I want to turn to a verse in
2nd Corinthians chapter 5.
All young people in the world have ambitions
and it's good to be ambitious, particularly in
our day we find parents also encouraging their
children to be ambitious, to have an ambition
in life and not just to live life
without any purpose or any aim.
So as Christians also we must have an
ambition.
You know the only difference is that the
ambition of people in the world is different
from the ambition of the Christian.
So here Paul says he had an ambition
and inspired by the Holy Spirit we can
be pretty sure that's a good ambition.
He talks in the first few verses about
going home to heaven and we get a
new body there or being absent from heaven
here on this earth.
Heaven is our home but he says it
doesn't make a difference whether we are at
home in heaven or absent from heaven on
this earth.
Verse 9, therefore we have as our ambition,
whether we are going to be at home
in heaven or absent from heaven on this
earth, our ambition is to please God.
We can be sure of one thing, I
think all of you will agree, that when
people get to heaven they will definitely have
only one ambition.
They will not have an ambition to make
money when they get to heaven.
They will not have any ambition to please
an angel.
They won't be wondering whether that angel standing
over there is happy with me or not
and what that other angel over there thinks
about me or what that other man who
is a great man on the earth who
is in heaven, what he thinks about me
or what another preacher thinks about me.
We can be, we will all agree that
when we get to heaven we are only
going to be driven by one ambition and
that is to please God.
What I am doing now, imagine now if
you are in heaven and Jesus has come
and we have changed our bodies and now
we are in heaven in the presence of
our Father.
What do you think will be going on
through your mind?
I don't know what all we are going
to do in heaven when we get there.
I am sure we are not going to
just sit and get bored.
If life on earth is exciting, it certainly
has been for me.
Can you imagine how much more exciting heaven
is going to be?
It's not going to be boring at all.
People who don't know God think it's boring.
Do you know that the most entertaining and
interesting person in the whole universe is God?
Have you met people, human beings who are
very entertaining to be with and very interesting
to be with?
They were all creatures made by God.
Can you imagine how much more entertaining and
interesting it will be with the Creator who
made these interesting people?
Have you heard people who are very interesting
to listen to?
Can you imagine how much more interesting it
will be to listen to the One who
created those people?
That's how heaven is going to be.
Heaven is not going to be a boring
place.
It is going to be a million times
more interesting than on earth.
But what's going to go through our mind
in the midst of all the things we
do there?
I believe one ambition, to please our Heavenly
Father, to please God.
That will be the only thing that will
drive us and urge us forward.
And the spiritually minded man is the man
who has determined that that is going to
be his ambition on earth as well.
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.
That's what the Holy Spirit does.
The Holy Spirit brings to our heart the
atmosphere of heaven, the peace of heaven, the
joy of heaven, the love of heaven, the
goodness of heaven, the forgiveness of heaven and
the ambition of people in heaven to please
God only.
So Paul says it doesn't make a difference
to me.
I mean it's like saying whether I'm in
this room or that room, it makes no
difference.
Whether I'm here on earth or in heaven,
ambition is the same.
And I want to ask all of you,
my dear brothers and sisters, is that true?
When we started as a little fellowship 28
years ago, we were just very few.
And I've done this once before.
Will all those who were here 28 years
ago when we started, please stand, just for
a moment.
Those who were here 28 years ago when
we started, on the first day we started,
on the first day we started, will you
stand?
Is that all?
One, two, three.
Any of the children who were here 28
years ago?
Nobody?
You were not there?
Did you count how many there are?
One, two, three, four, five, six.
That's it.
Sit down.
That's how we started 28 years ago.
And we had an ambition to please God
at any cost.
Whatever the cost, we wanted to please God.
And it brought upon us a lot of
misunderstanding, criticism from many people around us.
We decided to ignore that, not to find
fault with them, not to answer back.
We have never, in 28 years, we have
never once answered our critics, because God is
the one who answers them.
I remember when we were taken to court,
the lawyer said, you're not supposed to speak
a word here.
The lawyer is supposed to say everything.
I didn't know the rules.
I said, that's how God is.
I'm not supposed to say anything in my
defense.
God says, don't worry, I'm your lawyer.
I take care of everything.
Can you live like that?
Life on earth is so wonderful.
That's how we have lived for 28 years.
People can say what they like.
The Bible says, when people speak evil of
you, live in such a way that their
lie will be exposed.
I'm paraphrasing.
It's from 1 Peter.
When people tell lies about you, live in
such a way that nobody will believe them.
What a challenge.
I don't have to open my mouth.
We have sought to please him.
We have not made money our ambition, either
in the world or in the church.
We have not gathered the rich.
It didn't make a difference to us whether
people were rich or poor.
It was as unimportant to us as the
color of their skin or their height.
Can you imagine if he said, only those
who are above 5 feet 6 inches can
join this church?
A lot of people would have been knocked
out.
Can you imagine if he said, we will
care only for those who are above a
certain salary level?
It's crazy.
It's as unimportant.
God doesn't care about your height.
He doesn't care about the color of your
skin.
He doesn't care about your salary.
He doesn't care about your intelligence level.
He doesn't care about your language.
He loves you because one reason Jesus died
for you and therefore you are precious.
We were bought by the blood of Jesus
Christ and that's what makes me precious.
Now, if this book were valued at one
crore rupees, even if it's a small book,
I'd value it.
You know, there are some ancient books which
are very rare, stamps and things like that,
which cost a lot of money.
It's a small little thing.
One little stamp like this costs hundreds of
thousands of rupees.
It's not size or appearance or it's what
price did you pay for it.
And if somebody paid a hundred thousand dollars
for a small stamp, one inch square, people
look at that stamp and don't know the
value of it.
Yeah, who's going to pay for that?
But the chap who bought it knows what
tremendous price it is.
And that's how I say your price does
not depend on what you look like or
how clever you are.
It depends on what is the price paid
for you.
That's what makes me have a sense of
worth.
You know, the devil is always trying to
rob us of our sense of worth before
God.
He always wants to make you feel that
you're worthless because of some defect.
And we all have some defect or the
other.
I have mine.
I know them better than you do.
And you have your defects which you know
better than anybody else.
And the devil tends to magnify those defects
in your eyes so that you feel yourself
worthless.
I've heard of psychologists say that children who
grow up being made to feel worthless by
their parents because of some defect.
Maybe they didn't do so well in school
or any such thing.
They grow up with tremendous psychological problems throughout
their life because their parents when they were
small made them feel worthless at home.
I want to tell you God's not like
that.
God's not a father who makes anyone feel
worthless.
And a spiritual minded man will never make
you feel worthless.
Never.
God is a good God.
And that's one thing we have proclaimed through
28 years.
And we have also fearlessly proclaimed that God
is a holy God.
And that only means when he says he
wants you to be free from sin.
That only means that he wants you to
be healthy.
Don't you think every good father wants his
children to be healthy?
Which father is there sitting here?
You don't want your children to be healthy?
How many of your fathers want your children
to be 90% healthy?
90% healthy?
You're happy if they have a few sicknesses?
What type of father are you then?
God is a good father.
He doesn't believe in 90% health.
He wants 100% health.
100% health for our soul means total
freedom from sin.
That's why we have preached total freedom from
sin.
Would you be afraid to go to a
hospital that's determined to get rid of every
sickness from your body?
Or would you like to go to a
hospital which says we'll cure you 90%?
Which one would you go to?
I know which hospital I'll go to.
I want to be a part of a
church that believes in total freedom from sin.
Even if the treatment takes a long time.
And it has taken a long time for
all of us.
But we are on the way to recovery.
I hope so.
God is a good God.
He's a holy God.
Because He's a good God.
He's holy.
And He loves us so much that He
wants us to be totally free from sin.
Totally free.
Completely.
From all sin in our life.
So our ambition has been to please Him.
And one of the verses in scripture that
says what pleases God is Hebrews chapter 13.
In Hebrews chapter 13 we read in verse
15 and 16.
Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of
praise.
That is turning us away from ourselves, fixing
our attention to God, giving thanks to Him.
And secondly, that is in the vertical direction,
giving praise with words to God.
In the horizontal direction, verse 16 to other
people, don't neglect doing good.
And sharing for with such sacrifices, these two
sacrifices mentioned here, God is well pleased.
God is pleased with two types of sacrifices.
One, when even if it is a sacrifice
for you to open your mouth and praise
God.
And you know the word sacrifice means not
something easy to do.
The word sacrifice is always when you say
somebody has sacrificed, it means he has taken
some trouble.
It was not easy for him, but he
did it.
And I know the early days when I
started opening my mouth to praise God, it
wasn't easy.
It was a sacrifice.
But I did it and gradually I began
to enjoy the sacrifice.
And I want to encourage all of you
who have never made that sacrifice to begin.
Don't wait until it becomes easy, because it
will never become easy.
It says here, the sacrifice of praise to
God, that is the fruit of lips to
give thanks to His name.
Why was Jesus so excited when out of
ten lepers who were healed, one came back
to thank Him.
And he said, where are the nine?
And I believe as Jesus comes into our
midst on Sunday morning, He asks the same
question.
Where are the ninety or hundred and ninety
who should be praising God for something that
God has done?
And that is one reason why at the
end of our time of praise, we give
an opportunity at least for one or two
minutes for everybody to open their mouth and
praise God.
Because that is so important.
It is a very important part of our
life.
It is something that pleases God.
Why does it please God?
I mean, God has got millions and millions
of angels who are praising Him.
And who can praise Him, I'll tell you,
a million times better than you and I
can praise Him.
Their praise is so perfect, because it's not
affected by sin.
Why does He want our poor praises?
I believe it's for us.
It's for our benefit that the Lord asks
us to do it.
He wants us to be delivered from the
self-centeredness, the poison of self-centeredness that
came into the human race on the day
that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden
of Eden.
Did you know that?
That when Adam and Eve sinned, a certain
poison came into the human race.
It was the poison of self-centeredness.
God is not self-centered.
He created man in His image, the Bible
says, not to be self-centered.
But the devil came and infected him with
the poison of being self-centered.
And ever since that day, every human being
that's been born into this world has been
born self-centered.
You've seen that in your children, right?
Have you ever had a child born to
you which is not self-centered?
Which didn't think of itself?
No.
Every child born into the world is born
with that poison of being self-centered.
Jesus came to save us from sin, from
this sin of self-centeredness, not just from
adultery and murder, but from this sin of
self-centeredness.
And one way, it's not the only way,
but one way in which He delivers us
from that self-centeredness is by getting us
to turn our attention away from ourselves to
God, and to praise Him, and thank Him,
and worship Him for what He has done
for us, for what He is, for His
Almighty Father.
And for all that He is quite apart
from us, it's worship.
When we pray to God, we can be
self-centered.
In fact, most prayers begin with the words,
give me, or bless me.
That me is a very important word in
prayer, or my children, or my family.
And if you look back over the years
and years and years when you have prayed
to God, you'll find the word me and
my family is a very important part of
those prayers.
Because a lot of prayer can be just
self-centered.
And that's why I say, you will not
become spiritual by praying.
You can be the most self-centered person
after 50 years of praying, because all you
are doing is praying for yourself.
But when we praise God, see the 10
lepers came and said, give me healing.
One leper came back and said, thank you
Lord for healing me.
And that man got something more than healing
from leprosy.
He also got salvation from sin.
He got forgiveness.
The other fellows didn't get it.
When you come back and praise God for
something, you get a little more than all
the other ungrateful people around you who only
come and ask God for something.
And so that's one of the things that
we have spoken about much through these 28
years, to be delivered from self-centeredness, to
get our center on God.
Because that pleases Him.
What pleases Him?
Not that we praise Him.
I think our praise we'll discover when we
get to heaven and we really praise Him
as we should.
We will discover that the best praise and
worship and Thanksgiving meeting we had in CFC
was not even a fraction of what real
praise is.
Some of the wonderful times of praise which
we thought we had here were nothing compared
to heaven's praise.
Why does God want it?
He wants it for our sake, to deliver
us from self-centeredness.
It's not that He wants a few more
200 people to say something to Him when
millions of people are praising Him in heaven.
No, for our sake.
God does everything for our sake.
It's with such sacrifices that God is pleased.
So do you want to please God?
And say, Lord, turn my attention away from
myself to you.
That's why Jesus said, you must live your
life in such a way where people see
that you're seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness
first, and all the other things will be
added to you.
Now, all of us are not called to
do it in the same way, but I
believe that our life, in whatever way God
calls you to do it, must be a
living demonstration of the fact that as I
seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first, the
other things will be added to me in
life.
I don't live for those other things.
That's the difference between the worldly person and
the other person and us.
We also eat and drink and we go
to the market to buy clothes and food
and vegetables and meat.
We send our children to school to get
an education.
We look for jobs.
We apply for jobs.
We get jobs.
We have to rent houses or buy houses.
We do so many things that the worldly
people do also.
But in it all, we don't seek those
things first.
That's the point.
It's a question of not what you have
or do, but what are you seeking for?
I mean, the animals also eat and I
also eat, but I don't live for the
same thing that pigs and dogs live for.
I've got bigger goals in life than that.
And there must be a demonstration by our
life to others that if you seek God's
kingdom first, other things will be added to
you.
I know it's written in Matthew 6.33
and we can go around with that verse
and show it to others, but it's much
better when you can demonstrate it by your
life.
When we do things which the world cannot
explain.
I remember about 39 years ago, a little
over 39 years ago, when I put in
my resignation letter from the Indian Navy because
I felt God called me to serve Him.
All my relatives thought I was a fool
and people in the Navy thought I was
a fool.
It was the most foolish thing to do
when you're a young man and you've got
prospects and you're going to live for something,
to dump all that and to leave it
and to give away all your money for
God's work as I did.
I left my job after eight years of
work without a single rupee of saving, giving
it all away for God's work.
It was the most foolish thing to do.
But here I stand today after nearly 40
years to show to the world that if
you live for God and His kingdom, you're
not going to suffer.
No, you may not get those big titles
and honor and position and money that the
world has, but who wants them in any
case?
You live your life for a worthwhile cause.
Is your life demonstrating the fact that you
don't live for this world, you live for
God?
That you don't seek to please men?
I'm sorry, sir, I can't do that.
That's against my conscience.
Is there a testimony in your life that
you will not do something against your conscience?
And I know what it meant for me.
It meant I won't get a promotion.
It meant that I'll have to displease my
senior officer and I won't get the promotion
everybody wants.
It doesn't matter.
I don't live for promotion.
I live to please God.
I hope you've had some experiences like that
in your life.
You may not be called to leave your
job, but I hope you've had some experiences
where you do what is right even though
you lose something earthly.
And that is a testimony that God means
more to you than anything on this earth.
And the more experiences you have like that
in your life, the more you get to
know God, the more your life is a
testimony to people.
They may not agree with you.
They may not believe what you say.
They may not believe in your God.
It doesn't make a difference.
But your life will speak to them forever
and they'll never forget you.
They'll never forget you all your life.
Seek to be one like that.
That's what we have preached for 28 years.
I remember when a few years ago I
met a retired admiral in the Navy at
one of the functions.
Of course he knew me very well and
he said he could never forget more than
35 years ago how I had chucked everything
and gone and he couldn't believe it.
I was amazed when he said that to
me that he had remembered that for 35
years.
He probably didn't remember 101 other things, but
he remembered this that there was one young
man whom he knew 35 years ago.
Chucked everything to serve Jesus Christ.
My brothers and sisters, be a living testimony
to the people in your office, your neighbors,
your relatives that Christ means everything to you.
That you will in whatever way it is,
for example, when people get angry and shout
at you that you don't fight back, that
is a testimony.
Let them say what they like about you.
If you live for the world, you'd fight
back for your rights and your reputation, but
you don't.
Your life is here to please God.
It's not self-centered.
With such sacrifices, God is pleased.
Otherwise, all the words we sing on Sunday
morning are empty words.
There must be actions in our life where
we have sacrificed something for God and proved
to the world that that proves that God
is more important to me than this world.
Sacrificed, as I said, perhaps the opportunity of
a promotion because you stand for the truth
and you will not do what is wrong.
That you will not harm another person, no
matter how much your boss tells you to
harm that person.
I'm sorry, sir, I can't do that.
It's against my conscience.
Very respectfully, in humility, but with conviction.
That's our calling.
That's our sacrifice of praise to God.
The other is in the horizontal direction.
It says here that we're to do good
and share.
We live, particularly in India, in a country
of tremendous need and poverty.
And what an opportunity there is for those
of us whom God has blessed in so
many ways to do good to other people
who are not as fortunate as we are.
And here is where we can see our
self-centeredness, perhaps very clearly, when we think
of ourselves.
I'll never forget reading about John Wesley, that
when he was working in Oxford or somewhere,
he was earning a certain salary before he
became a full-time preacher.
And he lived at a certain standard.
His salary doubled.
He lived at the same standard.
His salary tripled.
He lived at the same standard.
I'm not surprised that God chose that man
to be his servant.
See, he decided that if I can live
simply, I can use a little more of
what I have for God.
Very few people like that.
Don't be surprised that God used John Wesley.
There's no partiality with God.
God is the same.
And he rewards people exactly according to what
he sees.
So it says here, let us do good
and share, for with such sacrifices God is
pleased.
I mean, I think there are very, very
few Christians who have done good and shared
to the extent where it became a sacrifice.
Now, if a man gets 10 lakhs of
rupees in a year, okay?
There are people earning that type of salary
nowadays.
And he gives 1 lakh for God's work.
That's no sacrifice.
I mean, it's good that he gave 1
lakh for God's work.
But if a man lives on 9 lakhs
a year, do you think that's a sacrifice?
I'm not saying that's not commendable.
It's commendable if a man gets 10 lakhs
a year and gives 1 lakh to God.
There are very few people who do that.
But all I'm saying is, it's not a
sacrifice.
But here he is speaking about a sacrifice.
There are very, very few Christians who have
sought to serve others when it has cost
them a lot.
And I'm not talking only about money.
When it has cost them inconvenience, when it
has cost them having to set aside their
own plans, having to give up certain things
that they wanted to do, and inconvenience for
their family.
I mean, they didn't have enough time to
do many things that they wanted to do
because they had to serve other people.
God has given this church elder brothers like
that.
And that is why I say, you got
to appreciate them.
If you appreciate a man just because of
the way he preaches, you might as well
go and listen to the politicians.
They preach better.
God hasn't given many people the gift of
preaching.
Just like in a class, one person can
come first, so what?
But how many people can be good in
that class?
Only one?
Only one can come first, but all can
be good, right?
Okay, there may be only one out of
about 500 people who can preach well.
But what about doing good and sharing and
sacrificing to bless other people and going through
a little inconvenience so that you can bless
others?
Which among us can't do that?
Instead of always moaning, oh, I can't preach,
I can't preach like that brother can do.
You're wasting your time.
The thing you can do, you're not doing.
Dear brothers and sisters, that's how Jesus lived.
The Bible says Jesus went about doing good
and delivering people from the oppression of the
devil.
He didn't deliver people from the oppression of
the devil for 30 years.
That he did after he was anointed.
So if you don't have the gift of
delivering people from Satan, don't worry.
But he did do something in the first
30 years.
He did good.
You think he did good only after he
was 30?
No, he did good all his life.
And that's something even little children can do.
Do good to others.
Do a little sacrifice to give up some
convenience to bless other people.
That shows I'm not self-centered.
You see, if I can sacrifice some of
my own convenience and a little bit of
my health and my energy and my plans
and my own conveniences so that I can
bless and help other people, that is an
indication that this world is not everything.
Animals won't do that.
No.
Most human beings won't do that because they
live at the level of animals.
But a true disciple of Jesus Christ would
do that because that's how his master lived
on earth.
Jesus Christ came to earth not only to
die for our sins, but to demonstrate to
this world how every man should live.
We've preached that for 28 years.
When we say that Jesus came in our
flesh, we're saying that that is how God
wanted every man to live.
It is an example he gave us how
we are supposed to live on the face
of this earth.
And that's why we have spoken so much
through these years to look at the example
of Jesus, to seek to live like him,
to seek to speak to others the way
he spoke, to seek to forgive others the
way he forgave others, to be willing to
do lowly jobs for other people, never to
think that you have become such an important
person that you can't wash somebody's feet.
I want to be willing to wash people's
feet or clean the toilets till the end
of my life, even if I live to
the age of 90.
I don't want to be so big or
so famous that I'm too proud to clean
the toilets or wash somebody's feet or pick
up somebody's chappals and give it to him.
Don't ever get such thoughts.
Jesus was not like that.
He was a servant proving to us that
that's the greatest thing you can ever be
on earth.
The greatest thing you can ever be on
earth is not a king or a president.
It's a servant.
How do I know?
Because that's what Jesus was.
And he was the greatest person that walked
on the earth.
And he has shown me how to live.
And I don't live by the empty standards
of the world that make a man a
director or a king and make him the
great person or a person who is very
clever or intelligent.
Jesus didn't go around showing off his intelligence.
We have a lot of preachers today who
preach in such a way it goes way
above your heads.
I mean, if you put out your hand
also, you can't catch it, what they're trying
to say.
It's so high above your heads.
Jesus never spoke like that.
He spoke in such a way that even
children could understand.
And if you're proud of your intelligence, you're
not like Jesus Christ.
No.
If you're proud of your salary or proud
of anything, Jesus was a servant.
He taught us that is the greatest thing
you can ever be on this earth.
He did good and share and with such
sacrifices, God is pleased.
So as we seek to please God, we
almost always think of these two directions and
see, Lord, in 28 years or as many
number of years as you've been here, listening
to the message, how much have we grown
in these two directions?
In seeking to please God and praise Him
and be centered in God and not in
ourselves?
And how much have we sought to do
good to others and to share what God
has done, to share with others what God
has given us so freely?
You know, we can learn from the Old
Testament and I'll tell you one of the
things we can learn from the Old Testament
is why did God choose the Israelites and
then reject them?
You got my question?
Why did God choose the Israelites and then
reject them?
Because if He is the same today, it's
possible He may choose you and then set
you aside.
Shall I tell you why?
It was for two reasons in a nutshell.
One, they did not seek to glorify God.
And secondly, they did not share with others
what God had given them.
If you can learn those two lessons from
the Old Testament, very important lessons.
Let me show you a verse in the
book of Deuteronomy in chapter 28, verse
47 and 48.
You'll be a slave because you failed to
praise God for all that He gave you.
He gave you a hundred things and because
of that one extra thing He didn't give
you, you complained.
And you spent all your life complaining about
that one prayer that was not answered.
That's the only thing fixed in your mind.
God didn't answer this prayer.
And you forgot the thousand and one things
He already gave you and never praised Him
for that.
Because of your failure to praise God for
all the good things He gave you, you
will be a slave to your enemies.
And that's why God rejected Israel.
God had done so much for them, they
were not grateful to Him.
They were not thankful.
The first step to backsliding is when we
stop giving thanks.
I want to say to you, learn to
give thanks.
I have often recommended to those who complain
about not having enough in their home or
their house is not big enough or my
husband didn't get me a new saree or
daddy and mommy didn't buy me new clothes
or new shoes or that sneakers especially which
I wanted, my parents couldn't afford.
I have one recommendation to all such people.
Take a walk for half an hour through
the slums of Bangalore in the area called
a thousand huts.
Just walk through there for half an hour
and come back home and tell me how
many complaints you have.
Man is a miserably selfish creature and one
of the clearest marks of his selfishness is
that he's not thankful to God for what
God has given him.
Even though he's got a thousand things more
than people sitting living one mile away from
him, he doesn't think about that.
He thinks about that one thing God did
not give, that one prayer God did not
answer.
And our children grow up to be like
that.
Children are tremendously ungrateful to their parents for
what all the parents have sacrificed for them.
When the parents are very conscious of that,
I want to ask the parents whether you
are thankful to God, your creator, for all
that he's done for you.
I'm sure you can see very clearly how
ungrateful your children are.
I hope you can see equally clearly, equally
clearly how ungrateful you have been to God
for all that he's done for you.
The one mark of spiritual growth is that
complaining disappears from our life because we are
more aware of his goodness and if there
are one or two things God did not
give us, we can be absolutely sure that
it is for our good that he didn't
give it to us.
That's the mark of a mature Christian.
Some things we don't give our children.
You don't give a knife into the hand
of a one-year-old.
You don't give a 500 rupee note into
the hand of a two-year-old.
A knife and a 500 rupee note are
good things, but you don't give it to
your children no matter how much they cry.
And when God withholds some things from us,
it is for our good.
We've learned to know that.
We thank him and praise him for withholding
things from us.
We not only thank and praise God for
what he has given us, the mature Christian
has learned to thank and praise God for
what he has given us.
We thank God for what he didn't give
us.
Have you ever thanked God for what he
did not give you?
Have you ever thanked God for the prayers
he did not answer?
For the job you did not get selected
for?
For the college you did not get admission
in?
For the person you could not marry?
Have you ever given thanks to God for
these things?
Or it's only for the things we give.
We must move on to see God as
a good God who has, we praise him
for all things.
And that's why the mature Christian filled with
the Holy Spirit has learned to give thanks
for everything.
In everything, for everything and for everyone.
Because our Father controls the universe.
And we have learned that.
And we praise him and thank him.
It's a sacrifice in the beginning, but after
a while it's not a sacrifice at all.
It's enjoyable.
That's how God wants our life to be.
He has planned everything for our good.
Let's learn to thank him for the abundance
of all things.
What a verse.
Verse 47.
The abundance of all things.
And I think all of us have to
say through the years.
I've observed that.
Not only in CFC here, but in all
of our churches.
That everybody who has come to the churches,
to our church and has honored God.
It has gone well with them, even materially.
I mean, you may have thought it was
your own cleverness or something.
If you are foolish to think like that,
I feel sorry for you.
But it was not your cleverness, my brother,
sister.
You could have been paralyzed ten years ago
and you would not be earning what you
are earning today.
It's been God's goodness to you and to
your children.
And don't ever, ever, ever forget that.
We have had an abundance of all things,
even materially.
And if we are not thankful for those
things, then we don't grow.
I mean, God is sad.
And I want to say this, that as
we think of all these 28 years that
God has provided for us, that encourages us
as we look into the future.
I don't know what difficult days are coming
in India.
But how can I have faith in the
future?
One, through God's word.
And secondly, through our own experience in the
past.
Turn to this song.
I just want to read.
I am not going to sing it.
We are just going to read this word
in hymn number 308 in this book.
It's a very lovely hymn.
I just want to read a few verses.
Particularly verse 3 of hymn number 308.
His love in time past forbids me to
think.
He'll leave me at last in trouble to
sink.
How do you know that you won't sink
in the future?
Well, one, God's word.
Secondly, He has not allowed me to sink
for 28 years.
You know, they boasted about the Titanic, that
it is the one unsinkable ship.
And it sank on its first voyage.
Somebody said, even God Almighty cannot sink this
ship.
When somebody says something like that, you can
be pretty sure it will sink in its
first voyage.
But there is one ship that will never
sink.
And that is the church.
Never.
And the devil and all his hosts are
not going to sink.
A church built on the foundation of Jesus
Christ.
Particularly a church, not perfect church, but a
church that is trying to please God.
I hope we are a church like that.
That's what we want to be.
Even more in the days to come.
And there, each of us has a part
to play in it.
It's not just one person who determines whether
the church is going to please God.
You are a part of that.
You know, one little finger.
If you get a terrible infection in your
finger, it can be so bad that you
may have to take leave from your work
and lie down in bed because of this
tremendous pain in one little finger.
That's how a body is.
And you may be just a little finger.
And you can cause a lot of pain
to the whole body.
Because we are sought to be a body.
We want to please God.
Every part of this body wants to please
God.
So his love in time past prevents me
from thinking, even thinking, that at last he
will leave me.
You know, like somebody carrying me across the
river and halfway says, Oh, I'm fed up
with you.
I'm going to leave you.
No, he's not going to dump me halfway.
He's going to carry me through.
Each sweet Ebenezer.
Ebenezer means a stone of help.
God has helped me in the time past.
I have in review, confirms to me his
good pleasure to carry me through.
Since all that I need shall work for
my good.
The bitter is sweet.
The medicine is food, though painful at present,
will seize before long.
And then, oh, how pleasant the conqueror's song.
Verse two, if dark be my way, since
he is my guide, it is mine to
obey.
It is his to provide.
And though the cisterns may be broken and
creatures means a fellow human beings may fail.
The word he has spoken will surely prevail.
Song 307, verse one, similar vein, though troubles
assail and dangers affright, though friends should all
fail and foes all unite, yet one thing
secures us, whatever be tide, the scripture assures
us, the Lord will provide.
Two beautiful songs, those two songs.
I just want to say that the Lord
has provided for us in amazing ways in
these 28 years.
And I believe he's going to carry us
through.
So, if we can improve in these two
areas and say, Lord, make me more like
Jesus.
To live more for the things of God
and less for the things of myself.
And God will take care of the things
concerning you.
That this year, as we look towards the
future, is going to be a year of
greater sacrifice to stand up for our convictions,
greater sacrifice to live to please God and
not just ourselves.
We're going to factor God into every situation.
We're going to factor God into all our
plans for the future.
And secondly, that we're also going to think
of others a little more.
Others, Lord, yes, others, let this my motto
be.
Help me to live for others that I
might live like thee.
Do you know that Jesus would never have
come to this earth if it were not
for others?
Was there any reason for Jesus to come
to this earth?
To get something for himself?
Did he want some more money to take
back to heaven?
Did he come here to get some honor
from some people to take back to heaven?
What did he come to earth for?
Was there a single thing he wanted from
this earth?
Tell me.
Try and think of a single thing he
wanted from this earth other than you and
me.
Nothing.
I think we have all said we want
to be disciples of Jesus.
Those can be empty words if your ambition
is not the same.
I think I can honestly say to God
that I don't want a single thing on
this earth.
If I can live for the glory of
God and bless other people.
I'm not saying that now when all my
children are grown up and working and I'm
nearly 64 years old.
I said that when I was 21.
I said, Lord, I don't want to live
for this earth.
Not at all.
It's not worth it.
I'm thankful that I understood it then so
that I lived a worthwhile life.
Now I want to say to all of
you young people.
If you can be gripped by this in
your early 20s and determine no matter what
the cost, no matter how much other Christians
around you are backslidden.
No matter even if other young people around
you in CFC are backslidden.
You hold to this vision.
I will not live for myself.
I will live for God.
Never mind even if your parents are backslidden.
Don't judge them.
Don't criticize them.
Take your eyes off them and fix them
on Jesus and say, Lord, I want to
live for you.
I don't want to speak words that are
empty.
I want to be a disciple.
You know, one of my greatest ambitions, in
addition to pleasing God, has been to get
this commendation from Jesus Christ.
Of course, we all want a commendation when
Christ comes again.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
We all want that.
But there's another thing which I wanted on
this earth before I reach heaven.
And that's not the commendation.
Oh, you are perfect.
I will never get that.
I know that.
Oh, you are so holy.
I don't know whether God can say that
about me.
But there's another commendation which everyone sitting here
can have today.
Not tomorrow.
You don't have to wait 10 years for
this.
Today.
It's an easy thing if you want it.
That commendation is the commendation that Jesus gave
to Nathanael in John chapter 1 and verse
47.
Jesus looked at Nathanael and said, Here is
an Israelite in whom there is no guile.
Or as the Living Bible says, Here comes
an honest man.
You can't get a commendation, Here comes a
perfect man or a perfect woman.
Here comes a holy man or a holy
woman.
Here comes a perfectly loving man or loving
woman.
Okay, that will take years.
What about an honest man, honest woman?
How long does it take to get that
commendation?
Supposing you are the filthiest sinner in Bangalore.
Okay?
And you happen to be here this morning.
You are welcome.
I hope you'll come again.
Please come as often as you can.
This is the place where you can be
healed.
Supposing you are the worst sinner in Bangalore.
Can such a person be honest or not?
What do you think?
Does it take 10 years to be honest?
Today, sitting here, he or she can say,
I am the worst sinner in Bangalore.
God says, There is an honest man.
There is an honest woman.
I want to tell you, my brothers and
sisters, that is the commendation that I have
sought for from God here on this earth
every day.
Let me take 50 years for me to
be perfect.
Let me take years to get victory over
some sin.
But I want to be an honest man.
And I'll tell you something.
My experience in the past 28 years in
CFC.
There are some brothers in our midst who
are very radical.
They do a lot of things for the
church.
But they are not so honest.
And there are others who are not so
victorious.
They are defeated.
But they are honest.
And I personally have found more fellowship with
those less radical but honest people than these
so-called radical people who are doing so
many things in the church but who tell
lies.
My greatest difficulty has been with brothers and
sisters who tell one lie, which is not
true.
I find it impossible to fellowship with them
because the devil is the father of lies.
I have found very easy to fellowship with
sinners who are honest.
Because God finds it easy to fellowship with
sinners who are honest.
Take it for what it is worth.
If you have found it difficult to fellowship
with me, it's because you are not an
honest person.
And you imagine that you have fellowship with
God.
You don't.
I want to say to you something my
dear brothers and sisters.
We don't see ourselves as we really can.
As we really should rather.
You think you are a wonderful person.
You are not.
Let me tell you.
I'm sorry to disappoint you.
But you are not.
Pray this prayer.
I've prayed it.
Lord, help me to see myself as you
see me.
Not as I see myself.
We all see ourselves as pretty spiritual, right?
Don't you think you are quite a spiritual
person?
Just ask God to give you a revelation
of yourself.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13,
I don't see myself clearly.
I see through a glass darkly.
One day I will know myself as God
knows me.
That's what he said at the end of
1 Corinthians 13.
When I look into my face, it's not
a clear mirror.
How many of you have the honesty to
acknowledge that you don't see yourself clearly?
You are not as spiritual as you think
you are.
I fall down many times on my face
before God and say, God, I may be
fooling myself.
I may not be as spiritual as I
think I am.
I'm not.
Please show me.
Give me light on myself.
And I'll tell you something.
Sometimes God gives us light directly.
Sometimes he gives us light through other godly
men.
Are you willing?
Or you say, no, no, no, no.
I don't want any godly men.
I get light only from God.
Well, you just live in deception.
You are doomed to a life of self
-deception.
I thank God for the church where I
can get light on myself, to see my
self-centeredness, to see where I'm not centered
in God, where I'm not seeking to do
good to others and share.
I thank God for godly brothers in my
life who have helped me to see myself
a little more clearly.
And God tests us.
He didn't come to David and say, you
are the man.
He sent Nathan, the prophet, to tell David,
you are the man.
David could have rejected him.
Many times you read in the Old Testament,
God sent a prophet to a king.
God never came himself.
He sent a prophet to a king and
said, this is what you are like.
The king wouldn't listen.
He was absolutely convinced that he was okay.
God said, okay, go your way.
And you see the fate of those kings?
Yeah.
The second reason why God rejected Israel was
they never sought to bless other people with
what God had given them.
One was they were not thankful to God.
And the other, they didn't seek to bless
the rest of the world.
They thought, we are the only ones whom
God has chosen.
We are the ones whom God is going
to bless.
And when our church becomes like that, God
is going to not be here.
God has placed us to bless others.
And I thank God, particularly in the last
few years, how God has given us that
opportunity.
You may not all travel.
You see, the heart and the liver do
a lot of things which make the hands
work.
So we work as a body.
And it may be only some who have
the opportunity to go here and there.
But as a church, we seek to be
a blessing to other people.
And we want to be even a much
greater blessing to the rest of India and
to the rest of the world in the
days to come.
Let's pray.
Let's bow our heads before God.
I want to grow spiritually.
Please help me, Lord.
I am a needy person.
Perhaps I am the greatest sinner in Bangalore.
And I don't know it.
God, help me to see it.
Perhaps He was speaking about me.
It's me, Lord.
Not my brother, not my sister.
It's me.
Lord, help us to come before you in
brokenness, because the broken and contrite spirit and
heart, you will not despise.
You will revive.
And we all want to be revived.
Thank you, Lord.
We want to praise you with all of
our heart for your tremendous goodness, the abundance
of good things that you have given us,
that we can give thanks to you and
use them to bless other people.
In Jesus' name, Amen.