a meaningful giving thanks Lord I give thanks because this is something that you have sovereignly going to overrule maybe I accidentally slipped up and did something stupid but please forgive me I take the blame for it and I want you to make even that work for my good yeah I've seen that happen so please remember these two things humility and Thanksgiving I want to speak on another thing this today and that is fellowship see all these things the in the Old Covenant they never knew what humility was they really didn't know there was no not much preaching on humanity I mean the humility was seen as a virtue in the Old Testament sure but when Jesus came he said these words learn from me for I am humble and gentle of heart and if you take my yoke upon you you will find rest in your soul all unrest is because we are aware we are not learning humility and gentleness from Jesus one of the proofs that I'm in the will of God is rest in my heart any unrest whenever any unrest comes into my heart I see no I I'm out of God's will that's a sort of a a whistle being blown saying you're out of God's will right now please remember this my dear brothers and sisters we really want to grow spiritually the whole purpose of God establishing a little church like this in the Bay Area is to help people to see what real godliness is I hope other churches are preaching it I don't know but a lot of churches today I find out more interested in increasing their numbers in quantity more than quality and I'll tell you something God is a million times more interested in quality than in quantity quantity can be wood hay and straw which will all be burnt up in the final day quality is gold silver and precious stones if someone were to give you a million dollars and say you can go either buy wood hay and straw or gold silver and precious stones wood wood which would you do if you're interested in quantity to impress people you would go for gold wood hay and straw and it'll be a huge can you imagine the amount of wood here and straw you can get for a million dollars and what you how much of gold silver and precious stones you can get for that you probably can carry in your hand the amount of gold silver and precious stones you who chooses that and the Bible says in the final day God's going to test all of our actions all of our words and everything they built if it's a church what we've done it's going to be tested by fire and in that day it'll be tested whether we built with gold silver and precious stones that which will last for eternity or just wood hay and straw so it's very important for us to understand fellowship is one of the marks of New Covenant Christianity they didn't have that in the Old Testament they didn't have always give thanks in the Old Testament that there is no command in the Old Testament which said you must give thanks for everything that's in the New Testament there's no command in the Old Testament which says rejoice always or always give thanks it was in the New Testament have the Holy Spirit with it so just like humility is a distinct privilege that we can have in the New Covenant the spirit of Thanksgiving of giving thanks for everything is something we can it's our birthright in the New Covenant and I want to have it I don't want the devil to rob me of it the devil robs me of it if I grumble about one little thing the devil robbed me of my inheritance we are so careful not to lose money foolishly from our bank accounts or from our investments if you lost a little money which is somebody cheated you off or you didn't get what you deserve you're right - he would have pick up on that and recover it from whoever took it away from you do you see that when if you grumble a symbol to a single time or complain a single time that Neville's robbed you of your inheritance there are you as concerned about that as a loss of money I am if ever once I grumble or complain I say Lord that advantage of me over there he made me testify that he's in control of this universe he's not he's a liar and it never gonna happen to me again I'm gonna give thanks in every situation and thereby testified that my Father in Heaven runs this universe and I'm his child and he makes every single thing and when I say every single thing every single thing work for my good we must have that confession my brothers and sisters that is New Covenant Christianity don't accept this third-rate Christianity that you see in people around you and in most churches as normal it is not normal is normal the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years was not God's will for them they disobeyed God and that's why God cared for them sure he gave them manna he gave them healing from their diseases and God may answer your prayers and do miracles don't you think getting manna from heaven is a miracle to get food dropped from heaven for you even if you got it one day it will be a miracle they got it for 40 years but all those 40 years God was angry with them they disobeyed him does God do miracles for those who have disobeyed him yes the proof of it is the Israelites in the wilderness they were healed of their sicknesses the Bible says there was not one lame person among them can you imagine 2 million people and not one person lame how would the guy would be able to walk in the wilderness if he was lame it was a miracle do you know that sandals never wore out for forty years that's one of the miracles mentioned in the Psalms their sandals and their clothes never wore out for 40 years there were no stores to go and buy clothes there in the wilderness these are the miracles God did for them but for whom for a people who had disobeyed him teaching us in the Old Testament that you can have miraculous answers to prayer even when you are thoroughly disobedient and God is angry with you that's not the proof of God being happy and yet I find so many people around the world they don't answer this prayer in that prayer that's great but that isn't true God's happy with you you know Jesus also said that he makes the Sun to rise on the good and the evil he makes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous here is an atheist farmer and here's a god-fearing farmer who sold his seed and prays and regularly and he prays over his field and here this atheist who defies and says there's no God up there I take care of my field and when the rains come they fall equally on both fields it says hey you spend your time praying for rain you got rain I don't pray at all the rain just falls on mine and when the Sun rises which is also needed the 80s I see did you see you waste your time praying kneeling down and all I don't pray see the Sun Rise on me I get as good a crop as you do you think atheists don't get good crops what does it prove it doesn't true that it is right it proves that God is a good god so when we get a blessing from God a material blessing it only proves God is a good God if I prayed for some material I've heard of outright unbelievers or healed of cancer not because they prayed I mean somehow or the other and it took some treatment and they recovered it doesn't prove anything the proof is God is a good god that it does so these material blessings and even healings don't prove to me the goodness that God is happy with me proves the goodness of God could not that God is happy with me it's something else that proves God's goodness then that proves that I'm not happy with mean the important thing for me you see the thing is I find that are Christians who seek for God's blessing then the main prayers bless me bless me bless me there are very few Christians who seek for God's approval you need to ask yourself what is your goal in life is it to get God's blessing our God's approval in the Old Testament God's approval was secondary God's blessing was there what they wanted our enemies must be defeated our crops must flourish and we must prosper in our barns must be made bigger and we must do better and better materially and we must be physically healed the hallmarks of God's blessing good not against it thank God he blesses us but much more important he's at the end of my life I must be able to say that God's approved of my life see God's been remarkably good to me in material things and physical things I'm 76 years old and almost never been into a hospital for anything I mean healthy and nots taking care of me and protected us in all our travels so many things I could say our marks and God's blessing is provided all my needs even though I'm in Christian work and never sent any reports of my work or asked anybody never dependent on anyone even till today but that is not the mark of God's approval it's the mark of God's blessing but I'm more interested in Oh Lord did my life bring satisfaction to your heart when I come to the end of my life I'm not gonna count my blessings I'm gonna see whether did my bring life bring satisfaction to God ah did I finish the purpose with which he brought me to this earth or did I hinder some of that by my stubbornness and that's where Jesus is our example he didn't seek for blessing as much as approval you know at the baptism we read this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased not this is my son whom I blessed for 33 years I don't want God to say to me this is my son whom I blessed I want to say this is my son in whom I'm pleased what do you want brother sister do you want God to say to you here's my daughter oh my blessed or here's my daughter with whom I'm so happy her thoughts are clean and pure and loving her words are always you know it says in proverbs 31 the law of kindness is in her tongue what a testimony for a woman certain about a woman in Proverbs 31 the law of kindness is in her tongue Wow that means God blessed you the speech is gracious at home especially to those who live with you at home and your relatives and friends is there a blessing of God upon your and is the approval of God there upon your life that's very important so in the New Covenant the main thing is to be approved by God not just blessed by god they got blessing in the Old Testament to bless the Lord O my soul and don't forget all his blessings to me who was blessed here with so many things saw in Psalm 103 but in the New Covenant Paul tells Timothy let me show you this verse in 2nd Timothy and chapter 2 Paul writing to the last letter to a man who was his closest co-worker pertaineth II was about Paul was about 67 or so he was about to die Timothy was around 45 why I probably been with Paul about 25 years and he writes to him in 2nd Timothy in chapter 2 verse 15 it's a great verse be diligent just like businessmen are diligent to make money be diligent to present yourself approved to God that means be wholehearted Timothy to make sure God can approve of you not just people think you're a wonderful Christian means nothing that God who sees you in secret who sees your motives who sees your thoughts who sees your attitudes can put a seal of approval and saying good it says in Genesis chapter 1 at the end of every day God examined the work he had me he had done hey have you noticed that in Genesis 1 he saw what he had done and he said it's good and the next day he said something and he did something it's good what do I learn from that I learned from that that God's examining every day seeing me every day at the end of the day to see if it is good I want it to be good in my life every single day that's a message of Genesis chapter 1 that at the end of the day God can look at my whole day's life and say that was good the way you spoke to everyone today was good the way you lived and the way your attitude to money today was good and the way you reacted to people who were evil was good the way you've reacted to people who had road rage was good that you never fought with anyone you never complained against anyone it was good at the end of the day God must say about everything in my life it's good live one day at a time that's how I seek to do the Bible says we don't even know about tomorrow what I learned from Genesis 1 is that I've got to live one day at a time and God examines my life must be good if I live like that it's not a strain it's the most relaxed way to live I'll tell you that my life was most strenuous and in the days when I didn't understand these principles it's so relaxed now I sleep peacefully at night and don't have any type of dirty dreams or fearful dreams because my conscience is clear I seek to end the day every single day to say that God should be able to say about me like he said in Genesis 1 it's good if I live like that then he said the end of the sixth day you says it's very good this is our gold brothers and sisters the things that God shows us in the New Covenant they did not know in the new Old Covenant so I was telling you about fellowship I spoke a message once on the five fingers of our hand which gives us a good grip on things you know we can hold things with two hands I can hold a cup with two hands but the grip won't be strong somebody can take it away from me but if I'm holding something with five fingers that's a solid grip and so here are the five fingers with which we can really hold the Christian life first of all the blood of Jesus Christ we have to begin there we must be absolutely convinced that every sin and when I say every sin every single sin I ever committed in my life in thought word the attitude motive has been blotted out in the blood of Jesus Christ if I'm slightly in doubt about that the devil's gonna attack me the Bible says he's the accuser of the Brethren revelation 12:10 and they overcame him the next verse by the blood of the Lamb so I don't know where all of you are today but I know all of you sinned and I know I was we've all sinned but some among us here are absolutely sure that when God looks at us today he looks at his as if we have never sinned are you in that category I am I have no doubt in my mind then God looks at me in my life and seventy six and a half years I've never sinned because the blood of Jesus Christ has justified me Romans 5:9 not just forgiven me cleansed me but justified me I believe the Bible it's the only book in the world which is absolutely true justified means just as if I had never sinned that's the meaning of justified declared righteous that is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ I believe that it brings me such tremendous rest to know that I've never seen in 76 and half years in God's eyes that's number one you must be sure of it brothers and sisters and if you have confessed your sin and you don't blame anybody else you have taken the blame for it you believe that what Christ took on the cross was the punishment for your sin why shouldn't you have that same assurance of justification that I have a number of others here have you must live in that don't let the devil condemn you absolutely important that's where we begin looks like the thumb the most important finger and then the second thing is the Holy Spirit God doesn't in the Old Testament they didn't have the Spirit of God dwelling within them he helped them spoke to them on the outside and courage them fought their battles on the outside know but could not dwell inside them because until the heart is cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit could not dwell in and that's why nobody even great men like John the Baptist and Elijah and the Old Testament Christ could not live inside their heart God was always on the outside in the Old Testament in the Old Testament right up to Acts chapter 2 God is on the outside and that's why he spoke from the outside but now from the day of the Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes God comes within and he speaks to me from within it's better that way because he can help me from within you would think that it's better if Jesus was physically here with us well look at the Gospels Jesus was physically with those disciples for three and a half years and yet they were scared when there was a storm in the in the lake we're not scared if there's a storm of the lake and Jesus is inside but you can be scared if he's on the outside and when he's on the outside when they sat together the Last Supper they were still arguing who is the greatest well you'll argue who's the greatest even if Jesus is sitting right there at the table but you won't argue who's the greatest when Jesus is in the living inside so which is better that's why Jesus said to his disciples it's better for you that I go away if you don't understand that but it is better it's not Jesus physically being with us there's gonna help us overcome you can't overcome dirty thoughts if Jesus is standing there maybe you can control your words you can't control your thoughts for that Christ has to come inside and that's the gift of the Holy Spirit whenever you say Lord Jesus come into my heart come into my heart if you said that any time sincerely do you know who came in the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament that you'd say I mean in the early days of Christianity they'd say believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit yeah we combined it to and say for receive the Lord Jesus Christ is the same thing it's not the same as being filled with the Holy Spirit which is another stage where we open up every part of our being and the Holy Spirit controls every aspect of our life but as soon as you receive Christ the Holy Spirit has come in you'll receive the spirit even if you're not baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit the third is the Word of God you see that in Genesis chapter one the Holy Spirit brooded over the earth and every day God spoke a word teaching us that every day God wants to speak a word think of in Genesis chapter one out of those six days one day God didn't speak let's say something would have been left out maybe the son wouldn't have been there something important would have been left out hey one day God didn't say anything look through those six days and say which of those days was unimportant okay it doesn't matter if God didn't see anything that day you know that you're missing something when you don't hear God speaking to you one day man shall not live by bread alone I think all of us heat something every day of our life every single day 365 days of the year we eat something but man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth teaching me that the most more important than eating my daily food every day this receive God's Word so that's the third finger to receive God's Word every day and it's not just reading the Bible I'd rather read one verse and get something from it then read a whole chapter he's my conscience I read the Bible true if you read and you get something from it you can meditate on it the whole day may be readily one verse that's happened to me sometimes I read a verse and it's like a red light like a traffic light saying don't move now you got to stop that means I've got to stop and meditate on that verse before I move on because god's got something to say to me through it and it's a good habit to think about that verse during the day you know it doesn't cost us anything when we're working driving anything mean think about what that verse i read in the morning somehow god stopped me at it i want to think about it this is the way we had to grow spiritually so to receive god's word every day and the fourth is another thing which is hardly ever spoken off in most churches it is taking up the cross and dying to myself every day jesus said you cannot follow me If any man wants to follow me luke 9:23 let him deny himself daily that is saying no to self daily and take up his cross daily and follow me so if i don't say no to myself every day throughout the day and if I don't die to myself was just taking up the cross I cannot follow Jesus any day which I lived like that I did not follow Jesus I just follow myself or the devil or something like that so the way of the Cross is number four very very important if I want to get a good grip on the Christian life and number five his fellowship in the body of Christ so is the blood the spirit the word the cross the body the body means the body of believers with whom God wants to integrate me where I can build fellowship now when you receive Christ as your Savior you become a part of the worldwide body of Christ that's immediate God is the Holy Spirit placed you into what's called the church the body of Christ but God also wants to put us in little groups of such churches and that's why you read in the New Testament that Paul planted little fellowships here and there he didn't just bring people to Christ and let them go wherever they want no you see if you were to ask him in some of the just evangelists of today have been some great evangelists through the years who've gone around preaching and if you were to I tell them hey listen I heard thousands of people have come to your come to Christ through your ministry in such-and-such a place can you where are they I say I don't know I hope they join some church what about all the thousands of people you brought to Christ in Russia or India where are they the Evangelist yeah I don't know I went there and had meetings for three days and thousands of people came to Christ where they are today I don't know but if you were to go to Paul and that's a New Testament pattern you say hey listen Paul I heard that you brought a few people to Christ and Philip I when you went there whether they come I'll show you he'll bring you to a church and say here are the people I brought to Christ you see them and Paul I heard that you brought some people to Christ in Thessalonica where are they just come I'll show you I'll show you every one of them and take you to the church in Thessalonica and say here are the ones I brought to Christ that is the difference between New Testament evangelism and today's evangelism if you want to see it a lot of people don't see it okay I don't worry about them but I remember I tried the other method you see God called me for to leave my job 50 years ago exactly fifty years ago a third of May 1966 I left my job in the Navy and for nine years I did this other type of evangelism you know preaching to huge crowds here and there in different countries and it's very satisfying satisfying for one's ego and I remember once I went for a series of meetings for 23 days and there's people were coming in different days that come for three days and go another group would come and it was like a revival people would confess their sins and get off and all that when I went back the next year I found their court cases against each other and fighting and calling the churches up and I saw this for nine years and I said what am i doing and wasting my time what am i accomplishing just get a satisfaction that so many people sign decision cards or raise their hands or testified and it looked like a revival to the hollow empty accomplish nothing the devil wanted me to be satisfied with that I finally gave up I gave up all my traveling and I said I'm gonna now build local fellowships just like Paul did and that's what we started doing 41 years ago right in my house and we were only two families to begin with two families that's all and then somebody else came then not a lot of people would come and go come and go they were testing you know people like to hear something new like in Athens it says they already like to hear something new I think all over the world it's like that oh this is a new group let's go and see that and they sit around for little ones here this doesn't suit me and and they go away so we had people coming and going coming up and finally over a period of time with all that coming and going finally those a fellowship and we began to taste what it is to build a local church is a body of Christ and to build fellowship and I discovered one thing after that and that's what I've done now 41 years I said this is the only thing worth doing this is the only thing that'll remain you know like if I were living in Noah's time I wouldn't waste my time building houses I build the Ark I'd say I'd spend all my money on the Ark and my spare time I'd go and say hey Noah you want any help here I am because I know this is the only thing that's gonna go through the flood I wonder whether we believe that is building the church the way Jesus wanted it is the only thing that's gonna remain when Christ comes back he came to earth and he said in Matthew 16:18 I will build my church and the gates of Hell will never be able to overcome it I praise God for that I'm a co-worker with Jesus Christ my Lord in building just like in Noah's time I might say I'm a co-worker's Noah building the Ark I'm a co-worker Jesus Christ building the only thing that will remain when the world is destroyed there's a Church of Jesus Christ at all and to me the test of that was when I had four children and I said what do you want them to and I said Laura I wanted to build a church they may not all be called to plant churches like me no but they can do something to build the Church of Jesus Christ in their own way not everybody is called to be an apostle or a elder or a prophet but everybody is called to be do something you know even the little fingers got to do something to build the Jesus Jesus Christ now I have grandchildren that's my prayer for the third generation that they'll build the Church of Jesus Christ because I know that's the only thing that'll remain when everything is gone and when we devote ourselves to that you can be pretty sure that God takes care of all your other needs and my wife and I have found that as well in all these 50 years that God's taking care of all our other needs when we devote ourselves to do his work which is building the church and building the church means building people in fellowship you see in India houses the bow church is also called a building that God builds with Christ as the cornerstone here you build houses with wood in India and no houses are built with work they'll all be eaten up by termites but it's built with brick and cement so the way a house is built in India is a truck will come and unload ten thousand bricks and then on the side of the road and then Mason comes and takes one brick at a time after the Foundation's laid cement it with the next one and that's how a house is built now that this is to me this is a picture of two types of churches today one is this pile of ten thousand bricks lying on the road and the other is those ten thousand bricks built into a house that's the difference between a local church and a congregation a lot of churches today are congregations a pile of bricks now the danger of a pile of bricks is the devil can pick you pick it off one by one that's what happens to in India if you leave the pile of bricks there you'll find it gets reduced miraculously every day because somebody else is building a house in the next street and in a few days there'll be nothing left but if you build it into the house nobody goes and steals a brick from cement it into our house that's impossible so that's the difference between a congregation and a church the church is built like a house so I want to ask all of you are you a part of a congregation and you're a part of a church Jesus didn't say I'm building congregations congregation is the Old Testament thing mega churches mega congregations actually Moses had the biggest one two million people and he was a sole leader pastor Moses what a congregation he had and he had miracles too by the way more miracles than any congregation on earth has seen till today everything you talk about and word directly from heaven he'd go up the mountain and meet God himself come down to the message and he would do miracles and he had a mega congregation of two million people and this God is angry with them it says very clearly in Hebrews chapter three God was angry with them 1 Corinthians 10 it says God was not pleased with them I don't want to be a part of such a congregation which sees miracles and God's not happy with because it's not a fellowship it's not built together one mark of spiritual growth I told you humility spirit of Thanksgiving and that there's an increasing fellowship that's coming between me and the other people with whom God has placed me now I realize that I can't have you know daily rare I mean regular fellowship with all the millions and millions of believers in the world well that's understandable but I can have with the small group of people God places me with locally that's why in the New Testament there were local churches one in Ephesus and Philip Philip I Thessalonica Corinth fellowships and the New Covenant is not just about victory over sin it's not just about humility and always giving thanks all this must lead to a growing fellowship between people which is impossible in the Old Covenant that's why you know even the great prophets in the Old Covenant God never made them work together you never read in the Old Testament of two prophets working together if you read the timeline there were certain contemporaries of Jeremiah just before the Israelites went to Babylon there were people like Zephaniah Habakkuk and all were around the same time there was a prophet is called holder as well they all lived in Jeremiah's time or approximately around the same time but they never worked together you never find them working together one was in one place of Israel and the other would be somewhere else why didn't they work together because God knew they'd fight with each other I mean imagine 12 disciples who walked with Jesus for three and a half years at the end of it they are still fighting who's going to be the leader and can you imagine how it would be in the Old Testament without Jesus being there and they wouldn't get along with each other and the whole testimony would be spoiled so God said I'll keep Jeremiah here and I'll take Habakkuk over there and I'll keep Jeff and I over there so that they won't get into conflict with each other maybe they'll come together once in a while for a conference for a convention say hi and all that and go back to their corners after that exactly like a lot of Christians do today we come together we're not gonna be built together that's too much worry but as soon as Jesus came he changed the rule he says he sent out his disciples two by two I noticed that Luke chapter 10 he sent out his disciples two by two he never sent a disciple alone he changed that Old Covenant thing because now he was preparing them for the New Covenant of course didn't work very well because they were still fighting at the end of three and a half years but on the day of Pentecost it changed God took those 120 pieces of iron we can say put them into the furnace and they came out as one piece that's the miracle of putting iron pieces into a furnace and that's the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire that made 120 people one and it's more important for a few people to be one that's a church even if there are only four or five people there then a huge congregation of two million but I don't think everybody sees it like that because from childhood our human way of looking is quantity impresses us spiced crepe or Wow but on what foundation is it built if it's built on sand is gonna collapse Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount if you the wise man is the man who hears what I have said and obeys it he's building on the rock the only church that's built on the rock I believe according to that verse is the church that is teaching obedience to all of Jesus Commandments that's the only church I want to be a part of I don't want to build a skyscraper and see the whole thing collapse one day when the rain and the storm come that's a message there the foolish man is not the man who didn't go to church no the foolish man it says in Matthew chapter 7 if you're not familiar with it look at it in Matthew chapter 7 the foolish man Matthew 7 is one who hears my word 24:26 and does not do it the foolish man and the wise man verse 24 the wise man is the man who hears my word and does it and his house is built on the rock and the foolish man verse 26 is also the one who hears it but does not do it in other words both are sitting in the church meaning what we call church Sunday morning meeting they're there but they're not part of the real church they hear and they do and they hear and they don't do I mean here in a congregation like this we're only a few people that could be all of us are hearing I hope so paying attention I think you are but I don't know whether all of your going to be when you go away from here that's another thing all of you are hearing and understanding praise the Lord for that the wise man the foolish man the wise woman the foolish one are both sitting in the same meeting in the same service listening listening understanding grasping everything but the wise man goes out and obeys it he's the man who builds puts a rock foundation the foolish person is the one who's understood it he can probably explain it he can probably preach it but he doesn't practice it and if he doesn't practice it jesus said his foundation is sand because it takes a little effort to build on rock you know in another passage the parallel passage in luke's gospel you see that these two people built next to each other you know when I first read Matthew chapter 7 I thought the wise man chose a sort of a rocky area and the foolish man chose a sandy area it's not true they were both building next to each other it was sand and mud on top the only difference was the wise man dug deep he hit rock you see that in Luke chapter 6 the same story the wise man is 1 verse 48 it's like a man building a house he verse 47 first see you hears my word and does it he's like a man building a house first 48 who digs deep and hits rock and lays his foundation there the other fellow a foolish man is the one who does not dig deep so they were building next to each other the one fella said I don't want to put a superficial foundation I know it'll cost less imagine the amount of money I have to spend if I have to dig deep and the rock pretty deep down and I have to use dynamite and blast the rock and a lot of expense why waste all that money when the important thing is the house let me just superficially lay a foundation and build something and in the beginning it looks as if the foolish man is the wise man because he's built so quickly and such a grand house with a little bit of money with all the money he had he built a grand house and the wise man looks foolish because he spent most of the money on the foundation which nobody can see imagine wasting your money in building a husband part nobody can see doesn't everybody want to impress people and then he doesn't have much money to build the rest of the house of the house is not very impressive and not very big whereas a foolish man who spent all his money on the house and not the foundation he's built a huge multi-story building and everybody walks by says wow that man did a that man's the wise man look at the number of people who come to his church look at this small little group here this small building ok just wait till the storm comes wait'll the rains and the flood comes he just wiped out that building and that's what's gonna happen when Christ comes back again and that's the foundation of all these congregations and churches was it in obedience to what I said or was it just hearing getting knowledge and then that's it so like I said putting these bricks together but cemented you know there's a lot of advantage in being in a pile of bricks you can walk off and you like come back when you like but when you have brick on top of brick the way a house is built in India cemented it's very Infineon to have a brick on top of you and one underneath you and one beside and one that size not much room for movement it's much easier to be a part of a congregation where you can come and go when you like do what you like nobody there to question you nobody you're not answerable to anybody and you're not responsible to anyone you don't have anyone to check up on you you just do what you like and come and sit and sing all the songs and not your head when you hear the sermon and go home and do what you like those are the people the devil picks off those the people who remain defeated by sin and who never seem to overcome even though they've understood all the theory of it they still defeated I know in my own life it's only when I finally got that fifth finger the blood the word spirit the cross and then slowly when I got that fifth finger of fellowship that really came to an overcoming life that's my testimony I I see it so clearly I was a defeated Christian until I was filled to the Holy Spirit I was even speaking in tongues I was still defeated I'll tell you honestly and but when I came into fellowship then I understood what overcoming was because I'll tell you why you see when you're alone it's like I never knew how selfish I was till I got married first of all I think most married people will acknowledge that because when we are single if someone is a bit uncomfortable I can withdraw from him and not contact him anymore somebody else is uncomfortable I can withdraw from him what do you do when you get married you find the one you're married it's a bit uncomfortable there's no big draw you're there you know you retreat in turn the olden days you retreat into a room and you're all by yourself now you're reaching into the room in the room there's somebody else there in that room and you're gonna live with her or live with him and you discover in that moment what you've never discovered in all your single days what an utterly selfish person you are how you don't consider the other person's feelings or seek to help in what the other person is doing I mean gonna house most wives they'll tell you that my husband has acts as if he's still a single person he doesn't realize that their responsibilities in the house and that's why there's so much of criticism are husband and wife because each things that the other person is taking it easy so imagine you increase that to not just two people but more people in a church you say wow this is gonna be tough it's better I just belong to a congregation it's I'll tell you why because we haven't understood that the primary purpose of salvation is to deliver us from self sitting on the throne of our life let me say that again from the day you were born badams nature is for self to sit on the throne of your life say I want what I want you see little children self is on the throne of their life they fight for they grab fight with each other self is on the throne and we can teach them to be cultured and nice on the outside all you must share your toys with your with your the other children be nice and all that eyes only external and don't grab the biggest piece of cake so you teach your child go and wait for the others to me he still wants to grab it but he doesn't grab it and when we grow up you still want to grab it but it's bad manners so we hope nobody else gets it and we haven't changed self is still the same how do I know because I'm like I know you've got the same flesh as me that's how I know how every human being in the world behaves and that is what Jesus came to remove from the throne and say I want to sit on the throne of your life and I think you cannot have two people on the throne you cannot and itself is still running your life your repentance is not complete I will not say you're not converted that'd be too strong a statement and send you home discouraged I wouldn't say that but I'd say your repentance is not complete you know the repentance is a hundred and eighty degree turn I remember once someone who was not very good at in geometry seeking to be radical saying I want a 360 degree turn when you get a 360 degree turn you're stupid in that same direction in which you always were no a repentance is not a 360 degree turn unfortunately it is for some Christians it is a 360 degree turn they turned right round in the meeting and came back facing the same direction that is not repentance repentance is a 180 degree turn where you facing exact opposite the olden days of the world and sin and my will and what pleased me was in front of God and everybody else was behind no 180 degrees turn means self is there and I'm now facing God with self behind me now I can turn 90 degrees keep an eye on both sides try and please God and please myself this is all most Christians live some may be a little more 120 degrees I want to ask you if you understood what a hundred and eighty degree repentance is I don't think any of us managed it perfectly we must be willing for it I think I was willing for it when I was converted but I never discovered how deep-rooted self was and little by little as God showed it to me I could put that to death that is the meaning of taking up the cross every day what is it I have to crucify on the cross every day myself myself life which gets offended with what somebody said Oh what somebody did or what somebody did not say I expected him to say something I expected him to come and help me and he didn't help me and I'm offended itself it's absolutely self and I tell you this there are so many Christians I've seen that even in our own CFC churches where people have heard and heard and heard and heard and heard they've got all their information using out of their heads what self is still on the throne the proof of it is they get offended with some little thing some little thing in the home or some little thing that some brother did everything I say what's the point God's looking at your life and saying it is not good God looked at what happened during that day and say it's not good have you heard it man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth it is not good so God gives us a lot of opportunities in the day to discover where the Christ is on the throne or whether self is on the throne and this is why I say holiness which does not lead to fellowship with others is a deception the holiness which does not lead to deeper fellowship with other god-fearing people I kind of fellowship with everybody but with other people or walking in the light it's a deception so to me I'm very thankful that I'm in a church where I have to relate to other people constantly not just see them on Sunday and disappear till next Sunday but see them frequently and see how I relate to them and I here's and here's a guy whose self is not completely eliminated from his life and here is me from whom self is not eliminated completely I'll be honest about that if I say that self is completely eliminated in my life what I'm saying is I have become completely like Jesus Christ it's not true we become like Jesus when he comes again but we need to do something until he comes again let me turn you to one John in Chapter three 1 John chapter 3 and worse to the last card it says we know that when Jesus appears we will be like him you're not going to be like him until he appears and we shall see him just as he is but until that day what should I do it says in the next verse if you have this hope what hope that one day I'm going to be like him completely where there'll be zero self and 100% Christ I start with 100% self and zero Christ when my unconverted days then I turn around and I say I want to have 100% Christ and zero self but he doesn't happen overnight little by little like you read in Genesis 1 day by day by day by day it takes more than 6 days with us it takes 60 years or 70 years little by little by little it says in verse 3 he purifies himself this is not cleansing in the blood cleansing in the blood deals with my past life which is what God does for me I can't do it I can't remove the guilt of my past sins the blood of Jesus deals with that but this is talking about my self centered life I purify myself he purifies himself are you doing that if you are not doing that according to verse 3 you don't have the hope that one day you'll be like him because it says yeah everyone everyone who has this hope that one day I'll be completely like Jesus Christ purifies himself now purifies himself from what from his self-centered life just as Jesus is pure this is the meaning of 1 John 2:6 in 1 John 2:6 it says the one who says he abides in Christ must walk as he walked not become like him you got to understand the difference I mean walking as he walked and becoming like him becoming like him is only when he returns then I'll be perfect zero self and 100% Christ it's not yet true but until that day I can walk as he walked that means by the principles which governed his life what are the principles to govern his life I'll tell you in one sentence he said it himself turn with me to John 6 and verse 38 John chapter 6 in verse 38 jesus said I've come from heaven never to do my own will or the will of him who sent me there in one sentence you see how Jesus lived every single day he sought to do the will of his father and sometimes that was not what he wanted to do for example for 30 years the will of his father was not to do miracles or preach or cast out demons it was just to be at home and obey Joseph and Mary and I think Joseph died sometime when Jesus was a young man then it was Mary and do you think Jesus as he was like little boy do you do your little children always like to do what mommy says I don't think so so when I sometimes use this illustration of Jesus 12 years old playing ball and I mean throughout history so every game is a bat in a ball okay so children were playing something they couldn't up baseball outside and it's come for time for Jesus to bat that's what everybody looks and that time Mary calls her calls him saying hey Jesus come here I want you to help me what would the average child today say mommy wait just five minutes which means 45 minutes I'll come you know what Jesus did I'm sure he loved her back he said no to his own will I'm sure it was painful dropped his back with all the people teasing a hair your mama's boy okay you can say what you like he said yes mom what do you want me to do I want you to go take a bucket that wooden bucket and get some water from the well and I'm sure he didn't bring a half bucket of water this principal that jesus said on the cross it is finished was a principle that applied to everything he did in his life everything was a if he brought a bucket of water it is a full bucket of water if he made a table in his carpenter shop it is a table that wouldn't Rock on his legs absolutely stable it is finished even if it took longer if it meant more time it was a principle of a finished work he denied himself what about when is it says his four brothers he had four younger brothers and two younger sisters at home when they teased him and troubled him he wouldn't sin and you know how children are when they see someone who's really good and not getting irritated all they want to do everything possible to irritate him and get him angry and they didn't succeed they didn't succeed for thirty years you and I know how difficult it is to live without sin for one day I always say the greatest miracle in Jesus life was the arena of thirty three and a half years in this earth tempted like us and never sinned once in thought word the attitude motive he was so utterly faithful never to do his own will never to please himself this is my example and I'm pursuing that wholehearted lease a lot better now than it was in my life ten twenty thirty years ago but I still know I've got a long way to go Paul said follow me as I follow Christ and one more verse in Romans chapter 15 about Jesus life Romans 15 it says verse three Christ did not please himself you know he lived 33 years and a half years on earth never pleasing himself he always sought to please God and if I want to please God I have to stop pleasing myself I have to stop choosing what I want and say Lord I want what you want now what are we doing it or not is something only God sees and you don't know I you can think of me as a holy guy standing up here preaching but you don't have a clue whether I'm making that choice in my daily life that I will not according to the light I have I don't want to please myself I want to please God whether it's inconvenient or not makes no difference he's not gonna please God or not you know it can be a little thing like watching some particular television program is that something that would please God or just pleases me or watching something on the computer or on on your phone is that something that will please God or please me there very few serious Christians on earth I'll tell you that first of all because they're not taught what 180 degree turn for repentance really is I've had numerous people who come to our church in the last 40 years who said brother Zack I don't think I was even converted properly till I came to your church I said why he said well my over there I was in that other church and I accepted the Lord and I thought I was born again which solely after I came here that I even understood what sin was I never understood that squeezing yourself is a sin so what sort of repentance did I have in that other place there's a shallow empty Hollow repentance where I gave up drinking and I gave up smoking and I gave up some bad habits and I thought I was a Christian and there are you know there are hundreds of non-christians who don't have those bad habits there are many non-christians in India who don't drink who don't smoke who never divorced their wives they're better than some so-called Christians and since it's just the external but self is still in the center of their life that's how it is there's a lot of Christians in the a lot of Christians just living in a self-deception that everything's alright with them with 90 percent is wrong so this is why fellowship is not built because I have my stubborn self sitting inside me and I go to a good church and I said I don't want anyone coming here this this fortress don't ever come into this fortress we'll say hi over the wall the fortress and fellowship with you and you're in your fortress and we say hi over the wall and we call it fellowship it's not and that's why it's so often even in churches there's a lack of being honest we have to pretend that everything is going well with Allah in our life when it is not why because I'm afraid that Paulo will not accept me if he sees what I'm really like it's a wonderful thing to be in a church where we love one another we accept one another just we as we are just like you know in a home we don't just accept a father just doesn't accept all the mature adult children he loves the little babies who dirty their diapers numerous times a day yeah in the church also there are babies and there are grown-up people and we accept more another just as they are and fellowship as well the church is meant to be like a family where we know one another we care for one another that's fellowship and I know I'm growing spiritually if I'm in a church where that sense of family is getting better and better not perfect nothing is perfect on this earth but getting better and better with time and I thank God that I found a church like that 40 years ago and I've seen what has happened not only in that church but a number of other churches that we are planted in India and other places through the years that we've seen what family is not big huge congregations a little little fella where we love one another and grow I know we're not we're trying our best not to seek our own but seeking to go to the other that's that's why Jesus said oh I know that wonderful words John chapter 13 and verse 34 and 35 all men will know you're my disciples when you love them know when you love one another it's an amazing verse he doesn't fit with my logic my logic and with what a lot of Christians also think like that his people will know that you are disciples of Jesus when you love them doesn't that sound more right consist my ways are not your ways my thoughts are not your thoughts as the heavens are high above the earth so are the my ways above your waist all men will know you're my disciples when you love one another I accept the word of Jesus and not the teaching of psychology that people will know you're Christians when you love them that'll come but I go by Jesus words love one another means I'm built in a fellowship with one another a church this is the church that Jesus is building and for myself I have come to see that this is the way I know I'm growing I spoke of humility and Thanksgiving but then my fellowship with my fellow believers is getting better and better and better and better that I'm getting more integrated with the local church God's put me as a part of I'm not like a butterfly going from this flower to that flower to the other Florida's out flock anyway can I get some honey now with church which preacher is coming here and which preachers coming there this like butterfly is going from flower to flower to flower or like people go from restaurant to restaurant Thai restaurant oh no I think I better go for Chinese now or Indian food like these are a lot of people go to churches to suit their tastes but what about a family humor eat what mamma's made whether Chinese or Thai or or nothing that's a family where we're not going according tastes we belong to one another we love one another we're not just listening to great sermons we're building fellowship don't think that the best church is the one that's got the best preacher it's not true that's a restaurant in a family so you know if you belong to a family see preaching is a matter of gift and God doesn't give it to everybody I've seen that I know God gave me this gift when I was 23 years old it's just like that and I know more than anybody else it's not something I could produce you can't produce something on your 23 and being baptized only two years before that it's God chose me for a particular task gave me that gift and I don't expect anybody to have my gift and I don't I don't think you should expect anybody else to have a gift God's given to someone because if preaching was the most important thing that God saw to be in the body of Christ do you know that God could have just as easily given the gift he gave me to hundreds and thousands of other people all of you would have been able to preach just like me without a problem but God says no this is what I give him this is what I give this other person is worth and all of us are needed like the Bible says if everything was a tongue what's our body would that be just tongues everywhere all over the place our highs everywhere our little fingers everywhere no that's what the body each has got a function and we love one another and every part is needed no part is to be despised so just because you don't have the gift of preaching or singing or playing a musical instrument does not mean in the in the family every person is needed and whatever your gift may be there is a little bit that you have I've used this example some people may say well I'm just a little finger what is a little finger I can my body can do without a little finger no not necessarily there's times when a little finger is very useful to get a good grip on something you need that little finger as well or somebody says I'm a little toe now I've heard doctors say that if you remove your 10 toes you won't be able to stand properly did you know that do you know that your stability is not just dependent on your big feet these depend on those tiny little toes that make yours you're able to stand properly so don't despise it or the nails when you feel scratchy which part of the body can help you not your tongue not yours those despise little nails those are the ones that make you feel ah so don't ever say you don't have a gift can you scratch somebody's back who is there we cannot scratch somebody's back you know what that gift is the gift of encouragement every one of us can encourage somebody else I remember when I was a thirty year old young man a man was double my age a godly man who couldn't even speak English properly put his hands on my shoulder and said oh it's got a plan for you it's all he said but I remember it after 46 years I haven't have forgotten many other profound servants but other people priests because at that time it was such a word of encouragement to me to a discouraged young Christian it doesn't take much to encourage somebody you know at the end of an email just speak about of encouragement at the end of a phone conversation 10 seconds more just to give a word of encouragement who is there who cannot do it why don't we do it I'll tell you why because we are so self-centered everybody must comfort me I'm in such deep depression comfort me comfort me I'll tell you how to get comforted sister brother get out of seeing your own die to yourself seek to bless others and you see what will happen is a great verse in proverbs 11:25 this is these are some of the blessings of fellowship and this is how you know your growing problems 11 and verse 25 it says he who waters others will be watered also himself do you know what that means that if I go in water somebody else's plant god water my plant if I go and bless somebody else God will bless me it's a great verse if you water others God or water you and if you are dry and God's not watering you you know the reason now you're not watering anybody else you're just thinking of yourself you see what I don't have a gift maybe you don't have a gift to preach but what about scratching somebody's back encouraging just a word of encouragement this is how we build fellowship so this is a mark of growth that we have learnt to encourage one another a little more and begin with the one who's living at home with you love your neighbor as yourself who is your closest neighbor your marriage partner sometimes we think we're looking over the wall the other side no no that's don't look over the wall right inside your room is your closest neighbor your husband your wife encourage one another and good fellowship that's why in our churches we emphasize family life as much as church life I say if it doesn't work at home don't give it to others don't give a gospel to others that hasn't worked in your home I mean if you've got a a microwave that's backed up what do you give that as a gift to somebody it doesn't work in their home pack it up nicely and give it to someone you wouldn't do that you wouldn't give a gift to someone that doesn't work in your home don't give a gospel to other people that has not worked in your own home first that's wrong it's an insult to give a person a electronic gadget that didn't work at home and it's an insult to give a gospel to somebody else that doesn't work in your own home begin in your own home jesus said in Jerusalem first then Judea Samaria the uttermost parts of the earth Jerusalem is your home and your local fellowship your local church so I begin in my home and then I go to the local church I'll reach the uttermost parts of the earth for hang on that can wait but I begin with Jerusalem Judea Samaria they are the most passages from my home and my local church I got a build fellowship here and ultimately God will be able to reach even they are the most positive I mean when we started I'll tell you we didn't dream of going outside that small little place around our home just a few people living around here Lord you want to build a little testimony for you here that's all and we'd be happy but as God began to build that we prayed Lord are there other people a little wider circle maybe Judea Samaria where people are missing out on this life bring us in touch with him we don't we're not going to push in all that God brings us in touch with them amazingly so dear brothers and sisters build fellowship get rid of the spirit of competition trying to show that you're better than somebody else there's no no place for that you know that can easily come even in a good church when somebody wants to say I could pray better or I sing better or my children are better than your children oh-ho you haven't understood you turn 360 degrees not have 180 degrees we're not here to show but that can happen in a church if it does well with it goes well with your children to inwardly you know be a little proud that it's gone well with my kids or the desire to [Music] compete to show my kids are better than somebody else's kids that's the thing that will kill fellowship I remember I was in a meeting many years ago out in North Carolina or somewhere and it was a it was a Mennonite group of me mostly of them from that background and many of them had a number of children and a number of those children had Down's syndrome you know what that means they're not absolutely normal their mental ability is less and everyone there were a number of them in that particular group and boy I already love to go and make friends with these little children my heart went out to them because I knew that they didn't have the opportunities I had show my love I knew all of them would go to heaven without a doubt but I wouldn't have the opportunity to show their love for Jesus like I had so I really my heart went out to them and they would smile and I was so moved by them and blessed by them without their saying anything so I got up in the meeting and I said you know that in the those all those are gonna haven't we really bless one another and I want to say how these little children have blessed me and I'll tell you how they blessed me you know all of us are hard-hearted people we've descended from Adam with a hardness in our heart that's got to be softened by every possible means and when I see these little children my heart is softened a little bit and I thank God for that and every child like that I see softens my heart a little bit it's good for me I want my heart to be completely soft like Jesus heartless and so these children do it from me without Ian preaching to me without opening their mouths they bless me thank God God does it things in such a wonderful way that no man gets the honor so it's a wonderful thing so we're not in competition with anybody we're not here to show that we are better than anybody else for our children better than anybody also smarter than anybody else we're here to bless one another and build one another up we're not here to judge one another we are here to bless one another in love one another and thus glorify His name Amen

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 8,481

Rating: 4.8639455 out of 5

Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: PYYJWrwwmPU

Length: 90min 20sec (5420 seconds)

Published: Tue May 24 2016