Global Online Meeting Q&A -- Zac Poonen -- September 11, 2021

[Music] okay dad we have a few questions a number of questions we'll try to get through as many as we can the first question is i think a good one for based on what we heard and the topic for today uh the questioner asks i find that after i hear a stirring message like this there's a desperate thirst in me for a deeper life in christ but after a few days that thirst is gone how can i develop a lifelong thirst yeah there is a problem that many people face and i find that if you come to the bible every day with an open heart see i've been reading this book for 62 years now i'll tell you honestly every day god speaks to me i don't read long passages i mean i've read this bible thoroughly so many times that what i need now is not information what i need is a challenge even at this age even after having known the lord for 62 years even after 46 years of being filled with the holy spirit i find there's a need in my heart and i come to the scripture and say lord speak to me and i find god speaks to me and i something from his word that creates a challenge and shows me something more that i need another step that i need to climb another height that i need to reach another giant in the land of canaan that needs to be killed which i have not even seen till today and that keeps me hungering and thirsting after god jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from god's mouth not that what proceeded 2000 years ago the bible but proceeds present tense present continuous god is always speaking in genesis 1 we read he spoke on the first day second day third day fourth day fifth day sixth day he is speaking continuously even now i may not hear in revelation chapter 1 we read john heard god's voice like a trumpet why can't i hear it hebrews 5 says you have become dull of hearing if you keep sin unconfessed in your life if there's even one sin that you know that you've not confessed then you'll dry up if there's one person you have not forgiven no matter what harm he did to you it's not greater than your killing jesus on the cross that's what we did you have to forgive have you asked forgiveness from those you hurt these are simple things if you do these i believe you god will keep a fire burning in your heart that's longing for more and more and more and more of god and it's been wonderful and the lord says forget the past and press on to the future so that is what i would say these simple things if you do ask god to speak to you every day jesus said about martha luke 10 42 one thing is needful i would say that to you luke 10 42 choose what mary chose to sit at jesus feet every day man shall not live by bread alone and we eat food every day but by every word that proceeds from god's mouth that is how we will never slacken off and cover constant hunger and thirst for the lord amen yeah the next question is is water baptism necessary in order to be filled with the holy spirit well you know when you hear a command of god believe and be baptized i don't think you should ask that question at all why do you want to ask a question then god says you must believe and be baptized i'll tell you it's because you're afraid you go against the teaching of the church you grew up in maybe some orthodox church or some manic in church or some methodist church that gave you baptism as a child the word baptism means immerse it doesn't mean sprinkle it's a greek word which means immersed it's a sad thing that it was not translated into english immerse the he who believes and is immersed in water will be saved you read in mark's gospel chapter 16. so that question should i get baptized i see that's that's the question of people who come to the lord and say lord what is the minimum i have to do in order to come to heaven i tell you i am not interested in such a question what is the minimum i have to do after jesus did not come to earth and say father what is the minimum i have to do for you here on desert before i come back to heaven what a shame it is after jesus having given everything to us that any christian should turn to him and say what is the minimum i have to do for you just believe is that enough i want to do the maximum so if your approach is is baptism necessary i say you've got a wrong attitude first of all if you are ignorant read the scriptures and don't be afraid of what your pastor or your church teaches i broke away i grew up in the orthodox church the orthodox church where i was when i was a little child i was sprinkled they called it baptism but when i was born again i got immersed in water in the name of the father son and the holy spirit so break with tradition break with those dead systems in which maybe your parents brought you up according to the light they had and now your god has given you more light live according to it so i would not answer that question i say that now if you're you know if you're lying in a sick bed and you can't get up knee baptized that's different it's like someone said the dying thief said was not was not baptized somebody told him well you're not dying you're a living thief there's a lot of difference between you and that person so uh if you're lying in a bed in a hospital you're born again there and you can't get back i say baptism is not necessary you can be filled with the holy spirit without it cornelius acts chapter 10 before he got baptized he was filled with the holy spirit and his family but they got baptized immediately thereafter so there's no reason why you shouldn't be baptized that's the answer is it necessary for someone to lay hands on me the questioner is asking in order to receive the baptism of the holy spirit as seems to have been the case quite often in the new testament and in the lives of many godly people yeah see there is a one verse which describes the working of the holy spirit i i would say in a perfect way and i've always followed that john chapter 3 jesus speaking about being born of the holy spirit and then he said in john's gospel chapter 3 he talks about the the wind verse 8 john 3 verse 8 he's referring to the holy spirit the wind blows where it wishes apply that to the holy spirit he moves in different ways i cannot dictate to the wind saying you must blow this way or that way no he blows where very precious so is you hear the sound but you can't say where it's coming from where it's going so is everyone who is born of the holy spirit so in other words what i learned from that verse is the way god deals with his different children who are born of the spirit is different it's like the wind he blew in one way in that person's life he blew another way in my life another way in that person's life i'm not here to dictate which way the holy spirit should work so i will not make rules on that what do we read in the acts of the apostles on the day of pentecost nobody laid hands on 120 god met with them directly later on we read in acts chapter 4 that when they were praying acts 4 31 the place where they gathered acts 4 31 they were shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit nobody laid hands on them those are about the first two examples of number of people being filled with the holy spirit nobody laid hands on them and then we read in acts chapter 9 acts chapter 8 of course we do not describe exactly how those people in samaria receive the holy spirit they laid hands it says in verse 9 17 in acts acts 8 17 rather they were in your hands and they received the holy spirit in acts chapter 9 ananias laid hands on saul in acts chapter 10 for ninjas nobody laid hands on him received the holy spirit acts chapter 19 we read in ephesus that all baptize them and then laid hands on them acts 19 6. so it's different and so it's different in different cases and you have to ask god lord the means is not the important thing it's like the way people are converted some people are converted in a meeting and some people are converted to a vision like paul had a vision when he got converted some people are converted on their deathbed and it's different we cannot dictate on this the important thing is to be filled with the holy spirit i would say definitely from these examples and that i pointed out to you in acts 2 acts 4 and acts 10 those people nobody laid hands on them and they were filled with the holy spirit it can be like that with you too get along with god and god can meet what do you think about songs in which uh they we pray to the holy spirit and what do you think about praying to the holy spirit in general is that something that we should do we must remember the father son and holy spirit are one jesus said when you pray say our father who art in heaven you can say then can we pray to jesus also forget about praying to the holy spirit can you pray to jesus jesus said when you say pray say our father who art in heaven and many of us when we conclude our prayer we say we pray in the name of jesus are you praying to jesus in the name of jesus no we're praying to the father in the name of jesus christ in other words we're saying father i'm approaching you in the name of jesus christ otherwise i have no acceptance with you our father who art in heaven i approach you in the name of jesus christ but many people don't think when they pray what is the meaning of saying lord jesus i pray to you in the name of jesus christ i mean that's pretty ridiculous but the wonderful thing is god treats us like little children who our language is not proper think of a two-year-old speaking to his father his grammar is wrong everything may be wrong the father loves him i say i understand your heart so it doesn't matter how you pray you pray to jesus in the name of jesus god understands it you pray to the father you pray to jesus you can pray to the holy spirit it's it's all the same you read here one example of it uh in ezekiel 37 where the lord told him prophesy to the bread that is to the holy spirit come holy spirit and breathe on these uh dead people here and give them life as a prayer to the holy spirit so and the breath came the holy spirit came there so i don't make too much of a description when you say spirit of the living god paul a pressure on me i'm very happy to pray that god knows my heart remember in prayer dear brothers and sisters think of yourself as a little child i like to think of myself like a little two-year-old child talking to my dad that's how i pray i say dad i may not be expressing it correctly my spelling may be wrong my grandma may be wrong but you know my heart i love you and i want you to give me this come to god not like a clever scholar come to god like a two-year-old child don't be too occupied with the techniques of prayer or the methods of prayer come with a clear heart that's all i say is it possible for people to do genuine miracles in the name of jesus without the power of the holy spirit and if so how do we discern where the real power is i mean the answer to that jesus himself gave in matthew chapter 7 and verse 22. not one or two many people i believe many preachers many preachers matthew 7 22 jesus said will come to him on that final day and what are they going to say lord lord these are people who call jesus lord we prophesied in your name we preached prophecy means to speak to people who encouraged to edify and comfort and occasionally even to predict something in the future be prophesied in your name in your name we cast out demons in the name of jesus we commanded demons to go and they left lord jesus you remember that i did it and we did not one miracle lord you know we did many miracles now when people testified to that in a meeting i don't believe it but nobody would dare say that to jesus on the final day if it was not true they are talking to jesus remember in your name lord we did miracles you know that what is the lord gonna say to them i never knew you i never had a personal relationship with you you are people who practice sin go to hell depart from me that's the meaning [Music] how many people verse 22 many so is it possible for a person to prophesy in the name of jesus and cast out demons in the name of jesus and perform not one but many miracles in the name of jesus and finally for the lord to say listen you and i never had a personal relationship that's the meaning of i never knew you go to hell that answers the question very well so i'm not impressed by people prophesying or casting out demons or performing many miracles i look for the fruit of the spirit i look to see whether a person loved jesus with all his heart and whether he knows how to love others by this shall all men know you my disciples jesus said not that you do miracles or prophesying but that you love one another very down to earth and simple yeah what is the new covenant application of the warning in luke 17 32 about remembering lot's wife you know whether it's valid for new covenant people what is uh how do we apply that in our lives today okay jesus is talking here in luke 17 about being ready for the lord's coming at any time he may come at any time in the day luke 17 they were eating and drinking verse 28 in the days of lot but suddenly fire came from heaven and lot went out as a picture of the rapture and the judgment fell but in that moment one who's on the house stop should not have to go down because his attachment is to the property on earth his goods are there or one who's in the field should not have to turn back and say hey lord i'm sorry i didn't settle matters with my wife can you hold on don't come yet everything must be settled you don't you shouldn't have to go down your attachment should not be to your property you should not have to go back from your office or your fee to settle matters with your wife everything is subtle and then he said think of lot's wife she turned back because her wonderful garden and fancy clothes and all the wonderful things she had in her house were all left behind and the lord is saying if you are attached to the things of earth you will not be ready for my coming because you have to go down to the house to get the goods and the lord says come you say no no my goods are down here. or i have to go back from my field to the house for something remember lord's wife you should not have to look back for anything we must live in a constant readiness with our faces set for the kingdom of god if the lord says in the trumpet come say lord i'm ready i don't have to go back and look back for anything everything is settled every sin is confessed i've forgiven everybody i'm ask forgiveness from everyone if i've hurt anyone i have no attachment to anything on this earth you may have you may be a millionaire there's nothing wrong with being a millionaire if you earned all that money honestly and if you love jesus more than that that million but you say lord my attachment is not to that my attachment is to you and to you alone that's what i understand to be the meaning of this warning here in relation to the lord's coming but let me also add that it's possible for a person who has entered into the new covenant to go back from it hebrews 3 and verse 14 says we become partakers of christ very important verse hebrews 3 12 says take care my dear brethren that one of you can fall away from the living god you can have an evil unbelieving heart even after coming into the new covenant hebrews 3 12 because we can be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin verse 13 in a single day takes only 24 hours to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin hebrews 3 13 it doesn't take five years one day and then he says finally in verse 14 hebrews 3 14 you will become a partaker of christ if capital i f you hold on to that assurance you had from the beginning firm until the end then you're a particle of christ so there lord swipe is a warning you came out and then you look back don't look back there's one question about baptism that was asked which i thought i'd pose here i don't know the con the full context but uh the person was saying that they were baptized as a child and then later on were born again and they didn't have anybody around them so they baptized themselves privately i'm assuming uh is it necessary for somebody else to baptize the person and maybe there are circumstances where there isn't somebody to i don't know the full context okay there is no instance in the bible of you baptizing yourself but god understands he sees the circumstances and i would say the best thing is to go and ask some believer you have confidence in to immerse you in the name of the father son and holy spirit but you know in 1 corinthians 7 paul says and i want to quote paul and i want to quote myself also i don't have a command from the lord paul says but i give my opinion as one who has been faithful you read that verse in 1 corinthians chapter 7. so i say the same thing also in this situation exactly like paul says over there i don't have a command from the lord but i give my opinion as one who is sought to be faithful to the lord if there is no other way and there's no possibility of anybody you have confidence in the baptize you pour a bucket of water over your head and say lord i die to myself or dip yourself in something and say lord i die to myself i want to live for you it's not ideal but god will understand god's a loving father don't forget that yeah can you help us distinguish spiritual pride from having discernment about false christianity yeah spiritual pride comes out of feeling that what i am i'm a self-made man i have come to this life by myself and or if you have a ministry i have produced this ministry by myself it's like you know a man distributing a cake made by somebody else and somebody turns around to him and says oh this is a wonderful cake you made no it says yeah god help me the man never made it he has to say somebody else made it i'm only distributing it so i say my ministry is not something i made i'm just distributing the cake that god has given to me and asked me to pass on if you want to appreciate he's the one who made it so it's very easy to become proud and even the false humility where people can pretend to be humble on the outside and all the only way to avoid pride completely is by looking under jesus jesus said in matthew 11 29 learn from me for i am humble and gentle apart he never told us to learn how to preach a lot of people want to learn how to preach he told us to learn humility from him and when we have humility god will give us discernment of people who are crooked particularly if you have responsibility you know god will give you discernment in the sphere where you have responsibility if you're a father he'll give you discernment over your children if you're an elder in the church you give you discernment over people if you're not an elder in the church the lord will not necessarily give you discernment of everybody in the church but he'll give you discernment in relation to the people who connect with you whether they are crooks whether they are genuine whether you can allow them to mingle with your children you give your discernment because you're a responsible father it depends on the measure of the sphere of your responsibility that's why he gives you discernment and if you look at jesus it will never make you proud it will never make you feel uh i'm better than that person we're not better than anyone left to ourselves we end up like the devil himself but the lord has mercy on us and makes us what we are so we must keep looking at jesus and running this race then whatever gift god gives you discernment is also a gift it is impossible to be proud i say it is impossible because the moment pride comes up god will the holy spirit will convict you and show you the face of jesus and you'll go down in the dust before the lord like john fell on the isle of batmos in revelation chapter one some questions about personal discipline here how do we properly prioritize reaching the lost and doing the work of the kingdom of god while fulfilling our personal family and work responsibilities well i say a personal walk with the lord is primary because the river of life has to flow through me to others and if the channel is dirty what's going to flow to others is dirty water so my primary responsibility is not to reach others my primary responsibility is to keep the channel clean i'm forgiving everybody asking everyone forgiveness clear keeping my mind thoughts tongue everything pure confessing all known sin and keep the channel clear and it's god's responsibility to send the living waters through me i can't produce the living water i can't save a single soul i can't do a single thing for god on this earth but i can keep the channel clear and hunger and thirst after god and god can let the rivers flow through me that's what we call ministry and so that's the way our ministry should be and if we keep our self like that and that includes our and we should not think that our responsibility to our family or uh to our work in our office is going to be a hindrance to our work no you shouldn't use your office time to go around witnessing for people that's wrong if an office is paying you for your job you shouldn't be witnessing that you should be doing your job faithfully in the time which is off in your maybe in your if you have a morning break or lunch break by all means use that time to witness but during your time you're working in the office you should not be witnessing i followed that rule when i was in the navy in my off time i could witness to anybody but while i'm working i've got to do my job faithfully and the same way with you if you've got a family you've got to care for your children you've got to spend time with your children in terms crime with your wife don't ignore all that and go and preach then you've got to blame yourself if you become a backslider our christian life i've pictured it often like this the foundation is god's perfect love for me on top of that the first story is my personal walk with god the second story is my family life bringing a relationship with my wife bringing up my children properly and on top of that the third story which is my ministry and serving god and whatever a ministry god gives me so we must keep that order don't become so occupied with ministry that you ignore the foundation of god's love for you you lose that assurance or you ignore keeping good conscience or you ignore your responsibility to your family thank you there are a couple of questions about fighting discouragement the first is how can i avoid getting discouraged when i deal with frequent intense physical pain yeah that's a very difficult question to answer because in the 82 years of my life i have to say that i have not had any long period with intense physical pain by god's mercy and i think many of you are like that i mean there are a few people in the world who suffer with some type of intense pain due to a sickness or some other problem and i can fully sympathize with them i can only say to them my dear brother sister i usually give advice in areas where i have experienced something myself but here i can even give advice where i'm not experiencing by saying whether i've experienced it or not god's word is true it's great second corinthians chapter 12. i don't want to go there now take your time second corinthians 12 make a note of that in your mind or on a piece of paper where paul had a thorn in the flesh something that caused him tremendous pain or some type of call it an infirmity and he prayed to the lord to remove it three times the lord said no imagine the lord saying no to the apostle paul where are you and i and the lord said i'll give you something else my grace is sufficient for you because my grace is my power and that power is made perfect in weak people in sick people in people who are helpless i've found great help in that verse in when i have little problems like a sickness or a headache or any other problem physical ailment or sickness and we have these things in our body sometimes and i say lord number one i ask you to heal me we must always pray for healing first and i say lord if you don't heal me give me grace one of the two you have to give me one of the two either healing or grace i get that from second corinthians 12. and you decide which is more important for me if you think grace is more important i'm quite happy to live with this sickness at the end of my life but if you think healing will glorify you more heal me so i leave the option to god and the bible says in 1 corinthians 10 and verse 13 god will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability and the example and testimony of other people who suffered a lot like richard wormbrand who was in prison for many years beaten and hammered you read in his book called torture for christ and another sister called joni erickson who was paralyzed at the age of 18 when she dived into a lake and hit her head paralyzed completely except for the top part of her head and maybe your fingers i don't remember but she's been in a wheelchair for more than 50 years and i remember listening to a testimony of hers which you can listen to on youtube powerful testimony cheerful happy person having sat in a wheelchair for 50 years because she loved the lord such examples of are also an encouragement for us the second question on discouragement is how uh similarly how can i avoid getting discouraged when i uh struggle with mental disability or um disorders yeah even there again i have not had that so i cannot say from personal experience but i would say this i believe god has given us the power to think and even those with mental disabilities know they can read god's word and i would say try to meditate on even little verses of scripture as much as you're able don't seek to accomplish as much as somebody else because i'll tell you god will reward you in the final day according to how much ability you had and you may find in the final day that some person with slight mental disability or some mental disability probably ends up as great a reward as some great saint because god sees how much would this person do so don't condemn yourself that you can't do what other people do say lord this is all i can do i'm limited you put me in a small space because my mind is so limited and i have problems mentally you re but i still love you i believe even with people mental disability they can love jesus they can accept jesus into their heart they can be filled with the holy spirit and they may not be able to accomplish things like other people but then god doesn't expect that but i believe that they should seek for healing and if healing doesn't come say lord your grace will be enough for me even to overcome mental disability you may not be be able to behave as well as other people but god understands that don't worry people judge you live before god's face seek to be free from the opinions of people that is one thing i would say definitely to people who have mental disability and to everyone we if we can be free from what do people say about me what do they think about me even as a preacher i have to be very careful about that lord i don't want to be bothered what people say about me or think about me i want to live before your face that is the best advice i can give to such people and ask someone to pray with you prayer accomplishes many things and ask god to give you grace a third question in battling discouragement and that's the uh is how do we how can i avoid getting discouraged when i deal with loneliness and this is coming from somebody who's maybe older and uh hasn't had the opportunity to be married and maybe the possibilities are getting less yeah see we should not think that marriage is the most important thing a lot of even married people think sex is a great thing you know one corinthians 7 says that even married people need to sometimes fast from sex remember that two of the most wonderful men who lived on this earth jesus christ and the apostle paul were never married and they lived the most wonderful life that you can ever think of they never could have sexual relations once in their life sex is a good thing but god never allowed jesus to have it even once never allowed paul to have it once so it's not in the same category as food and sleep god has given us food to eat hunger the desire to rest and sleep and the desire for sex but sex is not in the same category we see that from the example of jesus and paul so even married people and young people don't make sex such an important thing like almost a god in your life we need food we need to sleep sex is not essential absolutely not essential and so the companionship that comes in marriage is not absolutely essential because jesus was not married paul was not married so think of those examples they lived without a wife or so many godly women missionaries to many foreign countries lived without a husband what a lot they accomplished for god or widows who husband died when they were young this if they find their satisfaction in jesus christ everything else will fall in its place the fundamental problem is that many christians are not developed at intimacy with jesus christ to say lord you are my closest friend and i want to walk with you and live with you every day that's the only advice i can give here's a question about studying god's word what is a some good practical advice on developing a habit of meditating on god's word i think you might have answered before but if you can answer it briefly okay so i would say that first of all you must read through the whole bible when i got converted 62 years ago the first thing i did i had never read through the bible i read many many chapters to try and read as quickly as possible and in about six months i read the whole bible much of it i didn't understand but at least i went through the whole bible to a new whatever i read there but then once having done that i began to read in small portions every day and meditate means see as i've more the more i walk to the lord the number of verses i meditate becomes less and less and less and less and less in the early days i used to read a chapter and meditate on that that decreased between sometimes nowadays i read one verse and the next you know i'm reading sequentially for example if i'm reading through the gospels sometimes i go through a number of verses and there's nothing much that's on my heart and then sometimes i come to a place where i stop and one passage i keep thinking about that and the next day again that same passage it's like a traffic light which is still red i can't move and the next day it's when the next week the traffic light is red i can't move forward and i meditate on that sometimes it's one verse so to think about it and say lord what is that you're trying to say to me through that and i don't have a goal every day to read so many verses or chapters i did have that in the beginning that's good when you haven't read the bible but as you grow in the lord more important to think about what is the lord trying to say to me through this verse particularly the new testament so much that the lord has to say to us and it's good to think about it during the day think about and if it is a health i haven't done that but if it is celebrated write a verse on a piece of paper and keep it with you in your pocket and pick it out during the day and read it in my case i have a fairly good memory and so i can think about it without having a piece of paper in my pocket but that's the way to think about what we have read and say lord speak to me i'll move on to some questions about the church we've had quite a few questions but before i ask those questions uh just want to make a comment for many of you who write to us asking for information about like-minded churches in your area we're happy to use this forum to connect you with others you've probably heard the example of finding needles in a haystack and how it seems impossible if it's a large haystack to find even one needle but if you have a powerful magnet that will draw out the needles and that magnet is the life of christ in us it says that the light was the life of christ in john 1. so we believe and we've seen god do this in many different places across the world that when the life of christ is truly in us and we have a hunger and a thirst for that light to connect with another light so that the body of christ can be formed god will do it and he knows where there are hungry people who are interested in a pure testimony for christ's sake more than anything else not even interested in a local church or anything like that but just that god would be glorified he will bring them together supernaturally i've seen him do that in my own life and here in the local church in loveland so if you'd like to be connected and you'd like we're happy to help with that feel free to write to us info rlcf.church or write to cfc india if you're outside the u.s and they there are a lot of contacts god will trust that the lord will use both of you who may be just a mile apart to be connected by writing uh to to us uh supernaturally so feel free to write to us i'll post the email address again we'll post it on youtube and we'll display that slide again at the end of the meeting did you want to add anything to that dad before i ask the question oh you can also write to cfc cfc india.com and we'll be glad to put you in touch with other people in their locality is there anybody we know only if we can if it is a person or a church we can trust we will not i will not link you to people whom i do not know or whom i cannot trust and i would only do that if there's someone i can trust that will be able to help you so the question here is what is can you speak on what is the biblical model for church leadership how are they are they selected or appointed does the congregation have a say in church matters in the old covenant there was a person the nation of israel was god's chosen vehicle through which he communicated and god said out of all the 12 tribes i choose one tribe levi to be my priest and that by the way that was not an arbitrary choice you read in exodus in chapter 32 onwards that there was a time when the children of israel went astray from god aaron himself led them astray they made a golden calf and they worshipped and moses came down and said these people have got to be punished the people who worship the golden cow and he said to the whole congregation of israel who is on the lord's side come and stand with me and one tribe of levi out of the 12 came and stood with moses and god lord moses said now go out and don't bother if it's your father brother anybody if they worship idols kill them that's how they judge them there in those days judgment was very severe and that day the tribe of levi was selected to be the priests in israel not i mean for example they were blessed to be the priests but one condition was you will own no property all the others can own property so the land of israel was divided among the 11 tribes joseph was split up into ephraim and menacing so they became two twelve but levi was without any property at all but they were the priests and among the priests one was the high priest and that was aaron and that went down the line to his descendants there was always one high priest that no man selected that god selected it in his own reason for that and some of those priests were very unfaithful like eli his children were wayward and god punished them but in the new covenant it is different it's not a family affair it is selection through the holy spirit now god may choose when jesus chose his disciples james and john were his own first cousins his mothers sisters sons but he did not hesitate to choose them because they were wholehearted they were not rejected oh these are my relatives so i won't choose them no jesus was totally impartial and he says if a person is wholehearted whoever he is we'll select him be a disciple the same way in the church we read as churches were planted the apostle paul appointed elders you read that in acts chapter 14 when paul went around he appointed elders in different places here in verse 23 acts 14 23 they appointed elders in every church having prayed with fasting commanded them to the lord there was no one high priest anymore so multiple elders because it was an expression of a body now the old testament there was no body the high priest was the head but in the new testament the head is jesus christ and we are a body all we like members of one body but jesus said what is it that what is the minimum requirement for a body two matthew 18 20 where two are gathered in my name i'm in the midst that's a body you can't have one there's no midst when there's one matthew 18 20 says minimum is two so that's the beginning of a church two people paul and barnabas coming together and going to a place that's the beginning of a church where two or three but they must be gathered by the holy spirit in jesus name he's in the midst and as a church is formed there needs to be multiple elders to manifest a body otherwise it will be a one-man show like the old testament that's why you never read in the new testament of a one-man pastor in any church now you may be seeing it all around you i say to you in jesus name that is 100 against the new testament that's like the old testament high priest many people live in the old testament for example being defeated by sin is an old testament experience new testament is sin shall not rule over you because you're under grace not under law if you're under law sin will rule over you so most christians live under the old covenant they are defeated by sin they love money like the old testament they live with a health wealth gospel like deuteronomy 28 deuteronomy 28 is a health wealth message it's not the new testament gospel in the same way they disobey the new testament in church pattern also they have one pastor never found in the new testament pastor is a word which means shepherd and that is not an office in the church it is a gift ephesians 4 and verse 11 it says christ ascended upon high and he has given certain gifts to the church to run the church and those gifts are ephesians 4 and verse 11 apostles prophets evangelists and pastors and teachers white gifts apostles prophets evangelists pastors or shepherds and teachers it's not an office an apostle is not an office it's a gift a prophet is not an office it's a gift a pastor is not an office it's a gift a teacher it's not an office it's a gift and from those whom god appoints the lord chooses those who are the most mature an apostle may choose those who are the most mature in a church he planted the church so he selects those who are the most mature so when the apostle cannot go himself paul tells titus titus chapter 1 i left you in crete titus 1 verse 5 that you will appoint elders in every city in every church so titus was an understudy of the apostle paul and he had to appoint elders not a pastor elders two people at least must be in the leadership of every church it's a very sad thing almost many many churches are ruined because the one-man pastor becomes a dictator nobody's there to check him nobody's there to correct him from the beginning when cfc started 46 years ago the lord brought two of us together me and another brother and we worked together and as the church grew there were three of us and then four but we discuss things together and i praise god that these brothers with whom i worked could turn around to me and say when we were discussing whether we should do something they say no brother zach we don't agree with you i said praise god here are people who are not yes men just saying yes to what i say my fellow elders right in the early days would say to me brother zach we don't agree with you i say praise the lord i'm not god i'm not jesus christ i'm happy that to be corrected by someone i said okay then we will not move forward till both of us agree all three of us agree and that's how we have worked and that's how the lord has led us in cfc all these 46 years we have not believed in a one-man rule or a one-man pastor we share with each other and when we are in agreement we move forward and if we are not in agreement we wait and we have never lost anything by waiting i may make a mistake i remember one example where i wanted it i felt that one person had done something wrong serious enough to be put out of the church so i told my brother i think we should put that person out of the church and my fellow brother fellow elder said no brother zach let's wait a little maybe let's give the person three months and see if things will improve and change i said okay since you don't agree with me we will follow your advice we give the person three months because we have to operate as united where two or three are gathered where two are gathered together jesus in the midst and i want jesus in the midst of us all the time and so we gave that person three months and you know what happened the person changed completely and rectified itself with i was so thankful i did not act in haste and put the person out of the church and lived a number of years in the church as a very blessed person in the church so i see that any of us can make a mistake so that's why god puts elders as the church grows maybe three or four that is the new testament pattern and that's the way god protects the church by preventing it from a one-man show or a dictatorship that can destroy a church in a related note does the church the members of the church then have any say at all in church matters after the elders are appointed see think of the church as a family children do not choose who's to be my father or who's to be my mother god has determined that and they can't vote out the father and mother one day saying we don't want you and the very fact that in a family also god has put two people at the top dog father and mother it's not one person and that's why husband and wife must discuss with each other in matters related to the home the way you spend money the way bringing up children of course if one is more godly than the other the other person should be humble enough to recognize that the godly person has more wisdom but yet even the other person is less godly that person's contribution is valuable if they're born again of course if one partner is not born again is different but if the person is born again the two are together jesus is in the midst and that's the best way to bring up children where father and mother both contribute their own input and understanding and together for example for example when our children something comes up in school shall we send the children for this camp for a few days a wave i would discuss it with my wife we discuss together and until we are agreed we don't move forward so that's just one example so this is the way god wants a church to move forward and the congregation does not choose who is to be their leader that is in politics in the society in the worldly society everybody has a vote and decides who's to be their leader that's not the way leaders are chosen the church i know a lot of churches do that but then a lot of churches do 101 things which are not in the scripture this is just one of them in the scripture you read that paul says to titus i told you to appoint elders god gives discernment to the apostle and to those who are working with him to decide who should be an elder in the church it's never a question of voting never never never we have never done that in 46 years in any cfc church there's a question about matthew 16 verse 18 where jesus said you are peter and upon this rock i will build my church how do we correctly interpret this was jesus giving peter any special place in his church there's a saying that a text taken out of context is a pretext i mean that if you don't understand english pretext means you do you want an excuse to do something you want to do so you can take a verse out of its context because you want to do something with that verse so let's read it in his context the context is matthew 16 15 who do you say that i am simon peter says you're the christ the messiah the son of the living god and jesus said blessed are you simon peter because flesh and blood did not release you my father gave you this revelation from heaven but i want to say to you peter that's a great revelation the father gave him revelation but i want to say you are peter petros which in the greek means a small stone you are a small stone but on this rock which you just confessed which is i am the christ the son of the living god on this rock i will build my church it's a contrast that jesus is drawing you are petros but on this petra in the greek it is very different you are petros a small stone but on this petra this big rock which you just confessed the christ the son of the living god i will build my church so the church thank god it was not built on peter it would have destroyed and been shaken long ago it was built on jesus christ and the gates of hell will never overpower the church built on christ when christ builds a church one proof of it is the powers of hell can never overcome it if your church was overcome by the powers of hell you can be pretty sure that jesus did not build it some man built it and the lord gave authority to peter to saying i give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whether you bind on earth will be bound in heaven whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven hang on now let's continue within the next one minute when jesus talks about taking up the cross peter took him aside verse 22 can you imagine somebody rebuking jesus christ jesus verse 22 peter rebuked jesus christ he suddenly got puffed up and thought oh i'm the great one who's got the keys of the kingdom of heaven i will even rebuke jesus see how pride can come in and jesus turned around and called him satan so what was he was he a rock or was he satan get behind me said in verse 23 that was enough to humble peter you know when you get puffed up it's wonderful that god does something to bring us down to the dust to prick the balloon that's flying into the air and bring it down to earth many times people need that god does something through us so somebody appreciates us and the balloon gets puffed up with air and god has to give a little prick and bring it down to earth and that's what happened he called him satan and the authority that the lord gave here to satan if you i mean to sorry to peter in matthew 18 he gives it to others in the church as well you read in matthew chapter 18 to the elders in the church verse 18 whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven so there's no special authority given to people how can we foster fellowship in the church in a practical way without it becoming a club it's very important i would recommend to all of you to read a little booklet written by santosh called the congregation the club and the church there are three types of churches one is only a congregation there is a club like any other worldly club the other is the real church of jesus christ and it all depends on whether we have the two relationships in the cross vertically with god and horizontally with each other and that is written in one john chapter one by the way if you want this booklet it's on our website if you go to cfc india.com cfc india.com you can read the book i just mentioned there freely you can just download it and read it but if you want a hard copy please write to us but coming to this question in one john 1 2 verse chapter 1 verses 1 to 3 it speaks about fellowship in verse 3 especially our fellowship is with the father that's the vertical arm of the cross and his son jesus christ and you have fellowship with us that is the horizontal that is true fellowship where a church is built if you only have the vertical and you say i'm walking with the lord and you know there are a lot of people like that they don't belong to any church they're not committed to anybody they have a good relationship with the lord but they are useless for god because the lord wants to build a church and they'll never get more light on themselves because we get light on ourselves by mingling with other people who are also walking with the lord and if you don't get light on yourself through others you know it's through one another that we discover things in ourselves that is wrong if you keep a distance from other there'll be a hundred and one things wrong in your life that you'll never discover so we need fellowship with one another at the same time if you don't have this vertical relationship with christ and you have only the horizontal one it will be a club where people gather in a club to play cards people gather in a chub club to play tennis people gather in a club to play golf and people gather in the club to read the bible to sing songs to praise songs and worship songs and listen to messages it's a club and they care for one another they help one another if somebody's in need they'll help them and if uh they need to shift their residence their people will go around to help them it's a club and they think we love one another great but are you getting closer and closer to the lord in your daily walk with the lord if all the people in that church are not getting closer and closer to the lord in their daily walk with the lord then it is a club it is the vertical when you make a cross you start with the vertical then the horizontal so the vertical relationship with christ must come first and that must be there all the time walking with the lord denying yourself taking up the cross and then the horizontal relationship with one another that's the way we protect so the emphasis in a church must always be on that vertical followed by the horizontal and you read that very clearly in one john he talks about our fellowship is with the father and you have fellowship with us and we love god and we have to love one another the first commandment is not love your neighbor as yourself the first commandment is love god with all your heart then love your neighbor as yourself so the arms of the cross are even there so that is how we prevent the church from becoming a club yeah if a church is preaching wrong or incomplete doctrine but there's no new covenant-minded church in my area should i still go to that church just for fellowship with other sincere believers yeah see we all need fellowship no matter how spiritual or how wholehearted you are god wants you to mingle with others of his children and even if they don't understand something you don't have to get people at our own level of understanding of fellowship no you can learn something from even a very young believer i've learned things from people who are new believers there's something of christ that i can receive if you have if you have humility you can learn from any member of the body of christ if i recognize here's a person who's born again christ is his head and so he's a member of the body which member of my human body can i say i don't need it not even the finger or the nail or anything i need every part of the body and i say wherever i can find someone even if they are not mature you know they don't have the understanding i have if i can say that person has really given their life to christ i can fellowship with that person so i would look for a church where at least they preach that much but if they don't preach the new birth at all they don't even preach about being born again they say you become a christian because you're born in a christian family i said there is no difference between such a christian and a hindu or a muslim or any other religion or an atheist because no one becomes a christian by being born in a christian family and most churches 90 percent of churches have people call themselves christians because sit there because they're born in a christian family i don't agree with that so i would not waste my time sitting in such a church but i look for maybe even there there could be one or two here and there in that church who love the lord so my aim must always be to look for someone who loves jesus christ and was born again and it is more likely that i'll find that person in some building called a church or in some organization called a church than in a mosque or a temple or an atheist club or somewhere that's why i go to even a very weak so-called church where there may be a lot of things wrong but if there's one person there my prayer should always be lord take me bring me in touch with one person i won't become a member of member of that church i may attend it to look for somebody who loves the lord with whom i can punish here's a question is it unloving if we avoid certain people including other so-called christians if they've done harm to us in the past and uh how do we keep ourselves free from bitterness in such situations okay let me answer two questions there one it says in one corinthians and chapter 5 that if a person calls himself a brother one corinthians 5 verse 11 that means he called himself a believer do not associate with a person who calls himself a brother and he's immoral and an idolater or a drunkard don't even have a meal with such a person he calls himself a brother but if he does not call himself a brother he's a heathen or an atheist then by all means you can have a meal with them or you can meet with them etc etc so uh that's one thing but when it comes to people with whom we've had a problem because they have hurt us or created problems for us in the past or they are the fighting type it says we must seek for peace with all men romans 12 18 i want to show you two verses as much as it depends on you live at peace with all men that means don't have a fight don't have a god live at peace but it doesn't mean you can have fellowship with them because it says in hebrews chapter 12 that's the otherwise i want to show you pursue peace verse 14 hebrews 12 14 pursue peace with all particularly believers without which you will not see the lord how do i pursue peace with a person who's a troublesome person i'll tell you by avoiding meeting him if i meet him there'll be trouble if i visit his house there'll be a conflict so i never visit his house and he calls himself a brother but he's always creating problems i want to pursue peace so i just steer clear of him if i see him coming down the road i walk the other side of the road he's a brother but my past experience with him is always he gets into conflict so i avoid him because i am i'm pursuing peace if i can if i go with him it will become conflict and i want i hate conflict i don't want it but i must forgive him i must not have anything in my heart against definitely not and if one day the lord leads you to restore such a person that special leading from the lord do it but otherwise pursuing peace is very very important and very often the only way to do it is by avoiding people but don't keep a bitterness bitterness will destroy you forgiving whatever is done harm to you forgiven jesus forgave the pharisees on the cross but did he have fellowship with those pharisees no he had zero fellowship with the pharisees but hundred percent forgiveness to the pharisees so sometimes we can have 100 forgiveness to somebody and like jesus on the cross zero fellowship with that person you can't be better than jesus he had zero fellowship with the pharisees and you may have zero fellowship with some people but he loved them he loved the pharisees enough to die for them but he had zero fellowship with them so you can love people but i have no fellowship with them jesus is my example in everything here's a question about head covering since we practiced that in our churches could you speak briefly on the significance of the head covering for women and men not wearing it and should it be practiced outside of the church meetings as well okay now this is not as important as turning away from sin the primary message we preach in our church is not women cover your heads the primary message we preach in our church is hate sin and fellowship with jesus christ but jesus once said that even the smallest commandment in the law must be obeyed i'll show you that verse first matthew chapter 5 and verse 19 if somebody breaks the least of the commandments that means think of the smallest commandment in the new testament whichever it is and you break it and say ah that's not a big one i agree it's not a big one it's not only a small one it is the least and you teach others say that's not important i'm reading from matthew 5 19 by the way you say that's the least and you teach others that's the least you will be called one day and even today the least person in god's kingdom you want that title do you want the title the least person in god's kingdom the one whom jesus considers to be the least in my kingdom then i'll tell you what to do ignore the small commandments and teach other people to ignore them very easy to become last in god's kingdom but if you keep the smallest commandment i'm reading from matthew 5 19 and teach other people to keep the smallest commandment you will be called great in the kingdom of heaven now i don't want to be called great on the earth but i certainly want to be called great by jesus christ do you want to be called great by jesus christ well do what it says in matthew 5 19. obey the least commandment and teach other people to obey the least commandments so i tell people this i say show me some i mean i'm a leader of a number of churches and i say tell me something in the new testament that i'm not teaching show it to me i will teach it i want to obey even the smallest little thing that's the introduction so now we come to head covering it is in 1 corinthians 11. now when corinthians 11 is divided into two parts the first part is why men should not cover their heads and why women should cover their heads not all the time when they pray or when they share the word that's all it's only those times that we are told not in your daily life and the second part of 1 corinthians 11 is about breaking bread the lord's table now every single church that i know of preaches and practices the lord's table why do they ignore the first part of one corinthians 11 and do only the second part aren't they being selective in god's word i'll take what i like and i'll ignore what i don't like or you sit in a church which takes one and ignores the other you should go to the leader of that church and ask them one corinthians 11 and say even if he calls his pastor you ask him why do you obey the second part of one corinthians 11 but not the first part are you being selective in god's word i don't want to be like that i want to take the whole of god's word second timothy 3 16 and 17 second timothy 3 16-17 says all scripture is inspired by god i'm not here to decide which part which is inspired i can ignore and which i thought i can do that would be like questioning god i don't do that but some people do unfortunately now let me explain i want you to understand something the holy spirit says 1 corinthians 11 3. please understand this whether you agree with or not it's important not important but you understand this christ is the head of every man i didn't say that the holy spirit said it one corinthians 11 3 and man is the head of the woman and god is the head of christ this is the hierarchy god christ man woman this is not in relation to salvation or in relation to fellowship it's in relation to the it says in verse to the traditions that are practiced within a local church meeting he's talking about local church meetings here about prayer and sharing the word chapter 11 12 13 14 all about local church meetings in that context of the order in a local church meeting etc it's god beneath him as christ beneath as a man and beneath them as man and beneath them is a woman i get that from 1 corinthians 11 3. christ is the head of every man man is the head of a woman god is the head of christ now therefore if a man covers his head verse 3 who is his head christ so if he puts a cap on his head while he's praying he's insulting christ who is his head it's a symbolic thing baptism is symbolic breaking your bread in the second part of verse chapter 11 is also symbolic so symbolic things are not vital importance but if you do accept one symbol you've got to accept the other symbol too one corinthians 11 23 which is a symbolic the breaking of breath here's another thing which is symbolic a man does not cover his head because he says christ should not be covered but a woman's head is man and so she covers her head to say man's glory must be covered in the church so it goes on to say in verse 7 a man should not have his head covered because he's the image and glory of god and the glory of god must not be covered in the church so when a man comes without a cap into the church he's saying the glory of god must not be covered and by the glory of man it says in verse 7 when corinthians 11 the woman is the glory of man and when she covers her she's giving a fantastic testimony thereby in the church the glory of man must be covered in this church a woman who does not cover her head when she's praying is saying no the glory of man should not be covered let the glory of man be seen a lot in this church now you may not agree with me you're not if you don't agree with me you're not agreeing with scripture please read 1 corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3 4 and 7 and then it also says in verse 10 a woman covering your head is a symbol of authority i am subject to my husband or i am subject to the elders of this church who are men there were no women appointed as elders in any church in the new testament days it's a symbol of authority i'm submitting to the authority it's a symbol it's not anything more than a symbol but he goes on to say that does not mean verse 11 that the woman is independent of the man or the man is independent of the woman because just like the woman originated from adam the first woman came out of adam but it goes on to say thereafter every man came out of a woman to humble men who think they are somebody so there's a balance in the teaching of scripture let not the man think that he's somebody remember where did this man you man where did you come from you came out of a woman one day your mother so you need a you need a woman too but symbolically the man is the leader in the church and that's the meaning of the head covering and one more thing it says long hair is given to a woman it is her glory verse 15. a woman's long hair is a glory that glory must be covered in a church she should not come to the church to show up what a fantastic hair i have it must be covered it says that do you believe that the glory of man and woman should be covered in the church sure then i say to sisters your glory is in your hair cover it when you come to the meeting outside you do what you like okay thanks dad we've posted in the chat on youtube links to the book that dad mentioned the congregation the club and the church and an article on the cfc website by brother zach on head covering goes into detail there so you can refer to that if you're not on youtube you can just find it search for it there was a question regarding the baptism of the holy spirit that i wanted to go back to and ask for ask you and that is you said you have said that that we can't put a timeline on god when he gives us an assurance of the holy spirit in the meantime while we are seeking him for that baptism of the holy spirit and believe he has do we just operate as believing he has and then the assurance comes later is there some period of time between receiving it and the assurance yes there could be the bible says let me read you i want to show you everything from scripture and not from my own ideas galatians chapter 3 verse 2. paul says did you receive the holy spirit by doing some works or just by hearing with faith not hearing alone when hearing produced faith that's how you receive the holy spirit even in those days he doesn't even mention laying on a vans or any such thing i believe laying on hands was just in those early days and god gave a special gift to some apostles but it's not always necessary everyone can receive the holy spirit without laying out of hands galatians 3 2 by faith hearing faith how did you receive christ there was a time in your life when you turned and said lord jesus i am a sinner i want you to come into my heart forgive my sin and be lord of my life now who came and told you after that that you're a child of god maybe somebody pointed you to scripture but you have that assurance in your heart given by the holy spirit christ has come in i'll tell you my own testimony i my father was a god-fearing man and would send us to sunday school from a very early age i heard the gospel and it's quite and we had meetings that preached by godly men in those days when i was in north india and i used to hear that and i think perhaps at the age of 13 or so i must have asked jesus to come into my heart i never missed going to church on a sunday i never got out of bed any day without praying the lord's prayer our father who are in heaven and i asked jesus to come to my heart i was never sure no change nothing age 14 15 16 i joined the navy no assurance that christ is coming i kept on saying whenever some meeting i get challenged say lord jesus coming to my heart finally after six years when i was 19 and a half years old and in my habitual reading of the bible i came across john 6 37 john chapter 6 verse 37 if anyone comes to me i will not cast you out and it was like a word this holy spirit spoke to my heart i can't explain it somebody else reads it it doesn't come like a word to his heart but it came to my heart that day and i said lord i have come to you so many times the lord said i never cast you i was sure that day july 1959 christ has come in to use naval language it's like dropping an anchor and my ship has never drifted from that day i commend to you john chapter 6 37 an excellent anchor if anyone comes to me i will not cast him out jesus says any of you who have doubts go to that verse and drop that anchor 62 years i've never doubted my salvation i've had up and down experiences but christ is in my heart so in the same way the fullness of the holy spirit i am this questioning time so i pray lord when did i first pray for the baptist holy spirit when i was 22 years old so soon after my baptism water baptist i prayed and said okay i think yes he has come i experienced something but then as time goes on i backslide i'm defeated defeated defeated by discouragement anger and so many things and i again pray lord i don't know if i had the spirit i've lost it please fill me again and i began to seek god again and one day i was praying with another brother me helped me he said two things he said zach it is unthinkable that god will call you to serve him and not give you his holy spirit suddenly faith came in my heart i mean he can say the hearing that comes by faith i received the spirit so i knelt down and he also did nothing he rebuked the spirit of unbelief that was in me and i knelt down without any feeling i said lord i believe i prayed for so many years i believe now that you've given me the holy spirit i received the spirit by hearing with faith and then i said lord i want some confirmation um the next day of course i don't want to go into this because i also spoke in terms at that time without my expecting it i did not manufacture it i did not expect it nobody told me because i think because of my tremendous lack of faith god gave me an insurance but it was not necessary the next morning i said well if the holy spirit has really come in the new testament must be a new book and i said let me start reading the new testament from matthew 1 and see if something is different in me i'll tell you now after 46 years i can tell you the new testament became completely different from me from that day onwards i'd already read it for 16 years but i discovered so many things i never discovered anyway i started with matthew 1 that day and i said lord give me some assurance and as i was reading somebody begat so and so and so as the father of so and so so and so i wasn't getting any assurance from that big genealogy but suddenly i came across verse 20 that which was in her is from the holy spirit i said wow that which is it means from the holy spirit what a word right in the very first chapter of the new testament that was god speaking just like i got john 6 37 then i got matthew 1 20. the holy spirit like the holy spirit was came upon mary the holy spirit come upon me and then the lord expanded on that and said like the holy spirit came upon mary to produce jesus in her she never spoke in tongues that day the holy spirit has come upon you to produce christ in your life and just like the baby jesus grew in mary's room over a period of time the likeness of christ will grow in you over a period of time and just like mary was misunderstood by everybody else you will also be misunderstood by everybody else when you speak about the baptism in the holy spirit but because but mary knew it was genuine and you will know it was genuine and over a period of time the main thing is christ will be seen in your life i was so tremendously blessed that i knew god gave me an assurance so the returns came from god it did not come from any man i believe that god will give you an assurance but you must receive by faith and say lord give me an assurance i always tell people after you prayed and sought god don't get an assurance from a man please that shaky foundation get an assurance from god the reason my assurance christ came into my heart once filled with the holy spirit came from god and that's why he has never shaken even the matter of the fullness of the spirit that i hadn't experienced that was generally of course subsequent events in the last 46 years that churches got planted and the anointing god gave me to preach and all that proved that it was the holy spirit but the assurance came from god so don't get an assurance from a man don't let somebody come and tell you yes brother sister you are filled with the holy spirit no i would not take it from a man i say i want god to give it to me and god can give it i said wrong i once said lord if you have to wait 10 years i'll wait 10 years but i want to get it from you take that attitude and you'll be surprised you may not even have to wait 10 days god will meet with you god bless you just a follow-up question briefly if somebody's praying by themselves uh can they rebuke the spirit of unbelief and fear themselves if that's oppressing them sure in fact we should rebuke the spirit of unbelief all the time in my case sometimes you know it's like a man is lying down and needs a little help to get up you know that lame man at the temple peter and john prayed for he said in the name of jesus rise up and walk but i have a feeling that peter gave him a hand to get up because the guy had been sitting down for 40 years in unbelief so sometimes we need to give a person a hand but you can't he could pray they could not make the person walk to the name of jesus that that person was healed but peter gave him a hand and sometimes yeah we need encouragement from one another but the assurance must come from god okay i'll close with this last question you can choose to answer it however you like dad the question is how many years do you think it is before jesus will return uh-huh i can give you that answer very clearly i know the answer is very clearly exactly i'll give you the exact answer uh turn with me to matthew 24. matthew 24 verse 36 of that day of his of the christ coming back and our no one knows not even the angels in heaven not even jesus the son when he was on earth but only the father jesus christ when he was on earth as a man he took on the limitations of man to such an extent that he did not even know the date of his return to the earth second coming it's arrogance when people say he's going to come this year that year the other year all types of things we i say but there's another thing he said earlier when you see all these things what is 33 recognize that he is near that i can say when i see all the things happening especially israel having come and come back into the land they were thrown out of the land and 40 years after the crucifixion of christ god punished the nation of israel in the 80s 70 they were scattered all over the earth in 1938 from all over the earth they came back no nation has ever been born like that no group of people 1948 they came back and many other things that are happening nowadays especially the drift into deep sin that's happening in the world immorality various types of sexual sin and sexual perversion that's going on between men and women and men and men and women and women all types of things we see it is an indication that he is near and that's all i will say but we must be ready at any time walk with the lord in humility keep your heart clean at all times and you'll be ready and say lord help me to make the most of the time because the days are not only evil but the days are short yep that's all i have to say to that question thank you [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 2,141

Rating: 4.9626169 out of 5

Keywords: rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, church, god, jesus, bible, scripture, global, online, meeting, q&a, questions, answers, sermon, zac, poonen

Id: IRYds0xKOEE

Length: 89min 50sec (5390 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021