Let's continue our study in the Gospel of
Matthew, which we saw yesterday, was a description
of the Kingdom of Heaven, as opposed to
the earthly kingdom that the Jews had for
fifteen hundred years.
And we saw that Matthew wrote especially to
the Jews, and we could apply it like
this to us.
Are we Jews?
And we say no.
But if you are a Christian, and your
mind is set on earthly things, you are
a Jew.
I'm sorry to say that, but you are
an old covenant person.
The old covenant people, their mind was set
on the land of Canaan, on property, on
money, on healing, on prosperity, and any believer
whose mind is set on these things is
living under the old covenant.
For such people, the Gospel of Matthew is
written.
So let's not write it off saying, well,
we're not Jews.
Maybe you are more than you think.
It's not a question of name.
Romans 2, the last verse, says a Jew
is not one who is just outwardly in
name.
We may say we are Christians by name.
It doesn't make a difference.
It's a question of where your mind is
set.
And that's very important.
Conversion is a change of mind.
Repentance means to change your mind.
Change your mind from what to what.
Colossians 3, verse 2 says, set your mind
on things that are above and not on
things that are on the earth.
2 Corinthians 4 says, the things that are
seen are temporary, the things that are unseen
are eternal.
So Matthew is the first Gospel in the
New Testament to seek to lead us, introduce
us to this new covenant life, which is
heavenly.
And that's why you have those laws that
we saw in Matthew 5, which are all
heavenly.
He says, when you were under the old
covenant, you were told, this is good enough
that you don't murder.
But I say to you, that's not good
enough.
You've got to have purity in your heart.
They said to you under the old covenant,
it was good enough if you didn't commit
adultery.
I say to you in the kingdom of
heaven, that was all right for the kingdom
of earth.
But in the kingdom of heaven, you must
have purity in your heart.
So a Christian who lives just by the
Ten Commandments, I don't murder, I don't adultery,
I don't commit adultery, I don't do all
these external sins, is really a Jew under
the old covenant.
Who is the one who has entered into
the new covenant?
Who has understood the kingdom of heaven?
The one who has taken what is written
in Matthew 5 seriously.
The one who fasts and prays to show
other people is still under the old covenant.
So we could go on and on and
on like that.
So Matthew 10 is really, the gospel of
Matthew is introducing us to the kingdom of
heaven.
Now I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 11 today.
We read there about John the Baptist in
prison.
Now remember that John the Baptist was the
one who saw heavens open, and Jesus being
anointed with the dove descending on him and
the voice from heaven saying, this is my
beloved son, whom I am well pleased.
Now one would think that if you and
I had seen something like that once, we
would never doubt again for the rest of
our lives.
But we see how much of an old
covenant person John was.
We read here that when he was in
prison, verse 2, he heard of the works
of Christ and he sent word by his
disciples saying, are you the expected one or
the coming one or shall we look for
someone else?
How did doubt come into the heart of
the one whom Jesus said was the greatest
man in Old Testament times?
Because when he heard the wonderful things Jesus
was doing about opening blind eyes and healing
the sick, the thought that came into his
mind was, if that's the case, why am
I still in prison?
Why doesn't he kill Herod and release me?
And when a Christian gets into a difficulty
and he begins to think, why doesn't God
kill this difficult person who's troubling me and
deliver me from this?
You are thinking exactly like an old covenant
person.
You see, old covenant thinking is like that.
There's no question of my being in prison.
Whereas when Paul and Silas were in prison,
they were praising the Lord.
They didn't say, Lord, are you really the
one?
See, this is the difference between new covenant
and old covenant.
And that is why I have often said
the vast majority of believers live under the
old covenant.
They live exactly like old covenant believers.
When they commit adultery, they say, oh, David
committed adultery.
When they get depressed, they say, well, Elijah
got depressed.
When they get angry and break something, they
say, Moses also broke the tablets of stone
when he got angry.
There's justification for everything.
But can they say Jesus got angry and
broke something?
Can they say Jesus got depressed and sat
under a juniper tree?
Can they say Jesus committed adultery?
No, they are running the race looking unto
Moses, not looking unto Jesus, looking unto David,
looking unto Jeremiah.
So, there are many, many ways in which
I could prove to you that the vast
majority of Christians live under the old covenant.
They don't follow the outstanding examples of Moses
selflessly praying for others or Elijah forsaking everything
and living wholeheartedly before God's face.
They look for excuses for their sin in
these few examples in the old covenant.
Now, if you are like that, you are
taking the Bible to find an excuse for
your sin when this book was actually written
to deliver you from sin.
Don't ever go to the Bible to find
an excuse for your sin saying David did
that.
I've seen great preachers who fall into adultery
say that.
No, don't ever go to the scriptures to
find an excuse for your sin.
Don't go to the scriptures to find an
excuse for your depression.
If you go to the scriptures, the Bible
says, the scriptures have been given to us
to show us the glory of Jesus Christ.
And if you can show me that Jesus
was depressed and Jesus was defeated, then please
follow that example.
But you don't ever find that.
So I want to encourage all of you
and help all of you to look at
the scriptures in a completely different way from
the way you're you're being taught, perhaps for
years to look at to find an excuse
for sin in the examples of godly men
who fell in the scripture.
Rather, look at Jesus.
This is the new covenant example.
And the longer you comfort yourself by examples
of people who fell in the Old Testament,
the longer you are going to live as
an old covenant Christian.
My desire is to lift all of you
to this new covenant plane.
So John doubted because he felt I'm in
prison.
And if Jesus is almighty, shouldn't he deliver
me?
Don't you get questions like that?
What did Jesus do?
Jesus could have called seventy two thousand angels
to deliver John from prison immediately.
He didn't do that.
He said, go and tell John when the
people came to him, verse four, that the
blind received sight and so on.
And the poor have the gospel preached to
them.
That is the new covenant, the gospel.
And the gospel does not include deliverance from
prison or killing Herod or killing Caesar or
killing the Pharisees.
It does not include that.
It does.
What it does include is overcoming sin and
living by faith, knowing that God knows what
is best for me.
If it is prison, prison.
But we can't blame John the Baptist because
John the Baptist was not under the new
covenant.
He was under law.
He was not under grace.
He did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling
in him.
But we can certainly blame Christians today who
say they are baptized in the Holy Spirit
and who say they are under the new
covenant if they behave like that.
So Jesus went on to say he said,
don't criticize John the Baptist just because he
asked a question like that.
Do you know what he is?
Did you go there to see a prophet?
Verse nine.
He's more than a prophet.
I told you yesterday how Jesus had no
hesitation to express appreciation for people.
And here is another example.
Verse 11.
Among those who are born of women, there
has never arisen anyone greater than John the
Baptist.
Up till that time, who was the greatest
human being born up to the time of
Jesus?
It was not Mary, the mother of Jesus,
like many Christians think.
No, it was John the Baptist.
Jesus himself said John the Baptist was greater
than Mary.
And I would say that to all those
who adore Mary.
You better adore John the Baptist too.
If that's the case, he's greater than her.
He, Jesus himself said he was the greatest.
But he said, here's something wonderful.
The greatest person under the old covenant was
John the Baptist.
But the least person in the new covenant
can rise higher than him.
That means, greater than him means, when the
least person in the new covenant is locked
up in prison, he will not ask questions
like, Lord, are you really the one we
are trusting in or should we look for
another?
He will not have such questions.
That is the difference in the new covenant.
So that's why it says, if John the
Baptist was the greatest, and our calling is
higher than that, then why do you look
at Jeremiah, David, Moses to find excuses for
your sin?
No, who is our example today?
None of these men.
There are good qualities in Abraham, Moses, Elijah,
which we can follow.
But don't follow their failures.
Today our example is Jesus Christ.
Another thing we see here in verse 12
onwards is that, the kingdom of heaven suffers
violence and only those who are violent to
possess it, will possess it.
Not everyone can get into God's kingdom.
What does it mean to be violent?
Externally, Christians are men of peace.
But inwardly, they do violence to anything that
stands in their way of following the Lord.
So, externally people of peace and inwardly, people
of violence against Satan, violence against the lusts
in my flesh.
That's the only way to possess the kingdom.
If you are half-hearted, you will not
be able to take the kingdom of heaven.
You will remain an earthly person all your
life.
If you are going to please your parents
and you are taken up with other things
that divide your attention, and you don't do
violence to these things that prevent you from
loving God with all your heart, anything that
prevents you from loving God with all your
heart, whether it's your job or your parents
or the pursuit of money or anything, we
have to do violence to them.
Violence means you got to kill it.
Kill those desires.
Otherwise, we will remain Jews all our life.
We will never become Christians.
We will never become disciples.
We may become like the third-rate Christians
who call themselves Christians all around us.
If you are happy with that, that's fine.
They are actually Jews, not Christians.
Because their mind is set on earthly things.
Here he is talking about the kingdom of
heaven.
And then we see further.
The Lord in chapter 11 verse 25 says
these words, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, I praise Thee that Thou didst hide
these things from the wise and the intelligent
and revealed them to babes.
I mentioned this once before that God has
hidden many truths, most of these new covenant
truths that I'm talking about.
You will never be able to discover by
study.
You can read every commentary in the world.
You won't discover it.
Because these things are hidden from the clever
and the intelligent.
They are revealed to babes.
Those who got a, first of all, a
pure heart, not a clever head.
It doesn't matter if they have a clever
head or not clever head.
It doesn't make a difference.
It's like whether your color of your skin
is white or brown or black.
Doesn't make a difference to God's kingdom.
Intelligence also, whether it's high or medium or
low, doesn't make a difference.
Your heart must be pure.
And that's what children have.
And the other thing about children is that
they are teachable.
You know, a little child, he doesn't know
anything.
And it admits that it doesn't know anything.
Everything it will ask daddy.
Daddy, why are these white lines drawn on
the road?
He doesn't know.
We know why those lines are drawn so
that traffic goes this way and that way.
You see, even a simple thing like that,
a child does not know.
And little, little things, you know how children
ask.
Ordinary things.
Why is it like this?
Jesus said, those who come to scripture like
that.
Lord, I don't know.
What does this mean, Lord?
Do you know there are very few believers
who come like that?
They would rather consult what other people have
written.
Instead of going to God and saying, Lord,
you wrote this book.
Can't you tell me what it means?
See, this is the privilege of being in
the new covenant.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And to have the Holy Spirit teach us.
And even when we listen to men teaching
us.
Christ himself has appointed teachers in the church.
Otherwise we wouldn't be having sessions like this.
What's the use of sessions like this if
you can just sit at home and listen
to the Holy Spirit?
But the Bible says, Christ has appointed teachers
in the church.
But even when you listen to those teachers.
If you stop with the teacher, you'll never
understand.
I always tell people, please remember that everything
you hear from me is second-hand.
I got it from the Lord and you
got it from me.
Maybe it's true, but it's still second-hand.
You need to take the second-hand stuff
which you hear.
And take it before the Lord.
And say, Lord, make it first-hand now.
Make it my own experience.
What I heard now.
Then it will be yours forever.
That will be like taking the manna into
the most holy place and keeping it there.
It will be fresh forever in God's presence.
If you don't do that, even what you
receive now will begin to stink.
Like the manna that came from heaven.
You may say this came from heaven.
Right.
But it will stink by tomorrow.
So, we have to come with this teachable
attitude and say, Lord, teach me.
Verse 28.
Jesus said, come to me all you who
labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest.
This is the meaning of the Old Testament
Sabbath.
Today, it's not a physical day of rest.
It is this rest that Jesus gives to
us.
It comes by coming to him.
It comes by acknowledging that we are weary
and heavy laden.
You know, I use this verse for people
who want to.
Sometimes people come to our church and say,
well, Brother Jack, I'd like to join your
church.
And I ask them, why do you want
to join our church?
And they think they will make me happy
by saying, well, I belong to that church
over there.
And I'm sick and tired of all the
people over there.
And so I thought I'd join you.
And he thinks he's going to get a
warm welcome from me.
I say, Brother, if you were sick and
tired of those people, you stay with us
a few days.
You'll get sick and tired of us also.
So don't join us.
But because we are a bunch of people
who are sick and tired of ourselves, not
of other people.
And if you're sick and tired of yourself,
come and join us.
We'll have wonderful fellowship.
But if you're sick and tired of this
denomination or that denomination, you better stay there.
You come here and become sick and tired
of us.
See, a lot of people are trying to
grab other people from other churches.
Are you sick and tired of that denomination?
They say, that's right.
That's a terrible place.
Come and join us.
And they come here and cause trouble here.
Jesus said, come to me, those who are
sick and tired of themselves.
That's the meaning here.
Are you sick and tired of yourself, of
your defeated life?
Of your, the lack of victory in your
life, the lack of victory in your family
life, the lack of anointing in your ministry.
Are you sick and tired of that?
The Lord says, come.
But if you're sick and tired of other
people and you're always looking at the faults
of other people, wait.
Don't come to Jesus because you don't qualify.
You're not ready to come.
Don't think anybody can just walk into Jesus'
presence.
You've got to be weary and heavy laden.
That means you've got to be sick and
tired of your own defeated, depressed, gloomy life
and lack of anointing and freshness.
The Lord says, come to me.
I'll give you rest.
You know, it's not God's will that our
life should be always agitated, irritated, upset.
No, I believe God's will is that my
heart should be at rest 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a
year.
That's God's will.
At rest.
Whatever may happen around me.
But that can come if I acknowledge my
defeated life and come to Jesus and say,
Lord, give me this rest.
Bring me into the Sabbath.
And then Jesus said, take my yoke upon
you and learn from me.
A disciple is a learner.
A disciple comes to Jesus to learn like
a child that's teachable.
Lord, teach me.
And what do we have to learn from
Jesus?
First of all, many people come to Jesus
to learn many, many things.
We would like to learn how to preach.
We'd like to learn how to do evangelism,
how to do Bible teaching, how to prophesy.
Jesus said before all that, learn from me
how to be gentle.
We are all so hard and harsh.
And Jesus says, learn to be gentle and
learn to be humble.
Those are the first things we need to
learn.
And there are not many Christians running after
Jesus to learn gentleness and humility.
You look at some gifted servant of God
and you wish that Jesus could make you
like that.
That's the wrong thing to pursue.
What you need to pursue is the character
you see in that man, not his ministry.
Do you know that many of you can
envy a person's ministry and want a person's
ministry more than his character?
And Jesus never encouraged that.
He didn't say, come to me and I
will teach you how to do this, that
and the other.
First of all, learn humility and gentleness.
And then you will find rest for your
souls.
And then I will make you fishers of
men.
That's what he said.
He'll make us fishers of men.
He'll make us teachers to the church.
But first of all, we need to come
to rest.
Now, if I become a fisher of men
and I'm not at rest in my own
heart or if I become a teacher in
the church and I'm not rest in my
own heart, I'm going to have tremendous problems
and cause problems for others, too.
And then it's very significant that immediately after
that comes this section on the Sabbath.
Chapter 12, verses 1 to 13.
He had spoken about rest.
And then he went around for the next
two incidents mentioned there.
He went around demolishing the Jewish idea of
the Sabbath.
He allowed his disciples to pick the heads
of grain on the Sabbath day and the
Pharisees began to complain.
The Pharisees' idea of Sabbath was, rest was,
not what Jesus said in Matthew 11, 28
to 30.
Their idea of rest was you don't do
any work.
You don't gather grain and eat it up
on the Sabbath day.
And you don't allow any person to be
healed.
These people were so selfish.
Jesus said in verse 11 of Matthew 12,
if one of your sheep falls into a
pit, won't you pull it out on the
Sabbath day?
Or will you leave it there till Sunday
morning or Saturday night?
No.
Even if it's on the Sabbath day, you'll
pull it out immediately.
He says, your fellows are so selfish.
And don't you think this man who's got
a withered hand is much better than a
sheep?
So you find that legalistic people are very
narrow-minded in their approach.
They are very, very selfish.
They do things for themselves, but they'll never
allow it for another person.
Further, in verse, chapter 12, verse 31 and
32, Jesus spoke about blasphemy.
When they said that he was casting out
demons, verse 27, by Beelzebul, the prince of
demons, Jesus said, have you spoken against me?
Verse 32, it's forgiven.
In the Old Testament, when Miriam spoke against
Moses, she got leprosy.
Who is greater, Moses or Jesus?
Jesus.
Now listen to this.
Miriam said a small word against Moses.
Why did you marry that wife?
She got leprosy.
The Pharisees said such a strong word against
Jesus.
You are led by the prince of devils.
What did they get?
Forgiveness.
Miriam got leprosy and the Pharisees got forgiveness.
That is the difference between the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant.
The blood of Abel cries out for judgment.
The blood of Jesus cries out for mercy.
If you wish that God will judge those
who hurt you, you are still a Jew
under the Old Covenant.
If you desire that God will forgive those
who hurt you, then you have become a
Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 36 and 37, he speaks about the
words that come out of our mouth.
Every careless word that men shall speak, they
shall give an account in the day of
judgment.
Now it is my firm conviction after being
a believer for more than 40 years and
watching believers in many parts of the world,
that more than 95% of believers that
I have met do not believe that verse.
They do not believe that they'll have to
give an account to God one day for
every useless word that they ever spoke in
their lives.
How do I know that?
Because they speak such a lot of useless
words so carelessly.
They speak evil of others.
They gossip.
They backbite.
They crack filthy jokes.
They laugh at filthy jokes.
They do so many things like this.
They hurt other people.
Sometimes, you know, humor is good.
I believe in humor with all my heart.
But humor that hurts other people is never
godly.
You may get a reputation for humor by
saying something that hurts other people, but it's
not Christ-like.
That's an idle word for which you'll have
to give an account in the day of
judgment.
So, but I don't believe that most people
believe that God has got a record of
every word we have ever spoken.
I believe it with all my heart.
It's recorded in our memory.
There's a videotape running in our memory all
the time, recording everything that's happened in my
life from the day we were born.
It's like these memory chips in computers.
Our computers actually are, you know, patterned after
the human brain.
And in the human brain is the original
computer.
And it can store a fantastic amount of
information, more than any computer on the earth.
And in that computer, called the human brain,
is a memory which contains every single thing
you ever did from the day you were
born.
Every word that you spoke.
It's all stored there, like in a computer.
In the day of judgment, God just pulls
out the screen and brings out everything from
the day you were born.
Every word that you ever spoke.
Every human being is born with this computer.
And when he's raised from the dead, that
computer will be back running in the day
of judgment to reveal exactly what he said
throughout his life.
And it's all there.
Every word you spoke from the time you
said mama is recorded in your computer brain.
And it's all there.
Be careful.
If you believe God's word, you'll be careful
with your speech.
And in that day, this is an amazing
verse.
All of us know about justification by faith.
If you're a balanced Christian, you will also
know about justification by works.
Faith without works is dead.
Romans 4 speaks about justification by faith, which
is scripture.
James chapter 2 speaks about justification by the
works of faith, which is also scripture.
And Jesus in verse 37 spoke about justification
by our words.
Now, if on the day of judgment, the
words you spoke are played back from the
computer.
Would they justify you or condemn you?
It's a very good question.
In the new covenant, we are to have
a tongue of fire.
You know, on the day of Pentecost, a
tongue of fire came on people's heads.
A tongue under the control of the Holy
Spirit.
I'm sorry to say that a lot of
people have mistaken that to only speaking in
unknown tongues.
No.
I keep saying no.
It is a tongue under the control of
the Holy Spirit throughout the day.
That is the tongue I want.
That is the tongues that I want to
speak.
In addition to other languages.
That's a gift.
But not just that.
I don't want to speak in unknown tongues
and not have a tongue under control of
the Holy Spirit the whole day.
This is the tongue of fire.
By your words.
In the old covenant, it was not there
because they didn't have the Holy Spirit to
control their tongue.
God permitted a lot of things under the
old covenant.
But not in the new.
Just like he permitted divorce and marrying ten
wives in the old covenant.
But not today.
It wasn't his will even in the old
covenant.
But he permitted it.
But today we have more light.
Matthew chapter 12 verse 40.
It speaks about Jonah in the whale's belly.
In the sea monster's belly for three days
and three nights.
Verse 40.
Son of man be in the heart of
the earth.
That means not in the grave.
He was in the center of the earth.
Paradise was located in the center of the
earth at that time.
Today it's in heaven.
Jesus went to the center of the earth.
With the dying thief.
With the dead thief.
To paradise.
And he was there for three days and
three nights.
It's my conviction that Jesus Christ died on
a Thursday.
Not on a Friday.
He died on Thursday afternoon at three o
'clock.
Friday was the feast of unleavened bread.
A special sabbath as we read in John
19.
And Saturday was the regular sabbath.
Of the weekly sabbath.
So there were two sabbaths.
And that's why the women came on the
Sunday morning.
To anoint him with spices.
And discovered that he had risen.
He spent three days and three nights.
Dead in the heart of the earth.
Exactly like Jonah was.
There's no mistaking scripture.
A lot of the traditions that Christianity has
got.
Are not based on scripture.
For example that Christ died on a Friday.
Chapter 13.
We read of the seven parables that Jesus
spoke here.
One is the parable of the sower.
We can look at it.
In another gospel.
The other verse.
24 to 30.
These are parables of the kingdom of heaven.
And notice here.
That Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven.
In its outward expression.
That means.
In the way that other people see.
The church.
And that's why he said the kingdom of
heaven.
There are people with four types of ground.
And then he said the kingdom of heaven
is like seed.
Sown in a field.
And there are tares also in that field.
And then he explained it later on.
And said to them.
That the field.
Verse 38.
Is the world.
The field is not the church.
You know there are some people who misquote
this parable.
And say well.
Jesus said that in the church.
There will be wheat and tares.
And we should not separate them.
So naturally we have to sit in a
church.
Where there aren't converted people.
And converted people.
That's because they haven't read the scriptures.
The scripture does not say the field is
the world.
The church.
The scripture says in verse 38.
The field is the world.
In the world there will be believers and
unbelievers.
Which is true.
But in the church.
We have to make sure.
That the church as far as we know.
Comprises of those who are born again.
By repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
The others are welcome to come and sit
and listen to the meetings.
But it must be made clear to them.
That you are not part of the local
church.
Till you are born again.
Any person can come.
And sit in the meetings.
And by church I don't mean a building.
I mean the body of Jesus Christ.
So.
That's one thing I want to say about
the tares.
And the other thing is verse 31 to
32.
About the mustard seed.
Small mustard seed that's planted.
That grows up and becomes the greatest of
all plants.
That's not the way God intended the church
to grow.
God intended the church.
Local churches to be small little groups.
Meeting here and there.
But when people.
Make it much bigger than God intended it
to be.
It gathers in.
What happens is.
You lower the standards.
And you gather in a whole lot of
people.
Who are not disciples.
And when you increase your church.
Without preaching discipleship.
This thing which was meant to be a
small tree.
Becomes larger than everything else.
And then what happens?
It says in verse 32.
1332.
The birds of the air which Jesus said
in an earlier parable.
Were the demons.
The demons come and sit inside the church.
Who caused that problem?
You yourself.
If you had preached discipleship.
Your church would not have been so big.
And you wouldn't have problems with those demons.
And that's the point here.
Verse 33.
He spoke about the kingdom of heaven.
Again being like leaven.
It's the outward expression.
Corruption.
Spreading.
Again and again he speaks about that.
Different types of ground.
Tears.
The demons coming and sitting inside the church.
And leaven.
If only Christianity had paid attention to these
parables.
They would have been very very careful.
To preach discipleship.
And then.
The hidden treasure.
The kingdom of heaven.
Is like a man who.
Found a field.
With treasure hidden.
And this is discipleship.
These two parables speak about discipleship.
He sold everything that he had.
And he got that.
He says I want to pay the total
price.
I want to give up everything.
And follow Jesus.
I want this kingdom.
They got it.
The man who searched for goodly pearls.
Teaching the same lesson.
He sold all that he had.
Notice that expression.
All that he had.
No man of you can be my disciple.
Unless he forsakes all that he has.
That means everything that he has.
He has given to Jesus.
Then you can get God's kingdom.
Otherwise you will get.
That compromised version that you have seen before.
Again in verse 47.
He speaks about the kingdom having two types
of fish.
They both come in.
The good and the bad.
And then at the end of the age.
Angels come and take out the wicked from
the righteous.
Verse 49.
One last word.
Verse 52.
That's a good word for those who are
bible students.
A scribe.
Must become a disciple.
A scribe is a scholar.
Who studies, studies, studies, studies, studies, studies, studies,
studies.
The scriptures.
He says the scribe must become a disciple.
Then.
When he gets up to preach.
From his treasure.
He will bring out things.
Old things.
Which are still fresh.
And new things.
Which are fresh.
But not if you are a disciple.
If you remain a scribe.
Your ministry will be dead.
Chapter 14.
We read in verses.
29 to 31.
Demonstration of faith.
Peter walking on the water.
Jesus walking on the water.
Peter walking on the water.
And I ask people this question.
Which is the greater miracle?
Jesus walking on the water.
Or Peter walking on the water.
It's Peter walking on the water.
Jesus walking on the water.
Is not a great miracle.
But Peter.
Walking on the water.
Where everybody sinks.
That's a real miracle.
Okay.
What is this trying to teach us?
What is it that prevents us from walking
on water?
The law of.
Gravity.
That pulls us down.
When you try to walk on water.
The law of gravity pulls you down.
The law of gravity pulled Jesus down also.
But by the power of God.
He overcame it.
And he walked on water.
And he told Peter.
If you look at me and trust me.
This law of gravity will not operate.
It will be there.
In fact a few moments later.
Peter discovered it was there.
Because it pulled him down.
But as long as you look at me.
You'll be able to overcome it.
He's not destroying the law of gravity.
He's overcoming it.
As you look at Jesus.
What is the spiritual message?
Jesus overcame sin.
There's a law like the law of gravity.
Called the law of sin.
It keeps on pulling us down.
It tried to pull Jesus too.
Jesus was tempted.
We read in Matthew 4.
But he overcame it.
And he did not sink.
And he says to you.
Like he said to Peter.
You can overcome that law also.
But only if you look at me.
If you look at my example.
If you look at the example of Moses
who got angry.
And Jeremiah who got depressed.
You will not overcome.
But if you look at me.
You can overcome.
Exactly like I overcame.
That's the message in Revelation 3.21. Overcome
as I overcame.
Very clear.
And then you can sit with me on
my throne.
As I sat with my father on his
throne.
So the message here is.
You can overcome as I overcame.
If you look at me.
And if you look at me and my
word.
And not look at other Christians.
And the substandard level at which they live.
And as long as Peter looked at Jesus.
That is faith.
Faith is to look at Jesus.
He walked.
He overcame.
And you can overcome the law of sin.
By the supernatural power of God called grace.
Sin shall not have dominion over you.
But the moment he looked away.
Down.
And when you go down.
What should you do?
Don't wait till you hit the bottom of
the sea.
When did Peter say.
Lord save me.
It says.
As soon as he was beginning to sink.
I think even his feet had not gone
fully down.
He felt.
Hey I am sinking.
Lord save me.
And when you are sinking in temptation.
You know what you should do?
Cry out to Jesus and say.
Hey Lord I am falling now.
I am falling in anger.
Please save me.
And he will stretch out his hand.
And make you stand.
He is the same yesterday.
Today and forever.
Chapter 15.
I want to show you one verse.
Verse 13.
Jesus said.
Every plant which my heavenly father.
Did not plant.
Will be rooted up.
The question is not.
Whether it is a good plant.
The question is not.
Whether it is a big plant.
The question is not.
Whether other people appreciate the plant.
The question is.
Who planted it?
You or God.
We have got a lot of bright ideas.
To do God's work.
Okay.
You go ahead with your bright ideas.
And you can do something.
You can produce something.
Which looks very impressive in the eyes of
men.
But in the final day.
The Lord will check up.
To see is this an idea.
That originated in your own brain.
Or is it an idea.
That originated with God.
God.
Listen to this statement carefully.
God is the only legitimate.
Originator.
Of anything in this universe.
I believe that.
He is the only legitimate.
Originator.
Of anything in this universe.
If you originate something.
It will perish.
What is the first words in the Bible.
In the beginning.
God.
Let it be like that in your life.
What does it mean in practical terms.
You can't decide to go somewhere.
And say I am going to serve God
over there.
Where did that idea originate.
Was it in your heart.
Was it in somebody else's heart.
Who stirred you to go to some place.
To serve the Lord.
Or did you wait upon the Lord.
And the Lord put a burden in your
heart.
Then go ahead and do it.
Are you trying to build a church somewhere.
Because you want.
To do something.
Like you saw somebody else do.
It won't work.
You can try.
You can try a hundred years.
It won't work.
You can gather people.
In a country like India.
You can gather people anywhere.
It's very easy.
Because there are so many poor people.
Who need so many other benefits.
By coming to the church.
In every church.
Many poor people come in.
Because of other attractions.
Not because they want to be disciples of
Jesus Christ.
Not because they want to give up their
life.
And deny themselves.
And hate money.
And hate sin.
And overcome sin and follow Jesus.
Not at all.
I have been enough in India to know
the truth.
And don't shut your eyes.
To these realities.
If you just want to gather a few
people.
You can gather them anywhere in this country.
Because you got more money than them.
And people go with money.
And build a church.
And they can gather someone.
The apostles didn't go like that.
Paul was not a rich person like you.
So the question is.
Has God led you to that?
Did you wait on the Lord?
Did God lead you?
Or are you doing something for your own
honor?
Perhaps you won't listen to me.
But in the day of judgment.
You wish you had.
So that you don't waste your life.
It's better to humble yourself today.
And say Lord I don't want anything.
That did not originate with you.
Because it says in this verse.
One day it will be pulled out.
And it's going to happen.
A lot of things are pulled out on
this earth itself.
Some things will definitely be pulled out.
When Christ comes again.
So what is the answer?
Wait on the Lord.
Don't be in a rush.
He who believes.
Will not make haste.
That's the King James version.
Of Isaiah 28.16 He who believes will
not make haste.
Do you see a man.
Proverbs 29.
What's that verse?
In one of the 20's there.
Proverbs 29.
Do you see a man who is hasty
in his matters?
There is more hope for a fool.
Than for him.
Wait on the Lord.
Let God.
Put an idea into your mind.
And make sure.
That you are not seeking your own glory.
And you are not depending on your own
power.
That plant.
Will remain forever.
Don't ever.
Try to serve the Lord.
Without waiting on him.
Without seeking his advice.
Don't depend on your own ability.
Chapter 16 verse 6.
Jesus spoke about 11 of the Pharisees.
And the Sadducees.
We can look at that in another chapter.
Another gospel.
Verse 16 to 26.
He speaks to Simon.
Simon said to him.
When he asked who am I?
He said you are the Christ the son
of the living God.
And here is another place.
Where Jesus praised Simon Peter publicly.
And said blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah.
Son of Jonah.
Because you did not understand this.
With your human intelligence.
Or cleverness.
My father revealed.
Notice that word reveal.
It's a new testament word.
Revelation.
Reveal.
You don't find that in the old testament.
In the old testament it was just study.
Study the law.
But in the new testament it's not study.
It's not even meditate.
It's more than meditate.
The best in the old testament was Psalm
1.
Blessed is the man who meditates on the
law of the Lord.
But when you come to the new testament.
The word is not even meditate.
The word is revelation.
Paul says in Ephesians 1.
Verse 17 onwards.
I pray that your eyes of your understanding
will be opened.
That God will give you the spirit.
Of revelation.
What Peter got here was revelation.
The Holy Spirit.
Opening his eyes of his heart.
To see something.
Which he could never discover with any amount
of human intelligence.
Because there were cleverer people than him.
Who had studied the bible much more than
him.
In Israel at that time.
And they couldn't understand it.
And Peter understood it.
Please remember that for today.
God can reveal.
All of scripture to us.
If you come to him like a little
babe.
In humility and brokenness.
And verse 18.
I say to you.
You are Peter.
Petros.
A small stone.
But upon this rock.
Petra.
A large rock.
On this rock of revelation.
Of Christ as the son of the living
God.
I will build my church.
Many people have misunderstood that.
Jesus was not saying.
Peter you are the rock.
He was contrasting it.
He used two completely different words.
Which don't come through in the English so
clearly.
You are Petros.
A small stone.
But on this Petra.
This word that you just spoke.
This rock of Christ the son of the
living God.
Verse 16.
On this rock.
I will build my church.
And the gates of hell.
Will not prevail against it.
What picture do you get when you read
verse 18.
This is the first time Jesus spoke about
the church.
And he said it's built on him.
Christ the son of the living God.
And he also spoke about warfare.
The church is always involved in warfare.
Now what do you understand.
By the gates of Hades.
Not prevailing against it.
I will tell you how I understood it
for many years.
I understood it like this.
The church is in a battle.
And the devil is attacking the church.
On all four sides.
And we are somehow surviving.
And holding out.
Till the Lord comes.
But as I thought about that verse.
A little more.
I said that's not true.
It's not the gates of the church.
That the devil is attacking.
And saying the devil will not be able
to overcome the gates of the church.
It's the gates of Hades.
It's the church.
Attacking the gates of Hades.
You know in those days.
A city was surrounded with walls.
And it had gates.
And if you got through the gates you
got into the city.
So this is not a picture of the
church somehow surviving.
When the devil is attacking the gates of
the church.
It's the church attacking the gates of Hades.
It's a completely different picture.
It's not a defensive battle.
It's an attacking battle.
Where we go against Satan.
We go against the fortresses of Satan.
In India.
We don't sit in our corner and say.
Oh we'll protect ourselves.
You know that song.
Which I never like to sing.
And I never do sing when other people
sing it.
Hold the fort for I am coming.
Says the Lord.
That gives the picture.
The church is somehow struggling inside this fort.
And the devil is attacking it on all
sides.
And I somehow got to survive.
It's not like that.
I'm not inside any fort.
It's the devil who is inside some fort.
And we are attacking him.
And he better cry out and ask somebody
to help him.
But he's got nobody to help him.
That's the picture you must always keep in
your mind.
A triumphant church.
That's attacking the devil.
And yet the vast majority of Christians in
our country.
Have got this defeatist attitude.
Always defensive, defensive, defensive.
Somehow survive.
And you hear some voice from heaven saying.
Jesus saying.
Hold the fort.
I'm coming.
Hold on.
I don't hear any voice like that.
We walk like Jesus walked on the earth.
Wherever Jesus walked the demons trembled.
And the devil got scared.
And wherever you and I walk.
Every place that the sole of your foot
shall tread.
I give unto you.
We don't live in fear.
Oh the devil will give me cancer.
Or the devil will give me a road
accident.
Or the devil will give me this.
No.
He's got to be scared of me.
Do you have that view my brother, sister?
You can never build the church of Jesus
Christ.
If you don't take that attitude towards Satan.
The gates of hell.
Will not prevail.
When you go against it.
You go and.
Jesus has bound the strong man already.
We go and spoil the strong man's goods.
It's not the strong man coming and attacking
us.
That's not the picture.
Anywhere in the Bible.
And the devil has been so clever.
To put a completely opposite view.
In the minds of so many believers.
Okay.
And after that Jesus spoke about.
Taking up the cross.
We can look at that in another gospel.
Chapter 17.
We read in verse.
It's about the transfiguration also.
We can look at when we go into
another chapter.
Let's go to chapter 18.
When we go to another gospel rather.
Chapter 18 verse 3.
Jesus said.
Unless you are converted.
And become like children.
You shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Is it true.
That you cannot enter God's kingdom.
Unless you are converted.
And become like a little child.
Absolutely right.
A little child.
He is speaking about humility.
Whoever humbles himself like this child.
In other words.
Jesus was saying.
Humility is the fundamental requirement.
For entering God's kingdom.
I have often told people.
There are three secrets.
Of living a godly Christian life.
You know what those three secrets are.
Number one.
Humility.
Number two.
Humility.
Number three.
Humility.
You got it.
You got the three secrets of the Christian
life.
You will have no more problem.
If you keep these three secrets before you
all your life.
That's all.
That's it.
Become like a little child.
Humble yourself.
And say Lord.
I am not the clever smart man.
That I try to tell people in the
world I am.
I am pretty dumb when it comes to
spiritual things.
I really don't know.
You know.
We are so self-confident.
Little babies are not self-confident.
They are so scared.
Have you seen a little baby.
You try and take a six month old
baby.
From its mother's arms.
In a few moments it will start crying.
It is so scared.
It is secure in its mother's arms.
It is helpless.
And the Lord says.
Just as much as you are bold before
the devil.
Be like a helpless baby.
Before God.
This is the dual picture of the Christian.
A warrior.
In front of the gates of hell.
Fearless.
But before God.
Like a little child.
Lord I cling to you.
And because I cling to you.
I am safe.
I don't know anything.
I may do a lot of stupid things.
Please protect me.
I don't understand your word.
I am a little child.
I don't know ABC.
You know a little child doesn't come into
the world knowing ABCD.
It has to learn.
Keep that attitude of being a little child.
All your life.
In verses 18 to 20.
He speaks of the authority of the church.
That can bind and loose Satan.
It is the second time he spoke about
the church.
But it requires at least.
Two or three people who are united.
Verse 19.
Two or three people must be united.
And when they are united.
Jesus says I am in their midst.
Verse 20.
And then verse 18.
When they bind Satan.
Satan will be bound.
Many people try to.
Do that.
Without being united with others.
We got to be united in spirit.
A family can be united.
And bind Satan's power in their home.
But it must.
It is that unity which the new covenant
speaks of primarily.
Chapter.
Verse 21 to 35.
Speaks about the unmerciful servant.
Who did not forgive somebody else.
And Jesus said.
Here he speaks about this.
Truth of being unforgiven.
Unforgiveness.
Not just unforgiveness.
But being forgiven.
And being unforgiven.
That means.
Your sins were forgiven.
And then the Lord cancelled that forgiveness.
And said sorry you are not forgiven.
That is the message of the story.
This king.
Forgave that slave.
But when that slave did not forgive his
fellow slave.
He cancelled his forgiveness.
Sorry you got to pay up.
And Jesus said.
So will my heavenly father do to you.
Verse 35.
If you don't forgive other people.
That means even though your sins may be
forgiven today.
All your sins from the day you were
born.
Because you came to Jesus.
Tomorrow.
If you go and don't forgive somebody else.
All the sins from the time you were
born till today.
Will be put back to your account.
If you can get any other interpretation of
that parable.
Tell me.
There is no other interpretation.
All your sins.
Will be put back to your account.
If you don't forgive somebody else.
And you will go right on to hell.
In chapter 20.
Verse 1.
On which Jesus spoke about laborers.
Who came to work in the 11th hour.
That parable.
Teaches us.
That those who serve the Lord.
For reward.
Like those who came in the 3rd hour.
And 5th hour and 6th hour and so
on.
Will get their reward last.
And those who came in the 11th hour.
Expecting nothing.
Who served the Lord out of joy.
They are going to get their reward first.
Remember that.
Its motive that matters.
In chapter.
23.
Jesus spoke about.
The Pharisees.
And all the qualities of the Pharisees.
Which led them.
Which led him.
To condemn them so severely.
Do you know that the Pharisees.
Had a missionary program.
It says in verse 15.
Many of them were full time workers.
They gave up their jobs.
They crossed land and sea.
They had foreign missionary program.
And when they went to these foreign lands.
Giving up their jobs.
Being full time workers.
And I am sure they had a missionary
board behind them.
Supporting them.
Converting.
They were converting people out there.
Jesus said you are just converting people.
To take them to hell.
So don't think that everybody.
Who has got a missionary program.
Is doing God's work.
Not necessarily.
Its a question of whether you are preaching
discipleship.
Do you go there and make disciples.
Or do you go there and make legalistic
Pharisees.
Who are externally following certain rules.
And regulations.
Its very easy to do missionary work like
that.
And its much easier.
To get people to change externally.
And follow a certain form.
Like one place I visited.
In North Karnataka once.
Where the villagers had been converted years ago.
By some mission.
And they were still singing the same old
Hindu songs.
Except instead of saying Krishna.
They were saying Krista.
That is the only difference.
Everything else they were still drinking.
And doing their living just like they did
before.
But it was Krista now.
So its very easy to change the external
form.
To lead a people to discipleship.
Is our calling.
Lets move on now.
Some of these other passages.
About the coming of the Lord.
And all we can look at in other
gospels.
Chapter 28.
Verse 18 to 20.
Its the great commission.
The basis of the great commission.
Verse 18.
Is that all authority in heaven and earth.
Has been given to Jesus Christ.
You should not go out to make disciples.
On any other basis.
Its not because there is a need.
Its not because I feel like going.
Its not because I got nothing else to
do.
Its not because somebody else tells me to
go.
Its because Jesus Christ has got all authority
in heaven and earth.
And he tells me to go.
And go and do what?
In every nation.
In every place I go.
If you want to do God's work.
Make disciples.
Don't just make converts.
Don't just change their external form.
And make them say the right words.
Make disciples.
Followers of Jesus.
Baptize them.
Baptism is not an optional thing.
We are not interdenominational.
We keep quiet on baptism.
I am not anyway.
If I go to make disciples.
After making disciples.
I have got to baptize them.
In the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
And.
Then I have to after that build the
church.
Build them into a body.
By teaching them.
To do every single thing.
That Jesus commanded.
Its very clear the great commission.
Go number one.
Two.
Make disciples.
Three.
Baptize them.
Four.
Spend the rest of the time.
Teaching them to obey every single thing.
That I ever did.
And this great commission.
Is surrounded by two promises.
Like brackets.
No two statements.
One.
All authority in heaven and earth is given
to me.
And at the end.
I am with you always.
To the end of the age.
And anyone.
Don't claim that promise.
That the Lord is with you.
Everybody likes to claim that promise.
Lord I am with you always.
To whom was it given?
Only to those who are going and making
disciples.
Not.
Believers who are living somewhere.
Trying to make money.
They can't claim that promise.
Go and make disciples.
And then you can claim the promise.
That he is with you always.
Otherwise he isn't.
Our calling in life.
Is to make disciples.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father.
Thank you for your word.
That guides us on the right path.
It's like a light in the darkness.
That we need never go astray.
We may have to change our.
Ideas and opinions.
But we thank you that you can save
us from going astray.
We praise you.
In Jesus name.