Chapter 1

The Origin Of Evil

Let us consider one of the greatest mysteries in the world that people have tried hard to understand: The mystery of evil. How did evil begin in a world that was created by a perfectly good God Who is full of wisdom? Why has God permitted evil to exist and to spread so much? Why does evil have the upper hand in every part of the world? Why is there so much sickness, poverty, and sorrow? Isn't God interested in helping us?

There is an answer to this question of why God has allowed evil to exist. Is it because God could not control it? Very often we find people suffering in so many ways in different parts of the world, and our hearts are moved - how much more the heart of God, Who is full of compassion?

Before we proceed further, we need to understand that our human reasoning cannot tell us what God is really like. A dog cannot understand a human being because a human being is higher in the levels of creation than a dog. In the same way, we cannot understand God. If a dog is to understand a human being, it must be taught human commands by the human being himself. Likewise, if we use our mind to understand God, it would be as foolish as a dog trying to understand a human being; it's impossible. We must instead allow God to reveal Himself to us. That's what we read in the Bible: God has revealed Himself to us in His Word. In the Bible, we read of a God who is interested in a personal relationship with every single human being on the face of the earth. He's intensely, deeply interested in every single detail in our life. God is full of wisdom; He's Almighty, All-Powerful, All-knowing; He knows the future, and has total control of the whole universe - not only this earth, but the whole universe with its millions of stars. God is infinitely pure; we cannot understand His purity. He's also infinitely loving; full of love, full of goodness. God's love is totally unselfish. Very often, the love that we see on earth is a selfish love, but not God's love. His love is totally unselfish. Right from the beginning when He created Man, God wanted to share His joy and happiness with others, and with us. That's why He created living beings. Before He created man and the human race, we read in the Bible that God created millions of angels. Long before He created human beings, He created the angels. And His purpose in creating them was that He might share His happiness and His glory with created beings who obeyed His commands. This principle was put into place by God long ages ago.

But when we consider the angels and the human race, God created them with a free will. In other words, unlike the planets, stars, plants, and trees, God created the angels and the human race with a freedom to choose whether we wanted to obey God or not; whether we would obey Him or not. The plants grow, and naturally obey the laws of nature which God has put into them. They don't have freedom to choose to disobey. This is why a star, or planet, or tree, or plant can never become evil because they have no freedom of choice. And though trees and plants may do us a lot of good because God has created them to be useful, they cannot do good out of their own voluntary choice. A planet, star, or tree cannot do any good out of its own choice. A tree grows according to certain laws of nature built into it, and thus, has no choice. So, we can conclude that these beings which have no choice; these parts of creation - the stars, planets, and trees, etc – cannot do good or evil. They're like programmed robots. If you had a computerised robot in your home, you could program it to pick up your slippers and do many other things. The robot could bring in the newspaper, perhaps even make a cup of coffee. There are several things you could program a robot to do. But the robot would not have any feelings of its own. It would never disobey you if you programmed it correctly; it would do every single thing that you ever wanted it to do. God could have made man like that robot, where we would never do anything wrong, but would automatically, blindly, and dumbly as it were, obey God in everything. But God never wanted a race of people like that. They could never be His children. Robots could never be our children even though they obey. Any father would say, “I'd rather have a naughty, disobedient son of my own than an obedient robot.” It is the same with God. Do you know how robots and machines bring no joy to a childless couple? Do you know why human fathers would rather have a disobedient son than an obedient robot? Because we are made in the likeness of God, we have something of God's nature in us. Married couples long to have children. They're never happy with obedient machines, they want children. And there we see the heart of God: God's also interested in children. Our children can turn out to be disobedient, and can bring a lot of sorrow to our hearts. And there we understand why God created the angels and human beings with a free will, unlike the stars and planets. This is the first thing that we need to understand: Free will is the first essential for one to be a moral being. And if we don't have free will, we cannot become moral beings. And the second essential is a conscience; something within us that tells us what is right and wrong.

Let us consider birds and animals, they also have a free will - they are better than trees and stars in their ability to choose. A dog can choose to obey or disobey. But they are not moral beings; they have no sense of morality because they don't have a conscience. Though they have free will, they don't have a conscience. But we as humans have the two essentials necessary for morality: we have a free will and a conscience. The lack of these two essentials is why birds and animals can never become sinful or holy, or become children of God. A dog cannot be a child of God because it doesn't have a conscience. You can train a dog over a period of time, and teach it certain things it should do or not do, but the resulting obedience is not because of an inbuilt conscience but because of external training. This training is similar to teaching a computer by programming it to do certain things a certain way.

But when we consider the human race, we have a conscience. Before the human race was created God made all the angels. He created millions of angels, all with a free will. Among the angels, there was one who was the leader. His name was Lucifer. The Bible says, in Ezekiel 28:12-15, that he was created perfect in wisdom and beauty, and given a high position. But gradually he began to have thoughts and ambitions in his mind that were not good. How did that happen? Because he had a free will, and that's where evil first began in this universe.

Not only were Lucifer's thoughts evil; they were also proud and rebellious thoughts of discontent with the lot that God had appointed for him. Until then, the universe was perfectly pure, but now, evil had lifted up its head in the heart of an angel God had created. That is how evil came into the world. Initially this evil that was in the heart of Lucifer the angel did not manifest itself externally in any way. Evil always begins in the heart. Even a murder is planned by a man in his heart, and from the heart it goes out into action; that's how it was with Lucifer too. But as soon as this evil came up in his heart, God could see it. God can see into a person's heart, and God cast out Lucifer from His presence. So there we learn something: God hates evil. But when He created a moral being, He had to give that moral being a free will. There is the origin of evil.

But there is a solution that God has made through Jesus Christ, and we want to consider that in greater detail. Let us remember this about evil; that it is not outside of God's control. Evil is something God knew was coming, yet He permitted it, He accepted it, and He has provided a solution for it. That solution is in Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2

God Makes Evil Work For Good

We want to look at a very important question. If evil originated with the fall of Lucifer, the head of the angels, why didn't God destroy it immediately? God could have done that. If Satan is the cause of all the evil in the world, why doesn't God destroy Satan? Why doesn't He destroy all the demons, so that we would not be harassed by them? Why should people suffer in so many ways?

If God does not do that, we can be certainly sure that He has a very good purpose. There are many things about God that we cannot fully understand. God's wisdom is like that of an ocean, and our mind is like a little cup; it can contain just a little bit of the water of the ocean. So we can understand a little bit, but we can't understand it fully. And with that little bit, with that little intelligence and understanding that God has given us, we can understand a little bit of the reason why God has not destroyed Satan; why God permits life on earth to be so difficult, so insecure, so dangerous in so many ways.

One reason is, if God had made life on earth extremely comfortable and easy, people would not think of eternity. Man was not created only for his short life on earth. Even if you live a hundred years on this earth, that is a very short period compared to eternity. Plants and animals do not exist eternally. But when God created man, He created man to be a creature of eternity; to live endlessly. His body may perish on earth, after he has lived, say, 70, 80 or 100 years, but, that soul within him is eternal; it will never, never die. Once you are born, that soul never dies; it exists eternally. It is important for you to understand that.

One thing we can be sure is that God, in His infinite wisdom, has permitted life on earth to be difficult, so that people think about Him. Even the problems, the sicknesses, the trials and difficulties that Satan and evil spirits bring into your life are permitted by a loving God to make you turn to Him. In that way, even those trials and difficulties are an expression of God's love for you. See, God is so powerful and so almighty that He can make even evil work for the fulfilment of His purposes. Now, we can't understand that. We can only think that good is good and evil is evil, and only good things can further God's purposes. No, God is so almighty that He can make evil work to further the purposes of good for us as human beings.

Let me give you an example. In fact, this is the whole message of the Bible - how God uses Satan and evil spirits to further His purposes. That is why He does not destroy them. All the evil that is going on in the world, we will discover finally, that they fulfilled God's purposes in some wonderful way. God did not create evil. But when the angels and man decided to be evil, God decided to use it to further His purposes. And there we see something of the almighty power of God. When we see that, our own faith is strengthened, and we discover that we are not afraid of evil anymore, as God can make it to work for our good.

I heard a story of a businessman, who had been very close to God at one time. But, over a period of time, he drifted away from God as his business prospered. He was going to a Christian church, and the elders in that church tried speaking to him repeatedly to turn him back to faith in God, to surrender his life to Christ again. But he was too occupied in his business. He didn't have time anymore to come for meetings even on Sundays. His business was prospering. Then one day, a poisonous snake bit the youngest of his three sons, and the child became seriously sick. When the doctors gave up all hope, the father was really worried. He sent for one of the elders of the church to pray for the child. The elder was a wise man. He came and prayed like this: ‘Lord, thank you for sending this snake to bite this child, because I tried for six years to get his family to think about You, and I never succeeded. But what I couldn't do in six years, this snake has done in a moment, it has been more successful. Now that they have learnt the lesson, Lord, heal this child and grant that this family will never need any more snakes to remind them of You again.’

Now do you think a snake bite is good or evil? All of us would agree it is evil, definitely. But in this particular family's case, did God use it for good? He certainly did. That family was drifting away from God and they would have destroyed their lives in the pursuit of money. But it was through a snake (that did something evil) biting one of their sons made them turn back to God, so their life could be spiritually blessed; they could live for eternity's values. This is an example of how God uses evil to accomplish good. If there were no snakes in the world, there would be no snake to bite that child, and they probably would have destroyed themselves eternally. So we see how God used an evil thing like a snake. And, very often, it is the same with sickness. There are people who don't think about God at all in their life, until one day, they are suddenly taken to hospital with cancer or some other serious sickness. All of a sudden, these people who have never thought about God for forty years suddenly start thinking about God.

First of all, we need to establish one thing: is it a good thing to think about God or not? Certainly it is. A man who lives without God in his life lives without meaning and purpose. He may make a lot of money, but ultimately, he will die frustrated. He will die with emptiness. God has created us in such a way that He is the most important factor in our lives and if we don't think about Him, we miss the meaning and purpose of life altogether. So, if a man lives for 40 or 50 years without thinking about God, and then he gets cancer, and he begins to think about God and turns to Him, would that cancer be good or bad? Of course, if you look at cancer by itself, all of us would say cancer is evil. Sure, but there are examples of how God has used cancer to make people turn to Him. How is it that even though the cancer itself was evil, it was used for a good purpose, just like the snake?

One day we will discover the full story of every man's life, when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth. When we stand before Him and we see all the people who have lived on this earth from the very beginning, from the very first man, and we hear their stories, we will see that God used many things to turn people away from a sinful life towards heaven; incurable diseases, sicknesses, wild animals, snakes, even poverty and suffering and many other evils were used by God to get people to turn away from their sins towards heaven, and thus to find an eternal home in heaven. So we see, through all these examples, how God uses these evil things that Satan does to save people from Satan's clutches. There is a man living for the devil, doomed to an eternal destiny in hell, away from God, and Satan is working on him. Then through some of the evil things like sickness, the man turns to God. So we see that God uses the very things that Satan brings into the world - evil to deliver people from Satan's clutches and to bring them into eternal salvation. There we see the wonderful way in which God works His almighty power. We can also say that thus God makes fool of Satan again and again. This is the wonderful message of the Bible. The Bible says that Jesus Christ came to undo the works of Satan in 1 John 3:8.

We can say that we all started off life with a ball of string neatly rolled up. But through the years, we have ended with that string tied up into ten thousand or even ten million knots. Now, as we look at this ball of string, we are frustrated, we are discouraged, we are wondering what we can do? Then comes to us this wonderful message of the Bible - Jesus Christ can untie every knot. I don't know with how many knots you have got your life tied into, my friend, but I want to tell you the good news - Jesus can untie every single knot. He can give you back a whole roll of new string with your whole life just as though you were born now, and you can start life all over again, if you turn to Jesus Christ, call upon His name, and say, 'Lord Jesus, you came to destroy the works of the devil, destroy those works in my life. Amen.'

Chapter 3

The Power Of Choice

What is sin? People talk about sin, but they don't very often understand what it is. When we realize that sin is what makes us distant from God, it is important that we understand it.

Why do some men often behave like animals? Don't you feel sometimes that perhaps you yourself, your behaviour - if you are honest - is just like that of an animal? The way some human beings behave towards each another is the way dogs bare their teeth at one another. What is the answer? Such people are interested only in their bodily needs and their earthly existence – and not in the things related to God and eternity.

What is an animal interested in? An animal has no spiritual values. There is no animal in this world who thinks about God. You never find a religious monkey or a religious dog kneeling down anywhere or doing any such thing, any act of worship. But when it comes to man, even out there in the jungles, barbarians, who know nothing about any religion, who have never been educated, they have a sense that there is a god whom they have displeased in some way. And that is why they make sacrifices. Maybe they worship the sun or a tree, or something else, some created thing. Man has that sense that they are answerable to some supreme being. Now no animal has that.

What is an animal interested in then? Food, sleep, sexual satisfaction, taking care of its little ones and that is all. You see animals with their head always bent down to the earth. They are all interested in the things of earth. There is no future for them. When they die they become dust; that is all. But man is created primarily to be a child of God. We have a body of course. We need food, God has created us with sexual desire, and we need to sleep. All these things are okay. There is nothing wrong with any of these provided they are fulfilled in legitimate ways. If we are hungry we shouldn't steal in order to eat food. There are legitimate ways of earning our living. It is proper to sleep, but not to sleep when you are on duty and doing something important. In the same way with sexual satisfaction, God has ordained marriage for the fulfilment of that. There are lawful ways in which God has planned for man to fulfil these legitimate needs of food, sleep, and sexual satisfaction.

Now animals don't think like that. They have no laws. They try to fulfil these longings in any way possible. Even if it means fighting with other animals and tearing them to pieces, it doesn't make a difference. When a man behaves like that, we can say that he is reduced to the level of an animal. When man has no spiritual values and he is only interested in earthly things, we can say he has descended to the level of the animals. But God didn't create us to be like that. He has created us to be like Him - moral, upright, with character and self-control - and not to be a slave to animal passions. I mean the mere fact that we, as human beings, are cleverer than animals; that we are educated and we can solve mathematical problems, unlike a dog or a monkey doesn't make us necessarily better than them. I mean there is a lot of difference between being cleverer and being better than them. Because we find that even clever educated people are often slaves to greed, sexual lust, anger, bitterness, and selfishness. And very often their behaviour, in spite of their being PhDs and intelligent and clever, is exactly like that of animals. Do you know why? Because they haven't dealt with the most important problem in their life; and that is sin.

There is a part of us that is much deeper than our mind. Many people think that man is just body and mind or body and soul, with the soul consisting of our mind, our emotions, and our personality. No, man is deeper than that. There is a part of man which is much deeper than the soul. That is what the Bible calls our spirit. Our spirit is what makes us aware of the fact that there is a God. No animal has it. So all the chaos, confusion, diseases, and evil in this world, are the direct result of man disobeying God; ignoring what His spirit is prompting him to hear - the voice of God; ignoring that, and listening to the devil.

Now in an earlier study we considered that God gave man a free will. If we didn't have freedom of choice, as I said in that study, we would be like robots. We would obey God automatically like a robot obeys, but we could never become children of God. A robot cannot be your child. God took that risk, we can say, of the possibility of man disobeying Him, of bringing chaos and confusion into this world, by disobeying Him and listening to the devil, being deceived by the devil. But He was willing to take that risk because He wanted children. He wanted those who would obey Him out of voluntary choice freely, not out of compulsion. The first man and woman that God created, Adam and Eve, they were created innocent. And they had to make a choice, if they wanted to be holy. They had the freedom of will and, in order to make that choice, they had to be tempted.

How do you know, for example, whether your child will obey you if you put him in a room with freedom to do whatever he wants to? Supposing you are going away from home and you tell your son, your little boy, 'You can do anything you like till we come back,' you will never discover whether your son is obedient or not. If you want to find out whether your son is obedient or not, you should say something like this: 'well, you can do anything you like in this house except one thing. You should not open that tin of biscuits and eat any biscuit while daddy and mommy are away.' When you make one restriction like that, you can at least find out whether he is obedient. He can do anything; he can play, he can read books, he can do anything. But there is one thing you have told him not to do. When you come back and see that he has done that one thing which you told him not to, you discover that he is obedient or not. That is why temptation is necessary for man to prove his obedience; for man to make a choice and say, 'I say no to something and yes to God.'

When God created Adam and Eve, we read in the Bible, that He placed them in a garden and they could eat of any tree in that garden. There were beautiful trees with plenty of good fruit, and God said you can eat anything. It is like you telling your son you can do anything you like, except one thing. And that is what God told Adam and Eve too. 'There is one thing I don't want you to do: there is one particular tree here which I don't want you to eat of.' It wasn't very difficult. There were a thousand other trees which had excellent fruit, which they could have gone to. There was another tree called the tree of life, which they could have gone to also. It was not that God planted one thousand trees and told them that they were not to eat from 999 of them and they could only eat from one. Then we could say that that would have been tough. I mean, if you left your son at home and told him 999 things he could not do, he probably wouldn't even remember them. If you just allowed him to do only one thing, it would have been difficult. But it wasn't like that. You left your son at home saying he could do anything he liked, except one thing he should not do. In the same way, God told Adam and Eve that there was only one tree that they should not eat of.

There we see the purpose of temptation. It is for man to become holy. As he says no to that temptation he could become holy. But, on the other hand, if he says yes to that temptation then he would sin. That choice was necessary. We already saw the reason for freedom of choice. We read about this temptation that Adam and Eve had to face, and the results in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 2 and 3.

Now there is a lot of difference between being innocent and being holy. Innocence is what you see in a baby. You know that a baby is ignorant of good and evil, neither holy nor perfect. But if a little baby, as it grows up, has to become a man of character, it has to make choices. Adam, though he was physically like a grown man, was in a sense like a baby. He was innocent and he had to make a choice of refusing evil and choosing God in order to become a mature, spiritual man, which is what God wanted him to be. There we understand the reason why God permits us to be tempted with our passions, with things that we know are wrong, and why God allows Satan to come and tempt us. When we refuse to yield to temptation in our minds, you know what happens? Every time you say no to a temptation, you are developing character. The type of person you are today is the net result of all the decisions that you have made in your life so far. If others around you are better, it is because they made better choices, and if you are evil, it is because the choices you made were evil.

We can't do anything about our past, but we can do something about the future. It is sin to choose evil, and holiness to choose God. Jesus has come to show us this, so that we can know what is good for us. He has not only come to show us what is right, He has come also to help us. Will you pray a little prayer right now, and say, 'Lord, I can't do anything about the past years of my life, but I want to do something about the future. I want to choose what will please you. Lord Jesus, help me.' He will help you.

Chapter 4

Sin Comes From Unbelief

'Sin,' what is it? Every religion in the world uses the word 'sin'. But, I think, it is true to say that in the minds of many human beings, who are religious, there is no understanding of what it is. Even those who read the Bible, if you ask them, 'What is sin, really,' they don't understand. Just as when we understand the sickness, we can find the cure, so do we when we understand sin.

The Bible speaks about how the first man and woman, whom God created, sinned. Essentially, they sinned because they did not believe that God was a good God, who loved them, who gave commands for their good. God had placed them in a garden where He told them they could eat anything; they could do anything except one thing - they were not to eat of a particular tree. There God wanted to test their obedience. And not only to test their obedience but also to give them an opportunity to choose what was right; to say no to what was wrong, and thereby develop character. We read in Genesis 3 how that Satan came into that garden and tempted Adam and Eve to do what God told them not to. He tempted them by telling them that they could get certain advantages if they ate of that tree. They were told they would be like God - 'you will develop your personality.'

That is how Satan always comes. When Satan tempts people to do something wrong, he never tells them about the consequences. When Satan tempts a person to take his first alcoholic drink, he does not tell him how he will finally become enslaved to alcoholic drinks; become a drunkard, waste his money, destroy his family, bring poverty into his home, and how his wife and children will suffer. He doesn't tell him all that. He just says, 'You will get a kick out of it.' When he tempts some young person to take drugs, he doesn't tell that person how finally he will destroy his mind, destroy his life. He will probably have a premature death, he will lose all his money, he will probably become a thief finally because he would want more and more money with his insatiable craving for drugs. The devil won't tell him all that. He will just tell him how he is going to enjoy himself if he takes a little of these forbidden drugs and that he will get a kick out of it.

It was exactly like that when Satan came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There we have an example of how he comes to all human beings today, telling them what they can gain. When he tells a man to steal, he doesn't tell him about all the potential dangers; about how he could be locked up in jail, he could have children grow up following his example and be thieves, etc. No, he just tells of that immediate prospect of gaining some money. In the same way with adultery, Satan doesn't tell people about the consequences, but only the immediate pleasure. Remember this thing: whenever you are tempted, temptation always offers a certain forbidden pleasure. But if you are sensible, you will think of the consequences. A sensible man always thinks about the future, not just about the immediate present. He thinks what is going to be the result of my action? And if you think about the results of your action, there are many things you will not do.

Animals don't normally think about the results of their actions, though some animals do. There are many animals which are sensible, more sensible than human beings. But very often animals don't know the consequences of their actions, but we do. We have seen around us so many examples of people who have destroyed themselves by wrong actions. Adam and Eve took a very important decision that day that produced lifelong consequences, not only for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren and all their descendants. From that we should learn one thing, that all the decisions we take in life produce consequences; we have to reap what we sow. That is what the Bible says. Many a times, it is not only we who will have to suffer, our children also will have to reap what we sow. The same works the other way too. If you sow what is good, your children are going to reap the good fruit of what you sow.

In Adam's case, he and his wife were sent out of God's presence from that garden for the rest of their lives. So don't think that the little choices that you make in your life are unimportant, and that you will never reap a harvest in your future of what you are sowing today. It is not true. I mean, the devil will blind you and make you think that such things will not happen. But they will. We considered in an earlier study as to why does God want us to be tempted? - So that our character may develop. He doesn't want robots. He doesn't want inanimate beings that just go automatically according to certain laws of nature. He wants us to be moral beings that choose to do what is good. That is the only way we can be children of God. There is no virtue in choosing what is good unless there is an alternative choice which is also attractive.

See, when Adam and Eve were put into that garden, if God had made that forbidden tree ugly, repulsive, full of thorns and thistles, and in every way hideous, would Adam and Eve ever have been tempted to go near it? But we read in the Bible that the tree was very attractive. It made Adam and Eve's mouths water; they longed to eat of it. Temptation has to be attractive for it to be a temptation. Otherwise, it is not temptation. If you find something in the world unattractive, you will never be tempted by it. Character is developed through temptation that is attractive and yet which you know is wrong and you are resisting and saying no to it. That is what it is to be a moral being.

That is why God has allowed many things in the world to be attractive. Some of those things are forbidden, for example, an attractive woman who is not your wife. You are not to lust after her, you are not to admire her beauty. It will destroy you. It will destroy your marriage relationship. Money is attractive, but if you place money above God and pursue after money to the exclusion of God - like many people do - your life will be destroyed. So everything we do, every decision we take is like sowing a seed from that comes the harvest.

Now let us look at the sin of Adam and Eve. God loved them. He gave them their bodies, gave them health, gave them life, gave them a garden, and gave them each other. They should have thought, 'Well, God is so good. He will give everything good for us. If he forbids us from partaking something, it must be with a very good reason.' If they had that faith, they would not have gone astray. But they lost faith in God. They did not believe that God was good when Satan told them that God did not want them to be like Him: 'There is some reason why He did not allow you to eat from this tree; He doesn't want you to develop.' They believed that lie, and it is when people believe the lie of Satan that they fall into sin.

Sin begins with unbelief in the perfect love of God. That leads to disobedience. That is why, in the Bible, faith in God and obedience to his commandments are linked always close together. And unbelief and disobedience to God's commandments also go together. Disobedience is the fruit of unbelief, just like obedience is the fruit of faith. If I believe, for example, that everything that God has forbidden will harm me, I will be very happy to avoid all of them. Why? Because I believe that God is a good God. And whatever God tells me to do, if I believe that it is really for my good, I would obey. So, when I don't have faith in God's love, I sin. That is unbelief which leads to sin.

Consider our children, for example, when we tell them to go to school. When they are small, say, 4 or 5 years old, they are not eager to go to school; we have to force them. And sometimes they go weeping to school, perhaps thinking that daddy and mommy are so hard; they are forcing me to go to school; they don't allow me to sit at home and play. But we know what is good for them. They don't know what is good for them. One day, when they grow up, they will realise that what daddy and mommy forced them to do was good for them. In the same way, if we can believe in God, we will realise that everything He tells us is for our good and then we will do it. So the first step to God is faith, and then comes obedience. That is what we see in the New Testament. In The New Testament, salvation comes by faith. You must believe in God, believe that He is good, that He is kind, that He is interested in you. Sin is unbelief. You don't believe that God is good, and therefore you do the things which He tells you not to do; the things He tells you to avoid through the conscience within you. You don't obey in the things which He tells you to obey. Why? - Because you don't believe.

We can also say that 'sin' is choosing created things; ourselves, and our ways above God, instead of God's way; seeking to please ourselves instead of pleasing God. That is what Adam and Eve did. There was this tree that would satisfy their longing and even though God had told them not to take part in it, they did it. Why do people commit adultery? It is because they want their own way, they want to please themselves. They don't believe in what God says about the harm that will do to them.

Once our minds are enlightened to see this truth, that God is a good God, everything He forbids us from taking part of is for our good, everything He tells us to do is for our good, we will submit to God, we will submit to Jesus Christ. We will open our hearts to the teaching of Christ in the Scriptures, and say, 'Lord, I want to obey your word.' I want to encourage you to turn to the Bible and read it. When you pray, say, 'Lord Jesus, help me to give up everything you tell me to give up and to do everything you tell me to do. I believe you are a good God.'

Chapter 5

The Function Of Conscience

God's greatest gift to all men in their own beings and personalities is something that we don't think often about. And because we ignore it, it brings a lot of suffering in our lives.

All of us have been born from that first couple, Adam and Eve. And the sinful nature that poisoned, that entered into their system when they disobeyed God, is something that Adam and Eve have passed on to all their descendants. Today, we are all born with this tendency towards evil. We see that in children. We don't have to teach children to be evil. We don't have to teach children to tell lies. We don't have to teach children to do anything wrong. You know as parents what we have to teach children, is to do good. They are born with a tendency towards evil. That is because of that nature which they have inherited from the parents and ultimately from Adam and Eve who sinned.

We see, for example, children basically wanting their own way. Sin is not just external actions. It is far deeper rooted than that. It is an attitude of rebellion against God where I want my own way in life. I want to please myself, and it doesn't matter if other people get hurt in the process. It doesn't really matter what God thinks about it, so long as I please myself. We see that attitude very clearly in little children. Little children will grab and fight, and take things from one another. They are not bothered about other children. They just want to be happy themselves. This wanting one's own way, this stubbornness, is something that is in a child's nature from birth. And as he grows up, he doesn't get rid of that. In fact, as we grow to manhood, we don't really change. We are still the same except that we seek our own in more refined and cultured ways. We just become cleverer and change our methods by which we seek to grab for ourselves.

So the fifty year-old man and the one year-old child, are basically the same in wanting to seek their own except they seek it in different methods. The barbarian in the jungle, and the cultured, civilized man in the city are both basically the same. The selfishness of the cultured person, his covetousness, and his lust may be covered up with culture and civilization, but he hasn't changed within. And very often, religious people too are the same; selfish within, with an external veneer of graciousness and goodness, but basically, wanting to have their own way. The Bible teaches us that this is the cause of all of our problems - wanting to have our own way.

What is that which God has placed within us which we could say is God's greatest gift to man? It is our conscience. Conscience points out to us where we come short of God's standards. It is not a perfect guide, but it is an initial guide that shows us where we come short. When we are seeking to please ourselves, when we are harming another, our conscience warns us. Particularly the conscience of little children is very tender. It is not easy for a child to tell a lie with a straight face. When a little child tells a lie, we can see it on its face that he is telling a lie. But as we grow older, we kill that voice of conscience so much, that a time can come in our life, where we can tell a lie with a straight face. And then we can say that our conscience has become almost dead.

Now that is a serious thing, because conscience is like a warning signal. It is like pain. Some of us don't realise what a great blessing pain is in our body. It is pain that tells us that something is wrong. If you get a nail stuck in your foot, for example, you feel the pain. That is what tells you something is wrong. And you sit down and pull off that nail; otherwise, your foot would get infected. If something is wrong with your stomach, or in your kidneys, or somewhere, the indication is always pain. Pain is one of the greatest blessings in our physical body. It is because of that we are saved from death many times, or from infections. We are immediately aware that something is wrong.

Now the equivalent of pain in our spirit is our conscience, that troubles us when we do something wrong. Think of those who have the disease of leprosy, what happens to them? Leprosy kills the nerves and destroys sensation in the skin. A person with leprosy can have a nail pierce through his foot, and he won't even know it, because he doesn't have the blessing of pain. His foot would get infected, and he still wouldn't know it, because he doesn't feel the pain. In fact, I have heard stories of lepers whose toes were bitten off by rats in the middle of the night, when they were asleep, and they didn't feel a thing. When they got up in the morning, they found that their toes were missing and there is blood all around. Is that a good state to be in, where you don't feel pain? I hope you realise what a tremendous blessing it is to have pain. Pain is what saves us from losing our toes, or our foot, or our fingers or anything. It is through pain that we know something is wrong.

Conscience is like pain. It warns us when we have violated God's laws. What happens if you ignore its warnings, like many people do? You tell a lie, and your conscience tells you it is wrong, and you just suppress that voice? It doesn't die immediately. But over a period of time, if you keep doing that, finally, your conscience won't trouble you anymore when you tell a lie. And it could go on with other sins as well. What happens then is that we get spiritual leprosy, and a day will come when you won't feel any sensitivity to sin anymore. That is not a good state to be in. It means you are spiritually dead. We would then become like animals, which have no conscience. A person, who has killed his conscience, descends to the level of an animal, which has no conscience. That is the reason why some human beings, sometimes, behave much worse than animals.

So I hope you realise now, that one of the greatest blessings or greatest gifts that God has given to man in His spirit is the gift of conscience. It tells us that we are spiritually sick, just like pain in our body will tell that we are physically sick or something is wrong inside and we should do something about it to get rid of it. We don't try to ignore the pain. We do something to heal that sickness. In the same way, when the conscience tells us something is wrong, it is God's voice, within us, telling us, 'You are responsible for what you did; what you did was wrong; you need to set it right.'

Jesus once used an illustration. He said that we should keep our conscience like we keep our eyes. You know how carefully we keep our eyes. It is the one part of our body that is bathed many times without even our realising it. Every time our eyelids close, our eyes are being cleaned with tears, and that happens thousands of times in a day. All the dust is being wiped out. Now we can afford to have dust on our body, all over our body, and live for many days. It won't destroy us or our bodies. But if you get even one speck of dust in your eyes, it can damage your eyes very soon, if you don't do anything about it. A small speck of dust is enough to destroy the eyes. That is why God has made the human body in such a way that the eyes are washed all the time.

Jesus said keep your conscience like you keep your eyes. In the Gospel of Luke 11:34-36, He likened the conscience to the eye. He said if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. In other words, if you keep your conscience clear - what does that mean? That means that when we have done something wrong, we acknowledge it, we set the matter right. If you have hurt somebody you go and ask his forgiveness. If you have sinned against God you confess your sin to God. It is the first step to spiritual heath, just like setting our body right whenever we discover pain. It is the first step to physical health. In the same way, conscience is the indication of sin in your body. It is only those who recognise that they are sick who go to a doctor. Jesus once said to certain religious people of His time that He couldn't help them; He didn't really come for them because they were not aware that they were sick. They were so convinced that because they were religious, they were accepted by God. But they were sick as anything.

How was it they were not aware of it? Because they had killed their conscience for so many years, they were not even aware of how distant they were from God. A lot of religious people try to appease God or please Him by going to places of worship, by giving money to the poor, and various other means. But none of these things can cleanse our conscience from sin. The most important thing for us to recognise is that it is sin that has separated us from God. And any amount of good works or money given to the poor, or any types of activity like that can never bring us back to God. If we recognise that we are sick and that we need to be cleansed, and that sin is destroying our soul, we will come to God; we will come to Jesus Christ who came to earth to forgive us our sins. The Bible says that if we confess our sins - that means you acknowledge you are a sinner - and tell the Lord what you have done, He will forgive you, because He came to earth to die for our sins.

Chapter 6

Why Christ Has To Die

Sin separates man from God. This is the first problem that needs to be dealt with, before man can come back into fellowship with God.

God is a holy God. He is a loving Father and He is a God full of goodness and love. But however loving He may be, He cannot overlook our rebellion and our sin, because He is holy as well. Now, it is this balance between the holiness and the love of God that many people do not seem to have understood. Many people's idea is this: that if they just go to God and say, 'Well, God I am sorry for what I have done,' He will forgive them. But on what basis can He forgive them? If you were to commit a crime against the laws of the land and you were taken to court by the police, and if the one sitting as a judge was your own earthly father, who loves you intensely, could he say, 'Well I love you my son, I declare you to be free?' He may love you intensely, but as long as he is sitting there as a judge it would be unjust for him to let you go.

Now if a human being can be so just and fair and righteous, can you imagine how much more just and righteous God is? But what can that father do for you? He can punish you with the full penalty of the law. Let us say it is a 100,000 rupees fine that he imposes upon you as a judge. And then, he can step down from his judge's chair, take off his robes and come to you as your father, and write out a check from his own hard-earned money for those 100,000 rupees and give it to you to pay the fine. Then there would be no injustice, because he has punished you with the full penalty of the law, and then paid that punishment himself. This is the only way in which God can forgive our sin. It is not by our feeling sorry for our sins alone; it is by God having provided a way in His justice for the price of our sins being paid.

This is the whole message of the Bible. That is what Jesus Christ did. God came down to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, and paid that price. He punished us with a full penalty of the law; the punishment for sin is death. You and I need to get that death whether our sins are many or few. A man who commits one murder is hanged and a man who commits a thousand murders is also hanged. The number of sins doesn't make a difference. If we are guilty, we deserve death whether our sins are one or many. But God, in His love, made this way by which our sins can be forgiven: Jesus Christ came to earth and took our punishment when He died upon the cross. God had to become a man, just like us. He had to live through the temptations and struggles that we face as human beings. He died as a sacrifice in our stead, taking the punishment of our sins upon Himself.

Now, remember this: the punishment for sin is not physical suffering, or sickness, or poverty, or coming back into the world on a lower social scale, or any such thing. The punishment for sin is eternal death. It means being separated from God forever. Also our sin is like a debt that we owe to God. Jesus Christ, when He died, paid that debt for us. Our good works, the Bible says, are like filthy rags in God's sight. We think of certain works as good works and certain works as bad works. But that is because we compare ourselves with other people who are more evil than us. To take an illustration from a classroom, a student who got 25% in mathematics may consider himself a very bright student compared to the other student who got 5%. That may be true, but he has failed, just like the other student has failed as well. And they both have to sit in the same class next year, even though one got 20 marks more than the other. So when we say we are good or somebody is good, it is a relative term; compared to somebody else he is good, he got 20%, whereas the other person got 10%. But compared to Almighty God's standard, of 100%, everybody has come short. That is why the Bible says, even the so-called good things that you have done are not valuable in God's eyes. They are like filthy rags in God's eyes; they cannot make you acceptable before Him .It is because we have such a low understanding of God's standards that we think the few good works that we do are going to make us acceptable to Him.

God's standard of holiness is infinite and none of us can ever reach it. We are all in a hopeless condition, every one of us. If even our good works, and the best works we can ever do, cannot measure up to God's standard, then what hope is there for us? We are hopelessly lost. That is why God made this way through sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. And through Christ's death, every sin of every human being has been totally atoned for - that means, paid for. Your debt has been paid. But like the illustration I used in the beginning, of the father who comes down from the judge's seat and writes out a check and gives it to his son to pay the fine, that son is still not free until he takes the check from his father. It is not enough that the father has written the check. The son has to take it. And that is what God is waiting for man to do.

God has already paid the price for man's sin when Christ died 2,000 years ago on a cross. But that forgiveness can never be yours until you accept it. You have to take it, you have to say, 'thank you Lord, for dying for me.' And you see the foolishness of a man when he does not receive that which is offered freely. What would you think of that son in the courtroom, when his father writes out this check of 100,000 rupees, and he doesn't take it? That is the foolishness of man everywhere. If that son says, 'No, I will pay the fine myself,' well, he is going to spend years in the jail and still not be able to pay the fine. That is the condition of man. Man is unable to pay for his sins. The only way we can have our sins forgiven is coming in simplicity, acknowledging our need, and saying, 'Lord, I am unable to meet my need of forgiveness. I want to receive it from you. I am never able to pay for my sins. Thank you, that Jesus died for me and that when He shed his blood on the cross and gave His body as a sacrifice; it took care of the punishment of all my sins.' Then the demands of God's justice have been met.

How do we know whether this sacrifice of Jesus Christ was accepted or not by the holy God? This is very important to know. The proof is that after three days, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. See, these two things make the message of The Bible and the Christian Gospel unique. It is different from any other message. We can say that every religion in the world teaches us that we must be good, we must be kind, etc. It is all true. But there is the foundation in the Christian Gospel which is unique, and what is that? Two things, basically: The Christian gospel does not start with, 'Be good, be kind, and don't tell lies, etc.,' that comes much later. It starts with, 'You cannot be good, you cannot be upright, and everything you do is unacceptable to God. First of all, you need the guilt of your past life to be removed. You got to clear your old account before we start on our new account. The old debt has to be cleared.' How is that cleared? Christ died for the sins of the world. That is the way that old record is cleared, the debt is taken out of the way.

Secondly, the proof is that Christ rose again from the dead. There is only one person in the history of the human race that came out from the grave and conquered man's greatest enemy: death. There is one thing man has never been able to conquer. Man has conquered space; man has conquered many sicknesses, but he has never been able to conquer death and he will never be able to conquer death. Jesus Christ is the only one who has conquered death. That is the proof to the entire human race that His sacrifice is accepted. Now all we have got to do is to believe, and receive. The Bible says that if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will be saved. Your sins will be forgiven - it is like receiving that check that the father gives and saying, 'Thank you dad for paying my fine. I can go out of this courtroom absolutely free.'

The Bible says that Jesus Christ is going to come back to this world to judge every human being that ever lived here. Before that time comes, we have to make sure that our life is right with God, that our sins are forgiven. This is the invitation that comes to you today. What do you have to do? Acknowledge that you are a sinner. Believe that Christ died for your sins and rose again. Receive Him into your life. Ask him to forgive you. Confess Him as your Lord. That means, say it with your mouth: 'Jesus Christ is now my Lord.' It is that simple. May God help you to take that decision today.

Chapter 7

Repentance

Repentance means an about-turn in our lives. That is what helps us to turn towards God. God has to see that a man chooses Him before He can forgive his sin. God doesn't force anyone to accept what he does not want. God has given you a free will. If you don't want what He offers, He won't thrust it down your throat. The Bible says that Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks. He waits for you to open the door because He is a gentleman. He will never force you to do anything that you don't want. He wants you to respond to His invitation.

To be united with Christ is something like getting married. Here is a man who says 'Yes, I am willing to marry you' to a girl, but the marriage is not complete until the girl also says, 'I am also willing.' When both express their willingness, then only does the marriage take place. Now a man may have said he wants to marry the girl and he may have to wait five years before the girl says, yes. That is how it is with God. He says to you, 'I want to be united with you. I want to forgive your sins, I want to come and live in your heart and I want to bless you. I want to change your life, and I want to deliver you from your bad habits.' But He won't do it until you say, yes. He is not going to force Himself into a marriage with you if you are not interested. That is why so many people in the world live without God.

Now you see a lot of people in this world living with religion. To live with a religion is not the same as living with God. There is a tremendous difference. There are so many religions including the Christian religion. People usually have a religion because they were born into it. They were born into a particular family and so they go to a particular place of worship. But there is a lot of difference between that and being united to the person of God. Jesus Christ did not come to start a new religion. No, that is a misunderstanding. Jesus Christ did not come to teach us to go through many rituals, and to go to Church every Sunday. No. He primarily came to bring us into a relationship with God as our Father; into a personal relationship with Him; into a marriage, like I said. He has already said yes when He died on the cross for you, and rose up from the dead. Now He is waiting for you to respond to Him just like the girl had to say yes to the waiting boy. And the moment you say yes, your marriage is over. You are united with Him, forever. But in order to do that (say yes to Him), you have to do what the Bible calls you to - repent.

Repent is a very simple word which just means 'to turn about'. Now you have seen a military parade. You have seen perhaps the leader of the parade saying 'about-turn'. When that command is given, all the soldiers turn 180 degrees to the opposite direction of what they were facing before. That is an about-turn and that is basically what repentance really means. We are born with our backs to God. We are not really interested in God. The Bible says that no one in the world seeks out for God. A lot of people are religious, but to seek for God is something quite different from being religious. We are born seeking our own profit and gain. Even the religious people are seeking their own profit and gain. Think of all the people who go to various places of pilgrimage. What are they going there for? They are going there to get some benefit for themselves. And there we see that it is really selfishness; they are no different than the non-religious businessman who is also seeking his own interest when he seeks to make money in the marketplace.

So to turn to God means to turn away from seeking just my own way in life; to say, 'Lord, I want to turn around from everything that dishonours you and displeases You. I want to turn around and face You. Till now my back was to You and my face was towards the world, towards sinful pleasures; having my own way, pleasing myself. Now I want to turn around and put my back to all those things and face You, and seek to please You.'

The Bible calls repentance in 1 Thessalonians, 1:9 as 'a turning to God from idols.' If we worship anything other than the true God - it could be money, it could be self - that becomes like an idol in our life and that turns me away from God. That thing becomes my God, that thing is uppermost in my mind. Repentance is to turn away from all those things and turn to the one true God. A pretty girl whom you love could be your idol; who could be like God in your life to occupy so much time. It could be money, your job, your house, your car; it could be anything. Unless we are willing to turn from the worship of these things and say, 'God, Creator of the Heavens and my Creator, I want You to have the first place in my life' (that is repentance, to turn around and make God central in our life), we cannot have a relationship with God.

Now, very often, we find it easy for us to deceive ourselves. We can think that, because we have said these words, we have repented. But the Bible also says that we must bring forth fruits that are in keeping with our repentance. How do we prove that we have really turned from our old way of life? One way would be, if you have stolen money from someone in the past, or if you have cheated the government of taxes, then once you have repented of it, you are going to return it. You are going to go to that person and say, 'I am sorry, I stole some money from you. Perhaps you didn't know about it. Here is the money with interest that I am returning to you.' If you have cheated the government of taxes, it would mean returning that money to the government. If you have travelled in the railways without buying the ticket, it would mean repaying that money to the railways. Then, it would prove that you are serious about your repentance. Otherwise they would be mere words.

Now a lot of people turn to God with mere words. There is a verse in the Bible where God says, these people turn to me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me and their worship is a mere tradition. That is how it is with most religious people in the world; their religion is one which never causes them any inconvenience. Do you know how inconvenient it is to go back and return money which you have taken wrongfully from somebody? It is humiliating, but that is the proof that you really want to give up that way of life. It also means that if you have lost your temper at somebody, and shouted at somebody, or called somebody by a bad name, you should go to that person and say, 'I am sorry for what I did. That was my mistake, please forgive me.' See, those are just a few words. It takes only fifteen seconds for you to say it to somebody. But you will discover it is so difficult for you to do it.

Why is it so difficult for you to say those ten or fifteen words to somebody? - Because of pride, we are so proud. That is the reason why many people cannot turn to God. Christ has died for our sins, but we have to turn towards Him in order to receive that forgiveness. We have to turn away from that old way of life that we have chosen. And we have to say, 'Lord, I want to receive what you give.' To say that, I have to repent - there should be a turnabout. Otherwise, if I just say with my words to God that I am sorry and I am not willing to set right with man the things I have done wrong to man; it would only mean that I am not really serious about turning from my old way of life. It would mean that I want to get forgiveness from God cheaply. Do you know that forgiveness is not cheap? God had to send His son Jesus Christ to earth to die? And he had to go through all that suffering to purchase our forgiveness. If you want it cheaply, if you don't even want to acknowledge your sin before man and confess to that person, then you cannot get that forgiveness.

So, repentance means that I acknowledge the guilt of worshipping things other than God. I need to come to God and say, 'Lord, You alone are worthy to be worshipped. You, whom I cannot see with my eyes - the Invisible Creator of this universe - You are the One worthy to be worshipped. I am sorry that I have spent my life worshipping created things. I want to turn to You.' Repentance doesn't mean that you have to give up your job and become a hermit or give up your family or any such thing. It is not giving up earthly things as much as giving up an attachment to earthly things. There is a lot of difference. God may still allow you to have your home, your job, your family, but don't be attached to them, don't make them your god. In fact, making them your god destroys you. It is not a sin to use the comforts that modern civilization provides us, but it is a sin to love those comforts more than we love God.

See, God has created our bodies in such a way that we can experience the pleasure of food, sleep, and many other things like that. There is nothing wrong in experiencing these pleasures. But if we make these things more important than God, then those things have become idols in our lives. One more thing: if we don't forgive others, then Jesus said that our Heavenly Father will also not forgive us. So that is another thing we need to do. If we are really repentant, we will forgive every single person who has harmed us, just like God, our Heavenly Father, has forgiven us.

Chapter 8

Faith

The Bible says that all things are possible if you can believe. Repentance means a turning towards God. The second thing which is like a twin with repentance for receiving God's forgiveness and salvation is faith.

The Bible speaks a lot about faith. Jesus Christ, when He came to earth, encouraged people to have faith in God. In fact, that was one of the primary themes of His entire ministry - have faith in God. We cannot receive God's forgiveness if we don't believe. We don't have to do work in order to earn forgiveness. Forgiveness is far too expensive for us to be able to earn it with works or money or any amount of pilgrimages or any such thing. God gives us forgiveness freely. Why freely? - Because it is so valuable, so expensive, that we can never pay for it with any number of good works. Faith is not such a complicated thing. It just means reaching out our hand and receiving what God is offering us. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8, 'we are saved by grace through faith.' These are two important worlds that we find coming in the New Testament and they have very simple meanings.

Grace , we can say, is God's hand reaching out to give us His help, His blessings, His forgiveness and strength for every task we can ever face in life. What is faith? Faith is our hand reaching up to take that help and those blessings from God's hands. Now, if I were to give you a Bible, and if you have to receive it, you need to stretch out your hand and take it. That is faith; when God in grace offers me something, I reach out my hand to take it. I told you in an earlier study that God will not force anything down our throats. He will not force us to accept something which we don't want to receive, because He has given us freedom of choice. He doesn't want mindless robots that just do what He has programmed them to do. He wants us to make a choice. When I choose to believe, I have made a choice. I say, 'Lord, I believe that Christ died for my sins and rose up from the dead and I receive Him as my Lord.'

The Bible says much about the power there is in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name on earth through which we can get salvation, through which we can get forgiveness. And you can receive that if you just stretch out your hand. In other words, if you say to the Lord, 'Lord Jesus, I am sinner. I want to turn away from my sins. I believe you died for me, and I receive you right now in my life.' That is a simple prayer. It will take you less than a minute to pray, and if you pray it in sincerity, you can be a child of God in a moment. This is not a magic formula. You see, God is not looking for particular words. Just like a father, when he listens to his child, he is not seeing whether the child repeats a particular formula or says things in correct language. He is not even bothered about the child's grammar. He listens to the child's words as an expression of the longings of that child's heart. In the same way, when you speak to God, God listens to your heart more than to your words.

Jesus has said these words in John 6:37, "The one who comes to me, I will never reject." It doesn't matter who you are. Christ did not die only for Christians. He died for the sins of the whole world. The Bible puts all human beings in one category - sinners. Whatever our religion may be, we are all sinners. There is no difference between the one and the other. We are all born with the same nature. We are all born far away from God. And the Bible offers forgiveness to everyone equally, saying Christ died for all of your sins. So faith is the means by which we stretch out our hands and take all that God has promised for us in Christ. There is a verse in the Bible which says, 'God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ' (Eph. 1:3).

Now why is it that some Christians tend to grow spiritually more than others? The reason is faith. We can say that God's blessings are like a banquet feast that is being laid out on the table. But if you go for a buffet lunch or dinner in a restaurant, all the food is laid out there. Nobody is going to put it on your plate. You have to go to the table and take whatever you like. So, if you take a little, that is your choice. Somebody else fills up his plate with everything from the table, with every dish. You could have done the same, but you didn't do it. This is how it is with many Christians. They don't take everything that God offers them. And that is why they remain poor.

Faith means, to see the things that God has given us and to take them. Think of this promise which we just read from Ephesians 1:3 that, in Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. That means, every single thing that we need for our spirit, beginning with forgiveness. Remember forgiveness of sins is only the beginning. All that we have been saying in our past studies is only to lay a foundation for a wonderful superstructure that we are going to build on in the studies to come. It is the foundation, the clearing of our past evil record, the removal of our guilt, the paying of our debt, the settling of old accounts. And it begins with repentance and faith - a turning to God; setting matters right in relation to the things that we have done wrong in the past and receiving God's forgiveness freely; reaching out our hand and saying, 'Lord, You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. I want to receive it.'

See, this is the principle that we find throughout Scripture. We read in the Gospels that once two blind men came to Jesus and asked Jesus to heal their blind eyes (Matthew 9). They knew that Jesus had the power to open their blind eyes, and so they came and asked Him to do it for them. Now Jesus was willing to do it for them. They were also longing to receive it. But Jesus still asked them one more question: do you believe that I am able to do this for you. See, this is the principle in all of God's dealings with us, that He asks us a question. You ask Him for something; you ask Him for forgiveness, let us say - that is the first thing we ask for. And the Lord says, 'do you believe I will forgive you?' If you respond, 'well, Lord, I am not so sure,' you are not going to get it. It is like these blind men we read of in Matthew 9:27-29. We read that they came, they asked for their eyes to be opened, and Jesus said, 'do you believe that I am able to do this for you?'

Now just supposing that one of them responded saying, 'well, I am not so sure Lord, whether you will do it,' do you know what would have happened? He would have gone away with his eyes still blind. They would have remained unchanged. See the situation there? He wanted his eyes to be opened, Jesus wanted to open his eyes, but he still didn't get it. What was missing? Faith, that is all. So sometimes, you may come to God with a great desire for something. God may also have a great desire to give it to you. But if you say, 'well, if I have a desire and God has a desire, then I get it.' No, you don't, because there is one more question there to answer: do you believe God will do it for you? That is the question we read in Matthew 9:28. But they did not say, 'we are not sure'. They said, 'Yes Lord' - that was a bold confession - 'yes Lord, we believe, you are able to do this.' Then what did Jesus do? He touched their eyes, and He said: be it done to you according to your faith.' Now notice that carefully? Not according to your desire, not even according to my desire, but according to your faith.

Now pay attention to this, my friend. If you could receive everything you desired you would have gotten a lot of things by now from God. And if you could receive everything God desired, again, you would have gotten many things from God by now. Why haven't you then? God desires to give it you, you desire to receive it, and you still haven't got it. What is the reason? Because when God says, 'do you believe, I will give to you,' you say, I am not so sure?' Then the Lord says, 'be it done for you not according to your desire, but according to your faith.' That is what made the difference. You see the rain's falling outside, and you take a little cup outside to fill. Another person takes a bucket and yet another person takes a big drum. Who is going to get the maximum water when they come back inside the house- the one who went out with the big drum? You can't say that God gave him more, that God was partial to him. No, you went out with a little cup, so that is all you got. Another person went out with a drum, he got much more. It is like that, faith is like that.

God's blessings are there for everyone. He has blessed us with every single spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, but all of you are not going to get the same amount. That depends on your faith. You know, faith honours God. That is what you say when you say, 'I believe'; 'Lord, I believe you are trustworthy.' That is why it is so important. It means, 'Lord, I believe, what You have said is true.' You believe that what God has said in His Word is true.

Now, I want you to pray right now. Will you close your eyes and say these words: 'Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me. Right now you are going to forgive my sins.' And if there is any other need in your life, say that right now, and say, 'Lord, I believe you will give me even that. I believe. Amen.'

Chapter 9

The Gift Of The Holy Spirit

What does the Bible says concerning God's provision for our future? See, we, as human beings, have basically two problems. All human beings have the same problems, whatever our religion, our culture, our language, our education, our temperament, or anything. We could simplify these problems by putting them into two categories: one is a problem relating to our past - our guilt, our failure, our sins. And the other is, problem relating to the future. How are we going to deal with what comes forth from our nature in the future? Is it going to be a repetition of the same old failures from our past? Do we have to keep on going to God again and again, asking Him to forgive us the same old sins that we have asked for many times in the past? Or, has God made some provisions so that we can overcome in the areas where we failed in the past?

The good news in the Bible is that God has made a provision. He has not only made a provision for our past failures through Christ's death on the cross of Calvary (that was a complete and total taking care of our past failures), but He has also provided for this problem of the possibility of our failing again and again in the same areas in the future by offering us the gift of His Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus said to His disciples, when He was on earth, just before He went up to heaven that, "It is good for you that I go away, because when I go, I will send the Holy Spirit from heaven to dwell in your hearts." The Holy Spirit is the very person of God, the Spirit of God, and this is the gift freely given by God to us, just as much as forgiveness of our sins.

The first day that the Christian message was preached in this world was 2000 years ago, and it is described in Acts 2. It was the Jewish feast of Pentecost when many people had come together in Jerusalem. The apostle Peter got up and proclaimed the Gospel message: that Christ had died, that He had risen again from the dead, and then ascended to heaven. And that He has poured out His Holy Spirit that had filled the hearts of those120 peoples, who were praying that day in Jerusalem. Then Peter said to all the thousands of people who were listening to him (Acts 2:38) these words: "Repent (we have considered what that means) and let each one of you be baptized being immersed in water to symbolize the break with the past, the burial of the old man, and the resurrection of being a new man. That is the symbolism of going into the water and coming out in baptism - my old man is dead and is buried and now I am a new man in Christ. And then he said, 'if you do that, you will receive two gifts: one, the forgiveness of your sins (that deals with our past), and second, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' That is God's provision for the future. So, both of our problems are dealt with; our past, as well as our future. We have taken care of the guilt of our past and the provision of strength to overcome when we are faced with temptations and problems in the future.

Now many Christians think that God has only dealt with our past problems. As I said in the last study, you can receive from God only what you have faith for. If you don't believe, you cannot receive. If you don't believe, for example, that God will give you strength to face your problems in the future, you won't receive it. You may desire it, God may also desire to give you that strength, but you still won't receive, if you don't have faith. Every gift of God is received by simple faith. It is not because we deserve it. None of us deserve even the lowest of God's gifts. We don't deserve anything but hellfire. All of us deserve judgment. All of us deserve to burn in hell for eternity because we have sinned. We have sinned deliberately, we have dishonoured God. So God places all humanity - the entire human race under sin so that He can have mercy on everyone. This is God's way - to put us all under sin so that we all are in the same category, so that no one can boast over another, saying, 'I am better than you.' You know how many people there are out in the world, who think they are superior to others?

It is because they haven't seen themselves in God's eyes. It is like I said in another study where the child who gets 20% thinks he is better than the child who gets 5%. And worse than that, the child who gets 20% thinking he is superior to the child who gets 19.5%. How much superior is he really? That is the height foolishness of one man who thinks he is better than another. It is all relative. In God's eyes, we are all failures and He gives us a promotion to the next class freely, i.e. forgiveness. Then He gives us strength to face the problem of our own sinful nature, the problem that we can face living in a world that is still under the curse, and that is through the gift of his Holy Spirit. It is His own presence coming in and dwelling in our hearts, filling our hearts, giving us strength from within.

You know, when Jesus was on earth, He could only encourage people and strengthen them from the outside. He walked with the disciples, He talked with them, but He could only be in one place at a given time. If He was in Galilee, He could not be in Jerusalem. If He was in Jerusalem, He couldn't be in Galilee. If He was in Palestine, He couldn't be in India. That would have been terrible, if it had continued like that forever. Because, then all of us would have to be where Jesus was. Even that wouldn't help us because how many thousands could get near Him in any case? And so, Jesus said to His disciples that, "It is better if I go away, because if I go away, I will send My Holy Spirit who will come and dwell in your heart and that will bring my presence." All the disciples could receive this Holy Spirit in every part of the world and have the presence of Jesus with them wherever they are.

And even better than that, not just wherever they are, but instead of having Jesus outside of them, they could have Jesus inside of them. You know that is far better. Because with the disciples, even though Jesus was with them for three and a half years, and even though He taught them, encouraged them, challenged them, rebuked them, blessed them in so many ways, yet we see that, at the end of three and a half years, they were still competing with one another to see who would take over the leadership after Jesus died. They were still competing with one another for honour and position. That inward problem could not be dealt even with Jesus' physical presence. Jesus' physical presence only dealt with external problems around them. If there was a storm in the sea He could still it. Or, if there was not enough food to feed them all, He could provide it. Or, if there wasn't enough wine at the wedding, He could change the water into wine. External problems could be dealt with, but the internal problem - which is far more serious - of sin within could not be dealt with as long as Jesus was outside.

And that is another reason why it was good that Jesus went away to heaven. Because He sent the Holy Spirit through the third person of the triune God to come and dwell in our hearts, so that the presence and the power of Jesus comes to us through the Holy Spirit within. Now how do we receive this gift? Exactly the same way we receive the forgiveness of sins. Peter said, "repent, confess your faith in baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will receive the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). There is no extra condition required. It is not some post-graduate degree. No, it is the beginning of Christian life. Many people have thought that, to receive the Holy Spirit, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it is something which has to come many years after we begin the Christian life. No. On the very day that you begin your Christian life, you have to receive forgiveness to sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. You open your heart and receive it. It is like going to a shop where somebody has already paid for a two-volume encyclopaedia for you. If you come home with one volume, and there you discover that you don't have the whole thing, what would you do? When you discover that both volumes are paid for, you go back to the shop and you say, 'well, I am sorry, I didn't take the second volume. That is paid for too.' And you take it, it is free.

So Peter offered forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those people who repented. That is what God offers us today. In Hebrews, 4:16, we read, "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may receive two things: mercy, and grace." Mercy and grace are not the same. Mercy is referring to the forgiveness of our sins, dealing with our past. We have all sinned, we need mercy. Grace is referring to God's power that He can give us to help us to be overcomers in the coming days - it is referring to the future. And it says here in Hebrews, 4:16, that let us come with boldness to God's throne, so we can receive mercy to deal with the past and grace through the Holy Spirit to help us face everything that we can face in the future: temptations, problems, trials, whatever it is. Isn't it wonderfully good news that God has provided for our past as well as our future, and all we need to do is come in faith? So I want to invite you right now to come to God boldly - don't hesitate. He invites you - say 'Lord, I believe you have dealt with my past. But today I also want to believe that you will strengthen me to face the future. I want you to fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want you to fill my heart with your power, with grace, so that I can face the coming days.' Believe, and it will be yours.

Chapter 10

God’s Word Is Our Food

We want to think about the Word of God, which gives us power to be overcomers in our battle against Satan, and which gives us strength to face every situation in the future.

The Bible is the Word of God . It was written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the food for the soul for a Christian who has come to faith in Christ and been born again. Just like a baby cries out for milk as soon as it is born, a true Christian, if he is to grow spiritually, he needs this food of the Word of God. I want to show you to a verse where it speaks of what the Word of God does, initially. We read 1 Peter 1:23, "You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." Many people feel, when they have made a mess of their life, they wish they could live their lives all over again. And that is exactly the opportunity God offers you when He says, 'You can be born again.'

Think if you could start your life all over again, as a little baby, and with no record of your past failures; it is all wiped out. That is what it means to be born again. Your past is wiped out and you are born a second time. That wish that you had, 'oh, I wish I could start my life all over again' - God says, 'I can fulfil it for you.' That is what happens when we receive Christ into our life. In the verse we just saw it says that this new birth takes place through a seed, just like your physical birth also began with the seed of your father. In the same way here, spiritually, the Word of God is like a seed which brings you to new birth, in what way? You believed that Word, you responded to that Word of God which said that Christ died for your sins. You accepted the Word of God which said that you are a sinner. You believed that Christ rose again from the dead, and you were born again. You received His Holy Spirit by faith, because that was God's promise given in His Word. And through that Word, you have come into a new relationship with God.

Then it goes on to say, now that you are a new born baby, the same Word of God - which is like a seed which fell into your heart and brought you to life - now becomes like milk for the new born baby. In 1 Peter 2:2, it says, "like new born babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that you may grow in respect to salvation." A new born baby needs to grow. God has not forgiven us our sins in order that He might just take us to heaven. He wants us to grow, like it says in this verse, with respect to salvation, to be increasingly saved from all the corruption that is in our nature that we have inherited from Adam, our first father; selfishness, pride, arrogance, bitterness, jealousy, wickedness, and the like. We have to be saved from all these things. They don't disappear the moment we are born again. When we are born again it is like a new life that is come into us, and that life has the potential to overcome all these evil habits. But that potential must be used to grow.

You know, like a little baby, when it is born, it has the potential to become a muscular giant. But it is not going to grow into that if it doesn't eat its food or drink its milk. It has to be fed and it has to eat its food in order to grow. And this is the mistake that many Christians make. They think that once their sins are forgiven, and they have received the Holy Spirit, that is it. There is nothing more. Well, there is a lot more. You are just born. Can you say once a baby is born into the world, that is it? There is nothing more for the baby? Well, that baby will die, if you just leave it like that. In fact, one of the first things that a baby does, as soon as it is born, is it cries. From the very first day, it longs for milk. There is a tremendous cry. You have heard babies screaming for milk. That is how a true Christian cries out for the Word of God, for God to feed him through His Word. Now if a baby does not cry out like that, we could say the baby is sick, or it is about to die. Healthy babies will always cry out for milk, all the time. Healthy Christian is one who cries out for God's Word to feed him, as it says like new born babes. There must be a tremendous longing in us for the milk of the Word of God. The Word of God is milk that helps us grow in salvation.

In the beginning of the Bible, we see a beautiful picture of this. In Genesis 1we read of the earth being in a chaotic state. The Bible says the earth was formless, empty, and dark. And that is the condition of humanity away from God also; formless, empty and dark. That is what we were before being born again. How did God change this chaotic, formless, empty, dark world and make it into such a beautiful world, that at the end of Genesis 1, God says, "This is very good?" How did God do it?

You see, two things are very important for us to see here. First of all, "The Spirit of God moved upon this earth." All of God's work begins with the Holy Spirit moving upon a chaotic situation and trying to redeem it, trying to solve the problem. But that was not all. We read a second thing: the Word of God went forth. The Spirit of God moved, and the Word of God went forth. These two always work together - the Spirit of God and the Word of God. What did the Word of God say? "Let there be light." That was the Word. And as soon as that Word went forth from God's mouth, light came. Again, we read the Word of God saying, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters," and the heavens were created. And then God said, "Let the waters be gathered together and let the dry land appear" and the earth was made. And so we find that every time the Word of God went forth on the first day, on the second day, on the third day, something happened. Something of the chaos was changed.

The whole earth was not changed in one day. It took six days, not because God takes time. God could have changed it in a moment. He could have made the whole earth beautiful in one moment, with one Word. But He is trying to teach us something in the first page of the Bible and that is, that God works in our lives slowly, day by day by day. Each day, He wants to do something in us to remove the chaos, to remove the darkness, to remove the shapelessness, the un-Christ likeness in our life. In The New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 4:16 we read, "Our inner man is being renewed day by day." On the first day, there should be a change, on the second day, there should be a change, on the third day...and, throughout our lifetime, God wants to change us little by little by little, till a day comes, at the end of our life, when God can say, 'Very good, I have been able to complete My work in this man.'

Now the sad thing is, with many Christians, that doesn't happen, because they don't respond to God. You see, in Genesis 1, when the Word of God went forth, the earth responded, and something happened. So, if you respond to the Word of God, as it comes to your heart, something will definitely happen in your life. If you accept that Word, if you believe that Word, if you obey that Word, something will definitely happen. Just like you read in Genesis 1, every day something happened, and God said it was good. God's will for you is that every day, you should receive some Word of God into your heart that is going to produce some change in your life. That is why the most important thing for you to receive every day is the Word of God, more than your food.

You remember in the first temptation that Jesus faced in the wilderness. He had fasted for forty days, and the devil came to Jesus and said, 'Why don't you turn these stones to bread. You are hungry; you will die if you don't eat.' It is true. If you have not eaten food forty days and you continue like that, there is a possibility that you will die. But Jesus replied to Satan, it is more important to receive the Word of God than to eat food. I have paraphrased Matthew 4:4 here. Have you read that Word? 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth.' What He was saying is: it is more important to receive the Word of God than it is to even eat food.

Now how many Christians are there who believe that it is more important every day to receive the Word of God for their soul, for their spirit, than it is to receive food for their body? We all know the value of food for the body; we know that we will not grow without food. And we enjoy food, we enjoy good food. Why is it that many Christians don't enjoy the Word of God like that? It is because they have not understood its value, just like little children, sometimes. Little children don't understand the value of food. You tell them to eat, they don't eat. You tell them to drink milk, they don't drink milk. And sometimes father and mother have to force them. It is like that with many Christians. But once you understand that the Word of God can make you grow; can make you strong; can make you overcome Satan, if you submit to it, your life will be transformed from chaos to beauty. It can change your whole life if you begin that habit from today. Make a decision today, to read the Word of God, to believe it, and to obey it every day.

Chapter 11

God’s Word Helps Us Overcome Satan

We want to consider an important weapon that God has given us, by which we can overcome our spiritual enemy - Satan, and that weapon is His ' Word'.

God's Word is like a seed that brings us to being born again (1 Pet. 1:23). From 1 Peter 2:2 we learn that God's word is like milk that helps us to grow. We also see in Ephesians 6 that God's Word is like a sword - the sword of the spirit with which we can fight against Satan; " ... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God " (Eph. 6:17). It is a wonderful weapon that God has given us to resist the attacks of Satan.

Many believers are discouraged - do you know why? Because they don't know how to use this sword when Satan comes attacking them with discouragement. Many believers live under condemnation and feelings of guilt. Who gives it to them? Not God! Are you living with feelings of guilt and condemnation? Are you feeling uncertain whether God has accepted you -whether God loves you, whether God has forgiven your sins, whether God still remembers your past against you? These are some of the ways in which Satan harasses the believers. And believers are weighed down, around the world, with guilt which they should not be bearing.

How can they overcome Satan? How can you overcome Satan? Whatever feelings that come to draw you away from God - discouragement, condemnation, guilt feelings - every one of these can be overcome if you can take the Word of God as a weapon. For example, supposing you are not sure that Jesus Christ has accepted you; supposing the devil comes to you and says, 'Oh yes, you think Jesus has accepted you? Jesus is far too holy to accept a sinner like you'. What are you going to do when he tells you that? Are you going to argue with him? Let me tell you, you will be defeated.

You can never argue with Satan. He is far too clever for you. You know when Satan tempted Jesus Christ, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread" (Mt. 4:3), he questioned Jesus - are you really the son of God? If he could put such a question to Jesus Christ Himself, do you think Satan will not try those questions with you? Of course he will. He will make you doubt whether you are a child of God. How can we overcome it? We need the Word of God. Here is a Word which you could use - Jesus said, " The one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out" (Jn. 6:37).

When I was a young boy I had asked Jesus to come into my life for many years - not days, not months, but years. I lived in doubt, whether Christ had really accepted me. For all of those years in which I lived in doubt I did not make any spiritual progress in my life, and it is probably like that with you as well. But a day came in my life, over 38 years ago, when I believed this Word and I could say to Satan, 'Jesus has accepted me just as I am, because He has said, "The one who comes to Me I will never cast out."" And I said to the Lord, 'Lord Jesus, I have come to you. From today onwards I believe that you have not cast me out.' It was like dropping an anchor. I have never drifted from that position for 38 years.

I want you take that Word and believe from today, if you have come to Jesus. It doesn't matter if you are the greatest sinner in the world. If you have come to Him, He says, "I will certainly not cast you out." There is a certainty about it. You don't have to believe the devil's lies anymore. Tell the devil, 'Jesus says He has certainly accepted me.'

Now who are you going to believe from today onwards - Jesus or the devil? That's your choice. If you want to continue to believe the devil, then nobody can help you. But if you will believe the Word of God - take up that sword and the devil will flee from you. And you will never have a doubt again for the rest of your life that Christ has accepted you.

Now some of you may have another problem. You may feel that there are certain sins that you have committed in your past life which were very, very bad -even serious. May be some of you have committed adultery or murder, or it could be any horrible thing. You may feel, well some of the less serious sins God has forgiven you, but some of those horrible, wicked things, which nobody knows but you, does God always remember them when He thinks of you? Is it like that?

You know how it is. Supposing somebody has killed your son, and you are gracious enough to forgive him. Yet every time you see him you will remember that this is the man who killed my son, even if you have forgiven him. Does God look at us like that? That every time He sees us He thinks of us as the one who did all those wicked things twenty years ago, or ten years ago, or last week. What does the Bible say? The answer again is to know the Word of God . Satan will come to you with all these torturing thoughts. His aim is to keep you far away from God. You cannot overcome him with arguments or psychology, or any such thing. You have got to quote the Word of God.

You know when Jesus was tempted by Satan. What did He say? He only said, 'It is written, God's Word says this.' The second time Satan came to him with another temptation and Jesus said, 'God's Word says this.' Satan then came to Him quoting a Word of God, but Jesus' answer was, 'But it also says in God's Word, this.' Every single time, in those three temptations in the wilderness, Jesus overcame Satan only by quoting Scripture - no discussion, no argument, nothing. Eve was the one who discussed and argued with Satan and you know what happened to her - she fell.

Jesus never did that. He just quoted the Word of God, and that is what you need to do too. Here is a promise - God says, "I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more" (Heb. 8:12). Not only 'I will forgive your sins' - that in itself is wonderful - 'but I will not remember your sins anymore against you.' That means, when God looks at me, He does not hold against me any of the sins I have committed in the past; not the ones I committed 40 years ago and not the ones I committed yesterday. If I have confessed my sins, the Bible says that " God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins; the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins."

These are powerful weapons. These Words of God are like swords. We can say the Bible is like an armoury with many swords and you need to take out the appropriate one when the devil comes to you with one or other type of attack. When he reminds you that you have sinned so much in the past, you can say, 'well the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all sins'. Satan is a great accuser. He seeks to accuse, torment, and harass believers, preventing them from being happy. So many believers go around with long faces. That is not God's will for you, my friend. Do you think God wants you to go around in this world with a long face? How can you ever draw anyone to Christ if you go around with a long face? How can you be happy? You can't psychologically work up happiness, can you? You must know that your sins are forgiven; you have been accepted by Christ. Not only that, but God will not remember your sins anymore.

Now I want to lead you one step further. It is not only that God forgives our sin. It is not only that He doesn't remember our sins anymore, but He does something more. There is a word called 'justified' used in Romans - that God has justified us. It says, "Having been justified by faith" (Rom. 5:1). Do you know what justified means? It means 'declared righteous'. That means God has declared you to be a righteous person. Now let's use an illustration: supposing I have been accused of a crime, and I have been taken to court. The judge says, 'okay, you are forgiven.' I am happy, because I come out of the court forgiven, but I still hang my head in shame, because I am accused of a terrible crime. But on the other hand, if the judge says, 'Well, after considering all the evidence I don't believe you are guilty at all. There is no need to be forgiven, you are righteous. You can go home.' Righteous! Then I come out of the court, not just as a forgiven criminal, but as one with my head lifted up. This is the meaning of justification. It is more than forgiveness and many Christians haven't understood it.

God not only forgives, He justifies. He declares me righteous. In other words, He clothes me with the righteousness of Christ. He puts the goodness of Christ over me as my dress. Can you think of it - the goodness of Christ clothing you? How do you look when you are clothed with the goodness of Christ? I will tell you: Perfect. Do you believe it? Oh that is where the problem lies, you don't believe it! Then it will never be true for you. It says justified by faith. Do you believe God puts the goodness of Christ over you? Thank Him for it and resist Satan with this weapon of the Word of God. Say, 'I have been accepted by Christ.' Say it right now, 'I have been accepted, I have been forgiven. God does not remember my past against me anymore. I have been justified. I am a righteous person clothed with the goodness of Christ over my life. I am just as precious to God as Jesus Himself is.

These are the weapons by which Satan will flee from us.

Chapter 12

God’s Word Renews Our Mind

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could understand God's mind concerning any problem or concerning the solution to a problem.

Let us turn to the Word of God in Romans 12:2. Here the Holy Spirit is speaking to our hearts, and I want you to listen very carefully - God is trying to speak to your heart ; "Don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." We see here that God wants us to be transformed inwardly. He is speaking here about the renewing of our mind. We have considered, in one of the earlier studies, referring to Genesis 1, how the Word of God and the Holy Spirit moved over the chaotic earth and, how out of that chaotic situation produced order, form, beauty, light and every good thing until, at the end, God Himself could say, 'this is excellent, this is very good' (Gen. 1:26).

Do you know that is just a faint picture of what God wants to do in our life also; to take our chaotic, formless, and dark life and allow the Holy Spirit to work upon us; let the Word of God sink into us and change us inwardly so much that, at the end, He can look into our lives and say, 'excellent'. In other words, we, who were such wretched, corrupt, and sinful creatures, full of bitterness, envy, and evil in so many forms, are so radically transformed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that we begin to manifest the nature of Christ Himself. That is the meaning of renewing of our minds. To put it in another way, God wants our mind to begin to think the ways He thinks.

When our minds are not renewed, even if we are born again and have our sins forgiven, we may still think the way worldly people think. Unfortunately this is true with a lot of believers, because they don't grow. Their minds think exactly like the people in the world concerning money, pretty women, property, concerning position and honour, and the way they look at their enemies and everything else. But God uses all these things in a different way.

What does it mean to be transformed? It means to be changed into the likeness of Christ. Where does it take place? It doesn't take place in our physical appearance. God is not in the business of physically making us look like Jesus. That would be of no use. He is in the business of changing our inner character and life into the likeness of Christ. How does it happen? He does it through renewing our mind - changing our way of thinking. He makes us think the way He thinks through the Word of God.

In the Bible we have God's way of thinking. If you want to know God's way of thinking, read the Bible. If you want to know what God thinks of money, what God thinks of adultery, theft, cheating others, jealousy, selfishness or unselfishness, humility or pride, or any matter, just read the Bible. The answer is there. When Jesus came to earth, He was called the Word of God. We are told the Word became flesh. This means that if you want to know what God thinks about anything, about any subject, you got to look at the life of Jesus and you will have the answer!

There the Word of God is not just in a written form but manifested in human form as well. This is the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, they had God's Word in the written form. There were the Ten Commandments written on two pieces of rock and there was The Law written on many scrolls of parchment. But when Jesus came, we had the Word of God in human form. It is much easier to read the Word of God in human form than it is to read the Word of God in a scroll of parchment or a book.

God wants to make each one of us demonstrations of the Word of God written in human form. How does that happen? - Through God renewing our way of thinking, so that we begin to think like He thinks. When we begin to think like He thinks, we begin to act like He would act. You see, our whole inner life controls our external behaviour, and that is why God's Word says, 'Don't be conformed to the world.'

Now when we are born into the world, as little babies, we have no particular way of thinking. A new born baby is not worldly because it doesn't have a worldly way of thinking - it is just born. But, as it grows, its nature develops - that evil corrupt nature it has inherited from Adam grows seeing the world around it; in the way people live selfishly; the way we are surrounded by people who tell lies. As that baby develops, its way of thinking becomes exactly like everybody else in the world; selfish, seeking its own, proud, arrogant, jealous of others who are better, and so many things like that. Therefore it harms others, hurts others.

But when Christ comes in, His desire for the born again believer is to change all that. A new birth is like a baby being born all over again. Now we should allow this new life to develop and take over our way of thinking so that we begin to think like God thinks. Gradually, as we allow our thinking - the patterns of thinking to change, we will find that, when we face life situations we know God's answer to those problems.

Now, when you come to a crisis situation in your life, and you say 'Oh God what shall I do, I want to know your will.' You have come to a crossroad in life. You have to take this decision or that decision, but you don't know what to do. Well, here it says in Romans 12:2 we can know God's will in such a situation. Now if, during the years preceding your coming to that crossroad or that crisis, you had allowed the Holy Spirit through God's word to change your way of thinking, at that crisis point in your life you will be able to " prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God"(Rom. 12:2). But, if you had been a careless Christian and you had not cared to let the way of God change your way of thinking, you are going to come to that crisis in your life and not know what to do. You will have to run to some older godly brother asking for advice and maybe he can give you good advice.

But do you know that is the Old Testament way? In the Old Testament the only man who knew God's will was the prophet, if he was a true prophet. They were very rare and sometimes, for centuries on end, there would be no true prophet. But if there happened to be a true prophet around, you will have to go to him and ask what to do in a particular situation. Even the kings had to go to the prophets. Then the prophet will find God's will and tell the king or you, if you had asked him.

In the New Testament, the Bible says, 'You don't have to teach everyone his fellow citizens, saying, 'Know the Lord', because all will know me personally, from the least to the greatest" (Heb. 8:11). So one of the privileges we have (because the Holy Spirit, God Himself has now come to dwell in our hearts) is that from within we can know the mind of God without going to a prophet. You don't have to go to a prophet now, or a pastor, or an elder to find the will of God. We see from Romans 12:2 that 'If your mind is renewed, you can prove the will of God yourself.' This is wonderful. You can have a direct hotline with God - a direct connection with God Himself.

It is very important that you don't wait until a crisis comes before you begin to seek God. Some believers turn to God only when there is a crisis. And when things start to go smoothly they forget all about maintaining a close walk with God until the next crisis. Again they turn to God. Well, such believers are not going to grow. Whether there is a crisis or not, whether there are problems or not, we should develop this habit of opening our mind to be influenced by the teachings of God's word, particularly from the New Testament. Then we begin to understand how God thinks, what God's attitude towards different things is.

The Bible says we need to meditate on His Word. We also look at the life of Jesus Christ where that Word of God was demonstrated in human form. So, if we allow the Holy Spirit to show us, from the Scriptures, the beauty and glory of Jesus and the way He lived on earth, then we will have an understanding of what God is like. The Bible says that one of the purposes with which Jesus came to the earth was to explain the Father (Jn. 1:18). So, when you look at the life of Jesus Christ, you know what God the Father is like. When you read the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit shows us how Jesus lived, how Jesus reacted to different situations, how Jesus behaved in different circumstances and, gradually, we get that explanation in our own mind of what God is like. This way the Holy Spirit changes our way of thinking, if we submit to Him.

Gradually, the sinful person that you and I are, get changed into the likeness of Christ. Then, one day, when we face a crisis, when we come into a particular problem, we know almost immediately how Jesus would react here, how Jesus would behave, what decision Jesus would take. Then we take the same decision, and it is going to be right. I want to invite you, if you have never done it before, from today to develop a habit of opening your mind to read God's Word and meditate on it, allowing the Holy Spirit to show you the glory of Jesus in the Scripture, so that you can see how He reacted to situations, how He behaved towards His enemies, how He behaved towards people, how He conducted Himself. Pray saying, 'Spirit of God, change me into that likeness.' Then you will find the will of God in different situations without having to go to a prophet or a pastor.

Chapter 13

Religiosity And Spirituality

Let us consider something about the difference between being religious and being spiritual. Perhaps, you have never thought about it, but the difference is very important for us to understand.

We read in God's Word that, "In the last days there are going to be a lot of people who hold to a form of Godliness but having denied its power" (2 Tim. 3:1, 5). Take for example someone who wants to poison another person, he would not give him a full glass of poison but perhaps a glass full of milk with, may be, just two or three drops of poison that is enough to kill the man. In the same way, when Satan wants to deceive people, he is not going to give people what is an obvious error. He is not going to come preaching sin and unrighteousness. The Bible says that Satan comes as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14, 15). There are many forms in which he comes; he comes as a lion, as a dragon, as a serpent. When he comes in these forms, we can easily recognize him. He may frighten us but he cannot deceive us. You are not frightened when you see a lion, or a serpent, or a dragon concerning their intentions. But you can be deceived when you see Satan coming as an angel of light and when his servants are servants of righteousness.

Satan, in order to fulfil his purpose of leading people astray from the true God and from the truth, has invented so many religions. He has also invented versions of Christianity which are different from what we see in the Scriptures. We use the expression nominal Christians to people who are born into a Christian family, whatever denomination they may be, but who have not come to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Yet many of these people can have a form of godliness. Even those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, if they fail to distinguish between religiosity and spirituality, may develop in becoming more and more religious and not spiritual.

Religiosity is a human thing whereas spirituality is divine - it is from heaven. The Old Testament Law, for example, could not make anybody spiritual. There were people in the Old Testament who rose above the standards of The Law. People like Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist became spiritually minded, knowing the heart of God. But The Law itself could not make anybody spiritual, because The Law only demanded that you conform to certain standards externally. If you kept the Ten Commandments, i.e. you didn't have any other gods, you didn't worship idols, you didn't take the Lord's name in vain, you kept the Sabbath, you honoured your father and mother, you didn't commit adultery, theft, murder, or bear false witness, or covet something which is your neighbour's, you are okay. Externally The Law cannot find fault with you. If you kept all the commandments concerning the ceremonial law, you would be accepted as a person in very good standing; you would be an outstanding Jew in Israel. But you need not be spiritual.

Now the same thing can happen today. A person can go to the meetings regularly and can conform to the external demands of a particular Christian denomination or a church and have a good standing there. He could even be a board member or an elder there in the church but not necessarily be spiritual at al l . He may be only religious. Then he would be the equivalent of the Pharisees in Jesus' time. They conformed to all the requirements of The Law, externally, in the eyes of the people, but were not devoted to Jesus Christ in their hearts. They were not spiritual. They were not devoted to God. They did not love God with all their heart, soul, strength and mind. They loved money (Lk. 16:14). That is just one example.

Religious people can pray, read the Bible daily, attend all night fasting and prayer meetings, tithe their income, give out tracts, but, along with all that, they will also seek honour from men, live for themselves, love money, be interested in gossiping, etc.. They don't seem to see that there is a contradiction between these two aspects of their lives. There doesn't seem to be a connection between these two. On one side, there is a form of godliness, but on the other side, the inner power that delivers a person from a self-centred life and makes him really godly is not there. These are some examples. If you are more interested in the opinion of men; in what men think about you than in what God thinks about you, the chances are, my friend, that you could be just religious.

It is good to face up to it. We are not saying anything insulting to anyone but when we expose our life to the scan of the Word of God and God's Word shows us that our Christianity is only superficial, it is good to face up to it. It is better to recognize it now rather than when Christ comes again and we stand before him. That will be too late. If we recognize today that we are only religious and not spiritual, we can do something about it.

A spiritual man is more interested in God's opinion of his life than the opinion of all men. A spiritual man is more interested in living a godly life than even in attending the meetings. His attendance at meetings is only to help him to live a godly life, because godly life is more important than a meeting. The way he behaves with his wife and children at home is far more important for a godly man than whether he preaches on a Sunday morning in the meetings or not. There you can evaluate yourself.

If you are very careful to prepare your sermon for your Sunday morning message but not careful in the way you speak to your wife at home, you are probably just religious, not spiritual. It is people who have a form of godliness who have got a reputation that they are very holy people, but they not really spiritual. If a person is satisfied that he fasts and prays and tithes, but doesn't seem to bother whether he can control his speech during the day or not, is not disturbed by the fact that he is a lover of money, then he is religious. A person could be interested in evangelism - reaching out for the lost, which is a very good thing and a very necessary thing, but if he, along with that, not interested in personal sanctification, he is just religious. A spiritual man will be interested in both.

A lot of these activities which the religions people are involved in are very good, but the question is of priorities. Priorities are what make a man spiritual. You see a religious person is very often interested in the written word - the letter of the law. Bible says that ".... the letter of the law kills, but the spirit brings life" (2 Cor. 3:6). That means, God's word, if taken just according to the letter, without understanding its spirit, won't bring life, it will kill you. Have you thought of that? We must understand this in the context of entire verse, particularly the first part; "We are servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but the Spirit, because the letter kills but the Spirit gives life."

Remember once when Jesus said, 'You have got to eat my flesh and drink my blood', a lot of people got offended, as they thought Jesus was preaching cannibalism. We read this in John 6. They got so offended that they went away and they never walked with Him anymore. Jesus said one last word to them before they left. He said to them, "The words I speak to you are Spirit and life, the flesh profits nothing" (Jn. 6:63). And so, what Jesus spoke was spiritual.

You can take the word of Scripture - the letter, and obey it down to the last detail, and just be a religious person, not spiritual at all. It takes more than just keeping the letter of the law. It takes a heart attitude towards God - towards His words for a person to become spiritual. Our goal in life should be to be spiritual, not a religious person like the Pharisees of old. They were more interested in justifying themselves before men and proving to men that what they were standing for is right and what they were doing is right. The spiritual man is not really bothered about what people think about him.

Jesus never lived wondering what people were thinking or saying about him; He lived only to please the Father. A spiritual person cares for God's opinion. Religious people can often meditate for years on the words of praise that somebody has said about them. A spiritual person, on the other hand, refuses to receive testimony from men. They know that other men do not know the corruption that is in their own heart. They know that the praise of men is worth less than nothing. So they live for God's opinion, they live to please Him.

If our goal in life is to please God, that is not easy, we have to fight a battle and say, 'Lord, I do not want to please man, I want to please you.' And if that is our determined goal, then we will find that Spirit of God shows us the way to be truly spiritual. Then we will not only have the external form of godliness, but the inner power as well.

Chapter 14

Maximum Or Minimum For The Lord

In our last study we looked at the difference between being religious and spiritual. We would like to think a little bit more about that because it is such a vital area to be a true Christian.

We all know the difference between a servant - a worker working in a shop or a factory and a son working for his own father in the same shop or factory. Their attitude towards their work will be fundamentally different. A servant will be working for wages. He works for certain fixed hours. If he has to work longer than that, he expects overtime pay. He expects a bonus at the end of the year. And after may be one or two years, he may expect a raise in salary. But a son is so different. He doesn't think in terms of the number of hours he works. There may be more work required in the office or the shop or the factory and the son would gladly stay on long after the workers have gone away. And if the factory is going through a difficult time financially, the son will not expect his father to give him any money. What is the difference?

In the difference between the attitude of the worker and the attitude of son, we can see the difference between the Old Testament way of life and the New Testament way of life. You know that your Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament or it is also called the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Now these are not words that we use so much nowadays. Testament, Covenant - they sound more like legal words. In very simple language it only means an agreement.

We all know what an agreement is like. When a person sells a property or hires a worker, they sign an agreement - both the person who is buying and the person who is selling or the person who is employing and person who is being employed. And that agreement is the picture of this Old Testament and the New Testament. God made an agreement with man in the Old Testament times with Israel. But when Jesus came (He is called the mediator of the new covenant), God made a new agreement with man.

In very simple terms, we could say, under the old agreement man was like a servant. You know a servant can't call his master, 'father' and, that is why in the Old Testament the Jews could never call God, 'Father', because they were servants. They could call Him, 'O Lord,' 'God,' 'Mighty Master,' and all that, but they couldn't call Him 'Father.' But when Jesus came, He gathered His disciples around and said, 'I am going to teach you how to pray under the New Covenant. When you pray you say, 'Our Father, who is in heaven." What does this mean? - That this was a new agreement.

We are now going to be like sons and daughters of God and our relationship with God is not going to be any more like that of a Master and a servant. It was not even going to be like that of a friend - a friend is higher to the master than a servant. It is going to be more than a friendship. Abraham was called the friend of God. But you know the difference between a friend and a son. If a rich man says, 'This is my friend' and points to another one and says, 'This is my son,' you know who has the inheritance. Who is going to receive everything from the father? - Not the friend, but the son. To be a son of God is greater than to be a servant of God. It is greater than to be a friend of God.

Now, very often we use the expression that, so and so is the Lord's servants and, subconsciously, we think that that man is greater than the other person who is only the son of God. But is that really true? If you were to come to my house and I introduce you to two people and say, 'This is my servant and this is my son,' who would you think is more important in my house? Is it greater to be the servant of the Lord than to be the son of God ? These are all wrong concepts that we have got in our mind which are not from Scripture. Of course, the son of God should also be a servant, if he is a responsible son.

We need to recognize that Jesus came to deliver us from merely becoming slaves and wants us to become sons. There we see the difference between being religious and being spiritual. A religious person behaves exactly like a servant. A spiritual person will behave like a son. Let's put it in two different words. A servant would think in terms of the minimum that he has to do in order to fulfil his duties, whereas a son - a responsible son that is, would think in terms of maximum that he can do to please his father or to help his father. In these two terms - the minimum and the maximum, you can see the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, between being a slave and being a son.

That is why, when Jesus was preaching, what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, He tried to teach his disciples the spirit behind the commands. He said, for example, under the Old Dispensation, you were told, 'You shall not commit murder'. That is good. What is the minimum required? - You shall not commit murder. But, is that the maximum that God required? Certainly not. What would the maximum be in that realm - in that area to please the Father?

Where does murder come from? It comes from anger. So Jesus said, "I say to you "don't be angry."" What was He trying to say? He was trying to say, 'If you meditate on the commandment, 'thou shall not commit murder,' you will discover that that is just the minimum.' If you meditate on it you will discover the way to please the Father. If your attitude is, 'What is the maximum I can do,' then it will be, 'I should not even get angry with my brother or with anyone.' Then I have pleased the Father . I have not pleased the Father if I have only refrained from committing murder.

Now a religious person is one who takes the letter of the law and says, 'Well, I have kept it.' Religious people become Pharisees, and Pharisees gradually drift away from the truth. In every denomination of Christianity, you will find Pharisees - people who have taken up the letter with the traditions and who are more interested in keeping those external traditions of their particular group than in life in Jesus Christ. This is the form of godliness that we are told in 2 Tim. 3:5 to beware of.

See, if you keep your fellowship with people who are proud and arrogant, gradually you will get a little of their spirit. If you constantly keep companionship with murderers, you will get their spirit. And in the same way, if you keep companionship with the people who are a little bit godly, you will get their spirit. So, when it says in 2 Tim. 3:5 to avoid people, who have only a form of godliness, it is to preserve us in life. The Holy Spirit warns us not to spend a lot of time with people who are just doing the letter of the law, who are righteous externally. That type of religiosity does not please God at all. Be a son, be a responsible son.

In the same way, when Jesus spoke about adultery, He said, under the Old Dispensation, the thing was to avoid adultery - the physical act. That was certainly a sin, but is that the maximum that God required? No, that was the minimum. What was the maximum? The son would look at that commandment of God and meditate on it and say, 'Well that is the minimum that God requires.' It is like the servant saying, 'well I got to work from 9 AM to 5 PM. Once my eight hour shift is over, I will be home.' But a son may stay on until 9 PM or all through the night, if there is work to be done. So the 9 to 5 attitude says, 'I don't have to commit adultery, that's all.' But the son's attitude is what is behind that? - 'I should not be impure in my attitude or thoughts towards anyone. There must be purity in thoughts towards the opposite sex.' Jesus emphasized it to such an extent that He said, "If your eye offends you, it is better to pluck it off."

Now who understands that? Only a son, who is desperate to please his Father , who has longed that his Father will be totally satisfied with his life. Only such a person can be really spiritual. He seeks to understand the spirit behind the commandments in Scripture and not just the letter of the law.

The Bible says that our relationship with Jesus Christ is like that of a bride to bridegroom. This is true Christianity - It is a marriage, it is not a religion. It is a relationship between two people. It is not worshipping a book; it is being united to a person - to the person of Jesus Christ. Religious people worship a book. The Bible is the most important thing to them. Now the Bible is very important to me, but not more important than Jesus Christ. If I didn't have the fellowship of Jesus Christ, the Bible would become a dead book to me. It is living because Jesus can speak to me through it.

Our relationship to Christ is to be like that of an earthly bride who is deeply in love with her bridegroom. The Bible speaks of our relationship with Christ like that, and then one day, Christ will come and will be married to her. It is the exact picture of a bride who is engaged, waiting for her wedding day, eager to correspond to her bridegroom, to telephone and to listen to her bridegroom, and wanting to spend time with him, until the day of the marriage. During that time, how does she live? She is only interested in her bridegroom's opinion. She is not bothered what anybody else in the world thinks about her. She wants to please her bridegroom and she doesn't do the minimum.

Think of an engaged couple that are deeply in love with each other. When they get an opportunity to spend time with each other, do they think of the minimum time required? Do they look at the watch and say, 'Ok, we have spent ten minutes and it is enough?' No, they feel even five hours is not enough! When they write letters to each other, an engaged couple that are deeply in love with one another, how long are those letters going to be - half a page? Do they say, 'Well that is enough, I have told you I am okay and hope you are okay?' No, they may write 25 pages and next day they may write another 25 pages again! This is due to love.

True spirituality is the result of a loving relationship with Christ. Religiosity, on the other hand, is a merely formal relationship with Christ, like a servant to a master. Let us seek to be spiritual.

Chapter 15

A Son Or A Servant

We want to consider a little bit more about what we were looking at in our last couple of messages - the difference between being religious and being spiritual.

A person can be religious and still be very, very selfish and self-centred and think all the time in terms of his own profit and his own gain. When a person becomes spiritual, he cannot be self-centred or selfish. He thinks not in terms of what he is going to gain, but in terms what God is going to gain; how God is going to be glorified.

You remember the prayer which Jesus taught His disciples, which is commonly known as the 'Lord's Prayer' - "Our Father who art in heaven" followed by six requests. The three of those requests, the first three in fact, concern God - His name, His kingdom, His will, and the next three concerns ourselves - our physical and material needs -daily bread, our need for forgiveness - our past life, i.e. "Forgive us our sins as we forgive others," and our need for deliverance from sins in the future. Notice that Jesus taught His disciples that the right way to pray was putting God's glory, name, honour, and His will, and His kingdom first and putting our own needs secondary.

Now, if you were to examine your own prayer, I mean, think of the way you have prayed to God, even if it is half a minute prayer, or one sentence prayer, or a long prayer. What have you basically prayed to God for, say, during the last one year? When you spend time in prayer or make short requests to God, what are you actually asking God for? If you are honest, you will discover how much your prayers are centred on yourself and your family. That is an indication of the way you live also - How do you spend your money, your time, and your abilities? You may find that the answer to these questions show that your life is so wrapped up only around yourself and your family. And to ease your conscience you give a little time to God, may be on a Sunday morning, or may be on a Wednesday evening. Then you feel that you are spiritual because you have given a little time to God or may be because you live what you consider as an upright life.

True spirituality is a lot more than going to two meetings in a week. In fact, a man can be spiritual even without going for any meeting at all in a week. If he is locked up in a prison, for example, he is not able to go for a meeting, or if he is in a hospital or sick, he can't go for a meeting. He can still be spiritual. But you can't be spiritual, if you are seeking your own. A religious person goes through religious acts to ease his conscience but, deep down in the centre of his life, SELF still sits on the throne. That is why Jesus said, "You can't be my disciple unless you take up the cross" - deny that self which is sitting on the throne (Lk. 9:23). "Unless you deny your self-life, dethrone it, kill it, and follow me, you can't be my disciple." He said, "You got to do it every day."

So we see that a religious person can still have SELF sitting on the throne of his heart and go through the motions of every external activity. He may go to every meeting, he may go to six or seven meetings a week, he may engage in evangelism, he may even be a full-time worker who has given up his job, and may be travels to some difficult place to preach God's word, still he may be just religious. Jesus once said to the Pharisees, who were religious people of his time, 'You travel and cross lands and seas, you travel here and there to make converts. What do you accomplish? You produce people exactly like yourself. They have become double the children of hell. In fact, they would have been better off if you had left them alone, because you made them like yourselves - self-centred, thinking that they are spiritual, when they are only religious . Lot of conversions are like that.

Even in Christendom today, people are converted to a form of religiosity. They never become spiritual because the SELF sits on the throne. They have never thought to take up the cross every day. Think about yourself; has anybody ever taught what it means to deny yourself every day, to take up your cross every day, as you read Luke 9:23? What does it say there? It says, 'Unless you do that every day, you can't be His disciple, you can't follow Him; it is impossible.' He said that in Luke 14:27 too.

The religious man thinks like this, i.e. when he becomes Christian, this is the way his thought processes work: What can I get from the Lord? Can the Lord give me forgiveness of sins? Yeah I want that. Can He give me healing? Yeah I would like that. Can He give me heaven after I die? Yeah I want that too. Can He bless me? Yeah I want that. Can He bless me materially? Boy, I would love that. Can He anoint me so that I can be a mighty, famous preacher going around with my pictures here and there in Christian magazines? I would love that too.

Now, do you think such a man is spiritual? He may be talking about a lot of Christian activities, but his goal is something for himself. He is seeking his own name, his own fame, his own gain, his own prosperity, his own blessing, everything for self. Self sits on the throne of his life. He is got a form of godliness though. He may be a fulltime worker. But a lot of people in fulltime Christian work today are doing it for their own profit. If those people were in secular jobs, they would not be earning even half of what they earn in Christian work. It has brought them profit. They are doing business with God. Jesus turned such people out of the temple in His day, in His time - People who sought their own, who appeared to be selling sheep and doves to help people sacrifice in the temple, but who were actually just thinking in terms of their own profit and gain. Do you know the amount of religiosity there is in Christianity today that goes undetected, disguised as Christian work? Oh, there is such a lot of that.

A spiritual man, on the other hand, is not thinking what he can get out of the Lord. He thinks, 'What can the Lord get out of me? What can the Lord get from this one earthly life that I have? What is the maximum that He can get?' Now, if you are honest, as you read this transcript , you can ask yourself, what is your attitude towards the Lord? Are you always thinking, what is the next thing I can get from the Lord for myself, for my family? Or is your attitude is , 'What more can the Lord get out of my earthly life before I leave this earth? What more can He get out of me?' Personally, I want Him to have everything of me from head to foot, and I want my life to be dispensed for Him.

There is a lot of difference between these two attitudes. Both people may sit next to each other in a Christian church, and you may not be able to distinguish between the two, because it is a question of heart attitude. Both may go out for evangelism, both may go out to serve the Lord, and both may sacrifice. And yet the fundamental motive underneath may be totally different. You know it is the motive that determines the spirituality, not the actions.

Jesus went to the Synagogue and the Pharisees went to Synagogue. Do you think they were both equally acceptable to God? Jesus studied the Bible and the Pharisees studied the Bible. Do you think they were equally acceptable to the Father ? Jesus went out to preach, the Pharisees went out to preach. The Pharisees were full time workers and Jesus was a fulltime worker for three-and-a-half years. But do you think they were the same? There was a vast difference. In fact, in the gospels, we constantly see the contrast between Jesus and Pharisees. It is the contrast between true spirituality and religiosity. It is the contrast between living according to the Spirit of the New Covenant, the new agreement that God has made with man and living according to the letter of the law - the Old Covenant. There is a vast difference between the two.

When Adam sinned, do you know what he did? He covered himself with fig leaves. Fig leaves are a picture of religiosity with which a man tries to make himself presentable before God and before man. You know what Jesus did when he saw a fig tree covered with leaves. He cursed it and the whole tree withered out. That teaches us that there is a curse on religiosity. He came looking for fruit in that fig tree; He didn't want its leaves. Fig trees were not created just to have leaves. Likewise, God did not create man just to be religious. Yes, there are religious activities but underneath it all if there is not a spiritual life, then God is not interested. There is a curse over it.

What is it that God gave Adam? God stripped him of those fig leaves and gave him a covering of skin; He killed an animal and put its skin over him. It is a picture of God giving us his own nature. The dress of the fig leaves was what Adam manufactured; He sewed up the fig leaves and made a dress for himself, to cover himself. When God saw it, He said, 'Throw that away, I don't want it.' They may be good fig leaves, i.e., they were not rotten but still not acceptable. God said, 'I will give you a dress.'

God gives us the nature of Christ. That is what that skin of the animal means. We can then ask, 'Why did God keep people under the law for 1500 years?' - To show man the emptiness of it. He never intended that man should live under The Law all his life. God left man under The Law to show that that is not the way. 'You will never attain to my nature that way.' He wanted man to come to an end of himself and that is what The Law was meant to accomplish. Those people who did come to an end of themselves, they began to seek God. To them God is able to give His own nature, and that is throwing away the fig leaves of religiosity and giving us the nature of Jesus Christ.

The nature of Jesus Christ means that we serve God with the same Spirit with which Christ served the Father - Not as a servant but as a Son. Beloved friends, God has called you not to be his servant but to be his son and to serve Him with the Spirit of His Son.

Chapter 16

Keeping The Tenth Commandment

Once again, we will continue looking at the difference between being religious and being spiritual as we did in our last three studies; look into a little more in depth so that we can be clear in our own minds on this very important matter.

Most of us are aware of the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses. You may not know all of them. It is good to know all of them. I want to point something out to you in those Ten Commandments which you may have not noticed up until now. If we understand that, we will see a little bit of the reason why God gave The Law, even though He knew that The Law could never lead anyone to becoming spiritual or to live a godly life. In fact, in Hebrews 8:7, you will see very clearly that the Old Covenant was faulty. That is the word used there that the old covenant, The Law was faulty.

Did God give something faulty? Did He make a mistake? - He certainly didn't; He knows the end from the beginning. He gave it with a purpose, for our help; for us to see our need. The Law was given to expose sins. We could also say that The Law was given by God to test man - to see how many people would be satisfied with an external righteousness that brought the honour of men, and how many would seek God for that inner purity which alone pleases God.

You remember when Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, He told them, "You are people, who just clean the outside of the cup, but God sees your hearts and He wants the inside of the cup cleansed. You people will do all the right things externally so that people are impressed, but God sees deep within; He is looking for inner purity of motive." We can say that the Pharisees were like Adam covered with fig leaves, and you know, from the previous study, that there is curse upon it. That is why you find that Jesus was in constant conflict with the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, who kept the letter of the law down to the last detail, whose doctrines were so correct that we read that Jesus told even His disciples to follow the teachings of the Pharisees (Mt. 23:2-3). Have you noticed that? He said that because whatever they say is right. The only thing, He said, is that they don't do like they teach; don't follow their example in your life, because they teach things they don't practice. So, there was nothing wrong with the doctrine of the Pharisees.

There was another group in Jesus' time called the Sadducees who had wrong doctrines. Jesus never told His disciples to follow their teachings, because they didn't believe in angels or Spirit or resurrection. In fact, they were very earthly minded. They didn't think much about future life at all. Their doctrine was wrong. But the Pharisees were the people whose doctrines were right. A person can have all his doctrines right - his doctrines may be thoroughly evangelical and yet he may be religious; He may be only having a doctrine which is external.

Now think of the Ten Commandments; God said, "You shouldn't have any other gods, you mustn't make idols, you must not take My name in vain, you must keep the Sabbath day holy. You must honour your father and mother, you must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not bear false witness." Now these are nine of the Ten Commandments. It is possible for any person, without the help of the Holy Spirit, to keep those nine commandments. The proof of it is that many people in the Old Testament kept those nine commandments without the help of the Holy Spirit.

They did not have the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament times and yet, Paul could say, "I have lived with a good conscience before God from my childhood up until this day" (Acts 23:1). The rich young ruler, when Jesus pointed out these commandments to him, said, "I have kept all of these from my childhood" (Mk. 10:20). It was possible for a God-fearing person to keep all these commandments without the help of the Holy Spirit, just by his own strength. It is possible for any man of any religion to keep these nine commandments without any help from God, because man has certain strength to lead an externally moral life. If you don't lead an externally moral life, nobody is going to accept your religion. People expect religious people to be, at least, moral externally!

But, when we come to the tenth commandment, the tenth commandment did not deal with the external; it dealt with something inward. The commandment was, 'You shall not lust or covet or strongly desire'- all these three words mean the same. Unfortunately, lust has got an evil connotation in people's minds. But all it means is strong desire, like it says in Galatians 5:17, "The Holy Spirit lusts against the flesh." What does that mean? The Holy Spirit doesn't do any evil. He has got a strong desire against (as opposed to) the flesh. And the flesh has got a strong desire against the Holy Spirit.

It is the same word used in Exodus 20: 17 in the tenth Commandment -"You shall not covet your neighbour's house or your neighbour's wife." This means the same as, 'You shall not lust for your neighbour's house or lust for your neighbour's wife.' It means the same as, 'You shall not have a strong desire for your neighbour's house or for your neighbour's wife or you shall not have a strong desire to get your neighbour's servant and wish that that servant who works in your neighbour's house could be your servant, because may be she is such a faithful servant. You shall not desire your neighbour's business, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour's. The tenth commandment was inward. The thing is there is no way by which anybody could find out whether you kept it or not. It was impossible.

Now Paul was a very, very honest person. He tells us that, 'According to the righteousness which is in The Law, he was blameless' (Phil. 3:6). He had kept the law blamelessly. What does it mean? Does it mean he kept all Ten Commandments? - He certainly didn't; He kept only nine. But that is all that was required. Nobody could keep the tenth commandment. Nobody could say I have never lusted after anything; I have never lusted out for my neighbour's wife or my neighbour's daughter and remember every woman in the world is either your neighbour's wife or your neighbour's daughter, everyone in the world. You can never say that you have never desired what belongs to somebody else.

There is not a soul in this world who can say that, not even the apostle Paul. And He tells us that very honestly, "What shall we say then, is The Law sin, may it never be." He continued, "I would not have known sin except for The Law" (Rom. 7:7). Then he mentions the tenth commandments, not the first nine, because he kept the first nine. He says, when it came to the tenth Commandment, which said, 'You shall not covet, you shall not lust, you shall not have a strong desire for anything that is your neighbour's,' "I discovered every type of lust in my heart" (Rom. 7:8). He was honest. He said, 'I thought I was pleasing God till this commandment showed me the corruption of sin in my life. I saw that I was dead spiritually in God's eyes, because I found every kind of lust in me.' He says, 'Every kind of coveting, every kind of strong desire' (Rom. 7:8).

Why did God give such a commandment if He knew that nobody could keep it without the help of the Holy Spirit? Now here is the answer: God gave it to see how many people would be honest in admitting that they come short in this area. Do you know friends; the first step to being spiritual is honesty. God doesn't ask you to be holy first; none of us can be holy. Again, He doesn't ask us to be loving or humble or anything, because all these things take time.

There is one thing you can be today, that is the first step to true spirituality, and that is honesty. Paul was honest. He said, 'It is true, I find every type of covetousness in my heart. I am a sinner.' He admits, 'Such a sinner that I thought I was alive, but I am actually dead, I am dead in sin.' A man who kept every single external commandment acknowledges that he is thoroughly dead in sin, because he discovered every type of lust in his heart.

How do you find it in your heart? You just got to be honest. If you are honest, God will lead you further. But if you are dishonest and pretend that you don't have any such desires and that you are so clean and upright like the Pharisees pretended, then Jesus will say to you, sarcastically, like He said to the Pharisees, "I did not come for the righteous people, I came for the sinners. I came to call sinners to repentance," and he will pass by you altogether. And you will miss the Lord completely, like the Pharisees missed him.

Why did they miss the Lord? Why did the Lord leave them alone? He says, "You people are healthy. I came for sick people; only sick people need a doctor. Why do you healthy people need me?" You think they were healthy? - Far from healthy. Pharisees were the sickest people in Israel. Why did Jesus say, "You people are healthy?" He was being sarcastic. He was trying to show them their hypocrisy. He was showing them that He would not go to help those who are not honest.

You see, how easy it is to come to the Lord. You just got to be honest about the sin in your heart and say, 'Lord, there is every type of lust in me.' Because Paul was honest, you know what happened? He discovered how the Holy Spirit's power could help him keep even the tenth commandment; How the Holy Spirit's power could deliver him from lusting within his heart.

The blood of Jesus would cleanse his past failure and the Holy Spirit's power would set him free. He says, "The Law of the Spirit of life has set me free from The Law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). Do you want that experience? Do you want to come into a life where the Law of the Spirit sets you free from this slavery to lust in your heart? Be honest. Tell the Lord that you have come short, that you have failed, that you have sinned in your heart, and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you in His blood and say, 'Lord, I never want to be dishonest again.' Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit and give you power within and you can be pure.

Chapter 17

Dead Works

We shall continue our study on the difference between religiosity and spirituality; particularly we will be looking at the subject of dead works.

The New Testament speaks of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19 onwards and we are all familiar with those works: immorality, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, sorcery, and many things like that mentioned in those verses. We understand that a true Christian, as a spiritual person, can never indulge in these sins. These are known as sins - these works are so obviously sinful that it would be difficult for a believer to practice any of them without being deeply convicted in his conscience. So, they are not dangerous in the sense of leading us astray. Certainly, they are evil. But one good thing is that, when we fall in any of them, we are aware of it, because our conscience tells us immediately. Even a worldly unconverted person's conscience will tell him about immorality and things like that.

But dead works are more deceitful. The New Testament speaks about dead works in Hebrews 6:1. It says that we should repent from dead works. Now in the Old Testament there is no such thing as dead works. You either have good works or bad works; there is only good and evil. But in the New Testament we have good works, evil works, and dead works. Good works are works that please God; evil works are works which are mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21, also known as the works of the flesh. What are dead works then?

Dead works are works that appear good externally but that spring from a corrupt motive or done for the wrong reason. Therefore, they are like filthy garments in God's eyes. It is like a person who is filled with leprosy giving you a first-class apple to eat with his leprous hand. Would you take it and eat it? The apple may be good, but it is contaminated with the germs of leprosy in that person's hands. It is the same way when we offer a good thing to God but contaminated with the wrong motive. It could be a prayer, you could sing a solo in a Christian meeting, and your aim may be to get honour for yourself. Well, what is that - a good work or a bad work? - It is a dead work.

It is important for us to understand this. It is well known among believers that "The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins" (1 John 1:7), but what is not so well known is that "The blood of Christ must also cleanse us from dead works before we can serve the living God" (Heb. 9:14). So, what does the blood of Christ cleanse us from? - Not only sins. It must also cleanse us from the dead works. And therefore, it is very, very important for us to have a very clear understanding as to what dead works are.

Let's look at some of the type of works which we could call as dead works. First of all, dead works are works done without any joy. In other words, these are works done out of compulsion, or necessity, or for the fear of punishment, or something like that. You know how some of you get your son, for example, to obey you to do his homework when he wants to play out in the field. You force him to come in with a threat of punishing him with a cane if he doesn't listen. Then he sits down with a grumpy face at his table and does his homework. He is not doing it with joy, but he is doing it. The homework is a good thing to do but then it is done out of compulsion.

It is the same way a lot of people pay their tithe; they don't do it joyfully. They do it because they are told by some pastor that if they don't do it they will be punished - that they will get some sickness in their home and then they have to give the money to the doctor at the hospital, if they don't give it to God etc. So, out of fear, they pay their tithe.

Do you think God is interested in all these psychological techniques by which people are forced to give their money? - Far from it. These are the techniques of manipulators among Christians. The Bible says concerning giving, "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). In everything God wants cheerfulness. The Bible says, in not a so well-known verse, that "God meets with those who rejoice in doing righteousness" (Is. 64:5), not just those who do righteousness. Let me show you another verse where the Lord was telling Israelites why they were being punished or why they would be punished in the future. Moses was telling them, "Because you did not serve the Lord with joy and with a glad heart for the abundance of all the things He has given you; therefore, you shall serve your enemies ..." (Deut. 28:47, 48).

Why did the Lord send the Israelites to become slaves at different times in their history? It is because they didn't serve the Lord with joy. The Kingdom of God is not just righteousness (Rom. 14:17). This verse makes it very, very clear that the Kingdom of God consists of righteousness along with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In other words, if you just do righteousness without the joy of the Holy Spirit, you are not really serving the Kingdom of God; you are just fulfilling weak legalistic requirement. And, therefore, you can be religious, but not spiritual. A spiritual man is a man who has discerned dead works and repented of those dead works and cleansed his heart from dead works through the blood of Christ. The only ones who can bring joy and delight to the heart of God are those who do whatever they do with joy, with a cheerful heart.

Take this matter of tithing which I just mentioned earlier. This was a command under the Old Covenant. In fact, in the Old Covenant, in addition to your tithes you had to give other offerings and sacrifices. You ultimately end up giving about 15% or more of your income to God. But it is interesting to see that Jesus never commanded it. The only time He ever mentioned it is in Mathew 23 when he spoke to the Pharisees. That was the time when people were still under The Law and He said, "You ought to have done this (tithes) but not neglected the other things." Otherwise, it was not a commandment that Jesus gave to people who have come under the New Covenant. That is why, after Acts 2, you never find any command to tithe. The only reference to it, after that, is in Hebrew's 7:2 where it talks about Abraham tithing and giving his money to Melchizedek.

Why is there no commandment to tithe in the New Covenant? Because, in the Old Testament, the quantity you gave to God was important. In the New Testament the quality of your giving is what is more important -Not how much you give, but how you give. You understand the difference between how much you give and how you give? In the Old Testament, it was a question of how much you gave. If you didn't give 10% you disobeyed. In fact, in the last page of the Old Testament it says, "You are robbers. You have not brought tithe into the storehouse. Bring the tithe in and see how I will bless you" (Mal. 3:10). But once you finish with Malachi that is the end of it.

When you come into the New Covenant, we read in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that the Lord is interested in you giving with joy. Then why is it so many people are being compelled to pay their tithes reluctantly? It is because of covetous Christian leaders who want them. So people pay up, but without any joy; it is not spontaneous giving. It is grudging, reluctant giving. The preachers who collect the money may be happy but God is not. God is not happy because the money is not given cheerfully.

I agree that it is a good discipline to give 10%. If a man says, 'Well, if I don't discipline myself, I will give nothing' and gives 10%, then that is good. But don't think that God is going to be happy if you give that money reluctantly. Christian preachers, very often, love very large givers but God loves cheerful givers. There is a lot of difference. You see, the New Covenant's principle is not - give as much as you can give. No, the New Covenant's principle is - give as much as you can give cheerfully and stop there. God doesn't want anymore. God wants happy people. He wants children who are happy. Of course, the Bible says, 'Give in proportion to what God has given you. If you give more liberally you will get more liberally.' That is all true. But when you do business with God thinking that if you give more you will get back more, that is a dead work. So, you see, even your giving money to God is something you may need to repent of because you gave it reluctantly or grudgingly. It is so clear from 2 Corinthians 9:7 not to give grudgingly. Did you notice that? - Not grudgingly, not under any compulsion. What does that mean? Nobody should compel another person to give because God loves a cheerful giver. Christian leaders are so different from God in this area.

This is one area of dead works - doing things without joy, cheerfulness, gladness. A second area of dead works are, works done without love. You know how, in the home of a new couple that are just married, the wife serves; everything she does for her husband is out of love; She cooks the food, washes the clothes, and keeps the house clean; all done out of love. Twenty years later you go to the same home, the wife is still cooking the food, still keeping the house clean, still washing the clothes, but it is not out of love anymore. Jesus said, "Love God with all your heart, soul, and strength." This is the first commandment. If you don't keep it, all your other works are useless.

Think about what the Lord told the leader of the church in Ephesus: "All your works are useless because you left your first love." Also think of what the Lord told Peter in John chapter 21, when he was commissioning Peter to be His apostle once again after Peter had denied the Lord three times. What did the Lord ask Peter three times? Only one question: 'do you love me?' He said, 'if you love me keep my Commandments,' not if you fear me. That which is done out of fear is a dead work. That which is done in love is a living work. You can do a good work and yet, if it is done out of fear of judgment or the hope that you will get a reward from God, God has no value for it. He wants us to love and, from our love must come obedience, from our love must come service.

We have looked at two marks of dead works and we will continue to look at some other marks of dead works in the next study.

Chapter 18

More On Dead Works

We want to continue with our study on the difference between being religious and being spiritual, to see what the Bible says about dead works as opposed to good works and evil works. We saw in our last study that there is a difference between the works of the flesh - evil things that are so obvious that our unconscious tells us about them and dead works, which could be good works, but works that spring from a corrupt source. We have considered two of them in our last study; works, those are done reluctantly or grudgingly without joy and works those are done not out of love for God.

Now we want to continue looking at some other works which may look good on the outside but which are dead in God's eyes.

Third dead work that we shall look at is works done without zeal. We read in Revelation 3:15-19 about the Lord speaking to the elder of the church in Laodicea and saying, 'You are lukewarm, you are neither hot nor cold, you are not on fire, and you are half-hearted.' Further He says, 'I wish you were either cold or hot.' Now in the world, there is a saying: 'Something is better than nothing,' but the Lord, apparently, doesn't believe in that. He says, 'I wish you were cold - dead or on fire. But this half-hearted type of Christianity, I am not interested in', and, finally, in verse 19, the Lord says, 'therefore be zealous.' Half-hearted works are dead works.

In quoting an Old Testament commandment, Jesus said in Mark 12:30 that we are to love the Lord, our God. It doesn't just stop there. We must love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and all our strength. He said that that is the first commandment. In other words, our whole being must be taken up with the love for God. For example, when you worship God, there is a lot of difference between a whole-hearted worship and a half-hearted worship. When you praise the Lord, you can say hallelujah, and the other person says hallelujah, there can be a lot of difference between the two. In the other, it springs from the depth of his heart; he is really thankful to God and he praises the Lord with all the heart. But you have gone through the ritual. You have said the right words. It is not a sin to say hallelujah, but it is a dead work as far as you are concerned. It doesn't come from the depth of your heart; it is lifeless. Our worship and our praise must be whole-hearted.

Again, if you listen to some people praying, you can see the difference. I mean, they are not saying anything sinful in their prayer, but the whole thing is dead. You know what a dead prayer meeting is. What is a dead prayer meeting - that people prayed for sinful things there? No, they prayed for good things, but they were lifeless. Works, prayer, praise - any activity done without zeal is a dead work.

The Bible says (with one translation putting it like this) that we must be 'aglow with the Spirit' - on fire in the Spirit at all times (Rom. 12:11). Fervent in Spirit means on fire in the Spirit at all times. There was a law in the Old Testament which says that "the fire must burn on the altar perpetually" (Lev. 6:13). It must never die out. Paul told Timothy, "Fan to a flame that gift which is in you." There was a danger of it dying out. It is not a question of just exercising them in a half-hearted way. You have to fan to a flame even the gifts of the Spirit that God gives us. Just because some other people abuse them doesn't mean that we should ignore them and throw them in the wastepaper basket. No, let's exercise them in a proper way.

A lot of Christian churches, today, are not probably living in gross sin, but they are lifeless, lacking the burning fire of the Holy Spirit. They are not cold, but they are not hot either. And the Lord told that the whole church in Laodicea, "Because you are lukewarm, I'll just spit you out of my mouth." You see how dead works can lead to a lifeless type of Christianity which, finally, the Lord rejects? We need to repent of works done without zeal.

And then fourthly, dead works are works done without faith. In the Old Testament there is no such phrase called 'The obedience of faith'. It was only 'obedience' - you obey what the Lord says you to obey. But, when you come to the New Testament, you see in the first paragraph of Romans 1 and in the last paragraph of Romans 16, this phrase repeated: 'The obedience of faith'. James says that faith without works is dead. I would also say, works without faith are also dead, because without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Supposing you do a good work, and it is not in faith, it is a dead work. For example, you pray for half an hour, and you pray for a lot of powerful things but you don't believe that God is going to do one of those things, what is the use of that type of prayer? What is the use of a one-hour prayer meeting where you don't believe one single thing that God is going to do for you? Isn't that a dead work? You can have an all-night prayer meeting which is a dead work because people don't believe. Praying without faith is a dead work. In fact, one minute of prayer, with faith, is far more acceptable to God than an all-night prayer meeting which is just a ritual, without faith.

Works done without faith are dead works. Now I am not against long prayers - Jesus prayed all night, and there may be times when we need to do that. But Jesus praying all night was not a dead work; He prayed in faith. Faith also means personal conviction. We read in Romans, "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God" (Rom. 14:22). We must have a personal conviction about the truths of Scripture. The faith which you have, it says here, let it be your own conviction before God. When you do something merely to imitate what somebody else is doing, or merely because some man of God teaches it, without personal conviction, it is a dead work. Maybe it is a good work, and maybe that great man of God teaches that particular doctrine and tells you to do it, in some way you imitate him, it is not going to bring life in you; imitation always brings death.

Let me give you an example of it. We read in Hebrews 11:29 that the Israelites, by faith, crossed the Red Sea and then, it says, the Egyptians imitated them. What happened then? - They drowned. What did imitation bring to the Egyptians? - Death. Now the Israelites went through by faith. The Egyptians didn't have faith. They just imitated what the Israelites did. It was a dead work. That is written for our warning. You may see another brother doing something in faith - a ministry, for example, he does it in faith and you imitate that. What is it going to be? - A dead work. God never called you to do that.

So we are not to imitate another man's ministry, or the emphasis that another man has in his ministry. The Bible says, " Prophesy according to the proportion of your faith" (Rom. 12:6). God doesn't want us to be imitators; you know, like parrots, repeating what somebody else says. He wants us to have personal convictions, and what you do without personal convictions is a dead work, even if it is a good work. God has no value for it, because it doesn't come out of your personal relationship with God.

Let me say this for your encouragement. God does not want you to be like somebody else; He wants you to be yourself. He made you to be yourself with a particular personality and a particular background and upbringing. Just be thankful and do what you can. And that will be far more acceptable to God than if you try to imitate somebody else.

A fifth way in which we can do dead works is when we do works, which may be good works, Christian works, but which are done for personal gain or honour. The Lord told the leader of the church in Sardis, "You have a name that you are alive." Sometimes we can do Christian work to get a name that we are alive, and we can build up a reputation. And to continue that reputation we keep on doing certain things. They look very spiritual in the eyes of others, but God sees the underlying motive in everything: you want to get a name that you are alive. And what is the result? All your works are dead works. Anything that we do to impress another man is a dead work.

A living work, on the other hand, is one that is done to impress God. Living works are done in secret, before God's face alone where your left hand does not know what your right hand has done, where you keep it hidden. You pray, but you don't let anybody know that you pray. You fast and you don't let anybody know that you have fasted. Those are living works. But dead works are works done to impress people, and you don't conceal it from the eyes of men. We could say that those are works which we later on meditate on and glory over.

I wonder if you noticed this expression in Acts 7:41 where Stephen was speaking about the Israelites that t hey worshipped the work of their own hands.' You know what that means? To do something, and then to look at your work and say, 'Boy, that is something good I've done.' Do you remember how Nebuchadnezzar walked on the roof of the palace in Babylon (Dan. 4:30) and he said, 'This is a tremendous kingdom which I have built, a huge palace with its hanging gardens and all that, and what must people be thinking about it?'

Do you know, my friend, that when you serve the Lord and you do some work - maybe God has used you in building a great ministry for the Lord - and then you look over it, like Nebuchadnezzar did, and say, 'It is tremendous what I have done' and you are thinking about the opinion that others have about your work. It is a dead work. You have got to take all those thoughts and throw it in the garbage bin. It is Babylon. What Nebuchadnezzar built was Babylon, and what you are doing is building Babylon too. Our righteous acts, in human eyes, are an abomination fit to be flushed out into the sewage system in the sight of God. "All that is great in man's eyes is an abomination to God" (Lk. 16:15).

If you are not going to be radical in eliminating dead works from your life, you will never be a spiritual man. If you do God's work, for example, for a salary, it is a dead work. God may give you money to care for your needs, but if you serve the Lord only because you are paid, what is that? You can call it Christian work, but it is not really serving God; it is serving God and money.

May God help us to have our eyes open, so that we are free from dead works.

Chapter 19

Some More On Dead Works

We are continuing our study today on the subject of dead works, which, as we considered earlier, marked out a religious person from a spiritual person, and it is important for you to know the difference.

We have been trying to understand what it means to have a form of godliness without its power. Or, in other words, what it means to be just religious as opposed to being spiritual. Now the danger of this is that religiosity finally makes everybody into a Pharisee. Spirituality is what conforms us to the likeness of Christ. The contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees is so great and so vast, we need to see that there is equally vast a difference between being spiritual and being religious.

Dead works are spoken of in the New Testament as something that we need to repent of. We already saw five characteristics of dead works in the previous studies. They are works done without joy, without love, without zeal, works done without faith, and works done for personal gain and honour.

Now we want to look at a sixth characteristic of dead works: These are works which are done merely to ease one's conscience. You see, all of us have a conscience, and that conscience disturbs us when we do something which we feel a bit uneasy about. In fact, the heathen people also have it. Paul says that all people in the world, even if they have no external law, have a law written in their hearts: " Their conscience, bearing witness, either accusing them or now even excusing or defending them" (Rom. 2:15). It is the same with us.

Conscience develops in sensitivity as we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. But our conscience can sometimes urge us to do something and we do merely to escape this harassing voice of conscience; not out of love for God or because we feel this is what God wants us to do, but merely to escape the harassing voice of conscience! I will give you an example. You may feel one morning that you haven't read the Bible, and you are getting out for work. Then your conscience tells you, 'Hey, you haven't read the Bible.' And so, you open the Bible, and sit down for two minutes, and maybe read a Psalm or read a proverb or a few proverbs, and then you close the Bible. Your conscience is now eased, and you can go to work peacefully. Otherwise, you may fear, perhaps, that you might have an accident on the road or something like that. This is not spirituality; that is superstition. It is like people keeping the Bible under their pillows to have clean dreams - another superstition that is.

People can pray, when they feel, 'Oh, I haven't prayed.' So I kneel down and spend five minutes just to ease my conscience, and then my conscience is relieved and I get up. I haven't become spiritual; I am just religious. You know, for the same reason people may go to meetings, or pay their tithe, or give money to beggars, just to ease one's conscience. All such works are dead works. They are not evil works. I mean, to pray or to read the Bible, how can it ever be evil?

Now there is a difference between doing these things as a discipline. I am not saying that we should read the Bible only when we feel like it. We don't live by feelings. We do what is right whether we feel like it or not. It is like going to work. You don't go to work only when you feel like it. You don't tell your children to go school only when you feel like it. Even if it is raining, you still put on your raincoat or take an umbrella and go to work. It is a discipline; you need that. Similarly, we don't read the Bible or pray only when we feel like it; Most of the time you may not feel like it. So, there is a place for discipline in the Christian life. That is not a dead work. Discipline is a very, very good thing for all Christians to have; to have a discipline of reading the Scriptures, and of communion with God every day, of going to meetings regularly, etc. But there is a difference between that and just seeking to do something to ease our conscience.

For example, it also could be in the matter of evangelism. A preacher can stir you up and say, 'There are millions of people dying without Christ. What are you doing about it? Why are you sitting, earning your living? Why don't you go?' And you decide to give up your job and go to reach the perishing millions without any call from God. You leave your job, you go to some other place to do Christian work and, after some time, you are just frustrated. You acted on the emotion of a moment, or perhaps to relieve a guilty conscience. Now isn't it a good thing to go to some difficult place to preach the Gospel? - It certainly is. But do you know the number of people who have gone to all these places and were frustrated because they did not wait upon the Lord? They did not seek to see or examine themselves why am I going? Is it to ease my conscience, or is it because I love the Lord, and I see the Lord pulling me in that direction? There is a lot of difference. Otherwise, you can end up with an endless round of dead works, like in a merry-go-round you go round and round and round and round and, in the end, you can waste your life.

Seventhly, dead works are works that are done out of fear of divine judgment. If you look in the Old Testament you will find that that was the only way God could get most of the Israelites to obey Him. You see that particularly in Deuteronomy 28:15 onwards and right through the end of that chapter that, 'If you don't obey the Lord, and do all these things I am commanding you,' says Moses, 'you will be cursed in the city, cursed in the country. You are going to have confusion and rebuke and sickness and your enemies will defeat you and you will have poverty and all types of problems.' And so, the Israelites obeyed. You know, this is the way we get children to obey us - by the fear of punishment. There is no other way to get a little child to obey.

When we obey God out of fear of punishment, it is better than disobedience. Certainly, I would say that dead works are better than evil works. But God says, 'You better repent of doing things merely because you are afraid of punishment.' Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (Jn. 14:15); and not like it says in Deuteronomy 28 - 'If you don't want to be punished, keep my commandments.' There is a lot of difference between the emphasis in Deuteronomy 28:15 to the end of the chapter and what Jesus said in John 14:15. See, many Christians have not really understood that there is a great difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

That motive, the thing that impels me to do something, is what God sees and is what makes us spiritual. For example, if we avoid telling lies because we are afraid we would be caught, well, that is a good motive, but that is not the best motive. Jesus did not refrain from telling lies just because He was afraid, He would be caught, but because it was dishonouring to the Father. It is contrary to God's nature. That is why He avoided it.

Now, if a doctor tells you, 'Because you have bitterness and an unforgiving attitude towards others, you are suffering from asthma or rheumatoid arthritis or migraine, you better give up your bitterness or wrong attitude towards others and be positive,' you may do that. What for? - To be healed - Because you don't want to be punished. But those are not works done for the glory of God. They are dead works. So, you see, there are many, many examples we can take where we do something because we are afraid, believing, if we don't do it, we will be punished. You don't want to get a sickness; you don't want to get a judgment from God. And with that selfish fear of judgment, we can avoid doing a lot of things and live a fairly upright life. But that is not spirituality.

Let me now tell you an eighth characteristic of dead works. We also find in Deuteronomy 28 opposite of what we have just considered. It is works that are done for the sake of obtaining a reward. You know that that is another way in which we deal with children. We tell the children: okay, if you finish your homework, I will give you a chocolate or take you for an outing. Or, if you come first in the class, I will get you a bicycle to go to school, and then they work hard. In the Old Testament God had to deal with the Israelites like that. In Deuteronomy 28: 1-14, God says, 'If you are careful to keep all My commandments, you know what will happen? You will be blessed in the city; you will be blessed in the body; God will bless your children; God will bless the animals in your field and your fields will prosper; and you will get rain upon your land and God will bless you in so many ways.' So, they kept the commandment, because they wanted to be blessed.

Do you know how much of this there is even amongst Christians? The apostle Peter once asked Jesus, just after the rich young ruler had refused to give up all that he had to follow the Lord. Peter compared himself with that rich young ruler and said in Matthew 19:27, 'Lord what about us? We have forsaken everything; I gave up my nets and my job, the security of being a fisherman down in Galilee and I have followed you. What am I going to get out of all this?' And Jesus answered this question on what was he going to get out of it with a story of a man who employed labourers in his vineyard as described in Matthew 20:1-16.

The essential point in that parable is, if you read it carefully, that the first few groups who came to work, all came with an agreement to receive a certain amount of pay at the end of their work. The last group was the only group who came without any agreement to receive any pay. That was the main difference between that last group and all the other people who preceded them. And what was the result? The last group worked for only one hour whereas the first group worked for 12 hours. In the end, when it came to pay the wages, we see the master rewarding the last group first. They got twelve times the pay of what the first group got. If we compare what their hourly wages were, they got for one hour what the other people got for twelve hours. And there, the Lord was answering Peter's question: if you work thinking what you are going to get out of it, you are going to be the last. But if you work joyfully, cheerfully, without thinking of what you are going to get in return, you are going to be first.

Dead works are works done for the sake of obtaining a reward. The only type of work that God wants is works done out of love joyfully and cheerfully. Quality means much more to God than any amount of quantity. He is looking for a response of love and gratitude from us, not compulsory service out of fear or out of hope of obtaining a reward.

Chapter 20

Still More On Dead Works

Once again, we are going to look a little deeper at what it means to do dead works that are neither classified under good or evil, and that makes us religious instead of making us spiritual.

We want to look at two more characteristics of dead works in this study. Before that let us just review what, we have already studied in our previous studies. We have been trying to understand what is the difference between a religious Christian and a spiritual Christian? And we have been trying to see how this makes all the difference in the world, because religious Christians will finally become Pharisees, and they are the people who crucified Christ. Spiritual Christians will become like Jesus.

So, it is not just a small difference. The Pharisees were not people who were living constantly in adultery, or theft, or murder etc. They were not debaucherous evil worldly people. In fact, they were considered very spiritual by the undiscerning Jews of their time. It is quite likely that even the disciples of Jesus, before they began to follow the Lord, if you had gone up to Peter or James or John, say, 2, 3 years before they met the Lord and asked them, 'Well Peter, who do you think is a spiritual man that you know in your town?' I think, Peter would have, perhaps, mentioned some long bearded, old Pharisee who was an elder in the synagogue. And, I think, James and John would have also said the same. Because those are the people whom they respected as leaders; they saw them fasting, they saw them praying, they saw them carrying these little boxes with scripture upon their foreheads. They were so frequently praying in the synagogue, fighting for the truth and standing for the true doctrine. They were reading the scriptures, studying the scriptures, fervently keeping the law. They would have thought that these are spiritual men.

But when Jesus came along and they joined up with Him, and when they heard Jesus denouncing these Pharisees as vipers and deceivers who deserved to go to Hell, they must have been shocked. Only then would their eyes have been opened to see that what they thought was spirituality was actually religiosity; that the people whom they considered to be spiritual were just plain religious. I believe, unless the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, we can make the same mistake; we can be quite sincere like Peter, James and John were, and yet be mistaken.

We have looked at so far, (1) when a person does the Lord's work, Christian work, Christian activity without joy, it is a dead work; (2) When he does it without love; (3) When he does it without zeal; (4) When he does it without faith; (5) When he does it for his personal gain and honour; (6) When he does those works merely to ease his conscience; (7) When he does it out of fear of divine judgment; and (8) When he does it for the sake of obtaining a reward; All of these would be classified as dead works.

In this study we shall look at two more characteristics of dead works.

(9) Works that are done without bearing our cross daily. Let us look at a verse which many Christians are not familiar with: "we always bear about in our body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10). The life of Jesus is the light of the world. If I were to ask you, 'who is the light of the world?' what would your answer be? My guess is that 99% of Christians would give the wrong answer. They would say, 'Jesus is the light of the world.' Unfortunately, that answer would be wrong, and I will show that to you from the Scripture. Pay attention to this. Jesus said in John 9:5, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." So, when did Jesus say He was the light of the world? - As long as He was in the world.

When He prayed to the Father in John 17, He said to His father, 'And now, I am no longer in the world. I am leaving this world and I am coming to you.' Now that Jesus is no longer in the world, but in heaven, who is the light of the world today? He said that as long as He is in the world, He is the light of the world, but He is gone now. But He had said to His disciples in Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world." So, what is the correct scriptural answer to this question- who is the light of the world today? The answer is, 'We, the disciples of Jesus Christ.' Now that sounds like an awesome claim, but that is exactly what Jesus said. Sometimes we have got to change our way of thinking and make it more in line with scripture.

What does it mean to say we are the light of the world? The Bible says, "In Jesus Christ was life and that life was the light of men" (Jn. 1:4). The world is full of darkness. It is ruled by the prince of darkness - Satan. And in the midst of this darkness God wants the light to shine for Him. Do you think the people in the world can see the life of Jesus in Jesus himself? No, He is in heaven; they cannot see him. Where can they see it then? They have to see it in you and me, as disciples of Jesus Christ. If they don't see it in us, they will never see it anywhere. In us, in the way they see us react in different situations and behave; in the way they see us handling money and talking to people and behaving; there, people see whether the life of Jesus is being manifested or not.

And here we see Paul saying (2 Cor. 4:10) that "the life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh." In other words, here is the life coming forth from us, from which come forth certain works. You know the difference between taking a glass of water and pouring out the water and a glass being filled with water from a jug and the glass overflowing with water. Water is getting poured out from the glass in both the cases. What is the difference in its application to our life? Is your service for the Lord is something you are pouring out, or is it the overflow that is coming out of your life, because you are filled with the life of Jesus? There is a lot of difference.

Jesus said, "If you thirst, and believe in Me, out of your innermost being will flow rivers of flowing water.'' Now what is the difference between a river flowing and a hand pump through which water is pumped out? There is a world of difference. With many Christians, their service to the Lord can be likened to a hand pump. Yes, some water does come out - there is some type of service. You pump and pump and pump and pump, and some water comes out. But, in the case of Jesus, His service to the Father was not like that. Similarly in the case of a spiritual Christian, his service for his Father and the Lord is not like that; it is an overflow. It is not something poured out or pumped out, it is an overflow, because his life is filled with the life of Jesus.

So how can we come to this life? - Only if we bear the dying of Jesus; take up the cross daily. If I don't take up the cross daily, the life is not going to flow out from within. Let me give you a practical example. If we merely control our tongues from speaking angrily or our faces from scowling, but we are still boiling with anger and irritation against somebody inside, what are we doing? We are just practicing self-control, and any heathen could do that. You don't need the Holy Spirit. You don't need Jesus Christ to do that work within you. You just need to have a lot of self-discipline. Now that is not what Jesus offers us. It is good, but it is not the best. That is all that The Law can produce, but the Holy Spirit has come to bring a death within us so that from us will flow, from within, from our innermost being, the goodness of Jesus. There will be no boiling and irritation inside.

(10) One last characteristic of dead works is works that originate from our own human reasoning. Perhaps, the best example of this would be Martha's service for the Lord in Bethany, described in Luke 10:38-42. We read that Jesus came to Bethany and Martha served. Now isn't that a very good thing to do? You know the Lord and His disciples are hungry, I need to go to the kitchen and produce some food for them. She did that work because she felt that was a good work to do. But let me direct you to a scripture which is very sensible: "The most important thing about a servant is that he does just what his master tells him t o " (1 Cor. 4:2 Living), and not whatever he feels like doing.

If you have a servant at home, or if you have a servant at office, what do you want him to do? - Just what he feels like? - Even if it is not evil, and just good? Or do you want him to do exactly what you tell him to do? You see there are very few people who understand this. This is the difference between soulish human service and spiritual human service in the will of God. God's Word divides between the soulish and the spiritual as we read in Hebrews 4: 10, 12. Soulish works are dead works; they are works that originate from my own human reason.

There is an amazing verse written about Jesus in John 5:30; He never did anything on His own initiative. That means He waited to listen to what the Father wanted Him to do, not what He felt like doing. You know, since Abraham wanted to help God, he produced an Ismael, which caused so much confusion. If he had listened to God, he wouldn't have done that.

Ishmaels are the dead works many Christians are doing today, sincerely wanting to help God, but without seeking the will of God. Now what shall we do? Shall we sit back and do nothing? On the contrary, let us seek God. If you love Him, it doesn't matter if you make mistakes. We can go forth to doing spiritual works to the glory of God.

Chapter 21

Law And Grace

We want to continue our study in trying to see the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant; between law and grace. This is so important, because if we don't know the difference, we will live at the low level that many Old Testament people lived in. God wants to lift us higher.

Let us look at a verse from Romans 6, which, I think puts it in a nutshell, in a very brief sentence, the essential difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant: "Sin shall not be master over you when you are not under law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14). The word 'Law' there symbolizes the Old Covenant, God's agreement with Israel, and all the terms and conditions of that Covenant are all included in that one word, 'Law'. And grace, in one word, sums up God's new agreement through the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the terms and conditions of that new agreement.

And here, it says, you can be either under law or under grace. And the proof is this: when you are not under law but under grace, sin cannot be master over you. We could put it another way that, if you are not under grace but under law, then sin will have the mastery over you. So, ultimately, the way we discover whether we are under the law or under grace is not by testing whether we are legalistic in relation to a lot of rules and regulations, but on the other hand, by a far deeper test: does sin have the mastery over you? Or, do you have the mastery over sin?

This is a very, very important question, because a lot of people do not understand the difference between what Jesus has come to give and what Moses came to give under the Old Covenant. Now if I were to ask you a simple question: who is greater - Moses or our Lord Jesus Christ? That is clear, Moses is a servant and the Lord Jesus is the Master. It is so clear that Jesus is far greater than Moses. Now let me tell you, since you understand that clearly, that the covenant or agreement that God mediated with Israel, through Moses, is as inferior to the New Covenant that God mediated through Jesus, as Moses is inferior to Jesus. The implication is that, if Moses and the law could bring people in the Old Testament to a certain standard of life, Jesus and the New Covenant should be able to bring them to what - to a higher standard or an equal standard? Of course, you will say it has to be a higher standard.

It would be something comparable to walking and flying or to a bicycle and an aeroplane. I mean, there is a lot of difference between the bicycle and the aeroplane, with the speed and the ability to move from place to place. If you can compare a bicycle with an aeroplane, there you see the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant can take you from one place to another, like a bicycle can. And the New Covenant also can take you from one place to another, like an aeroplane can. There is a world of difference between the two. The Old Covenant could bring a man to a certain point of fellowship with God, but not beyond that.

In the Old Testament tabernacle, God illustrated this by putting a thick curtain between the Holy place and the Most Holy place, called the veil, and told the Israelites, "Nobody can come into this Most Holy place, this veil blocks you. You can come so far, but no further." You know, beyond that veil, God Himself lived in that temple - Old Testament temple. Nobody could go there. Even the High Priest could go only once a year, and that was only as a token. But nobody could go there whenever they liked.

But when Jesus died on Calvary, that veil was rent, torn from top to bottom, showing that the way into God's presence was open now. So, let me ask you, now that the veil is torn and the way into the most holy place, into God's presence, is open, should our standard of life be higher or lower than people in the Old Testament? The answer is clear. If without personal fellowship with God, with just the law, people could come to a certain standard of life, how much higher our standard of life should be, once we come into fellowship with God Himself, inside that torn veil? And yet, many, many Christians don't seem to have understood this.

For example, why do we find or hear of sometimes Christians falling into some terrible sins? Can you imagine Elijah or John the Baptist running after women or running after money? No, and yet they did not have grace; they did not have that open access into the Most Holy place like we have; and without it, they came to such a life. How much more we can come to it if only we would have faith and rise up to our privileges under the New Covenant?

That is what Paul is saying here: "Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Jesus once said that John the Baptist was the greatest human being born until that day (Mt. 11:11). Of course apart from himself; He was not born of a human father, so Jesus Himself is excluded. But among all others, John the Baptist was the greatest. Then Jesus went on to say, 'But, the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven - in God's kingdom - is greater even than John the Baptist.' What He was trying to say was that the highest that the law could take a man was still inferior or less than where grace could take the weakest of God's children.

So it is not going to be just an occasional believer who raises to a higher standard of life than John the Baptist. God's will is that every single one of His children, who come under grace, should rise to a higher level than John the Baptist. But whether they will actually live that life is quite another thing. But the possibility is there, if they understand and receive grace as God offers it to us, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, when we compare the word 'mercy', as we read, for example, in Hebrews 4:16, we are told there that, "We are to come with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." . As I mentioned in a previous study, there is a difference between 'mercy' and 'grace'. Mercy is essentially an Old Testament word. It is a word which you find very frequently in the Old Testament - the Lord whose mercy endures forever. David often speaks about it.

As a result of that mercy people in the Old Testament had their sins covered and forgiven. They could not be cleansed. David could only say, "Blessed is the man whose sins are covered." Nobody's sins could be cleansed until Jesus died on Calvary's cross. But they could be covered until Christ came. They were forgiven. In the well-known psalm, Psalm 103, David said, " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your inequity." That was mercy, and all of us need it too; we need mercy; we need our sins to be forgiven.

But there is something more than that we have in the New Covenant, and that is grace; something more than mercy; something to help us in the future; something to help us overcome the passions in our nature. It says here in Hebrews 4:16 that we can come to the throne of grace and in the place where we receive mercy, we can find grace to help us in our time of need.

Now what is our time of need? Our time of need is when we are under tremendous pressure from the lusts in our flesh; tremendous pressure from the devil to sin. In that moment, when we are tempted to sin and to fall, God says grace can help me. Grace is help; help for my need, whatever it is. If my need right now is that I need help to overcome a particular sin, it says, grace can help me in my time of need.

It is like, if I were climbing a mountain, and I am about to slip and fall, then if I ask for help, God can lift me up and make me stand so that I don't fall. But if I don't ask for help and I struggle on my own, I slip and fall and break my bones, and then I ask God for help, and an ambulance comes and picks me up. Well, that is help too. But that is mercy; that is after I have fallen, that God picks me up, forgives me, takes me to a hospital, patches me up, and restores me. That is how it is with the experience of many Christians. They fall, and they ask God for help. But isn't there a better way? There is - grace to help me in my time of need.

Now why don't you do this next time when you find the pressure of temptation, so strong that you are about to fall, try this out and see if it doesn't work. You ask God at that moment and say, 'Lord, I am not able to overcome this; I want you to help me. Give me grace to overcome this.' And you will see in that moment, grace coming to carry you through.

Chapter 22

One Reason For Failure

We are going to consider the reasons why we fall into sin, and why we need not fall. I am sure this is going to be a very relevant study for you.

We considered in our last study that grace could keep us from being mastered by sin. Man's greatest problem is that he is mastered by sin. God has made a way through Jesus Christ not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but also for delivering us from sin's power. This is the good news of the Gospel - we can be delivered from the power of sin. You know there is a difference between being forgiven and being saved. Many people wouldn't be able to explain the difference between the two. Let me use an illustration to explain it.

Let us suppose that the people from the corporation or municipality have dug up the road in front of my house and they have made a deep pit there. If I have a little child at home, I will tell him “Well , son, don't go near that pit, you may fall and you may hurt yourself." But you know how little children are; they don't pay attention to their parents. Let's say he goes near the pit and he falls into it, and, from within the pit, he cries out: Daddy! Daddy! Help me. I hear that voice and I go running and I say, ' S on, what happened?' He replies, 'Daddy, I'm sorry, I disobeyed you, and I have fallen here in this pit.' Let us say that pit is eight feet deep, and I say, 'well that's ok S on, I forgive you, goodbye' and if I leave him there, and go, have I forgiven him for his disobedience? I certainly have. But have I saved him? No, I have not.

You understand the difference now between being forgiven and being saved? David said, " Bless the Lord, o my soul, who forgives all your inequities." But David could not be saved from the power of sin. It was the same with every person in the Old Testament. But when we turn to the pages of the New Testament, on the very first page, we come to this verse: " You shall call His name Jesus, because He shall save His people from their sins" (Mt. 1:21); not just forgive their sins. He will save His people not in their sins but from their sins. If the Gospel message is only that Jesus can forgive me but cannot save me, I would say it is good news, but it is not as good a news as it should be. It would be like telling the woman caught in adultery, that we read in John 8, you remember what Jesus asked her: "Has no man condemned you?" She replied, 'no man Lord.' Jesus then said two things: "I don't condemn you, from now don't sin anymore" (Jn. 8:11). That is the twofold message of the Gospel - I do not condemn you. Go and don't sin again.

Now if there was only one part to it - I don't condemn you, then you know you may go and fall into sin again; you may again live in adultery. That wouldn't be very much of a Gospel. The Gospel's message has two sides to the coin and, if one side is missing, it is an incomplete Gospel. People often talk about the full Gospel. Here it is in John 8:11: I don't condemn you, and don't sin again; mercy and grace; forgiveness and victory. They only had forgiveness under the law. Now we have both - forgiveness and victory. There will not be any mastery over our life of sin anymore.

Now, if that be the case, does it mean that we will never sin again? No, it doesn't mean that. God says that He is going to change our nature and give us the nature of God Himself; His own divine nature. When I have that nature and I allow that nature to gradually control my life, I will become more and more free from sin, and I wouldn't want to sin anymore. How do you know the difference between a pig and the cat? We can't say that a pig will always fall into dirty water and a cat will never fall into dirty water, because cats can fall into dirty water too. But the difference, we can say, when both these animals fall into the dirty water, one relishes the experience and the other jumps out immediately. Not only the cat jumps out immediately, but it also licks itself and makes itself clean.

Now this, we could say, illustrates the difference between an unconverted person and a person who is born again. We cannot say that the born-again person will not sin. It is very evident that born again people do, both in the Bible and in our experience - you do and I do. But there is a difference, and the difference is a difference of nature. You know whether you are born again or not by your attitude towards that fall, when you fall into sin. If it is one of remorse, and you want to get up and want to be clean; you want to break away from it; well, that proves that God has done His work in your heart. But if you are happy that nobody saw it, and you enjoy yourself, and you don't want to give it up; well, that would prove that you are only religious, you haven't changed within.

Then, why do Christians fall? Is it possible for us to overcome in such a way that we don't have to keep on falling into the same old sins again and again? The Christian life is a life of growth. It is not one where we keep on being defeated by, let's say, anger, for 25 years; or we keep on getting defeated by dirty thoughts for 25 years, or by jealousy or bitterness or anything. No, there has to be progress. The Bible speaks about growing in grace. And we could compare this with the growth of a child in a school.

You know, a child goes to school and, as years pass by, it goes from one standard to the next. It learns things in one standard which it did not learn in the previous standard. We can say it overcomes certain problems, let's say, mathematical problems in one year that it could not overcome in the previous years. Let's say a child does not know how to add. But then, after a year, it knows how to add but it doesn't know how to subtract. Then, after a year, perhaps, it learns how to subtract, but it doesn't know how to multiply. Then after another year it learns how to multiply. Then it learns how to divide and how to get square roots and so on. So, this is growth.

Here is an example of how it should be in our Christian life too. Growth is where we overcome area after area in our life, where once upon a time we were defeated. Just like that child overcame area after area in a whole realm of mathematics, where once upon a time it was totally ignorant. This is growth in grace. Then, what shall we say about a child who is repeatedly failing in the first standard? Is that God's perfect will? - Certainly not. We will never be sinlessly perfect here on this earth. But we are to press on to perfection, just like a child starting in the kindergarten class presses all the way hoping for, perhaps, a PhD one day. But there is a pressing on to something higher each year.

The Bible says that " The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that becomes brighter and brighter as the day progresses until it reaches the perfect noonday position" (Prov. 4:18); Brighter and brighter, just like the sun, from dawn to midday position. There is never a time when the sun goes down and becomes darker. It gets brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter, and that is God's perfect will for us. Just like for a child in school that, if it is in first standard this year, we expect it to go to second standard next year. It won't reach tenth standard for another nine years. But we expect it to reach the second standard next year, the third standard next year, and so on.

God's will, my friend, for you is that, you should go from one degree of glory to another; progress in overcoming. You are not to be defeated by the same sins year after year. You have to be an overcomer. Then why is it that some students fail and fail and fail and fail repeatedly in the same class? Well, there could be many reasons. I think one of the fundamental reasons is the lack of the fear of God. In the Book of Proverbs it says that " The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10). In other words, it is the first lesson in the school of wisdom; it is like learning the alphabet. You know, when you go to school, or a child goes to school, the first thing it learns is the alphabet. What is the alphabet of wisdom? It is to fear the Lord. Again, it says in Proverbs 8:13 that "To fear the Lord is to hate evil." We hate evil because God hates evil. When we hear that God has called us to be holy because He is holy, and we are gripped by it, we begin to hate sin.

Let me ask you a question: why is that you find, when some other believer is nearby, you don't fall into some sins which you fall into when you are all by yourself? When you are alone in a room all by yourself, there is nobody around, why is it that you fall into certain sins? And if at that moment, a believer walked into the room; knocked at your door and came in; you wouldn't think of or dream of committing that sin. I will tell you the reason - Because you fear that man's opinion. That man's opinion means more to you than God's. When you are alone, only God is in the room and when that person comes in, that man is in the room. If that person's presence can prevent you from committing a particular sin, and when that person is away and only God is there, you commit that sin, it would indicate that you do not fear God. You fear man more than you fear God.

One of the first things to do, dear friend, is to pray to God and say, 'Lord, please help me to fear You. Please help me to mourn when I fail, when I come short.' Now let me give you this as a challenge: if you are willing to mourn every single time you fail, and you say, 'Lord, I slipped up. Forgive me. Help me to fear You. I want to recognize Your presence. I want to live before Your face,' you will discover that those who mourn are strengthened, and you can be an overcomer.

Chapter 23

Another Reason For Failure

We want continue looking at the reasons why we keep falling into sin and do not grow spiritually. Perhaps this could solve the problem you are facing right now.

In our previous study we were considering the fact that, under grace there is no need for any of us to be mastered by sin. Grace is God's power that enables us to overcome. In fact, Romans 6:14 is such a clear promise: "Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." And if we do fall, if we are not growing spiritually by overcoming sins that we have been constantly defeated by in the past, as we considered in our last study, one of the primary reasons could be, and often is, the fact that we do not fear God.

You know, God has given all of us a private area in our life: it is our thought life. Nobody can enter in there; not even your wife or your husband. The thoughts that go on in your mind are a private area, and it is in that totally private area of your life that God tests you to see whether you fear Him or not. And that is how God is testing the entire human race.

Consider for a moment, supposing your thoughts sounded out loud like your words (I am sure God could have made man in such a way that our thoughts sounded out loud just like our words do), would you then be more careful with your thoughts? Then why are you not careful when your thoughts are silent and other people cannot here? Does it mean that you are not bothered if God hears it, but you are only concerned that men should not hear it? That is an indication that we fear men more than we fear God. I am convinced that, one of the most important things that you and I need to develop in our life is the fear of God.

David said in one of the Psalms, 'Come, my children, I will teach you to fear God.' We have to learn, through developing our senses, to fear the presence of God, who is always with us wherever we are; who hears every thought that passes through our mind as loudly as other people can hear our words. It is not just that we need to fear God as much as we fear other men - that itself would bring a terrific deliverance, but certainly we have to fear Him more. In fact, one of the sins mentioned in Romans 1:25 is that, people worship the creature more than the Creator; they worship a man's opinion more than God's opinion. We are all basically like that.

You know, from childhood, we grow up being afraid of people's opinions; we want to impress people. We are not so concerned about impressing the Lord, and the result of that is that we keep falling into sin. If we are going to be careless in our thought life, in our inner attitudes and motives, which nobody can see but God, there is never going to be any purity in our life. We are just going to be defeated constantly. Here is the number one reason why many people never make progress in overcoming sin, because they have never sought to develop the fear of God in their life.

Now let me give you a second reason. The Bible says in Romans 1:17 that "The righteous man will live by faith." All progress in the Christian life is by faith. For example, in the letter of Jude, verse 24, it says, "Jesus can keep you from falling;" if you don't believe that, it is never going to take place in your life. If you don't believe that God is intensely interested in your living in victory over sin, you are never going to experience it in your life. If you don't believe that sin is a serious matter, you are not going to overcome sin in your life. We need to have faith in the Word of God. Let me give you one or two examples which should prove to you why sin is so serious.

In the beginning of the history of the human race, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them only one commandment - not ten, just one commandment. He told them not to eat the fruit of a particular tree; that was all. They lived with one commandment. One would think that they could have enjoyed life so much because of that beautiful garden with everything available, and all they had to do was keep one commandment. That was not at all difficult, was it? But they disobeyed that one commandment, probably on that very first day. And what was the result?

Did God give them a second chance? No. He didn't say, 'Ok, let's overlook your failure; you probably didn't realize how serious it was. I will give you one more chance.' There was no second chance. Now, if our children make a mistake, we would give them a second chance. God never gave Adam and Eve a second chance. He turned them out of the garden immediately. Is it because God is not compassionate? Do you think you are more compassionate than God as a Father when you give your child a second chance or a third chance? - Certainly not. There is no one in the universe more compassionate and more merciful than God. If you have a little compassion in your heart, you got that from God; it is a little drop in the ocean of God's compassion. God loved Adam and Eve intensely. Why didn't He give them a second chance then? - Because sin is so serious. It is not a light thing!

So right in the beginning of the Bible, you see the seriousness of sin in this one act of God in not giving Adam and Eve a second chance. You know, many children take some of commands or orders of their parents very lightly, saying, "Yeah, daddy and mommy won't mind even if I do it." Very often they are right. They disobey their parents and their parents don't take it seriously and they let them go. It is possible that Adam and Eve felt in the same way: 'well, God is a loving God after all, He won't take it seriously if we just slip up a little bit.' But they discovered that sin was serious. They discovered that one sin was enough to shut them out from God's presence forever. Sometimes people say, concerning their sin, 'well, that is only one sin.' But how many sins did Adam commit before He was shut out of God's presence - twenty, thirty, hundred? - No, not even two. Just one!

Why am I stressing this? I have found in my life that very, very few believers who believe that even one sin is serious. It says in Romans 6:1,"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound". Again, we see in in Romans 6:15 (taking the literal translation) that, " What shall we say then? Shall we sin even once that grace may abound." Have you ever asked yourself that question, 'shall we sin even once?' I wish we could see how serious sin is, in Adam's time and in our time. That is the first proof that God takes sin very seriously; that a compassionate, merciful God could not give Adam and Eve a second chance. One sin shut them out of His presence permanently. Even if they never committed another sin in their whole life, they would still go to Hell; one sin was enough.

Now I want to show you a second example. The previous one was from the Old Testament. Now I will show you an example from the New Testament, and it is not something you don't know about. Why did Jesus die on Calvary's cross? What was the reason? - Sin. Supposing only one man had committed only one sin in the history of the human race, tell me, do you think Jesus would have come down from heaven to die for that one man, for his one sin? I believe He would have.

You see, it is not just that He took the sins of the whole world - millions of sins. If only one man had committed only one sin, Jesus would still have to come and died to save that one man, from that one sin; from the consequences of that one sin. When Jesus died, just before He died, for three hours, we read, the sun was darkened. At 12 noon it became like midnight on the earth. Why did it become like midnight? Why did it become pitch-dark at 12 noon? - Because God turned His face away from His own son. In all eternity that had never happened. God the Father and the Son were in perfect fellowship for years. But for three hours the Father turned away His face from His son; broke fellowship with His son. What Jesus endured during those three hours was the agony of being forsaken by God, what we would call Hell on the cross.

What does that prove? That sin is extremely serious that Jesus Christ had to suffer so much. When we believe the Word of God we will take sin seriously. I am absolutely convinced, dear friends, that many of us have not overcome sin because we haven't seen the seriousness of sin. If you have got a leprous patch in your hand, what would you do? Would you ignore it, or would you rush to the doctor? If you felt a pain in your stomach, which you thought might be cancer, what would you do? Would you delay in going and getting an x-ray or a scan done and get a doctor's opinion? Why do we rush; why do we take leave from our work the very next day and go to the doctor? Because we know these things are serious. Supposing your blood test shows that you have got AIDS, what would you do, just ignore it?

How many of us believe that sin is more serious than all these things? Do you believe the Word of God? Here is the second reason why many people fall: they do not believe; they do not believe that sin is serious; they do not believe God's Word that with grace you can overcome sin. Take God's Word seriously from today onwards, every Word of God, and see if it doesn't make a difference in your life.

Chapter 24

More Reasons For Failure

We want to continue with the subject of our last study as to how we can overcome sin, our biggest problem in all of our life.

We saw, from our last study, two reasons why many Christians don't grow in their Christian life and don't grow to overcome sinful habits. One is the lack of the fear of God, and the other is the lack of faith. You see faith is a personal thing. We saw that Jesus can keep people from falling. Now that is a fact; an intellectual fact that even the devil believes in. But, to personally believe that Jesus can keep you from falling when you are tempted, that quality of your heart that can bring you victory, can come only if you have taken the first step of believing what the Bible describes as the seriousness of sin. When you believe that, then you will long to be free from this wretched disease. So faith is a very important factor.

Now a third reason why people keep falling into sin is, because they have not understood that their own flesh, their own human personality and the being that they are, their human strength is totally impotent to do the will of God. We, in our own strength, can never ever overcome sin. Any amount of determination, any amount of self-discipline, anything you like, you can do, but cannot overcome sin because sin is so deeply rooted in our nature. It is like trying to train a pig to be clean. What chance is there of success? Maybe by whipping or feeding and offering it rewards, you can try and get a pig to be clean for a little while. But leave it alone for some time; it reverts back to its original nature. That is how it is with human beings too. This type of overcoming through self-effort is not victory at all. It is just personal self-discipline - a good thing for sure, but not what God offers. No, we need to recognize the weakness of our own flesh, our own weakness.

If you realize this, there will be two things that you will do. First of all, you will run away from temptation; you will not expose yourself to danger. Who are the people who expose themselves to temptation? - Those who don't feel their weakness. One who feels his weakness will run away. That is what the Bible says we should do: flee from youthful lusts; flee from immorality (2 Tim. 2:22). There we read that Paul told, even a godly man like, Timothy to flee from youthful lusts; to flee from the love of money, to flee from idolatry, to flee from immorality. We read all these exhortations in 1 Timothy 6, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Corinthians 10 and 2 Timothy 2. Flee, flee, flee, flee - run away. Why do we run away? Because we realize we are weak. We can overcome many sins if we just obey that one exhortation to run away.

The second thing that a person, who has recognized the weakness of his flesh, will do is that he will pray to God earnestly for help. You see, prayer is a sign of weakness. When do people usually pray, even worldly people? - When they are in real trouble, when nobody else can help them. One of the things that Jesus taught us to pray is - lead us not into temptation. Why do we pray that prayer? -Because we are convinced that our flesh is weak. One would think that someone like Timothy, who had advanced in the Christian life so much, was not in danger of youthful lusts, but even he needed to run away.

Now, if we realize our weakness we will not only want to run away from temptation, but we will also pray, 'Lord, please help me. Give me strength to overcome this weakness.' Just like we need to see the seriousness of sin, we also need to see the weakness of our flesh.

One truth of the wonderful truths in scripture, that we read is that "Jesus Christ was tempted in all points, as we are" (Heb. 4:15). He did not live on earth without being tempted. In Matthew 4 we are given a very clear description of how He was tempted, at least in three areas. But in Hebrews 4:15, we are told He was tempted in all areas, just like us, but He never sinned.

How is it He never sinned? Was it because He automatically could not sin? Well, we don't want to probe into the nature of Jesus. There is much about His inner nature that we cannot understand. Even there is much about our own inner nature we can't understand ourselves. Psychologists try so much and they still don't know everything about the human personality. It is impossible to try and gauge what went on within Jesus, and we don't even want to attempt it. But one thing we know: Jesus prayed. Why did He have to pray?

You know, the stronger we feel within ourselves, the less we pray; the more capable we think we are, the less we pray. It is the one who realizes his helpless dependence upon the Father for everything - for wisdom, for strength, for guidance - that is the one who prays. The one who feels, 'Yeah, well, I can handle all that myself, I don't need God's help, I can sort out, I can gauge the relative importance of things and take decision,' he doesn't pray. But Jesus prayed. He prayed all night before He chose His twelve apostles; He didn't want to make a mistake.

Now these things indicate that Jesus received strength from the Father through prayer. We don't receive it because we don't pray as much, or we don't pray as earnestly. We are told in Hebrews 5 that Jesus prayed with strong crying and tears. Imagine that. Can you picture that in your mind? - Of Jesus Christ, the perfect man who walked on this earth, praying with strong crying and tears? When was the last time you prayed with strong crying and tears? Why the difference? Don't you think you and I need to pray much more than Jesus needed to? He had lived in the presence of the Father from all eternity. He did not have a sinful nature like you and I have. And yet, He prayed. How much more we need to pray?

True humility is to recognize the weakness of our flesh. All of us are weak, but not all of us are equally conscious of our weakness. The one who is conscious of his weakness will run away from danger when he sees it, and he will cry out for help. So this is the third reason why many people fall; they don't run away from temptation. They foolishly expose themselves to temptation and they don't cry out for help.

Let me give you a fourth reason why many people fall into sin. Peter says that we must arm ourselves with a mind to suffer in the flesh, like Jesus suffered in the flesh, because if we suffer in the flesh, we cease from sin (1 Pet. 4:1, 2). Now, that is not an easy verse to understand. It is not talking about bodily suffering, because people who suffer bodily don't finish with sin. We know that. Otherwise, the hospitals would be full of people who are finished with sin. It is obviously not referring to bodily suffering. What does it mean when it says, "As Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind, because he who suffers in the flesh ceases from sin so that he can do the will of God." It is referring to an attitude of mind where we would rather suffer in self-denial than get the least pleasure out of even a single sinful thought.

When we are tempted, all of us, we have the opportunity, either to indulge in it and get some pleasure out of it or to resist it and reject it. The la t ter causes a certain suffering. That is the suffering that is mentioned here. Peter says, before you are tempted, you must be armed for the conflict. In other words, you must be armed with this attitude of mind, which says, 'I would rather suffer than enjoy the pleasure of sin even for a moment.' We read about Jesus that He was obedient even unto death (Phil. 2:8). This means, Jesus' attitude was that He would rather die than sin. Now that is quite a radical attitude - I would rather die than disobey my Father in the smallest little thing. That is the meaning of 'He was obedient even unto death.' He calls us to follow in His footsteps; to be willing to suffer rather than displease God.

A fifth reason why many Christians do not progress spiritually, and fall, is because they are not seeking to press on to perfection. They are satisfied with the progress that they have made thus far. If you become satisfied with second standard, you will never get to the third standard. That is for certain - Because you feel you are better than all the others who are in the first standard and kindergarten. But if you are determined to press on and say, 'well, I have overcome something but I want to get something more, I want to press towards the mark,' you will make progress. Paul said, "One thing I do, I press towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus " (Phil. 3:13-14) - the goal of becoming like Jesus totally, in every part of our personality. What is the result of Paul having this attitude? It not only kept him from stagnating in the Christian life, but it also kept him from sin. Paul told Timothy to not only flee from temptation but also to pursue after righteousness, godliness, love and gentleness.

Any point in our Christian life, where we get satisfied with our progress, is a danger point. That is the time we are going to fall into sin. And that is where we need to ask ourselves: 'Am I progressing? Am I longing to become like Jesus in every area? Am I mourning every time I see something in my life that is un-Christ like? Do I cry out to God and say, 'Lord, I have faith." Begin today, my friend, to mourn every time you see something un-Christ like in your life. Cry out to God for help, and see if your life doesn't change from this very day.

Chapter 25

Faith And Praise

We want to look at a key that God has given us in His Word, through which we can break through many prison doors. It is the key of praising God.

In this study we will look at a very important part of Christian life, which is often misunderstood and, in most cases, not understood at all. I want to begin with a verse in Psalm 106. Here it says, concerning the Israelites, who saw the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, "Then they believed God's words, and they sang His praise" (Ps. 106:12). Notice the connection there between faith and praising God. We could say that when a man has faith, he will praise God. But, when a man has unbelief, when he does not believe God's Word or God's promise, then he will grumble and complain and murmur and criticize and find faults and be dissatisfied and discouraged and depressed. If any of these things are found in your life, it will indicate that, even if you think you believe in God and in Jesus Christ, you don't really believe - Because if you believe His words, you will sing His praise. You will never have a complaint in your life concerning anything, if you believe in God and in His promises.

Now the Israelites, mentioned here in Psalm 106, could praise God only after God had destroyed their enemies, those Egyptians, before their eyes. Today, we live by faith. But the Old Testament people, like the Israelites, lived by sight. To live by sight means that they would see something happen before them - a miracle that God did for them - and only then they could believe. In the previous verse we read that, "after all their adversaries were drowned in the Red Sea " (Ps. 106:11); When not one of them was left they believed God's words. That is living by sight, i.e. after all your problems are solved, after the storm has been stilled, after the enemies have been drowned and the last one of them has been killed, then we praise God. That is to live by sight, and that is all they could do in the Old Testament. Anybody can do that. Even an unconverted heathen person would be thankful, when all his problems are solved.

But, in the New Covenant, now that Jesus has come, we don't walk by sight, we walk by faith. We can believe the Word of God even before we see the enemies drowned in the sea. We can praise God while our enemies are still in front of us, like David said, "You have set a table before me in the presence of my enemies." That means, my problems may not be solved, but I have faith in God, and I can praise Him. As I praise Him, I find that the problems will get solved. But they will never get solved, if we are always murmuring and complaining.

Do you know, dear friend, that the more you murmur and complain, you are really adding to your problem. It is not going to get solved at all. Maybe somebody harmed you. The more you get bitter against that person, what are you doing to yourself? - You are just destroying yourself. The more you keep that bitterness in your heart, it will destroy you more and more; it will destroy your body; destroy your soul; destroy your spirit; destroy your relationship with God. You won't be able to enjoy life at all and you get ulcers in your stomach and all types of things. You see, when God gives us laws they are for our good. They are for the good of our body; they are good for our soul; for the good of our spirit.

There is a very close connection between faith and praising God. We see that also in the New Testament. In Hebrews 2:12, 13 we read some amazing words mentioned about what Jesus Himself does in the midst of a church. Here we read, in the words of Jesus, "I will proclaim your name" - i.e. the Father's name - "to my brethren." You can very clearly see from the previous verse that it is Jesus who is speaking: I will proclaim the Father's name to my brothers- i.e. to you and me - "and in the midst of the church, I will sing Thy praise," and again, " I will put my trust in Him." Notice here again the connection between praise in verse 12 and trust in verse 13. Because we put our trust in Him, we sing His praise; exactly what we read in Psalm 106. We are told in Hebrew 2:11 and 12 that we are the younger brothers of Jesus and He is our elder brother who is praising the Father in the midst of the church. We are called to follow Him and His example and join with him in exalting our heavenly Father.

Now God is a very great King. He is the greatest King of all, the King of the Universe. Therefore, He does not sit on any cheap throne of silver or gold; such thrones would be too cheap for Him. We read in Psalm 22 about the throne on which God sits (and that is good for us to know), - "Thou art holy O my God, Thou Who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel" (Ps. 22:3) - today the praises of the Church. So, how do we make a throne for God? - By our praises. Praise forms the throne on which God sits as a King. That is why heaven is a place of perpetual praise, like we read in the Book of Revelation - the angels are constantly praising God. That is the throne on which God sits.

When the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, He brings heaven down into our hearts. We can now prepare a throne of praise for our God to be enthroned upon in our hearts, in our homes, and in the church. So, when we praise God, we are actually saying, 'God, you are King and here is the throne we have prepared for you to come and sit upon.' Do you want God to dwell in your heart? - Very simple, prepare a throne for Him. You want God to dwell in your home? - Prepare a throne for him there. Do you want God to dwell in the church? - Prepare a throne for Him there.

What is the throne? - A throne of praises. In other words, let your life be filled with the spirit of praise, not necessarily of words. We can't always be praising God, 24 hours of the day! We have got work to do, we have to sleep, and we have to do so many things. It is the spirit of praise - let your home be filled with the spirit of praise. In other words, totally eliminate all grumbling, all complaining, all murmuring from your life, because that destroys the throne on which God is supposed to sit. On the other hand, when you grumble and complain, or get angry and lose your temper and get irritated, you are actually preparing a throne for Satan!

So you see, two thrones that you can make in your life, in your home: one is the throne of praise, giving thanks to God always for all things in the name of Jesus Christ, a throne on which God will sit; or, a throne of complaining, murmuring, grumbling, dissatisfaction, discontentment, which you offer for the devil to come and sit, whether it is in your life or in your home, or in your church. And that is why the Bible says, in Philippians 2:12-14, that when the Holy Spirit is working in our heart, He seeks to eliminate all grumbling, disputing and murmuring from our lives completely, because He wants to prepare a throne in our hearts for our heavenly Father. That is what the Holy Spirit has really come for.

You know, we have lived all our lives with our own self sitting on the throne in our hearts. That means, we listen to self, whatever self wants; we do, whatever the self likes. We please ourselves, we live for ourselves, and we want to enjoy ourselves. And then one day, when we say, 'Lord Jesus, come into our hearts,' what place do we give Him in our hearts? He is not going to come like a visitor or a guest, but many Christians treat him like that, you know.

How can you prepare a throne for Christ; for God, in your heart? This is how you do it: by praising Him under all circumstances. In the New Testament, we can do that. You see, in the Old Testament, they couldn't praise all the time, because, first of all, the Holy Spirit was not dwelling in people's hearts in those days, and secondly there was no guarantee that God would make everything work together for their good. How could you praise God for something when you are not sure whether it is working out for your good?

But today, things are different. Today, the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in our hearts. He has made it His permanent home, and there, He prepares a throne for the Father. He works in us to deliver us from our sinful nature and He works outside of us as well. We are told in Romans 8:28 that God is working in all the circumstances in our life to make everything work for our good. Now, if everything is working for your good, outside you and inside you, is there any reason for you to have a complaint about anything? - Certainly not. Then, why don't you give up all complaining and praise God?

Here's the answer: You don't really believe. You don't really believe what God says in Romans 8:28 that He causes everything to work together for good. You see, it is only when we believe that Word, that God is Almighty; that God is Sovereign, we can praise Him. Look at the stars sometimes and see how great God is. Do you think it is difficult for Him to handle that small, puny situation that you are facing? It may be a difficult boss or a difficult landlord or some particular problem you are facing; do you think that person or that circumstance is too difficult for God to handle? Of course, He can handle it. What is there that God can't handle?

But He can't do that for you till you start praising Him, till you say, 'Lord, here is the proof of my faith; I praise You. I want to thank You. I want to exalt You. I want to acknowledge that You are on the throne of heaven, and I don't have any complaint about the way people are treating me, about my circumstances, or about anything in my life. I believe that You are in total control.' Is it enough to say that in words? No, we praise Him from our heart, in spirit. As we praise Him, we acknowledge that God is in total control. That is how we honour Him. And when you do that, you will discover how God makes a way for you out of that situation.

Chapter 26

Crucifixion And Praise

In this study we want to continue looking at this wonderful key of praising God, through which we prepare a throne for God in our hearts, and through which we can escape from any situation that we ever find ourselves in the world.

In our last study, we studied about this wonderful key that God has given us. It is like a master key that can open every door. Isn't it wonderful to have a key in your hands through which you can unlock yourself and get out of any tight corner or any situation that you find yourself in? It can be some difficult situation, some problem, or some difficult people perhaps, and here you have a master key. What is that? - To enthrone God on our praises.

But it is not a technique. If you try it as technique, I guarantee you right now, it will fail. Technique is something that we adopt selfishly. We want something, and we think that, if we repeat certain words like some kind of 'mantra' or magic, it will work. It doesn't work like that. I am not talking about words. You know God has no interest in words if they don't come from our hearts. I am not talking about praise alone. I am talking about praise that comes from a heart that has faith in God - in His sovereign power, in His perfect love and in His infinite wisdom.

Faith indicates that you believe that God is full of love, full of wisdom, full of power and when you believe that you will sing His praise. We saw in the last study, “Praise is the throne on which God sits" (Ps. 22:3). Now Psalm 22 is a Psalm about the Cross of Calvary. It begins with these words ‘‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.’’ Jesus spoke those words when He was hanging on the cross and then He speaks about God being enthroned on the praises of His people in the 3rd verse. Then it refers to His hands and feet being pierced in verse 16. It is very obviously a message of a cross - a Psalm of the cross.

And, as you continue in the Psalm, from this crucified position, Jesus invites His younger brothers, that is you and me, to join Him to prepare a throne of praise for the Father (verse 22); "I will tell of Your name to my brethren, in the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee." That is the verse which is quoted in Hebrews 2 as referring to Jesus praising the Father. So it is very interesting to see that this verse of praise comes in the midst of a Psalm which is speaking about Jesus being crucified, His hands and feet being pierced.

The crucifixion of Jesus was the worst evil that was ever committed on this earth. There was never a greater sin committed by any human being than that.

Then consider this: What was the best thing that ever took place on this earth, in all the 6000 years of human history? The answer is again the same: The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. There was never any better thing that ever took place on this earth. Because of Christ’s crucifixion, our sins can all be forgiven and we can spend eternity with God.

So the crucifixion of Christ was the worst sin that man ever committed and also the best thing that ever happened on earth. What does that show? Just this that the worst thing that man could do was turned by God into the very best thing of all.

Now, once you understand that, you will realize that whatever other people may do to you are certainly not as bad as the crucifixion of Jesus. And if God could turn that evil thing into something good, tell me what is there that other people can do to you, which God cannot turn for good. Everything is less than that. Nothing can happen to you worse than the crucifixion of Jesus and that worst thing God turned into the very best. That teaches us something about God's Almighty power. That is why we praise Him. That is why, right in the middle of this Psalm which is the Psalm of the cross, we find, ‘‘I will praise you.’’

Do you feel like praising God when you are crucified? What do you think the thieves were doing when they were hanging on the cross? They were not praising God. They were cursing and swearing and probably biting the hands of the soldiers who were crucifying them and spitting at them. They were not at all happy. Can you imagine how Jesus was crucified? He must have opened His palms and co-operated with them as they drove the nails in, put His legs, one on top of the other, so that they could drive the nails in more easily. He was happy. Why was He happy? Didn't He suffer? Oh, He suffered for sure. He felt the pain of crucifixion just as much as you and I would feel it. Then why was he happy? He was happy that He was doing the will of His Father. You know, when we do the will of our Father, it doesn't matter if we suffer. We can still be happy. We may feel pain. Jesus felt pain, but He was happy, and that is why He could praise the Father hanging on the Cross. And this is the way. This is the secret.

The Bible says that it is not only Jesus Christ who was crucified on Calvary. Do you know somebody else who was crucified on the same cross as Jesus? I don't mean on either side of Him like the thieves. Tell me somebody else who was crucified on the same cross as Jesus was crucified. It is not so well known among Christians, by the way. Every Christian knows that Jesus died on the cross on Calvary, but if you were to ask them, who else died with Him on that same cross? They don't know the answer. The answer is given to us, in two places at least, in Scripture.

In Romans 6:6, we read, "Our old man was also crucified with Christ on the cross" and Paul says, in Galatians 2:20, applying it personally to himself, "I am crucified with Christ, I have been crucified with Christ." So, it is not only Jesus who died on the cross. In some wonderful way, God, who knew that one day you and I would also give our lives to Christ (because He knew the future), took us and put us into Christ and we were crucified with Him. We have died with Christ.

It is not only that our sins were placed on Christ on the cross, but we ourselves have been placed on that Cross. Now, crucified with Christ, we praise God. See, that is a different type of praise than the hollow empty words of praise that sometimes people make by noises and shouting which is meaningless. Why do I say it is meaningless? Praise is a spirit. You can't just switch it on, on Sunday morning for 2 hours, and switch it off, when you go home. If you say 'Hallelujah,' 'Praise the Lord', on Sunday morning in the meeting, and then go home and shout at your wife on Sunday afternoon, do you have the spirit of praise? - Certainly not. That is something you switch on and switch off. It is not a spirit of praise. It is a form. It is a tradition, and that is all a lot of people have. That is hollow.

There is a verse in the Old Testament where God says, "These people draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far away from me." Their hearts seek their own. So, it is easy to draw near to God with our lips, and God doesn't care for that. He doesn't listen to a lot of praise that is spoken out on Sunday mornings from different parts of the world. You know what He listens to? He listens to the people who have a spirit of praise, and not just words. Words can be empty. Words can be a ritual. There are a lot of people who say that they love Jesus in the same spirit that Judas Iscariot kissed Jesus in Gethsemane. Judas Iscariot kissing Jesus wasn't a sign of love and affection and friendship; he was betraying him. And in the same way, many people stand up Sunday morning and praise the Lord, and say Hallelujah, but it is not in their hearts. If you want praise to come into your heart, you have to be crucified with Christ. You are to say, 'Lord I die to myself.'

I want to show you another Psalm which is also a Psalm of the cross and that just confirms what I have been trying to say to you. You know, God's word is powerful and that is why we need to turn to His words again and again. Man's words are not as powerful as God's words. In Psalm 118:11-14 you read, "They surrounded me like bees and in the name of the Lord, I will cut them off." It is a Psalm of the cross and then it says in Verse 22, " The stone which the builders rejected became the Chief Cornerstone." That is a word that Jesus quoted in the Gospels. You read that in Matthew 21:42 and Mark 12:10, 11. It is the word that Jesus quoted concerning Himself. When did the builders reject the stone? That was on Calvary; they said, "We don't want Him to reign over us. We will not have this man to reign over us. Crucify him." And they rejected Him.

But there, hanging on the cross, crucified, the Lord says, in Verse 28, "I give thanks to Thee; I will extol Thee, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good." Then in verse 24, " This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Was the day, on which Jesus was crucified, a day which the Lord had made? It is easy to say - this is the day which the Lord has made when you get an increment or a promotion in your job or a better salary or a better job or when you get married or get a better house or some earthly benefit. But to say that 'this is the day which the Lord has made,' when somebody crucifies you, requires faith. What is the day which the Lord has not made? Is there any day in any year which the Lord has not made? Every day is the day which the Lord has made. The devil doesn't make any days, I will tell you that. If this is the day which the Lord has made, we are going to rejoice and be glad in it. Whether we get a large gift or whether we get crucified, it doesn't make a difference, because we believe in the sovereignty of God.

And so, we find in both these Psalms (Psalm 22 and Psalm 118), this great truth, that it is only as I am willing to die to my self- life, which is always seeking its own, that I can enter into a spirit of praise. Then my praise to God on Sunday mornings will be meaningful. It will come from my heart and I will not have to live a double life, where I am a Holy person on Sunday morning and behave like a devil on Sunday Evening. No, I can be genuine through and through. So, it is not just faith that is connected with praising God, but being crucified with Christ is also connected with praising God. We are trying to lay a good ground so that our life of praise will be on a solid foundation.

Chapter 27

Praise Drives Satan Out

We will continue looking at this wonderful key that God has given us, to open every door on earth, the key of praising God.

God is a good God. Every single thing that He does and allows to come into our lives is designed for our very best. Some of it may be painful, and we may not understand it, but it is designed for our very best. You know just like our children who don't understand sometimes what is good for them. When you force your child to go to school on a Monday morning, your 4 year or 5 years old child doesn't understand. The child would rather stay at home, play or sleep or something like that, but he doesn't understand what you are forcing him to do is good for him. In the same way, many things that God allows in our life, we may not understand, because we are immature, but they are all designed for our good. It is only the devil who is out to destroy us.

Jesus came to earth and exposed two things. One, He exposed the tremendous goodness of our heavenly Father and second, He exposed the thoroughly evil nature of the devil who seeks to deceive us in so many ways. There is a verse in Isaiah 61 which tells us the ministry that Jesus came to accomplish. In fact, Jesus quoted this passage, in Luke 4, in the very first Sermon that He preached in the Synagogue in Nazareth. Here it says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me." And what has the Lord - the Father, anointed Jesus to do? - "To bring the good news to the oppressed. To build up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners" (Is. 61:1).

You know, Jesus came to set people free. The devil has come into the earth to bring people into bondage, but Jesus came to set people free. He has also come " To grant those who mourn in Zion, to give them a garland instead of ashes and the oil of gladness instead of mourning and the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of fainting" (Is. 61:3). Jesus has come to give us the oil of gladness and the mantle of praise - a garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness and depression.

Do you know that the spirit of heaviness is not from God? It is something that the devil tries to put upon you like a garment. You must just shake it off. You must say, 'In Jesus' name, I resist you Satan. You can't put any depression on me. I resist you. I have been crucified with Christ. The blood of Jesus has cleansed my past life completely. My guilt is gone. You can't accuse me anymore, Satan.' Say these words to the devil and reject that spirit of heaviness and depression that Satan tries to put upon you.

Jesus has come to cast that spirit out from your life permanently, and not just cast it out and leave you naked. If He leaves you naked, that clothing of depression will come back on you again. No, He clothes you instead with the garment of praise. That is what it says here: the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. Isn't it wonderful? Now, if you can believe this, this is really true. It is not the will of God that we should be depressed or discouraged or in a bad mood at any time. It may come like a temptation. We should shake it off and God will help us to shake it off.

What the Bible says in 1 John 2:6 is a very important. I don't know how many of you know it. "The one who says he abides in Christ, must walk as Jesus walked." In other words, if you say that "you are a Christian," the Living Bible puts it like this, "You must live as He lived." That is our calling; to live as He lived; to walk as He walked. Was Jesus ever depressed? Was He ever discouraged, or in a bad mood at any time? No, never. But one thing about Jesus' life is that, He took up the Cross. Every day He took up the Cross and He followed in His Father's will. Now, if we choose that way, this verse will be fulfilled in our life, not just occasionally, but every single day; a garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness, oil of gladness instead of mourning. It is a wonderful life.

Let me turn to another Psalm. In Psalm 8:2 we read this statement which Jesus quoted once in the temple when the little children were shouting and praising God. We read in Matthew 21: 15-16 about the time when the people held palm branches and lay down their clothes on the road for Jesus to ride on a donkey into Jerusalem. At that time, when Jesus came into the temple, He saw the children that were there yelling and shouting, "Hallelujah,' 'Hosanna to the Son of David." The Chief Priests did not like a lot of noise and all that. They believed that the only way to worship God was quietly and seriously as though a funeral was going on. There are people who think like that even today that, the only proper way to praise God is quietly and solemnly as though you were sitting in a funeral.

Now I believe with all my heart that there is a way of praising God in silence. But there is also praise that is acceptable to God that comes forth with shouts of joy. The Bible says, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord". We worship God with shouts of praise and also in solemn silence. It is not just always one or always the other. But here it was absolutely proper for the children to be excited and to praise God. Have you ever seen how people praise those who have just won a cricket match? For example, say, a cricket match is going on between India and Pakistan and India has won. Can you picture how that stadium erupts in excitement. Then why is that Christians don't seem to be excited about the fact that Jesus has forgiven their sins, that Jesus has defeated the devil, that Jesus overcame everything on the Cross, that Christ is returning in glory and He is going to set up His kingdom on the Earth?

People sit with long faces in God's presence. Jesus was thrilled to hear the noise of praise and so, when the Chief priest criticized those little children praising God, Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2. He said, 'Haven't you read that it says in the Bible, " From the mouth of infants and nursing babes, thou has established strength, because of Thine adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. "' So what do we read there? That praise is the means by which God shuts the mouth of the enemy. That is very important for us to understand. It is through praising God that the mouth of the devil is shut and very often you can't shut the mouth of the devil in your life or your home, because you don't praise God.

The devil hates praise, I will tell you that. He hates praise in a home, he hates praise in a life, and he hates praise in a Church. That is why he makes people so grumpy and long-faced, grumbling and complaining most of the time, because then he can rule in their lives and in their homes. Satan cannot stand the sincere shouts of praise to God. That is why he can't stay in heaven because, in heaven, every angel is yelling and shouting praises to God. How can the devil stand around there? And he can't stand around in any Church where everybody is praising and shouting and thanking God; he can't. He can't be in a home where people are praising God. He can't sit in a life or in a heart where people are praising God.

Jesus was so excited when He saw those little children praising God. That reminded Him of His home, Heaven. Jesus was used to living in heaven for eternity where He heard the angels praising God with a voice like loud thunders and then when Jesus came to earth and lived in Nazareth, He saw so many people grumbling, complaining, long-faced. He felt sad then, but now when He saw a situation like this, where children are shouting and praising God, it reminded Him of His heavenly home.

But those religious people just couldn't understand that. They couldn't stand that type of praise. What does that actually prove? They were actually in fellowship with the devil. The devil hated that praise and those religious people hated that praise. How is it in your life? Did you give room to the devil by that spirit of complaining and grumbling? What do we read in Psalm 8, through that expression of praise that came from the mouth of infants? - That it established strength to make the enemy shut his mouth and to make the revengeful person cease.

When we look around at Christians today, we can see how Satan has succeeded everywhere. In most places, he does it in 2 ways: One, he will stop the shouts of praise altogether, and that is what he has done in many homes, many churches, and many lives; there is no shout of praise. If he doesn't succeed there, then he has got a second technique, that is, where people are praising God, he will make them insincere. That means that they will say it with their mouths, but it is not true in their hearts and it is not true in their lives. So, both ways he succeeds.

So you have some Churches where they don't praise God at all and some other churches where it is only a ritual; it is not something which is true in their life all the time, but just praise God on Sunday morning. And then the devil succeeds in both these Churches. But what is God looking for? He is looking for churches, homes, individuals like you who are determined to drive the devil right out of your life, your home and your church by sincere praise.

Why does Satan hate sincere praise to God? - Because, as we saw in Psalm 8, that is how he is going to lose his power over you. Empty shouts of praise, that doesn't come from a Holy life, that doesn't come from a sincere heart, don't have any power. No, but if it comes from a heart that is really committed to God, it has tremendous power in it.

You know, how that the Israelites worshipped the golden calf and they called it Jehovah and they shouted to that Jehovah or what they called Jehovah. So loud that Moses and Joshua heard it at such a long distance away, but that wasn't real praise. It was empty, it was hollow. There was immorality in the midst of that praise and that can happen even today. People can praise God with a loud voice and there can be immorality in the midst of all the praise to Jesus. But where it comes from sincerity, there, you can be absolutely certain that it is powerful to drive the devil right out. Why don't you practice it from today?

Chapter 28

The New Song Of Praise

We are going to continue to think about this wonderful key that God has given us, to drive the devil out and to create a throne for God in our hearts and in our homes. That is the key of praising God.

In the book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible, we have more glimpses of heaven given to us than in any other book in the whole Bible. Now it is very sad that many believers don't read the book of Revelation. The devil doesn't like you to read it because it is the book, in which you read about the devil's final destiny of being cast into the lake of fire. The devil certainly does not want you to read about his defeat and his being cast out. But I would encourage you, if you have never done it so far, to really seriously read and meditate on the book of Revelation.

In that book we have many sevens. It speaks about seven lamps, seven thunders, seven trumpets and many sevens like that. One of those seven's which is not mentioned as seven, but which is hidden throughout the whole book are the seven glimpses of heaven. If you have the patience to meditate on these seven glimpses of heaven, you will see that, in every one of these places, they are praising God. I just want to show you those passages very briefly.

First of all, in Revelation 4:8-11, the last four verses of Revelation 4, you find that they are praising God and singing, 'Thou are Worthy' and they cast their crowns before Him. Secondly, again in Chapter 5:8-14, you find the elders and the living creatures and the angels - millions and millions of angels singing with a loud voice. Notice that they don't say it softly. Verse 12 says, "With a loud voice they praise God and praise the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God." Thirdly, we see another example in chapter 7: 9-12. This is the great multitude of people who have been born again, cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ, who are standing and then again, it says in verse 10, they cry out with a loud voice to Him who sits on the throne, saying, our salvation is due to God and all the angels also join in that, and they fall down before the throne and worship God, saying, Amen, Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power be to God. And then the fourth sight of heaven, we find in chapter 11:15-18. There we find loud voices in heaven again saying, the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and we give thanks Oh Lord because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. Then we see a fifth picture in chapter 14: 1-4 where we see 144,000 standing with the Lamb on mount Zion and also singing this new song. The sixth glimpse of heaven is chapter 15:1-4 where we see a sea of glass, and those who overcome standing there and with the harps of God. They were singing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb, saying, great and marvellous are Your works, Oh Lord. Then the last glimpse of heaven is in chapter 19:1-6 where there is a loud voice again of a great multitude singing, Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory and Power belong to our God, and Babylon has been judged. And the second time, they said, Hallelujah, give praise to our God. In verse 6 we read, 'This voice of the great multitude was like the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peels of thunder.'

Have you got a little picture of heaven now? What does this heaven and the praise sound like - like thunder? There is not a single angel there, sitting depressed and gloomy or complaining about something, or scared, wondering, what is going to happen to the world next. No, nobody is scared; they are praising God with all of their heart, because they know that God is on the throne. They praise God for His sovereignty, His holiness, His judgment. There is not a single long-faced, gloomy angel anywhere in heaven. You will only find them in hell, not heaven. And the more you are long-faced and gloomy, the more you bring the spirit of hell into your lives. And the more you are cheerful and happy, acknowledging that God is on the throne, in your heart, in your home, in your Church, and in heaven, the more you bring the spirit of Heaven into your life.

So we see here again and again, in these glimpses of heaven, that people shout Hallelujah and Amen. It is meaningful praise, because they say Hallelujah, because God has done this, or because God is sovereign. They worship the God in the beauty of holiness. Now the Holy Spirit has come from heaven into our hearts, to produce within our hearts, the atmosphere of heaven. He has come into our homes to produce the atmosphere of heaven in our homes. He comes to our Churches to produce the atmosphere of Heaven in our Churches. What should it be? It should be an atmosphere of praise.

Now you may say, well, when I get to heaven, I will start praising the Lord. Well, why has the Holy Spirit come then? He has come to prepare us for heaven. He has come to teach us the language of heaven before we reach there. Now, for example, if you have decided that you are going to migrate to, say, France and live in France for the rest of your life, what would you do before you go to France? One thing you would certainly do is learn French, the language of France. You won't wait till you go there. You will like to learn it before you go there. And you know what the language of heaven is? It is the language of praise. It is good for us to learn it now, before we go to heaven.

It is a language in which there is no grumbling, no complaining, no murmuring concerning anything. It is a language of continuous praise. Let's learn that language now, before we go. We are told in Revelation 14, one of the passages that we looked at, that there were 144,000 people who sang a new song before the throne. " And no one else could learn that song except these people, and they learnt it while they were on Earth" (Rev. 14:3). Now what is this new song that these 144,000 people were singing? We already saw in Revelation 4 and 5 that the new song is the song of praise and it is a song to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the old song then, if this is the new song?

Well, the old song is the song that everybody sings on earth. The song of grumbling, complaining against people and circumstances; 1st verse, 2nd verse, 3rd verse; all verses of the old song is the same; somebody or the other has done something and something or the other has gone wrong. Every day they are singing that same song, verse after verse after verse. This has only got one thing; everything is going the bad way and this person is bad and the other person is bad and this person is evil and somebody else has treated me badly and somebody else has cheated me and the circumstances are so bad and it is a time of financial difficulty; it is the same old thing in every single verse.

It is the old song, but in the midst of such a world, where everybody is singing that old song, do you know that God wants from you, if you have given your life for Christ? God wants you to learn this new song and that is the song of praising Him. Don't wait till you get to heaven. Learn the language now where you say, 'Lord, I know You are on the throne,' and if you are willing, as we saw in one of earlier study, to die with Jesus.

We complain because we don't have our own ways. Everything doesn't work out according to our plans, but they are working out according to God' plan. God is on the throne and you are not, that is good. If we were on the throne, we would mess up everything in our lives. Since God is on the throne, He makes everything for good. So when people praise God, in Heaven, they are praising God because they believe in His sovereignty. And if we believe in the sovereignty of God, that, God Almighty is ruling this universe, we would also give thanks in everything.

I am going to show you three passages in scriptures, from the New Testament, about what we are to give thanks for. Now this is not found in the Old Testament because they did not have the Holy Spirit. You see in the Old Testament, they came together may be on Saturdays in the Temple to praise God, and then they go back home for six days of grumbling and complaining and then come back again on next Saturday morning to praise God in the Temple. Now, that is how many Christians live today. They come on Sunday morning to the church meeting and to praise and thank God, and go back home to six days of grumbling and complaining and then come back again the next Sunday morning to praise God. That is an Old Testament life. Well, it is better than nothing, but it is hypocritical. It is saying something which is not true in the rest of our life.

But, in the New Testament, we are told to give thanks always, not just sometimes. First of all , let me show you, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, where it says, " In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." So tell me, after reading that verse, how many things should you thank God for? - Everything. How can you give thanks for everything when some of those things don't appear to be very good for you? Because you believe in Romans 8:28 that, even though that is evil, God makes it work for your good. Romans 8:28 is like a filter. Now, some of you may have seen 'Aqua Guard Filter' which filters the water that comes through the pipeline and, at the end of that system, you get a clean glass of water. That is a water filter with ultra violet rays and candle that removes germs and bacteria. You can put any amount of dirty water through that and what you get through at the end, is clean water. Romans 8:28 is like that clean water - everything works for good. That is why we give thanks in everything.

The second verse in Ephesians 5 where it says, verse is Ephesians 5:20 where it says, "Give thanks for everything, always, for all things" (Eph. 5:20). That means all the time and for every single thing, we should give thanks. And the last verse is in 1Timothy 2:1 where it says that we are to give thanks for all men. Can you understand it now? - In every situation, for everything, at all times, and for all men.

Now when you learn to do that, you learn the new song and you can learn it only on earth. Why? Because in heaven you don't have difficult situations, you don't have difficult people, you don't face problems, you don't face trials. So, it is only here on earth that we can learn this wonderful new song - to learn to praise God in every type of situation, with every type of person. Say, 'Lord you are on the throne. Things may be difficult for me, maybe hard even, but you are on the throne.' Let me encourage you, dear friend, to learn this song of praise, now.

Chapter 29

Praise Brings Deliverance

Once again, we want continue to look at this tremendous power that can come into our lives if we learn how to praise God in all situations.

God allows Satan to harass and trouble His children in many ways. Why do you think God allows that? God is wise, and He can destroy Satan in a moment, if He likes. But He doesn't do it, because He accomplishes something good through it. That is why He has permitted Satan to continue to exist. Fire, for example, is dangerous but fire can purify gold. In the same way, God can use the trials, the persecutions, and the oppression that Satan can bring upon His children, to purify them, just like gold is purified. But we have to react in a proper way, in a good way to those trials and temptations.

The right way to react, if you have faith, is with a spirit of praise: 'Lord I will not complain here. I am suffering, perhaps I am going through a difficult time, but I will not lose my faith. God is on the throne and the devil is defeated on the cross. My sins are forgiven. My past is blotted out. I am on my way to heaven. Jesus is my Lord; my heavenly bridegroom, and God is making everything work together for my good.' And when we remain in the spirit of thanksgiving and praise like that, in every situation, you know what happens?

I want show you a wonderful verse in Psalm 50. In Psalm 50:23, we read, "The one who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honours Me, says the Lord, and makes a way for Me to show him My deliverance." That is the literal translation of that verse that, anyone who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honours God and, in doing that, he makes a way for God to show him God's deliverance or Salvation. Now what does that mean? It means that if you are in a tight spot right now, and you want God to deliver you from it, you have to make a way for God to show you that deliverance; for God to bring that deliverance. God will do the deliverance, but He cannot do that until you open a way for it and the way we open the way is by praising the Lord.

That is what it says here: 'The one who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving makes a way for God to bring deliverance in that situation.' This means that there are many situations out of which we could have been delivered, if we had praised God instead of complaining against people and against the devil - Because praise is the mark of faith. They believed his words; they sang His praise. If you don't praise God, God can do nothing for you, because you don't believe Him. 'Without faith, it is impossible to please God,' we read in Hebrews. But with faith you can shut the mouth of lions, you can put enemies to flight, you can open prison doors. With faith, people even got their dead children back to life. Faith is a tremendous power and faith is manifested in praise.

Now praying alone cannot deliver us out of some situation. It is good to pray when you are in a tight spot but, in addition to prayer, we must learn how to praise. In other words, we must keep on praying until we reach the point where we don't have to pray anymore. We have an assurance in our heart, the Holy Spirit gives us a witness in our heart, God has heard our prayer and then, what do you do after that? Supposing you are asking for something and, after sometime, you hear a witness in your spirit that it is been granted, what do you do? Then you praise God, you thank Him. Faith is then born and we believe that we have received, like Jesus said, "When you pray believe that you have received." You can't do that at the beginning, but as you continue to pray, you come to a point where you believe that you receive. Even though the answer has not yet come, you can't see the answer yet, but you praise God and then we will receive what we pray for. When that point comes, we stop praying and start praising God. That is the evidence of faith and then, through that praise, we make a way for the God to show us His deliverance.

Now there is a wonderful example of this in the Old Testament, in 2 Chronicles 20. It is unfortunate that some believers don't read the Old Testament so much, particularly the Books of Chronicles. They are not so familiar with it. Here is beautiful story where we read of a great multitude of enemies that surrounded King Jehoshaphat. When King Jehoshaphat was surrounded by such a great multitude of enemies, he called the whole nation of Judah too seek God in fasting and prayer. That was absolutely a proper thing to do.

They prayed to God and, in their prayer, they acknowledged three things. You know what they said to God? They acknowledged their helplessness, they acknowledged their foolishness, and then they acknowledged their faith (2 Chr. 20:12). Now these are the three things we need to acknowledge too. It is easy to acknowledge our helplessness and our foolishness, to say, 'Well Lord, we have got no strength against this situation and we don't know what to do.' We can say that in all situations, but nothing happens, if you stop there. You got go on and say, 'Lord we believe that you will answer us.'

Now notice the prayer that Jehoshaphat prayed, in 2 Chronicles 20:6-12. You see, this is a pattern for prayer, something that we can learn from Jehoshaphat. Notice the seven things he prayed for. First of all, he praised God for His Sovereignty (verse 6). He said, 'Lord you are the ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations; power and might are in your hand, no one can stand against you.' You know when we pray to God, it is good to remind ourselves, first of all, of the sovereignty of God. Jesus said, 'When you pray, say, 'Our Father,' and then what, 'who art in Heaven.' That means the one who is the sovereign ruler from Heaven.

Then the second thing that Jehoshaphat reminded God and reminded himself of was what God had done in past days. 'Lord, are You not the one who drove out the Canaanites from this land and You gave it to the descendants of Abraham forever' (verse 7). See, if we remind ourselves of what God has done for us in the past, then that really stirs our faith. You know, sometimes you are facing a very difficult situation and you feel there is no way out. Why don't you look back over your life and think of the many, many, many times in your life where you felt that there was no way out, and God made a way out! That stirs up faith in your heart.

Then the third thing we read is that Jehoshaphat reminded God of His promise in His word. He said, 'Didn't you say Lord that, if evil comes upon us or the sword and, if we stand before You in this house and cry to You, You will deliver us' (verse 9). And that is another good thing to have when we are in a tight situation - some promise from the word of God. It could be a simple promise like we have in Psalm 50 which says, 'Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you.' Say, 'Lord you promise that'. Do it now. It is good to know the promises of Scriptures. It is good to memorize the promises of God in Scriptures so that you can quote them in prayer. It strengthens faith; it is fuel for faith. You know, it is like putting fuel in the fire, then the fire burns brighter. If you don't have any promises then the fire of faith burns very low.

Fourthly, we read in verse 11 that he reminded God saying, 'We are your inheritance.' We are not just like other people in the world. We are your inheritance, You purchased us. That is the fourth thing we can tell God too. ' Lord you purchased us on Calvary; the blood of Jesus has purchased me. I am God's inheritance'. You are God's inheritance, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Fifthly, he told God, what we already saw: 'Lord we are powerless, and we are weak' (verse 12). That is another thing we need to acknowledge. Sometimes we think that we are very strong, but we are actually weak. It is good for us to acknowledge it. Say, 'Lord, I am weak, I can't handle the situation, and it is too much for me.' Then sixthly, in the same verse 12, he said, 'Lord, not only I am weak, I don't have any wisdom as to what to do in this situation'. That is also good for us to acknowledge. Instead of thinking that we are clever and capable, say, 'Lord, I don't have any wisdom.' The Bible says in James 1, "Does anyone l ack wisdom among you, let him ask God. God will give him liberally" (Jas. 1:5). But you got to be humble and say, 'Lord, I don't know how to handle this situation.' Finally, the seventh (this is where you must finish), he said, 'But our eyes are on you; we are trusting in you.'

Let me go through those seven things. First of all, he praised God for His sovereignty (verse6). Secondly, he reminded himself of what God had done in past days (verse 7). Third, he reminded God of His promise (verse 9). Fourth, he reminded God that we are your inheritance (verse 11) and then in verse 12, he reminded God of three things: first, we have no power to handle this, we have no wisdom, but we are relying on you; we are trusting in you completely.

We read in the rest of that chapter (take time to read it) that the enemies were thoroughly defeated. They went out praising God. They didn't take any weapons; neither bows nor arrows. They just went our praising the Lord. Jehoshaphat believed God and he sent a choir of people praising God. We read in verse 22,"As they began singing and praising the Lord," exactly like we saw in Psalm 50:23, the Lord opened the door for them to be delivered and the enemies were defeated. Not only the enemies were defeated, we read later on in that chapter, but that Israel became rich with the wealth of their enemies. This is the secret. Whatever situation you are in, learn to praise God on the foundation of these seven things that I have mentioned and you will find God opens a door for you to be set free.

Chapter 30

Praise Opens Closed Doors

We will have one more study on this wonderful key of praise which opens every door and which can set us free from situations that are like prisons.

In our last study we were looking at 2 Chronicles 20. It is one of the finest illustrations, in the entire Bible, on how the spirit of praise can defeat the enemy and deliver you from situations when you are surrounded by problems which you don't know how to handle. Faith always brings praise.

Jesus said, 'If you believe, nothing will be impossible to you.' When you trust in God, you will never be disappointed. Man may disappoint you, but God will never disappoint you. He may take time to answer your prayer, and take time before He solves your problem, and opens the prison door, but He will definitely do it, one day. He doesn't want His children to be bound. He wants His children to be free in their spirits. In their bodies, they may be locked up. Paul was locked up; Peter was locked up; they were even killed. But in your spirit, God always wants you to be like the birds in the air, flying, like the eagles flying in the air, and that comes through the spirit of praise. You know an eagle flapping its wings, and rising up is a picture of a Christian praising God with all his heart.

I want to point out one or two things to you from 2 Chronicles 20 where Jehoshaphat was surrounded by so many enemies that they were far too many for him to handle. God allows us to face situations, where we see that we are absolutely helpless, we are weak. Once, when Jesus spoke about prayer, He pictured the church as a poor, helpless, old widow who was being harassed by some enemy (Lk. 18). Can you picture this in your mind? - A poor, helpless, old widow being harassed by some strong man or men, and she has no man in the house, no husband, no sons and she doesn't know what to do. These men are harassing her, maybe for rent, or turning her out of the house, or not giving her own property back, something like that. She goes to a judge and asks the judge to help her.

Now, what is the picture we have here of the Church? The Church is not a strong muscular 'He-man'. No, Jesus pictured the Church like a helpless widow. Are we like that? Yes, we are. God has made the Church weak on earth, so that it will depend on the Lord. You know, in the early days, the Christians were thrown to the lions. Well, they couldn't defend themselves physically against the might of the Roman Empire but, in their spirits, they were free. God allows us to be weak, because it is only when we are weak that we can exercise faith in Him. Otherwise, we tend to depend on our resources. So, God allowed so many enemies to come around Jehoshaphat, and we read in 2 Chronicles 20:2, He said, 'Lord we are powerless.' Now, if 1 or 2 enemies had come, he wouldn't have said that, but God allowed so many to come. He told the Lord, ‘We are helpless, we just can't handle this.

When you are defeated by sin, overcome by Satan, you say, that is because you are weak. No, my friend, it is not because you are weak, it is because you are strong! You are so strong. That is why you are defeated. If you were weak, you would turn to God and you would experience God's help and you would be an overcomer. Only weak people can praise God. Strong people praise themselves. So, we see only a strong person has got strong opinions, he speaks strong stinging words to other people and he is quick to judge other people. Are you like that? Then you are not weak, a weak person is not like that.

Supposing that you go to a hospital and you see a man with tubes in his mouth and nose and he is helpless, hardly able to speak, that is a weak person. You don't see him there criticizing others. No, it is only when he gets healthy and stronger again that he starts blaming others, blaming the doctors and the nurses and his enemies and relatives. He starts speaking stinging words and judging others when he has recovered his strength, but when he is weak, he doesn't' say a thing. He is just lying there, helpless.

What are you like, aren't you strong? It is strong people that are defeated. Because, we read in 2 Corinthians 12:9, God says, "My strength is made perfect in weak people." That is why God allows us to become weak. When you argue and dispute with people, are you weak or strong? You are strong, and strong people are easy targets for Satan. He always wins the battle with those who argue. That is how he won the battle with Eve. So, God allows us to become weak.

That is what we learn in the story of Lazarus. We read that when Jesus got a message that Lazarus was dying, He said, 'We will just wait a little longer and go on to see him later.' Why would He do that? - Because as long as Lazarus was sick, he was still a bit strong. Gradually his strength weakened and weakened until one day he died. When he had become really weak and died God raised him up. What is the lesson from that? That God has to make us weak before he can do His work in us. When Jehoshaphat came to that place and said, 'We are powerless, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on You; we are expecting You to work on our behalf' (2 Chronicles 20:12), God acted.

Now there are three categories of believers in the world. Pay attention to what I am saying and see which category you belong to! First - those who have a tremendous confidence in themselves. They are very strong, they know the Bible, they pray and fast, they are capable, and they have a lot of confidence in themselves; in their own abilities. Or, it maybe that they don't pray, they don't fast but they are strong in themselves, they have powerful personalities. Such believers can never do any eternal work for God. There is a second category of believers and they are those who have no confidence in themselves and no confidence in God either. They may say they have no strength, they are weak, they are helpless, they are sinners, they are good for nothing, but at the same time they also don't believe that God will ever do anything with them or through them, because they feel God cannot do much. Such believers are also useless to God. Now, here is the third category of believers, the ones those are really useful to God - those who have no confidence in themselves but total confidence in God. Those who say like Jehoshaphat, 'We have no strength, we have no wisdom, but we trust You , Lord. We don't know how to handle this situation but we trust You to handle it.'

Remember this: just to say, we are weak doesn't solve the problem. You must also trust God. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. To merely confess that we are rotten, good for nothing and foolish is not humility; that is just unbelief. Jesus never confessed that type of thing. Jesus was the humblest person to walk down the earth.

It is when they finally said, 'Lord, we trust you,' we read t hat a prophet got up there and God sent His message through him saying, 'Don't be afraid, the battle is not yours, but God's. You don't have to fight in this battle; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf" (2 Chr. 20:15, 17). Stand still and see what God is going to do for you: to whom does God speak such words today? To those who say, 'Lord, we are weak, but we are trusting in You.' They will never ever be disappointed or put to shame. You know that there is a wonderful promise in Romans 9:33, ".... He who believes in the Lord will never be disappointed." What a wonderful verse! So, they went out, and we read in 2 Chronicles 20, that they began to praise the Lord and the enemy was thoroughly defeated.

Now we see another example of this in the book of Jonah. You know the story of Jonah, don't you? He was disobeying God and running away from God. He got onto a ship to go in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go. God stopped him by getting those people to throw him out of that ship. As soon as he was thrown out of the ship, there was a big fish that swallowed him up. We read that in Jonah 1:17, " The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah and he was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights." What did he do during those three days and three nights, we are not told. Perhaps, he was struggling to get out of that fish's stomach, because it says in Chapter 2:1, 'Then after three days and three nights, he began to pray.'

Now very often that is how we are too. When we get into a problem, maybe in some type of fish's belly, we have got ourselves locked up in. In the beginning, we don't pray. We try to get out in some way or the other, sometimes for many days or weeks. And when everything fails, we start to pray and that is what Jonah also did. For three days and three nights, he did nothing. He tried but every time he tried to get out of the whale's mouth, he just slipped back in. And then he began to pray. Like I said before, God waits till we come to the end of ourselves. The same lesson is here.

Then Jonah prayed and he prayed and he prayed and he prayed and still nothing happened. That is another thing we see. Finally, we see, in verse 9, that he began to thank the Lord. He said, ''With the voice of thanksgiving, I will sacrifice to you" and then we read in verse 10 that the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out in the dry land. When did the Lord command the fish to do that? - When Jonah began to praise the Lord. This is the fulfilment of Psalm of 50:23: ''He that offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving makes a way, by which I can show him My deliverance," the same thing is mentioned here in Jonah 2:9.

Look at another final example in Acts 16. There we read of the Apostles Paul and Silas, being locked up in the jail. What did they do in the jail? Instead of sleeping and instead of complaining and grumbling, they began to praise the Lord. In Acts 16:25-26, we read, "And as they were praising the Lord, the Lord opened the prison doors." Again, a fulfilment of that promise!

My dear friends, the key to every fish's mouth is in God's hands; to every prison door, to every situation you are in. If you praise Him and stop complaining, He can open every door. There is no door that the Lord cannot open. Miracles happen when you begin to praise God in faith.

Chapter 31

God’s Purpose For Man

In the first chapter of Genesis, the very first page of the Bible, God gives us the reason why He created man. Because man has completely forgotten about that, throughout the world men and women face problems for which they don't know what the solutions are. They don't seem to find meaning and purpose in life. Well, you never find it until you come back to what God says in His word.

You know the Bible is really like a book of instructions - an instruction manual. If you buy a tape recorder, or a washing machine, or some expensive electronic gadget, along with that you will get a little booklet. This booklet is the manufacturer's instructions on how to use this particular gadget that you have bought. If you are wise, you will just follow the instructions in that booklet exactly. You won't change a single thing, because you realise what? You realise that the manufacturer knows better than you; how that product was made, how it is supposed to run. If there are certain special warnings given saying, 'Don't do this, don't plug this in here or don't put a jack into this,' I am sure you would not experiment. You would just obey because you may blow up a Rs. 10,000 or Rs. 20,000 worth of equipment. You certainly don't want to lose that much money. You would experiment with things that are cheaper, but not with something very expensive.

Now what is the value of your life? A human life is far more than 20,000 Rupees, far more than many lakhs. In fact, once Jesus said, 'What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?' In saying so, He took a balance and placed the whole world with all its wealth, all its glory, and honour on one side, and one human soul on the other side. And He said that one human soul was heavier. He weighed more than the entire world. So you are very valuable. Then how is it that man, who is so valuable, is so careless with following his Maker's instructions when it comes to how to run his life? That is the tragedy. If you want to know why there is so much chaos in the world and why things have gotten to a real mess, here is the answer: God gave man certain instructions and he never followed them. That is the reason for confusion in the world, in individual lives, in families, and between nations.

So let us look at Genesis 1. We read here about the time when God made different things on this earth. Each day He made something new. But whenever He made any of the things, He never told us the purpose with which He made them. For example, on the first day He created light. What is the purpose? Well, we don't know. We can guess, but God never said what the reason was. The next day, He created the heavens. No purpose mentioned. The following day He created the dry lands, and the plants and the trees, no purpose mentioned there and so on. And also with the animals, the fish and the birds! But when it came to making man, finally, before He even started making man He said, "Let us make man in Our image according to Our likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea or the birds on the sky."

So we see the first purpose with which God created man was that man should show forth the likeness of God. That means if man moved around, you could see what God was like, because God is a Spirit and invisible. God wanted His character to be manifested through a created being. Now, in an earlier study, we had considered how God had made the angels before He made man. But there is no evidence in the Bible that God made the angels in His image. No angels could manifest the likeness of God. That is a unique privilege that God gave to man. Man was made in the likeness of God to show forth God's own image and character.

Once we understand this, we would see that the whole purpose of Jesus dying for us and redeeming us was in order that we might be brought back to God's original purpose for us. Supposing we were to draw this in graphical form: think of God's purpose for man being like a straight line going slightly upwards, because God's purpose for man was progressive. That was God's purpose that man should progress in this straight line going upwards. But somewhere in the beginning of that straight line, Adam fell. So you never progress. You just dip straight down. Now let that line go downwards to a pit. What did Jesus do? He came down to the pit, where man was, and lifted him back up to that straight line.

Now man is being brought back to that straight line of God's purpose for man. So the whole purpose of God for man is not fulfilled in Jesus lifting us up from our sin and our failure. No, that is only bringing us back to the place where Adam was when he fell. It is restoring the failure of Adam; bringing man back to the place where he was before he fell. But then, now we need to understand what God's purpose is, what is the straight line? That is to reflect His likeness. So, it is not enough to say that your sins are forgiven. Many Christians are just happy saying, 'Well, my sins are forgiven.' That is like saying, 'Well, God lifted me up from the pit and brought me up to the straight line.' But what about progressing along that straight line? We need to understand what that means. It means growing in likeness to Jesus Christ.

You know, when Jesus came to Earth, He didn't come only to die for the sins of the world. That is only part of His purpose in coming to Earth. His death from the cross was just an act that lasted for six hours on one day. That was it. And He died, He was buried, and He rose again on the third day. But the life that He lived for 33 years, what was that supposed to demonstrate? That was supposed to demonstrate how God wanted man to live on this earth. Jesus' life was a demonstration of how God wanted man to live. So, if you want to know how you are supposed to live. It is very easy. You just got to look at the life of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible. There you have not just in words, but a living demonstration.

See in the Old Testament, there is no example that God gave man. God gave commandments. Everybody knows the Ten Commandments, which is also a picture of how God wanted man to live. But it was a very faint picture- very, very incomplete. All the laws that God gave man about mutual relationships and everything else were all a faint picture. Jesus summed up the Old Testament Law with two sentences. He said the whole law can be summed up in "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and you shall love your neighbour as yourself." In those two verses, those two sentences, the entire duty of man is summed up. But it is far better to have an example that shows us how this is to be done.

Consider if I were to try and teach you swimming. There are two ways in which I could do it. One is, I could explain to you, on a blackboard, by drawing various diagrams on how you must move your hands, how you must move your legs, tec. And then say, 'Okay, now go and jump in the river, and follow the instructions that you saw on the blackboard and swim.' You are not going to learn to swim that way. Even if you study very carefully all the diagrams I drew on the blackboard, you will still probably drown. That is a very poor way. But if I were to take you to the river and say, 'Well, now just watch me as I swim. Just do exactly what I do.' That is the way you will learn. You see instruction is never as good as example. Any amount of instruction on any subject is never as good as an example.

We could say the Old Testament was instruction. In the New Testament, we have an example. Jesus Christ demonstrated, through His life, what it means to be a human being; how we are supposed to live. When the Bible says we are not under the law, what does it mean? It means we don't need the blackboard now, because we got an example in Jesus Christ. But, if you don't have Jesus Christ as your example, then you certainly need to go back to the law. The mistake that a lot of Christians have made is that they say, 'We are free form the law. We don't need the Ten Commandments. We don't need the instructions of God.' Fine, provided Jesus Christ becomes your example. But if Jesus does not become your example, then you need the law very much so.

And so, what does it mean to come under grace; to be free from the law? It means that I have now seen Jesus as my example, who lived on earth, manifesting the nature of God so perfectly. He turned around to His disciples just before He went to the cross and said, 'If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.' If you have seen the way I have lived, what I lived for, you have seen what God was like. You have seen that God is kind. You have seen that God is pure. He is holy, loving, humble, everything.

Our calling now is to show forth that same nature of God. You know what we read in Genesis 1:26. God's original plan for man was to reflect His likeness; to manifest His nature. Now that calling comes to you and me. This is why God has given us the Holy Spirit, so that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can show forth God's nature in our daily life.

Chapter 32

Humility In Jesus Coming To Earth

The first thing that we could say that we see in the life of Jesus Christ, when He lived on this Earth, is His deep humility.

Man is basically proud. We are proud of many things. We are proud of our race, our upbringing, and our family tree, perhaps. We can be proud of our education, our good looks, our intelligence, our capabilities. We can be proud of our talents, our gifts, and our positions, maybe our house or car, influential friends or it could be anything. But when Jesus came to Earth, He took the lowest place that any man could ever take. He came as a servant of everyone, even though He was God; He was God manifest in human form. That is where we see the greatness of our God.

You know we can see the greatness of God in creation. The stars, the planets, and so many wonderful things like the snowflakes, the little atoms which eye can't even see. All these things contain the wonder of God. But to the one who reads the Scriptures, to the true disciples of Jesus Christ, the greatness is not seen in these wonders of the universe. It is seen in the humility with which God came to earth in human form, emptying Himself of the privileges and powers that He had as God and identifying with our fallen race.

The Bible says, in John 1:14 that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. That glory, we can say, was far greater than the glory seen in the creation of the sun, moon, and stars. God came and dwelt as one of us. He didn't come in a condescending, patronizing way as our benefactor, you know, showing that He is a great person. No, instead humbling Himself to be with us. He came with real humility making Himself one with us in every way. He was made like His brothers in all things. Once we see this glory of His humility, we would see that there is far greater glory in that than even in the wonderful miracles that Jesus did when He was on the earth. Here is the first area that we need to see how God wants man to live.

In the life of Jesus, we have an example. God has given us an example on how God wants man to live. There was not an atom of pride in our Lord Jesus Christ. He never imposed Himself on people. He never made people dread Him as if He was somebody far superior to them. He was far superior to every single one. He was also their creator, the Almighty God. But He hid all that glory; it was all concealed in that flesh in which He came and He lived just like any other ordinary man. He would call Himself the Son of man meaning, I am just an ordinary man. There we see the greatness of God. He humbled himself. God wants man to live in humility.

In one of our earlier studies, we have considered how evil came to this universe through Lucifer, the head of the angels, seeking to exult himself in pride. Because he was perfect in wisdom and beauty, Lucifer began to be proud of it. He sought to go still further up, and even exult himself above God Almighty. As soon as such a thought entered into Satan's heart, God immediately cast him down. God is always against pride, wherever He finds it. The Bible says God resists the proud. If you are a proud person, it doesn't matter what you are proud of, you will find that God is resisting you all the time.

Now the word 'resist' is the opposite of support. God does not support proud people and not only that, He resists them; He fights against them. That is why Satan was cast out. There could be no pride in heaven. When Satan was cast down and man was created, Satan decided to infect man as well with the same pride with which he was infected. And now the human race is infected with his pride.

Every child born into this world was born with this infection of pride. That is why, from that time he can do anything, he begins to fight to assert himself and seek his own. To save man from this wretched pride, to redeem man from this poison Jesus came and humbled Himself. So just like our sin originated in the pride of Lucifer, all sin originated in the pride of Lucifer. In the same way, redemption originated in the self-humbling of Jesus Christ. See these are two completely different spirits that are operating in the world. We need to understand it. There is the spirit of pride, always seeking to exult itself, push other people down, show that we are greater, and then there is the spirit of humility of Jesus always seeking to go down.

So it is very easy for you to know how much of the mind of Christ you have in your own life. Here is the answer. You have as much of the mind of Christ in you as you have of his humility. That is the infallible gauge of spiritual growth. You are growing spiritually if you are growing in humility, that is and no more than that and not when you grow in Bible knowledge. A lot of people think that spiritual growth means, 'I am growing in the knowledge of the Bible, I am growing in usefulness, I am growing in serving God here, there and everywhere.' Well, that is not really the infallible gauge. You can be mistaken. There are a lot people who are serving, and they are not really growing. They are more active, but they are not really growing spiritually. The person that is growing spiritually will always become more and more humble.

When you look at Jesus, the very fact that He came down from heaven to earth - God became man -itself would be a tremendous demonstration of humility. But He didn't stop there. When He became a man, He refused to be a King. Now, if Jesus had come from heaven and become the greatest King on earth, it would still have been humility - Because it would have been a tremendous step down from God to become a King. But the wonderful thing you see here is He went still further. He refused to be a King. We read once that when people tried to crown him He just ran away. When He became a man, He humbled Himself and became a servant of everyone. He became like a slave.

He often used to tell His disciples, 'I didn't come here for you people to serve me; I came to serve you.' You know, that is how God is. God's nature is to serve, help, and bless other people. The more you have of God's nature in you, what will you do? The more you will seek to serve, and bless, and help other people. You will not seek to promote yourself, show yourself as great. Unfortunately, even among those who call themselves Christians and Christian leaders, one finds very often a spirit of self-exultation. That is so contrary to the spirit of Christ. Jesus never exulted himself. He told His disciples not to use titles. He said, 'you must be just like brothers, just like all the others'. We are here to serve one another. Jesus demonstrated by His life that a person's position, wealth, accomplishments, and family status, all have no value. It is humility alone that determines your value in God's eyes primarily.

Consider one fact. You know that you and I never had a choice as to which family we should be born into in this world. You didn't choose the family you were born into, did you? You could say it was accidental, completely beyond your choice. I was born into a family, which I never chose. You were born into a family, which you never chose. We were just born into it. We were born in a country, which we didn't choose; into circumstances we didn't choose. There was only one person born into this world that could choose and determine beforehand where He would be born, when He will be born, in which town, in which building in that town, in which family, everything. That was Jesus Christ. From heaven He could have planned His birth perfectly, the exact date, the exact time, the exact location, the exact family. And what did Jesus choose? He chooses a poor, unknown carpenter's family, in a place called Nazareth, which had a very bad reputation in Israel. I t was a very poor family; Joseph was a carpenter. Not only that, Jesus was the only person who could determine where exactly He was going to be born. What place did he choose? - The stable, a lowly stable where donkeys and cows and other animals were moving around; a dirty place. This is the place he chose.

When you read in Matthew 1, you read the family line. People are proud of their family line. He chose a family line in which there was a woman called Tamar who committed adultery with her father-in-law . Another one in that family tree was Rahab who was a prostitute in Jericho. Another one was Ruth who was a descendant of Moab who was born as the result of incest (you read about it in Genesis 19). And one was Bathsheba who made David commit adultery. This is the line, which Jesus chose. Why did Jesus choose this type of humiliating line and a lowly place to be born? - Because He wanted to come underneath all of us to serve us. Remember dear friend, this is the nature God wants you to have, to go underneath others to serve them and bless them.

Chapter 33

Humility In Jesus Earthly Life

We have been looking at the way God wants man to live, as demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ, and that is the example we need to follow. We want to consider a little more about His humility.

We have seen how Jesus identified Himself totally with man. He was not ashamed to be a man. The Bible says He is not ashamed to call us His brothers. Sometimes we feel superior to other human beings; we feel we are more educated or we belong to a higher class of society. All this is because of the perverted pride that has infected us ever since Adam sinned. Jesus came to demonstrate that essentially all human beings are equal, irrespective of race, family, education, intelligence, culture, position in life, or whatever. He came and became one with the least and the lowest in the social level in His day, in Israel. He came below everybody because that is the only way He could be the servant of everybody. You cannot be the servant of another if you are not willing to go underneath him. If you want to lift somebody up, you must go beneath him. That is how Jesus came.

Now the Holy Spirit has come to make our mind like Christ's. In other words, to make our way of thinking exactly like Christ. This is not a theory. This is not something we just talk about over a radio program or in a Church or in an article like this. It is supposed to become a reality in our life, that in our mind, we do not any longer consider ourselves superior to any other human being, whatever his religion, race or anything may be. Only then we can say that the humility of Christ has begun to work in our thoughts.

If I were to ask you a question on what are the thoughts you think about yourself when you are all by yourself, what would be your response? You think of yourself, perhaps, as a good-looking person, or very clever, or fortunate to be born in a rich family, or other such thoughts. There you can assess how much of your thoughts are like Christ and how much you think like the devil. If you are comparing yourself with others, and considering yourself superior, those are exactly the kind of thoughts that went through the mind of Lucifer before he became the devil. The Bible says that we must regard others as more important than ourselves (Phil. 2:3), and Paul goes on to speak in that passage about Jesus Christ being our example. Paul once said, in Ephesians 3:8, that he was the very least of all the saints. Paul had been so gripped by the humility of Christ that, as he thought about himself, he saw himself as the absolute lowest among all the believers.

There is no contradiction between this and Paul calling the Corinthians believers carnal. Paul didn't consider himself carnal. The Bible does not tell us to consider other people better than ourselves. That would be impossible. Who was the humblest man that walked on the earth? You know the answer. It was Jesus Christ. He was the humblest person that walked on the earth. Now let us consider this question. Did Jesus consider other people better than Himself? How could He do that? He was the purest, the holiest. He knew Judas Iscariot was a devil. He didn't consider other people better than Himself. Humility does not mean considering other people better than ourselves, because then we have to believe a lie.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, 'You are carnal, you are babies,' did he consider the Corinthians better than himself? No. Some people have this false humility where they struggle and try to consider other people better than themselves. It is a futile effort. The Bible doesn't t ask you to do that. The Bible says in Philippians 2:3 to consider others more important than you. That is different.

Jesus always considered others more important. That is why we see Him taking a bucket of water, and washing the disciples' feet at the Last Supper. It was the job done only by servants in those days. If you visited a wealthy home, in those days, they usually they had slaves at home. A slave is someone who is bought, one who did not get any wages. Slaves were lower than servants. When a guest came to visit a home, it was the slave's duty to take a basin of water, remove the guest's sandals, and wash the dust from their feet. Whenever there was a dinner, there would always be a basin of water near the door.

When Jesus and the disciples came to this Last Supper, there was no host there. They only had an empty room for their use. But the basin of water was kept at the door as usual. Now the question was who was going to do the job of washing the people's feet? Each disciple must have thought, 'Well, I am not going to do that.' Peter may have thought, 'Well, I am going to be the leader after Jesus goes away, how I can do such a thing?' And Matthew may have thought, 'Well, I am an educated accountant; I can't go washing the feet of these disciples.' Each of the disciples may have thought of how they were superior to the others in some way, and therefore they couldn't possibly do a slave's job. It is better it is not done.

Then Jesus took up that basin of water and began to wash their feet. Why? Because He said, 'Well, you are all more important than me.' They were certainly not more spiritual than Him, and He didn't think so. Yet He treated them more important. He genuinely considered Himself less important. It was not an act, merely put on to show that He was humble. There can be people who act humble, who do things just to show that they are humble servants. That is hypocrisy. God hates it. Jesus was genuine. He really took that place of being nothing before His Heavenly Father.

And this is what humility really is: to take the place of being absolutely nothing before God. 'Lord, I am nothing, everything that I am, you have made me.' If you are intelligent, who made you intelligent? God did. There are so many children born into this world that are retarded. You could have been born like that. You could have been born with a defective brain, or a defective body, or some congenital disease, or polio like many other children born into this world. What would you be then? It really is proper for us to be thoroughly humble when we think of our condition: 'Lord, what do I have, which I have not received?' Only a foolish man is proud.

Jesus not only took that place of a servant. But we also read that He went still further. What is lower than a slave? We would say nothing is lower than a slave; that is the lowest place. No, a criminal, a murderer would be considered even lower than a slave. We read that Jesus was crucified just like a criminal. You know, this crucifixion - killing people on the cross was something that the Romans reserved for the worst criminals in Palestine. Ordinary criminals were not crucified. But the worst, the absolutely incorrigible, worst criminals, they would kill them; kill them with this terrible process of crucifixion where they suffer and die over a period of many hours. Jesus humbled Himself to die on a cross as a criminal. The Bible says in Isaiah that He was numbered with the transgressors. He was counted among the criminals. Why? Because that was His Father's will, He accepted it. He obeyed.

It is marvellous to see the humility of Jesus right from the time He was a little child. You know, we read in the Bible, in Luke's Gospel, that Jesus came to Nazareth, and continued in subjection to Joseph and Mary (Lk. 2:51), and that went on for 30 years. Were Joseph and Mary perfect? - Far from it. They were no better than any couple today. Think of an average Christian home today where husband and wife fight with each other at least once in a while. Joseph and Mary were like that. They were not perfect people who never sinned. There is nobody like that. They were sinners. They were imperfect. They did not know everything. And in their home lived Jesus, who was sinless, who was perfect, and who never did anything wrong. So who should submit to whom? One would think Joseph and Mary should submit to Jesus, right? We would think that the ones who are imperfect (Joseph and Mary) should submit to the one who is perfect (Jesus).

But it wasn't like that. Jesus submitted to an imperfect foster father and mother. We know it is not easy for us to submit to those who are inferior to us. Can you submit to somebody who is inferior to you? But if you are genuinely humble, you will have no problem. You would submit to anybody because you would realise you are nothing. Humility is the secret. We will have no problem with anyone when we are humble.

Jesus was quite happy to be a carpenter. When He went out to ministry, He never took any title. He never called Himself Reverend Jesus or any such thing. He never wanted any position or title or anything that would exalt Him above the common people whom He came to serve. He became like His brothers in all things. When they wanted to make Him a King, He ran away. He never did anything to get honour from men. If He healed a sick person, He would tell that sick person not to tell anyone. Do you see His humility? He wanted all the glory to be given to the Father. He never wanted to draw anybody to Himself; His healings were not publicity stunts to draw attention to Himself.

What a beautiful picture we have of what man is supposed to be. Think of what will happen if the world became full of people like this? But you can make a beginning in your life now.

Chapter 34

Humility In Jesus Death

We are, once again, going to look a little more at the humility of Jesus Christ, which is an example for us to follow. It is important for us to follow this example because God says that He gives His grace only to the humble.

The night before Jesus was crucified, just after He washed their feet, He said, 'You call me Lord and Master and yet I have washed your feet. You must do the same for one another' (Jn. 13:13, 14). What does that mean? Many people have felt that, it means that we must all take basins of water and wash one another's feet; even if our feet are covered with socks and shoes and they are not dirty. That becomes a meaningless ritual.

What exactly did Jesus do that day, when He took that basin of water? If all those disciples were wearing socks and shoes like we wear today, particularly in colder climates, then there would be absolutely no need to wash their feet at all. Why did He wash their feet? It is not a religious ritual that He went through. No, it was an act of necessity. He saw a need for a dirty job to be done for His disciples, and He did it. So when He said, 'I have given you an example. I the Lord and Teacher washed your feet of you all, you also must wash one another's feet' (Jn. 13:15).

We must ask ourselves: What is it that Jesus did to the Apostles? In one sentence, we could say, He met their physical need by doing a dirty task for them. So what has He told us to do? He has told us to be willing to do dirty tasks for one another, where there is such a necessity, and not to go through a ritual. If you are in a meeting hall, for example, the way you wash people's feet would probably be by going in and cleaning the toilet, so that it is kept clean. That would be the equivalent of washing the feet today.

It is a question of seeing a particular need and then meeting it. What Jesus did there, in taking that basin of water and washing their feet, was typical of His whole life. All His life, I believe, He was a servant of all men. We are not told how He lived for 30 years in Nazareth, but I can imagine how He lived. He must have lived serving others; serving His younger brothers, younger sisters; serving Mary, serving others in the neighbourhood - being willing to do any task for anyone; seeing a need and being quick to meet it. There we see His humility. And there we see how God wants man to live.

My dear friend, that is how God wants you to live. If you can see this and be gripped by the glory of Jesus, your life can be transformed. Don't worry if other Christians around you are not living like this. Don't judge them. Don't find fault with them. It is not our business. God is the Judge of all men and we don't have to judge anyone. But you can be like this, can't you? How happy you will be? Jesus, after speaking about being willing to wash one another's feet and actually doing it, said, "if you know these things you will be really happy, if you do it" (Jn. 13:17). Not if you just think about it. The way of life that Jesus demonstrated is the way of supreme happiness. You are not happy when you sit like a big maharaja or lord on your chair and make other people serve you. If you really want to be happy, be a servant.

Jesus associated very closely with the lowest level of society in His time. He moved among them as their equal. Have you seen fisherman on the coasts of India? You go down to a number of places along the coast and you can see fisherman. What level of society do they live? They are despised as belonging to the lowest level of the society. I don't mean these rich fishermen who go out in trawlers and motorboats. No, I am talking about people who put their nets into the sea and catch fish. Peter, James, and John were like that. If you want to see what they were like go and look at these fishermen who cast their nets into the sea, who go out in their little boats. Jesus associated with them.

Not only with people in a lower level of society socially, but also with those who were at the lower level morally; prostitutes, drunkards, cheats. He was sinless and perfect, yet He mingled with them. He was not afraid of people calling bad names, saying, He is a friend of sinners. He never made a single sinner feel awkward through His perfect holiness. You know one mark of a humble man is that He never makes you feel awkward; he always makes you feel comfortable around His presence even though He is holy. Jesus was like that.

The Pharisees were not like that. You know they were so stiff. They wouldn't let anybody come near them because they consider themselves so holy. But Jesus wasn't like that. He mingled with the lowest level of people and made them feel at home. In fact, He moved around with His disciples so freely that Peter would sometimes rebuke Him and felt free to give Him advice. Can you think of that? The disciple would feel free to give some advice, ' Lord, we think you should do this or that.'

Now, how is it today with a lot of Christian leaders? Do you find them mingling like this? No. Christianity has not given to our country a demonstration of how Jesus lived on the earth. We have failed. We need to acknowledge it. Never mind others. You, who are reading this transcript, you can demonstrate the life of Christ in your own life, in your locality. If, little by little, each one of us does that, our country will once again be able to see true Christianity demonstrated by people living like Jesus.

See the humility of Jesus in the spiritual realm. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He was under tremendous pressure. The Bible says in Matthew 26:38 that Jesus was deeply grieved to the point of death. What does He do at such a time? He doesn't act as though He is self-sufficient; He doesn't need anybody's help. No, He calls Peter, James and John and asks them to pray with Him. Think of asking somebody to pray with you.

A proud man will never ask anybody to pray with Him. He doesn't feel such a need. But Jesus, the Son of God, who lived such a perfect life, asking these simple disciples, who had so many weaknesses, saying, 'Will you please come and pray with me because I am under tremendous pressure.' Jesus was conscious of his weakness as a human being and He sought the fellowship of his disciples in prayer. Do you do that? Or, are you so self-sufficient? Do you see my dear friend, how far we are from the humility of Jesus Christ? It is because we are not honest to acknowledge that we are nothing. That is why God's power cannot be manifested through our lives. You know why God's power manifested in such a fantastic way in the life of Jesus? Because He recognized He is nothing. He just lived before His Father as nothing - and the Father could manifest all His power through Christ.

There are only two spirits operating in the world: one going up, the other going down. Up, in the sense of exulting oneself in pride and down, in the sense of humbling oneself; the spirit of Lucifer and the spirit of Christ. It is operating everywhere. It is operating in Christendom too. You find it even in Christian organizations, Christian churches; Christians trying to push other people down, get on top of their shoulder, climb up to a higher, higher, higher positions. What spirit is that? Is that the spirit of Christ? No, it is the spirit of Lucifer. It is the spirit of Satan operating in churches and Christian organizations. Is that not sad? Jesus Christ came with another spirit of humbling Himself, going down. I want to say to you: this is the way we can identify a true disciple of Jesus. He has absolutely no desire to go up or to become great or big either in the Christian church or in the world. He just wants to go down. He wants to bless others. He doesn't want to exult himself over a single person anywhere.

Finally, in the death of Jesus, we see His humility coming to a perfect end; to perfection, because in the death and trial of Jesus, He was never given justice. He was humiliated, ridiculed, mocked, ill-treated and made like the scum of the earth. There you see His humility that He never called the angels to help. He could have called 12 legions (72,000) of angels with one word. Why didn't He do it?

Oh! He humbled Himself. He didn't grab. All through His life He opened His palms to give to others. And finally, He opened His palms to receive the nails, on the cross. This is the way that Jesus went and this is the way God wants you and me to live; with an open palm and not with a clenched fist to fight with others. No, but with an open palm, to give up our rights. Not judging others, leaving it to God to judge.

Jesus once said in John 8:15, 'I don't judge anybody.' He submitted to the humiliating death that His Father planned for Him. It didn't matter how He was killed. He accepted it. He was obedient unto death. My dear friend, this is the real Jesus of the scriptures. He was not honoured as a celebrity or a film star, like many of today's evangelists are. On the other hand, people rejected Him, despised Him and nailed Him to a cross.

This is true Christianity. It is not a popular big thing. The Bible says that that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination before God . Let us look at Jesus and go down the way He went.

Chapter 35

Jesus Overcame Sin

We want to continue looking at the life of Jesus as the perfect example God has given us on earth and demonstrating how God wanted man to live . In this study we want to look at His holiness and His purity.

God is holy and He tells us, "Because I am holy, be holy yourself." But for us, who are human beings, created with a free will, holiness can come only through overcoming temptation; through saying no to temptation. We are not inherently holy. When we are born, we are inherently sinful. In fact, even when Adam was created, he was not inherently holy, he was inherently innocent. He had to choose God and say no to temptation in order to be holy. Now, in the same way, today, to be holy, we have to be tempted. In fact, this is one purpose of temptation. Temptation is not meant to lead us into sin; quite the opposite. It is meant to lead us to holiness.

Holiness is like being spiritually healthy and strong. Why do people go to a gymnasium and do exercise there, with bars and weights, and subject their muscle to resistance with springs and various things like that? Why is all that equipment lying around the gymnasium for? It is not easy to lift those weights and do exercise with all those springs and various things. In fact, it is a strain. Then why do people go through that strain? They are even willing to pay money to go through that strain!

You know why? - Because they want a physically fit body. They know that a physically fit body can only come if every muscle in the body is subjected to strain and resistance. So, all that equipment in the gymnasium is meant for subjecting different muscles in the body to resistance. Now a person, whose muscle is not subjected to resistance, will just be a fat, flabby man. When doctors advice a fat, flabby man to get rid of his fat, they suggest exercise, or in other words, subject your muscles to some resistance. It is exactly the same principle spiritually.

We have to be subjected to resistance. We have to have somebody resisting us. And we have to resist in return and overcome in order to be spiritually fit, muscular and strong. In other words, become holy. That is why the Bible says, "Consider it all joy when you encounter various types of temptations" (J a s. 1:2). Now that is not the common understanding of how to face temptations. Most people think, 'Oh boy, temptation, I wish I would never face it.' It is like a fat man saying, 'Oh, I don't want to do any exercise, it is such a labour, such a problem.' What is the result? He never becomes muscular. If a Christian would say, 'I don't want to face trails, I don't want to face any temptations,' he will never be a spiritually muscular, healthy Christian. That is impossible.

Holiness can come only if you are willing to say no to temptation. So, what does James say you should do? Consider it all joy. Like the fat man going into the gymnasium and considering it all joy when he finds these various bits of equipment around him, and he begins to exercise. Gradually the fat melts away from his body and he comes out later, in a year or so, a healthy, strong muscular man. Wasn't that good? Shouldn't he consider it all joy when he subjects his muscles to resistance? It is exactly the same thing what James says here. Because people have not understood it, they think that avoiding temptation, and avoiding trial is the best way. It is not the best way.

Now the amazing thing is that, even for someone like Jesus, who is sinless, had to be tempted. That is quite a mystery. Why did He have to be tempted? In Matthew 4, we read that the devil came to Him and tempted Him. Three of the temptations are mentioned there. And in Hebrews 4:15 we are told that He was tempted in every respect like us but He didn't sin even once. It is amazing that Jesus Christ, the perfect sinless Son of God, was also subject to temptation in every area. The Bible says in Hebrews 6:20 that Jesus is our forerunner. Forerunner means somebody who has run the race in front of us and has shown us the path in which to follow. So, as One who has gone in front of us, He says to us today, "Follow Me."

The Bible says in Hebrews 12:1-2, "Let us look u nto Him who ran this race in front and let us run the race behind Him." Again , we read, "Consider Him who faced such contradiction of sinners against Himself, who resisted sin unto blood" (Heb. 12:3-4) Jesus endured every temptation that can ever come to any human being. He was tempted in every point as we are and He overcame in the power of the Holy Spirit, as a man. If He had faced temptation as God, there would be nothing great about it. In fact, the Bible says that God can't be tempted (J a s. 1:13).

So, Jesus had to give up that privilege, when He walked on earth as a man, in order to be tempted, in order to be an example for us. If He overcame temptation in the power of God, and He, as God, tells us - human beings to somehow overcome, when we are not God, it would be like a father driving a motorcar at 80 miles per hour (mph), and telling his little son to run after him on the road, 'Follow me.' Isn't that ridiculous? - A father driving in a car at 80mph and telling his son to run after him? Then how can Jesus say, 'Follow me,' if He encountered temptation as God? In fact, in any case, as I said earlier, God cannot be tempted.

The fact is that Jesus encountered temptation as a man and overcame in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that is the same power He offers us. That is what gives us hope when we face temptation. The devil would like to rob you of that hope, by trying to tell you, 'No, you can't overcome temptation. You will always be defeated.' But you tell him, 'How did Jesus overcome?' He might say, 'Oh, He overcame as God.' Is that what the Bible says? No. He overcame Satan by quoting the word of God to Him. You can overcome Satan in the same way. The Bible asks you to take the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and you can drive the devil away too, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed, sought for help, and overcame.

Suppose today we have to face some temptation, which Jesus never faced, we could say to Him, 'Well, Lord you don't understand what I am facing.' But we can never say that because He does understand. The Bible says He can sympathise with our struggle, with our weakness (Heb. 4:15). The one thing that Jesus demonstrated th r ough His life on earth was that with the power of the Holy Spirit, as a man, we can obey every commandment of God. If we don't do it, it is because we are not wholehearted as He was. That is why the Bible says, "Anyone, who says, he abides in Christ must walk as He walked" (1 Jn. 2:6). Is that possible? If it is not possible there would be no such command in scripture.

The L iving Bible says, "Anyone who calls themselves a Christian should live as Christ did." Is that really true? Jesus Christ's life was a demonstration of how we are to live. Now, we may not be able to say that we are walking like Christ. In fact, I have never met anyone on earth who walks like Jesus Christ, neither would you have. But if we make that our goal and, if we have faith, we should press on to that perfection where we say, 'Lord I want to walk like You.' Then from one degree of glory to another, the Holy Spirit will conform us to Christ's likeness.

Paul said he hadn't attained it himself, but he was pressing on. He says, "I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He wanted to live like Jesus lived. He made that his goal and, little by little, he approached it. But a person, who has no goal, is never going to get anywhere near there. It is like climbing a mountain. If you don't have the top of the mountain as your goal, what is going to happen? You are just going to be at ground level, even after 25 years. But if you keep the top of the mountain as your goal, every year will find you higher and higher and higher and higher, and little more and little more and little more like Christ. This is Christian growth. How did Jesus overcome? When He faced temptation and He felt the pull of it, He resisted it in the power of the Holy Spirit; He died to Himself and He overcame. That is why the Bible says, "Arm yourself with the same mind" (1 Pet. 4:1-2).

Now there could be a misunderstanding here because some of us don't understand what is the essence of sin. The essence of all sin is doing your own will. Now, if that is the essence is sin, then what is the essence of holiness? Denying your own will and doing the will of God. That is holiness. We read what Jesus said in John 6:38, "I came from heaven not to do My own will," i.e. not to sin, "but to do the will of God, the will of Him who sent Me." That is holiness. In the Garden of Gethsemane He said, "Not as I will Father, but as Though will." Jesus offered up His human will as a perpetual sacrifice. He said, "I never want to do My will." That is what is meant by Jesus never sinned. He never did His own will. Human nature is just the opposite. We see that in a little child; a child wants to do his own will. That stubbornness is sin.

Jesus warned His disciple in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, "Pray, your flesh is weak. Your spirit may be willing to live a holy life but your flesh is weak." That is why we need the power of the Holy Spirit to deny our will and to do the will for God.

Make that your goal dear friend. Believe today that it is possible for you to live a holy life; to climb higher and higher up this mountain of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.

Chapter 36

Jesus Did God's Will

We want to consider a little more about how Jesus Christ is our example in living a holy life, so that, as a Christian, your life need not be defeated by sin anymore.

Jesus made two amazing statements to His disciples on the night He was crucified. He meant what He said. If we take seriously what He said, even if we cannot understand what He said, we will seek to understand. Because there must be a depth of meaning to it and something very important. It is in John 14:12. He started, "He who believe in Me". Now that applies to every believer. He did not specifically point out to His apostles and say, "I give this power to you." No, it is to "He who believes in Me." Who does that apply to? Well, if you are one of those who believe in Him, it applies to you.

And what did He say, "He who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also." In other words, Jesus is saying to you (give careful attention to this) that you can do the works that Jesus did. Is it true or not? Well, either Jesus was telling the truth or He was telling a lie. I believe He is telling the truth. He has never told a lie. He is not teasing us either. He really means that the works that He did we can do also. Further He said, "Greater works than these shall such a person do because I go to the Father." What does this mean?

What were the works that Jesus did? We immediately think of His raising the dead, feeding the 5000, walking on the water, etc. Well, those were certainly some of the works, but He did a lot of other works too. Like putting His arms around a leper, comforting people who were in sin, forgiving a woman caught in adultery, and forgiving those who called Him Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Those don't look so spectacular, but those are also the works that He did.

So, what did He mean by the works that He did? Can we use one phrase to sum up all the works that He did? Yes, we can. And that is He obeyed the will of His Father; He did the will of His Father. Those are the works that He did. If His Father wanted Him to walk on the water, He walked on the water. If His Father wanted Him to put His arm around a leper, He did that. If His Father wanted Him to forgive a woman caught in adultery, He did that. If His Father wanted Him to wash the disciple's feet, He did that. His works were works of obedience to the Father. Not just miracle works.

So, when He said that we can do the same works, what He meant was, we can also obey whatever the Father's will for us is. Now, if it is not the Father's will for you to raise the dead, you can't raise the dead. That is all. Man has gone to the moon. But when Jesus was on the earth, He didn't go to the moon because it was not the Father's will for Him to go to the moon. He didn't even go to Rome, leave alone the moon. So, we find that it is not a question of accomplishment. If , it is the Father's will for you to feed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, you can do it. The point is , what is the Father's will? Whatever was the Father's will for Jesus, He did it. For example, for 30 years, He never fed the 5000, or walked on the water, or raised any dead person, or even healed a sick person, because it was not the Father's will. But He still did His Father's will during those 30 years.

In a nutshell, we could say that the works that Jesus did were works of obedience to His Heavenly Father's will. When He says, "The works that I do you can do also," what it means is everything (note carefully), every single thing that is in God's will for your life can be done; definitely. How did Jesus do all that? He did it through the power of the Holy Spirit. When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, as we read in Acts 2, they received power to do what? They received the power to do the same works of obedience that Jesus did. That is to do the will of the Father. If the Father wanted them to heal the sick, they could do it; to raise the dead, they could do it. When the Holy Spirit came and filled them, they received power to do the works that Jesus did.

What does it mean when it says in John 14:12 that greater works than these they shall do? That is referring to leading other people into this life. Note what He said: because "I go to the Father." What would happen when Jesus went to the Father? He would send the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit would now be able to come and dwell in people's hearts, after the day of the Pentecost and, that would enable people to come into this life.

Let me give you an example. After three and a half years of preaching to the disciples, Jesus could not make even two of them one. He prayed in John 17 that they may be one as the Father and Son are one. But they were not one. They were all aiming for the highest seat. They were all wondering who was the greatest. Well, if 12 people are thinking who was the greatest, all 12 of them, they are certainly not one; they are divided. But today we find that we are able to preach in such a way that people are becoming one. Even if two people become one today, it is a greater work than Jesus did in His entire lifetime. But it is not because we are greater than Jesus; far from it.

Because He went to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was on the earth, the Holy Spirit could not come into the hearts of those disciples. If He had come into the hearts of those disciples, they would have become one. But after the day of Pentecost, since the Holy Spirit has come, there is the opportunity to accomplish more because the Holy Spirit, who now comes in to dwells in people's heart is greater. What do we see as the purpose of God filling us with the Spirit - So that we can do the works that Jesus did, or in other words, the will of God. This is the life that God offers through the power of the Holy Spirit, in this new agreement (New Covenant) that God has made with man.

Turn with me to Romans 8:3-4 where we have these wonderful words which tells us what God can do for us. Now this is intensely practical. I believe the whole Bible has been given to us for practical Christian living. It is not meant for theological study primarily. What we read in Romans 8:3-4 is, "What the law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh, God did". What was it the law could not do? The law could not make me pure inside; the law could not make me overcome sin in my heart. It could only help me overcome sin on the outside. How did then God do this?

"He sent His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh ." That means like us, but without sin. He came only in the likeness, not in our sinful flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. He gave His body on Calvary as an offering for sin, and there , God judged our sin in the flesh of Jesus. We read in Romans 8:3 as to why God did that? So that "The righteous requirement of the law can now be fulfilled inside of us" - the law which said, 'You shall not covet' can now be fulfilled. The opposite of you shall not covet is you shall love. The opposite of you shall not lust is you shall love. That righteous requirement of the law can now be fulfilled inside us. The requirement of the law of purity, of holiness, can now be fulfilled inside us, when we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus has come to do for us. This is the significance of Jesus coming to earth and dying, and giving us the Holy Spirit.

Now God has not promised to make us sinlessly perfect on this earth. There is nobody on earth who has walked in sinless perfection other than Jesus Christ; not Paul, nobody. But the Bible says we are to press on to perfection. Jesus came without sin and, therefore, He lived a sinlessly perfect life. But in us, there is so much of unconscious sin; corruption in our flesh. That is because we have lived in sin so much. Throughout our lifetime on earth, we will never be sinlessly perfect.

In fact, John says, "If anyone says he has no sin in him, he is deceiving himself, he's telling a lie." But we can press on to perfection, like it says in Hebrews 6:1, and become more and more perfect in holiness. For example, take our speech. Jesus' speech was perfectly pure. No filthy word ever escaped His lips; no idle word; no untruthful word. He always spoke the truth. There was no deceit in His mouth. You could not engage Jesus in useless conversations. You could not engage Jesus in discussions about evil concerning other people. No, His mind was pure.

He used material things but He didn't love them. His holiness was inward. It was not an outward holiness manifested in food and of special type of dress or in associating with holy people. Neither was His holiness that of being a hermit or sanyasi, living out in the desert of the wilderness. No, He lived in the midst of other people, working like other people, wearing the same type of dress that other people wore and eating and drinking just like others; enjoying the good things that God has given man to enjoy, and yet in purity. He was not self-indulgent in the matter of food. He was not fashionable in the way He wore clothes. He did not associate only with religious people; He associated with sinners.

This is Jesus' Holiness. It was a life of purity. Not just in avoiding sin, but also avoiding anything that was unnecessary and wasteful. And there He has given us an example of what true holiness is. I believe if we look at Jesus' life more and more, we will be transformed from one degree of glory to another in His likeness by the holy Spirit as per the wonderful promise in 2 Corinthians 3:18. Take this promise to heart and say, 'Lord transform me to the likeness of Christ, fill me with the Holy Spirit.'

Chapter 37

Jesus Valued All People

We want to think about a word that many people use - 'love,' but which most people don't understand. True love is unselfish. The love, which many people think of, is actually selfish lust. We want to consider what it means to really love as seen in the life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

When we speak about holiness, many people think of holiness as dry, starchy religion or something repulsive, or hard, or strict. But that is not the holiness Jesus manifested. God is holy, absolutely holy. The Bible also says that God is love. Therefore, true holiness is perfect love. I want to say that again: True holiness is perfect love. If you have holiness without love, it is not the holiness of Jesus Christ. It is the so-called holiness of the Pharisees. It is self-righteousness. It may be a disciplined life; maybe you pay your taxes, you pray, read the Bible, tithe, and do so many things, but you are like a skeleton.

You can't draw people if you are a skeleton; people are not attracted to a skeleton. Supposing you are walking down a dark street one night, and you see a skeleton walking towards you, just a skeleton - just skull and bones, walking towards you from the opposite direction, what would you do? Would you feel like embracing that one? Running forward to meet that? Or, would you feel like turning around and running away? That is how the Pharisees were. People felt like running away from them. Unfortunately, that is how many self-righteous Christians are. Even many Christians who say, 'We are in the separated assemblies, we are not like the dead denomination, we are separated from all that, we are holy,' but they are like skeletons. People run away from them. They are like the Pharisees. But Jesus was not like that.

Yes, we need to be holy, we need to have truth. The Bible says in John 1:14 that the glory of God was seen in Jesus, full of grace and truth. There is a balance. Consider our body, do we need bones or not? If you didn't have bones, you wouldn't be able to stand up, you wouldn't be able to sit down. You will collapse like a jellyfish that has got no bones in it. Spiritually speaking, some people are like that. You know there are certain disadvantages in having bones. For example, you cannot squeeze through a very narrow opening. But a jellyfish can squeeze through anything. It just becomes thin as it has no bones and slides through it. It is like a sponge. You can squeeze a sponge through any opening, any shape, and any size. But we can't go through because we got bones.

Some people, spiritually speaking, are like jellyfish; they compromise. They have no convictions. They don't stand for the truth. They don't stand for holiness. They are like people without any bones. That is certainly not God's will. On the other hand, if we are only bones, like I said, you will be like a skeleton; you will scare people away. But God has made this body so beautiful. What is it that makes our body attractive? The bones are covered over with flesh. When you say somebody is handsome, or a girl is pretty, what do you mean? It is not their skeleton you are talking about. I mean, if you pull off the flesh, the skeleton looks the same as the ugliest people in the world. It is the flesh on top of that skeleton, beautifully featured that makes somebody attractive.

Now apply this to the Christian life. It is not just truth. It is grace on top of the truth that makes the words attractive. It is love and holiness. God is light and God is love. The two are inseparable. True holiness is full of love, and true love is perfectly pure. So, in this sense, they are not different. I mean, people say they have great love for everybody, but if they don't live in purity and righteousness, that is just not divine love. That is just wishy-washy sentimentality. Those who claim to have great holiness, but don't have compassion and love for people, they are just Pharisees.

How is it with Jesus? He was not a skeleton, and He was not a jellyfish. He had all the truth. He stood for everything that the Law of God stood for, more than the Pharisees did. He was not just bones; the bones were covered over with flesh, as God intended human beings to be. This is the balance of the divine glory that the Holy Spirit has come to communicate to you and me. Not to make you like a skeleton, a Christian who drives other people away. Neither does God want us to be a wishy-washy jellyfish, just compromising and able to fit in to any type of opening. No, God doesn't want that either.

We read that Jesus spoke the truth, but He spoke it in love. His word had authority, but they were also gracious. When it says that God is love, it doesn't mean He just acts lovingly. Now, a person can act lovingly without any love in his heart. It could be just an external action which is done to impress others. Jesus did not just go around doing acts of love. We can imitate somebody and do acts of love, you know, like help the poor, do good. No, Jesus' love came from deep within His heart. Just like holiness and humility, love can be put on the outside. Then it is just a garment that a person can put on or take off.

Jesus said, "He who believes in Me, from his inner most being will flow rivers of living water." The spirit-filled man is a man from whose innermost being humility, holiness and love flow out. Our thoughts and our attitudes become holy and loving and not just the words and our actions. That can be just diplomacy. You know when we do something or say something, our thoughts and attitudes, towards that other person or toward those people, gives out a certain odour or smell of our life. Others can easily detect it. Words and actions of love count for nothing, if our thoughts and attitudes towards others are still critical and selfish. The Bible says in Psalm 51:6 (David said that after he had sinned), " God desires truth in the innermost being. "He wants love to flow from our hearts. That is how it was with Jesus.

So, as we look at the life of Jesus, we can see what the Holy Spirit wants to make of our life. Let me say, first of all, that if you love a person, you will value him. You see, Jesus placed a very high value on all human beings. It didn't matter whether they were cultured, intelligent, clever, smart, or rich. It is very easy to place a great value on cultured, intelligent, rich people. But a godly man would value all people; whether he is dressed in a suit and a tie, or he is a beggar. If you can't value a beggar as one of God's creations , as one who is made in the image of God, you will not love him. Do you know what the Bible says in James 3:9 that "All human beings are made in the image of God?" Yes, James says that in the context of use of our tongue in verse 8. Men have been made in the likeness of God.

What about a beggar with his ragged clothes, lack of culture, and illiteracy? Is he made in the image of God? If so, you will respect him. Jesus respected all people. He did not make any difference between the rich and the poor; educated and the uneducated; the cultured and the uncultured; or even between the righteous and the sinners. He valued everyone, because everyone was made by God. Everyone was loved by God. He came to die for everyone.

We can think that, when we start loving our fellow believers in our local church, that itself is something wonderful. It certainly is. But Jesus loved all men. Do you think He healed only the sick who believed in Him for salvation from sin? No, He healed so many sick people who were not interested in receiving anything further from Him. That was how His goodness was. Jesus never despised anyone because they were poor, or ignorant, or ugly. No, Jesus once said that the whole world was not as valuable as one human soul. That is how He valued men.

You know, just think you value your treasures; your stocks and your shares, your house, land, bank account, gold bars, car, and whatever else you have, put it all together. For Jesus, one human soul is worth more than all that, and much more than that. He said it was worth more than the whole world. That is why He delighted in men; He valued them. He saw those men, those people who were being bound by Satan and deceived. He longed to bring them to the light, and to set them free.

And His love for man was so great that He was willing even to pay the ultimate price of death, in order to free men from sin's grip over their lives. Because He was willing to die for men, to save them from their sins, He had the right to preach against sin so forcefully. You know Jesus turned around to the Pharisees and said, "You generation of vipers." Do you think you and I can say that to religious people, even if they are as bad as the Pharisees? Well, you can say that if you love them enough to die for them; otherwise, you can't. It is very easy to get up and say it. Any fool can get up and say such words. But to say it in the spirit of Christ is quite another thing. Remember, He was willing to die to save them from their sin and, that is why, He had the right to use such strong words. We have no right to preach against sin if we are not willing to do anything to save people from their sin.

This is what it means to speak the truth in love. To speak the truth is easy. Anybody can do that. Some people think, "I am a great prophet; I am going to say the truth." But to be like Jesus, we got to do it in love. Let us look at the life of Jesus more carefully and see how this love came from His life, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill our heart with that same love.

Chapter 38

Jesus Valued People More Than Things

Do you know what God wants us to do with people as opposed to things? We are supposed to love people and use material things. But do you know what is happening to the world today? People love material things and use people. This is the opposite. This is because man is following the devil. Jesus is our example. Let us look at Him and learn something about this.

One of the things that sin has done in this world is to turn everything upside down. Our sense of values is upside down. The world is full of people who think that money is more important than God. With their lips they say that God is more important than money, but in their lives, what urges them, motivates them, what they live for, proves that money is more important than God. Don't you think that such a world is living upside down?

In the midst of this upside-down world, God has sent His children to show them the right way to live. But how are God's children living? How many Christians have you met in your life that, by observing their life, you could say that they believe that God is more important than money? There are very few; very, very few. The vast majority of Christians in our country also believe that money is more important than God. This is one example of an upside-down world. When money becomes more important than God, money also becomes more important than people. We love money more than we love human beings. This is tragic.

Jesus has come to show us the truth that God is more important than money, that people are more important than money. If that understanding has not come into your mind, my friend, I want to tell you the truth, that your mind is still perverted; It is upside down. Things have been given by God for us to use. Now, all material things, money, food, fruits, vegetables, and everything in the world has been given, not to be loved but to be used. But people have been given to us not to be used but to be loved. Do you use people?

Do you know that the world is full of factories and offices where businessmen use people for their own ends? To achieve their own ends, they use people. Of course, they pay them a salary as little as possible, but in order to promote themselves and promote their business. Well, we can understand that in the business world. But the same thing is happening in many Christian organisations and Churches where so-called Christian leaders use people to promote themselves. We can say that such people have not understood the love of Jesus. They have not understood what it is to value people. They use people for their own ends. They have not been converted to a right way of thinking; their mind has not yet been renewed. But how is it with Jesus?

Jesus never used anybody to promote Himself; He loved people. He knew that people were far more important than material things. Think of Judas Iscariot, you will see a clear example. Judas Iscariot was the treasurer of that band of disciples. Whenever people gave money to that group that were with Jesus, Judas kept that money as a treasurer. Now, have you ever thought, to whom where the people giving that money? Were they giving it because they appreciated Judas or because they appreciated Jesus? That is clear. They gave their money in appreciation for Jesus' ministry; for His healing perhaps, for His preaching. Jesus took it and told Judas to keep it. It was not Judas' money at all. It was money that came because of Jesus' ministry.

Well, what was Judas doing with that money? He was stealing it, using it for himself. Still Jesus loved Judas. He was willing to lose that money, if He could save Judas' soul. He was not bothered that Judas was stealing that money. He was concerned about His soul. That is an example of Jesus' attitude to people. He wanted to save people from the corruption of sin, which had made them value material-things more than people. Jesus shared the burdens of people. He had words of kindness for those who were defeated in life's battle; words of encouragement for the downtrodden. He never considered a single human being as worthless. They may be uncultured, crude, not able to speak properly, or illiterate, but they were people who needed to be redeemed, and He had come to give His life for them.

When the Bible says that the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with the love of God, this is what happens; it makes us like this towards people. I want to ask you, as a Christian, if you are a Christian, has the Holy Spirit filled you? You know a lot of people speak about being filled with the Holy Spirit. What is the proof that your heart has been filled with the Holy Spirit? The answer is in Romans 5:5"The love of God has been spread abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit." One mark of being filled with the spirit is that your heart is filled with love for people and you will be right side up. You will not be upside down. You will value people more than material things.

Jesus never valued material things; He used them. He worked in a carpenter shop where He was using material things all the time; working with them to earn His living as a carpenter for many years. Can you imagine some neighbour's child walking into that carpenter shop one day, and break something expensive which Jesus had just made? What do you think Jesus would have done? Do you think that Jesus would have got upset and shouted at that child and chased Him out of the carpenter shop? No, I think Jesus would have just picked up that child, kissed him and said, 'Don't worry My son, it is okay. I can make another one.'

He loved people. He loved children. Material things didn't mean anything to Him. Material things were to be used to help people. He did not become a carpenter in order to be rich. No, He loved people and not things. When the Holy Spirit renews our mind, you know what happens? We are able to see in the way God sees. We see people as God's sees people. We see material things as God sees material things. And, I believe, one of the most important prayers you need to pray, if you want to be a spiritual man, is to ask the Lord to help you to see people as He sees them; to see material things as He sees them.

The Bible says in Zephaniah 3:17 that God rejoices over His people with singing. Now think of that verse: God rejoicing over all people, and not over perfect people. There are no perfect people anywhere in the world. He is rejoicing over imperfect people who have expressed a desire for Him and who want to love Him with all their imperfections. When Jesus walked on this earth, He shared His Father's joy over people. Think of the disciples that were with Jesus. They were not perfect. They were ordinary, stumbling sinners, just like you and me. But Jesus looked at them the way the Father looked at them. He loved them. He wasn't always criticising them for their fault, their awkwardness and their crudeness, because He was compassionate.

We read in Mark 12:37 that common people heard Him gladly. People detected the beautiful aroma that came out of His spirit; the love of God that flowed out of His heart. Jesus was constantly moved with compassion when He saw sick people, needy people, hungry people or shepherd-less people. He put Himself in their shoes. He made their misery His own and that is how He was able to comfort them. You know, you can comfort the misery of other people, my friend, only if you identify with them. It is very easy to speak nice words, but you have got to put yourself in their shoes to understand what they are going through. And that is what Jesus did.

You know, we have used our imagination so much in the past for evil things. Is that not true? You have used your imagination to think dirty things, bitter things about other people, and all types of evil things. Now that we are converted, what do we use our imagination for? Most Christians use their imagination for nothing. Let me tell you something good that can put your imagination for good use. Use your imagination to put yourself in the situations of other people who are suffering, the ones you know around you. When you see it, when you hear about it, put yourself in their shoes. Use your imagination to think that you are there; living in that little hut or living with that difficult husband or difficult wife or having a problem child as if you were the parent. Put yourself in their shoes and try to understand what they are going through. That would be the proof of your love. Jesus did that.

He was so grieved once when He saw men hard-hearted, unwilling to let a man with a withered hand be healed in the synagogue. One day, as He walked by, He saw a widow going in a funeral procession where her only son had died. He stopped the whole funeral procession, opened the coffin, raised the boy from the dead, and gave him back to the mother. This miracle was not to show people His power. No, it was to show them the love of God. He had compassion. Every miracle of Jesus rose out of compassion. If you seek to do miracles for God, and if you don't have compassion, you will never be able to follow Jesus. You are unfit to be His servant.

Jesus always died to His own rights. He had no tears for His own grief and sorrows. But He shed drops of blood for our sorrows; He carried our burdens. He was never offended by anything that people said or did to him. He was never offended by the failure of others to do what they should have done for Him, because He never came here to serve. He never imposed burdens on others. He came to carry other people's burdens, to serve them, not to be served. Because He lived like this, His love flowed out like a sweet perfume and people were drawn to Him.

Why the message of Christ is no more accepted in our country? - Is it not because Christians do not seek to have this love. If you are a Christian, claiming the name of Christ, I want to encourage you. Seek with all your heart, that you will have such a love, like a sweet perfume coming forth from your life.

Chapter 39

Jesus Was Unpopular

We want to consider a little further about the example of Jesus in His earthly life as a model for the holy life that He wants us to live.

As we look at the life of Jesus, we have been seeing that, God not only sent His Son to die for the sins of the world, but the way He lived on earth is to be a demonstration to all of us as to how God wants man to live. We saw His humility and we have seen a little bit about His holiness. His was a life that overcame sin; it was a life of purity. What was the source of this?

Jesus' holiness came out of a life of meditation on the word of God. We read in the scriptures, in Luke 2, that when He was 12 years old, He knew enough of the scriptures to even confound the great scholars of His time. And remember, in those days, there were no printed Bibles like we have today; People did not have a Bible in their home. Nobody had a Bible in their home. The Old Testament was handwritten and only the synagogue in the village or town would have a copy. Only rich people could afford to have even portions of the Old Testament with them.

So, it was only those who listened carefully, when they were being taught by the Rabbis in the synagogue, could know what the scripture said. And Jesus listened as a little boy. Remember, He had emptied Himself of all that supernatural ability He had as God. He came as a little baby. The Bible says He grew in wisdom. In other words, His growth was just like ours, growing in the knowledge of the word. Only thus could He be an example for us. From that meditation on the word of God, He saw and understood what the Father wanted, just like we can understand it. He saw that the word of God spoke more than what was written on the surface. He dug deep. The Bible says that, if you dig as you would dig for hidden treasure, only then that you will find the knowledge of God.

To have a superficial knowledge of the Bible is easy. You can read the Bible like you read a physics book or a chemistry book and get knowledge. But to know God through His word, that is quite a different thing. And that came to Jesus through, not just by meditation, but also by obedience to what He saw in the Word. Many people read the Bible only to get messages to preach, particularly if you are a preacher. You are in great danger of reading the Bible only to get messages, or reading books in order to prepare sermons, or listening to tapes to get points for your sermons. That is a very dangerous practice because you can be more interested in what you have to say to other people than what God has to say to you.

Now the best way to prepare a sermon is, first of all, to hear what God is saying to you and to obey that, and then from your life speak it forth as a message for others. Then it has gone through you. The word of God is like a two-edged sword. One edge must cut you before you can use the other edge, in your ministry, to expose sin in another. When Jesus meditated on the word of God, He found that there were a lot of things there which are completely contrary to the traditions that were being practiced by people in His time.

It was not just meditation on the Word but also Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived just like us. His holiness came out of a life of meditation of God's word and being filled with the Holy Spirit. If we follow in His footsteps, we too would get revelation on His word and our life will come to holiness, genuine holiness, getting in line with God's thoughts. The Bible speaks about our mind being renewed that comes through meditation on God's word.

When He saw that God's word proclaimed a certain standard and certain thing, He preached that even though His preaching ran counter to or against all the popular traditions of His day. Jesus did not go forth as a scholar or as one who had graduated from some Bible school. He went forth as One who had meditated on God's word in secret, lived in secret and heard God speaking to Him through the spirit. He spoke forth the word as a prophet, not just as a preacher; He proclaimed it faithfully. This is what made Him expose the hypocrisies and the worldliness of the Pharisees. Now, the other people couldn't see that; other people just blindly thought that the Pharisees were spiritual people. Jesus, not only exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, He exposed the doctrinal error - the wrong interpretations of the scriptures that the Sadducees held.

Jesus' holiness is seen in the fact that He never sought to be popular in His preaching. It is a tremendous temptation to a preacher to seek to be popular, particularly if you want to receive money for your preaching. If you preach things that offend people, you won't get gifts; you won't get invited back again. But then, you won't proclaim God's word faithfully as well. All who proclaim God's word must proclaim it prophetically as the mouthpiece of God. That is part of holiness. Our holiness needs to be seen not only in our life but in our words. We must be absolutely true to God. Holiness is manifested in not seeking to please men but to please God.

There was a time, when even His enemies told Him, as we read in Matthew 22:16 in the Living Bible: "We know Teacher that you are very honest, and you teach the truth regardless of the consequences, without fear or favour." Those of you who preach, if you are a preacher, I want to ask you a personal question. Can it be said of your preaching that you are honest, and you teach the truth regardless of the consequences, and without fear and without favour? That is the type of preacher India needs to hear in every Church. That is how Jesus was. If we looked at Jesus, we would see that we have to be like Him in this area.

Jesus had a tremendous zeal for the purity of God's house. You know, when people beat Him, pulled the hairs out of His head and face - His beard, and ill-treated Him in so many ways, called Him the prince of devils, He never got angry. He never said anything. He just accepted it. You could do anything to Jesus personally, and He would never say anything; He would just forgive you. But when He saw God's house being defiled by people trying to make money in the name of religion, He was a different person. It says in John 2:15 that He made a whip and He drove them all out of the temple. He said, “Stop making My Father's house a house of business." Then His disciples remembered what was written in the scriptures, in the Old Testament, "Zeal for Your house will consume Me." Righteous anger burned in Him.

Do you know the meaning of the verse in Ephesians 4:26 where it says, "Be angry but do no sin?" There is a command in that verse asking you to be angry. Now, we always thought that anger is a sin. Anger is a sin in certain situations. In certain other situations, as it says in Ephesians 4:26, we must be angry. How to know the difference? We can know the difference from the life of Jesus. When was it He was not angry? When they insulted Him, spoke evil of Him, slapped Him, beat Him, pull the hairs from His beard, spat on Him, crucified Him, He was never angry. He said, "Father, forgive them." When was He angry? He was angry when God's house was being defiled; when poor people were being exploited; when the Pharisees and the elders of the synagogue would not allow Him to heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day.

So, we see the type of anger that we need to have is , when we see God's house and God's name being dishonoured; when we see poor people being exploited. And when is it we should never be angry? When people insult us, harm us, exploit us, and do all types of evil to us, and speak all types of evil to us. So, in anything concerning ourselves, we should never be angry. But when it concerns the purity of God's house, and the way people exploit others, then we need to be angry.

Unfortunately, in the world, it is the other way around. It is tragic. People in the world get angry when it concerns them. When they see God's name being dishonoured in the church, they are not angry. That is exactly the opposite of how it was with Jesus. Jesus was angry when it concerned God's house. There is an anger that is holy, and there is an anger that is sinful. When Jesus used the whip that day in the temple, He was not bothered whether people misunderstood Him. He was not bothered what even His disciples thought about Him. He was only concerned about the purity of God's house. He didn't lose control of Himself. He was in perfect control of Himself. He was not diplomatic either. He didn't go to those people, who were changing money, and say, 'Will you gentleman please move your table?' He never said anything like that. He turned the tables, made the coins run here and there, and chased the sheep and the oxen and the birds, all out of the compound. Yeah, that wasn't a gentlemanly thing to do. But when it came to the purity of God's house, Jesus was fiery. He came to bring a sword and He used it unsparingly. It cut, it wounded, and it hurt, and thus the Father's glory was manifested.

So, holiness in the life of Jesus brought Him a lot of misunderstanding, opposition and persecution. It is the same in the world today. You are not going to be popular if you live a holy life. I mean, if you are only thinking in terms of paying your taxes, washing people's feet, doing what is right, and never exposing sin in Christendom, then you may be popular. Then you are being diplomatic. But if you follow Jesus all the way, your holiness will lead you to expose sin. The Bible says, in Ephesians 5, that we must, by our life, expose and rebuke the works of darkness. Jesus' life was the most beautiful, the most orderly, the most peaceful, and the happiest life this world has ever seen, because He was only interested in pleasing God. He was not interested in pleasing a single human being. He didn't care about people's opinions.

Do you know that you and I can live such a life? Do you long for such a life? Why don't you bow you head right now, as you complete reading this study and pray a simple prayer. Say, "Lord Jesus, I have been trying to please men too much. Forgive me. Help me to follow You and seek to please You alone."

Chapter 40

Jesus Obeyed The Father

We once again want to look at the life of Jesus, particularly in relation to the holiness of His life. We will look at another aspect of His holiness: His total obedience to the will of the Father, whatever the cost. The more we look at the life of Jesus, the more we will understand how we are supposed to live on this earth, and our life would be perfectly peaceful and orderly.

Have you ever thought about the order that there is in the physical universe - the stars and the planets. They move about in the heavens in such perfect order that we can set our time accurately to the millionth of a second by them. They were moving around for thousands of years. And they never lost time, even a split ‑ second timing. You can predict where a particular star or a planet will be in one year, two years from now, on a particular date, at a particular time, because it never slows down, it never goes too fast, it moves in its orbit. It moves according to the speed which God has appointed for it. And that is why, when you look at the heavens, there is such a perfect order. No planet crashes into another. Everything moves about in perfect order. What is the secret?

The secret is they obey the will of God exactly. In those heavenly bodies, we have a message. You know the Bible says that though they do not speak, their voice goes around over the whole earth. What is the voice that comes to us from these heavenly bodies? It is basically this: 'We have a Creator,' that is what the stars and planets are saying, 'and we obey that Creator perfectly and we never have a problem. Everything goes smoothly for us day by day because we obey our Creator totally.' Have you heard that message? Do you believe it is true?

Why is there so much chaos, confusion, perhaps in your life, and certainly in the world? It is because of disobedience. The one Man who walked on this earth, who lived in perfect rest at all times in peace and in joy, whose life was in perfect order at all times, who was never disturbed by what other people did, or tried to do; the evil that people did, who did not bother about whether He had a following or no following, was Jesus Christ. And the secret of His life was the same as the secret of the planets. He obeyed the will of His Father in heaven exactly, completely, totally. Wherever there is obedience to God, there is perfection and beauty. And wherever there is disobedience to God, there is chaos and ugliness.

Do you think it is a burden for the stars and the planets to move in the orbits that God has appointed for them? Some are so far away from the sun that they are frozen throughout the year. Some planets are so close to the sun that they are burning hot throughout the year. None of them complain. They believe that they are in the place which God has appointed to them; absolutely the right place. Jesus' whole life was like that. He never had any desire to go to places that His Father never wanted Him to go. His whole life was a demonstration of this truth, that in this life and in eternity , godliness alone is most profitable. Of all the things there are, godliness is most profitable. No one can be happier, or more peaceful, or more content, than a godly man.

The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. When you fear God it is like having a fountain of life within you. The Bible exhorts us in Proverbs 23:17, "Live in the fear of the Lord the whole day long." Jesus lived in that fear. Sometimes we think that whatever Jesus did was because He was the Son of God; some things automatically happen for Him. But we read in Hebrews 5:8, "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Why did He have to learn? We also read in the previous verse (Heb. 5:7), that He was heard not because He was the Son of God, but because of His piety; because He feared His Father. It was the fear of His heavenly Father that made His prayers to be heard. There is an example for us.

You know, in every area, Jesus was thinking of an example for us. The holier our life is, the more our prayers will be heard. Why does it say in the Bible, in James 5:17 onwards, that "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." Not anybody's prayer; it is the prayer of a righteous man! The godlier a man is, the more his prayers are heard. Why was Jesus' prayers heard? - Because He feared; because of His godly fear. Do you think that your prayers are heard no matter how you live? It is not true. David said in the Psalms, "If I regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." A godly life is the most profitable life that any man can ever live. You may face problems, but you will overcome them; every single one of them. If you have 1000 problems, you will overcome 1000. Not one will be left unsolved. You can overcome every single one of them, if you are godly, because God listens to the prayer of those who fear Him.

Let me tell you another result of being godly. The Bible says in Hebrews 1:9 that Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness. That means He was perpetually fresh with gladness and joy. Not because He was God's Son, but because He loved righteousness and hated sin. That is what that verse says. He was anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions. That means He had more joy and gladness in His life than all other believers, not because He was the Son of God but because He loved righteousness, and hated sin. That we can say for ourselves too. The more we love righteousness and the more we hate sin, the more the oil of gladness is going to overflow from our life. God can commit Himself only to a man who is upright morally. This is the secret of all spiritual authority. If you want to have authority in your life over Satan, over your circumstances, over your problems, seek after godliness. Keep your conscience absolutely clear, whatever your conscience convicts you about. Never mind what other Christians do. You follow your conscience and keep it absolutely clear. You will find spiritual authority coming in your life.

Now religious people in Jesus' time did not appreciate the holiness of Jesus. You know, one godly man can make a tremendous difference even in a city. There is a verse in Jeremiah 5:1, which says, 'If there was one godly man in Jerusalem at that time, the city would not have been captured by the Babylonians.' Isn't it a sad thing? Jerusalem could have been saved by one godly man, but there wasn't even one. Sodom could have been saved if there were ten godly people there, but there weren't ten. There may have been a thousand compromisers in Sodom and in Jerusalem, they couldn't help. What is God looking for - Numbers? No. He has never looked for numbers. One thousand compromisers cannot save a city, but one godly man can.

One would have thought that, Jesus living in Nazareth would have been such a tremendous blessing to the synagogue there. But when He went to speak in that synagogue, His very first message, they interrupted Him halfway. We read in Luke 4 that they took Him to the hill on which their city was built and wanted to throw Him down a cliff. What does this teach us? That even religious people do not appreciate genuine holiness. Even religious Christians do not appreciate a man who comes with a message of holiness, godliness, victory over sin, and obedience to God's commandments. Why did they hate Jesus so much? - Because He pointed out their sin, fearlessly. He pointed out their love of money. He pointed out their love of honour. He pointed out how they were seeking their own. He pointed out how they were interested just in their rituals and their traditions and keeping petty little rules, but they were not living in purity and compassion towards the needy. Therefore, Jesus faced the hostility of people. He faced rejection, misunderstanding, opposition, hatred, criticism, rejection, ridicule, persecution, excommunication by all Jewish religious leaders. He was being warned about, being called bad names, and finally they killed Him, because He preached holiness.

So, you see, the result of living a holy life is not that you are going to get a medal; you are probably going to be crucified. They would not have crucified Him if He had just lived a holy life and not bothered them. But His holiness was such that, it was a like a light that exposed the darkness in them and they were determined to silence Him. Jesus said it like this in John 3:19- 20, "Their sentences are based on this fact that the light from heaven came into this world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their deed s were evil. They hated the heavenly life because they wanted to sin in the darkness. They stayed away from that light for fear their sins would be exposed" (The Living Bible).

My dear friends, the Christian religious world of today is just the same. If you walk in real holiness, you won't get a medal. Instead, you will be hated, rejected, misunderstood, persecuted, and probably crucified. So, before you start following the Lord, do what Jesus says: Sit down and count the cost. It is worth it. Let us go forth to Jesus outside the camp bearing His reproach.

Chapter 41

Jesus’ speech was always loving

Once again, we want to look at the perfect example of the one perfect Man that walked on this earth, Jesus Christ and to see in Him an example for us to follow, particularly in the area of love.

We have seen, in a previous study, how Jesus' love was shown, not in sentimental words, but in the fact that He valued people; He had compassion for people. People were more important to Jesus than material things. The love of Jesus is seen in the fact that He was willing to die in order to save people from their sin. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The highest proof of God's love is in this, that He gave His Son to die for us. Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends." It was just not physically that Jesus died. Every day, in His relationships with people, He died to Himself. This is the cross that He told us to take up daily. The greatest proof of my love for another is that, I am willing to die to myself, to my rights, my reputation, my own interest, in my relationship with that person. Anything less than this is not love.

The world is full of people who seek their own; who are always seeking how this will benefit me. That is what I meant by using people for one's own ends. True love is totally interested in the other person and not interested in what I can get out of that other person for myself. If we don't cleanse ourselves from this filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, there is in all of us, we will never be able to love others with the love of God. We must ask the Holy Spirit to remove from us, to help us crucify, these wrong attitudes, so that we can love people with the love of God.

This is one reason why Jesus was never irritated by people, even if they were crude, or stupid, or they made mistakes. They may have been slow, but they never got on His nerves. They never upset Him; their untidiness, their disorderliness, their slowness, their carelessness never made Him impatient and irritated. Why do these things that you see in other people irritate you? I will tell you the reason. It is because you are not willing to die to yourself. That is the reason. You do not know love.

We sing about love, we speak about love. But what is the proof of love? - That I am willing to die; that when I see something slow or disorderly or untidy in that person, I am willing to die. I must love him first. You say, 'But don't you think that we should correct him and set him right?' Yes, by all means. Jesus also corrected. Why did people accept Jesus' corrections and not accept corrections from the Pharisees? Why was it different that when Jesus said something they listened and when the Pharisees said the same thing, they wouldn't listen? It was because they saw Jesus loved them.

When people see that you love them, they will accept your corrections. It is when we don't love them, and we correct them, that we become like the Pharisees. See, if I am irritated with a person, I am unfit to correct him. I need to correct myself. If I am impatient with people, I am not ready to correct them. I need to correct my own impatience first. But how many people see that? Do you see that you need to correct your irritation, your impatience, and your lack of love, before you correct the untidiness, or the disorderliness, or the carelessness, or the slowness of other people? Jesus said that before you see a speck in the other person's eye, you remove the beam from your own eye.

You know a perfect person can easily bear with imperfect people. Jesus was perfect. That is why, even though He lived in a world that is totally imperfect, He could bear with the imperfections of people. We who are not at all perfect; we who are so imperfect, why is it we cannot bear with other imperfect people? We are imperfect and they are imperfect. They have to bear with us, and we have to bear with them. Why is it that we find it so difficult to bear with other imperfect people around us? I will tell you the reason my friend; it is because we are imperfect.

The more we press on to perfection, the more we take up the cross, and die to ourselves. The more we will be patient, the more we will tolerate the mistakes of others. We will be able to forgive them. We won't get upset; we won't get irritated. We will then say, "What does it matter 2000 years from now?" It won't make any difference, this little thing that you are getting upset about. You see, you will see things from eternity's viewpoint. You see that that person has to be loved more. Never mind if he made a mistake.

Look at the way some parents get irritated with their children. You think they really love them? Yeah, they love them enough to feed them, clothe them, educate them, and sacrifice many things for them. But, when the child does something to cause some inconvenience to the parents, the parents get upset. In all our relationships, we need to die. It is when we love a person that we can correct that person. When the beam is taken out of my eye, then I can see clearly to be able to take the speck out of the other person's eye. Look at Jesus' love in the way He spoke to people, in His speech. You know our speech is a great revealer of what is in our hearts.

Jesus said that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Whatever is in your heart will come out when you speak. You can't hide it for long. Why do people belittle others, pass remarks and jokes about other people that hurt them? Why do they do it? - Because they are not like Christ. They don't love. I wonder whether they were even born again! Such people don't seem to have any sensitivity to say rude things about other people, to say things that hurt others. That is sad. They make subtle wounding statements. You see that sometimes among husbands and wives, who say sharp things, stinging remarks to one another. Jesus never did it; not even once.

He knew how to rebuke people strongly. He turned around once to Peter and said, "Get behind me Satan." But He didn't say that in irritation. He didn't say that in anger. He said it to help Peter to see how that, in that statement that Peter had made at that time to Jesus to avoid the cross, that it was satanic. God wanted Jesus to go to the cross and here was Satan trying to stop Jesus from going to the cross through Peter. So to help Peter see the seriousness of the fact, He said that it is satanic. Well, otherwise, He would never hurt people. He never made any subtle, wounding statement to anyone. He never discussed the weaknesses of the disciples behind their backs.

How do we know that? Isn't it amazing that, in all the three years that His disciples were with Him, He never even discussed Judas Iscariot with all the other eleven disciples? He never exposed Judas in all those three years. I will give you the proof of that. If Jesus had been discussing the weaknesses of Judas Iscariot with all the other eleven disciples, behind Judas' back, then at the last supper, when Jesus said one of you is going to betray me, everybody would have known. "Yeah, yeah we know that", they would have all responded, if Jesus already has spoken to them about Judas. Everybody would have said, 'We know who that is.'

But none of them knew. They all said, 'Lord is it I?' How it is that none of them knew? It proves that Jesus never discussed even Judas Iscariot. Jesus was not a backbiter. Jesus was not a gossiper. A lot of believers are gossipers. A lot of believers are backbiters. You know why? They haven't seen the glory of God. They haven't seen the goodness and the love of God in Jesus Christ. They talk about being filled with this Spirit, and having supernatural experiences and praising and shouting, but they haven't been freed from backbiting and gossiping.

We need to see the glory of Jesus, and only then we can be like Him. The Holy Spirit wants to show us how Jesus lived. The Holy Spirit says, 'Now let me make you like Him.' He doesn't just say, 'Be like Him'. No, He says, 'Let me make you like Him.' Isn't that good? Supposing the Holy Spirit just showed me the glory of Jesus and said, 'Be like Him,' I will just give up in discouragement. I will say, 'Lord, I can't.' But that is not what the Holy Spirit says. The Holy Spirit shows us the beauty of Jesus in the way He spoke, and then says to us, 'Now, my son, my daughter, will you allow Me to make your speech also like that - pure, good, loving? Will you let Me control your tongue? Will you let Me control your speech from today onwards?' This is the fullness of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is self- control. We can be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that we never hurt anybody with our words or any such thing. He leads us along the path of death to ourselves. On the other hand, Jesus used His tongue in a positive way to encourage people, to correct people. He made His tongue an instrument of life in God's hands. We read a wonderful verse in Isaiah 50:4, where it says concerning Jesus' tongue (it is an amazing word), "You have given me the tongue of a disciple so that I can know how to speak a right word to a weary person."

Just think of you having a ministry like that. You don't have to be a preacher. You may never stand at a pulpit, but just to have the right word for weary people. Do you know how many weary people come across your path every day? How many people do you think you meet in a day - in your office, in your neighbourhood? There must be at least some. And some of them are weary. Do you have a word to encourage them, or do you just sit back and discuss politics, the weather, and they remain with their heaviness? God wants to use your tongue. God wants to use your tongue to speak a word of encouragement, and sometimes a word of correction too. Jesus used His tongue also as a sword, to cut down the proud and the haughty.

Think of how the Roman centurion must have been encouraged when Jesus said, "I have never seen such great faith" or the Syrophoenician woman, when Jesus praised her for her faith. You read that in Matthew 8 and Matthew 15. Think of that sinful woman, in the house of Simon the Leper (in Luke 7), who was encouraged when Jesus praised her for washing His feet. Mary of Bethany was praised for her sacrificial offering. They would never have forgotten these words of Jesus. Think of how Peter was strengthened when Jesus said, 'I am going to pray for you.' Just a few words, what strength! Many people must have heard words like these from Jesus' lips and they can come from your lips too if you ask the Holy Spirit to give you the love of God in your heart for people.

Chapter 42

Jesus’ Gentleness and Goodness

We want to consider today something more about the meaning of 'love', a word which is much misunderstood. But we can understand it clearly when we look at the life of Jesus, and see how we can have the same love in our life for other people.

One mark of love is gentleness. Jesus was gentle with all people, particularly with people who were battered by life. Jesus loved especially those who had fallen deeply into sin. He came to help such people because they are rejected by everybody else. The woman caught in adultery, the thief on the cross, rejected criminals; Jesus went to pick them up and encourage them. He saw the good points in those weak, sinful people, and He hoped for the best in everyone. You know, Jesus was a type of a person whom other people longed to be with, because He was so understanding, so kind and so gentle. Who are the people who avoided Jesus? Those who were proud, those who were hypocrites, and those who had secret sin which they were afraid He would expose.

We read in Matthew 12:20, "Jesus would not break a bruised or a battered reed and would not put off a dimly burning wick." A reed is a very small little thing. If it is bruised or battered, most people would throw it away and pick another reed, because reeds are cheap. But Jesus wouldn't do it. And a wick that is burning very dimly, Jesus would fan it to flame. That is what it says there. He would not quench a dimly burning wick. If you are like a battered reed - weak, most of your life broken, Jesus cares for you. He can bring you back into His perfect plan for your life, even if you are like a battered reed, or a dimly burning wick, or a wick that is about to die out.

Jesus saw the good points in people. He always hoped for the best. His love was not sentimental. He always sought the highest good. That is why He rebuked Peter with strong words of admonition. You can't rebuke people strongly unless you love them. When James and John were seeking for places of honour, He rebuked them. When they wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans, He rebuked them. He rebuked His disciples seven times for unbelief. Why? - Because He loved them. If He didn't care for them, then He would not have corrected them at all. He wouldn't have bothered if they went to hell or anywhere.

So we see that Jesus was not afraid of speaking the truth, even if it hurt others, because He loved them. He was concerned for their eternal good. He was not seeking a reputation for being known as a kind person. He was not concerned that His reputation for kindness would be lost if He spoke strong words. No, He loved other people more than He loved Himself. So, He was willing to sacrifice His reputation in order to help other people. He spoke the truth firmly because He did not want men to be ruined eternally. Essentially, in one sentence, we could say, the eternal welfare of men mattered more to Jesus Christ than their opinions about Him.

A true Christian is like that when He encounters other people; their eternal welfare means more to him than all their opinions of him. Once, when Peter was in the house of Cornelius, he was talking about the ministry of Jesus to them. He summed up the whole ministry of Jesus in one sentence: "Jesus went about doing good and delivering people who were oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38). You see what the ministry of Jesus was? Doing good, and not just preaching. Not just saying nice words, but actually doing good to people and delivering them from the oppression of Satan. He didn't just want to win souls. He loved the total man - both the spiritual and physical.

He was concerned about man's physical need. There was a time when there were more than 4000 people who had been with Him for three days. We read about that in Matthew 15. Three days and they didn't eat anything. Jesus was concerned. He said, 'Let us provide them with some meal - something to eat.' He was concerned about man's physical need and that is why He taught us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread." Wherever He went, He did good not only to the souls of men, but to their bodies. He cared for people who were sick and suffering. He cared for the worst of sinners so much that His enemies would taunt Him saying, 'Oh He is a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' Yes, that is what He was. He was a friend of the most despised people in society, and a true man of God will be like that also.

You know you can be like that. What is hindering you from loving people who are despised by others; from loving people who are low in society? It is your own sense of dignity. You don't want to be like Jesus. You want to have a respectable type of Christianity with respectable type of people. No, it is not natural for men to go around becoming friends with the outcast of society like the lepers and people like that. But Jesus did that. You know, we seek to make friends with those whom we can get benefit from for ourselves. Our love is selfish. Jesus' love was selfless; it was pure. It is not by all these cultural refinement and nice words that we manifest the nature of Christ, it is by love - A love that seeks the good of others. A love that enables us to be their servants like Jesus was. Jesus washed their feet, not to impress them with His humility, but because He loved them.

You know, whenever Jesus did good to others, He never had the slightest thought that He would get something in return. Jesus used an example of the sun. The sun shines on the evil and the good, He said in Matthew 5:45. What is the sun expecting in return from all these people? - Nothing. What about the rain? He used the illustration of the rain also. He said the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. What is the rain expecting in return? Not even a word of thanks. Nobody looks up at the sun and says, 'thank you for rising this morning, and shining upon us, or giving us light.' But the sun is not bothered. Even though nobody thanks it, it still rises in the morning. Jesus said, 'Be like that. Be like your heavenly Father who gives sunlight to good and evil people, whether they thank Him or not.' Nobody turns to God and says, 'Thank you Lord for giving me sunlight this morning.' But He still sends it. Jesus was not interested in getting something in return.

See, God's nature is one which He wants to give, and give, and give, and give. That is as natural for God as it is for the sun to shine, and shine, and shine, and shine. Jesus came to earth and manifested that nature of God, seeking to do good, to serve, to help, and to bless wherever He went. Whether people appreciated it, whether they thanked Him, or didn't thank Him, it didn't make a difference to Him. It is not easy to manifest this type of love. Human love is so selfish. If that fellow loves me in return, then I continue to love him. That is the way we can distinguish between human love and divine love. There is a lot of difference between the two. In divine love it doesn't matter to us whether the other person responds or not. We just continue.

Consider the way Jesus used His money. From John 13:29 we see that Jesus used his money primarily for two things: to buy what was needed and to give to the poor. Now Jesus was not a great rich millionaire, but He still found some money to give to those who were poor. He taught people that it is more blessed to give than to receive. His love taught Him that whatever possessions God gave Him were to be used to bless others. How many of us understand that? How many Christian s are there in the world that understand this that God gives us material things so that we can bless others, use them to the benefit of others? This is love, when we learn to love people and use things to bless people.

Let me say something else about His preaching. We read of a time in Luke 19:41 that He wept over Jerusalem. Why did He weep over Jerusalem? He used such strong words when He preached and little later, we read, in the same chapter (Lk. 49:45), that He used a whip. But before He used the whip, He wept. This was the balance.

Let me mention another aspect of Jesus' love, and that is, you didn't have to see a secretary in order to meet with Jesus. Now, in the world, if you want to meet a big man, you have to meet a secretary first. What secretary did Jesus have? Anybody could meet Him. Nicodemus could even go in the middle of the night, wake Him up, and speak to Him and Jesus was ready to talk to him. Once Jesus was so busy helping people that (we read in Mark 3:20-21) He did not even have enough time to eat. He did not have anybody to regulate the access of people to Him saying, 'You can't come to Him.' You know, when you become so busy that you cannot meet with ordinary people, you have become busier than Jesus Christ. When you need a secretary to prevent people from meeting you, you are not a servant of God anymore. You are just a businessman. You are running an industry, not a Christian church.

The relatives of Jesus thought He was insane to allow people to take so much of His time, but that is because He loved them. Jesus was freely approachable. Once they brought sick people to Him at sunset. We read in Luke 4:40 that He spent the whole evening till late into the night, praying for them, laying His hands on them, healing them. He did not feel His time was His own. His time was for other people. He came to live, to do God's will, to bless them, and He was willing to be inconvenienced. This is why the mighty gifts of the Spirit were manifested through Jesus.

You know, miracles are a dangerous thing if they are not operated in love. This is the love of God that we need to flood our hearts with. His love was such that it was concerned, even in His last moments, to bring a thief into God's kingdom. When the world around us sees such love, they will be drawn to Jesus. Let us ask God to give us this love.

Chapter 43

Finding Security In God As A Father

In this study we want to consider the reason why so many people feel insecure, the problems that arise out of insecurity and the solutions for the same.

When Jesus was leaving the world, on the night before He was crucified, He told his disciples, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (Jn. 14:18). That happened (coming back of Jesus) in the coming of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. What is an orphan? An orphan is one who has no father and mother. There is a lot of difference between a child, who has grown up in a home experiencing the love of a father and a mother, and a child who has had no father and mother. That means the father and mother died when the child was small so that child had to be brought up by stepmother or stepfather, or uncle or auntie, or grandparents or, sometimes, in an orphanage. Orphans tend to be insecure because they have not experienced love in their childhood, the love that only a father and mother can give, no uncle or auntie, or grandmother or an orphanage can ever give.

And when there is this type of insecurity due to the lack of love, orphans tend to be very defensive. They tend to feel that the world is against them, that people are against them, and that they must defend themselves. They become introverted, depressed, discouraged, and jealous of others who have more than them. They become very possessive in friendships because of insecurity. They want somebody to love only them and nobody else. We should not judge orphans who are like this. They can remain the same even when they are 40 or 50 years old, because, way back in childhood, they never experienced the love of a father or mother. Those of us, who have parents, sometimes don't appreciate the value of having them. That is unfortunate! Some of you, children, probably don't appreciate the value of your parents sufficiently. You need to thank God for your father and mother, because there are many children in the world who do not have a father and mother.

I want to apply this spiritually. What did Jesus mean when he said, 'I will not leave the orphans?' Spiritually speaking, we can say that the world is full of orphans, because they don't have a Father; they don't have God as a Father. They don't know God as a Father or Mother. So, all the characteristics that you find in ordinary physical orphans, you find in these spiritual orphans. The world is full of people who are insecure; who feel that others are against them. So they fight, they defend themselves, they are very possessive. It is like that because they are spiritually orphans. They love money because they are insecure. They have no heavenly Father. They are anxious. They are worried.

Jesus sought so much, during His earthly ministry, to impress upon His disciples the fact that God was a loving Father. He taught them to pray, "Our Father." No person in the Old Testament could ever pray like that. He said, 'When you pray, say, "Our Father,"' and after His resurrection, He said, 'My Father is your Father.' There is a beautiful verse in John 1:18 "No one has seen God at any time. But Jesus came and explained Him to us." In other words, Jesus, by His life and His teaching, has explained to us what God is like.

You know, the world is full of people who have never seen God. None of us have seen God. That is what it says in that verse. When we have not seen God, it is like a man who has never seen an elephant. Supposing you were to go to some country, say some western country, where there is some child who has, maybe, seen pictures of lions and tigers, but has never seen an elephant or a picture of one. If you ask that child to draw a picture of an elephant, what do you think that elephant would look like? Do you think any child in the world will ever think of drawing a long nose, which we call a trunk? No, because there is no other animal that has it. They will draw something that looks like a lion or a dog, or like most animals with four legs, but nobody will be able to draw an elephant, if he has not seen an elephant or a picture of one. How can you imagine one?

If it is so with some created animal like this, which we cannot draw a correct picture of, can you draw a correct picture of God? No, your picture will definitely be wrong. We have so many people who have given their own opinions about God. And what is the result? Today we have so many religions, each with their own ideas of what God is like. It is like two hundred people who have never seen an elephant or a picture of one, trying to draw an elephant. Who is right? Every one of them is wrong. But the man who has seen an elephant, he will be able to draw a correct one. When Jesus came from heaven, He was the only person who could tell us what God is like.

Most people's idea of God is that of a very strict person, like a policeman, who is out to catch you for some small mistake you do. Like a traffic police who waits around a blind corner to see if you have cut the circle or made some traffic violation or broken some traffic rule. They think God is like that; just waiting and hiding on the corner, to pounce on you as soon you make some mistake. So, most people live in the wrong type of fear of God. They are afraid that God will punish them or harm them. In every religion, there are preachers and teachers, and priests who capitalize on this fear that people have. They say that you have to please this god in some way or the other, otherwise he will punish you. In almost every religion, including the Christian religion, priests and preachers say that the way to please God is by giving Him money.

So, people give money. They go on long pilgrimages, here and there, and give hundreds of thousands of rupees. A lot of this money goes into the pockets of these priests and preachers and pastors. It is all to capitalize on the weakness of orphan-like people, knowing that they have some type of guilt feeling or fear, and making them give their money. It is a great deception. Jesus came to remove this concept of God from people all together. He said God is a loving Father. God is interested in you, and not in your money. He is interested in helping you.

Which father is always trying to get money out of his small children? A father is always trying to help his children; feed them, clothe them, educate them, spend so much money on them, and get nothing in return. Jesus revealed God as a Father. When you feel that God is like a managing director, living up there in the top floor of some factory, whom you never see, well, you have got the wrong concept of God. And you are an orphan. The result is that there is a lot of insecurity, anxiety, fear, tension in your life, which you need not have.

Jesus said look at the birds of the air, who feeds them? They don't have a barn, they don't have a storehouse, and yet how many dead birds due to hunger do you see on the road? You hardly can find one dead bird on the road. It is very rarely that you find a dead bird on the road. How is that? How is it they don't all starve to death? Are there lots of people throwing seeds for the birds every day? How many times have you done it? No, they find it; somehow our Heavenly Father feeds them. They are not worried. And Jesus said, 'Don't you think you are of more value than many sparrows.' Sparrows are among the cheapest of all birds.

There is a little poem about two little birds, sitting on a tree, and talking to one another. One bird was asking the other bird, 'Why do you think these human beings are so anxious and worried all the time? They always seem to be so tensed in their life.' The other bird replied, 'I think the reason is that they don't have a heavenly Father like we have. We are okay because our Heavenly Father provides us something.' What do you think my friends, when you hear those two birds talking? Isn't it a shame when Christians are anxious and worried?

You know, when we are anxious and worried it makes us irritable. It makes us tense; it makes us hit back at people who we suspect are hitting at us. The person who is secure in God is never disturbed by whatever people say. Supposing you are walking down the road, and a dog keeps on barking from inside a locked gate, or even barking from the other side of the road, what are you going to do? Are you going to argue with that dog? Are you going fight with that dog asking, 'Why do you bark at me?' It is as foolish when you go and start arguing with somebody who is accusing you, calling you names, or telling false stories about you.

What should you do? What do you do when you see a barking dog on the other side of the road? Just leave him alone. But if you are insecure and you are like an orphan you won't be able to do that. You will be tense; you will be worried and you will just go and fight with that dog. That is how many people fight and argue with people who are calling them bad names. Somebody writes a bad letter to them; they write one back to them. This is all the result of insecurity. But how was it with Jesus, when people called Him the prince of devils? He just left them alone. They accused him. They said all types of stories about him, He just left them alone, it did not bother Him one bit.

So, the most important thing for us is to know God as a Father. He is not a policeman. He loves you. He cares for you. He knows every detail of your life. If you have opened you heart to let Jesus Christ, come into your heart, God has become your Father. That choice is yours. If you are not sure of that you can do that right now. Just open your heart and say, 'Lord Jesus, I want you to come into my heart. I want to be sure that I am a child of God.' Ask him to give you that assurance and He will send His Holy Spirit into your heart to assure you that God is your Father. If you are a Christian already, ask God to give you that assurance that He is your Father who cares for you. It will make all the difference in your life.

Chapter 44

God Can Give You Wisdom

In the last study we were thinking about finding our security in God as a Father. We need to think about that little more. I believe that once we solve this problem of finding security many of the other problems in your life will be solved.

It is wonderful to see that God has made provision for every single need of ours. You know when God created Adam, He gave him certain desires, not sinful desires. For example, the desire for food, as a result of which Adam was hungry and he would feel thirsty, and he needed to drink water. Now can you imagine, if God had created these desires in Adam for food and water, and if He had not provided food and water in the world, how terrible it would have been? Adam's life would have been a torture; hunger but no food, thirst but no water.

But you see that when God put such a desire within Adam, He provided food and water outside, in the world, and there is plenty of it, for all of us. In the same way with sleep - the desire to rest, we all need to sleep. That is why God has made the sun, the earth to move; rotate on its axis, and the sun to rise and set, so that we have day and night. So that people can sleep and rest. God has made provision for that. Our bodies automatically sleep when we are tired. In a similar way the sexual desire too. If God created man with tremendous sexual desire, but never gave him a wife, what would happen to Adam? He would be absolutely frustrated. When God created Adam with such a desire, He also gave him a wife. What do we learn from all these things? That if there is a desire that God has created in our heart which is not answered, there is a provision for it somewhere.

Spiritually also it is the same. There are longings we have in our heart for God. And He wants to fulfil all of them fully. One of the greatest needs we have in our life is to find security, to be free from loneliness, from feeling lost and alone in this world. It is very easy to feel like that. You can live in a home with many children and yet feel lonely. You can be in a large church and feel lonely. In fact, there are a lot of people who meet in small house churches with just 5 or 6 people who are freer from loneliness than someone who attends a church with 3000 members. It is not just a lot of people around us that removes loneliness from our life.

I want to tell you, if you want to find the answer to your loneliness in just finding friends among people, you will never have a complete answer. You will be disappointed one day. You need to first find your answer to your loneliness in God, in Jesus. The Bible says that there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother, and that is Jesus Christ. So, when we know God as a Father who cares, we are no longer orphans.

An orphan is one who has no father and mother. If he has a need suddenly, whom can he go to? He can go to some uncle or some aunty but he will have to go like a beggar. He doesn't know whether the uncle or aunty will help him. The uncle or aunty may ill treat him in a very bad way. But if he has a father, the father won't treat the son like a beggar. He can go and ask his father for anything, any amount of money, and he can ask his father to go through any amount of inconvenience. But he hesitates to ask an uncle or an aunty or somebody else. When he has a father, he is secure. If he has a problem and he doesn't know the solution to, he can discuss it with his father. If he is far away in some city, he can ring up his father. It is wonderful to have a father, an earthly one, and it is exactly the same spiritually.

When you have found God as your heavenly Father, you can never feel lonely again. It is impossible, because the phone line is always open. You can always ring Him up; you can always call Him wherever you are. You can tell Him every need of yours. In fact, He knows your need even before you tell Him. He has an answer to every problem you can ever face in your life. Let me assure you this. I hope you believe it. It doesn't matter what your problem is. It doesn't matter how serious it is. I want to tell you, in Jesus’ name, that God has a solution for it. If you come to Him in faith as unto a Father who desires to help you, He won't scold you.

I want to give you a lovely promise from the word of God, from the letter of James, so that your faith does not rest on my words. Faith comes by the word of God. I may say something to you in these studies, but how do you know I am speaking the truth? I may be just telling some psychologically nice things to make you feel nice. But that will evaporate. Once this study is over, you might feel nice for a few minutes or may be for a few hours and then, when you face the reality of life, you are stuck. You need to read this again to soothe you. I am not speaking to you, over these series of studies, just to soothe you psychologically.

These are real answers to the real problems of life. This is what God's word says. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (J a s. 1:5). 'If any of you lack wisdom,' what is wisdom? There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge means the study of some particular subject. It could be chemistry, it could be mathematics, and it could be the Bible. You can have chemistry knowledge, mathematics knowledge, or Bible knowledge. With chemistry knowledge you may still have problems. With Bible knowledge also you may still have problems. That chemistry knowledge doesn't help you with that particular practical problem in life. Nor does the Bible help you in practical problems in life. There are so many people with so much Bible knowledge who are still anxious, worried, tensed, fighting, quarrelling, insecure, jealous, and competitive and everything. Their Bible knowledge is no better than the knowledge of mathematics or science.

But what is wisdom? Wisdom is the knowledge of God, which helps us to find a practical solution. Not one which doesn't work. That will be a theoretical solution. It is a practical solution to a particular problem that we are facing. That is wisdom; the knowledge of God, not knowledge of a book. Do you know that there is a lot of difference in knowing the Bible and knowing God?

Supposing you were separated from your father from childhood, and lived far away from your father for 25 years. And you read a book about your father's life, every detail, you would know about your father by reading that book, but you don't know your father. You have never spoken to him for 25 years. But another child, who has grown up with his father for 5 or 6 years, who has never read any book about his father, knows his father better than you know your father. Many people read the Bible. It is like reading a biography of your father and you don't know your father himself.

Wisdom is the knowledge of God as a Father and thus finding a solution to whatever problem I am facing right now. It doesn't matter what problem it is. It could be a family problem, a financial problem, a problem of marrying, getting your children married, problem of getting education for your children, or employment for them, or finding a house to live in. There are so many difficulties in the world in which we live, but the answer is in God.

'If anyone lacks wisdom,' it means anyone. You qualify to be one of those. Do you lack wisdom? That means do you lack a solution to the problem you are facing? "Let him ask God." What should you do? You run around and ask so many people and it has not solved your problem. Why don't you do something else now? Why don't you ask God? God can hear you right where you are. Right now, if you call out to God, He can hear you. Will He give you? Sure. He is a Father. He is not an uncle. He is not a neighbour. Even a helpful neighbour may help us but a father much more. He is the best Father of all. And He will give you the best.

Jesus once said, "If you fathers know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask Him?" If your son asks you for bread, will you give him a stone? No. If he asks for an egg will you give him a scorpion? Will you give him something to harm him? No, you will give him exactly what he needs. That is exactly how God is. He gives us exactly what we need. James says, 'God will give you and generously.' That is what this verse says in James 1:5. Not few drops. You ask for a spoon, He will give you a bucket. You need a spoonful of wisdom but He will give you a bucket of it, generously. God is like that.

And the other thing it says here is without scolding or reproaching you. You know, fathers sometimes scold their children, 'Oh you stupid fellow, don't you know the answer to that?' God will never scold us. Remember this. He will never scold us. He will never say, 'Why don't you know the answer to that?' It will be given to you. There is only one condition. Now pay attention to this condition. You have to ask in faith. That is what it says in James 1:6. In fact it goes on to say, in verse 6-7 that, "If you don't ask Him in faith, you won' get it."

You may want the wisdom and God may want to give it to you. The need is there. The solution is there but you don't get it. Because, when you ask, you don't believe. It is that simple. Maybe this is the reason why you have not found the solution to your problems yet. Why don't you decide today onwards, to believe the revelation of God that Jesus brought? - God as the Father who knows your every need. It may be a physical need for healing. Maybe a spiritual need, whatever it is. It may be a solution for a family problem that has gone on for many years. You may not be able to solve the problem, but you may be able to solve that part of it that is bothering you.

Ask in faith. Say, 'Lord, from today I am going to believe. I want to believe that you will solve this problem of mine. Why? Because You are my Father . Because Jesus loves me, He died for me, I am cleansed in his blood, I am Your son, I am your daughter. I have a right to ask You. You are my Father . Why don't you ask God right now? Mention that problem. Be specific. Don't be general, be specific and say, 'Lord this particular problem I commit it to You, I trust You to answer me.' And you can be absolutely certain that God will give you generously without scolding you and God will be glorified. Be sure to give Him the glory when the answer comes.

Chapter 45

God And Money Are Opposites

In this study we shall discuss about something that the world considers to be the most important thing of all, and that is money. What should our attitude be towards money, if we want to live for God?

Money is one area where we know it is easy for us to be deceived. The world is full of people who have cheated others through various clever tricks, in the area of money. So many people have discovered very, very clever ways in which to cheat others, but there is no one who has cheated man as much, in the area of money, as Satan. He has given man a false understanding of the value of money. He has made people feel that money is more important than God Himself. That is worse than somebody cheating me of a hundred thousand rupees. I would rather be cheated of a hundred thousand rupees than be cheated in this way, where I begin to think, in my life, that money is more important than God. It is not true. And yet there are very, very few people who have really seen this clearly. Satan deceives them. Jesus came and brought the clear light of heaven on this issue.

Let us turn to turn to Luke 16:13. Now this is a revolutionary verse. I don't think many Christians have ever read this verse properly. I myself never read it properly for many, many years after I was born again, at least for 20 years. What does it say here? Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters." He is talking about two masters here and immediately you begin to think that the two masters are God and Satan. But it is not God and Satan because everybody in the world knows that you can't serve God and Satan. If I were to ask you, 'do you love Satan,' you will all say, no. Do you love God? Yes. Can you love God and Satan at the same time? No, you know that clearly. Can you serve God and Satan at the same time? - Certainly not. Are you holding on to God? Are you holding on to Satan? You say, 'Sure I am holding on to God.' Do you despise Satan and have nothing to do with him? You say, yes. So that is not an issue.

If the two masters were God and Satan, there is no need even to talk about it. But here Jesus said "No servant can serve two masters;" for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." The two masters here are God and mammon. Mammon means money and material riches or material things. And what did He say in relation of these two masters? Now read very carefully. You must hate the one and love the other. These are the words of Jesus! Jesus is bringing the light of heaven upon this area of God and money and He is pointing out here that money is a master, and God is a Master. You can't serve two masters because both masters will call you to do something. God calls you to do something and money calls you to do something. Now you have to make a choice: which of the two would you obey.

First of all, you have to make a break with one of these masters. You have to decide which one you are going to serve. He is not talking about the use of money. Money is a good servant but a terrible master. Remember that. Just like fire; fire is a good servant but a terrible master. You use fire and you keep the fire under control in the kitchen, on the gas stove. That is okay. But if you let that fire, go out of control, what happens? Your whole house will be burnt down. And if you can treat money like that, as a servant, and keep it under control like you keep the fire on the gas stove under control, then it is a wonderful servant; very, very useful.

How can you live in this world without money? It is useful for food, clothing, education, housing, and everything, even for God's work! Money is required for God's work. Money can help the poor. But when money takes over a person's life, you know what it is like? It is like a house catching fire. It destroys the whole house. So we are not against money, just like we are not against fire. But we should be careful when you handle fire. Fire is very dangerous. Don't be careless when you are handling fire. So many people have died by being burnt in the kitchen because they were carless with fire. Many more people have died because they were careless with money as well. Are you as careful in handling money as you are in handling fire? Actually, you should be more careful, because money is more dangerous than fire.

So, we need to understand this in its proper perspective and proper balance. We are not preaching some kind of sanyasi type of life or being a hermit or a monk or a nun or any such thing. That is not what I am preaching. I am talking about living a normal life, earning your living, whatever profession you do for earning money. And by all means earn as much as you can without destroying your soul and without neglecting you family, putting God's kingdom first. But, once you earn it, remember what you earn is like a fire. Keep it under control. Keep it as your servant.

Let me use another illustration. Supposing you have a servant in your house, and the servant becomes like a mistress or a master and starts running the house. You, who are the master of the house or the mistress of the house, have been reduced to the place of a servant. Your servant is bossing you, telling you to sit down and get up, and go here and go there. Ultimately, the servant has taken over the house. What a tragedy that is. The servant, who came in to help in the house, has now become the mistress. This is exactly what has happened to many Christians; money has not been kept in the place of a servant.

There are many unrealistic attitudes towards money among Christians. Some people have preached extreme things, which are unrealistic and impossible to live by. God has not called everybody to become a sanyasi or a hermit. God has not called everybody to become a full-time worker to give up their job. Only one in a thousand is called to be a full-time worker. The rest, 999 of them, must be in a secular job. But they must know how to handle money; to see the relationship that God should have and money should have.

Let us take an illustration from what I said earlier. Here is your husband in your home and here is a man who works as a servant, a gardener in your home, or a cook perhaps. Now, it is useful to have somebody doing the gardening or the cooking. But if you begin to love that cook more than your husband, something has gone wrong. That is the problem with many believers. Money is all right when it is kept in its place. But she starts loving the servant and has forgotten all about her husband. It is like the wife going and marrying the servant man or the gardener and forgetting all about her husband. This is an accurate picture of what has happened to many Christians and they have destroyed their lives. They have divorced their relationship with God.

So, what am I saying? Get rid of the gardener, get rid of the servant? No. By all means keep the gardener, keep the servant, but keep them in their proper place and you be devoted to your husband. Be devoted to God. Be so devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ that money has no value for you and it is kept as a servant. You know, how you and your husband will go out together, and the servant he doesn't come into the picture at all. No. He may work in the fields for you. But he doesn't come into the picture when you and your husband go out. You are living with your husband, and not with your servant man. That is what Jesus said here.

We must hate the one and love the other. Can you say that your relationship with God and money is like that? - That you hate one and love the other. You love God so much that your interest for money can be compared to hatred. He said you must hold on to one, and despise the other. That means you value your husband so much, that you don't care for that servant who works in the field. Your love for Jesus is so great that money has no value for you at all. Many people have not taken this verse seriously, and many so-called believers don't realize that actually they hate God, that they despise Him. Because, according to this verse, if you love money and material things, you hate God and despise Him. Yeah ! it is true.

You know the Pharisees about whom Jesus said that they were doctrinally pure (we read that in Matthew 23:3). Their doctrines were all correct. They were extremely religious. But we read in Luke 16:14 that they loved money, which proved that they hated God. They were religious but they hated God, because they loved money so much. You can't have a neutral attitude towards money. Just like you can't have a neutral attitude towards Satan. You must either love Satan or hate him. You must either love money or hate it. You will either hold on to money or despise it.

God and mammon are like two opposites, like the North and South Pole of a magnet. If you are attracted by one pole, you are repelled by the other. You know anybody who has studied physics, knows that a magnet has a north pole and a south pole. If you bring another magnet to it, if you are attracted to one pole of that magnet, you will be repelled by the other one automatically.

So then how shall we learn to be detached from money or to hate money - in the way Jesus said? Jesus used some strong words. For example, He told us to hate our father and mother, wife and children. What did He mean? Here he says you have to hate money. We need to understand what He meant. He didn't mean that we should kick our father and mother, and wife and children out of the house. That is not the meaning. Neither is He saying that you must get rid of your money and be a hermit or a monk, or a pastor or full-time worker or go and give all your money to some Christian work or faith home or any such thing. No! That is not the way.

Let me use an example. If you look at Jesus' life, there is the perfect example of how to handle money. He worked as a carpenter and He earned His living. But He was not attached to it. That is the answer. Look at Jesus and say, 'Lord I want to have the same attitude that You had to material things.' That is the answer. We have a lot more to say about this subject which we shall continue in our next study.

Chapter 46

The Love Of Money Is Evil

In this study we want to consider a little more in depth about how God and money are two opposites and, if we are attracted to one, we will reject the other.

Let us look at Luke 16:13 once again where Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters." We have seen that the two masters are God and mammon. Mammon means money and material riches. Either you will hate one and love the other, or hold on to one and despise the other. If you love God, you will hate money, if you hold onto God, you will despise money. If you love money, it proves that you hate God. If you hold onto money, it proves that you despise God. It is as clear as that. In fact, 1Timothy 6:10 says, "The love of money is the root of every sort of evil." Not money. Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of it. "And many people wander away from the faith, and destroy themselves, and create a lot of problems for themselves" (1 Tim. 6:10).

So, if we don't get this matter of money right in our life, we are going to have a lot of problems. We will never be able to grow in our Christian life. I am convinced that, this is one of the main reasons why many believers do not make progress in their Christian Life. They seem to be stunted like little children that have never gown up. How can we love God more than we love money? Is it by preaching, and preaching, and preaching, that we should hate money? No, that doesn't seem to work. A negative message like that would only produce Pharisees, who imagine that they hate money and love Jesus, and imagine that all other believers are not like them. They will be self-righteous. No, that is not the way.

Here is an example. Think of a young girl who is deeply in love with a young man and who feels that she cannot live without him. She is always thinking about him, trying to meet him, telephoning him, writing letters to him, because she is deeply in love with him. He may not be a good man; he may even be a bad man. Her parents may try to tell their daughter to end that relationship, to give it up; to stop loving him, to hate him. And it doesn't work. It is just like telling believers to hate money, it doesn't work. The parents keep on telling the girl, 'No he is not a good boy for you, and that is not the type of boy you should be in love with or marry. Give it up. Give it up.' Nothing happens. They continue to meet secretly. No matter what the parents say, her love for that man increases.

This is exactly how it is with many believers. They hear hundreds of sermons on hating money - it doesn't make any difference. They still love money secretly and they are attached to it, just like this girl to this boy. Then, one day, a miracle takes place. This girl now meets another young man who is far more handsome, far more considerate, far more kind, and better behaved, has a better job, and better prospects and, in every way, more attractive. Suddenly her heart is filled with love for this young man, and she never wants to see that first young man anymore.

What the parents did not succeed in doing in so many years, in one moment, this man has accomplished by coming into her life. She will never again reply to the phone call of that first man. She is finished corresponding with him. She says, 'I never want to see you again, I am finished with you.' What happened? Her parents are delighted because this new man is a very good man. How did she get rid of her love for that first man? There we see how we can get rid of our love for money and material things.

Your heart has to be filled with love for someone else. That is the only way. That new love will drive out the old one. It is like light driving out the darkness. Supposing a room is filled with darkness and you switch on the light, what happens? The darkness and the light cannot live in the same room. Till then that room was filled with darkness and, in one moment, it is gone. Just like this girl, for so long her heart was attached to that bad man and the parents could never remove that affection from her heart. But once she found this better man, she changed immediately. So, we don't preach a negative message. We lift up Christ. And when your heart is drawn to love Him, when you see Jesus as He really is, when you love the Lord with all your heart, automatically, without any effort, you will find that your attachment and love for money has disappeared.

Then what shall we say if this girl outwardly says that she loves this second man, but secretly still corresponds with the first man, telephones him, and secretly meets him. What would you say? You would say she is a hypocrite. She is only pretending to love the second one. She is actually still in love with the first one. Now this is the condition of many, many believers. They say they love Jesus. Every Sunday they get up and sing songs to each other like wonderful love letters written to Jesus. Some of these hymns that we sing on Sunday morning are like love letters to the Lord, fantastic love letters. But throughout the week we are interested in the first man. What does it prove?

We are just hypocrites. We don't really love the Lord at all. Why don't we love the Lord? You can't force a person. You can't take this girl and say, 'Come on, you must love this man.' Love is spontaneous, you can't force it. If it doesn't come automatically, it is just not there. It is only when you get to appreciate a person, you get drawn. It is when this girl appreciated this second boy she was drawn to him. It is only when we really see the glory of Jesus, how good God is, how loving He is, how much He gave to purchase me to be his own, how He lived, suffered, and died on this earth only for me, then we will love Him. And when we love him like that, the attraction of these earthly things just vanishes.

So, it is very clear that, even if you call yourself a believer, if you still love money and material things, you do not love Jesus with all your heart. It is impossible to love God and mammon. If you say, you don't love mammon but you pursue after it, aren't you telling a lie? If you say, 'No I don't have any interest in that first boy anymore,' but every now and then you are running after him, aren't you telling a lie? That is exactly the same. You say, 'But we need money to live on this earth.' We certainly do. I said that right from the beginning.

I am not saying that we don't need money. Even Jesus needed money to live on this earth. But He never ran after it. That was not the goal of His life; to make more and more money. No! Let me ask you a question. Do you get excited when you suddenly get a lot of money, unexpectedly? Are you longing to make more and more money? If your answer is yes to either of these questions; you are excited when you get more money or you are longing to make more and more money, then it is clear, my dear friend, that you love money. You do serve mammon.

There is nothing wrong in getting more money. There is nothing wrong in getting a very high salary. No! You can get Fifty Thousand rupees a month, and still love God; it is quite possible. It is not a question on how much you earn. I am not saying you can love God only if you get three hundred rupees a month. That is not what Jesus taught. It is not a question of how much you earn, it is a question of whether you love or run after it. That is the point.

Now, many believers are so foolish to think that, if they get more money, that is an indication of God's blessing on them. Some believers even wish that God would help them, one day, to win a lottery; if they can get that bumper prize of ten lakhs rupees having bought a ticket for only one rupee. Do you know lotteries are one of Satan's means to lure people to worshipping money? Hoping to earn hundred thousand rupees by paying one rupee or five rupees? What is the use? How are you getting that one lakh rupees? One hundred thousand people have bought tickets and you are cashing in on the disappointment of those hundred thousand other people in order to be lucky. You are getting one rupee each given by a hundred thousand people. Is that the way God wants us to live on this earth? That is what lottery is. That is not God's way for us to earn a living. No! Do you think Jesus would buy a lottery ticket? Many people think that that will make them happy. It is evil to live off of the money of other people. It is better to have little that we earn on our own. Don't think that this is an indication of God's blessing.

God's blessing is not seen in material things. Jesus was poor and He was the most blessed. The apostle Peter once said, 'Silver and gold I have none.' Paul was poor. He had to work with his hand, struggle to earn a living. In the Old Testament we have an example of Lot and Abraham. Abraham never wanted to get rich but God blessed him and he was rich. But Lot wanted to get rich. He went to Sodom to make money. You can read about that in Genesis 12-13 and all the way up to Genesis 19. What was the result? He destroyed himself. Balaam wanted to get rich as a preacher. What was the result? He lost his calling and went to hell. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha (you can read about it in 2 Kings 5), wanted to get rich. He not only missed the opportunity to be the next prophet after Elisha, but also brought leprosy upon himself and his children. You see so many examples. Judas Iscariot wanted to get some money and he destroyed himself and went to hell. We have enough warning there. D e mas could have been an apostle like Paul; he could have written scripture. Instead of that, he went after money and destroyed himself and lost his calling.

Dear friend, take it seriously. The Bible warns us: "Those who want to get rich will fall into temptation and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunged men into ruin and destruction." There is only one way to escape it, say, 'Lord Jesus, I want to love You with all my heart, not 90% of my heart, with all my heart and all my life, and save me form this terrible evil of the love of money.'

Chapter 47

Give Back What Belongs To Others

We want to look at bit more into this subject that we have looking at in our last two studies, and that is, how the love of money and material things can destroy us. Please read carefully because this affects your life.

Let us look to two verses from 1 Timothy 6:8-10. It starts with, "Those who want to get rich." This doesn't apply to everybody in the world. It applies to those who want to get rich. Do you fall into that category? A lot of people do, even a lot of believers. So, if that (those who want to get rich) refers to you, then read carefully. Because the Bible warns you in advance of what is going to happen to such people. "Those who want to get rich will fall into temptation, and a snare, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction. Because the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it (Again, this does not apply to everybody but to those who long for more and more and more money. Are you in that category? Here is what Almighty God says will happen) have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows."

So, what are the results of wanting to get rich and longing for more and more money beyond what we need? Falling into temptation, falling into the trap of the devil, falling into many foolish desires, many harmful desires, plunging into ruin, plunging into destruction, wandering away from the faith, and being pierced with many sorrows. Do you want such a life? All you have to do is pursue after money beyond your needs. Now the Lord is not against our earning our living. The Lord is not against our seeking to increase our income in getting a better job with a higher income. This is not what it is talking about. This is talking about a passion. Love is a passion, where your heart is possessed. You know what it means when you say a boy and a girl in love with each other? They are everything to each other. And when a person loves money like that and wants more, and more, this is exactly what is going to happen to him.

Satan doesn't tell us, right in the beginning, what all is going to happen if you go along this way. He first lures us by giving us a little taste of the enjoyment of wealth, you know, just like people who sell drugs and get people hooked on drugs. They begin by giving a little bit of a drug, maybe in a sweet, sometimes freely, to a little child in the school. Once the child gets the taste of it, once that young boy or girl gets a taste of it, they want more. Then we say they are hooked like a fish caught in the bait. They want more and more and then the people who sell drugs make their money through that.

That is exactly how Satan does it. He increases our appetite for money and material things by giving us a little bit until you have plunged your family and yourself into ruin and destruction. People get into debt, to buy this and buy that. And the result is Christians whose lives were meant to build the church, now have their lives being wasted in the pursuit of money. Many believers have sold their heavenly birthright for a bowl of porridge, just like Esau. Just think what regret they will have in eternity. Any sensible believer, therefore, will never, never pursue after accumulating wealth beyond his needs, just like he will not jump off the 10th floor of a building. Supposing you climb up a building to the 10th floor, if you are a sensible person, you don't jump down from the 10th floor.

It is more foolish to pursue after money. Why is it then people do it? They don't think any harm will come to them. Just like that senseless person who jumps off the 10th floor and thinks no harm will come to him. 'Oh yeah,' he may say, 'Other people got hurt but I am not going to get hurt.' That is how a lot of believers run after money till they have destroyed themselves. The pursuit of money and jumping off a 10th floor of a building, both of these actions can destroy you. If you take the warnings of scripture, you will protect yourself. But, if you jump off the 10th floor of a building and you say, that God will protect me, you are foolish. God is not going to protect a person who jumps from the pinnacle of the temple.

Now, it is possible for a person to say sincerely, 'Lord I want to know how to be free from this.' I believe there are many believers like that around the world really seeking to be free. And to such people, I want to tell two things which are mentioned in Matthew 22:21. You may remember how Jesus answered when somebody asked Jesus, 'Should we pay taxes?' Jesus asked them to show Him a coin and then He asked, "Whose picture is on that coin?" They replied, 'Caesar's.' That is when the Lord made these statements in Matthew 22:21. He said, "You give Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and give God the things that are God's."

There are two statements here that can deliver you from the pursuit of money. Jesus was telling us there about our responsibility in relation to material things. First of all, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's." Notice, Jesus did not say, first give to God what is God's and then give to Caesar what is Caesar's. No. Let us get the order correct. He did not put God first here. He said, "First of all, give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Secondly, give God what is God's." He was first telling us to be righteous in money matters and then he was telling us to be faithful in money matters. These are two different things. One is higher than the other: First of all, we have got to be righteous in money matters and then we got to be faithful in money matters.

What does is it mean to be righteous in money matters? This is the kindergarten lesson in money. This means we must give to Caesar what belongs to him. Caesar, here, represents another human being or the government, either. For example, if you have borrowed money from somebody, call that person Caesar. Don't give God that money. God doesn't want it. You give back your debt to Caesar. What belongs to Caesar must go back to Caesar first. That is why Jesus put God second. Do you recognize that? God doesn't want Caesar's money. So, you better give back to Caesar what belongs to him and then decide what you want to give to God; those of you who are in debt, who owe money to others. I am sorry to say that there are many believers who have got this very bad habit.

I want to encourage you to start giving back to Caesar what belongs to him, unless that other person has released you from your debt saying, 'Okay, that is alright, you need not pay it back.' You have an obligation to pay it back, even if you borrowed it from him 25 years ago. It may not have been borrowed. It may have been stolen. Supposing you had stolen something that belongs to somebody else, may be his property, maybe you got somebody's book lying with you for many years at home, you never returned it, a book that you had borrowed. Maybe a knife or a pickaxe or a shovel or something you borrowed, which you never returned. Return it. Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's. If it is money that you took wrongfully, maybe you worked in an office and you stole things from that office, send a cheque to that office. Return that money. Maybe you worked in a hospital and stole drugs from that hospital for your family use, or stole equipment. Return that money. Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's. Maybe you travelled in the railways, without buying a ticket. Go and buy a ticket for that distance and return that money. If you travelled in a bus, give that money back to that particular bus service.

We have to begin by giving to Caesar what is Caesar's. If you haven't set these things right with Caesar, then don't give to God. God won't accept it. That is why Jesus said to put Caesar first. The same thing applies to the government. Supposing, in the past, you cheated the income tax by not telling them how much you earned. Well, calculate that and give the money back. Maybe you came back from a foreign trip, from some gulf country, and brought in a lot of things and hid it from the customs to avoid paying the customs duty. Or, what is worse, perhaps that you bribed the customs officer and got the thing through. What should you do now? Well, calculate the duty and pay it back to the government. You say, 'But I give such a lot of money to the customs officer.' Forget it. Set it right with the government. To give to the customs officer is a bribe. It is not the same as giving it to the government; definitely not. That went into his pocket.

So this is where we must begin. Return all money that was taken wrongfully. Zacchaeus said to the Lord, "I will return four times of what I have taken wrongfully from people " (Lk. 19:9). He calculated the interest and said, 'I took it many years ago. They could have put it in a bank and could have got more interest. I better give back four times.' And then he thought of all the people whose addresses he didn't know, how to give back their money. He said, 'I will give it to the poor instead.' So, when you have money with you that belongs to other people and you don't know where they are living today, then you must give it to the church or to the poor; one of the two.

Even if your debt is very large, don't get discouraged. Start by paying a small amount every month, maybe 10 rupees a month, even that. But start paying it back. If there is a willing heart, God will bless you from the very first day that you start paying back your debt, even if it takes you 15 years to pay your whole debt. He doesn't wait until the whole debt is cleared. He sees a willing heart and He sees that you are willing to set it right. Give to Caesar everything that belongs to Caesar.

It is no use hanging a plaque in your house saying, 'God bless our home' if you got things in your home, money in your home, that has been obtained unrighteously, "Owe nothing to anyone" is what the Bible says in Romans 13:8. Let us begin today. Make a decision right now, as you are concluding this study, to give back to everyone that belongs to them.

Chapter 48

Giving Everything To God

In this study we shall look to a verse of scripture that tells us how we can be delivered from the power of mammon, and serve God with all of our heart.

Money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master like fire is. Fire is a wonderful servant when kept in control on the gas stove, but a terrible master when it is allowed to burn down the house. Jesus said in Matthew 22:21, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," teaching us, first of all, to be righteous in money matters, and secondly, to be faithful in money matters. To be righteous, first of all, is to give back to other people what is rightfully theirs. If you have borrowed money, return it. If you have cheated, return it. If you have cheated the income tax department or the customs department, give it back. If you don't do it, you will be dragging a chain on your feet all your life. You will never be able to run the Christian race, I will tell you that. Settle it now. It is better to get God's blessing than to hang on to money, which is not yours.

Do you know that if you have even one rupee with you, which is unrighteously earned, that money will be a curse to you and to your children? You will not be ready for the coming of the Lord if you have not settled matters down on this earth. No, we must not have one rupee with us, which has been unrighteously earned. Concerning this matter the Bible says in Roman 13:8, "Owe nothing to anyone." We should avoid all borrowing, as far as possible. Avoid getting into debt, it is a bad habit. Be happy with what God gives you and live within that income. The advertisement in the papers say, 'Buy now and pay later.' That is the surest way to get into debt. Let me give you another motto: 'Save now and buy later,' when you have enough money with you.

Now, I want to make something clear here. Many people get loans from their offices or banks for buying a vehicle, a two-wheeler or a car, or a building loan to build a house. There is nothing wrong in taking a loan like that because, for that money, you have something to show like a vehicle or a house. If you are unable to repay that money, they will take back the house or take back the vehicle so in that sense you are not in debt at all. So that is all right. But when you take money to spend on something that disappears, for example, for a wedding, you are in slavery. The slavery of believers to mammon is seen most clearly at weddings. There you can see the covetousness, the greed, and the honour seeking displayed unashamedly. Consider the dowry system practiced not only by unbelievers, but by believers in almost every denomination. It is very sad.

Those who ask for a dowry, before deciding whether this is the girl God wants them to marry, are a disgrace to the name of Jesus Christ. They are certainly not His disciples. How do you find out God's will whether this is the girl whom God wants you to marry - By finding out whether her father can give you so much money! You are serving mammon then. It doesn't matter if your pastor or your priest says it is okay. God's word does not encourage it. If you were to ask Jesus, what would He say? What would Jesus tell you when you pray? Will He tell you to go and ask him for some more dowry? Can you imagine the Lord Jesus saying such a thing? Then where are you getting that advice from? You are getting that advice form unconverted people. We must never expect a dowry when it comes to marriage. No!

Consider also the great waste of money there is at many wedding receptions. Now there is nothing wrong in having a good wedding reception, if you can afford it. Jesus Himself made extra wine for people at a wedding reception! But I know many believers who have borrowed money in order to have such a grand reception and then remain in debt for years. Isn't that a stupid way to start a marriage? That is evil. It is far better, in such a case, to have a simple reception. Don't compete with some other family who had a grand reception for their wedding. And borrow money to show that you are also able to have such a grand reception. You may say, 'If I have a simple reception, what will others say?' Why not then ask yourself, 'What will God say?' Are you more afraid of man's opinion than God's? Do you think God wants you to start your married life in debt? We must never adulterate the message of Christ in the Christian church.

This must be our standard: We will not get into debt, as far as possible. There may be situations, such as emergency, you have to borrow money from somebody. You know emergency situations which you didn't anticipate. But then you must seek to return that as soon as possible. The word of God is very clear in Romans 13:8 "Owe nothing to anyone." Be content with what you have. Don't be in competition with any other believer.

Once you learn to be righteous in money matters, you go on to being faithful. What does it mean to be faithful? Render to God what is God's. That is the second thing He said. What is God's? Many people will say 10%. Well, in the Old Testament it was 10%. In the New Testament, Jesus said, "If you don't forsake all that you have, you cannot be my disciple." How much is all? All means 100%. When He says, 'Give to God what is God's,' He means 100%. What would you think of a wife who works, and tells her husband, 'I will give you 10% of my income, the other 90% I am giving to somebody else?' Is that a good partnership type of relationship? No!

In the Old Testament, people were not married to God like we are to Christ. They were servants. Servants can give 10% to their master; that is okay. But we are not servants. We are a bride. We are the wife. We have a joint account. Not separate accounts. Masters and servants don't have joint accounts. They have separate accounts. But a husband and wife have a joint account. Like Jesus said to the Father in John 17:10, "All that is mine is thine, and all that is thine is mine." That is a joint account. And that is what we say also as Christians: 'Lord all that is mine is yours.' Not 10%. Then do you know what He says? "All that is Mine is yours too." Isn't that wonderful? - That, you give your little 10 paise to God, and He gives you His millions. Isn't it wonderful to have a joint account with God?

But you can't have a joint account with God if you give 10%. You have to give everything. You have to say, 'Lord, first of all, everything that I have belongs to you in any case.' We read in 1 Corinthians 10:26, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything that the earth contains is the Lord's." Have you read that? All the houses, all the lands, all the gold, all the silver, everything on earth belongs to God. Once you recognize that, you don't think you are doing God a great favour when you give everything to him. No! You are giving what belongs to Him. Have you earned much? Has God given you intelligence, ability, qualifications, and capabilities, and talents to earn a lot of money, whether in business or in a profession or whatever? Don't forget Deuteronomy 8:18, "It is the Lord who gives you power to make money." Don't ever forget that. It is the Lord who gives you power to make money. You could have been paralyzed, you could have been retarded, you could have been sick and you would have earned nothing. You could have been stupid and earned nothing. Don't ever forget that all the money you have earned in your life, God helped you to do it. So your money is not your own. Every way you look at it, it is not yours.

Now that doesn't mean you have to take all your income and give it for God's work. No! That is not what I mean. We give it to Him, first of all, because it belongs to Him, and secondly because we love Him. And so, we say, 'Lord this is yours, now tell me what I can spend on myself.' Do you think God doesn't want you to live in a decent house? You think He wants you to live in a slum? That is not true. I don't believe it. Jesus didn't live in a slum, a dirty slum. No, His house in Nazareth was not a dirty slum. Also God wants you to live with proper food, clothing, and house and education for your children. He wants you to spend on all these things. There is nothing wrong in all these things. So to give a 100% to God doesn't mean to give it all to God's work and to live on the streets. No! But to recognize that I am a steward, I am only a manager handling somebody else's money. Though you earned it, you recognize it is God's. I want to use it faithfully, recognizing all this is God's. That is the only way to be detached from mammon. That is the only way to be delivered from the power of mammon in your life.

Jesus said in Luke 16:13, "If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon who will entrust the true riches to you." You know, if you are not faithful, we are not talking about righteousness here. We already finished with righteousness. To be faithful means, you say, 'Lord, I don't want to waste any money. I don't want to spend unnecessarily on myself. I want to be wise on what I spend. I don't want to be luxurious. I want to live simply so that I can have money to give for your work, to serve you, to live for you.' When we are faithful, you know what God gives us in exchange - The true riches of heaven. Revelation on His word, likeness to Christ, if we learn to be simple in our expenditure, being careful not to waste anything that God gives us. This is the reason why many people are spiritually poor. Because they are not faithful with money or they are not being righteous with money.

Will you make a decision right now? Say, 'Lord, I not only want to give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, I also want to give you what is yours. In every area I want to put you first. I don't want to waste money on myself anymore. I want to be faithful knowing that I have to give an account to you, one day, of every rupee that I have earned.' Make that covenant with God and see, if from this day onwards God doesn't bless you. I believe He will.

Chapter 49

God Binds Husband And Wife Together

In this study we want to think about something very important, very crucial, and that is on God's plan for an excellent marriage. I believe this is very vital in the days in which we live.

The Pharisees once came to Jesus (we read in Matthew 19) to test Him and asked Him, in verse 3,"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" Jesus' reply was, “Haven’t you read that He who created them from the beginning, made them male and female," and He went to say that, “The two shall become one flesh." Consequently, they are no more two but one. "And what therefore God has joined together let no man separate."

The point I want you to notice here is, even though under the Old Testament Moses had permitted divorce, as the Pharisees pointed out in Matthew 19:7, it was only a temporary arrangement. Jesus said, 'If you want to know God's perfect will, go back to the beginning.' That is what He said in verse 4, 'From the beginning.' So, if we want to understand what God's will is for a man and a woman, we must go back to Genesis chapter 2. That is what Jesus quoted here (Mat. 19:5), "A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh." That is why, He said, there is no question of divorce.

Unfortunately, among Christians also, who are supposed to be the light of the world, a lot of marriages are not happy. They are not divorced, in the sense that they have not separated and gone to live in separate homes, but there is a separation in spirit. Though they are not divorced physically, they are divorced in spirit. You can be living in the same house for 20 years and live as two lonely individuals. Then you are not fulfilling God's purpose for your marriage. Because God's purpose is that two shall become one. That is God's plan, two should become one. We need to see why two are not becoming one.

If we go back to the beginning (Genesis 2), we read that it was not Adam who went to God and said, 'Lord, I am feeling lonely, can you please give me a wife?' Isn't that interesting? That, it was God who said (Gen. 2:18), when He looked at man, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him." Now the question is, 'Why didn't God make Adam and Eve simultaneously, at the same time?' He could have done it very easily. It says, He took the dust of the ground and made Adam. At the same time, He could have made Eve and breathed into both of them the breath of life, so that, as soon as their eyes were open, they could see each other. Why did He make Adam first, alone, and a while later, put him to sleep, pulled out his rib, and made a woman?

There is a good reason. There is something spiritual that God was trying to tell both Adam and Eve, which is the secret of how two can become one. What was that secret? When God made Adam, when he got life, and he opened his eye s , who was the first person he saw? You know the answer. God! He met God. He talked with God. He had no wife. It was just him and God. Much later he got a wife. So what was God trying to teach Adam through that? He was trying to teach Adam one simple lesson that, "I must be first in your life at all times. Before you see a wife, you must see me. More than you value your wife, you must value me." That is why He made Adam alone and fellowshipped with him before a wife even existed.

What shall we learn from this? That, throughout your life, even if you are married for 50 years or 75 years, God must always be first every day. Many people start with their wives first, if they are fallen in love with each other. In some cases, the parents are first, but let me go into that later. Let me now speak about the creation of Eve. God put Adam to sleep - a deep sleep is mentioned (Gen. 2:21), so that he couldn't even wake up. Then He took one of his ribs, closed it up with flesh and made a woman out of that rib. Now, as soon as God made a woman out of that rib, when God breathed into Eve, when she got life and her eyes were opened, whom did she see first? Not Adam.

She did not even know of the existence of Adam. She thought she was the only human being created. She did not know anything about Adam. Her eyes opened and she saw God, exactly like when Adam was created. Adam was somewhere else in the garden fast asleep. He did not know about her existence, and she did not know about his existence. She met God. God was the first person to speak to her and, only much later did God bring her to Adam. So, what was God trying to teach Eve? The same lesson He was trying to teach Adam. "I must be first in your life. You must have fellowship with me before you fellowship with your husband."

Do you understand now God's plan for an excellent marriage? Adam had to fellowship with God, before he fellowshipped with Eve. Eve had to fellowship with God, before she fellowshipped with Adam. It is all written there. From the beginning this is how God intended marriage to be. When God Himself is between a husband and wife, where each person and the partner in the marriage seek to put the Lord first in their personal life, you know what will happen? They will be glued together. God is the greatest binding force in the universe. When He holds two people together, it is impossible for anybody to separate them, not the devil, not demons, not circumstances, not poverty and not even the whole world.

When God is not there to hold people together, then people are held together by other forces. But the other forces are not as strong. I don't know whether you have seen an advertisement for this adhesive called Fevicol . One of the advertisements that I have seen, it is also pictured in some of the bottles of Fevicol , where two things are stuck together, and on each side an elephant is trying to pull it and they can't separate it. When a husband and wife are joined together by God, it is even greater than that. No elephants can separate them. No demons can separate them. No human beings can separate them. But they must have God in the middle. God is a greater joiner than Fevicol , or Araldite, or any other superglue. With God in between a husband and a wife, He will join you both together in such a way that nothing can separate you.

So, you have to be very careful not to allow anything to come between both of you, as husband and wife, or wife and husband, nothing other than God. What is the binding force in many marriages in young people? It is very often good looks. A boy likes a girl because she has got good looks. Now mere good looks are not good enough to hold a marriage for 50 years. Look at these marriages where people marry someone for good looks and within three months they are fighting with each other. It can't hold. We are not against good looks. By all means marry a good-looking girl. But that is not the main factor. It will never hold a marriage together. What do many girls choose a boy for? - Good job, good family, a lot of money. You think that is going to hold a marriage together? Never! Some boys will marry girls because they get a big dowry. That will never hold a marriage together. It is impossible.

The way God did it from the beginning is the way a marriage is held together, where the Lord is first, where each person has a relationship with God that is greater than their relationship with each other. In other words, if you are a husband, you must not seek to be first in your wife's affection. The Lord must be first in her affections. If you are a wife, the Lord must be first in your husband's affection, and you must be second. Those who put the Lord first and walk in the light, as the Bible says in 1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light as God is in the light," they will have fellowship with one with another." And the two are held together.

Now what are the things that can come between a husband and wife? It could be parents. It says in Genesis 2:24,"A man must leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife." Then only they can become one flesh. Notice again what that verse saying: you have to leave something and then you can cleave. If you try to cleave without leaving, you will never become one. Isn't that amazing? That is the one commandment given in scripture for us even before sin came into the world - Leave your father and mother. I want to ask you who are married, have you left your father and mother? I don't mean physically. By all means care for them, take care of them till their dying day. We should do that. We have to honour our parents. But don't let them come between you and your married life. You must leave them emotionally. They brought you up for so many years, and that is good. But now that you are married, you got to leave them. It is because many husbands have not left their emotional attachment to their parents, there is confusion in their married life. Many a wife has not left her emotional attachment to her parents and they are not united to their husbands. This is the tragedy.

The Lord is not first and there are parents in between, interfering in their life. Sometimes it is a job that is so important for you and comes between marriages. Anything other than God, it may be money, it may be being occupied with so many things, may be your children that come between you as husband and wife. That often happens in India. But it should never be. What is the answer to a happy marriage? Here is the first answer. Put the Lord first in every situation, walk in the light, judge yourself and you will find a binding force between you and your marriage partner that nothing can destroy.

Chapter 50

Responsibilities Of Husband And Wife

We want to continue thinking a little more deeply about God's plan for an excellent marriage. And if you give careful attention to this study, I believe, it can change your life.

We saw in our last study, that God should be between a husband and wife; only God for them to be bound together throughout their life on earth, because God is the greatest binding force in the universe. If anything, else comes in between; money, parents, job, children, there is going to be confusion. Should you honour your parents? Definitely! But don't let them come between you and your marriage partner. Should you take care of your children? Yes, you need to sacrifice for your children, do many things for your children, but don't love your children more than you love one another. That is not God's will. Many parents love their children more than they love each other. They disobey God. I am talking about believers here.

There is no relationship, spoken of in the entire Bible, as close as the relationship of a husband and wife. You know about the example used in Ephesians Chapter 5 that the husband is the head of the wife, in what way? Not like the head of an organization. Do you know the difference between the head of an organization and the head of a physical body? The head of an organization may not have any interest in the members in that organization. But the head in your physical body has a very living interest in every part of the physical body, every member. That is the will of God.

So the relationship between a husband and wife is pictured, in Ephesians Chapter 5, as, as close and as intimate as the relationship between your physical head and the rest of your body. Can you think of a closer relationship than that? - Your physical head and your physical body. That is the closest, most intimate of relationships one can think of. Even a father and son are not described in the Bible as head and body. Mother and daughter are not described like that. No! Parents and children are not described like that. It is only a husband and wife. That is the closeness with which God wants a husband and wife to live. In other words, you should love one another more than you love every other relationship. If you love your children more, you are destroying your marriage. If you love your parents more, you are destroying your marriage. If you love your job more, you are destroying your marriage.

Even if you love your ministry more, you are destroying your marriage. When I said you must put the Lord first, don't misunderstand that it means you must put the Lord's work first. No, there is a difference between the Lord and the Lord's work. Many people don't understand that. There are people who ignore their wives, saying, 'I am doing the Lord's work.' What's the result? Their marriage gets destroyed, and finally their so-called Lord's work also gets destroyed. That is not God's will. How should our spiritual life be built?

Let me use a picture of a three-storey house. Consider you are building a three-storey house, a ground floor, first floor, and a second floor, or a 1st storey, 2nd storey, 3rd storey. The first thing you build is the foundation and the foundation is God's perfect love for us revealed in Jesus Christ. On that foundation we must build. There is no other foundation. On that foundation we, first of all, build the first storey or the ground floor whichever you call it. The first storey is our own personal walk with God. That means your relationship with God where you walk in the light, you keep your conscience clear, and you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit telling you where you need to cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. That is the first storey. Whether you are married or single that is the first storey, you have to build that first. Once you build that, or as you are building that, you go to the 2nd storey. What is the second storey? The 2nd storey, if you are married, is your relationship with your wife. So, after we have built a relationship with the Lord, we seek to build a relationship with our wives. That is the 2nd storey, our home relationship. Then we come to the 3rd storey, which is our ministry, the church, for example.

If you are an elder in a church, you know what it says as one of the qualifications of an elder in 1 Timothy 3 is? He must have a good home. He must be the husband of one wife and he should have brought up his children properly. Why? Read that verse carefully, "If a man cannot control his own house, how will he control the church?" (1 Tim. 3:5). So, which comes first - House or church? You know that it is very clear from this verse - your house is first. You first control your house then you will be able to control the church. If you can't control the house, you can't control the church either. So, the ministry comes after your family. That is God's word. God comes first, then my home, and then God's work. Then I have a base on which to do God's work.

This is where the devil has destroyed so many people. He has made them concentrate on the Lord's work. What is the result? Their children are unconverted, go astray. They fight and quarrel with their wives at home, and they are doing God's ministry. It is a disgrace. I believe such people should resign from God's ministry and sit at home, and build a relationship with their wives and their children first. Now I am not saying that your wife has to be spiritual before you serve the Lord. There are many people who have served the Lord with unspiritual wives including great men like John Wesley who had thoroughly carnal and probably even an unconverted wife. But as regards to your attitude to your wife, you are in control of. It must be one of perfect love even if she is the most evil person in the world. If your attitude to your wife is not one of love, you cannot do God's ministry.

Whether you have good relationships or not, of course, is a two-sided affair, and if there is no cooperation from the other side you may not have a good relationship. That is another thing. But from your side, you must always be willing to humble yourself, always be willing to wash her feet. The Bible says that, like Jesus loved the church, the husband must love his wife. What should the husband do? Be willing to wash the wife's feet. In other words, be willing to do dirty jobs for you r wife. That is what Jesus did for the church. How many times does Jesus forgive the church - millions and millions of times? How many times should a husband forgive his wife- millions and millions of times? Infinitely! This is what it means to love your wife as Christ loved the church. If you want a happy marriage follow the Maker's instructions in Ephesians 5:22-33.

What about wives? In fact, the command to wives comes before the commands to husbands. If you are a wife, what does God tell you to do? Read carefully. "Be subject to your husband" (Eph. 5:22). Then verse 24 tells you how to be subject. It is very interesting, "As the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be to their husbands in every single thing." How does the church obey Christ, obey the Lord? Not with argument and strife and reluctantly but joyfully in everything. So, unless your husband tells you to do something which is contrary to the word of God, in which case you must obey God and not your husband. In all other areas a wife should obey her husband. That is the teaching of the word of God.

Now I want to give a warning here. The great danger, even in Christian families, is that the husbands take a verse like this and address it to the wives and use it as a hammer to hit their wives on the head with. They keep saying, 'See what the Bible says - You must be subject to me.' Now note carefully husbands, the Bible does not say, 'husbands get your wives to submit to you.' No. Your job is only to love your wife as Christ loved the church. That is all. And let me say a word to you wives also. There is no verse in scripture which says, 'wives get your husbands to love you as Christ loved the church.' But that is how some husbands and wives understand it. They go to a passage like this and the husband is reading what the wife should do, instead of reading what he should do. The wife is reading what the husband should do, instead of reading what she should do. Then there is absolute confusion. Just like in the Garden of Eden. Adam began to point the finger at Eve. God said (let me paraphrase God's words), "What is the cause of the problem?" Adam points his finger at his wife and says, "She is the cause of the problem." You see, that started at Genesis 3, pointing the finger at the wife, and saying this whole problem started with her and then indirectly blaming God; "This is the wife you gave me. What can I do?" So, he doesn't take the blame himself. And then God asked the wife, "What is the cause of the problem?" She pointed her finger at the serpent and said, "That is the cause of the problem, the devil. The devil caused it. I mean it is not my fault, the devil did something."

I want to tell you dear friends, as long as you are blaming each other and blaming the devil, you will just be thrown out of paradise. That is what happened to them. God sent them both out of paradise, because they were not willing to take the blame. They sinned. What was Adam's sin? He didn't take his place as the head of the home there. When Eve was eating that fruit, he should have stopped her and said, 'That is wrong.' But he stood there silently. The first husband was an effeminate husband. He couldn't take his place as the head of his home. When husbands don't take their place as the head of the home, there is confusion in the home. When a wife does not take her place as the “helper” to her husband, but instead begins to take decisions as the “leader” (as Eve did in Eden), then she opens the door for Satan to bring confusion into her home (as Satan did in Eden).

So, we need to stop blaming one another. If you are a husband, say, 'Lord, my duty is not to find out what my wife has to do. My duty is to love her as Christ loved the Church.' And if you are a wife you need to say, 'Lord, my duty is not to find out what my husband has to do but to be subject to him.' If each of you can do what God wants you to do, instead of being a busy body and finding fault with your partner, saying, 'He is not doing what God has told him to do', there can be peace. There will be continued confusion. Why not start taking the blame yourselves, humbling yourself from today. And experience that excellent marriage God wants to give you.

Chapter 51

Bringing Up Godly Children

In our last two studies we were considering the Christian home, the place which Satan has attacked the most from the days of Adam and Eve, and which is under tremendous attack till today. In our last two studies we considered the relationship between a husband and a wife. In this study we want to continue and consider God's plan for bringing up children.

Children were part of God's perfect will from the time He created man and woman. When God created Adam and Eve, the very first words that He spoke to Adam and Eve, mentioned in Genesis 1:28 were, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it." They were to have physical relationship with each other and thereby produce children. That was God's will. Again, in the last book of the Old Testament (Malachi), in the last page of the Old Testament, we see an emphasis on that.

Why did God tell Adam and Eve to be fruitful? Their children were to reflect God's image just like Adam and Eve were to reflect God's image. God created Adam and Eve that they might reflect His image. Adam could not do it alone. Eve could not do it alone. Together they were to show the character and the nature of God. There are things a man can show of God's nature and there are things a woman can show God's nature. Together there would be a balance. And their children were to carry on fulfilling that ministry in the next generation.

In Malachi 2:14, 15, the Lord mentions two important things. In the middle of verse 14 we read, "The Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth whom you have dealt treacherously though she is your companion and your wife by covenant." The first thing He speaks to you, in the last page of the Old Testament, is your relationship with your wife - the wife of your youth! Why does He emphasize that? Maybe you are both 50-60 years old today. But when you chose her, she was a young attractive person in your eyes. And to you wife, your husband was a young attractive man in your eyes. But you have dealt treacherously with each other. You have not been faithful even though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

Do you know that marriage is a covenant? You promised to be faithful to her. She is meant to be your companion, your friend. How many of you husbands can honestly say that your wife is your best friend? She should be. That is what God says in the last page of the Old Testament. And how many of you can say, 'I have not dealt treacherously with her?' And if you have, that you have repented and you seek to be faithful to her now. This is God's will. Then He goes on, in the next verse (Mal. 2:15), to say, "And what was God seeking in uniting you as husband and wife?" I am paraphrasing the words: He was seeking a godly offspring. He was seeking godly children that in the next generation they would transmit God's image to the next generation. Not just offspring, but a godly seed to transmit God's image to the next generation.

It is easy to have children, but to bring up children in a godly way, that is a task of a lifetime. It requires sacrifice. It requires sincerity, wholeheartedness in our life to God. Just like God is the binding force that holds husband and wife together, it is only with God's power that we will be able to bring up our children in a godly way in this evil generation. The way your children have turned out is an indication of whether you have lived in a godly way or not in your own home. Do you know what the Bible says about the way children turn out later on in life? It says in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go and even when he is old, he will not depart from it." Now either that is the stupid opinion of a man or it is the inspired word of God. What do you think it is? If you accept this as the inspired words by God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, then listen to it. If you do the first part of that verse, the second part will be automatic. What is that?

If you train up your children in the way you want them to go. It doesn't say a spiritual way. No. It doesn't say if you train up a child in a godly way. No. Maybe you want your children to make money in the world. Fine, train up a child in the way you want them to go, when he is old, he will not depart from it. Why are your children running after money today? Because you have trained them up in that way! When they are old, they will not depart from it. Why are your children seeking for greatness in the world? Because that is what you wanted for them! He may speak high-sounding spiritual language, and be an elder in a church, and many, many things like that. But if your children are worldly and wayward and unconverted, dear parents, I don't want to condemn you, but I would encourage you to take the blame instead of blaming circumstances, people, etc. Humble yourself and say, 'Lord, it is my fault that my children are not converted. It is my fault that my children are not following the Lord.'

When you take the blame, God can help you, even if you are being a failure. Do you know that God can help you, even if your children have left your home? They have gone away and you recognize today that you failed miserably in the way you brought them up, and as a result today they are unconverted?

Now, when I say that they should be living for God, I don't mean they should become full-time workers or preachers or evangelists or pastors. No. That is a matter of calling. God doesn't call everybody to full-time Christian work. But they should be born again; they should be disciples of Jesus. 99.9% of people are called to work for the Lord in a secular job, but they should all be disciples of Jesus, every single one of them. So we are not to train up our children to become full-time workers or pastors or preachers or evangelist or missionaries. No, that is not primary. We train them up to do the will of God; to be disciples of Jesus in whatever God calls them to do. If God calls them to be an evangelist, that is fine. But they must be disciples irrespective of whether they are nurses or teachers or engineers or missionaries or evangelist or pastors, or whatever it is. They must be wholehearted disciples of Jesus. Whether they are teachers or clerks or peons doesn't make a difference. They must be wholehearted disciples of Jesus.

And that is what we have to train them up in, from earliest childhood, to show them that the only thing worth living for in this world is the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The children must see this in their parents. They must see the way their parents live. They must see what their parents live for. If children see that you, as parents, have lived for money, even though you go to some church and speak high-sounding spiritual things over there, don't blame your children if they grow up doing what they saw you doing at home. If they saw that, even though you preached wonderful things in the church on Sundays and lived as hypocrites at home with other standards, you can't blame your children for going astray. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. I believe that is the word of God. It can work for the good of the children or for the bad of the children depending on how you bring them up.

Why do you think Judas Iscariot went astray? Was it because he was not dedicated to the Lord as a little baby? He was probably taken to the temple exactly like Jesus was taken to the temple and dedicated to the Lord. But it is quite likely that, after dedicating him to the Lord, his parents brought him up for the world. Maybe when Judas Iscariot did little wrong things as a child, such as him bringing back from school somebody else's pencil or rubber or something like that and his parents just ignored it. When you ignore the little thefts and the little lies that your children say, you are training them to be thieves and liars when they grow up. Even a small thing!

Supposing you see your child come home one day from a kindergarten class with a pencil that you never gave him. And you ask him, 'How did you get this pencil?' Suppose he replies, 'Well somebody stole my pencil, I don't know who it was. So, I found somebody else's pencil and I took it. Then if you gave him the impression that he is a smart boy, you trained him to be a Judas Iscariot when he grows up. It starts with a small pencil but it may end with robbing a bank. What do you need to tell that child at that time? You need to tell that child, 'If somebody else robs your pencil, it doesn't mean you can rob somebody else's. Tomorrow , go and give it back to the teacher or to the person to whom it belongs to, and say I am sorry I took this.'

My dear friends, very many times, parents are responsible for the godless way in which children grow up. Do you realize that God wants you to bring up godly offspring? The responsibility primarily comes upon fathers. We read in Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers, bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." There are two things we need to give to our children: instruction and discipline. Instruction in the Lord does not mean just the stories of Joseph, and David, and Moses. That is good. But at the same time teach the principles of righteousness, of honouring parents, honouring and speaking respectfully to older people. Who is going to teach children all these? Who is going to teach little girls’ modesty of dress and behaviour? Parents, if you don't teach your little girls principles of modesty and behaviour, they are going to pick up practices from the television screen and from the pictures of the film stars they see.

Take these responsibilities seriously from today. If you have failed and your children are grown up, repent. Take the blame and ask the Lord to change them even today. If fortunately, your children are still with you at home, then say, 'Lord, give me grace to bring them up in a godly way.'

Chapter 52

Responsibilities Of Parents And Children

We want to continue thinking about the Christian home that we have been looking at in the last three studies. In the first 2 studies, we thought about husband-wife relationships and in our last study, we thought about bringing up children. This is a very important area and we need to think about it a little more today.

Let us now look at the one commandment that God gives to children. Do you know that God gave Adam and Eve only one commandment? You all know about the Ten Commandments that Moses gave to the Israelites. But God gave Adam and Eve only one commandment and they disobeyed that one commandment. As a result, they brought chaos into the world, into their home, into their mutual relationships, and the first child that was born to them grew up to be a murderer, killing their second child. It was tragic. In the same way, we find that God has given only one commandment for children and has not made it difficult. He has not given children 10 commandments but just one. We read in Ephesians 6:1-3 what that commandment was. It was given in the Old Testament as part of the Ten Commandments. The 5th commandment, "Honour your father and your mother." It says here in Ephesians 6:2 that, this is the first commandment that God gave with a promise. The promise was that "It may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth."

I want to speak to parents first. I want to ask you parents; do you want it to go well with your children? Do you want your children to live long on the earth? Or do you want your children's life to be shortened? Do you want it to go badly with your children? Now, it is not talking about your children being intelligent, or healthy, or capable, or rich, or great, or any such thing. When it says, 'It will go well with them,' it means that it will go well spiritually. Even if they work as peons in an office or as corporation sweepers, it doesn't matter. If they are godly, they will be great in God's eyes. The point is not about their earthly position. The point is that it goes well with them spiritually.

What does it mean that they will live long on the earth? Live up to the age of 100? No, Jesus lived only up to 33. To live long, in New Testament terms, means to complete God's plan for their lives irrespective of whether they die at 20 or 60 or 100. The point is to complete God's plan for their lives before they leave the earth, because God has a specific plan for your children. Please remember that parents, and don't destroy that plan by putting other values into the heads of your children. That they think other things are more important than God's Kingdom and His righteousness. Uprightness, straightforwardness, honesty, these are far more important than anything on this earth.

So, fathers are told in Ephesian 6:4, "Don't provoke your children to anger." Don't keep on irritating them by nagging them, and scolding them day and night, but bring them up in the discipline and instructions of the Lord. Instruct them, first of all, by teaching them scriptural principles and secondly, by disciplining them. We need to punish our children because the Bible says in Proverbs 22:15, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will remove it far from him." Every child is born into the world with foolishness bound up in his heart. It doesn't matter whose child it is. Whether it is an atheist child, or a God-fearing Christian couple's child, they both are born with the same flesh and the same 'old man' that has a tendency to sin; foolishness is bound up in their heart.

How can this atheist's child and this God-fearing couple's child have that foolishness driven out of their heart? Only one way - the rod of discipline! There is no other way. Parents who do not use the rod are not going to bring up their children in a godly way. We need to use the rod of discipline, because we want to drive out that foolishness. The Bible makes it very clear that the rod of discipline will drive it far away. The foolishness is in the heart, but the rod is applied to the bottom and it drives out the foolishness from the heart. This is God's way. You might as well follow it instead of the teachings of modern psychologists.

With all these techniques that modern psychologists teach, what is the result? See what is happening in the western world today. Those children grow up rebelling against their parents with no respect for their parents. This is the result of modern psychology and ignoring the Word of God. Go and see the homes where people have followed the simple old-fashion teaching of proverbs 22:15 and see the difference. The Bible says that you can save your child fr o m hell by using the rod; don't spare him, it says, even if he cries. What should we use the rod for? - When they don't obey that one commandment to honour their parents. You know that that is the most important thing for children to learn.

If your children break something expensive, maybe you have an expensive dish or vase, or something like that, made of China, and they accidentally dropped it and it broke, are you going to punish them for that? That is foolish. Now, if they do it in rebellion and anger, they certainly need to be punished, but not if they do it accidentally. Your loss may be great in terms of money, but it is no use punishing your children for what they did accidentally. Don't you and I do things accidentally and make mistakes? What do we need to teach our children? - The one commandment that God gave children - "Honour your father and mother." That means to respect them first of all.

If you are a son or a daughter reading this article, let me tell you this - If you want it to go well with you, and if you want to fulfil the length of days that God has appointed for you on the earth, honour your father and mother. Even if you are 75 years old and your parents are still alive, honour them. Honour them till you die. You don't have to obey them once you leave your home to set up your own home and you are earning your own living. Jesus obeyed Joseph and Mary as long as He lived in that home. The moment He left that home, after His baptism, He honoured His mother but did not obey her. Once His mother came and told Him about the lack of wine at the wedding in Cana. He said, "Woman, what have I got to do with you? Don't interfere in My ministry." Jesus didn't disobey the scripture, but He honoured His mother. He cared for her when He was hanging on the cross by asking John to take care of her, to provide a home for her. But He did not listen to her once He left the home.

As long as you are living at home under your parents' authority, the command for you is to obey your parents. Do what they say, unless they tell you to disobey the word of God in some area. Then you have to obey God and say, 'We have to obey God rather than man,' just like the apostle Peter said in Acts 5:29-32. But in every other area you must obey them. Honouring them must be true throughout your life, even when you leave your home; respecting them, never speaking evil about them. You may see many weaknesses in your parents, hide them.

Do you know why Noah's son Ham was cursed? When he saw his father's nakedness, instead of hiding it, he went and spoke to others about it. Do you speak about your father's weaknesses which you have seen at home or your mother's weaknesses? There will be curse on you, like there was on Ham. Get rid of that habit. Why should you expose your father ’ s or mother ’ s weakness? If you want, pray for them, but keep it hidden, unless you are seeking advice from some godly brother to whom you go and share. If there is a problem you are facing then it is all right, because that godly brother may need to know your problem in order to help you. That is the only situation in which you should reveal the way your father or mother is behaving, which may not be godly. But to talk about them as gossip will bring the judgment of God upon your life, because you are not honouring them. This is so important.

It is so important, for us as parents, to teach our children obedience and to break their stubborn will when they are young, so that they learn to obey us as their parents. That is how we prepare them to obey God one day, in the future. But, if you don't break their will when they are young, they will never be able to obey God later on in life. It will have to be a miracle. It does happen in some cases, because God is great. But it is our responsibility, as parents, to do it early in life. When shall we start punishing them and correcting them? - As soon as they are able to understand. If they can understand what you are saying when they are 1 year old or 1 and 1/2 years old, then that is the time to start punishing them, if they disobey. The earlier you start the sooner you can finish. By the time the child is 13 years or so old, there should be no more need to use the rod on that child anymore, if you started when the child was say about one year old, and if you did it in the fear of God and wholeheartedly.

But, if you were careless, then you have a problem on your hand from your child when he becomes a teenager. He does not know how to speak respectfully. He does not know how to obey you. He doesn't know how to obey God. This is the tragedy in many Christian homes. What shall we do? Repent, say, 'Lord, have mercy on us.' Those, whose children are still in their early stages, not yet teenagers, do what the scripture says. Bring them up in the fear of God. Teach them to fear God.

The greatest thing you can do, as husband and wife, is to be united. Don't be divided in the punishment of your children. Be united in following scripture. When husband and wife are divided, it brings chaos into the home. It opens the door for the devil to come right in and destroy your children. Be united and let the devil find no gap between you, to come through and attack your children. Be a good example. Don't tell your children to do what you can't do yourself. The unity of father and mother and being a good example is very, very important. From such a life, God will be able to lead your children in godly paths.

One last thing: parents pray for your children by name every day, every single one of them. All through your life pray for your children by name every single day that they will grow up in a godly way. Then God's heart will be satisfied, as our homes become godly examples and a light in the midst of a dark world.

Chapter 53

Not Praying As Hypocrites Do

Here are some of the most important things that Jesus taught concerning communicating with God. You know, we were created to talk to God and hear God talk to us. You would not like to have a child that is both deaf and dumb. Nobody would like to have such a child, who doesn't speak and cannot hear. The Bible says that we are made in the likeness of God and the same desire that we have, as fathers and mothers for our children, God also has in a much greater measure. He does not want to have children that are deaf and dumb - that can't hear what He is saying and that never speak to Him. Are you one of those deaf and dumb Christians who never speak to your Father ? Who never hears what the Father has to say to you? Well, I want to say, if you are, you have missed a great deal of a Christian life.

God doesn't force us to listen to Him or to speak to Him, just like we don't force our children to speak to us. We are delighted when they on their own are eager to speak to us. So, what the Bible calls prayer is not a ritual. It is not something that we perform by repeating certain things to God. It is certainly not something like a mantra. Far from it, it is a child speaking to a father. In the gospel of Matthew 6:5, Jesus was telling His disciples how they should pray and how they should communicate with God. He said, when you pray, the important thing is not the content of your prayer as much as the state of your heart. That is why Jesus didn't place an emphasis on certain words to be said, instead He said, make sure that you don't pray like the hypocrites.

Now the word hypocrite means actor. You know an actor is one who gets on the stage and pretends to be somebody which he is not in real life. In real life he may be a drunkard, but on the stage, he can act like a holy man. There are a lot of religious hypocrites like that. Their stage is the church meeting room or hall. When they come to the church meeting on Sunday, they are dressed up to act as holy people. The whole thing is a drama. They pray, they preach, they do so many things, but when they go back from that stage, which is the church and the meeting hall, they become their own selves again. They live the same old lives they lived before. Just like, if you went to the house of an actor and you discover that he is not behaving in the same way in his house like he behaved on the stage, you are not surprised, because you know that he was acting there and here he is a real person. That is how it is with a lot of Christians. In the church they are acting; they are singing songs of great devotion to God which they don't really mean in their life. When they come home, they are their real person. It is that type of thing which Jesus condemned the most.

You and I would think that the greatest sins are murder, adultery, theft, etc., but Jesus placed another sin on top of all of these and that was hypocrisy - acting, pretending to be holy when you are not really holy. If you read the teaching of Jesus, in the gospels, you will find that He condemned this type of religious acting more than He condemned adultery, or murder, or anything else. We read in the gospels of women who were adulteress, whom Jesus didn't condemn. They were repentant and Jesus saved them. There was a murderer hanging next to Jesus, who got saved and went to heaven, because he repented. You will never find Jesus condemning the murderers because they already know it is wrong and everybody in the world know s it is wrong. Not that those things are not sins, but they are so obvious that everybody knows it is wrong.

Why did Jesus condemn the hypocrites? - Because they were giving people the impression that they were very holy when they were not. That is what Jesus hated and detested and spoke against. He called such people vipers and people who are ready to go to hell. To whom did Jesus condemn to hell, first of all? Not the murderers, prostitutes and thieves, but the hypocrites and we could say today, the people who go to church and pretend so holy, but don't live at home the way they act when they go to church. Here (Matthew 6), Jesus speaks about hypocrites - actors in relation to praying. So , He tells His disciples, 'Before I tell you how to pray, you need to learn how you should not pray, because, even if you say the right words, if your heart's attitude is like that of a hypocrite's, God will not hear you.'

Prayer is like a telephone call. When you dial a number, you wait until the other person has heard you. That means he picks up the phone and you make sure he can hear and only then you speak. In the same way, when we pray to God, that is when we talk to God, it is exactly like talking on a telephone. The first thing you have to be sure of is that God is listening - that He can hear you. Because, if He is not hearing you, what is the use of speaking? What is the use of speaking on the telephone if there is nobody at the other end of the line? Have you thought of that? Do you ever think that prayer is like speaking on a telephone? In a telephone call, you speak to a human being, in prayer you talk to God. In a telephone call, you listen to what the other person is saying to you and in prayer you should be listening to what God is saying to you as well.

For many people prayer is only talking. Usually it is not even talking, it is just asking God to give you this and give you that, and give your family this and give your family that. That ’ s it. Just like a long shopping list. You go to the market with a shopping list that your wife has given to buy, a list of things. Similarly, you go to God with a list and say, 'Lord, give all of this to me.' That is not really prayer.

What would you think of a child who only wants to talk to his father when he wants to get something from him? 'Now buy me a chocolate, or buy me this, or buy me that, or get me that.' That is the only time the child wants to talk to his father. Would you be happy with such a child? As soon as the child comes to you, you know he is asking for something. He is not interested in any other conversation with you, neither is he interested in listening to you. He just wants to ask you for something and if you give that to him, he is happy. A lot of Christians are like that. I want to say that, just like you would not like to have a child like that, God is not happy with His children who are like that.

So prayer is more than just asking, it is communicating. It is talking and listening to God and enjoying your time together. For many people, prayer is a boring thing, because they have not understood what it really is. So, if we take what Jesus spoke in this passage seriously, it can change our whole lives. The first thing he said is, "Don't act". When you come to pray, don't pray in order to be seen by men. Instead, He said, "When you pray, go into your inner room and when you shut your door, pray to you Father who is in secret and your Father who's in secret will repay you" (Mat. 6:6).

So the first thing He said, that religious actors would do is, that they want to show other people how holy they are. One way they do that is by letting other people know that they are praying a lot. Do you let other people know that you are praying a lot? There are some people who are so shy that they never pray in public. That is one extreme. You will find others at the other extreme, who always want to pray long boring prayers in public. Who are they praying to? They are not praying to God. They are praying to impress all the other people in the meeting.

It will be a good thing, if you ask yourself next time, or any time you pray in public, whether that is exactly what you pray in private also. For example, supposing you are praying in public, 'Oh God, I want a lot of people to be converted and to have faith in You in this country and I pray for the millions of people in India who need to hear the gospel'. Ask yourself, do you have that same burden of prayer when you are all by yourself in your room or do you pray those things only when you are in public, in a meeting, to impress other people that you are a very spiritual person? That is acting.

Acting is praying in the presence of others as though you have a great burden but not really having that burden in your heart. It could be praying in very flowery impressive language and trying to show off to others what a wonderful prayer you make. God is not impressed at all. These are the areas in which we can pray only for men to hear. If you have done that before (if we are honest, we all have to admit to having done it), go home from such a meeting and say, 'Lord forgive me, I have sinned. My prayer was a sinful prayer because I offered it to man. Please forgive me'. If you do that, you will find that next time you can pray more sincerely to God.

Chapter 54

Not Praying With Meaningless Repetition

One of the most important things in the life of a Christian is talking to God - prayer. Have you ever thought about that? One of the greatest privileges, we have, is that we can talk to God just like we talk to any other man, and we can hear Him talk to us as well. We want to continue looking at what Jesus spoke and taught His disciples about speaking to God, what we call prayer, communicating with God, talking to Him.

We saw in the last study that the most important thing about prayer is not the words, but the attitude of heart with which we approach God . The most important thing, Jesus said in this connection, was that we should not act; we should not pray in order to impress men. We seek honour either from God or from men. For example, if you pray and you let other people know that you are a great man or woman of prayer, or you are always talking about the time you spend in prayer, the hours and days you spend in praying and fasting and things like that, the chances are that you will not get any answer to your prayers. Did you know that?

You can pray and fast for days and get no answer from God for any of those prayers, if you did it to show men. You talk about it afterwards to other people saying, 'You know I was praying and fasting here for 3 days or 7 days before God.' Do you know what Jesus said about that in Matthew 6:5? He said about such people that they already have their reward in full. What is their reward? They wanted the honour of men that they are very godly men and women, and they got that reputation from men as their reward. Men began to think that they are very godly people. Jesus said that that is what they wanted and that is what they got. They are not going to get anything from God; there will be no reward from heaven. All those prayers and fasting was wasted.

Now on the other hand, here is another person who doesn't let anyone know about his prayer life, it is all in secret; he shuts the room and prays. Maybe his wife or those living at home know, but he tries his best to conceal it, hide it from as many people as possible. He never talks about his prayer life with anyone. He prays to the Father in secret. He doesn't get any reward from people, because nobody knows anything about his praying. But he gets a full reward from God, because God sees him in secret. Now my question to you, dear friends, is which of these two types of people do you want to be? Do you want a reward from men, where you get a reputation as a godly man or a godly woman or a man of prayer or a woman of prayer? Or, do you want God to approve of your life and answer your prayer and bless you? He will reward you openly. People will see, when there is a blessing of God upon your life, that you are one who prays to God in secret and God rewards you.

So that is the first thing that Jesus said in relation to prayer - this is how you should not pray. If Jesus said that as the number one danger in prayer, then we can be pretty sure that that is the thing that we must beware of the most. You know man is basically religious. We like to show a lot of our religion to get a reputation before people that we are very religious and holy people. One way we get that reputation is by letting people know how much we pray, how much we fast, and how much money we give to the Lord's work, or what sacrifices we have made for the Lord, etc. Jesus said, 'Be very careful that you don't tell anybody any of these things. Let God see it and that is enough.'

The other thing that Jesus told us not to do is, "When you are praying, don't use meaningless repetition as the heathen people do, because those heathen people think that they will be heard for their many words" (Mat. 6:7). This is the second mistake that a lot of people make when they are praying. They think that God will hear them if they use many words. They keep on repeating the same thing over, and over, and over again, as though God was deaf and He can't hear you if you say it once. They think that the reason why God hears some people is because they pray for a long time and that God does not hear those who pray for a short time. This is another heathen concept. You think that if you pray for one hour, God would definitely have heard you, but if you pray for one minute, God won't listen to that, because it is too short. Where did that idea come from?

When Peter was walking on the water and when he turned his eyes away from Jesus, he began to sink in the sea. He turned to the Lord and said, 'Lord save me.' This prayer lasted may be one or two seconds. That is how long his prayer was and the Lord answered it. How long does your prayer have to be before God answers it? Peter's prayer was less than two seconds. So, it is not a question of length of time, nor is it a question of repetition - particularly meaningless repetition. We read, in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus prayed the same thing three times, but it was not meaningless repetition. It was from His heart. Sometimes when you have a burden in your heart, you take it before God, and you take it again and again and again until the burden goes.

So that is not the type of repetition Jesus is speaking about. Jesus had Himself said in another passage on prayer about a widow who went to a judge. We read that in Luke 18:1-7. She kept on asking for one thing, 'Give me justice against my enemy.' She went back and said the same thing again and again and again until finally, the judge heard it. Jesus said that, that is how you have to pray. "His elect cry out to Him day and night and don't you think God will avenge them?" Jesus said, in another parable, when He spoke on prayer, that a man went to his neighbour and said, 'A guest has come by my house, and I don't have any food.' The neighbour wouldn't open the door because it was late. Still, he kept on knocking until the neighbour opened the door and gave him some bread. The lesson here is the same. We need persistence in asking for something again and again and again.

So in talking about repetitive prayers, we are not talking about that type of persistence which Jesus Himself encourages in Luke 11 and Luke 18. Instead, He is talking about meaningless repetition. For example, immediately after the advice on how not to pray, Jesus told them how to pray. He said, 'When you pray, say, 'Our Father who art in heaven" and so on in Matthew 6: 9 onwards. Now you can take that prayer and repeat it meaninglessly before God, just repeat it like a parrot. Supposing you repeat that prayer 20 times - 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come' and so on and you say it 20 times, is God going to hear it? Another fellow prays the same prayer 50 times. Is God going to hear him more?

Some people have that idea that if you keep on repeating that prayer 30-40 times, the more times you repeat it, the more God is going to hear you. Jesus said very clearly in Matthew 6:7 that it is a heathen idea. It is the heart that determines what God hears. If it doesn't come from the heart, and if it is a meaningless repetition from your mouth, it has no value at all. Don't think that God will hear you because you use many words. It is not the number of words that determines whether God hears us or not, it is the condition of our heart. So, He gave us two warnings concerning how we should not pray. One, seeking the honour of man by acting and pretending to be holy, and second, repeating ourselves meaninglessly again and again and thinking that if we pray for a long time, God will listen to us. These are the two things that Jesus warned against severely. Only after that introduction did He go on to tell His disciples how they should pray. And in connection with heathen practice of meaningless repetitions, Jesus said one more thing: Don't be like the heathen, because "Your father knows what you need before you ask him" (Mat. 6:8 ). That is a very important thing to remember.

See, when you pray to God for something, you are not informing God about a need which He does not know about. If you ring up on the telephone and tell a man that such and such a thing has happened or that such and such a thing is needed, it possible that the other person never knew it before. But when you tell God something like 'Lord someone is sick,' He already knows that. 'Lord someone needs money, perhaps, to live,' God knows that as well. There is absolutely nothing that God doesn't know. Please remember that when you pray. That, your prayer is not a means of informing God what He doesn't know. Yet some people act like that.

Sometimes people think that prayer is trying to force God to have compassion on some person whom God is a bit hard-hearted to. That is all ridiculous! God has more compassion for everybody in the world than you and I can ever have. And He knows everything that happened long before you and I hear of it. He knows our needs before we asked Him. So, all these things are not the reasons why we pray. We pray as an expression of our dependence upon God and our faith and our testimony that He is the one who provides all our needs. Once these wrong ideas are cleared out of the way, then we can pray exactly the way God wants us to pray.

Chapter 55

Praying Putting God First

There was no one, who lived on earth who prayed and communicated with God and was heard by God every time, like Jesus Christ, when He was on the earth as a man. So, if there is anyone who can teach us how to pray and communicate with God, it is Jesus.

We were considering how we should not pray. First, Jesus cleared the ground of all the rubbish. Just like you go to an empty plot of ground where there is a lot of rubbish and you have to clear it all out and then dig the ground before you lay a foundation. In the same way Jesus cleared out all the garbage by first telling people not to pray seeking man's honour and not to pray thinking God will hear you if you keep on repeating many words. Now that we have cleared those two things, if you have any doubt that God doesn't know your need, get that sorted out of your mind as well.

Then He said, "When you pray begin like this, 'Our Father who art in heaven."' That is the way Jesus told us to begin our prayer for this reason: Throughout the New Testament, one of the most important requirements for answered prayer is faith. In fact, the Bible says in James 1:6, 7, that when you ask God for wisdom (he is talking about wisdom there but the principle applies for any prayer), "ask in faith without any doubting, because the one who doubts is like a surfer of the sea who is driven and tossed by the waves and that man will not receive anything from the Lord." So, we see here that faith is such an important requirement when we pray and ask God for something. When you have a need, a burden, maybe a great longing for something, and you desperately require it, yet if you don't have faith, the Bible says in James 1:7 that you will receive nothing, absolutely nothing from the Lord.

Yet many people don't understand the importance of this. They think, 'well, I have prayed, I suppose God has heard.' The question is, did you pray with faith? Did you believe that God will hear? Or, you are not sure whether He has heard or not? Then you are like the atheist who wonders whether there is a God up there listening to us at all. The Bible says, "He who comes to God must believe that God exists and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6). This is faith. First of all, you must believe that, out there, there is a God who can hear you and, secondly, that God rewards every single person who seeks Him diligently, whoever he is.

So, in order to encourage and strengthen our faith, Jesus told us to begin our prayer by saying, 'Our Father who art in heaven,' because in those two statements we have two facts concerning God that will strengthen our faith. One is that, He is our Father and not the managing director of a big company, outside whose door we are waiting hoping to get an entrance. He is not some great religious leader with whom we are trying to get an audience and for which there is a big waiting list (queue). No, He is a loving Father. As a child can go and see his father and talk to his father anytime, so can you. That is what Jesus taught. Our Father is one who loves us and cares for us, is interested in us and wants to help us in every possible way. That truth must be established in your mind when you pray, that you are talking to a father. As we considered in our last study, it is not a question of just repeating these words, every time we pray, but being conscious and aware of the reality of it, when we do pray, that we are praying to a father - Our Father.

Secondly, we are praying to the One who lives in heaven. It is to God, who rules in heaven, who has authority over the whole universe, that we are praying. So, it is not only somebody who loves us, but also somebody who has such fantastic power, that He runs the universe. He is in heaven! Now, because we know He loves us, our faith is strengthened and because we know He is Almighty and has all power, again our faith is strengthened. These are two things that we need to know - one is that God loves us perfectly and then the other is that God is Almighty. Both these things come forth in that first sentence in this prayer: Our Father - who loves us, who art in heaven -therefore is sovereignly in control of everything that happens. So, if we don't begin here, we will not have faith.

When you begin to talk with God or you are going to ask Him something or say something, it is good to pause and ask yourself to whom are you talking to. Once you are sure that you are talking to the One who loves you intensely and the One who has all power to do anything in this universe, i.e. once we see the greatness of God, the greatness of His power, and the greatness of His love, then we are ready to pray. Otherwise, our prayers will be useless, because it will be without faith. If you talk to God as though He is a stranger or something like that, you could pray long prayers and nothing will happen. My guess is that lots and lots of prayers prayed by Christians never get answered, probably 90% of them or more, because there is no faith.

Now, when it comes to earthly things, you may imagine that you got some answers from God in prayer. But Jesus said in Matthew 5 that God is such a good God that He makes the sun to rise on the good person and the evil person equally. He makes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous equally. So those material blessings are for everybody. Even those who don't pray get it. The atheist gets rain on his farm without praying about it. So, I am not talking about general blessings that everybody gets, but specific things that we ask God for. You can have it if you ask Him in faith; our Father who art in heaven - One who loves me perfectly and One who has all mighty power.

There are six requests in this prayer: Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts as we have forgiven others and don't lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The first three concerns God and the next three concern our needs and the needs of our fellow believers. So we see here, before we come to our needs, Jesus taught us how to pray concerning God's glory, His kingdom and His will. Thereby He was teaching us the importance of putting God first in our lives. Even though our needs maybe desperate and very great, Jesus still taught us to put it secondary, because when you seek the kingdom of God first, all the other things will be added to you. If you don't seek God's kingdom first and seek those other things, you may get some of them, but that won't be a help or a blessing.

So Jesus taught us to be centred in God in our life and also in our prayers. The trouble with the entire human race, ever since Adam's days, is that we are centred in ourselves. One result of sin coming in to Adam's race is that we are centred in ourselves. We always think of what we can get out of it and how is this going to benefit me and my family. Every businessman in the world lives by that principle - what profits can I get out of it? How will this benefit me? And the vast majority of Christians live by that principle too: How is it going to benefit me? Jesus has come to save us from sin. He has also come to save us from this warped, crooked, and perverted idea of Christianity, where you have a religious outward impression that you give to others of being spiritual and all that, but, in your private life, you are seeking your own gain just as much as the most worldly business man in the world. That is hypocrisy!

We need to change our way of thinking. The Bible calls it the renewing of our mind in Romans 12:2. The renewing of our minds is something that leads us to look at everything from God's point of view first, and not our selfish, self-centred viewpoint. So, looking at it from God's viewpoint, we say, first of all, 'I want to pray Lord, concerning your name. Your name is dishonoured in the world and we don't want it to be dishonoured. We want Your kingdom to come in the world, a world that is being ruled by the devil right now. We want You to come in and rule in Your Kingdom and we want Your will to be done. Lord, the world is full of people that are doing their own will and I am doing my own will too, but Lord, have mercy on us and help us to do Your will on earth, exactly like it is done in heaven. In heaven it is done joyfully, cheerfully by the angels and I want to do it exactly like that in my life.'

So concern for God's name and His kingdom and His will should be primary. Then, we have learned to pray correctly.

Chapter 56

Praying About God’s Interests

We have been looking about the right way to pray, to talk to God because, when we learn to pray the right way, we can get our prayers answered. A lot of prayers are not answered because they are prayed in the wrong way.

Please give careful attention. When Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, He said in Mathew 6:9 'Our Father who art in heaven.' That is to think of God as a loving Father and to think of Him as Almighty Ruler from heaven who can answer every prayer, meet every need, solve every problem, lift you up from any pit you have fallen into, unwind any mess you have made of your life, and there is nothing He can't do. He loves you enough to help you, and He is powerful enough to solve your problems and to protect you from your enemies. 'Our Father, who art in heaven' - we are not orphans, we are children of God. That is why we can pray 'Our Father who is in heaven.'

Then He said if you want to communicate with God, you have to get rid of the self-centred attitude. Jesus came to save us from sin and the essence of sin is that I am centred in myself. I am thinking of myself all the time - What I can get from this? What I can get from that? What I can get from the other? If that has not changed in your life, something is wrong. The reason for all our problems is that we are centred in ourselves and Jesus said, get out of that, make God the centre of your life. That is the way it is meant to be. You know, for thousands of years people thought the earth was the centre of the universe. All your calculations will all go wrong in astronomy if you think the earth is the centre of the universe. The earth is just one little speck of dust floating around in space. Man got his science right when he discovered that the earth is not the centre of the universe, and not even the centre of the solar system, but the sun is the centre of the solar system. In the same way, spiritually, we need to recognize that God did not create us to be centred in ourselves, thinking of what we are going to gain or what our families are going to get. As long as you think like that you are living in sin.

Jesus came to save us from that sin; to teach us to be centred in God where we are taken up with what His needs are: with His Kingdom, His name, and all other things will fall into place in our lives. So, if you are having problems in this area, just consider if the reason is that, in all your prayers, you only think of yourself and your family's needs. Change that, change it from today. I am not saying don't pray for yourself or your family. By all means do that. In fact, it is a responsibility for parents especially to pray for their children every day. That is important and you should be doing that. I am not saying you should stop that, but centre everything in God. When you pray for your children, don't just pray that they make a lot of money, but pray that they will honour God and seek His Kingdom first. That is what I mean by centring it in God. Centre everything in God in terms of God's name being glorified: 'Hallowed be Your name', that is what Jesus taught us to pray.

The very first request is, Lord, let Your name be glorified. Let people respect and reverence that name. The name of Jesus Christ is the name that God has given by which all men can be saved. It is the only name through which you can get answers to prayer. When we come to the Father, we are to come in the name of Jesus Christ, His son. We have to pray that the name of the Lord Jesus will be honoured throughout the world, throughout our country. Not honoured in the sense that they respect Him as a great man. That is not the type of honour God wants. The way the name of Jesus Christ is to be honoured is when people bow in total submission to the Lordship of Christ in their lives.

Beginning with Christians, those who claim to be Christians, they should put Jesus Christ first in their life totally. So the first thing Jesus said was that we must have a concern for God's name. It is not enough just to pray these prayers with our lips, but it must come from our heart: 'Hallowed be Thy name. Lord, the number one burden in my heart is that Your name will be glorified in my life, in my family, with my children, in our church and in our country.' That must be the burden of our heart and, if that is not the burden of our heart, we must ask God to change us inside. 'Lord, change me such that my greatest burden at all times will be that your name will be honoured. Even if I have to go through difficult times, let your name be honoured.'

There was a time, when Jesus was on earth, He was facing a great time of pressure, just before He went to the cross. He was honest and said in John 12:27, "My soul has become troubled. What shall I say?" Think of this verse when you are in a very difficult situation and your soul is troubled. What are you going to say? He said, "Shall I say, Father save me from this hour?" No, I will not say that. I will say, "Father glorify Thy name" (Jn. 12:28).

So you see, when Jesus was in that difficult situation, when His soul was under such tremendous pressure and when He was tempted to pray, 'Father save me from this hour,' He said, 'I am not going to pray that.' He prayed what was proper, even though it meant pain and suffering, and the ultimate death of the cross - "Father, glorify Thy name". That was just before He went to the cross. He could have said, 'Father, please save me from this hour' and could have gone straight in to heaven without going to the cross and we would all have been lost in our sins. Isn't it a good thing that He did not seek to save himself there, but sought the glory of the Father? That teaches us that when we seek the glory of the Father, and not our own comfort or gain, our life can be a tremendous blessing to others. So even when we are under pressure, let us follow the example of Jesus who taught us to pray 'Hallowed be thy name'.

From there you go onto "Thy kingdom come." See, our next request also has nothing to do with our problems or our family problems, but we say 'Lord, at the moment, the kingdoms of the world are ruled by the devil and his agents, but I want Your kingdom to come on earth - a kingdom where righteousness is at home. I want Your kingdom to come quickly.' The word 'kingdom' is not understood so much nowadays, because we don't have kings. A better word would be 'government'. 'Lord, let Your government come.' That means the government which He is heading, which He is controlling with the way He runs the universe. 'Lord, we pray that You will be able to run this world, this church and my life in exactly the same way' - Your kingdom come.

Then He taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So, there we see a desire for God's name, God's kingdom, and God's will to be done on earth exactly as it is done in heaven. Now Jesus once said in John 6:38 that He had come from heaven to do the will of His Father. He said, "I come from heaven not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me." Throughout His life Jesus never did his own will, but did the will of His Father, however much pain or difficulty it meant. Jesus taught us to pray, 'Whenever you pray, pray this for your life that God's will be done in your life and not your own.'

All the misery, sorrow, and problems in the world have come because man has always wanted to do his own will. Whatever he thinks is good; that is what he wants to do, but Jesus taught us to pray for the Father's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, first of all, it has to begin in our own lives. 'In my life Father, let Your will be done.' Now how is God's will done in heaven? Think of how the angels obey God. The angels obey God immediately. They wait to hear what God has to say and they obey immediately. They obey joyfully and they obey totally. If God says something to an angel, the angel does not say, 'Hang on God, just wait a minute, I have got something more important to do.'

Man behaves like that. God tells him to do something - to go and apologize to someone, or to go and get baptized, or go and do this particular thing, or return that money you took wrongfully, and man waits, and, waits, and waits, sometimes for days or weeks and even months before he decides to do. But no angels in heaven waits like that. As soon as God says something they will do it immediately. We are praying that God's will would be done in our life like that. It means, as soon as you see something in the word of God, you are going to do that immediately. You are not going to wait and you are going to do joyfully. You see, the angels don't go around with a long face complaining and grumbling that their lot in life is so difficult. They are joyful! They are happy! They obey God totally. Jesus was teaching us there that that is how we must obey also - totally, completely and joyfully. Thy will be done on earth exactly as it is done in heaven. There we have the angels as an example on how it is done in heaven.

So, if we get this right, i.e. first of all in our prayers we think of God's name, God's kingdom and God's will and apply all that to our own life, then in our life the name of God will be honoured by the way we live. In our life, God's government or rule will come; He is going to rule our life. In our life, God's will , will be done exactly like it is done in heaven - unquestioning, joyful, complete, total and immediate obedience. Then we can say that we got our priorities right. Self is no longer the centre. Then we are beginning to learn how to pray right and then we shall find our prayers answered.

Chapter 57

Praying For Our Material Needs

Once again, we want to look at the secret of how we can get our prayers answered by God. If you study carefully and learn from the way Jesus told us to pray, it can change your life.

We were looking at, in our last, study about putting God first in our life and in our prayer. You know in Matthew 6:9-11, Jesus spoke about praying, "Our Father who art in heaven." The number one burden, the request and the longing of my heart is that Your name will be hallowed. The number two longing and burden and the request that I have in my heart is that Your kingdom will come. And the number three desire and longing and request in my heart is that Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do you think many believers really mean that? I mean a lot of believers pray this prayer like a parrot from childhood, but they never stop to think what they are really saying. They are making the very same mistake that Jesus said right at the beginning - 'Don't pray like hypocrites' and 'Don't pray with meaningless repetition'.

But once we understand aright what Jesus was trying to emphasis here, we discover that, if you really begin to pray like this, you become a spiritual man. You will really be spiritual if the primary desires in your life are that God's name should be glorified, His kingdom should come on earth and His will should be done. That is the uppermost thing in your life, not whether you make money or whether your back ache is healed or any such thing. Those things are there, but they are secondary. Can you imagine what it will do to your life, if you begin to pray like this all the time, putting God's interests first all the time? It will change your life completely. You will become another man, another woman instead of being primarily occupied with all the other problem s of the earth.

The reason why Jesus told us to put God first is, because many of those other problems will never get solved if you don't put God first. You may get rid of one set of problems and end up with another set of problems because God is not first in your life. Once you put God first in your life, I am not saying you won't have problems, but I say that God will intervene and make you triumphant in the midst of those problems. The Bible says in Psalm 34:19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from all of them." That is the difference. Worldly people also face problems but they don't have anyone to deliver them. We have a Father in heaven. So, learn to put God first in your life in everything. Don't put your business first, or your studies first, or your children first, or your wife or husband or home or property first, or anything. Put God first and see the difference it will make in your life. Then you will become a real disciple.

Once you have done that, Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debt as we have forgiven others and lead us not into temptation and delivers from evil." Notice, one word or, let us say two words that are never found in this prayer: 'I' and 'me'. We could add another one which is similar: 'my'. These three words - 'I', 'me', and 'my,' are so common in our language. 'I' is a very important for a person and is one of the most important words in the English language. 'I', 'me', 'my' are not even mentioned once in this prayer. After we have sought God's name, God's kingdom, and God's will, i.e. after we put God first in our life, the next thing the Lord wants to teach us is not to think selfishly of only of ourselves, but think of our fellow believers. The Father has many children.

Are you hungry? Do you need food? Yes, certainly pray that God will give you your daily bread. But don't forget that there are other children of God also who are also hungry. You are not the only one. Pray for them too. If you have an abundance of food, don't forget those other children of God who don't have it. So He said, when you pray say 'give us this day our daily bread'. When you pray for forgiveness say, 'Forgive us our sins' and when you pray for deliverance say, 'deliver us from evil.' So we find that the Lord was trying to deliver people not only from self-centeredness in the sense that God is not the centre of their life, but also from this self-centeredness where we don't think about other people around us at all. He taught us to pray, 'Give us, forgive us and deliver us.'

In this prayer about praying for daily bread, Jesus wasn't asking us to pray that we should have bread for a whole year or any such thing, but Lord, if you will give me just enough for today that is fine. Now, I am not saying that you shouldn't have food for tomorrow or money for tomorrow or savings or any such thing. That is not the point here at all. You can have savings for your need in the future or whatever. There is nothing wrong with that, but you should be happy and satisfied if God has given you just enough for today. That is the point. That means, if God has given you food only enough for today, well, praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for today and You will take care of tomorrow. If you can plan for tomorrow, go right ahead. There is nothing wrong with that, but be thankful for what is provided and ask God for the provision of our immediate need. Lord, give us this day our daily bread.

Jesus did not teach us there to pray for luxury. He is not asking for daily ice-cream or daily cake or any such thing. It is just daily bread; just that simple meal to keep my body and soul together and to keep me in good health. That is all Lord, just give me enough for today. There is no covetousness here. Jesus taught us to pray for material things when we are praying for our necessity and not for luxury. We don't find anywhere in the New Testament any encouragement to pray to God for luxury. But we do find here, in this prayer which the Lord Himself taught, He is encouraging us to pray for necessity. Yes, it is true that your heavenly Father knows what you need even before you ask Him. Doesn't the Father know that we need daily bread? He certainly does. Then why doesn't He give them without our asking? The reason is, He wants to have communication with us and He wants us to have the joy and privilege of answered prayer when you get your daily bread.

That is why before we eat our meal, as Christians, we always bow our heads and pray and thank God for the food. I hope all of you do that. I hope in your homes you don't rush into your meal without bowing your heads first and praying and thanking God for the food. Now it is not in order to make the food taste better or any such thing. We do it as an expression of gratitude, and thereby acknowledging that it is God who has provided it. There are atheists and godless people in the world who dig in to their meal without thanking anybody. Well, let them go their way, but we acknowledge that it is God who has given it. God has opened our eyes to see that. Those atheists are blind; they don't know who provided their food. So we pray to God not to inform our need, because He already knows that, but to express our dependence upon Him even for our material necessity.

Now this also teaches us that there is nothing wrong in praying for any material thing which we need. It may be clothing; if you need clothing you can pray for it. It may be a house that you need to live in, you can pray for it. For educational facilities for your children, you can pray for it because you want them also to learn to earn their daily bread. Well, they can't earn their daily bread in most countries unless they have decent education. So, there is nothing wrong in praying for the education of our children as well. So, all these things come in that little prayer - 'give us this day our daily bread'. 'Lord, provide us with what is necessary for our life on this earth.'

Now it is very interesting to see that this prayer for daily bread comes immediately after 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' So, when we put these two requests side by side, i.e. next to each other, we find it is something like this -'It is my longing that Your will is done on earth as it is in heaven and, in order to do that will of Yours on earth, please give me my daily bread so that I can have strength to do it.' So, you see that the reason why we ask God for material things. It is so that we can do His will and not our own. That is why it is very important first to pray, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,' and then to come to our material needs.

The trouble with a lot of Christians, of course, is that, they are only praying for material needs and there is no connection between that and doing the will of God in their lives on earth. Some people think that we shouldn't pray to God for any material things and that it is wrong to pray for material things, and you should only pray for spiritual things. It is not true. It sounds very holy, but it is contrary to the teaching of Jesus who taught us even before the prayer for forgiveness of sins and deliverance from evil, to pray for our bodily need. So let us never think that this body is created by Satan. It is created by God and when we put God first in our life, it is perfectly proper to ask God to provide all our material needs. Not luxury, but necessity. The word of God says,

"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus."

Chapter 58

Praying For Our Spiritual Needs

In this study we are going to look at how God answers our spiritual needs if we ask Him in prayer; How He can deliver you from every evil influence and every type of evil in your life.

In the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, in Matthew 6:9-13, we see first of all, that Jesus taught His disciples to pray putting God first - God's name, God's kingdom and God's will. After that, He taught them to pray concerning their own needs: first of all their physical and material needs. There is nothing unspiritual about praying that, because if we are not physically alive, how can we do anything else. So, to be physically alive is important before we can do God's will. So, he taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" - the necessities of life. We considered that in our last study.

Now we want to go on to the second request for ourselves and that is "Forgive us our sins" and the third request for ourselves, “Deliver us from evil." See, we basically have two problems as human beings - one relates to our past and the other relates to the future. We could put it like this: in the past we have done so many wrong things and what we need is forgiveness. In the future, because of our corrupt nature, we may still do a lot of evil things. Because of that danger we need help from God to be able to overcome this evil in our nature, so that we don't do the evil in the future. So, we can say the first request concerns the past and the second request concerns the future. Those are the only two sides in our life - the past and the future.

So, the first request here is concerning the past. 'Lord, I have committed so many sins. Please forgive me all my sins.' You don't have to make a list of all your sins, and I think it is impossible for anyone to make a list of all the millions of sins he has committed in his life. We acknowledge that we are sinners and that we have done so many things to displease God and we are asking Him to forgive us as we have forgiven our debtors. See, that is the only condition. When we come to the Lord and ask Him to forgive us, it is important that we ourselves have forgiven other people who have done wrong to us. Isn't that righteous of God to require that from us?

Jesus once told a story about a king who forgave a man, his servant a huge debt, let us say one crore worth of rupees or 100 lakhs worth of rupees. This man had such a huge debt to the king and the king forgave him. To be forgiven of one crore or 100 lakh rupees of debt is such a fantastic experience. A man would just jump for delight and shout for joy that he has been forgiven so much. Then Jesus said that this man went out into the street jumping with joy and delight and he met another person, a fellow servant, who owed him ten rupees. He caught this other person by the throat and said, 'You better pay up the ten rupees you borrowed from me, otherwise I will lock you up in jail'. He then took him to court for the ten rupees debt and got him thrust into jail.

Do you know what the king did when he heard about it? He called that first servant back said, 'Hey come here. Didn't I forgive you 100 lakh rupees debt and you couldn't forgive that other person ten rupees? Why was that? Well, now you have to learn a lesson too. If you don't forgive other people, I won't forgive you. You get into the prison along with the other fellow and you pay up your one crore or 10 million and he will pay you your ten rupees.' On conclusion of this story Jesus said, 'My heavenly Father will do exactly like that to you, if you don't forgive others.'

I want to tell you, dear friends, that one of the greatest sins found among Christians throughout the world today is the sin of an unforgiving spirit, an unforgiving attitude. If you have that towards another person, that is the one place where, Jesus said, your own sins will not be forgiven. And , even if forgiven in the first place, God will remove that forgiveness and un-forgive you. Have you ever heard of forgiveness? Yes, you have. Here God un-forgives what He had already forgiven. That is the meaning of that story in Matthew 18. The king forgives the servant and later on withdrew that forgiveness. Jesus said, "My Heavenly Father will do the same to you."

See, not to forgive another person is such a serious crime in God's eyes, that out of all of these six requests in the prayer (Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, give us this day our daily bread, forgive our sin, deliver us from evil), Jesus picked out one and emphasized it at the end of that prayer. You know which was that? - This one on forgiving others. He repeated it like this in Matthew 6:14 "If you have forgiven men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you don't forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."

Think of that for a moment. If there is somebody on earth whom you have not forgiven, your heavenly Father will not forgive you. That is impossible! You will not go to heaven if you have not forgiven everybody on this earth. Please remember that. There is no entry into God's kingdom without forgiveness of sins through the death of Jesus Christ. But that forgiveness will not be given to you if there is one human being you have not forgiven. So let us ask the Lord to forgive us and let us forgive every single person who has ever wronged us in our life, and release them. Never mind, if you can't forget the evil. God doesn't ask you to forget what people have done. He only asks you to forgive them. A simple word to say to the Lord, - 'Lord I forgive this person and that person and the other person. I am not going to hold it anymore against them whatever they have done.'

Then we can go to the next prayer, 'Lord, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.' 'Lord, help me to run away from temptation. Give me strength.' Dear friend, don't try to act like a brave person. The Bible says flee from idolatry, flee form youthful lusts. Don't put yourself in the place where you can be tempted unnecessarily. No, run away from it. 'Lord, please help me; don't lead me into situations where I face things which are too much for me to handle. Lord, deliver me from every type of evil Lord, especially the evil of sin. The corruption that is in my nature, please deliver me from it Lord, and all these things that I ask are for Your glory and for the honour of Your name, for Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory.' He concludes with that, and said, Amen - It shall be so.

Let us look at that last request for a moment - deliver us from evil. Again, it is not just me. It is me plus my fellow believers. Deliver us from evil for the sake of Your kingdom, for the sake of Your glory. Lord, your name is so dishonoured when Christians who take your name do evil. So, deliver us Lord from evil; from everything that dishonours your name, deliver us. See here is an acknowledgement that I cannot deliver myself, just like I cannot earn forgiveness. God has to forgive me. I cannot deliver myself by self-control or by determination or any such thing. I am asking God, who is the only one that has power, to deliver me. 'Lord, deliver us from evil. We acknowledge that You are the only one who has the strength to deliver us. The devil is too strong, the lusts in our flesh are so strong, the lust of my eyes is so strong, and my tongue is so uncontrollable, this anger is too powerful. Therefore, deliver us from anger, deliver us from the lusting with our eyes, and deliver us from bitterness and wrong attitudes and from telling lies in our place of work. Lord the pressure is so great sometimes, but deliver us. Your power is able to do it.'

Then Jesus concludes the prayer as it began - with God. The Bible says God is the first and He is the last. In this prayer Jesus taught us to conclude acknowledging that the kingdom is of God, the power is of God, and the glory is of God. It is the prayer of a humble man who acknowledges that God is everything and he is nothing. 'Oh God, Yours is the kingdom, Yours is all the power, and Yours is the glory that can make us live as we should be living. In other words, when You have done these things and answered our prayers, we won't take any credit for it to ourselves. We won't pretend that we did it. It was Your work and we give You all the glory. It is Yours.

Then that last word Amen in the prayer. That is a Hebrew word which means 'it shall be so'. It is an expression of faith. Just like the prayer began with faith, by praying, 'Our Father who loves us, who art in heaven, almighty sovereign king, ruler of the universe,' it concludes also with an expression of faith. Amen means, 'Lord everything that I have prayed, I believe it will be so. It is going to take place like I have asked for and I believe that Your name is going to be honoured and Your kingdom will come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and you are going to provide us our need, you are going to forgive us our debts, and you are going to deliver us from all evil and Your name will be glorified.'

So when we conclude any prayer with the word 'amen', it means more than just a little signal to everybody that the prayer is over. It is a very meaningful statement. We are saying thereby, 'I believe it shall be so, exactly like this brother prayed, I am saying amen - it shall be so.' It is an expression of faith.

Now we don't have to repeat this prayer every time we pray. Because Jesus said pray in this way in Matthew 6:9, which means all our prayers should begin with being centred with God, it should be an expression of faith, and conclude by giving God the glory and an expression of faith that God will answer our prayer. May all our prayers be like this in the future.

Chapter 59

Hypocrisy

What are the sins that Jesus hated the most? When we see sin like sickness, even more serious than sickness, we will learn to hate it more than we hate sickness. Jesus came to reveal the serious sins that ruin our life.

We want to start with the first chapter of Matthew's gospel, the very first book of the New Testament and the very first page. Matthew 1:21 gives the reason why Jesus was called Jesus when He was born as baby. "You shall call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins." The word 'Jesus' means saviour; One who has come to save us from our sins. So, if you want to know what it is to be saved from sin, you need to know what sin is. In the minds of many, many people, sin is a very vague concept; it is not clear what sin is. If you were told that you are being saved from leprosy or saved from tuberculosis, or saved from a pit in which you have fallen, or saved from failure in an examination, you understand what it means to 'save'. These things are clearly understood.

But when you say saved from sin, what do you understand? That depends on your definition of sin. If you think sin is just getting drunk, or gambling, or wasting your money and fooling around with other women and things like that, and if you don't do those gross sins, you will think that you are saved. You know, if you go by the Ten Commandments where there are gross sins like murder, adultery, theft, giving false witness in court to injure another person, and things like that, I think most people in the world could say, 'Well, we are not committing those type of things. We don't need salvation.' If those are the only things that are sins, a lot of people don't need Jesus at all. But when we read the gospels, we find that Jesus spoke about certain other sins which are not listed in the Ten Commandments at all.

So, when we see the teaching of Jesus, we find that sin is not primarily external. I mean a mango tree is a mango tree even if it doesn't produce mangoes. It may be barren but it is still a mango tree. When it produces, it will produce mangoes. It won't produce apples or coconuts. In the same way sin is like a tree. Whether the fruit of it comes out of our life or not, doesn't make a difference. Sin is still there within; it is in the heart. Jesus said it is from the heart that everything comes out; evil thoughts, murders, and adultery and everything like that. That is why Jesus spoke about sin in the heart and to deal with it there, rather than after it has come forth. When we look at the overall teaching of Jesus, we find that there are certain sins which He spoke against which men don't consider seriously. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God said, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." That applies in many areas.

God's thoughts about sin are different from man's thoughts about sin. Man doesn't take sin so seriously. Man thinks sin is only in these external things. But God says there are a lot of other things, which are sins. And number one among them would be hypocrisy. Now in the Old Testament, you hardly ever find a condemnation of hypocrisy. It is very rare. The prophets mostly spoke against adultery, worshipping of idols, greed, covetousness, etc. These are some of the main sins they spoke about. But when Jesus came, though He spoke about these things also, He spoke much more about hypocrisy. In fact, when a woman caught in adultery was brought before Him, He didn't even want to stone her. He saved her life. There was a thief, a dacoit and possibly a murderer who hung with Him on the cross, He forgave him, and took him to paradise. But when He met religious leaders; the elders, the bishops of the synagogues of that time - the Pharisees and the scribes, He condemned them outright, because they were hypocrites.

He kept on saying, for example, in Matthew 23, "Woe unto you hypocrites." Woe means curse, like in the Old Testament we read "Curse be upon you". So, Jesus was saying, 'Curse be upon you scribes - Bible scholars and Pharisees, who were the religious leaders at that time, who studied in the Bible schools and had become elders in the synagogues, hypocrites.' We see this repeatedly said by Jesus in verses 13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, and 29. So frequently He condemns them for their hypocrisy. And finally, He calls them serpents, a brood of vipers, how will they escape the sentence of hell in verse 33.

You never find Jesus speaking like that to a prostitute or to a murderer. But you find Jesus speaking like that to most of the religious people of His time who read the Bible - Genesis to Malachi every day, and who were very devout in their external piety. So, we can see how much Jesus hated hypocrisy, more than anything else. This was what He sought to condemn. The reason was, Jesus said in Mark 7:6 that rightly did Isaiah prophecy of you hypocrites, as it is written there: "This people honour me with their lips but their heart is far away from me." What was it that Jesus detested? It was their saying so many wonderful things to Him with their lips but their heart was far away from Him. They appeared to be devoted to the Lord. But in their heart, they were interested in themselves; their money and their other things. They were seeking their own gain everywhere, but pretending to be holy. What did the prostitutes, the thieves, and the murderers have better than the Pharisees? Not in external life, but the fact that they were honest. They were murderers and they didn't pretend that they were not. The prostitute acknowledged that she was a prostitute. She wasn't pretending to be holy.

So, we find that Jesus hated pretence; words spoken with the lips, holy words, when we pray; words that make us appear holy and very humble. It can be a total lie. To be a hypocrite is to be a liar. It is to give an impression to people of being spiritual when you are not really spiritual. You know, one of the first sins that children learn and commit is the sin of telling a lie. They don't commit murder or adultery and things like that first, it is telling a lie from birth. Right from their earliest years they begin to tell lies, they begin to deceive their parents. And as we grow up, we develop this art of deceiving others, of giving people an impression about ourselves, which is not really true, fooling them. Then if you become a Christian, you develop that still more by trying to give people the impression that you are very spiritual in order to impress them. And that is the sin the Lord hates most, more than anything else.

Remember the story that Jesus said about ten virgins who went to meet the bridegroom. What was the difference? Externally they were all virgins. That means the external life of all ten was good. They wore the same white dress, they all went to meet the bridegroom, and there was no difference as far as those things are concerned. They were exactly the same. But there was a lot of difference inside. Inside, maybe the pockets of one of those cloaks, five of them had oil, extra oil to fill up the lamps when they started dying out. Initially all ten had their lamps burning. But when their lamps started dying out, we read that five of them only had oil. What does this parable teach us? This parable teaches us that an external life alone does not prepare us for meeting the Lord when He comes. We must have a hidden life as well. That is what the flask of oil symbolizes - a hidden life of our walk with God. That oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit and inner life where we are walking with God, where our love for the Lord is clear, pure, and whole-hearted, in addition to the lamp burning. So, it is not enough to be a virgin - to have your external life right. Those five virgins were left out when the bridegroom came, just because they did not have that inner flask of oil.

So, what was Jesus emphasizing here? If you are a hypocrite, you are going to miss out when the Lord comes. The first sin that was judged in the early church, what was it? Ananias and Sapphira were punished not for murder, or adultery or anything like that. It was hypocrisy - pretending to be spiritual when they were not really spiritual. That is a lesson for us. Ananias and Sapphira didn't cheat anybody, they didn't harm anyone, but they came to the church pretending that they were totally dedicated to the Lord, when they were actually not. Do you realize how much Jesus hates this? They were killed. Let us learn from this, that hypocrisy is what Jesus hates more than anything else.

Chapter 60

Pride

We want to look a little more at what sin really is. Sin is what destroys us more than any sickness. Sin is what has brought chaos and confusion into the world. The answer to all of our problems lies, first of all, in being saved from sin, even more than being healed from our diseases.

Do you realize that sin is more serious than sickness? Suppose you heard a message that Jesus could heal all your diseases and that Jesus could save you from all your sins, which would you prefer, if you had a choice of one of the two? Supposing Jesus appeared to you and said, 'Either I can save you from all of your sins, or heal you from all your diseases,' which one would you choose? I think most people in the world would choose healing from all their diseases, even many believers. The reason is they have never understood how serious sin is.

The destruction sin produces in our soul is invisible and that is why we don't realize how bad it is. It is like when a smoker smokes cigarettes and his lungs are being destroyed, he doesn't see it. If he could actually see it, he would stop smoking. It is the same way with sin. We don't see it till it has destroyed us completely; the seriousness of it, the damage it is doing. That is why the message of the New Testament primarily is not that Jesus can heal you from all your diseases, but that Jesus can save you from your sins. In fact, the meaning of the word 'Jesus', in Matthew 1:21, is not healer but saviour. He has come to save us from all our sins. Of course He heals the sick, but that is secondary. He primarily came to save us from our sins.

If we are to be saved from our sins, we need to understand what sin is, what are we to be saved from? Sickness we understand. We saw in our last study that there are sins, the inward sins, which Jesus condemned, which were far more serious than anything listed in the Ten Commandments. In the last study we looked at one of the inward sins - about hypocrisy.

In this study we want to look at another sin that Jesus spoke about which is again far more serious than many sins listed in the Ten Commandments, and that is the sin of pride. In Luke 18, Jesus told a parable about two people who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. In those days the tax collectors in most cases were cheats, who made money from other people. Everybody knew that they are sinners. On the other hand, the Pharisees were a people who appeared to be very holy on the outside. This Pharisee stood and prayed, in Luke 18:11, "God ! I thank you that I am not like other men. I am not a swindler, unjust, adulterer, or even like this tax gatherer" and then he listed all the right things that he did; he fasted twice a week, he paid tithes and so on. But the tax collector, standing some distance away, said, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." And Jesus said, that man, that sinner, went to his house justified rather than the Pharisee. What was wrong with the Pharisee? What was his sin here, which made God condemn him? Pride!

Pride is what made the devil into a devil. Prior to that, he was an angel, a perfect angel. As soon as pride came into his heart, he became a devil. It didn't take even one second, it was immediate. As soon as the thought came into his heart, God cast him down. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:5, "God resists the proud." God is always fighting against proud people. Wherever He finds pride, wherever He finds proud people, He is resisting them, fighting them, standing against them, because that is contrary to God's nature. Just like, if you are a clean hygienic person, you would hate filth and rubbish and garbage, whereas a pig doesn't hate rubbish and dirty water. Why do you hate it? Why do you immediately have revulsion to filth and rubbish, whereas a pig doesn't have such revulsion? It is a matter of nature.

We don't have revulsion for pride because pride is part of our nature. We don't see it as a filthy thing. We are exactly like that pig, wallowing in the mire and thinking, 'This is okay'. But God's nature is the opposite of that. He hates pride. The Bible says that Jesus humbled Himself. He came down from heaven to earth, became a servant and thereby demonstrated what God's nature is like; one of humility and lowliness. He showed thereby what man should be like. God created man to be humble. When man is proud, what he has is the nature of Satan, the thing which God hates, the thing which God resists, it is sin.

When you are proud of anything, for example, if you are proud of your good looks, it is a sin. Jesus came to save you from that, that you will never again be proud of your good looks. There is nothing wrong with good looks. But to be proud of it, there is everything wrong with that. What about your intelligence? There is nothing wrong with being intelligent. You can be the most intelligent person in the world with the highest IQ. That is not a sin. But if you are proud of it, even a little bit, then it is a sin. If you are proud of the house you live in, proud of what you have accomplished in life, proud of your position in society, proud perhaps, of the family you belong to, all of these are sin. And if Jesus has not saved you from these sins, I have to say that Jesus has not become your saviour. Then what has He saved you from?

A lot of people want to be saved from hell. But do you know that the Bible almost never speaks about being saved from hell? It speaks a lot more about being saved from sin and from the judgment of God against sin. But where do you find a verse in the Bible about being saved from hell? Almost never! Most of the verses about salvation speak about being saved from sin. The first promise in the New Testament is you should call His name Jesus because He will save His people not from hell or from their sicknesses but from their sin. Salvation from hell is the end result of being saved from sin. If you are saved from sin, you will be saved from hell automatically. It is like saying, if you are saved from sickness, you will be saved from death. You must be saved from sickness then you will be saved from death. That is automatic. Then should not you say that if you are saved from sin, you will be saved from hell. That is automatic.

That is why, as I said in the beginning, we need to understand what sin actually is. Pride, seeking the honour of man, glorying in what God gave us as a free gift, is sin. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4:7 "What do you have that you did not receive?" Just think of that for a moment. Think of all the things you have in your life: health, good looks, intelligence, a house, a job, a position, you never chose any of these. You never got any of these by any ability that God didn't give you. Maybe you were born with certain intelligence, you were born into certain family, but you didn't choose it. Why are you proud of it then? What have you got that you did not receive? You may say that you have earned so much, you have accomplished so much. That is because God gave health to you for so many years. Think of another person who is bedridden, paralytic or blind or deaf, if you were like that you would never accomplish what you did. So, what do you have that you did not receive.

What about spiritual gifts, your Bible knowledge perhaps. People can be proud of Bible knowledge. That is a sin. Bible knowledge is not a sin, but to be proud of it is. For a preacher to stand up and be proud of the fact that he is such a wonderful preacher, accepted and invited everywhere, he is the biggest sinner of all. Not because of his preaching, but because he is proud of it. Because he goes back from his preaching and congratulates himself that so many people appreciate him. It could be that you have a large church and you are very proud of that. Yours is one of the biggest churches in the city and your church is growing more than other churches. There is nothing wrong with that. But if you are proud of it, you are evil. Jesus came to save us from pride. Pride is not listed in the Ten Commandments just like hypocrisy is not listed. But those are the sins Jesus came to save us from. Jesus spoke about those who seek the honour of men, when they give money, when they pray, when they fast, what is this? All this is pride. Jesus said to His disciples, 'Don't be like that.'

Whenever we look down on others, we are proud. Think of the story of the prodigal son. What is the problem with the elder son in that story? He looked down on his younger brother. He said, 'See what he is like and see what I am like.' Whenever you compare yourself with another person, and you think what a wonderful person you are, how much better you are, maybe you are purer, or holier, that is pride. You can be proud of your holiness. Maybe you are holier than somebody else, you are proud of it, and you can say, 'Lord ! I thank you that I am not like the people in that denomination.' When you are proud of the denomination you belong to, it is a sin. There is nothing wrong in belonging to a good church, but when you are proud of it, it is a sin.

You see there is a lot of sin in the many, many good things that we do and that we have. And that is the sin of pride, a sin found right in our most religious and so-called spiritual activities, a sin which is unrecognized. Jesus hates it. Imagine you got something in your life that Jesus hates; don't you want to be saved from it? Ask God to show you right now the areas in your life where you have pride, because they are destroying you. Ask Jesus to save you from them right now.

Chapter 61

Selfishness

Once again, we want to look at sin and how serious it is. It is more serious than sickness; worse than cancer, leprosy, AIDS , and all put together. Once you understand that, you will have a great longing to be free from all sin.

In this study let us look at a passage from Luke 10. Jesus told a story here about a man who was beaten up by thieves, as he was travelling on a road, and he was left lying there half dead. Two religious people - one a priest, and the other one, a sort of an assistant (Levite) to the priest passed by that road. They just walked past that man, on the other side of the road, and left him there. They went on to the temple to carry on with their religious services! After that, another man came that way, a Samaritan. He was neither a priest nor a religious type of person. He was just an ordinary person, an ordinary sinner. But he had compassion on this poor person lying half dead there. He lifted him up, bandaged his wounds and took care of him. He even paid for the expenses for putting up that injured person in a little hotel. He told the hotel keeper, 'Take care of him and I will give you more, if you have to spend more on him.' Jesus then asked, 'Which of these three proved to be a neighbour (Lk. 10:36). The answer is obvious.

Religious people, sometimes, are very, very selfish. Jesus spoke here about a sin, which is again not listed in the Ten Commandments. It is the sin of selfishness. We have been looking, in our last two studies, about the sins that Jesus hated the most. What are the sins that Jesus hated the most? We saw, first of all, hypocrisy, and then we saw, pride, and here, we see another one, selfishness - thinking only about ourselves. You know, we can be very, very religious; religious enough to be a priest or a bishop or even an archbishop and still be thoroughly selfish. That priest, who was supposed to be representing God, all he was interested was in his religious ceremony and not helping the poor person in his need. When our life is like that, it does not bring us the approval of God. We can be very upright in a whole lot of external things. We can think that God is very happy with us, because we do all those external things so correctly and that we have a good testimony before men, and we keep very accurately the external rituals of our religion. Maybe you are even an elder in your local church or a pastor or whatever it is, but if there is selfishness in your life, I want to tell you, Jesus hates selfishness. He hates a life that is only interested in self.

Now we are all born selfish by nature. We are not born thinking about others. Think of little children in our homes as they grow up. They don't automatically know how to share their toys with others. No, you have to teach them that. Naturally speaking, they are selfish; they will fight for the best toy, the biggest toy, the biggest piece of cake in the plate and things like that. That is their nature. Only when we grow up, we don't fight in such a crude way (for the biggest piece of cake), but we still like it. Inwardly we haven't changed; our selfishness is now more subtle. People don't see it so obviously. And we seek it in cleverer ways.

So, when we see selfishness as a sin just like the sins of hypocrisy and pride, we would realize that Jesus came to save us from our sin. If Jesus hasn't saved you from selfishness, what type of saviour is He? If he has saved you only from gambling and drunkenness, that is not much of a salvation, is it? Because, a lot of people out in the world have that, without Jesus Christ; they also do not gamble or drink. What does it prove? Many Christians are glorying in the fact that they don't commit certain external sins. Then I can show you ten other people in the world who don't commit those sins also, who don't have Christ in their lives. So what type of salvation has this Christian experienced?

That is why, we need to see this sin the way Jesus defined it, not just external, but inward primarily: Hypocrisy, as we saw first, then pride, and here selfishness. That means you see a person in need whom you can help, but you are not bothered. You think only of yourself and your family. It could be in relation to salvation: 'Oh I am saved; my family is saved; it doesn't matter if anybody else is saved.' Then I never seek to be a witness of Christ to others. Think, my dear friend, you who are born again, you who know there is no way of salvation outside of Jesus Christ. You know that there is no way to go into God's kingdom except in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. You know that being born in a Christian family never takes you into God's kingdom. You have to repent and accept Christ as your Saviour and Lord. You are saved and maybe your family members are saved too. Do you have any concern at all for all the other people around you? I am not talking about people who are living 10000 miles away, whom you will never meet. No, I am talking about people you work with, your neighbours, your relatives, people whom you meet regularly, who are on their way into eternal hell. Are you concerned about them? Are you selfish?

Selfishness is a sin - to be thinking only in terms of myself. Something is fundamentally wrong. If I say I have partaken in the God's nature and I am still selfish, I am just deceiving myself, because God's nature is totally unselfish. Why did Jesus come to earth? What have we seen in Jesus' life? He was never interested in himself. He came entirely for the sake of others. The reason why many of us, Christians, are so poor spiritually, and not blessed by God, as we can be blessed, because this sin clings to us. Jesus once said these words in Acts 20:35,"It is more blessed to give than to receive." Those are words spoken by Jesus, not found in the gospels but Paul mentions it. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The one who is always thinking of receiving is a selfish man. The one who thinks of giving, he is a person who is concerned about others. What does he give? He gives to someone in need what he himself has. It could be material things or it could be spiritual. Supposing I have received something spiritual from God that has radically changed my life. You know, immediately it places me in debt to everybody else. I have to give it to them that they haven't got.

Think of another story that Jesus spoke in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. There was this rich man who had plenty of everything in this world and who dressed royally and lived in grand style. At his gate was his brother Lazarus. Brother because every one of those Jews was child of Abraham. You read later on, after his death, that the rich man said, 'Father Abraham' in Luke 16:24. He was a descendant of Abraham and so was Lazarus. In that sense, Lazarus was his brother and he did not care. He went past that gate so many times and saw the dogs licking Lazarus' sores and he never helped him one bit, just like the priest and the Levite. Finally, both of them died. Jesus said that the rich man went to hell. Why did he go to hell? Maybe he paid his tithes regularly, but he still went to hell. Maybe the great religious leaders of his time - the priests and bishops came to his funeral and said that he was a great man, but the man himself went to hell and Lazarus went to heaven.

Why did that rich man go to hell? - Because he did not have faith. How do I know he did not have faith? James 2:14 says, if you have faith, the proof of it is, it will be seen in your works. James further says, "If you say that you believe in God, and you see your brother or sister without clothing and in need of daily food, and you just say, 'Praise the Lord and God bless you' and you don't give him what is necessary. What's the use of that" (Js. 2:15, 16)? Such faith is dead (Js. 2:17). That is not living faith.

Salvation is by faith and that rich man did not have faith. The proof of it was that there were no works. There was no concern for others. What God had given him, he thought, was his own. It was not his own. God had given him wealth so that he could help other people who are needy. Do you know that everything we have is given by God? And it is given to us to see whether we would share it with others or just live selfishly ourselves. The same thing applies spiritually. Whatever God has given me spiritually, I am in debt to the rest of the world to share it with them, at least in the circle that I move. Jesus said, as I said earlier, it is more blessed to give than to receive. I have received something fr o m God, that is good, I am blessed. But Jesus said that I would be more blessed if I give to another person that which I have received. If I give to another person, the message that saved my life, that forgave my sin, that brought me into victory or whatever it is, I will experience a greater blessing.

So if you want to have a greater blessing, I want to encourage you to listen to this word of Jesus - "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Because when you follow that word, you will find something you have never experienced so far in your life; the blessing that comes through giving. The Bible says the liberal man shall be made fat and the one who waters others will be watered also himself. So let us learn to hate this sin of selfishness that Jesus hates and we shall find abundant life.

Chapter 62

Hatred

We want to continue on this subject, that is the most dangerous thing in our lives and that which is destroying us - sin, much worse than sickness. We have been looking at that in the last few studies and we want to go bit further on the issue.

In this study we want to look at another sin that Jesus spoke about, which is not considered a sin by a lot of people in the world, and even by a lot of believers. In our last three studies, if you remember, we looked at the sins that Jesus hated the most. We saw three of them so far: hypocrisy, pride, and selfishness. Now, in the world hypocrisy is not hated, pride is not hated, and selfishness is not hated. Everybody assumes that it is not serious. A man pretends, so what. Or a man is proud or selfish; everybody is like that, we say. So long as you keep the Ten Commandments, the external good life, you are okay. Unfortunately, a lot of believers think like that too.

As a result, the lives of many believers are only external. There is nothing inward. They are saved only from the sins which are external, the things that people could be saved from, even under the law, before Jesus came. Under the law, people were saved from murder and adultery by the Ten Commandments. But by the law they couldn't be saved from inward sin, the really serious sins that are destroying us. In the first page of the New Testament, as we have seen already, we read in Matthew 1:21, that Jesus means saviour, a person who will save you from your sins. And so, as I said before, if you don't understand what sin is, we will never understand what has Jesus come to save us from. He has come to save us from sin. But what is sin? Now we see it a little more clearly. Sin is pretending -being a hypocrite; He has come to save us from that. Sin is pride; Jesus has come to save us from every type of pride, physical pride, spiritual pride, intellectual pride. He has come to save us from selfishness - from thinking just about ourselves.

In this study I want to speak to you about hatred. A lot of people do not think of hatred as sin. The New Testament says that "He who hates his brother is a murderer" (1 Jn. 3:15). It is as serious as that. If you hate a person, it is equivalent to murdering him. Maybe you don't have the opportunity to murder him. Maybe you are afraid that if you murder him, you will get caught. You wouldn't mind somebody else killing him or his having some misfortune. That is how you know whether you hate a person or not. Sometimes we may say, 'Well I don't hate anybody really.' But just ask yourself this: s omebody who has done some harm to you, or to your family, maybe some relative has cheated you, maybe somebody has done some real harm to you, maybe somebody spoilt your reputation, or pushed you down in your job, maybe your boss, or landlord, or someone who has done some harm to you, and you say, 'Yeah I have forgiven him.' But when you hear that some calamity happened to him, do you feel a little happy? If you feel happy, you know what that shows? That shows that you really hate him. You will never be happy when a calamity comes on your son or daughter, or someone you love. You can never be happy when a calamity or accident, or misfortune comes to somebody you love.

Why are you happy when it happens to that person whom you say you have forgiven? No, it really proves that you hate him. Or, it could be another way. When you hear that something good happened to that man, that he got blessed in some way, got a promotion or something wonderful happened to him, and you feel a bit unhappy, what does that show? That also shows that you really hate that person. Would you be unhappy if something good happened to your son or daughter? If your son came first in the class, would you be unhappy? You would be unhappy if somebody else's son comes first in the class. See when we are unhappy at the blessing or good fortune or some happiness that comes to another person, it shows that you really don't love that person, you hate him. So, you see hatred is pretty deeply entrenched in our hearts, and we fool ourselves by saying we don't have it. You say you are not bitter against a person, but the test is this: are you happy when something bad happens to him? Are you unhappy when something good happens to him? Then you are bitter. You might as well face up to it.

This is like a scan that the Bible gives of your heart. You know, in the hospital, nowadays, they give you a scan to take a picture of what is inside your body, which you cannot see. And when the doctor looks at the scan, he says, 'Listen, there is something wrong with you, there is a tumour there, there is a cancer there.' You may say, 'Well, I feel okay, I don't feel there is anything wrong.' Maybe you don't feel it, but here is a scan that shows that there is a tumour and you better remove it, whether you feel good or not. Otherwise, it will kill you. I want to say to you that this is a scan of your heart's condition. When you are happy with somebody else's misfortune, the scan says you have a tumour. You better remove it. It is a tumour called bitterness, an unforgiving attitude. All these things are children of hatred. Hatred has many children: bitterness, jealousy, anger, these are all children that come out of the mother called hatred, and an unforgiving attitude. The manifestation is, as I said earlier, that you are happy when something bad happens to somebody else or you are unhappy when something good happens to somebody else. We must be sensitive. Jesus has come to save us from that.

You see God is love. The Bible says that again and again. If God is love, tell me the answer to this question. What is Satan? Even a child can answer that one. What is the opposite of love - Hatred? If God is full of love, what is Satan full of - Hatred? When you have hatred in your heart, how do you know that you have it? Well, these children are being born through you: bitterness, jealousy, an unforgiving attitude. What does it prove? It proves that you are in fellowship with Satan whether you know it or not. These things are so deeply entrenched in us that it is impossible for us to be saved from it, unless Jesus saves us. Do you know that salvation from hatred is impossible? You can control your anger, you can control your bitterness and keep it inside. But that is just like being constipated. You have all that rubbish inside but it doesn't mean you are clean. What is the use of keeping the anger inside and not being cleansed? Or keeping the jealousy inside and saying, 'Well, I don't manifest it outwardly.' It is still there within. If the sickness is within, it will still kill you, even if there is no external symptom. And who knows whether it is within you or not? - You yourself. Nobody else may know whether it is within or not, but you know very well whether it is there within you or not.

That is why we have to be extremely careful, whenever we detect a wrong attitude towards somebody within. It is usually towards people who have harmed us in some way in the past. Jesus spoke about that man who caught another person by the throat, because he owed him a little bit of money, but he himself had been forgiven so much by the king. He didn't cleanse that wrong attitude in his heart and the result was that he finally ended up in jail having to pay back to the king that entire large amount that he owed. Jesus was teaching there to be careful about a little wrong attitude towards another person. Do you have an attitude where you are trying to catch somebody by the throat because you feel he owes you something? Yeah, be careful there. It is not a question of cutting off the fruit; it is a question of making the tree good. You know Jesus said make the tree good. Don't just cut off the fruit and put some good fruit hanging on the tree and fool people that you are a good person.

Remember what Jesus said: "Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts " (Mat. 15:18). What are the things that proceed from the heart - "Evil thoughts, murders, these are what defile the man" (Mat. 15:19). You have to cleanse your heart. In other words, the root of the disease, the root of bitterness, the root of jealousy, the root of an unforgiving attitude towards others, that is what needs to be cleansed, if you want to be pure. That is what Jesus has come to save us from. As I said, it is impossible to be free from it, but Jesus can do that for you. He has come to do what is humanly speaking impossible. He has come to save us from the sin of hatred.

First of all we need to confess: 'Lord I thought I had forgiven that person, I haven't really. I thought I had no hatred in my heart against people, but now I realize I do. I really want to be free. I want to partake of God's nature, which is full of love. I want to have my heart cleansed of every bit of hatred and all the children of hatred: bitterness, jealousy, everything. I want to have God's nature within: one of love, overflowing in goodness, desiring good, desiring the very best for other people.'

There is a verse in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." They will be satisfied. If you have a tremendous longing in your heart for the life of God within you, to have love and to be completely free from all hatred, you will find that God answers your prayer. It depends on your longing. It is not enough just to make a weak prayer, 'Yeah Lord I got a bit convicted today by what you said, yeah I know my attitude towards that person is not so good.' That is not enough. You won't be free. You will be free only if you have a tremendous longing to be free: 'Oh God this is an evil thing.' Just think, if you discovered you have AIDS or leprosy, how you would long to be free. You would go from one doctor to another, one hospital to another, desperate to be free. When you have that type of desperation to be free from the sin of hatred and all of its manifestations, Jesus will set you free.

Chapter 63

Unbelief

We shall continue looking at those seriously evil things that are destroying our inner life, which, sometimes, we may not even be aware of. The word of God is like an x-ray machine or a scanning machine that shows us what our inside is really like.

Let us turn today to Mark 4:37 where we read, once when Jesus was travelling in a boat across the lake with His disciples, there was fierce gale of storm and the waves breaking into the boat. The boat was filling up and they were going to sink. The disciples were scared while Jesus was asleep in the boat. They woke Him up and Jesus rebuked the wind and the wind became still. They were afraid that they would perish. They asked Him, " Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing." And He said to them, "Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith" (Mk. 4:40)? Whenever we look at Jesus rebuking His disciples, we find Him reserving His strongest rebukes for one sin and that was unbelief.

We have been looking at sins which Jesus hated the most; sins which are not considered sins by most people in the world - Hypocrisy, pride, selfishness, hatred, and to the list we can add unbelief. Now unbelief is definitely not considered a sin by anybody in the world. The sad thing is, I think, 99% of believers, born again believers, also do not consider unbelief as a sin. They think it as a weakness. 'Yeah, I don't have enough faith, brother.' It is like saying, 'Well, I am not able to lift so many kilos of weight. I am weak. My right hand is weak.' Now if it were a weakness, it is not serious. No, it is serious because it is a sin. Jesus rebuked it as a sin. In fact, it is such a serious sin that in the book of Hebrews we are given a warning: "Take care brethren, lest there should be in anyone of you (in you believers), there can be an evil unbelieving heart" (Heb. 3:12). It is clear that the reference is to believers.

What is an unbelieving heart called? An EVIL unbelieving heart! Now for an adulteress heart, we can understand, it being called an evil adulteress heart. Jesus spoke about an evil and adulteress generation in Matthew 16. A murderer's heart, we can say, as an evil murderer's heart. Maybe even a selfish heart, we could be a little more sensitive, and say that a selfish heart is also an evil heart or a proud heart is an evil heart. Maybe, if we have that much light, we can say a hypocritical heart is also an evil heart. Again, if we have greater light, a heart full of hatred can also be said as an evil heart. But how many people, who have light on all these sins, would also say that an unbelieving heart is an evil heart? But that is exactly what it says here in Hebrews 3:12. In fact, it can make you fall away from the living God altogether.

That is how serious it is. An unbelieving heart can make you fall away from the living God. And so, we see this is another sin that we need to take seriously. Seven times Jesus rebuked His disciples for unbelief, including even after His resurrection. He was rebuking them only for unbelief. It is not that they had conquered their other sins in their life. I am sure they were defeated by hundreds of sins. All those disciples were still seeking who was to be the greatest among them and many, many such things. But Jesus rebuked them only for unbelief.

Now unbelief is a sin, because it is an insult to God. When God has said something and you don't believe it, it is an insult to God. Supposing you are a student in the college and your father sent you a letter saying, 'Son, I have deposited 1000 rupees in your bank account for you to pay your fees.' But you say, 'Well, I am not so sure whether dad really has put it. He may be bluffing me.' Don't you think that is an insult to your father? It certainly is. How much more then when God has said something and you don't believe it? Either we must say, 'No I don't believe the Bible as the word of God.' Then you are okay. Then you are not insulting God because you don't know what God has said. Supposing you are one of those people who believe that that there is no book in the world which is the word of God. There are people like that you know. They don't believe the Bible is the word of God, and that the Bible is written by certain people who expressed their ideas. Such people are not insulting God because they don't have any understanding of what God has said. But you, who are a believer, on one hand you say the Bible is the word of God and on the other, you don't believe what God has written there. You are the one who has an evil heart of unbelief, that is insulting God by saying, 'God said, but I don't believe it.'

Do you believe when God says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5-6), that He really means it, that he will never fail you, never forsake you? Do you believe when it says in Romans 8:28, that every single thing that happens in your life; every single thing, big or small, God makes it all work together for your good? All the evil other people do to you; God will make it work together for your good. Do you believe that? If you believed it, it would change your whole attitude towards your life. You wouldn't hate that man for doing something evil to you because that evil works for your good. Everything depends on faith. If you have faith, you find that you can overcome many other sins.

The Bible says, "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." Why it is so many believers are afraid of the devil? I will tell you why. It is because they don't believe that he was defeated by Christ on the cross. If you believe God's Word that, when Jesus died on the cross, He made Satan powerless (Heb. 2:14), you wouldn't be afraid of the devil. He didn't kill the devil. No. The Bible is very exact. It says here that He made the devil powerless. That means that he has no power over a child of God. If you believe that, you would never be afraid of the devil again. You would never be afraid of witchcraft. You would never be afraid of anything. It all depends on faith.

See faith and fear are opposites. You cannot have faith and fear living in the same heart. You can have one of the two. When faith comes in, fear goes out. It is like light. When you put on the light, the darkness goes out of the room. How can you have darkness and light co-existing anywhere? It is impossible. If you switch off the light, then the darkness takes over the room. In the same way, for fear to come in, faith has to go out. Why did the disciples get scared? They thought, 'Hey, we are dying, the boat is drowning now.' You may find yourself in situations where it looks as if you are really going to sink and it looks as if Jesus is asleep. And you wonder, 'Lord ! don't you care?' It is a question that can often come from the heart of many people. 'Lord ! don't you care for us? Don't you understand what we are going through?' I want to tell you, He certainly does.

In the book of Job, we read, "He knows the way that I take" (Job 23:10) or He knows the way it is with me, as the margin in NASB says. The Living Bible paraphrase of it reads like this; "God knows every detail of what is happening to me." He knows every detail of what is happening to me! Do you believe that? Do you believe that all the minute details of the problems you are facing in your life, God knows it? He certainly does. Jesus was trying to stir up faith in His own disciples and He said in Matthew 10, "Don't be afraid." He further said, "You are of more value than many sparrows, and not one sparrow falls to the ground, anywhere on the earth, without your Father knowing about it" (Mat. 10:31). He also said "The very hairs on your head are all numbered." No human being can ever count the number of hairs in his head. That is impossible, even if he has very little hair. It is impossible to count the number of hairs on your head. But the Bible says that your heavenly Father knows the exact number of the hairs on your head.

When you don't trust Him, He is insulted. That is why unbelief is such a terrible sin. When you think that God will harm you instead of caring for you and protecting you, that is an insult to God. Supposing you went to your little 4-year-old son's room in the middle of the night, say at 2 AM, to see if he was sleeping soundly. But he is sitting up in the bed scared and you ask him, 'Son what is wrong with you?' And if he replies, 'Daddy, I was afraid that in the middle of the night you would come and kill me or something like that,' how would you feel as a father? My son thinks I will harm him when he is asleep. How does God feel, as a Father, when you think that He will harm you? That He won't protect you? That the son has such fear?

Unbelief is an insult to God. Faith honours God. The Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." Unbelief is a sin. Jesus came to save us from sin. Let us remember these sins. From these sins come many other sins, but let us remember these five: Hypocrisy, pride, selfishness, hatred, and unbelief. Ask Jesus to save you from all the five.

Chapter 64

Unforgiveness And Bitterness

In this study we want to look at the way, in one way at least, in which, Satan seeks to find an entry into our life. You know that the devil is out to destroy us and, if we give him any slight entry into our life, in any area, he is going to take over many other areas as well. So, we need to be careful.

Let us turn to 2 Corinthians 2:11. I want to give you a little background to what we are going to read here, so that we understand this verse. When Paul wrote the first letter to the Christians in Corinth, he had heard that there were some serious sins in that church, that they were not judged, and a particular man who was living in that sin was not disciplined. So, Paul wrote concerning that to the Corinthians (in 1 Corinthians 5) and told them that the sin that particular man has committed was so serious that he needed to be put out of the church altogether. Yes, it is true. Some sins require that a man be disciplined so severely, that he will be put out or excommunicated from the church altogether. That may sound harsh, but the purpose is to save his soul, and in this particular case, it did save his soul. Because, we read a little later, when Paul wrote the 2nd letter to the Corinthians, maybe a year later, you find that the man had repented.

When he was put out of the church, he realized the seriousness of sin a little more. He realized how terrible it is to be out in the darkness without fellowship and that brought him to repentance. As long as he was sitting in the church and breaking bread, he never realized the seriousness of sin. Some people realize the seriousness of sin only when they are put out of the church. And, so also with this man and he realized it. But now what was happening was that some of these Corinthian believers, and elders perhaps, went to the other extreme. At first, they were at one extreme where they tolerated sin and were first class compromisers. Now they went to the other extreme where they became self-righteous Pharisees. They wouldn't even accept this man, even after he had repented, had set matters right, given up on his sin, and had given every evidence of repentance. They still would not accept him.

So, Paul had to write to them again and he said in 2 Corinthians 2:10, "Whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ." So, he says that this man has already suffered the punishment: "Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority" (2 Cor. 2:6). What was the punishment? The punishment was that the people in the church would have no more fellowship with him. He experienced that now for a whole year. Now what should you do? You should forgive him and comfort him, lest somehow, he be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So, he says forgive him now and receive him because he has really repented. Even though he had brought a bad name to the church in the past, since now he has repented, forgive him. Then Paul says these words, in verse 11; "In order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan for we are not ignorant of Satan's schemes."

So, what do we see here? We see that, when you don't forgive somebody, Satan can take advantage of you. That is the message we need to get from this passage. And he says, 'We are not ignorant of Satan's scheme, so let me urge you, don't be ignorant of Satan's plan.' We need to be more afraid of Satan as a deceiver, than as a persecutor. Satan may try to persecute us, but that won't harm us as much as when he tries to deceive us. Satan is very, very subtle, very, very clever. He will nurse in your heart, and take care that you keep in your heart, an unforgiving bitter attitude towards someone, so that he can finally destroy you. This is far more deep rooted than we imagine. The Bible speaks in Hebrews 12, about a root of bitterness that can cause trouble. You don't have to wait till it becomes fruit. You know what a root is. When a tree has started taking root, it is probably not even come up above the surface of the ground. Nothing is visible. When you plant a seed in the ground, first of all it takes root before it comes up.

Bitterness is like that. You sowed something in your heart and it is beginning to take root. If you don't pull it out, it is taking root and it will cause a lot of trouble. Not only that a lot of trouble to you, first of all, but many other people can be defiled. Many people can get that infection, because the person who has bitterness in his heart will go around telling other people. It is like a person who has chicken pox who goes around spreading it to others, or like a person with tuberculosis who goes around spreading it to others, or a person with cold going around giving it to others or the like. It is very easy to transmit this sickness. It is highly infectious. You find people who are bitter everywhere in the world. You will find that Christendom is full of it. When a man comes to you with a complaint against another, a gossiper who is talking evil of others, what does he have in his heart? He has bitterness against that person.

I want to say to you dear friends, if you want to save yourself from infection, be careful about whom you listen to. Would you like to get AIDS from somebody? Oh, how careful you are? Well, this is more serious than that. It can destroy you more than AIDS can. Would you like to embrace a man with leprosy? Well, this is more serious. Why do you welcome and embrace a gossiper in your home; a backbiter? The Bible speaks (in 1 Timothy 5) about women who go from house to house, gossiping. There are lots of women like that in many of our churches. I have no hesitation in saying that each of those women is an agent of Satan. You not only welcome them, you give them a cup of coffee or tea and biscuits, and sit and listen to whatever Satan wants to tell you through them and you get defiled yourself. And then she goes to the next house with her tale and you also go to somebody else's house with this tale that you have heard. Satan is, thus, multiplying his agents by the hundreds every day. Believers are doing his work for him in the church.

Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). The one you are listening to, he/she who has come to your house, is an accuser of the brethren. What about you, are you an accuser of the brethren of believers? The point is not whether what you say is right or wrong. The Bible says in Revelation 12:10, that, "Satan accuses the brothers before God." Now Satan may tell us, human beings, many, many lies. He is a liar. But he will not dare to go and tell a lie to God. When Satan accuses you before God, what do you think he accuses you of? Do you think he cooks up some story about something you never did and tries to bluff God with? No, Satan is not such a fool. What he will be telling God is what wrong you have actually done. He is watching your life pretty carefully and, when you have done something wrong, he goes to God and says, 'See, that is what this fellow did.' It is not a lie; it is 100% true. And the same thing he says about somebody else, 'See, what that fellow did over there.' Again, it is a 100% truth. So we see that the accusations that Satan makes before God are all 100% true, not 90% but 100% true.

From that we learn another important thing. When somebody comes in and tells you a tale, even if there is no exaggeration in it, and it is 100% true, that person can still be an accuser of the brethren. He is 100% in fellowship with Satan, who is the great accuser of the brethren. It says in that verse that, Satan does this day and night. He is a full-time worker, full-time accusing the brethren. He needs agents on earth. He has got multitude of agents among the unbelievers who are his children and his servants. But he has a lot of agents among God's children too; people who have some bitterness against somebody, people who haven't forgiven someone, who have a complaint against someone and who go around telling tales about that person.

That is why the Bible says in Colossians 3:13, "If anybody has a complaint against anyone, as the Lord forgave you, you should also forgive him." Anyone! Do you have a complaint against someone? Has someone done something wrong to you? Forgive. If you don't forgive, you will become an agent of Satan, very, very easily. You may think, 'No, no, no, I have forgiven.' But the very fact that you go to someone and tell your tale of woe and make that person feel sorry for you, is an indication that, deep down in your heart, you haven't forgiven that person at all. And who are you destroying? You may think you are destroying that person's reputation by spreading stories about him. Do you know that, if that person loves God, and is whole-hearted, God will make even the evil that you do to him work for his good and sanctify him? The one who is being destroyed is you. So, get rid of that.

Jesus prays for his children, for his brothers and sisters, who failed. Satan accuses them. You can have a choice. Either fellowship with Jesus and pray for them or fellowship with Satan and accuse them. I hope we will make the right choice at least from today.

Chapter 65

Lying

In this study we shall look at a certain characteristic of the human race, which probably is the most widespread and which causes such a lot of destruction and damage in relationships. It is something we can never overcome without the help of God. But you can overcome it. Every human being falls into this sin. Only God can deliver him.

In John 8:44, Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him, "You are of your father - the devil." It is really amazing to see Jesus speak such words to people who had apparently believed in Him (Jn. 8:30, 31). There is a belief in Jesus, which is intellectual. It still leaves a man as a child of the devil. Of course, nowadays people are not bold enough to tell others that they are children of the devil, but not Jesus. He said, "You are of your father, the devil and you want to do the desires of your father." He wasn't insulting them or cursing them. He was just telling them a fact, and showing them, how they could be delivered from that situation and become children of God. But they will never be delivered until they first faced up to the fact of what they were. Until we acknowledge what we are, God cannot deliver us.

Jesus said, further in John 8:44, "The devil was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him." Here is one characteristic of Satan: there is no truth in him at all and he does not stand in the truth. Then Jesus went on to say, "Whenever Satan speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies." So just like, in an earlier study, we saw that God is love and Satan is hatred, in the same way, we see that Jesus said, 'I am the truth' and devil is a liar. The devil does not stand in the truth and there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature. That is, his nature is to tell a lie, for he is a liar and the father of lies. All lies originate with Satan as the father. If you tell a lie, that lie is a child born through Satan being the father and you being the mother. You have given your heart and your tongue to Satan, at that time, to produce a child called a lie. God never fathers lies. That is why it is so important to learn, once we become Christians (believers), to always speak the truth.

Jesus said, concerning this matter, "Let your statement be, 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything beyond these is of evil" (Mt. 5:37) He also said, "You should not swear. Don't make an oath at all" (Mt. 5:34). You don't need to make an oath because, when a man is making an oath, he puts his hand on the Bible or swears by God or heaven or something like that. What he is really saying? 'Well ! most of the time I tell lies, but right now, I am speaking the truth because I am swearing.' But Jesus said, "You shouldn't be like that. You should just speak the truth the whole time, that, you don't need to swear at all." No statement made under oath should be more truthful than a statement made without oath. It should be the same. Anything beyond this is of evil.

What is the first thing God requires from us when we come to Him? It is not perfection, it is not purity, it is not goodness, it is not love, and it is none of these things. There is only one thing God requires from us when we come to Him, and that is honesty. In Jeremiah 3:13, 14 we read what the Lord is saying through His prophet, "Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and return and I am a master to you and I will take you and bring you to Zion." That is, I will bring you to the church if you will only acknowledge your in i quity. In other words, be honest. What did the woman caught in adultery have? Honesty! She had no other virtue. What about the thief who hung on the cross? He said, 'I deserve this.' He acknowledged that he was a criminal deserving death. The other thief, the unrepentant thief, was not willing to acknowledge that. He told Jesus, 'Get us down from this cross. We don't deserve to die.' He went to hell, not because he was a criminal, but because he was dishonest. The other one, on the other side, was equally a criminal or perhaps a greater criminal than the one who went to hell, but he was honest. He said, 'I deserve this' and he went to paradise.

Paradise is not made for perfect people. It is made for honest people. It is made for people who are willing to speak the truth. The first sin mentioned in the Bible is lying. We get to read, in Genesis 3, about the first sin mentioned in the Bible, and that is not the sin Eve committed when she ate of the tree that God had forbidden. There is a sin mentioned in Genesis 3 even before that, not committed by man but by Satan. When Satan came to Eve and asked her, 'Has God said, 'You shouldn't eat of any of these trees?' And the woman said, 'Well, God has said, 'If you eat from this tree, which is in the middle of the garden, you will die." The serpent said in Genesis 3:4, 'You surely shall not die.' That was a lie. That is the first lie and the first sin mentioned in the scriptures; you shall not die, you can disobey God but you will not be punished for it, you will not go to hell. Sin does not have a punishment. That was the lie with which Satan deceived Eve, and ever since, he has deceived the entire human race for thousands of years, even until today. There are preachers who comfort sinners in their sins. There are preachers who comfort believers in their sin, saying, 'You have accepted the Lord. You will go to heaven, no matter how much you sin.'

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 8:11, "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully given to do evil." It is because God does not punish immediately, people keep on living in sin. Therefore, the devil says, 'You're not going to be punished. Look at all these other people around you. Look at these sins they commit. Look at the believers who do so many wrong things and they get away with it.' They haven't got away with it. God's punishment, His judgment has not yet come. That is all. So, there is a lie with which Satan is fooling people all over: you can sin and you will not suffer. The Bible says that, "If you live according to the flesh, you will surely die" (Rom. 8:13). But Satan says, 'No, you will not die. God is merciful. God is gracious. You have asked Jesus to come into your life. So, even if you live according to flesh, you will not die.' That is a deception. If you live according to the flesh you will die. There is no doubt about it at all. If Satan is a liar, he seeks to transmit that nature to his children. And it is very easy for a believer to be infected with that too. Whenever you tell a lie, you are offering yourself to Satan to father one more child.

The last sin mentioned in the Bible is in Revelation 22:15. There it says about those who will be outside the city of God in the final day: "Everyone who loves and practices a lie will be outside the kingdom." Have you ever noticed this before, that, the first sin and the last sin mentioned in the Bible is telling a lie? Lying is a very serious thing. Lying to God, lying to people and every lie is fathered by Satan. Peter said to Ananias, "Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit?" That is why he was killed. The first sin judged in the early church was lying. It is extremely serious. And that is why, as parents, one of the most important things we must teach our children is to stop telling lies. Our children are born with our nature. They tell lies from birth. Unless we show them how serious it is, unless they can see it in our lives they won't learn. They need to see, as parents, we take speaking the truth very seriously, that, if we say something we will do it. If we promised to do something for our children, we need to keep our word or explain to them if some other circumstances came up that prevented us from doing it.

Telling the truth is a quality, a virtue. We have to battle whole-heartedly, if we want to acquire it. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. If you want to be truthful, you have to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and to mortify this lying habit in all your speech. If we do that, we will find that God gives us discernment on the lies which Satan seeks to deceive us with.

Chapter 66

Don’t Believe Satan’s Lies

In this study we want to consider something about deception. In our last study, we thought about lying , and deception is closely related to that. We can be saved from a lot of problems in our life if we can identify Satan's deception.

Let us turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. Here we read about a world ruler who is going to come up to dominate the world in the last days, and he is going to be an instrument in Satan's hands. And he is going to be supported with supernatural powers from Satan. We read here that many people are going to be deceived. "The one who is coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, so as to be saved. For this reason, God will send on them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (2 Thes. 2:9-12). So, there we see how Satan is going to deceive people in the last days. Again, we read in another verse that "The Spirit speaks explicitly that in the latter times, some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1).

Why does God allow spirits that deceive, to come into the midst of His people, to the point where it says here, some will fall away from the faith? We need to understand the reason for that. Heaven is a place of truthfulness. Jesus is the truth. His Spirit is the Spirit of truth. God is the God of truth. God has to separate among those who claim to be His children; those who speak the truth and those who tell lies. He uses many circumstances, many situations, and deceiving spirits as well, to separate these two groups. There are so-called believers who would tell lies when they can make some profit out of it and get some benefit from it for themselves. There are other believers who will not tell a lie under any circumstances, whatever the price they have to pay. These two categories of people cannot be put together. They sit together in a church building today but they will not sit together in heaven. God is going to separate between those who love the truth and those who do not love the truth.

Now one would think that everyone, who claims to be a Christian, loves the truth but it is not so. And only a person who is truthful; one who loves the truth and seeks to be upright in this area of truthfulness, will, in every area of his life, be protected from the deception of Satan, the liar. One of the first areas in which Satan seeks to deceive people is by preventing them from having any assurance of their salvation. I know in my own life, how it took me a number of years, to be sure that I was saved. I had accepted the Lord Jesus as my saviour and had asked Him to come into my heart, perhaps a hundred times, between the ages of 13 and 19. I don't know when He actually came; I don't even know the date. I was always unsure: am I saved or am I not saved? And then one day, I read a verse in John 6:37, where Jesus says, "Him that comes to me, I will never cast out." And I could say, 'Well, Lord, I have certainly come to you, at least a hundred times, if not more. Today I am going to believe you that you did not cast me out.' Now that was probably true long before that day, but I believed it only that day and then I got assurance of salvation. And once I got that assurance of salvation, it has never left me. It hasn't left me for 39 years now. God's word is the truth and, if I believe God's word, it will deliver me from all the lies of Satan. Satan tried to tell me for so long that I was not a child of God, but God's word, with the witness of the Spirit within my heart, assured me that I was.

The second thing Satan tries to do is, tell you a lie that God hasn't forgiven all your past sins. He has forgiven most of them perhaps, but some of those really serious sins you committed, they are not forgiven. There are so many believers who live under condemnation because they believe this deception, the lie of the devil. Don't believe him. He is a liar! The Bible says in 1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light (and that means we are honest before God), the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins." Every sin is cleansed away by the blood, when we come into the light and acknowledge our failure and our sin.

So, the third way you find that Satan seeking to deceive is, to tell people that even if God forgave you, every time He looks at you, He still remembers all those terrible things you did against Him. That is another lie. You shouldn't believe Satan. He is a liar. In Hebrews 8:12, the Lord says, "I will be merciful to their inequities. I will not remember their sins anymore." I had this problem for at least a couple of years after I had assurance of my salvation. I thought, 'Yeah, well, I know God has forgiven me but I am not too sure whether He still remembers all those things I did and holds that against me,' until one day, I believed this verse in Hebrews 8:12 - I will not remember their sins anymore. And I said, 'Lord I believe that. That not a single sin I have ever done in my life, you will remember.' He doesn't hold a single thing that you have done against Him. When He looks at you, it is as though you have never sinned. That is, if you had been honest with God in the first place.

We read about Satan tempting Jesus. It is quite amazing to see when this happened. We read in Matthew 3:17, the voice from heaven came at Jesus' baptism saying, "This is My beloved son in whom I am well pleased." Immediately after that, Jesus went into the wilderness and the devil tempted Him. The first thing the devil said was, "If you are the son of God," questioning the voice of God that came from heaven! The voice had said very clearly, "This is my beloved son," and the devil says, "Are you really? - if you are the son of God...". This type of temptation also comes to us as the children of God. The Holy Spirit has come giving us an assurance that we are God's children and we call God our Father. But the devil comes to us and says, 'Are you really?' What are you going to believe now; those feelings that the devil gives you or God's unchangeable word? Feelings will come and feelings will go and every feeling is deceiving. But God's word is unchanging. That is where we put our faith.

The devil seeks to make us feel condemned by so many lies like this. He tells us that we are accepted by God on the basis of our works. This is another lie. We are not accepted by God on the basis of our works. We are accepted by God on the basis of our repentance and faith in Christ. We are accepted by God in Christ. What do I mean by this? Supposing one morning, you didn't get time to read the Bible and you rush off to work. Are you going to have an accident that day? The devil will tell you that you might. That is superstition; it is a lie. I am not accepted by God because I read the Bible in the morning. The only thing that can break my fellowship with God is conscious sin, where I have deliberately disobeyed God in some area where He made His will clear to me. If I have deliberately sinned, then my fellowship with God is broken, but not otherwise. Maybe I didn't get time to read the Bible or maybe I didn't pray and I went off to work. If my conscience is clear, that is, as far as I know I am not consciously sinning, my fellowship with God is clear. I can read the scriptures later on in the day. I am not going to have an accident. We must not believe all these lies that the devil says.

Think of the lies that the devil tells us in relation to the future. What is anxiety? Anxiety is the result of all the lies the devil tells us, which are going to happen to us in the future. I think it is true to say that 99% of the things that we worry about never take place. Think of the things you worried about in past years. They haven't taken place in your life. But you worried about them, got anxious and wasted a lot of time, perhaps a lot of sleep as well, but none of those evil things which you thought might happen, have happened, except maybe 1%. Have you realized how much time and energy - emotional energy you wasted in past years, worrying about things that were never going to take place? Who did that? Who caused all that anxiety and worry in your mind? That was Satan. He was the one who kept on telling you about this thing and that thing and the other thing that might happen to you, or to your children, or your wife.

Let us make a decision today that we are not going to let the devil fool us anymore. We are going to love the truth and we are going to expose the deception and lies of Satan.

Chapter 67

Anger

Once again, we are going to look at a certain characteristic of the human race that is so widespread across the world, among people of all temperaments, nations, races and cultures, something that reaps havoc and destruction in homes and everywhere, and how God can deliver us from it. I am talking about anger.

In a previous study we saw how we give Satan an opportunity in our life if we don't forgive someone; an opportunity to get a foothold in our life to destroy us. The Bible says another thing that gives the devil an opportunity in our life is anger. Ephesians 4:26-27 says, "Be angry but don't sin... and don't let the sun go down on your anger and don't give the devil an opportunity." There is an anger that is sinful, and there is an anger that is not sinful. We read in Mark 3, when Jesus went into the synagogue, there was a man with a withered hand and the Pharisees were watching Jesus to see if He would to heal him on the Sabbath day. When Jesus saw the lack of compassion on the part of these Pharisees, we read, "He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart" (Mk. 3:5). He didn't lose control of Himself. If He had lost control of Himself, He would not have been grieved. He had grief and anger at these people. Jesus was angry when He saw the moneychangers making money in the name of religion in the temple. He drove them out. Again, He did not lose control of Himself.

"The spirit filled man is full of self-control" (Gal. 5:24). He does not lose control of himself, but he may be angry when he sees people, like the Pharisees, lacking compassion for poor suffering people or when he sees people making money in the name of religion. Such anger, where it concerns the glory of God and the good of other people, is not sin. But anger that concerns ourselves; angry because somebody cheated me or somebody inconvenienced me or somebody disturbed my plans or made things difficult for me, or hurt me, all such anger is sin. When they slapped Jesus on the face and pulled out the hair from His beard, He never got angry. He never said anything. He forgave them.

So when it says be angry but don't sin, we need to recognize what type of anger is sin and what type isn't. Anger that has got nothing to do with us, but only with the glory of God and the good of others, it is righteous anger. But anger, because of anything connected with us, the way somebody treats me or hurts me, whatever it is, it is always sin. Then it goes on to say (Eph. 4:26), if you do sin in this way, make sure your anger doesn't stay with you for more than 12 hours. God recognizes that a lot of believers are not going to have victory over anger, because they are not wholehearted enough. If they were wholehearted, they would have victory over anger, the wrong type of anger. Because He knows that there are a lot of people who will not choose God's best, He offers them a second best for their salvation. He says, "Just make sure the sun doesn't set over your anger."

In those days, the day was divided into two parts, day and night in a different way that it is now. Day was 6 o'clock in the morning till 6 o'clock in the evening or sunset, and night was from sunset to sunrise next morning. So, when it says here, don't let the sun go down on your anger, what it basically means is, don't go to sleep with your anger unresolved or unsettled. In those days, without electricity, people went to sleep in the sunset and woke up at sunrise. So, the word for us today is, don't go to bed with some unresolved, unsettled anger still there in your heart. How careful people are to brush their teeth before they go to bed? Many people are careful just to ensure that leftover particles of food don't stay within the teeth and destroy their teeth. How much more careful we should be to make sure that some leftover bitterness or anger is not still there in our hearts, not cleansed away, when we go to sleep with that? This means that a husband and wife, even if they had a disagreement or a tension between them during the day, should settle it before they go to bed.

Very, very few believers, husband and wives, obey this exhortation. Do you lose your temper, do you get angry? Well, seek to overcome it. But until you do, make sure of one thing, that, at least, you settle the matter before you go to sleep. That is the absolute outer limit. Don't go beyond that. What shall we say then about believers who carry anger, bitterness, and hatred in their heart against others for days, months, and years? We have to say they have no fear of God; no respect for the word of God. When you let anger to stay in your heart, "You give the devil an opportunity" (Eph. 4:27). You are giving the devil a foothold in your life to destroy you, to control you, and to do something in your life to bring confusion. Don't give the devil an opportunity.

When you turn back to the beginning of the Bible, after Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, we read that they had two children. They were not the only two, there were many others, but two of them are mentioned here, Cain and Abel. They both came and offered an offering to God. Abel offered a lamb and Cain offered some vegetables. The Lord accepted Abel and his offering (Gen. 4:4) but He did not accept Cain. There we read of the first sin mentioned after man left the Garden of Eden. No doubt Adam and others committed many sins before that, but the first sin mentioned in the Bible, after man got out of Eden, is anger. Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. You know, when a man is angry, you can see it in his face. He can't hide it. God has made our face in such a way that if you are angry, everybody will know it.

And the Lord said to him, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face like this? If you also do well and intend well, don't you think your face would be lifted up - you will be cheerful and not angry?' Cain did not listen. Because he didn't listen to God, when God tried to warn him, he went out and became a murderer. The Lord had said to him, "Sin is crouching at your door. It desires you - sin desires to have you. But you must master it" (Gen. 4:7). That is the first place in the Bible where you hear about victory over sin preached by God himself. God preached the first message on victory over sin. Sin desires you but you must master it, you must overcome it. There we see the importance of dealing with anger as soon as it comes and God warns us, even today, through the Holy Spirit. But Cain didn't listen. When you don't listen, sin just grows like a cancer. If you don't cut it out, it will be worse. And it finally became so bad he went and killed his brother.

So, there we see how anger came out of jealousy. Here was Cain. He saw God blessing Abel and he couldn't stand it, particularly because Abel was younger. Are you jealous of someone, younger than you, being blessed mightily by the Lord? What is your attitude towards him? Do you rejoice like you should, if you are the member of the same body, or are you jealous that God is using him and not you? If so, you are evil. That jealousy will lead to anger and you never know what the final result will be. We read another example in 1 Samuel 18. It was a time when David had killed Goliath and all the women came out of the cities of Israel dancing and singing and saying, "Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands ! " (1 Sam. 18:7). And just like it is said about Cain, it says about Saul, a man whom God had once chosen to be king that he became very angry, and eventually an evil spirit possessed him because he allowed this anger to go beyond limits. He was angry out of jealousy. He said, "They have ascribed ten thousands to David, but only thousands to me" ( 1 Sam. 18:8). And it came about in the next day an evil spirit came upon Saul. It is dangerous to let anger continue. It can lead to an evil spirit oppressing you. That is what we see here. It became so bad that Saul took a spear and tried to kill David. Anger can lead to murder. Of course, unlike Abel, David escaped.

Jesus Christ has come to save us from sin. Seek God with all of your heart to be totally free from anger. Ask God to deliver you from it completely, totally! Cry out to God every time you slip and fall. Go to God and say, 'Lord I have sinned, deliver me from this completely.' Don't take it lightly. Jesus can deliver you totally from this bad habit.

Chapter 68

Proving God’s Perfect Will (1)

In this and the next two studies we want to consider how we can find God's perfect will for our lives. This is a very, very important subject.

The Bible speaks in Romans 12 about understanding the perfect will of God. It says "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2). There is a will of God for your life, which is perfect. From the time you are born again, from the time you have given your life to Christ, till the end of your appointed days on earth, God has chalked out, mapped out, marked out, and prepared a perfect blueprint, a perfect plan for every detail of your life; where you should live, whom you should marry, what you should do, what your earthly occupation should be, what all trials you should go through, what all temptations you should face, and what ministry you should have in His Body. These are all part of God's plan for your life. And you will never know or fulfil that plan unless you have a longing. God doesn't force anyone to walk in this plan. God doesn't even force people to go into heaven. He doesn't stop people from going to hell, if they want to go to hell. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The Holy Spirit is in the world, moving around, turning people towards God, steering believers to respond to His call, to surrender, and seek God's perfect will. But if the Holy Spirit finds that you are not really serious about doing God's perfect will in your life, He will just leave you alone. He won't pursue after you. He may cry a few times, but if He finds that you are not eager about doing God's will because you won't be able to make so much money, or you won't be able to get on in the world if you seek God's will, well then, He will just leave you alone. And in eternity, you will have a lot of regrets. When you map out your life, you map out as a blind man. You are totally blind concerning the future; you don't even know what is going to happen tomorrow. You are totally blind concerning all the dangers and the pitfalls that are in front of you, made by men and made by Satan and his demons.

As far as the future goes, we are totally blind. It is like a blind man trying to walk through an unknown path. Isn't it good for such a man to have a guide whose eyes are wide open and who can see far ahead, so far in distance? That is exactly what God wants to do for us. God knows the whole future. He knows exactly what is good for us. He knows every pitfall, every snare that is prepared for you by men or demons, and He can protect you from all of them. He can lead you in a path, in your earthly life, that will be so perfect that one day, when you come to the end of your life and you stand before the Lord and look back over your life, you will realize you could not have made a better plan yourself. I see it like this: If I knew all the factors that are going to affect my life in the future, if I knew every single thing that would happen to me along this path and that path and the other path, and the alternatives I have to choose, if I knew every aspect of the future and if I knew myself as God knows me; my abilities, my personalities, if I have God's wisdom, the plan I would make would exactly be the same as what God has made for me. Because all of us seek our own interests, we seek what is good for us. Do you know that God also seeks what is good for you? There is a verse in Jeremiah 29:11 where God says, "I know the plans I have for you, they are not plans for calamity but plans for your welfare, to give you a future and a hope."

God's perfect plan for us is something that is for our welfare, that which is the very best for us. Therefore, if you are a wholehearted disciple of Jesus Christ, you will seek His plan in every area of your life. You will say, 'Lord, I don't want to live in any city or town where you don't want me to live. I don't want to marry any girl or any boy whom you don't want me to marry. Your choice is going to be the uppermost in every single area of my life. I want to spend my money the way you want me to spend it. I want to spend my time the way you want me to spend it. And I want to do only what you want me to do on this earth.' If you are such a person, I want to share with you some principles, by which we can prove the perfect will of God. I want to put this in the form of 12 questions that we can ask ourselves, if we are to find God's perfect will on any issue. Sometimes we can be faced with an issue concerning which we are not sure. Is this God's will or is it not? Then if we ask ourselves these 12 questions and seek to answer them as honestly as possibly, we can to ourselves, as we come to the end of the list of those questions, it will become more and more clear to us what the will of God is.

Let me first list out those questions to you and then we will go through them one by one over this and next two studies.

1) Is this thing that I am considering contrary to any of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, or to the spirit of the New Testament as far as I know? In other words, is there something forbidding it in God's word, in the New Testament especially?

2) Is it something I can do with a clear conscience?

3) Is it something I can do for the glory of God?

4) Is it something I can do in fellowship with Jesus?

5) Can I ask God to bless me as I do it?

6) Will my doing it, blunt my spiritual edge in any way?

7) Will it be spiritually profitable and edifying to the best of my knowledge?

8) Would I be happy if I were found doing it at the moment when Jesus returns to earth?

9) What do wiser and more mature brothers think about it?

10) Will my doing it bring dishonour to God's name or ruin my testimony, if others know about it?

11) Will my doing it cause others to stumble, if they know about it?

12) Do I feel free in my spirit to do it?

As we look at these 12 questions one by one, it will become more and clearer, what God's will is concerning any area.

First of all, if something is forbidden in scripture, we don't need to think about that a second time. That is very clear in scripture. Should I tell a lie here? Well, does the scripture say anything about telling lies? It certainly does. Is there any excuse for me not to forgive this person? In those areas, scripture is absolutely clear. We must forgive and we must always speak the truth. There are many other areas like this where God's word is crystal clear and, we don't need to pray or seek God at all. If you are considering something which is contrary to God's word, if it is contrary to the spirit of the New Testament; it may not be a particular passage in scripture that is pointing to that particular matter which I am considering but if I have understood the principles of the New Testament, I can ask myself, 'Is this contrary to the Spirit of The New Testament ?' By that itself I should know what to do. That is the first question. That is why it is important for us to know what the scripture says.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read, "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." So, there we see that scripture has been given to us to correct us, to lead us in the path of righteousness, and equip us for every good work. If you are not familiar with the teaching of the New Testament, there may be situations in your life where you don't know what God's will is. You won't know because you do not pay attention to scripture and you have not studied the scriptures. This is why it is so important to give ourselves to a careful study of the New Testament, in order to find God's will in the areas where that will is revealed in scripture. Then it will be much easier for us to know God's will in those many other areas of our life, which are not revealed in scripture as well, because we will know the spirit behind the scriptures. For example, if you are considering a job or considering marrying someone, you will not find explicit mention in the scripture. But if you have spent your life seeking to obey God's will in every area that you have seen in the scriptures, God will make sure you don't miss His will in such important areas as marriage! That is the benefit we get by obeying God's word.

And secondly, you need to ask yourself, 'Is this something you can do with a clear conscience.' Conscience is not a perfect guide, but it is a very healthy guide to show us what God's will is. In 1 John 3:21, it says, "If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God." This is the thing that gives us boldness. As you consider this course of action, you find in your conscience a freedom. Or does your conscience disturb you that this is not good? This is not something that Jesus would want you to do. If your conscience disturbs you, don't do it. So, think of these two things. Is it according to God's word? Is it something I can do with a clear conscience?

Chapter 69

Proving God’s Perfect Will (2)

We want to continue the subject of how we can find the perfect will of God for our lives. This is so important, because, if we find God's perfect will, we can live the most useful life, any human being can ever live, on the face of the earth.

In our last study we were considering the importance of knowing God's perfect will. If we know God's perfect will, we can spend our earthly days to gain maximum profit. When people have money that they have saved, they need advice on how best to invest it, to get maximum returns and maximum profit. People are so careful to get the maximum, safe and secure returns for their money, but they are not so careful with investing their life in the most profitable way possible. This is the foolishness of man. We think money is more important than our life. Is it really so? - Far from it. If you want to invest your money to get maximum returns, how much more, if God gives you 70 or 80 years on this earth, that you should invest those 80 years to get the maximum returns possible? And the maximum returns can never be counted in terms of money. It can only be counted in terms of usefulness for God's kingdom because that alone is going to be eternal.

So, we need to know what the best way to live on this earth is. God has made a plan for each of our lives. But you will never know it unless you seek Him for it. So, in our last study, we listed 12 questions that we need to answer, if we are to know God's perfect will. We saw two of them already. Firstly, we need to ask ourselves this question: 'This thing which I am considering, this step which I am taking, is it contrary to any of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles or is it contrary to the spirit of the New Testament, as far as I know?' Secondly, 'Is it something I can do with a clear conscience?' Let me say a word about a clear conscience. It is possible, sometimes, for us to kill our conscience. When our conscience forbids us from doing something, we silence our conscience by asking it to keep quiet and go ahead and do what is forbidden by it. If you keep doing that for a few occasions, gradually your conscience will no longer trouble you because you have killed it.

A third question that we need to ask ourselves is, 'Is this something that I can do for the glory of God?' In 1 Corinthians 10:31, we are told, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." God has created us for His glory and our salvation lies in seeking to do everything for His glory. God has designed this in such a way, because that is the very best for us. Otherwise, we would seek our own glory and destroy ourselves. That is what is happening in the world. Men seek their own glory and their own in so many ways that they fight and clash with each other and destroy themselves. It happens in Christian churches as well, unfortunately.

Supposing you are trying to find out a particular action, whether it is something that God wants you to do or not, maybe watching a particular TV program or going to a particular place. Here is a good question to ask yourselves, as it says the scripture that we just saw, 'Whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.' Ask then, 'Lord can I do this for your glory? Can I watch that for your glory? Can I go there for your glory?' And if you find you cannot, drop it. Even if it looks very innocent, if you cannot honestly say that you can do that for the glory of God, don't do it.

A fourth question you need to ask yourself, 'Is it something I can do in fellowship with Jesus? Is it something that Jesus and I can sit together and do?' Take for example, is it right for a believer to smoke a cigarette? Well, can you offer a cigarette to Jesus as well and ask Him to smoke along with you? If so, go ahead. Is it right for a believer to be drinking alcohol, particularly in excess? Well, ask yourself, would Jesus join you in such a bout of drinking? And if He won't join you, then you better not go in for that yourself. Is there a particular movie you feel like Jesus would go along with you to watch? Then go ahead and watch it. A particular program on TV that you feel is good, would Jesus watch with you? Then go ahead and watch it, otherwise avoid it. The Bible says in Colossians 3:17, "Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Everything I do, I need to do in fellowship with Jesus Christ.

A fifth question that we could ask ourselves is, 'Can I ask God to bless me as I do this particular thing?' Maybe you are in doubt, whether something is good or right or wrong. You are not sure. Maybe it is a borderline matter. Then you ask this fifth question to yourself. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:8, "God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you always having all sufficiency in everything, may have an abundance for every good deed." God gives grace and His blessing for every good deed. So, ask yourself, and your conscience will tell you. Is this something, which you can ask God to put His blessing upon as you move ahead? If not, hold back.

A sixth question, 'Will my doing this blunt my spiritual edge in any way?' We read of Paul advising Timothy (2 Tim. 2:15), "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed handling accurately the word of truth." He is saying be very, very careful to always present yourself to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed. So, this particular course of action that you are considering right now, is it something that will (it may be good, it may be right in so many ways), blunt your spiritual edge. That means you won't be spiritually sharp if you keep on doing these types of things. You see, there are many legitimate things in the world like music, sport, or entertainment and certain good TV programs. There is nothing wrong in engaging in these activities. But, when these things are taken to an excess, man becomes a slave to those activities and he loses his spiritual sharpness. He is no longer sharp. And there we see how many believers have their effectiveness for God nullified by Satan.

A seventh question, 'Is this spiritually profitable? Will it be spiritually profitable and edifying to the best of my knowledge?' Paul says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12). He repeats somewhat similar words later where he says, “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edifying" (1 Cor. 10:23 ). So, the question is not whether it is lawful or not. Many Christians are always operating on the level of, is it lawful or is it not lawful, will God permit it or won't He permit it. I am not talking about God's permissive will for your life; I am talking about God's perfect will for your life.

God permits many things, which are not His perfect will. So, if you want to live in God's permissive will, just ask yourself is it right or wrong. Don't do anything unrighteous and don't do anything unlawful and you will be in God's permissive will. But, if you want God's perfect will for your life, you need to ask one more question: 'Is this spiritually profitable and edifying? Is this something that will help me? Is it a profitable thing spiritually? Is it something that will build me up, help me to be a better disciple of Jesus?' If you ask questions like these, you will find God's perfect will in your spirit.

Now when I say spiritually profitable and edifying, don't misunderstand. I am not saying that only Bible reading and prayer and going to meetings are spiritually profitable and edifying. We are creatures made with a body and this body has certain needs. There may be times that you need to relax. Sometimes just sleeping may be the most glorifying thing to do for God. There may be times when sleeping is the most spiritually profitable and edifying thing to do. Or, it may be some type of relaxation or entertainment - going to a picnic with your children is the most spiritually profitable and edifying thing to do. So don't think that it is only fasting and prayer and reading the Bible are the only spiritually profitable, edifying things. We need relaxation, we need a certain amount of rest and we need food to eat. There is nothing wrong with any of these things. We are not ascetics. Jesus slept, Jesus ate good food. So don't go to the fanatical extreme when you ask this question.

But here are good questions that you can ask yourselves and, as you answer them, you will know what God's will is for your life. 'Is it something that I can do for the glory of God? Is it something I can do in fellowship with Jesus? Can I ask God to bless me as I do it? Will my doing it blunt my spiritual edge? Will it be spiritually profitable and edifying?' Then you will know what God's will is for your life.

Chapter 70

Proving God’s Perfect Will (3)

We shall continue with what we have been considering in our last two studies, as to how we can find the perfect will of God for our life, in the different decisions we have to make in life. This is the way our life can be brought to maximum effectiveness for God.

We have been looking at a number of questions that we need to ask ourselves, which will help us to be sure concerning God's will for our life. In this New Covenant age, God doesn't speak to us through prophets or with voices from heaven, primarily but through our renewed mind. The Bible says in Romans 12:2, "Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what that will of God is, which is good, acceptable and perfect."

When we are in doubt concerning God's will, we need to ask ourselves these questions. We have already considered seven of them. Let me repeat them for your benefit. First of all, we ask ourselves, 'Is it contrary to any of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, or to the spirit of the New Testament, as far as I know?' The second question that we need to ask ourselves: 'Is it something I can do with a clear conscience?' Then a third question; 'Is it something I can do for the glory of God?' The fourth question: 'Is it something I can do in fellowship with Jesus?' Fifthly, 'Can I ask God to bless me, as I do it?' Sixth question: 'Will my doing it blunt my spiritual edge in any way?' And the seventh question: 'Will it be spiritually profitable and edifying to the best of my knowledge?'

Now we go to the eighth question. We need to ask ourselves, when we are considering a particular course of action, 'Would I be happy, if I were found doing this, at the moment when Jesus returns to earth?' That means, supposing while you are doing this particular thing, whatever you are planning to do, Christ returns! Would you be ashamed of what you are doing or would you be perfectly happy that the Lord found you doing that when He returned? 1 John 2:28 says, "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence, and not shrink away from Him in shame, at His coming." There are people who are going to shrink away from Him in shame, because they have done so many things that have dishonoured the Lord; so many things that they would not want to be found doing, if Christ returned at that moment. So, He says, 'Little children abide in Him so that, if He appears suddenly, we will have confidence.' So, that is a good question to ask ourselves: 'Would I be happy, if I were found doing this, at the moment when Jesus returns to earth?' Now don't think that, if it is a Christian work or something like that, definitely Jesus will be happy if you are found doing that. No. There are so many types of Christian work in the world today, and you need to know what particularly the Lord wants you to do.

A ninth question, which is a very important question, particularly for younger people. I mean young spiritually; those who are not very matured in the Lord themselves. 'What do wiser and more mature brothers think about this?' Let me show you three verses from the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 11:14 we read, "Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counsellors there is deliverance or victory." Where there are many counsellors, there is a safety, because people can tell you different aspects of that particular matter that you are considering, which you may not have thought of yourself, particularly spiritual aspects. So, it is good for us to consult with wiser and more mature brothers. The same message is found in Proverbs 15:22, "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counsellors they succeed." So, if you are fortunate enough to have godly counsellors who can advise you, it is good to get their opinions and see what they think about your course of action. We don't have to become slaves to their opinion, but it is good to take their advice. Again, in Proverbs 24:6, "By wise guidance, you will wage war and in abundance of counsellors there is victory." So, there is a great value in considering what other people think about this particular course of action.

Another question (10th) that we need to ask ourselves is, 'This particular thing that I am thinking of doing, will my doing it bring dishonour to God's name if others know about it, or ruin my testimony if others know about it?' Maybe you are considering an action which other people will not be able to find out. Maybe it is a secret thing; maybe it is a thing in which there is very little likelihood of anybody discovering it. But that is not the point. The point is if other people discovered it, would it bring dishonour to God's name? Or, if other people discovered it, will it ruin your testimony? If you say, 'Oh well, only as long as I keep it secret, it is okay' but, if others come to know about it, God's name will be dishonoured, my testimony will be ruined. Then you know, perhaps the best course of action for you is to avoid doing that altogether. Because it is something shady, it is something that you know will bring dishonour to God's name if other people know about it and so you don't want other people to know about it. You try your best to conceal it.

The eleventh question that we can ask is, 'Will my doing it cause others to stumble if they know about it?' Fortunately, other people don't know what you are doing or planning to do. But supposing they did know, would it cause them to stumble? Or, are you going to say like Cain, 'Well, I am not my brother's keeper.' But the Lord said you are. We are our brother's keeper. Paul said, 'If something I do is going to cause another person to stumble, or fall away, I won't do it at all in my life. I will just avoid it altogether.' So it is a very good question to ask: 'Will my doing this cause others to stumble if they know about it?' For example, in Romans 14:13 we read, "Let us not judge one another, but not put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way". Again in 1 Corinthians 8:9, "Take care lest this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak." So, there are two things we need to ask: if other people know about this, will it dishonour God's name and will it cause them to stumble? If it is going to dishonour God's name, then we should avoid it. 2 Corinthians 8:21 says, "We are careful not only for what is right in the sight of the Lord and honourable, but also what is in the sight of men." It is also important. We should not cause anyone in the world to stumble by the way we live or do something. Paul said, 'I will not even eat meat if it causes other people to stumble.'

And the last question we could ask ourselves is, 'Do I feel free in my spirit to do it?' Ultimately that is the way we decide after having asked all these questions. We finally ask, 'Do I feel free in my spirit to do it.' 1 John 2:27 says, "You have an anointing that teaches you about all things and just as it taught you, you abide in Him. You don't need anyone to teach you and that anointing will teach you everything that you need to know." That is the Holy Spirit witnessing within our spirit that something is in line with God's will.

So as you ask yourselves these 12 questions, you will come to know very clearly in your mind whether some course of action you are considering is God's will or not. Let us go through that list again:

1. Is it in line with the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and the New Testament, is it contrary to any of their teachings, as far as I know?

2. Is it something I can do with a clear conscience?

3. Is it something I can do for the glory of God

4. Is it something I can do in fellowship with Jesus?

5. Can I ask God to bless me as I do it?

6. Will my doing it blunt my spiritual edge in any way?

7. Will it be spiritually profitable and edifying to the best of my knowledge?

8. Will I be happy if I were found doing it at the moment when Jesus returns to earth?

9. What do wiser and mature brothers think about it?

10. Will my doing it bring dishonour to God's name or ruin my testimony if others know about it?

11. Will my doing it cause others to stumble if they know about it?

12. Do I feel free in my spirit to do it?

After asking these questions if you can get a positive answer, the right answer to these questions, then we can move forward, because the Bible says in Romans 8:6, "The mind of the spirit is life and peace." You will have peace in your spirit as you move forward and you can fulfil God's perfect will.

Chapter 71

Submission To Authority

We want to consider in this study, whether the matter of submitting to authority in our home or in our office or in the church is an essential thing; when we should submit and when we shouldn't. It is a very relevant topic to the decisions we have to take in our daily life.

When we look at the origin of sin (we have looked at this in our studies quite a while ago), we find that sin originated in the universe when a created angel rebelled against God's authority. Lucifer was the head of all the angels. He decided that he is not going to submit to the authority of God as creator, and he rebelled against that authority. As soon as he rebelled, he was cast out of heaven and he became the devil. So, we find that the question of submission to authority was something that arose way back in the beginning of creation. The great controversy there was: shall I submit to authority or not. And throughout the ages, this has been the greatest question that has caused problems in every area. When do we submit to those whom God places over us, and when can we say no? Are we to be slaves without any opinion or is there anything that we can do on our own? Are we to just blindly do what other people tell us to do?

Well, first of all, let me quote you this verse from Acts 5:29. This was when the apostles stood before the High Priest who was questioning them. They said to him, "We must obey God rather than men." Now there are no two ways about that. We must obey God rather than men. If it is a question of, 'shall I obey God or shall I obey any man,' the answer is clear, 'I have to obey God.' So, if a man tells me to do something contrary to what the Bible says, I never have to listen to him, even if he is an authority over me at home, or in the office, or in the church, or anywhere. But it must be something that God has clearly spoken in the word. For example, God has said, 'We should not bow down to idols.' If somebody tells you to bow down to idols, you can say, 'I am sorry sir, I can't do that.' Or, if you are a wife, and your husband tells you to go and murder somebody or to give your body in adultery, you can say, 'no, I am sorry I won't do it. I am not going to submit to you in that area.' These are examples where a wife can say no to her husband. Even a child can say no to his parents.

When I say what God has told you, I don't mean what you feel God has spoken in your heart. The reason is, in some of those things, it maybe just your own feeling. You say, 'Well, God has told me to go here.' That is not in scripture. If you are under some authority that God has placed over you, you better submit to that authority. And if he tells you not to go there, don't go there, even if you feel like going in your heart. If that person is an authority over you, you must submit to his authority. It is the other way around too. If he tells you to go somewhere and you don't feel like going, if he is an authority over you, you have to submit to him.

When Jesus came to earth to undo the works of the devil, God kept him under the authority of Joseph and Mary for 30 years, not for 1 or 2 weeks, but for 30 long years, as a child, as a teenager, as a young man in his twenties. We read in Luke 2:51 that Jesus continued in subjection to Joseph and Mary at Nazareth. That is the way the 30 years of His life is described. He came to undo the works of Satan. Satan is the author of rebellion. He rebelled against authority. He teaches children to rebel against parental authority.

There are basically three areas where we have an authority structure. One is in the home, where parents are an authority over their children. The other is in society, where we have the government or the police or secular authorities, and in your place of work, your boss. These are all secular authorities in the society placed over you for things to be conducted in an orderly way. God has planned that in society, as much as He has planned parents in a home. And it is your duty to submit to those authorities. The third area is the church, where God places elders to whose authority you need to submit. In all these areas, if you rebel against the authority that God has placed over you, you are going to be in fellowship with Satan. Because he was the first person to rebel against authority and he is the one who instigates people to rebel against authority even today. He instigates children to rebel against parents, students to rebel against their teachers, workers to rebel against their bosses and employees to form trade unions to go on strike and to fight against the management and many things like that. Now to ask for your legitimate rights, as a worker in a factory, it is perfectly right, even if it is asked through a trade union. But to rebel against authority, that is wrong.

So, we need to see that rebellion is of Satan. When we see that Jesus subjected Himself in Nazareth to Joseph and Mary, we could ask ourselves this question: 'Who was perfect in that home in Nazareth?' Were Joseph and Mary perfect? Neither of them was perfect! They were just an Old Testament couple who had their struggles and problems like all married people have. Joseph and Mary must have lost their temper at each other, like all married couples do. They must have had their disagreements and their tension, and the days when they didn't speak to each other and so many things like that. They were far from perfect. They were an Old Testament couple, living in a time where victory over sin was not even promised. When you look at New Testament couples today, the way they live, you can imagine how an Old Testament couple lived. That was not a perfect home, far from perfect. Don't think that Joseph and Mary were saints. That is a delusion that Satan has put upon a lot of people. They were ordinary people who needed a saviour.

Jesus was perfect. He never sinned. Joseph and Mary sinned and yet Jesus lived in subjection to an imperfect authority over Him, for 30 years. Everything they asked Him to do were not perfect commands , but He obeyed them anyway . If it was not contrary to God's will, He did it. If they asked Him to do something at a time when He was tired, He still got up and did it, without questioning or complaining. If He felt, in some situation, that a decision His parents took was not fair. He still obeyed them. He was tempted in all points, like children are , but He never sinned. And He didn't do that just when he was 5 or 6 years old, He did that to the age of 30, till the time He moved out of His house.

I want to say to you , young people, as long as you live in your parent's house dependant on them, follow Jesus' example. You cannot do better than that. Those are the first steps towards being a spiritual man or a woman. Children, honour your father and mother. Obey your parents. Do what they tell you and it will go well with and you will live long on the earth. Your example is Jesus Himself. It doesn't matter if your parents make mistakes. Jesus' earthly parents also made mistakes. But He still obeyed them. God does not ask us to submit to perfect authority. There is no perfect authority in the home, in society, in the church, or anywhere in the world. Everybody is imperfect. But He tests our humility by asking us to submit to imperfect authorities.

It is the same in society. The Bible says in Romans 13:1, 2 - "Every soul should be subject to the higher powers, to the governing authority, for there is no authority except from God. And those, which exist, are established by God. So, He who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. They will receive condemnation." And He goes on to say in verse 4 that a ruler is a servant of God. Again, in verse 6 that those who collect your taxes are servants of God. So, pay your taxes to them. People who don't pay their taxes are rebelling against authority.

It is the same thing in the church. In the church God has appointed elders and the Bible says in Hebrews 13:17, "Obey those who rule over you and submit to them, for they keep an account and watch over your souls as those who give an account to God." This does not mean that we have to submit to some religious leader, who sits in our church and calls himself our priest or pastor, but he is not a spiritual man. That is, if he is not the one who is accountable for your soul? With parents you have no choice. With your government you have no choice. But, when it comes to a church, if you feel that the church you are in where the leadership is not spiritual, then God doesn't ask you to stay there. You can move out and find another church where the leadership is spiritual. But when you find one church like that, you must submit to the leadership. This is very important.

The principle of submission to authority has been demonstrated by Jesus Christ. That is how salvation came. Let us learn that from Him.

Chapter 72

God’s Plan For Those Who Have Failed

In this final study we want to consider a word of encouragement for those who feel that their life has been a failure. Lots and lots of people feel that they have messed up their life so badly that they wonder, 'What can I do with my life for God now?' There is a message of hope in the word of God for such people.

There are many brothers and sisters, believers who feel that, because they have sinned and failed God at some time in the past, they can't fulfil God's perfect plan for their lives now. They say, 'Well, once upon a time, when I was young and, if I had yielded completely to God and lived in His perfect will, maybe I could have, but I have made such a mess of my life. What can I do now?' Now, according to logic and our own human reasoning, that sounds right. But let us look at the scriptures, and you will find that God's thoughts are completely different; God's ways are completely different. There is hope, even for you.

Notice first of all how the Bible begins. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That is written in Genesis 1:1. When the heavens and the earth were made, since whenever God makes anything, it is perfect, they must have been perfect. He never does anything imperfect. But some of the angels, whom He had created, fell away. That is described in Isaiah 14:11-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-18. When that fall happened, we read, in Genesis 1:2, the earth became formless and void and empty and dark. Then, what did God do? He didn't leave the earth in that condition. It says the Holy Spirit began to move upon that earth and the word of God went forth on that earth and God remade that earth. He worked on that shapeless, empty, dark mass, and made something so beautiful out of that mess - that in the end of it, He could say, in Genesis 1:31, it is very good! Now what is the lesson in the first chapter of the Bible? That, even if the devil has made a mess of your life, if you surrender to God's word (you see how "God said...", "God said...", "God said..." appears in the first chapter) and through the Holy Spirit, He can make something excellent out of your life, no matter how much you have failed.

Before this fall of Lucifer, God must have had a perfect plan for the heavens and the earth. When Lucifer sinned, that plan had to be set aside. But God remade the heavens and the earth and still made something good out of it. See what happens next. God creates man and woman, and He has a perfect plan for Adam and Eve. In God's perfect plan for Adam and Eve, there was no provision for them to eat of this forbidden tree. That was not God's will. In fact, God clearly said you shouldn't eat of that. So, God had a plan for them and the plan was that they should not eat of it. But they did eat of it and they spoilt God's plan. Now, if we go by logic and reason, we will have to say, 'Well, now they cannot fulfil God's perfect plan. Now we have to go to God's second best.' But what do we read there? We read there that, the Lord comes to Adam and Eve, after they have sinned, and tells them, 'Well don't worry, I am going to solve this problem. I am going to send a seed through the woman (that is referring to Christ), who will come and bruise the serpent, the devil, on his head and destroy his power over you.' So there He is speaking about Christ dying for our sins and overcoming Satan on Calvary.

Now tell me this, what is your answer to this question? Was the death of Christ part of God's perfect plan for us from all eternity, or not? The Bible says in Revelations 13:8, that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. So was that in God's mind from eternity or was it God's second best? How many of you would dare to say that the death of Christ on Cavalry was God's second best? Wasn't it His perfect plan? It was. Yet, when you turn to Genesis 3, logically, you have to say Christ had to die only because Adam and Eve failed. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, there would be no need for Christ to die on the cross at all. So, was it God's perfect plan or not? Also, we would not have known of God's love, if Adam had not sinned. There would not have been Calvary's cross. What is the answer? You are confused. Our human understanding cannot grasp this, that even where man has failed, God can still fulfil His perfect plan.

Now human logic fails here. It baffles us. That is why the Bible says, "Don't lean on your own understanding. Trust in the Lord with all your heart." If God was working according to mathematical logic, then we will have to say that Christ coming to the earth was God's second-best plan. But that is blasphemous. It was part of God's perfect plan. God makes no mistakes. God who knows the end from the beginning, and who silently plans for us in love, plans something allowing for our failures. He knows that we are going to fail. He allows for our failures and has made a perfect plan for us. That is the word of encouragement that there is for you.

God's perfect plan for Adam was certainly not that he should eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but because He knew the end from the beginning, He knew that they would fail. So, He had already made a plan that accounted for that failure. The same way in your life, a lot of things that you have done in your life, God never wanted you to do. But do you know that in His great love for you and in His perfect wisdom, He has made allowance for that failure and can still lead you into His perfect plan?

His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. So don't let your logic and reason say, 'Oh! Now I cannot do God's perfect will for my life.' God's message to us from these opening pages of the Bible is just this: He can take a man who has failed and make something glorious out of him and still make him fulfil God's perfect plan for his life. That is in the first page of the Bible and we must never forget it. If you are a failure, God can pick you up and fulfil not His second best or third best, but His perfect plan. That is why it is important for you to give the rest of your life totally to God. Many of our failures, though it is not part of God's perfect plan, maybe permitted by Him to teach us some lessons. For example, we never learn humility, unfortunately, except through many failures.

We try to get victory over sin so many times, but we fail and fail and fail and fail and fail and we realize finally that we cannot, without God's help. Well, that is an education we got through our failure. Take Peter for example. Part of Peter's training for leadership was failure. The Lord could not break Peter through educating him, through teaching him, but when he denied the Lord three times, which is not certainly God's perfect will, He accomplished something in Peter. It broke him and that was God's perfect will, that he should be broken. So, God can use failure to accomplish something good. One of the biggest problems God has with us is to bless us in such a way that the blessing does not puff us up with pride. You see, if you get victory over anger and then you become proud, that is falling into a far deeper pit than anger itself. So, it is not only important to get victory over sin, it is important to be humble at the end of it. Now how does that happen - only if God allows us to fail many times? Genuine victory is always accompanied by humility.

And the other thing is, if we have failed many times, we can never despise another person, because we know we failed ourselves. So, we are not saying that a man should, therefore, keep on sinning. No. Paul speaks about that saying, 'Well if my dishonesty brought glory to God' and if you follow through with that idea you come to this, 'The worse we are the better God likes it, but the damnation of those who say such things is just' (Rom. 3:7-8). No, we are not saying that we have to sin. What we are saying is that, if we have failed, God is not frustrated in fulfilling His plan for our life. Every man whom God has used has failed. Peter, Paul, John, James, you, I, everyone. God has not called people who never made mistakes in their life. If God could fulfil His perfect plan only in the lives of those who never made a mistake, then we will have to say, Jesus Christ is the only person who ever fulfilled God's perfect plan for His life, nobody else. Very many great men of God may not have told you about their failures but they have failed too.

Now the question is whether you can believe that or not. If you don't believe this and if you say, 'No, it is not possible in my case,' then it won't work. But if you can believe, 'Lord, there is nothing impossible for you, you can take the mess I made of my life and still accomplish something glorious and fulfil your perfect plan,' it will happen according to your faith. Think of the story of the prodigal son who wasted so many years and all that father's money. And when he came back, the Bible says, he got the best robe and the best seat. What was that? It is a message that says that God can pick up a person who has made a mess of his life and make something glorious out of him. That is the story of the prodigal son. Think of the story of the man who went out hiring labourers. He went at 6 in the morning and hired labourers and then he went at 5 in the evening to hire labourers, who could work only for one out of twelve hours. In other words, they had wasted 90% of their life, 11 hours out of 12. But when they went and worked, they got their reward first. What does that parable in Matthew 20 teach us? That God can do something even with those who have ruined 90% of their lives.

Nobody is so hopeless that God cannot do something with him. We read in 1 John 3:8 that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. He can untie all the knots that the devil has tied you up with in your life, my brother, my sister. Don't listen to the lies of the devil. When he says, 'No that is impossible,' if you believe him, it will be impossible. But if you believe God, who can take the broken vessel, and as a potter, make it anew again, then it will be fulfilled in your life, whatever your blunders and failures were.

You can make a new beginning and if you made a thousand new beginnings, you can make a thousand and first new beginning today. God can make something glorious out of your life. Give glory to God by believing this is true. And one day in eternity, God will show you as a person who was a failure, but from whom He brought tremendous glory in your earthly life.