let's turn to John's gospel and chapter 6.
John's gospel chapter 6.
let's look at verse 38 which I believe
is the one verse in all the Gospels
that describes most clearly why Jesus came to
earth.
if you were to ask the average Christian
why did Jesus come to earth, they will
give you the Sunday school answer, He came
to die for our sins.
good, but that's not the full answer.
if you want the full answer find it
in Jesus' own words in John 6 38.
I came from heaven to deny my own
will not to do my own will but
the will of Him who sent me.
He came from heaven to spend his whole
life on earth saying no to his own
will and yes to the will of the
Father.
what does that teach us?
that means as a human being he had
his own will and that had to be
denied.
that's the meaning of taking up the cross.
where man's will crosses God's will, that's the
cross.
and Jesus had a will of His own
for example in Gethsemane He said I don't
want to drink this cup.
that was His will.
the Father's will was you must drink the
cup.
so He denied His will and He did
the Father's will.
in temptation, all temptation is to make you
do your will.
and if you say no to your will,
take up the cross in temptation, you get
victory.
you will do the Father's will.
that's where you need the power of the
Holy Spirit to put your own will to
death.
when it says put the flesh to death,
it means putting your own will to death.
you cannot do it on your own.
it's too strong.
David could not kill Goliath without God's power.
Samson could not tear that lion without God's
power.
and you cannot put your flesh to death
of your own will without God's power.
that's why we need to be filled with
the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came not to do His own will
but the will of the Father and that's
where we are to follow Him all the
days of our life.
John chapter 6 is a wonderful chapter because
it begins with verse 2, a great multitude
and ends verse 71 with 11 people.
verse 70 and 71.
and if you want to know how to
reduce the size of your congregation, study John
chapter 6.
not many people are interested in that because
everybody's interested in finding out how to increase
the size of your congregation.
now why did Jesus reduce the size of
His congregation?
Jesus was a great master at reducing the
size of His congregation.
like Gideon's army, 32,000 reduced to 300
and God has always accomplished His purposes with
a few.
Jesus spent all His earthly life training 11
people and here we see how this great
multitude was whittled down and many of His
disciples left Him, verse 60.
when they heard this they said this is
a difficult statement and it says in verse
66, many of them withdrew and did not
walk with Him anymore.
now when many of your disciples leave you,
what do you do?
most preachers will go visiting them and say
well brother please come back we don't want
you to go away.
but Jesus said goodbye and let them go
and then He had 12 people left and
He said to them, He didn't say oh
I wish you all won't leave me.
it's not what He said.
you all also want to go?
what an attitude.
what an attitude to be in Christian work
like that.
I'm not here to grab anybody.
I'm not here to hold on to people.
those who want to go can go.
but I'm not going to lower the standard
of my message.
why are they going?
they are going because they don't like this
message of the cross.
Jesus spoke about the cross in chapter 6.
He said about eating His flesh, verse 53,
and drinking His blood.
you know what that means?
flesh and blood speak about the dying of
Jesus and He was saying you got to
die with Me.
that's not the message commonly preached today.
today people are told Jesus will bless you,
He'll heal you, He'll make you rich, He'll
take you to heaven.
how many want to come?
everybody wants to come.
but Jesus said come and you have to
die.
how many want to come?
it's difficult to find some hands raised when
you get that type of invitation and that's
why there were only 11-12 people left.
so if you have a church where you
preach blessing, prosperity, health, healing and Jesus solves
all your problems and Jesus does everything good
for you and He'll make you a rich
businessman and your business will prosper if you
honor God and all these type of stuff.
you'll get a big crowd.
they'll be pretty useless though.
but if you preach like Jesus did, that
you deny yourself and take up your cross
and your business may not prosper because God
doesn't want you to make money.
He wants you to build a church and
you may have a lot of suffering, a
lot of misunderstanding, a lot of tribulation, a
lot of things like that.
very few people come.
but that will be the body of Jesus
Christ.
how many people want to preach that?
very very very few.
so don't be deceived by this prosperity preaching
that goes on today.
there are lots and lots of believers who
don't actually preach prosperity but who believe it.
they think that when God blesses them financially,
that's the mark of His blessing.
I'll tell you something, there's only one mark
of God's blessing upon you and that is
that you're becoming more and more like Jesus
Christ in your character.
if that's happening, God is blessing you, otherwise
God is not.
you know when people say, oh brother, God
is blessed.
I was a very poor brother and I
became full-time worker but now God has
blessed my children.
and I say, you mean they become like
Jesus Christ?
no, they've got jobs in the Gulf.
oh, that is what you mean by blessing
you.
there are multitudes of heathen and atheists who
are being blessed by God then.
you think it's only Christians who are going
to the Gulf?
what all wrong ideas people have.
somebody makes more money and he thinks it's
God.
look at the multitudes of heathen and people
in every religion who are making money.
they also say their God is blessing them.
but show me a person who's becoming like
Christ.
that cannot be duplicated by all those people
in other religions.
that is the unfailing mark of God's blessing.
what about health?
there are heathen people who live up to
a hundred years old.
the world's oldest man in the Guinness Book
of Records is not a Christian.
what is the proof?
don't think long life and a lot of
money is a proof of God's blessing.
it is not.
Christ likeness.
that's the thing.
never never forget.
okay, that's how Jesus reduced the numbers.
chapter 7, we read about Jesus telling his
brothers.
you know his brothers, it says in verse
5, did not believe in him.
his brothers despised him.
none of his brothers believed in him.
but after his death and resurrection, some of
his brothers believed in him.
James and Jude, for example, they wrote two
episodes, the brothers of Jesus.
but during the time when Jesus was ministering,
none of his brothers believed in him.
they despised him.
they made fun of him.
they told him, why don't you go to
the feast?
and Jesus said in verse 6, your time
is always ready.
the world cannot hate you, but it hates
me.
you fellows are popular.
I'm hated.
why does the world hate me?
because I stand up and testify against its
sin.
you fellows are all diplomats.
you won't tell anybody about their sins.
so you become popular.
I believe that's a word for preachers.
why is it you're a popular preacher?
because you don't tell people about their sin.
and Jesus says, why am I unpopular?
because I testify that their works are evil.
I expose their sin.
I expose their wrong motives.
I expose their love of money.
I expose their adulterous thoughts.
I expose their greed, their jealousy, their fooling
around with girls and women.
I expose that.
and I'm not going to tolerate any of
that.
they hate me.
and they'll hate anyone who preaches like that
today.
and so Jesus said to his brothers, go
up to the feast yourself.
verse 8, I'm not going up, because what's
the reason?
my time has not yet come.
you fellows, your time is always ready.
verse 6, you can do whatever you like,
because you don't have anybody authority over you,
telling you what to do and where to
go.
he said, I don't operate like that.
I have an authority over me in heaven.
when he tells me to go, I go.
and so he has not told me to
go, I'm not going.
but then it says in verse 10, when
his brothers had gone up to the feast,
he himself went up secretly.
was he telling a lie?
no.
Jesus lived like these policemen with a walkie
-talkie.
here's the policeman on the street with a
walkie-talkie.
and you ask him, aren't you going to
the police station?
he says, no, I'm not going.
I've been asked to stay here.
and you go.
and two minutes later, he gets an order,
come to the police station.
and he goes.
and when you see him at the police
station, you say, hey, five minutes ago I
asked you if you're coming and you said
you're not coming, you told a lie.
he didn't tell a lie.
he lived by moment by moment directions from
headquarters.
that's how Jesus lived.
he doesn't tell lies.
at that time when the brothers asked him,
he said, I haven't had any word to
go.
when the father tells me to go, I
go.
and the father did not want him to
walk with his brothers all the way to
Jerusalem and waste time in that useless gossip
and conversation that would be going on along
that.
sometimes the Lord tells you not to go
with certain brothers because they don't know how
to spend the time in a profitable way.
don't waste your time being with them.
it's better you go alone.
so then a lot of things we learn
from Jesus life, how we can live on
this earth.
okay.
chapter 8, we read about this woman who
was caught in adultery.
just one more verse before we come to
that.
in verse 24 in chapter 7, which I
want to point out, which is a good
verse.
do you know Jesus did not only say
don't judge, he also said judge.
you know that?
that's in John 7 24.
don't judge, but judge.
you must be balanced.
you must not judge in one way, but
judge in another way.
if you don't judge, you'll be deceived on
this earth.
what Jesus said is don't judge by outward
appearance, but judge righteously.
you have to discern whether that man is
a true servant of God or not, otherwise
you'll be deceived.
judge righteously, but don't judge by outward appearance.
chapter 8 verse 1 is combined with chapter
7 verse 53.
everyone went to his home, but Jesus went
to the Mount of Olives, because that was
his home.
and then you read about the story of
the woman caught in adultery.
a beautiful picture of Jesus attitude to those
who want to throw stones at others.
the Pharisees were people who are always ready
to throw stones at somebody else who had
they felt done something wrong.
there are a lot of believers like that.
their pockets are full of stones which they
want to throw at somebody or the other
all the time.
sometimes they stand in pulpits and throw stones
at people.
fling verses to hit somebody sitting there or
somebody sitting there.
don't ever do it.
only Pharisees throw stones.
have you heard preachers throwing stones from the
pulpit?
you know that that fellow is preaching to
hit you?
Jesus never did it.
don't ever do it.
Jesus always had compassion on people who had
sinned.
I never see Jesus criticizing murderers, thieves, drunkards,
women caught in adultery or any such thing.
I see him criticizing Pharisees who thought they
were holy.
I see him criticizing hypocrites.
I see him saying that the hypocrites will
go to hell.
and the woman who caught in adultery, he
says I know you did something wrong but
I don't condemn you.
I can see that you're repentant.
I have no stones to throw at you.
Jesus told the Pharisees who he who is
without sin.
let him cast the first stone.
verse 7.
and whenever you are tempted to throw a
stone at somebody thinking you're holier than that
person, I would tell you two things.
first of all remember the pit from which
God pulled you out.
don't ever forget that.
and secondly forget that pit.
what about today?
if you are without sin, take out your
stone.
and they all went away.
you'll never be able to throw a stone
if you remember the pit from which God
dug you out.
and if you remember how much sin there
is still there is in your life today.
you'll never have a stone left in your
pocket.
your pockets will be empty of stones.
and for the rest of your life you'll
never throw a stone at anybody.
and you'll be a very blessed man.
you'll be in fellowship with Jesus who never
throw stones at anyone.
Christendom today is full of people who throw
stones at others.
expose wrong doctrine.
expose wrong methods.
but don't ever speak evil of any man.
and don't judge a man's motives because you
don't know his motives.
don't judge his private life because you don't
know his private life.
people sometimes ask me, brother Zack what do
you think of this preacher?
this American preacher or this Indian healer?
I say I haven't lived with him.
so I don't know how he lives with
his wife.
I don't know what type of thoughts he
gets.
I don't know what type of dreams he
gets.
how can you ask me?
I don't know.
you asked me to give you my opinion
about his ministry.
that I can give you.
whether is I agree that his ministry is
Christ like or not, that I can tell
you.
but about the man, I will not speak
evil of any man.
the Bible says don't speak evil of any
man.
if you want to preserve yourself and keep
your mouth sacred for the Lord for proclaiming
his word, make sure you don't speak evil
of people.
but at the same time be discerning about
their ministry.
don't follow their example if you find that's
not the way Jesus would serve.
and so Jesus never threw any stones.
and when they all when they heard this,
they all left.
but Jesus was left alone and he did
not throw any stones.
John 8 32 is another lovely verse.
you shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free.
today there are multitudes of denominations and Christians
who say I've got the truth.
we've got the truth.
how do you know whether somebody's got the
truth?
when a preacher says I'm preaching the truth,
how do you know whether he's preaching the
truth?
here is the answer.
if what he is preaching is the truth
and you receive it, it will set you
free.
free from sin.
the context there was 33 and 34 is
about being free from sin.
if a man's preaching does not deliver you
from the slavery of sin, that man is
not preaching the truth.
I don't care what doctrine he is preaching
is not the truth.
because the truth will set you free from
sin.
to me that is the test.
I want to be in a church where
I hear the word of God that sets
me free from sin in my life.
and I want to listen to a man
whose preaching sets me free from sin in
my life.
from my thoughts, my words, my actions, my
attitudes, my motives.
that's how I know whether a man is
preaching the truth.
Jesus has given me the guideline.
it's there.
why don't you take it?
that's the way to test the truth.
not just by checking on a doctrinal statement.
if a man doesn't speak the truth, you
will remain in bondage.
and any preaching that brings you more into
bondage, touch not, taste not, handle not, this,
this, all types of rules and regulations, that
is definitely not the truth.
because it brings you more into bondage.
okay, please think about that.
verse 44, you are of your father the
devil, he told the Pharisees because and the
devil was a murderer from the beginning.
there's no truth in him.
when he speaks a lie, last part of
verse 44, he speaks from his own nature,
he's a liar and the father of all
lies.
what is the devil?
father of all lies.
when you as a Christian tell a lie,
who is the father of that lie?
who?
Satan.
who is the mother?
you.
and the child?
the lie.
see, Satan cannot produce a lie, unless he
finds a mother.
please don't be a mother for Satan to
produce lies.
when you're tempted to tell a lie, you
tell Satan, I'm not going to be the
mother, go and find somebody else.
see, you can't have a child just as
a father.
the father needs a mother.
and Satan is a father of lies and
he's going around the world looking for mothers.
and sometimes he finds mothers among believers, who
to produce that lie.
please remember that.
ok, chapter 9, verse 4 is a very
good verse for our country today.
we must work while it is day, because
the time is coming when we will not
be able to work when it becomes dark.
take the opportunity while it is day.
while Jesus is in the world, verse 5,
he's the light of the world.
now he's gone away from the world.
who is the light of the world?
Jesus said, you are the light of the
world.
so if I were to ask you a
question today, who is the light of the
world?
today, don't say Jesus.
according to John chapter 9, verse 5, he
was the light of the world only as
long as he lived here.
today, according to Matthew 5, 14 to 16,
you are the light of the world.
chapter 10 and verse 9 is a beautiful
verse.
I am the door.
if anyone enters through me, he will be
saved.
that's good.
and after he is saved, what should he
do?
he must be balanced.
what does it mean to be balanced?
he must go in and he must go
what?
out.
that's balanced.
in to God's presence and out to serve
him in the world.
and then back again into God's presence and
out to serve him.
it's not that we ever lose God's presence,
but we must take time to get alone
with God.
not so busy going out, out, out, out,
out, out, out.
that's like walking on one leg all the
time.
it's like people in the convent or monasteries
who are hopping on the other leg all
the time, who never go out.
a balanced Christian has got two legs.
he goes in and goes out.
he worships God and he serves him.
he comes into the Lord's presence and waits
on him, receives his word, shares it with
other people.
let there be a balance in your life.
I think most of us could be in
danger, mostly of going out, out, out, out.
that can be dangerous, because gradually we dry
up.
ok, we go to verse 28 and 29.
these are favorite verses for those who preach
eternal security.
they say, Jesus said, I give eternal life
to them and they shall never perish and
no one shall snatch them out of my
hand.
and my father who has given me is
greater than them all and no one can
snatch them out of my father's hand.
doesn't that look like eternal security?
it certainly does and I believe in it.
but how does the verse begin?
how does verse 28 begin in your Bible?
what is the first word?
what's the first word?
and.
and means, don't start reading in the middle
of a sentence.
no sentence begins with and.
that's the middle of the sentence.
let's go to the beginning of the sentence
and then you'll understand the doctrine of eternal
security.
verse 27.
my sheep hear my voice, I know them
and they follow me and I give them
eternal life and they shall never perish.
so who are the ones who are never
going to perish?
those who hear his voice and follow him.
what about those who don't hear his voice
and don't follow him?
there's no eternal security for them.
don't jump in the middle of a verse
and take half a verse and preach a
doctrine.
extremely dangerous.
I believe in eternal security for all the
sheep who hear the voice of Jesus and
who hear him and follow him.
and I also believe that the sheep who
don't hear his voice and don't follow him
are not going to have eternal life and
they will perish.
you may say that nobody can pluck you
out of the father's hand.
absolutely right.
but you can jump out of the father's
hand yourself.
that's a different thing.
ok now let's turn to another verse.
chapter 11 verse 6.
here he heard that Lazarus was sick.
behold he whom you love is sick.
they stayed two days longer in the same
place.
God's ways are not our ways.
if I hear that somebody I love is
sick, I rush.
but Jesus when he heard that somebody he
loved was sick, he stayed two more days.
this is a miracle what he did there
in the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
and what did we see in John chapter
2?
every miracle is a sign or a parable.
and what is the lessons we learn from
marriage in Cana, that miracle?
you must come to the end of your
wine.
come to zero.
zero wine.
then I will do the miracle.
what do we learn in the case of
the man who was lying in Bethesda?
you try try try try try try for
38 years till you've given up all hope.
when your hope comes to zero, I will
come and heal you.
what is the lesson here?
same lesson.
Lazarus was sick and a sick man can
still do certain things.
no he hasn't come to zero point yet.
so the Lord says we got to wait.
we got to wait till he becomes weak,
till he is bedridden and till he comes
to a place where he cannot lift a
finger and then he's dead and to make
sure he's dead put him in the grave
for four days then we'll come.
there's a spiritual lesson in this.
some of us are so strong that the
Lord cannot come to help you.
you're too strong.
he has to wait.
you say Lord help me.
yeah he'll help you but not now not
yet.
you're too strong.
what did Paul say?
when I'm weak then I'm strong.
you have to come to a zero point.
Lord I'm helpless.
I'm useless.
do you want to understand the Bible?
acknowledge that you're stupid in spiritual things.
do you want spiritual power?
acknowledge that you're weak.
not just acknowledge, recognize it.
acknowledging is easy.
recognizing is more difficult and God waits for
all of us to be broken broken broken
broken broken broken broken broken till we become
absolutely weak.
have you ever heard people say, I've sometimes
spoken to people about anger.
they say brother what to do?
I'm a very weak person.
I can't get victory over my anger.
I'm weak.
and I say no brother, no sister.
it's because you're too strong that you get
angry.
not because you're weak.
if you're weak you wouldn't get angry.
it's you're so strong.
you know take a man who just goes
to the hospital with some sickness.
first day is complaining against the nurses, doctors.
there's everything is wrong.
food is not good.
but next day is a little sicker and
the voice has become a little softer.
and after a week all the tubes here
and there in the mouth only now and
then he complains now.
and gradually becomes so weak all the anger
is gone.
when was he angry?
when he was weak or when he was
strong?
why do you get angry?
you're too strong.
God has to make you weak.
weak till you come to a zero point
of death.
then the Lord comes and raises us up.
and you see the principle is also the
same.
you do what you can and I'll do
what I can.
what could they do?
they could not raise the dead Mary and
Martha.
can you roll the stone away?
okay we'll do that.
you do the easy part, roll the stone
away.
I'll do the difficult part, raise the dead.
and after raising the dead you do the
easy part of taking out all the grave
clothes from him.
this is the principle of Christian service.
you do the easy part the Lord says.
I'll do the difficult part.
we work in partnership.
you bring the water I'll turn it to
wine.
it's wonderful.
the new covenant is a partnership with Jesus
Christ.
I'm not alone.
I've taken his yoke upon me.
we work together.
we are two bullocks plowing the field together.
I never want to do it alone.
don't ever try to serve the Lord alone.
chapter 12 we read verse 24 to 26.
beautiful words.
the secret of fruitfulness.
do you want to learn how to be
fruitful in your life?
guaranteed fruitfulness.
there's one secret of fruitfulness and that is
fall into the ground and die.
as a grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies.
if it does not die it will be
alone.
if it dies it will bring forth not
just fruit but much fruit.
the way of the cross is the thing
that is hardly spoken in Christendom today.
I want to encourage all of you be
men and women who take up the cross
every day and who proclaim the way of
the cross to other people.
the way of death to self.
dying to my reputation dying to my honor,
dying to my will, dying to my choices.
dying, dying, dying.
falling into the ground and dying.
it's because you don't die there is no
fruit.
when you die there'll be fruit in your
life of character.
there'll be fruit in your ministry of people
being blessed and led closer to God through
your ministry.
the secret of everything is dying like Lazarus.
die spiritually.
see the gospel message is this.
you know that dead people can't sin.
isn't that right?
supposing there's a man who's dead here and
I kick him.
what's going to be his response?
if he's really dead.
sometimes children play dead.
you kick them they wake up.
believers are sometimes like that.
but if they're really dead, how do you
know whether you're really dead?
no reaction.
supposing I tell this chap who's dead.
you're a good-for-nothing useless fellow.
no reaction.
you turn around him and say you're the
most wonderful man I've ever met.
no reaction.
this is death.
it's a very blessed place to be in.
the praise of men and the criticism of
men are exactly the same to you because
you live before God's face.
I've died to this world and I live
before God.
if he tells me he's unhappy with me
that disturbs me and if he tells me
he's happy with me that encourages me.
but when people criticize or praise it makes
no difference.
dead to the world, alive to God.
that's the meaning of this verse.
fall into the earth and die.
there will definitely be much fruit.
choose the way of the cross.
give up your own will.
you know it's possible to acquire a lot
of knowledge in the Christian life and not
die.
knowledge will not bring forth fruit.
if you die you bring forth fruit.
some people think if I'm filled with the
spirit that's enough.
no that's not enough.
it's good for the rain to fall but
if there's no seed that's dying there any
amount of rain is not going to produce
a crop.
what's use of all the rain if there's
no seed that's dying in the ground?
you need the rain and you need the
seed dying in the ground.
you need the fullness of the spirit and
you need to fall into the ground and
die.
that's how fruit comes and that's the meaning
also of this verse that's repeated seven times
in the Gospels.
verse 25.
the most repeated statement of Jesus in the
Gospels and the most misunderstood one.
he who loves his life will lose it.
he who hates his life in this world
will keep it to life eternal.
if you try to save your earthly life,
save your reputation, save your ambition, I tell
you at the end of your life you'll
be a frustrated discouraged man.
but if you're willing to give it up
for the Lord, give it up for the
gospel sake, you can keep it to life
eternal.
verse 42 and 43.
many among the rulers of the Pharisees believed
in him but they would not publicly confess
him because they'd be put out of the
synagogue.
and look at these sad words.
verse 43.
they loved the approval of men more than
the approval of God.
very very very sad words.
how many people there are today like that?
chapter 13.
we know how he washed the disciples feet
in verse 5 and that's a good example
for us to keep to the end of
our life.
being at the disciples feet to the end
of our life.
not sitting on their heads.
now verse 7 is a tremendous word of
comfort if we apply it to situations when
you face some terrific trial and you don't
know why the trial has come upon your
life, go to John 13 and verse 7
and see what Jesus says.
what I'm doing to you now you don't
understand.
but one day in the future you will
understand why I'm doing this to you now.
tremendous word of comfort.
when you're going through some situation which you
can't understand why the Lord is allowed in
your life.
what I do you don't understand now.
but hereafter you'll understand.
ok.
John chapter 13 verse 34 and 35.
the mark of God's people today.
what is the identifying mark of God's people?
it's not speaking in tongues.
it's not praise and worship.
it's not correct doctrine.
it's not evangelism.
it's not teaching.
it's love.
all men will know you're my disciples when
you love one another.
I give you only one commandment.
love one another.
if you cannot love, you disobeyed the one
commandment Jesus gave.
and I'm not talking about loving people just
in your denomination.
it's very easy to love people who can
agree with us in everything.
your love will be tested when you have
to love somebody in another denomination who is
born again but who doesn't agree with you.
who's got another ministry to yours.
it's easy to love people who have the
same ministry as you.
who are the same community as you.
who are the same language as you.
who are like you in so many ways.
but God has put us in the church
with different type of people, other communities, other
languages.
maybe you're educated and that fellow is not
educated.
learn to love people who are completely different
from you.
then you know whether you got the love
of God.
learn to love people who don't love you.
who don't give you gifts.
who don't praise you.
who criticize you.
then you know whether you got the love
of God.
otherwise it's human love.
to love people who give you gifts and
who speak the same language and who praise
you.
where in the world people love like that?
but divine love is unique in this way.
it does not require a response.
human love always requires a response.
if that person responds, I continue to love.
if his love dries up, my love dries
up.
but God's love is not like that.
God keeps on loving whether man responds or
not.
and when God floods my heart with his
love, this is the mark that I can
love people even if they don't like me.
even if they disagree with me.
if they are born again and they belong
to another denomination, fine.
you know there are some denominations in Christianity
who believe that speaking in tongues is from
the devil.
ok.
that means if I speak in tongues, I'm
being motivated or inspired by the devil.
can I love such people?
I certainly can.
no problem.
they are born again.
they got a little wrong understanding about something.
that's fine.
I don't have to hate them for that.
I don't have to spend my time criticizing
them.
the test of my love is I can
love somebody who even thinks I'm inspired by
the devil.
can you do that?
Jesus could through the power of the Holy
Spirit.
this is the mark of a true Christian.
and this is the mark of a true
Christian Church.
all people will know that you love one
another.
don't go to a church and say, do
you break bread every Sunday?
I say I'm not interested in that first
of all.
do you do evangelism?
I'm not even interested in that.
do you have expository teaching of the Bible?
they may not even know the meaning of
expository.
forget it.
ask them something they can understand.
do you all love one another?
hardly anybody asks that question.
and yet that's the most important thing.
please remember it.
chapter 14, 15, 16, 17 are all at
the Last Supper.
chapter 17 is the prayer and chapter 14,
15, 16 have got these tremendous teaching which
could take many many sessions.
let me just pick out a few verses.
John 14 verse 12.
what does this mean?
truly I say to you, he who believes
in me, the works that I do, he
will do also.
is that right?
that the works Jesus did, we can also
do?
and if you were to ask the average
Christian, can you tell me some of the
works Jesus did?
we'll immediately say, he raised the dead, he
fed the five thousand, he walked on water.
how many of you have fed the five
thousand and walked on the water and raised
the dead?
I've never met one man in my life
who's done it.
so what does it mean?
shall I tell you some of the other
works that Jesus did?
when his mother told him to go and
go to the well and draw some water
and bring it, he brought it.
he worked in the carpenter shop perspiring and
his hands were all hardened through work.
that was also the work that Jesus did.
when some poor widow wanted a stool made,
he made the stool and gave it free.
do you think of those type of works?
he forgave his brothers who always irritated him.
that was also work.
the works that I do shall ye do
also.
why do you think only of the last
three years of his life?
let's think of ninety percent of his life,
thirty years, where he did such a lot
of work.
those are the works we can do.
help others.
can you think of the number of people
in Nazareth who were helped during those thirty
years?
and he who believes in me shall do
the works that I do.
in one sentence, what are the works that
Jesus did?
the will of his father.
John the Baptist never did a miracle.
we read that in John's gospel.
he never did a miracle, but he did
the will of his father.
don't think you have to do miracles to
do the will of the father.
that depends on God's calling for your life.
supposing I say, unless you all preach like
me, you're not doing God's will.
that is stupid.
as stupid as if somebody says, you don't
do evangelism like me, you're not doing the
will of God.
no.
God shows you what you must do.
maybe you're a mother looking up to look
after four children.
look after them properly.
I'm sure Jesus, when he was a little
boy, looked after his younger brothers, the babies
that were born in the house, helped Mary,
his mother, to look after his younger brothers
and sisters.
Jesus did that when he was 10 years
old.
those are the works that he did.
can't you do that as a mother, look
after your children?
he who believes in me shall do the
works that I do.
and if God calls you to raise the
dead, he'll give you the power to raise
the dead.
and if God calls you to preach like
somebody else, he'll give you the power to
preach like that.
that's ministry.
but the works relate to our life.
and so think of the works that Jesus
did.
secondly, verse 12, greater works than these shall
he do.
greater works?
that means I'll raise 25 people from the
dead?
no.
greater in terms of quality.
we always think in terms of quantity.
he didn't say more, he said greater.
there's a difference between more works and greater
works.
more works means quantity, greater means quality.
quality of works.
can we do greater quality of works than
Jesus did?
what was the one thing Jesus could not
do during his entire three-and-a-half
years ministry?
shall I tell you?
he could not make even two disciples one
with each other.
all twelve were fighting to be the leader.
even two of them could not become one.
not because of Jesus' fault, but because they
did not have the Holy Spirit in them.
in the Old Testament, nobody could become one.
but after the Holy Spirit came, they could
become one.
and that was the greater work, the building
of the church as one body.
Isaac Newton was a great scientist, one of
the most brilliant minds in science.
he's the one who discovered the law of
gravity.
but do you know that compared to Isaac
Newton, I may be a very stupid person,
but with a computer, I can do more
calculations in a very short time than Isaac
Newton could do in 20 years.
is it because I'm cleverer than Isaac Newton?
no.
because I've got greater facilities than he had.
that is the answer to this question.
today, because the Holy Spirit has come, which
had not come in Jesus' time, therefore we
can do a quality of work that even
Jesus could not do.
it's not because we are greater than Jesus.
I hope you understand the meaning of that
verse, which may have puzzled you for a
long time.
New Covenant, verse 15.
don't keep my commandments because you're afraid of
me.
don't keep my commandments because I give you
gifts.
if you love me, keep my commandments.
in the Old Testament, it was not like
that.
Deuteronomy 28 said, if you obey, you'll be
blessed.
if you don't obey, you'll be cursed.
it's like telling a child, if you obey
what daddy says, I'll give you a chocolate.
if you don't obey, I'll give you a
stick.
so with the chocolate and the stick and
the chocolate and the stick, we make our
children obey.
that's how obedience was under the Old Covenant.
but when the son becomes 25 years old,
you don't tell him, if you obey, I'll
give you a chocolate.
if you don't obey, I'll give you a
stick.
he may give the father a stick, if
he talks to him like that.
we hope that by the time that child
is 25 years old, he's obeying his father
out of love.
so the Lord also says in the New
Covenant, he treats us not like babies, he
treats us like grown-up sons.
today, the Lord says, don't obey me because
you're afraid I'll punish you.
don't obey me because you want a chocolate.
obey me because you love me.
if you don't love me, forget it.
don't do anything.
that's New Covenant life.
chapter 4, 15 and verse 16, the Lord
says, you did not choose me, but I
chose you.
never forget that.
verse 19, if you were of the world,
the world would love its own, but because
you're not of the world, the world hates
you.
verse 26 and 27, beautiful words.
when the helper comes from the father, the
spirit of truth, he will bear witness of
me and you will bear witness of me.
I love that.
you know what it means?
it means that when I get up to
preach about Jesus, the Holy Spirit also gets
up.
I'm going to bear witness and he's also
going to bear witness.
how does that work?
that means I say something and the Holy
Spirit comes straight home to that fellow's heart
and says, listen to that, that's from God.
isn't it good to have the Holy Spirit
working with you?
oh what a difference it makes.
when you get up and preach, the Holy
Spirit takes it home to people's hearts and
says, listen to that, that's from God.
you must long for that in all of
your ministry.
from your youth, I remember when I was
in my 20s, I cried out to God
for such a ministry and I see many
of you in your 20s.
I urge you, cry out to God day
and night for an anointing of the Holy
Spirit upon your life, that when you get
up and say something, the Holy Spirit will
also back it up and take it to
people's hearts wherever you go.
that is how Jesus spoke.
when he spoke, the Holy Spirit backed it
up.
that's when Peter spoke, the Holy Spirit backed
it up.
when Paul spoke, the Holy Spirit backed it
up.
when you speak, make sure the Holy Spirit
backs it up.
keep your conscience clear.
stay in the place of humility where this
waterfall can come.
judge yourself, don't judge other people.
keep your heart pure.
don't love money.
follow what you've heard in God's Word in
these days and seek for the anointing of
the Spirit.
you bear witness and the Holy Spirit bears
witness.
we are co-workers.
okay, chapter 16 verse 13, when the Spirit
of truth has come, he will guide you
into all the truth.
the Holy Spirit has come to guide us
into all the truth of Scripture and listen
carefully, all the truth about yourself.
what is the truth about myself?
the Holy Spirit may show me sometimes, you're
a Pharisee when you behave like that.
you're a hypocrite.
or I remember once when I had to
go and speak to a younger brother and
correct him.
in the church, someone over whom I had
authority as an elder, he needed to be
corrected for something wrong that was done.
after correcting him, when I came away, the
Holy Spirit said to me, what you said
was right, but you didn't have to say
it in such a harsh way.
go and apologize to him.
he will guide you into all the truth
about yourself.
so I went back to that brother.
I said, brother, I'm sorry for the way
I spoke to you.
I shouldn't have spoken to you like that.
what I said was right, but the way
I said it wasn't right.
shall I tell you something, my brothers and
sisters?
do you want the Holy Spirit to bear
witness with you whenever you bear witness to
Christ?
very simple.
listen to him in daily life.
when he tells you to do something, don't
say, I'll do it tomorrow.
don't say, I'll do it this evening.
don't say, I'll do it after five minutes.
do it immediately.
what will be the result?
when you get up to speak, the Holy
Spirit will get up immediately and back you
up.
that's the reason why the Holy Spirit does
not back many many people.
they don't do God's will as it is
done in heaven.
we pray, thy will be done on earth
as it is done in heaven.
when God says, Gabriel, go down to earth
and do this thing, Gabriel doesn't say, Lord,
just wait five minutes, I'm coming.
no.
whatever Gabriel may be doing at that moment
in heaven, he drops it and says, I'm
going.
thy will be done on earth as it
is done in heaven.
show me a man or a woman who
obeys God like that and I'll show you
a man or a woman whom God uses
to the end of his life or her
life.
multitudes of people, they never obey God like
that.
they wait till tomorrow, wait till the evening.
the Lord says, go and apologize to your
wife.
they think about it.
where in the world can such people serve
God?
not in a hundred years.
be quick to listen to the Spirit and
you'll find the Spirit backs you up.
love the truth about yourself.
you are wrong.
admit it.
humble yourself.
go and ask forgiveness from the lowest youngest
brother.
go down and you'll find the waterfall is
always upon you.
chapter 16 verse 33, the Lord says, I've
overcome the world.
you know, he also had to overcome.
some people think Jesus didn't have to overcome
anything.
he himself said, I've overcome the world.
you know what the world is?
how do you define the world?
don't use your definition.
give me a scriptural definition of the world.
1 John chapter 2 verse 16, all that
is in the world is the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life.
that's the scriptural definition of the world.
what did Jesus overcome?
he overcame the world.
think of that.
he overcame and he says, you overcome now.
chapter 17 verse 2, it's a word especially
for those who are leaders.
it says about Jesus, he says to the
father in prayer, father you gave me authority
over all flesh, all mankind to give them
eternal life.
why does God give me authority over believers?
not to rule over them, not to make
them serve me, not like some pastors who
got young fellows under them to go and
buy vegetables for them and do all types
of things.
this is not why God gives me authority.
God gives me authority over people only for
one purpose, not to make them my servants
but to give them eternal life, to lead
them to partake of God's nature.
eternal life is another phrase for God's nature.
eternal life does not mean a life that
never ends.
eternity is not the definition of eternity is
not time that never ends.
the definition of eternity is time that never
began and never ends.
eternal life is life that never began and
never ends.
who's got that life?
only God.
he may give it to me.
it's his nature.
the only reason why God gives us authority
is to lead other people to partake of
God's nature.
no other reason.
I must never have authority over other people
for any other reason other than to lead
them to partake of God's nature.
then you'll be a true servant of God.
verse 3, eternal life.
what is eternal life?
eternal life is to know God personally and
to know Jesus Christ personally and thus partake
of his nature.
verse 9, the Lord says I don't pray
on behalf of the world but I pray
for these people.
there we learn that it's more important to
pray for God's children than it is to
pray for the world.
some of you may think it's more important
to pray for the world.
Jesus said I do not pray for the
world.
I pray for these people whom you have
given me and through them I'll bless the
world.
verse 10 is a beautiful verse of exchange.
it's a good verse for all of us
to do also.
how did Jesus have such tremendous authority in
his life?
here's the answer, John 17 10.
he said to the father, father everything I
have is yours.
and the father said, ok everything I have
is also yours.
you want the father to say that to
you?
everything I have is yours.
you got to say it first.
you got to tell the Lord, Lord everything
I have is yours.
but don't tell God a lie.
say it only if you mean it.
sit down, count the cost, count all the
valuable things you have in your life and
say Lord I give it up to you.
everything.
some of you young people you may even
have to give up your desire to get
married.
are you willing?
everything means everything.
ambitions, money, time, energy.
that's the exchange that Jesus made.
verse 23 is one of the most lovely
verses in the whole Bible.
it revolutionized my life as a young man.
God loves us as he loved Jesus.
the last part of verse 23.
many scriptures tell us that God loves us.
there's only one scripture that tells us how
much he loved us.
verse 23.
God loves us as much as he loved
Jesus.
I praise God for the security that brought
into my life.
I was a very insecure, timid, shy young
man.
when God opened and I'm feeling very inferior
to all other believers.
now when you see me stand up here
you wouldn't believe it.
but that's because God changed me.
he filled me with the Holy Spirit.
not only filled me with the Holy Spirit,
he taught me that he loved me as
much as he loved Jesus.
and that's what brought security into my life.
and some of you who may be like
I was 30 years ago.
timid, shy, insecure, feeling inferior.
you know what you need?
you need to be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
and you need to believe that God loves
you as much as he loved Jesus.
as he cared for Jesus, he will care
for you.
okay we go to chapter 18 and verse
36.
Jesus told Pilate, my kingdom is not of
this world.
if my kingdom were of this world, my
servants would fight.
remember every time you fight, you're proving that
your kingdom belongs to this world.
all believers who fight with other believers are
saying my kingdom belongs to this world.
the mark of a man who is following
Jesus and whose kingdom does not belong to
this world that he is that he doesn't
fight for anything.
be a person like that.
Paul told Timothy, Jesus made a good confession
before Pontius Pilate.
this is that confession.
one more confession.
chapter 19 verse 11, 10 and 11.
Pilate said to Jesus, don't you know I
have power to crucify you or to release
you?
Jesus said, you do not have power to
release me or crucify me unless my father
gives it to you.
that was the dignity Jesus had.
Pilate got scared.
says as a result of this, Pilate verse
12 tried to release him.
this judge, this magistrate was telling him, don't
you know I've got power to release you
or crucify you?
and Jesus stood very calmly there and said,
he didn't say please, please, please release me.
he stood there with the dignity of the
son of God and said, you got no
power over me except what my father gives
you.
remember that in a time of persecution, when
you face injustice somewhere, people are harassing you
and maybe you stand in court.
believe that no magistrate, no judge can ever
write a verdict against you without your heavenly
father's permission.
that is the good confession Jesus made before
Pontius Pilate.
ok, we read in chapter 20 verse 11
about Mary Magdalene waiting outside the tomb of
Jesus.
and just let me mention one thing about
Jesus' crucifixion.
it says here that they wanted to take
the body down from the cross, verse 31,
chapter 19, 31, because the next day was
a special Sabbath day.
it wasn't a regular Saturday.
the next day was a Friday Sabbath, because
Jesus was crucified on a Thursday.
ok, chapter 20 verse 11, we read Mary
waiting outside the tomb of Jesus.
and notice that the first human being that
ever saw the resurrected Jesus was Mary, a
woman, a woman who was a sinner.
God picked out a woman, God picked out
a sinner to give her the greatest honor,
to see the beginning of the new creation
on the eighth day, on the seventh day,
on the eighth day, that's Sunday, when Jesus
rose up from the dead, the beginning of
the new creation, the old creation began in
Genesis 1, the new creation here in John
20.
who was the first person to see it?
a woman, not a man, a sinner, not
a righteous person.
remember that.
learn to value women.
God values them.
chapter 21, we read about the disciples going
fishing.
another sign, the closing sign of the book
of John.
what is the message in this sign?
you have to come to a zero point.
they started fishing at six o'clock in
the evening, no fish.
nine o'clock, no fish.
twelve o'clock, no fish.
by two o'clock they are discouraged, but
still they are trying.
four o'clock, no fish.
they said okay, we'll give it one more
try.
five o'clock, they have come to zero.
we are going home.
and Jesus appears and fills their boat with
fish.
what is the message of this miracle?
you have to come to a zero point.
you have to come to an end of
yourself.
you have to come to an end of
the wine.
Lazarus has to die, 38 years have to
go.
all your strength has to come down to
zero.
then the Lord will come.
why don't you get victory over sin today?
you're trying, trying, trying, trying.
no fish, no fish, no fish.
you haven't come to a zero point yet.
you have to fail some more.
you have to fail and fail and fail
and fail and fail and fail till you
come to zero.
and then your boat will be full of
fish.
why?
because if the Lord were to give you
victory, before you came to that zero point,
you'd be very proud of your victory.
and secondly, you'd look down on other people
who don't have victory.
the Lord can lift you out of a
hundred foot pit called anger, and then you
fall into a thousand foot pit called spiritual
pride.
that's not victory.
so when the Lord lifts us up and
gives us victory, he has to give it
to us in such a way that we
remain humble about that victory, and we never
despise anybody else who is defeated.
that's why he has to allow us to
fail and fail and fail hundreds of times
before he gives us victory.
one last thing.
when the Lord told Peter, you're going to
suffer and die, John 21 verse 18 to
23, Peter said, Lord, what about this man,
John?
is he going to suffer and die?
and Jesus said, that's none of your business.
and sometimes we need to hear that word.
when the Lord tells us, you're going to
have a difficult time in your ministry, and
you say, Lord, what about that brother?
he's having an easy time.
what's the answer?
that is none of your business.
you follow me.
you follow that word, and you'll be all
right.
let's pray.
Heavenly Father, help us to live in the
light of what we have heard today.
all our days, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.