Answers To Young People’s Questions

But this little poem says, the church and the world walked far apart. That's the first line, and if you Google it, you can get the whole poem yourself. It's a very long one, but I'm just going to say a few things. The church and the world walked far apart on the changing shores of time. The shores of time were very far apart, but the shores get closer and closer, and the world was singing a giddy song, and the church a hymn sublime, and the pretty world said, give me your hand and walk with me this way. And, but the good church hid her hand and said, no, I won't give you my hand. I'm not reading it exactly. No, the world said, walk with me just a little bit, because my road is a pleasant road, and the sun is always shining, and your way is so narrow and thorny. Mine is so flowery and smooth, and you're always looking so sad, but I move in rounds of joy. To me, the sky is always blue, and there's no want, no hard work. The sky above you is always dark, and you can see that my road is a very broad road. My gate is high and wide. There's room enough for you and me. We'll travel side by side, and this is where it begins. Half-shyly, the church approached the world and gave him her hand. The church is pictured as the bride of Christ here. The world is this handsome man, and the false world grasped it and walked along and whispered, first of all, your dress is too simple. It's not the latest fashion. I've got a better dress for you to wear, a little more tight, something that fits your beautiful form, so that people can admire your physique, your shape, and a lot of jewelry to deck you, so that people admire you, because your face is so simple without any jewelry. The way God has made it is not good enough. Let me adorn your face with a little bit of the world, and the church looked down at her plain robes and saw the dazzling world, and she blushed as she saw a contentious smile on his lips. Okay, she said, I'll change my dress. I'll do as you say, and she gave up her old dress and took what the world gave to all those, and waved her hair in a thousand curls, and then the world goes on and speaks about many things, the type of entertainment they need to have in the church, which is not there, and then the angel of mercy rebuked the church. I know your sin, and the church looked sad and tried to gather all her children. Her children means her members in, but they were not available, because they were busy with so many other things. Today, I would say, with many forms of entertainment, and so the angel went away, and the world came in and said, don't worry if your children are interested in some innocent sports. It's not innocent, because they spend so much time in it, and so she ignored it, and spent all that time in all this, while out in the world, countless million souls were getting lost in sin and hell, whom the church was supposed to preach the gospel to, but they had no time to preach the gospel, because all the people were involved in, you know, today, I would say, taking smartphones, and so much time goes, they have no time to study the Bible, no time to preach the gospel to others, and so the world is perishing with hungering for truth, and then the world came and said to the church, your preachers are all too simple. They frighten my child with terrible verses from the Bible, and things I don't like to hear. They talk about judgment, and fire, and hell. No, no, no, no. I'll get you some better preachers, who will, clever people, who will show you how you can live as you like, and still go to heaven, because the Father is so merciful, the world said, great, good, loving, and tender, and kind. Do you think he'll take one child to heaven, and leave another behind? No, no, no, no, no. So the church agreed, and they began to get other preachers, who were more gifted, and educated in big Bible colleges, and the plain, simple old men, who preached the cross, were pushed out of our pulpits, and then mammon came in, and money became the important thing, and the world said, you worry too much about poor people. They can take care of themselves. Don't worry about them. You take care of yourself. Go, go to expensive restaurants, and eat what you like. Go frequently. Enjoy yourself, and etc, etc, etc. And so the church opened her purse, and began to spend in all those things, and said, maybe I've given too much to poor people, or to the church. I don't want to do that. Let me also enjoy myself a little, and like that, the church, the two drifted apart, and the church sat down, and began to enjoy everything, and the world finally looked at the church, and mocked, and said, the church has fallen. This beautiful church, her shame, is now her pride, and thus, she lost her witnessing power, and like the Lord said, perilous times came in, and she would never listen anymore, and a voice came from heaven, that's saying, I know your works. You're wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. You think you're rich, and increased in goods. The expectant bride of a heavenly groom, has become the harlot of the world. You have fallen. So at last, I must cast you out, and remove your name from the book of life. But, from the side of that harlot church, sleeping, a small remnant came out, a few people, who honored God's name. By the word of their testimony, and the blood of the Lamb, they overcame the world, and they prayed, and defeated the enemy. Those who walk with the Lord like that, will walk one day with him in white. I read that now and then. I got it many, many years ago, and I said, Lord, I want to be watchful. I can't live the life for other people, but I can live the life for myself, so that my ministry never compromises, even if I'm a hundred years old, and that I shall never lose my love for God's people, even when they are backslidden, that I never give up on them. I'll try until the very end, until Christ comes again, to draw them back to yourself, and succeed with a few. I know I won't succeed with the majority, but I will succeed with a few. There will be a remnant. I believe that, and that's what we live for in CFC. So, now we go to these questions. There were a number of questions about, which Santosh already answered, on social media. But, I want to say a few words about that, before moving on, about Facebook. If you find my name on Facebook, that's not me. That somebody else put a call, they have a thing called a fan page, where you can put the name of somebody, and call it a fan page. I don't even look at it. Somebody told me there was something like that, so I saw it once. But, I think there's nothing evil written there. Somebody has put some of my messages, and all that. But, I do not correspond with people on Facebook. We have no time to waste for that. I'll tell you, even after 58 years, I know the Bible so little. I know the Bible so little, I don't have enough time for God's book. Where do I have time for Facebook? I want my life to count for eternity. Time is short. And, I said that when I was 20 years old, and I say that now, when I'm nearly 80 years old. Time is short. Attend on the Lord without distraction. It's a verse I wrote in the front of my Bible, when I was 20 years old. It is from 1 Corinthians, in chapter 7. Two words, which I put together. 1 Corinthians 7, and verse 29. The time is short, and so, at verse 35, give your undistracted devotion to the Lord. I put those two verses together in the front of my Bible, and I wrote it. The time is short. Give your undistracted devotion to the Lord. I've tried. I can't say I've always been faithful. It's not that I don't read the newspapers. It's not that I don't see the news on the internet. But, it's in its proper place. It's like a little pickle, not the main meal. If you make the pickle your main meal, you'll get sick. You can have a little bit of it, but keep it in its proper place. But, don't read things which are going to fill your mind. The reason why many people have bad dreams, is because they fill their mind with a lot of rubbish. It's a good thing to read the Word of God before you go to bed at night, instead of seeing everything on Facebook before you go to bed. The other thing is, we can be friends with the wrong type of people. Do you know that there are thousands of divorces that have taken place because of Facebook? There are divorce lawyers in England who have said that many thousands of divorces have taken place because on Facebook, they link up with some old flame they had in school. I don't know whether you all know the meaning of flame. I don't mean a literal fire. But, something that stirred their hearts, a young girl or something, who is now a grown-up married person, and then they link up and destroys the marriage. It's happened again and again. You have to be very, very careful. There are people who chat with you and who pretend to be girls, and they're not girls. And you're a girl thinking you're talking to a girl, and that's a man who's trying to get at you. This has happened many, many times, particularly in the West. So, you need to be careful on Facebook, and also be careful what you appreciate. You know, this... I don't know whether you know the meaning of thumbs up. I said, I want to be sure. So, I looked up Google to the Collins Dictionary. What does thumbs up mean? Thumbs up means encouraging. I'm encouraging you. I approve of you. I accept you. Everything is all right. I encourage you in that way. I approve of you. I accept you. I indicate everything is all right. Collins Dictionary on Google. So, when you are on Facebook with somebody who has rebelled against the church and left the church, or who's been disciplined by the church, and you look at some picture he has posted, and you put thumbs up, you know what you're telling him? Even if the elders don't accept you, I accept you. Even if they don't approve of you, I approve of you. Even if they don't say everything's all right, I say everything's all right. There are stupid, foolish, rebellious people sitting in CFC who are doing that. Okay? You don't have to answer to me. I'm not your judge, but I believe. One day when those people who've gone away never come back to the Lord, you will be answerable to the Lord, because you are not faithful in telling them the truth. You just encouraged them when they were going astray. You went to the pig farm and encouraged him, instead of telling him to repent and come back to the Father's house. One example. The other thing I want to say is, in all these things, the important thing is discipline. I believe discipline is the one thing that Christians need the most, but want the least. Let me read to you in 1 Corinthians, in chapter 9. The Apostle Paul, the great Apostle Paul, who accomplished so much in his life, the reason he accomplished so much was not only because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, not only because he spent time in prayer and read the Word of God, but also because he disciplined his body. Verse 27. 1 Corinthians 9 27. I disciplined my body, which means my eyes, my tongue especially, and I make it my slave. The Living Bible says, I make my body, I don't allow my body to do what it wants to do, but I make my body do what it should do. You know the difference between what your body should do, and what it wants to do, what your eyes want to see, and what your eyes should see, what your tongue wants to say, and what your tongue should be saying. I make my body do what it should do, not what it wants to do. That is discipline in very simple language. And if you don't have discipline, I don't care what experience you had about speaking in tongues or being filled with the Holy Spirit. I can tell you, you will not make it in the final day. Because Paul says, and he's always far better than all of us. He says, I, if I don't discipline my body, 1 Corinthians 9 27, like this, if I don't make my body do what it should do, I will end up preaching to so many people, and finally when I reach the finishing line, I'll be disqualified. He's talking about a race in verse 24 onwards. Take time to read it. That there are people who violated the rules in an Olympic race, and when they come to the finishing line, they think they are first, and finally the judges say, no, they're along the way. You were disqualified. Sorry, everybody thought you were first, but disqualified. You're not even third or fourth or anything. You're not even last. You're out. And Paul says, that's going to happen to me. I've read that, and I'll tell you, that brings a healthy fear. Not an unhealthy fear. I don't have any unhealthy fears in my life. I'm not afraid that God will punish me or hurt me, but I am afraid that I may hurt myself. I'm afraid that I will ruin myself. Not that God will ruin me, but I will ruin myself. I'm afraid of that. I'll tell you that. That's why I discipline myself. So, it's important to understand these principles. Then, going into some of these questions, one is the question, what does it really mean to be born again? What do we need to do after we get saved? Because there's a widespread teaching that all we need to do is have a proper understanding of what Jesus did, and then everything is okay. See, if that was all there is to it, all these epistles are not needed. You read the epistles, Romans chapter 6, and Hebrews and all, so many warnings about pressing on, let's run the race, and right here that we shouldn't be disqualified. What is the need for all this? If you go to Paul and say, hey listen Paul, don't get worried, man. You're not going to be disqualified. You accepted the Lord. Remember 35 years ago on the road to Damascus, you yielded to Jesus, and then three days later, Ananias came, prayed for you, you were filled with the Holy Spirit. Why are you worried? You're perfectly okay. You won't be disqualified. You accepted Jesus. God will not reject you. You're eternally saved. Remember God's love is unconditional. Rubbish. Unconditional? That means you do what you like, and He'll keep on loving you? Paul would say, listen fella, that's not the gospel I believe in. That's not the gospel Jesus has revealed to me. I believe that if I don't discipline my body, I'll be disqualified. That doesn't mean that Jesus did not pay a full price. But remember that word of Jesus, take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, and you shall find rest for your souls, rest on this earth, and eternal rest in heaven. What is a yoke? We know it in the villages in India, the farmers put a yoke on two bullocks, and that is the yoke. One on the neck of Jesus, and the one on my neck. And I'm the junior, inexperienced young bullock trying to learn how to plow a straight furrow in the field. And Jesus is the experienced one who's done it perfectly, and he says, take my yoke upon you, and if you walk at my speed, and don't turn left or right, except when I turn, you will come to a life of perfect rest. So the Christian life is a partnership. It's not that Christ comes into my heart, and I become a robot. After that, it doesn't matter how I live, you'll never become a robot. Even in heaven, you will not become a robot. You will always have free will. What a robot does not have is free will. What the planets don't have is free will. No planet can commit sin, and no planet can become a child of God. The trees don't have free will. They can't sin, and they can't be children of God. And if you didn't have free will to choose, you could never be a child of God. You'll be like the planets. You'll never sin, and you'll never be a child of God. You'll be like this carpet on the floor. It can't sin. It can't be a child of God. You'll be like that. That is absolute nonsense. God never takes away our free will. Not even in heaven, not even in eternity. Then you may say, well, you mean after I go to heaven, I can sin and fall away? No. Because if I really get to heaven, those of you who do get to heaven, the Bible says we'll become like Jesus. Do you think Jesus is a robot in heaven? Do you think he doesn't have free will? He wasn't a robot even on earth. He had complete free will on earth, but he never did it. He always said, not my will, but my father's will. That's why he never sinned. But he was not a robot. It was not that he was programmed that he'll automatically do the father's will. No. A person who's a robot cannot sin, cannot be a child of God. A person who isn't a robot can sin, and can become a child of God, holy. So in heaven, when we become like Jesus, do you think Jesus will sin and fall away? Impossible. That is why I say, when I become like him, for eternal ages, I will never sin. But I can begin that life now. That is the message of the gospel. So a person who is, says he has accepted Christ, and does not endure till the end, his fate is described in Hebrews and chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 3, and it says here in verse 14, very clear verse, we become partakers of Christ if, and I wish I could have put a big capital IF, one inch high in your Bible, IF, IF, IF, we become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. There are many people who started the race well, who never finished it. Hebrews 12 says, let us run the race with patience. The Christian life is a race. It's not that we are put inside a ship, and go to sleep, and the ship takes you to heaven. That's not Christianity. That's a false teaching. So, that is where, but you mean to say that I can keep myself? You can never keep yourself. The Bible says he's able to keep you from falling. So you got to trust him. I don't believe I can keep myself. But I firmly believe that Jesus will keep me from falling, and I have proof of that. How do I know that? Because I find my life improving year by year, not yet day by day, but year by year. I find a distinct improvement in my life, in control over thoughts, words, actions. Attitude to money becomes purer and purer, more freed from it, more and more revelation on the Word of God, even though I've read it 58 years, new things I see. It's all an indication there's progress. If these things are not happening in your life, there's no progress. I mean, maybe you joined school, but you're still in the kindergarten. You're 25 years old and sitting in the kindergarten. What would you think of your son if he's 25 years old and sitting in the kindergarten? And you keep boasting, my son is in school. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He hasn't dropped out of school. He's still in school. How old is he? He's 25. Which class is he? He's in kindergarten. He joined it about 20 years ago, and he's still there. Very faithful. He gets a hundred percent. He knows how to spell BAT and CAT, and he knows how to add two plus two. He's never lost even one mark in mathematics or English or anything. You want to be like that? When we compare it to the world, you see your own spiritual condition. That's why we need to wake up. So, enduring till the end is very important. Let's take the words of Jesus himself in Matthew chapter 24. This is very important, so I don't mind spending a little more time on this question, because some of those other things are not as important. If you get this right, the others will become right automatically. Matthew 24, it says here, Jesus said, in the last days, this is talking about the last days, and the people asked him, when will you come, Lord? The bend is a sign of your coming, verse 3. And Jesus said, in the last days, verse 11, there'll be many false prophets who will mislead many by teaching that once you've accepted Christ, you're okay. That's a false prophet. Because there's so much of sin, these false prophets have preached these wrong things to them. The love for Jesus that people had when they started will become cold. And when love for Jesus becomes cold, love for one another becomes cold as well. You get irritated with your wife more frequently. You get irritated with your husband. These are all indications that your love for Jesus is becoming cold. But, if someone endures till the end, he will be saved. Those are not my words. Those are the words of Jesus. He who endures to the end will be saved. Especially in the last days, it's a warning. So, what is all this teaching about grace? I'll tell you. In a nutshell, it's not the full teaching on grace, but two basic things that grace does for us. In very simple words, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 7. We have redemption through his blood. That means we are purchased out of the slave market of sin. Redemption means purchased. The forgiveness of all our sins according to the riches of his grace. That's what grace does for us in our life. Redeemed, forgiven completely every single sin you committed in your life because you repented and trusted that Christ died for all your sins. Great! Then, grace gives you something more. Romans 6 14. When you come under grace fully, that's just the beginning of grace. It's like the ABC of grace. See, you can't go to study physics and geography before you've got ABC, right? If you have never studied ABC, how will you study physics and geography and history? ABC is essential. That's why in the kindergarten class, they don't teach you biology and science. They teach you ABC. That's why when you come to Christ, we don't talk about first of all about victory over sin. We talk about forgiveness. ABC, you have to begin there. But once you get there, you don't stay there. You move on in the school and you move on in grace. Romans 6 14. When you come under grace, sin will not rule over you anymore. Because you're not under the old covenant law, but you're under the new covenant. So one way by which you can find out, I mean I can ask a ten-year-old this question. Listen son, tell me. I'll read one verse to you and give me the answer. It's a ten-year-old answering me. Listen carefully. Sin will not rule over you because you're not under law, but under grace. Two questions. What is the proof that you're under grace, my son? He'll say, uncle, sin does not rule over me. Right. Another question. What is the proof that you're still under law, son? Sin rules over me. Absolutely right. Law is old covenant. What is the proof that a lot of people sitting here are under old covenant? Sin rules over you. I don't mean you fall, but it rules over you. There's a difference between a child falling a hundred times a day and you occasionally slipping and falling. Six months ago you slipped somewhere and fell down. There's a difference. So I'm not saying that a believer never falls into sin, but it doesn't rule over him. When sin rules over you, I want to tell you in Jesus name, but no other preacher will ever tell you, you are under the old covenant. You are under law. You have not understood grace at all. You received the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace and you took it casually and so you continue to get angry and you don't repent. You continue to do unrighteous things in your office and you don't repent. You keep on watching pornography and you don't repent. What shall I say? I'm scared. You started holding hands with the world and I don't know where it'll end up. Wake up. The main message of the prophets in the Old Testament is wake up Israel. You're going to sleep. You don't understand your true condition. So that is grace. Another question is concerning brokenness. How do we actually come into being broken? Brokenness is very important. Now a simple illustration. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. First principle, surrender everything. That boy, you know when Jesus was feeding the multitude, he said, what do you have here? One boy has got five loaves and two fish and he had to give everything first. He couldn't give three loaves and one fish and say I better keep something for myself. No. He gave it all. First lesson, give everything into Jesus hands. Don't be afraid. Don't be thinking starve. What faith that boy must have had. My mommy packed my lunch for me and if I give everything to Jesus, I may not have anything. Doesn't matter. I love Jesus so much. I give it all to him. You know, he ended up getting more than five loaves and two fish. He could get as much as he wanted later on. That is how it is when you follow the Lord. So first step is give everything. Then ask Jesus to bless it. Jesus blessed it. Still five loaves and two fish. Then he broke it. Then it became 25,000, 50,000 loaves and fish. There were 5,000 men plus many women and children. At least 10,000 people there. So, there's total surrender. Ask the Lord's blessings. We fill you with the Holy Spirit. It's not enough. Third step, let God break you. Then you'll be blessed. There are many people who have given themselves to the Lord, who have experienced a real baptism of the Holy Spirit. The only thing missing in their life is they're not broken. They think they are a blessing because they do this, they do that, they go to this place, they go to that place and they witness to this person, to that person and they say a few things here and there and preach in different places and preach the message here and maybe conduct some weekday meetings and all. Don't satisfy yourself. A few trickles are coming out of your life and some of it is dirty water when it could be rivers. I decided as a young person, I will never, never be satisfied till what Jesus said in John 7 37 will be fulfilled in my life. Out of his innermost being rivers of living water, not one river, rivers in many directions will flow. This he spoke, I'm reading from John 7 37 38, of those who believe in him. I said, Lord, I believe that from my weak, helpless life and I was only 21 those days, just baptized, rivers of living water will one day flow. Do you have that faith? Are you willing to give everything? When did the river flow out of the rock? The rock had to be smitten, broken. Then the river flowed and that's what the Lord showed me. I have to break you. I said, go ahead. And I'll tell you, I don't have time to tell you, the Lord did that in numerous ways. He humbled me, broke me, taught me to submit to elders who were jealous of me, who would suppress me and the Lord said, humble yourself. These are the ways, these are the days I'm breaking you. He broke me later on through false accusations and being called the devil and even religious people taking me to court and standing there like a criminal. It's all breaking, breaking, breaking. I said, Lord, do it again. Do it again. Never give up on me. I need to be broken more. I need to be broken more because I want one more river to flow out. I'm not satisfied with the rivers already flowing. One more, one more. The Lord says, and I'll break you again. Go right ahead. I give you free permission to do whatever you like. Break me with financial loss. I've experienced that also. Anything. I'll tell you something, my brothers and sisters. If you allow God to break you and you're not just satisfied saying, well, I spoke in tongues and I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. God have mercy on you if you're satisfied with that. I've seen enough people who speak in tongues whose lives are a waste, wasted. No, not even a drop is flowing out of them and I don't know whether finally they'll be lost. So that's brokenness. Very, very important. Okay, now there are a number of questions concerning relationship between boys and girls, work, college and all that, and I give you some general advice on it. What advice would you give to your college going son or daughter? Is it wrong to have good friends with girls who are good friends with boys? What qualities should you look for? Well, first of all, remember all girls especially, because you've got more to lose in a friendship than a boy. Do you know that, let me tell you this, in the Old Testament if a girl lost her virginity before marriage and the husband discovered it on the wedding night, he had to bring that girl out to the elders and to her parents and they had to stone her to death. It's God who commanded it because it was a very serious sin for a girl to lose her virginity. But, and you know God has made a female body in such a way that you can discover if a woman has lost her virginity. You ask your mother, she'll tell you that when you're at the right age. But a man, if he's had sex with a girl, there's absolutely no way to discover it. Why did God make it like that? God could have made some system by which a man has sex with a girl is also discovered, but he didn't do it. Well, I'm not here to judge God, but I believe there's wisdom in it. See, God put a tremendous sex drive in a man. It's true. The drive for sex is intense in a man. God put it like that for the propagation of the human race, one reason. And Adam had to, you know, produce hundreds of children. Secondly, what the Lord showed me was, I have made this drive, sex drive, so strong in men. The Lord said to my heart, because that's how I can test whether they fear me or not. And I got that from Genesis 20, where the first time the word fear of God is mentioned is in relation to sexual sin. First time. The fear of God is mentioned in relation to sexual sin, where, you know, Abraham tells the king Abimelech, I thought there was no fear of God here, so I thought he would rape my wife. So I called her my sister. The first time what fear of God is mentioned is in relation to sexual sin. The Lord showed me there's a connection. I test whether people fear me by their attitude to sexual sin in their thoughts. Thank you, Lord. Now I know whether I'll fear you or not. When I'm tempted, I discovered this when I was a young man, when I'm tempted in my thoughts to even look and keep on admiring, not to lust to touch a woman's body, no, but just to look and admire a pretty face. It's lust. Proverbs 6 says, don't let her catch you with her eyelids, and I discovered that there is the time God is testing you fear me or not. Immediately, if I can reject it and turn away, I prove that I fear God. All of you men are being tested every day whether you fear God or not. Don't come here and imagine that you fear God. You're being tested by your thought life when you're tempted with an attractive woman, not to have sex with her, just to look and admire her, whether you're in her office or on a computer screen or in a movie screen or any such thing. Be careful. So it's very, very important that God is, I told you, a woman, a young girl is more to lose so you've got to be very careful. There's a strong drive in man. When I was a young boy studying physics in school and we went into the physics lab, I used to try and take a North Pole and South Pole magnet and try to see how close can I bring it without it touching each other. I found it, I tried to keep it very close. Can I keep it sort of one millimeter and my hands were not strong enough. It couldn't because if it's a strong magnet it just touches all of a sudden. I didn't want it to touch. I was trying to hold it with all my strength and I'm not gonna let this magnet touch and it'll touch. That is a lesson. You as a girl can say, no, no, no, I'm not going to get closer. I'm not gonna get, but little by little you get closer and closer. Like I used to bring that magnet closer and closer to that other magnet and I didn't realize suddenly it touched. That's what's happened to many a girl and they regretted it, regretted it, not for one or two years, for their lifetime. The boy doesn't regret it. He can check you and go and find another girl and never tell that girl what he did with you. So that's what I would tell a daughter if I had one and you are all my daughters and so I say that. So be very careful. Keep a distance. I'm not saying that we should be unnatural. In school, boys and girls, in some schools, they have a double desk and the boy and the girl sitting next to each other. It's okay. You have to be more careful when they grow up. But my point is you talk freely to boys and girls in school and talk freely in place of work. You don't have to become unnatural when you come to suddenly to CFC as if you cannot talk freely. The point is what you talk about. The point is you always talk to one person. So be very careful even in college and place of work and it's such a sad thing in place of work. There are even married women now who just want to be friendly. Yeah, let them see that there's a certain reserve about you and you know the way you talk, it can be very flippant the way you talk with people at work and joke and laugh and you can say, well, I never talked anything sexy. I married people sitting at place of work and talking in a very flippant way with other women, young girls. I say the test is this. If you're a married person and you're working with other girls and you're talking in this very jovial way and say I'm not talking anything sinful, supposing your wife came in that very moment to your office room. Will you be a little more careful in the way you speak? Then you're wrong. Imagine, ask yourself at that moment if my wife walked in this very moment while I'm talking to this girl in this way and I'll explain to her I was not talking about sex darling. I was just having a little fun talking to her and she'll teach you when you come back home what she thinks of that. Yeah, and I won't blame her for trying to teach you a lesson so that you learn a lesson for life. Sure, the Bible says a woman must be a helper and sometimes that's the way to help your husband. Teach him a lesson. So we have to be very very careful in this area because we are living in a very evil world. So your friendship must be limited when it is through the opposite sex. You know, it's okay to shake hands, but don't put your arms around a girl who is not your wife. No, you shouldn't do that because it's not a good testimony for a Christian. I don't do it. It's very dangerous and particularly if the person is near your age. I mean, I can put my hand on a little girl because I'm a grandfather, but you've got to be careful that it's a little girl. It's all right, but even there just be careful you young people. Very very careful. And other people in your office and school may do it, but be careful and let people know that you're little. Let them think you're a little funny. Yeah, I don't care. You'll preserve yourself. Later on you'll have a very happy marriage. So those are some guidelines. Then the next question is concerning marriage. What should a girl or boy should I look for when considering marriage? See, I have written a book called Sex, Love and Marriage, and I've written a book called Finding God's Will. Those are the two books I recommend to all young people to read. And if you can't afford to buy a copy, it's free on the internet. You can read it, download it, print it, make your own copy and read it. There are specific instructions there, all the way from when you're a young man or young girl, all the way to time you get married. It's not into marriage itself. That's solely up to the time of marriage that book is written. Engagement period, what age you should consider getting married. So you've got to be strict with young people these days. Even more, you see, when they're you, do you know what they're watching on their smartphones? Do you know who they are talking to? There are young people who say, why does my dad and mom always want to check up who I'm talking to on my smartphone? Of course they should. Once you get married, they won't. But till you get married, they have a responsibility to know. That's not being a busybody in your matters. They have a responsibility for you. They have an oversight over you. They feed you, they clothe you, they accommodate you in their home, and God's given them the responsibility to check what are you doing. I mean, when my boys came, even in school, you had to be careful what type of books they're reading. I remember, even in those days, I'm talking about 1978 and 1982 and all, when things were much cleaner. Schools are so bad nowadays. But even in those days, there was no pornography in those days and books being brought to school like nowadays. But I used to, you know, when my children went out to play, I would open up their school bags to see if there was any book there or anything that one of their friends had given them. We were very strict in our home. We never allowed any worldly music. We never allowed any, we never took them to movies. We didn't even have television in those days in our home. And we were very, very strict. People could think we were fanatics. They let them call me what they liked. Today, I see the result and I thank God for it. That's all I say. But we were very, very strict and I'm glad we were not lenient. But it is not that we were so strict that they didn't think we loved them. We loved them. We'd hug them and I would sit and play carroms with them. I would sometimes play cricket with them. They knew that I loved them and I would pray with them and encourage them and help them in their studies. And I always would be here whenever they had examinations to take them to school and bring them back. They knew that I loved them, but they also knew I was very strict with them. And I would use the rod if they continued in discipline up to the age of 12, not beyond the age of 12. So what I say is that we have to be strict with our children because they are exposed to all types of things and you must see what they are, what not, they may not be evil, but their friends can make them evil. You can't blame them. If you blame, for example, I remember once one of my boys came home and they were a small boy and he used a certain word in which he learned from school from some other boy. I said, you know what that word means? He said, no, somebody used it in school. I said, I'm not going to explain to you what it means, but it's a bad word. Never, never use it. See, these little children don't know what a bad word is. It is not the type of bad words we call bad words today. Today such words won't even be called bad words, but I felt that was a bad word. The standard was a little high those days. There's no standards now, but I said you're never going to use that here in this house. So if you're not strict with our children, don't blame the world or their friends for leading them astray. Blame yourself. I have spoken to parents whose children have gone astray for not following the Lord. I said, you know the first thing you need to do? You and your wife need to bow down before God and say, Lord, we have disobeyed Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6. We did not bring them up in the way they should go. And because we did not do that, they are going in some other direction. They don't respect their parents. They have got their own little secrets because they don't have confidence in their parents. First, take the blame yourself. Learn from the thief on the cross. Lord, I'm guilty. I am to blame. I don't blame my parents. I don't blame my bad friends. I am to blame for being a thief and a murderer. I deserve this punishment. Jesus said, sure, come to paradise. Your life can be a paradise if you start taking the blame. I'll tell you that. So it's very important because so when looking for a partner, boys and girls, first of all, ask yourself, do you feel this person loves Jesus Christ? You can be friends with everybody in a distance, but if you come to the age where you're thinking of marriage, maybe as a girl, don't even think about it before you're 20, 21. And if you're a boy, don't even think about it before you're 25. That's the bare, bare minimum. I believe that in India anyway. First of all, you must be able to earn your living. You must be able to support a family. Then only you can get married. Otherwise, how are you going to take care of your family? There was a question here saying, can a can a married person stay with his parents if his parents are dependent on him financially or father is old, mother is dead? Well, there is no law in the Bible on that. And so I will not make a law. The Bible, Jesus said in Mark 7, that you must care for your parents. You read Mark 7. Honor your father and mother and he related it to giving money to your parents to look after them when they are old. Turn to that verse. I think it's Mark 7, 14 or something. He related it to honor your father and mother and don't tell your parents, oh, I gave that money to God or I gave that money somewhere else when you should have given it for their support. So, and if your parents are in need, you have to take care of them. Jesus hanging on the cross cared for his mother. Even though that mother had four other sons and two other daughters, but they were unbelievers. So he told John, his cousin, John, you take my mom into your home and let her be mother to you. He cared. In the midst of all his pain, he cared for his mother. That's what it means to follow Jesus. To care for your old parents is a very good example. Don't, you know, of course, those who are lazy and don't want to any inconvenience in their life. So we don't want to do anything with our father or mother or father-in-law or mother-in-law. We have nothing to do with them. We just want to enjoy life ourselves. That is a selfish, self-centered way of living and you will reap the consequence of that type of living. You honor your father and mother. It will go well with you. I can tell you it will go well with you. So, but now what does it mean when it says in Genesis 2? Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two shall be one flesh. This relationship between man and woman in marriage is the most closest earthly relationship. It speaks about one flesh. They are to be one with each other. That type of oneness they must not have with their parents. In other words, the leaving must be emotional. It's not always possible. Physical is not always possible because I mean if you are rich and you got a good job, physical is good. But I've been enough in the villages of Tamil Nadu and most of you have not been to those villages. So you can have your theories, but I've been to the villages of Tamil Nadu where I see people are so poor that sometimes they have to stay with their parents. What do I say? Let your parents starve and live by themselves. I say no, if that's the only thing that can happen, stay with your parents. It's okay, but don't let them control your life. That's the point. It's an emotional control detachment and I'll tell you the other way around. There are people who live there separately in another house, sometimes miles away from their parents or in another city and boy with long distance, those parents are controlling that boy. He's not detached from his parents, even though he's living a thousand miles away, his parents are controlling him. When he wants to take a decision, he doesn't take it along with his wife, he discusses with his dad and mom. That is what it means to leave your father and mother. Don't let them control your life. You can live next door to your father and mother in the same house and never let them control your life. I've done that because we were so poor and Annie and I got married. Never once did I let her parents or my parents control one single day of my life. I disagreed with them, I had discussions with them and strong disagreements and I said, no, we're going to run our life. That is important. I believe there are many of you who satisfy yourself that you're living at a distance, a thousand miles away from your parents, but you're letting them control your life still, you men. I'm not saying you shouldn't care for them. By all means care for them. Don't go to the other extreme that you don't care for them. If they are old and they need to be taken care of, let them live with you. Yes, my father and mother have stayed in our home and Annie's parents too. We don't regret that ever. So when you think of marriage, think first of all if a person is spiritually minded. Number one. Then consider it and don't just go by outward appearance. Try and find out when you come to the age of marriage, if your parents are believers, it's best that they find out. From those who know that boy or that girl, who know him long enough or her long enough to know what type of person is that. So that you get a good testimony and not just by looking at her or just listening to her testimony or his testimony. Find out. Very important. The non-Christians in India have more sense in this. They always try to find out. In many cases here, many young people here, their parents are non-Christians. And I tell you some of those converts from non-Christian families who are in our midst are stronger Christians than the children born in Christian families. Because those young boys and girls and especially if it's a girl, they've had to take such a strong stand against their parents. What a price they've had to pay to break away from their non-Christian parents or sometimes their parents who are in some dead Christian denomination. You don't understand the pain that a girl has to go through to take such a stand. I admire them ten times more than a girl brought up in a Christian home. They've taken a stand. They've had to pay a price. So don't despise them. Some of them are very, very fine Christians. So this is what you need to ask yourself. So if it is from our own church, you can always ask the elders. If they are from another church, find out from the elders. Through your parents, your parents are not Christians, through the elders. That's why it's very good to have God-fearing elders who are interested in you. And you won't find that in every church. You've got to be thankful that the elders here are so interested in you that whatever their other weaknesses may be, they are to help you. So that's one of the main ways to find a good partner. Let me show you a verse in 1 Corinthians in chapter 7 in this connection. 1 Corinthians in chapter 7 we read verse 36. If any man thinks he is acting unbecomingly towards his virgin daughter, that means he is not letting her get married. If she is past her youth, if it must be, then let him do what he wishes. He does not sin, let her marry. So verse 38, he who gives his daughter in marriage does well. What I learned from that verse is that it is the father who gives the daughter in marriage. That's scripture. He gives his virgin daughter. There is no such thing as a man giving his son in marriage. That's not heard of in the Bible. But a man gives his daughter in marriage. A man can choose for himself who is going to be his wife. Consulting his parents of course or other elders. But it is the father who gives the daughter away. And that's why if you are interested in a girl, you must talk to her father. And if her father is not a believer, you must talk to the elder who is over her if you are interested. If you don't take that first step, you are violating scripture and you will suffer the consequences. And I want to say to you young girls, if you find a boy interested in you, consult the elders. I mean if you consult your father, that's the best if he is a God-fearing man. Then if he is not a God-fearing man, you got elders here whom you can consult who will help you. But remember this principle. It's a man who gives away the daughter. It's because that's a protection for the girl. So some of these things if you bear in mind, you don't come into the calamity that comes. So that's why we have to be very careful when you make friends in school and college. And as far as the engagement period, you know an engagement period can be short or long depending on various circumstances. It's a time of preparation where we get to know one another a little more. Don't rush into an engagement if you are not sure. But if during the engagement period you discover something seriously wrong, there is nothing wrong in breaking up that engagement. Because a broken engagement is a million times better than a broken marriage. Broken marriage is divorce. It's serious. Then there are some questions about physical appearance. One thing all of you young people have to accept. Because you know people make fun of you because of your mannerisms or your physical appearance or you are too fat or you are too thin or you are too short. One of the first things all of you need to accept as young people is, God made me like this and I accept it. Once you accept it, maybe you are dark. Maybe your features are not as attractive as somebody else's. But once you see God made you like this, you got to accept yourself the way God made you. Read Psalm 139. Fearfully and wonderfully made, God made you like this. Lord I accept it. And don't envy that person who is fairer, prettier, more handsome, more gifted, who can speak better. No. Lord Jesus, you saw me in my mother's womb. You decided the color of my skin. You decided how tall I'm going to be. And there are genes. Don't judge a person who is fat. Saying, ah, you eat too much. I've seen thin people who eat like anything and they still remain thin. I wish I could be like that. My genes are not like that. And there are other people who eat so little and do so much exercise and they are fat. It's genes. Not J-E-A-N-S but G-E-N-E-S. Genes that come from the parents which determine your physical color and state and size. Don't judge that poor person. Saying, and don't if you are slim, don't think that you are very smart. No, it's genes. Your parents happen to be like that and be thankful. Don't glory in the color of your skin or your features. It's got nothing to do with you. God made you like that and don't despise the other person who is different. Don't despise the person who is not educated. Would you go into the slums and despise the person who cannot spell cat or bat? No, you should be ashamed of yourself. That poor person in the slums, parents could not send them to an English school. It's the same type if you despise another person because they don't have something you have. Something seriously wrong with you as a Christian. It's alright for the heathen. But if you despise somebody, let me give you a verse which you must never forget. Turn to the book of Job. Book of Job and chapter 36. Never forget this verse. Job 36 and verse 5. God is Almighty, but He does not despise anyone. Did you get that? Now let me show you a picture. Here on the right is God Almighty. He doesn't despise anyone. Here on my left at the extreme is the devil who despises everyone. Got it? The devil is on my left here at the extreme, despises everyone. God is on my right here, despises no one. Where are you? All of us are somewhere in between here. You despise some people, you despise many people, then you are more towards the devil. Reduce it. Reduce it. Till you aim for, I want to be like Jesus. Despise nobody. Have you got that? It's a mark of Christ-likeness. You despise nobody. Because I think of 2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 7. What have you got that you did not receive? All of you sitting here, can you tell me one thing you got which you did not receive? You who glory in how attractive you are and how smart you are and how clever you are. And how much better you are than somebody in CFC. God have mercy on you. That's why you don't grow spiritually. That's why you remain in the same stagnant position year after year after year. You are doing something but you are getting 100% in 3rd standard. But you are always in 3rd standard. Your horizons are not expanding. You say this is all I can do. It's like a 3rd standard saying, this is all I can study. Some of you can do a tremendous lot in CFC. But you are doing a certain amount and you say that's all I can do. Why is it that's all you can do? Why aren't your horizons expanding? Why isn't your capacity expanding? Because you are selfish. You think of yourself. Your comfort. Your convenience. Reach out to God and say Lord expand my boundaries and borders. It's a wonderful thing. There is a lot more that you can do if you ask God to do that. Stop despising people. Don't compare yourself with others. Another thing I want to speak is about finances. Very very important. Every Christian must follow Jesus example and have a savings account. You say where did Jesus have a savings account? The bank called Judas Iscariot. It was not a good bank but he had a savings account there. What do I mean by that? That means when Jesus got some money. You know that Jesus was not working for three and a half years. People gave him gifts. He didn't ask anybody. But you read in Luke chapter 8 verse 3 that Herod's palace manager gave him gifts. That must be equivalent to hundreds of thousands of rupees. He got it. And he didn't say what I get now I must spend immediately. Tomorrow I'll trust God for tomorrow. Garbage. Jesus did not live like that. I may get a lot today but that may be for the next 12 months. I have to save it. And if you don't have the habit of saving you cannot follow Jesus Christ. It's not that you get something and you spend it the same day or the same month. Every month you must save some money from your income. Even if your income is very little. Cut down on something. I've had people come here to CFC way back in the olden days. When I had more time and I was one of the elders here those days. And I can think of at least a couple of brothers like that. They'd get very little. And I'd say brother I'm constantly in debt. I'd say okay. Are you willing to let me take charge of your finances? I don't have time to do that now but I did it then. And I told this brother sit with me. First of all before you come make a list of all your income. And then my other side make all your expenditure. Then I'll tell you how to get out of debt. And he showed me how much he was getting. Very little. And he'd say out of that. I think in those days he was getting 600 rupees or something per month. He'd put top line to impress me perhaps. 10% to the offering box. I said rubbish. Cancel that. No need to put 60 rupees in the offering box. You're getting in debt. And putting 60 rupees in the offering box. Do you know what that means? You're putting that fellow's money. That fellow is saying hey instead of giving that money to me he's putting it in the offering box. CFC is stealing my money. No, no, no, no, no. Please give him back his money. So that he doesn't think that CFC offering box is getting money that should have been given to him. Do not put money in the offering box if you're in debt to somebody. If it's a house loan or a vehicle loan. That's different. That's not a loan because you've got an asset. But first of all you should ask yourself why you got into debt at all. You get into debt because you don't know how to limit your expenditure to your income. You have to, there's a saying in English cut your coat according to your cloth. Means that you live within your income. You must have some financial planning. And if the husband can't do it the wife must do it. If the wife can't do it the husband must do it. We must decide how much am I earning every month. And how much am I spending on milk and vegetables. I know, I'll tell you this. I've gone this way. We've lived, we were very, very poor. Ian's been that way too in the early days. You all don't realize that. I'm talking about 1975, 76. Go and talk to him sometime. And my wife and I lived like that. We had to be very, very careful. I can't tell you how he lived but I can tell you how I did. We had to cut down on so many things. I don't think we'd buy fish more than once a month. We couldn't afford it. And the cheapest meat those days was beef. We'd never buy chicken, it was too expensive. And we'd go to the beef shop wherever you could get beef for two and a half rupees a kilo. Etc. Fine. And we'd get eggs for our children but never for us. And we were very, very careful. We'd try and give our children the best food possible. And Annie and I would eat very simply. We're not special and all mothers and fathers are like that. But our main aim was never get into debt. And I had some income from the investments that I got from my parents. That was my income. It would come not every month but say once in three or four months. So I had to keep that and say I've got to use this for four months. And so I would immediately go and pay four months school fees. They must have thought I'm a rich man coming and paying 12 months' worth of school fees. That wasn't the reason. The reason I was scared that if I don't pay that I won't have fees to pay next month. So essential things and I'd keep aside some money for electric bill. I didn't want the electricity shut off in my house. And budget my expenses. Fortunately I got a wife who was more thrifty than me. I was very, very thankful for that. I'll tell you honestly we never bought new clothes. We couldn't afford it. Leave alone that. We wanted to get good food for our children. There is ways of limiting yourself. I'm not boasting. I'm just saying when we could afford it we could buy a washing machine and everything. But when we couldn't afford it we didn't do it. And we said we have to live within our income. What is the result today? I'm 78 and a half years old. Not for a single day have I been in debt for one rupee to anybody in the world. You think that's a good testimony or not? Because Romans 13 says don't be in debt. And I feared God and I kept that commandment. That's all. Now I say that if you keep God's commandments God will reward you. Now I could have ignored it. And say okay I'll get a credit card and keep. I've never had a credit card in my life. I'm scared. I use a debit card so that I know what I'm spending. Now there may be people who are I'm not saying a credit card is wrong. But if you have the discipline to make the payment so that you don't lose money. Then it's okay because they make you. I think it works that you pay every month. If you don't pay every month they'll charge you interest. Okay fine. If you're wise and I'm not giving you rules. I'm just saying being wise and don't waste your money. There are people who use credit cards to get certain benefits from it. And they are wise. It's financial planning. I'm not against it. But be careful that you don't get flooded in debt. And then struggle and struggle and struggle. And wait for people in the church to come and help you out. I've seen people like that. They're waiting for people in the church to come and help them out. I'd be ashamed of myself if I become a beggar inside CFC. Imagine becoming a beggar inside CFC. Beggars are all outside. But here's one beggar sitting inside CFC. I don't want to be like that. Particularly if I'm ministering the word of God. I know a lot of preachers are beggars. More than 90% of the ones I met are some type of beggars. So be very careful with finances. It's a very very important part of your testimony. It says in Luke 16 and verse 11. If you're not faithful with money, who will give you the true riches? So faithfulness with money is very important to get the true riches. You know what the true riches are? Let me say you three things. Becoming like Jesus Christ. True riches. The mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit and his supernatural gifts to serve God. Third, revelation on the word of God and things which are hidden from the wise and the intelligent. I want those three riches. And it says I've got to be faithful with money. I'll get those riches. If you're not faithful with money, God will not give you those riches. Do you wonder why you don't get revelation on God's word? Why the only revelation you get is what you hear from this pulpit? Do you wonder why you don't have a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit? Do you wonder why you're not becoming more Christ-like in your speech, in your behavior? Think of some people here who are speaking in the same crude, rude way they were speaking 20 years ago. Why is that? God's not giving them riches. They're not faithful with money. They're not humbling themselves. They're not judging themselves. That's all. If you lose your temper, and you're still losing your temper after 10 years in CFC and hearing the word of God, I'll tell you something. Go and bury your head in your bed and say, God, I'm ashamed of myself. And keep on doing that till you overcome your anger. Definitely. I mean, if you're sitting in some dead church where they never preach about it, it's one thing. But you're sitting here for 10 years, and you're still losing your temper? Okay, second best. Do you apologize as soon as you lose your temper? Okay, you haven't got victory over temper yet. But when you yell at somebody, and you're convicted, you go to that person and say, even if it's your wife, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken like that. There's great hope for you. That is the second best. So if you don't have the best which is overcoming your temper completely, at least have the second best. But if you don't even have that, I don't know if there's any hope for you. Even if you sit for CSC for the next 50 years, I don't know if there's any hope for you. I have to tell you the truth. So you heard Santosh speak about the profitable use of time. That's very, very important. I'm not going to be able to answer all these questions. I'll try and answer some of them. You know, there was a suggestion that we have a break and have a cup of coffee. So my answer to that was, your children have breakfast at 7.30 and go to school for their 8.30 school. When do they have their lunch? When do they come home for lunch, 12.30, 1 o'clock? Do they have a coffee break in between? Children. Who are the ones who cannot sit for 3-4 hours listening to the word of God? Spoiled CFC people. Always want a break. Those children don't even go to the bathroom. They sit in the class. Let us be at least as good as our children today. We'll finish before 2 o'clock. Don't worry. And there's lunch for everybody. Okay. Some of the questions are related to being attracted to earthly things. How can I not be attracted to earthly things? Well, I'll tell you. How is it that when a person falls in love with one girl, he's stopped interested in another girl? Why? Because this one is more attractive. Here is the world and here is Jesus. When you fall in love with Jesus, I'll tell you, the world will lose its attraction. There is no other way. You've got to fall in love with Jesus. We are constantly defeated by sin because we are not hungering and thirsting for victory. That is the only reason. Is it good to go for birthday parties? Be very careful when you go for birthday parties with friends. I'm not against people going for college girls. I'm saying, because all types of wild things can nowadays happen in these birthday parties. You can be caught in some awkward situation where you may find yourself in a very difficult way to extricate yourself. So be wise. See who is inviting you. Is there some fear of God among them? And if they are worldly people, I would not send my children. How to be more sensitive to others and less centered in myself? Look at Jesus. Look at his example. Do I have to apologize in person concerning things I have stolen, if I have already repaid? Not necessary, unless the person knows that you have stolen. If you have stolen something from an office, you should repay it. But today going and asking forgiveness from somebody who is the head of the department not the head of the department 10 years ago when you stole it, is meaningless. So I don't think apology is necessary unless you personally hurt that person and he knows it. If the other person knows it, you must definitely apologize to that person. But if he doesn't know it, it's better you keep quiet. And I take an extreme example of that. Supposing you're sitting in a bus and you're lusted after a girl sitting in that seat and you go up to her and say, I'm sorry, I just lusted after you a few minutes ago. That's ridiculous. If the person doesn't know that you did something wrong, why do you go and confess it unnecessarily? If there's money involved, return it. If I have plenty of money, does it mean God's not with me? No. You see, riches, much or less, mean nothing. Abraham, Job were men of God. Paul and Peter were men of God. They were very rich. These were very poor. He was a rich man. He had even slaves in his house. He was a godly man to whom Paul could write. And Onesimus was his slave. So money is no indication whether you're spiritual or not spiritual. It's like saying, if I'm six foot tall, am I spiritual? It's a ridiculous question. If I'm five foot only, does it mean I'm unspiritual? It's as stupid a question as saying, if my income is so much, am I spiritual? It has nothing to do with it. Okay, how do I handle attraction towards the opposite sex when I'm sitting in the church? There are many other things you can look at. Verses of the wall. Pay attention to the... What do I do if I like a sister in the church and you want to marry her? Nothing wrong in that. Go and talk to the elders. Otherwise I'll tell you, you'll keep dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, and after ten years you'll discover she's married somebody else. During those ten years you could have looked for somebody else and found someone. That's happened also. So better to go and consult the elders and say, can you find out from that sister whether she'd be interested in me or that brother whether he'd be interested in me? Nothing wrong with that. Elders are like your parents. I think you can trust them here. Not all elders in the world are like that, but the ones here will definitely keep your confidence and help you. Some of these things are for older people. I want to speak primarily to young people today. Is it wrong to watch certain types of biblical short films? No, I'm not against films. It's a question of what is on the film. It's like saying, are you against books? I'm not against books. How can I be against books? I've read hundreds of books. It's what's in those books. I'm not against movies. It's a question of what's in those movies. It's a TV program. I'm not against computers. It's a question of what you watch on the computer. So you have to see. Don't let your children and all watch a movie if you haven't seen it yourself. See whether it's a good one. Don't say just because the movie is Ten Commandments. It happened in one of our Tamil churches. They showed the Hollywood movie Ten Commandments. The poor brother who was the elder didn't know that it was a Hollywood movie. He thought, this is great. I'll get all my church spirituals watching Ten Commandments. There's some horrible scenes there. He was really embarrassed. He told me that himself. So never show a movie to anyone until you've watched it yourself. You've got to be careful that it's edifying. There's nothing wrong in it. There's nothing wrong in a little bit of entertainment, especially for children. There are children's movies. There's nothing wrong in it. I pray for the world. I ask people this question. How do you pray for the world? Tell me. I say, Lord, I pray for the whole world. Save them all in Jesus' name. Amen. Is that praying for the world? Then you go take a map and say, Lord, I pray for Brazil, I pray for Chile, I pray for America, I pray for Japan. Is that praying for the world? It's absolute nonsense. What about praying for India? Lord, I pray for the whole of India. Pray for people. You read the Gospels whom Paul prayed for and you'll see he never prayed for Caesar, he never prayed for Rome, he never prayed for the Roman Empire. Don't try to be more spiritual than Jesus and the Apostles. That's all I say. A lot of these questions relate to, in Hebrews 6 it says, if you've once been enlightened and you've fallen away, you can't be renewed. The verse exactly, take time to read it, is you can't be renewed and the correct translation would be you cannot come back to repentance as long as you crucify the Son of God. Sometimes the Greek language says because they crucify the Son of God, meaning is you cannot come back, Hebrews 6 verse 6, as long as you keep crucifying the Son of God by your sinful way. But if you repent of that, there is no point that you can reach on earth from which you cannot come back to God. At any time, if you have a desire for repentance, it shows God wants you back. Now, how do we know you've sinned against the Holy Spirit when it says you cannot be forgiven anymore? That's when the proof of it is you have no more desire to come back to God. You have no more desire to repent. Then you have definitely sinned against the Holy Spirit. I hope none of you will get there. But if you've got the slightest desire to repent and turn back to God, even if you've spent 50 years with the pigs in the far country, turn back and come to the Father. He will welcome you. At what age should we take baptism? I never told my children to be baptized. I waited till they got convicted themselves. And if they had come to me at the age of 10 or 12, I'd say, listen, you may have accepted Christ, but you're not mature enough to understand what this means. I have baptized people who were originally baptized by zealous parents when they were 12 or 13. Then I baptized them again when they were 24 because they come to me and say, Brother Zag, I was not really converted those days. My father and mother wanted to get me pushed in the water because my colleagues are all getting pushed in the water. There are people in CFC who've taken baptism, young people, years ago, because their friends were taking baptism, same age. Parents were concerned, how can my son get left out when so-and-so's children are getting baptized? And what happened to them afterwards? They just drifted away from the Lord. I never wanted that. I said, no. I think all my children were baptized when they were 17 or so, and I'm thankful. I said, you must be mature enough to understand, make a choice. Can you accept the Lord as a child? Yes, I believe you can be three years old and you can accept Jesus into your heart. Sure. That's my version. But we can't be always sure, you know. That's why I say it's better that a person is mature enough to understand what baptism means. There's one problem that a lot of people from non-Christian backgrounds have. It's concerning marriage, because the parents are always putting pressure on them to marry a non-Christian. And I would say that, I know it's tough for you if you're a girl especially, but I tell you this, sister. If you marry a non-Christian, it'll be hell. Even if he says, I'll get converted later on. Because usually they don't. And it can be a constant conflict. It is better to be single than to be in an unhappy marriage. The number of emails I get from people who got married like that, and whose husband goes off with some other woman, and all types of things that are happening nowadays in the world. Take a firm stand and say, Lord, if you brought me to yourself, and in your plan for my life, marriage is there. I'm sure you will arrange it for me. And you're very fortunate if you're in this church. There are wonderful elders who will help you the best they can. And some questions on social media have already been answered. It's amazing, the number of questions on marriage and falling in love and all, I hope they were answered. How to bring up teenagers. Cost in marriage. What if parents insist on marrying within the same cost? Well, I don't believe there's cost in Christianity. Jew or Gentile, barbarian or Greek, are all the same. But, remember that man is spirit, soul and body. If you were only spirit, no soul and body, I say you marry whomever you like, who is one in spirit with you, born again, spirit filled. But, since we are spirit, soul and body, and soul means your mind, emotions, will, since we are all three, you have to think of the soul and body too. It's not just your spirit marrying another spirit. For example, language. Language is not a spiritual thing. There's nothing spiritual about English or Hindi or Tamil. There's nothing spiritual about language. But, supposing you say, this person is spiritual, we can't speak the same language, but I'm going to get married. That's about the only advantage of marrying somebody who doesn't understand your language. And, you can't understand his. But, that's stupid. So, you say, oh, must speak the same language. Correct. But, that is not a spiritual factor. It's a soul factor. So, I'm just using that example to say that you are considering soul factor. What about body? Will you marry somebody who is 45 years older than you? You're 25 and the girl is 70. Sure. But, she's spiritual. Will you think she's 45 years older than you? See, you are considering body whether you know it or not. So, you're thinking you're considering only spirit rubbish. Unconsciously, we are considering soul and body and rightly so. So, that's why I say, spirit, soul and body. And, what is soul? Soul is, you must be able to communicate and have some, I mean, if a person cannot even communicate with you, it's a little difficult to have a marriage. I mean, I wanted to marry a girl who would at least laugh at my jokes. Even if nobody else laughs at my jokes, at least she should. I didn't want a serious looking person who says, what is that you said? I didn't want to marry someone like that. Now, if you're the person who doesn't crack jokes, it's okay. You can marry anybody. But, I'm talking about the importance of soul. Because, we're going to live together for years, all our life. And, there, the level at which we have lived is important. If you've grown up in a city all your life, a sister, and you marry a village boy, and you've got to go and draw water from the well every morning at six o'clock, you're not going to find it easy, no matter how spiritual that boy is. Because, you've never done it in all your life. So, the economic level is also important. Education level is important. I'm not saying it's number one. Number one is spirit. But, if you give 50 marks for 50, at least give 30 marks for all these other factors like education, language, economic level, social level, and that's where caste comes in. Not the caste. But, if the caste leads to a lower social level in which they have lived, and your caste has led you to a higher social level, it's not the caste I'm bothered about, but the economic level at which you have lived is so vastly different that you may not be able to fit in. I know a case of a person who was high level economically, etc. Married a girl from a lower level economically. Their entire life was miserable. Entire life. And, I don't want anybody to suffer like that. They were both very, very religious with a lot of Bible knowledge and all that. But, in their entire life, they were never happy. And, I wanted to save you from that. They didn't lose their salvation. They trusted in the Lord. But, they didn't live with each other because of soul. So, remember that the person you're marrying is spirit, soul, and body. You say, is attractiveness important? It must be attractive in your eyes. You see, your wife does not have to be Miss Universe for you to be attracted to her. No. In fact, it's better if she's not Miss Universe because then hundreds of other people will be also causing you problems. But, she must be attractive in your eyes. Because, you're going to see her when she's 60 years old and she must be pretty to you. Believe it or not, my wife is very pretty to me. Because, I don't look at, I see her. The Bible calls the wife the wife of your youth. It's a great expression. I love it. Because, ultimately, it's not physical appearance and charm. The Bible speaks about charm and beauty in Proverbs 31, the last few verses. They are deceitful. About a woman who fears the Lord, who's got an inner beauty that never fades. And, you know what that inner beauty in a woman is? Let me tell you. 1 Peter 3, verse 3 to 5. A gentle and a quiet spirit. Find a woman with a meek and a gentle and a quiet spirit. That's really beautiful in God's eyes. And, one of the prayers you should be praying is, Lord, change my understanding of beauty to your understanding of beauty. Proverbs 31 says, the fear of God makes a person beautiful. And, a gentle and a quiet spirit is what makes a person beautiful. And, then that person will be beautiful even when her hair is white or even if her hair drops off her head. She'll still be beautiful in your eyes. So, remember that. Another question is, should I go into full-time Christian work? No. If God hasn't called you, the call of God to full-time work is very, very clear. And, the test I have to say is this. I'll use an example. If you're always thinking of sex, it clearly proves you're not called to be a single person. You must get married. The Bible says it's better to marry than to burn. In the same way, if you find that your mind is frequently on money, money, money, you're definitely not called to full-time Christian work. Just like you're not called to be a single life if you think of sex, if money is a big factor to you, you are definitely not called to full-time Christian work. And, a person must have a tremendous burden for the lost to be called to full-time Christian work. Then, only God will call you. And, some questions here are about what if your wife or husband is not equally spiritually minded? Be a good example. Be a shepherd. Don't despise your wife or your husband if they're not spiritually minded. But, be an example in your life so that they are drawn to Christ. Be a person to Christ. Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd. I go in front. Ultimately, you know, the Bible doesn't give answers to every, every little detail. Know that? The Bible gives certain principles. And, I hope you've understood certain principles today.