Balanced Christianity 7. Question Answer Session - Part 2

Okay, we continue to answer these questions. Will you please be seated? Thank you. These are some questions written by some young people.

What kind of temptations did you go through? How did you learn from them, depending on if you gave in or not? You know, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, 13 that we are all tempted in exactly the same way. The devil will sometimes make you think wrongly that your type of temptation is special, that nobody in the world is being tempted like you. If the devil can convince you, listen carefully, if the devil can convince you that you are being tempted in a special way, unlike other people, he's got you.

You'll feel sorry for yourself and you'll think you're some type of crazy person who's being tempted in a special way and then that weakens you. That means you don't believe what God's word says in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, which says, no temptation has ever come to you that is not common to all the people in the world. I believe the Bible and so any temptation that comes to me, I believe 1 Corinthians 10, 13.

This comes to everybody in the world. Jesus was tempted with the same temptations. So don't let the devil ever tell you that you're being tempted in a special way, as if you didn't come from the race of Adam, as if others did not come from the race of Adam.

Every human being came from the race of Adam and that poison that the devil injected into Adam and the garden of Eden, it's the same poison that's come down to all of us and it's the poison of wanting to do your own will. That's the root from which all these fruits come, which have got a thousand names of sins. So we're all tempted in the same way and we got to resist in the same way and follow Jesus in the same way and we can overcome.

That's the other thing we must believe, that one, that we're all tempted in the same way and second, that Jesus was tempted in every single point and overcame, proving to us that we can overcome. But He overcame in the power of the Holy Spirit and by prayer and if you do that, you can also overcome and then the light of God will shine through you. The hindrances that we face in our earthly life and the Christian life are exactly the same for everybody.

We're all tempted by the love of money and things like that and if you find someone has overcome, it's not something that happened overnight. You can be sure of that also. Overcoming temptation is a lifelong battle at different levels.

Jesus had lived already for 30 years and then He was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. I don't know what all temptations He faced then and at the end of the 40 days, He was again tempted with three temptations that we read of. But He had already been tempted for 40 days and the temptations you read of in Matthew chapter 4 of turning stones into bread or proving that you're the son of God by jumping from the roof of the temple.

These are all very high level temptations and when we're at a lower level, we don't understand the full implication of that. So it's something like education. When you're in the kindergarten, you don't understand the type of problems that 10th grade student is facing and the 10th grade student doesn't understand what a graduate student is facing and he doesn't understand what a PhD student is facing.

Christian life is a progression and every temptation you conquer gives you a promotion to something higher. It's just like you go from one class to another to another to another. The Christian life is a growth.

So when you face temptation, that is the way you progress into the next level of the Christian life. Because when you, I mean take a subject like mathematics. If you're finished with kindergarten mathematics, then you go to first grade mathematics where you learn something new.

And in the beginning, that new area, whether it's multiplication or division is tough. But for all of you, multiplication and division has become very easy now because you've gone past it. So at each year where you're learning something new, in the beginning it's tough.

But it's like learning how to swim. In the beginning it's tough, but then after a while it's very easy. So remember the temptation is like that.

You battle it, battle it, battle it and after some time you get over it and then you move on to the next one and the next one and that's when that is the way of spiritual growth. So we mustn't think of getting somewhere where another brother was being faithful to the Lord for 30-40 years, how you can get there. You'll get there in 30-40 years, but you can't get there overnight.

But very often we look at some godly older brother and wish we could have what he has immediately and you can't. It's like a young student looking at a PhD person and saying, oh I wish I could have that. You can have that, but it takes time.

Okay, another question is, can you help me understand what is gossip? Sometimes talking with brothers or my wife I am troubled, wondering if this is gossip, what is the difference in gossip and just discussing a person, what they did or what they said. Very often whenever you're in doubt about anything, whether it's a sin or not, the best way to check is what is your motive? Because many things, it's very difficult to discern is that sin or not, what I'm saying, what I'm doing. And ask yourself, what is my motive in saying that? For example, elders in a church who are discussing about some particular person in their church, you have to because you may want to help that person or if one person is being a bad influence on others in the church and you discuss about that person and you speak frankly, all that you know about that person and your suspicions and all that, that's a very good thing to do because your motive is to protect others.

You know, if there are people who are predators coming along in the church, you definitely have to know about it and warn people. That's not gossip, that's a very healthy thing and Jesus would expect us to do it. And anyone coming in with a bad influence into the church that's influencing the lambs, the sheep may be strong enough to stand against it.

So that type of conversation is not bad. And even at home, sometimes a husband and wife have to talk about their children or other people. If other people are an influence on their children, they may want to keep your children away from the influence of certain families.

To talk about it is perfectly okay because your motive is good. But if your motive is only to tear down that person or to say, I'm better than that person or with a bad motive, then of course, you'd ask yourself, what do I gain by this discussion? Or are you trying to make your wife or husband feel bad about that person because you feel bad about that person? For what purpose? If you ask the motive, I believe very often you'll be very clear whether it's sin or not. So two people saying the same thing may be sin for one person and not sin for another person.

Like I just said, an elder may speak about a certain person and it may be necessary and not a sin. And for you to talk about that person when it doesn't even concern you, it may be a sin because you're not accomplishing anything by it. So always examine your motive.

What is, how do I practically, Isaiah 58 verse 7 says, divide my bread with the hungry and invite the homeless poor into my house. I want to be obedient and diligent to do unto the last of these distinguished works in God's leading, especially given Jesus' words. You have to see first of all, how much you, you know, if you've got a home, you remember there are wife and children there also who've got to agree with what you're planning to do.

You can't just bring a homeless person into your house without consulting your wife or see whether there could be other dangers for your children. Many of these verses that are found in the Old Testament are in relation to Israel. In the New Testament, it always says, do you see your brother in need? 1 John chapter 3, do you see your brother lacking food or clothing and you don't help him? There's something wrong.

James chapter 2 and 1 John chapter 3, in both cases, in James it's talking about faith. How can you say you have faith if you don't help a brother who's in need? 1 John 3, how can you say you love if you don't help a brother who's in need? Always the emphasis is on your brother, not on a stranger. Remember that.

All men will know you're my disciples, not when you love them, but when you love one another. Now, doesn't, that's not the way most Christians understand it. They think they are one level higher than Jesus.

Many foolish Christians think they are one level higher than Jesus and they say, well, people know that we are Christians when we show our love to them. I'm sorry to say that's not what Jesus said. Let's go down to Jesus' level and not try to be super spiritual, more spiritual than Jesus.

Jesus said, all men will know you're my disciples when you love one another. That's what I say. I'm not saying we shouldn't love others, but that's not how we demonstrate the love of Christ.

So, because the world is full of needy people and Jesus didn't go around making shelters for all the blind Bartimaeuses he found. No, Paul didn't go around establishing homes for widows and orphans. Some people feel called to do that, go ahead and do it.

There were plenty of needy widows and orphans in Paul's time, but he didn't do it. Because his calling was, he said, I've got to build my church. I've got to do what is most important and not do what is of secondary importance.

I mean, if your dog is sick and your child is sick, you know who you should take care of first. It's not that you don't love your dog, but your child is more important. Something like that.

When we see the relative importance of what God has commanded in relation to other things, we must have a priority here. So, in the Old Testament, everybody was your brother and it is your brother who is in need. Because they were all Jews, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's children.

And even the story of the man who was lying wounded on the street, it says the Levite and the priest went by. That was his, their brother lying there. Because everybody in Israel was your brother.

They were all children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, it was a brother who was lying on the street and not just anybody. And then a Samaritan came along who was not related to, the Samaritans were not descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He came and picked up someone who was not even part of his family. That's what Jesus was emphasizing, that these guys, the Levite and the priest was a member of family was lying there and they didn't care for him. And this Samaritan who was not even related to that person went and helped him.

So, Jesus was putting those Jews to shame. So, even when Jesus spoke about, in the last day I will sit and I'll divide the sheep from the goats and I'll say to them, you saw me hungry and you fed me and you saw me thirsty and you gave me something to drink. You saw me homeless and you welcomed me.

And they asked, when did we do that? And Jesus said, in as much as you did it, as you did this to the least of these strangers, no. To the least of these my brothers, read scripture carefully. Jesus was not talking about bringing strangers into your house.

You can do that if you want. I'm not against that. But you think you got to be wise, you'll have a lot of problems.

But Jesus was speaking about his brothers. You read scripture carefully. In as much as you didn't do it to the least of these my brothers or you did it to the least of these my brothers, who are the brothers of Jesus? The born again children of God.

It's not referring to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the world. We can help everybody in the world but that's not what that verse is saying. That's all I'm trying to point out.

So, very often people take these verses and condemn themselves because they're not able to help everybody in the world. You live in a country like India with the millions who are needy. I tell you, you'll become a nervous wreck trying to help everybody there is.

So, we've discovered that and we've helped millions of poor people with hundreds of thousands of rupees. But we limit ourselves to what it says in Galatians 6 and verse 10. Let us do good to all men, but especially to the household of faith.

Let me follow that. This is a question about Christians practicing yoga. Many support and even encourage this.

But are there dangers for Christians who practice this? So, it's a controversial thing because some of it has got satanic roots. See, yoga in its origin has got, it has come from Hinduism and some of it they say is worship of the sun or not. But some of it is just physical exercise.

I don't have to do yoga to practice those exercises. To keep yourself physically fit is a good thing. You know, to bend your body and be flexible and things like that.

I don't have to practice yoga to keep myself physically fit. There are many other exercises which you go to the internet, there are a lot of exercises that do the same physical fitness. You don't have to call it yoga.

But when you call it yoga, it involves sometimes, it's like karate and other things where they get involved with evil spirits and things like that. So, avoid that part of it. So, I don't have to do yoga to keep myself physically fit like the people say.

I can keep, there are many, many exercises I can do without it. Anything that is doubtful is better to avoid. And if you feel uneasy about anything, avoid it.

It's like, you know, if you feel that some water has been polluted, don't drink it. Even if you have a doubt, maybe it's not polluted, but you have a slight doubt about it, then avoid it. Or food, you feel that's a bit spoiled food, don't eat it because you'll get sick.

Same principle we got to follow in many things in the Christian life. If you're a little doubtful about something, avoid it. Find some other exercise which has got nothing to do with demonic spirits.

Okay, worshipping in the spirit, I've already answered that. If there's an unrighteous life in your ancestors, can you have generational curses to third, fourth generation? In what aspect can these be seen? You know, all these things are because many people have not understood that the old covenant has been abolished. We are not under law today.

This business of God cursing up to the third and fourth generation, where do you find it? You find it in the New Testament? Can you find anywhere in the Epistles, anything like that? No. You find it in the Old Testament law that God gave Israel and there was a curse under the law without a doubt. And it says, all those curses finally found their fulfillment in Jesus when He hung on the cross.

Galatians 3.13 says, Christ became a curse for us because it says, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. He was cursed and every curse was removed. Then the people talk about generational curses that if your ancestors worshipped idols or did something wrong.

Well, it depends where your generation goes. I belong to a very cursed, I'll tell you honestly, I belong to a very cursed race called the race of Adam. It was cursed all the way from centuries back.

And you belong to it too, in case you didn't know. And there are a lot of curses in that. But one day the Holy Spirit cut me off from that tree called Adam and planted me, grafted me into another tree called Jesus Christ.

What generational curse have I got now? Tell me. If you're not properly born again, if you've only got an intellectual faith in Christ, you probably have generational curses. But if you've really been cut off from Adam and placed into Christ, I don't have any generation.

Those old generations are gone. I've been cut out from that tree and grafted into Christ. And it's all people who don't have a genuine experience of being born again, who have all these problems.

See, for example, there are many people who say that believers can have evil spirits. They can have demonic spirits and they use a word called demonized. Say what you like.

But if you got an evil spirit, I can say without any doubt that you're not born again. Or if you were born again, once you lost your salvation, and that's how that evil spirit came into your heart. I cannot believe that Jesus Christ and an evil spirit can live in my heart at the same time.

Now, if you can believe that, you've got to be really crazy. It must be another Jesus. The Jesus I believe in cannot dwell in a heart with an evil spirit.

So how in the world can a believer have an evil spirit? Only one way. He's not really born again. He imagines that he's born again.

Because when I talk to people about this, they say, we've been in meetings where believers were cast, demons, evil spirits were cast out of believers. I say, sure. Because they were not really born again.

I mean, I met lots of people who claim to be believers who are not born again. Not really saved. Not really believers.

And so they probably still have evil spirits. So what? It proves nothing. But Christ, 2nd Corinthians 6, it's very clear in verse 14 onwards.

What fellowship has Christ with demons? There is no fellowship between Christ and a demon. It's impossible. Generational curses, demons and all cannot be found.

And I don't care which charismatic teacher teaches it. He is wrong. God's word is right.

I'm sorry to say there have been very influential charismatic teachers who have taught tithing, who've taught overloading by shepherds, who've taught generational curses, and who've taught believers can have demons and a whole lot of other absolute nonsense and rubbish. And because they've earned a reputation as teachers, others have believed them. You know what I say? What Abraham said.

They have the Bible. Why don't they read the Bible? Why do they go to all these other charismatic preachers and get deceived by them? You say, but they're influential people. Fine.

A lot of influential preachers may teach things which are not in the Bible. Always ask them to show you something in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, there were so many things.

I find that one of the main things I've discovered in Christendom today is that the vast majority of Christians have not understood that the Old Covenant has been abolished completely. They keep going to the Old Testament and reading, why shouldn't I do this? Why can't I do this? Think of this whole business of tithing. There's not a word about it in the New Testament.

And yet people go there. They say Jesus told the Correct. Because they were under the Old Covenant.

What else? He told the lepers who were cleansed to go and show themselves to the priests. Why? Because they were under the Old Covenant. So we must see that on the day of Pentecost, something happened.

The Old Covenant is abolished. Hebrews chapter 8 is very clear. Ask God to show you how everything in the Old Covenant has been abolished.

We are in the New Covenant now. People say, you mean we don't have to keep the 10 Commandments? We keep the 10 Commandments at a much higher level. We don't just don't commit adultery.

We don't even lust in our heart. We don't murder. We don't get angry.

So if you're obeying it at a higher level, there's no need for those external commandments if you're obeying it within. That's the way we are free from the law, by keeping it at a deeper level. So please ask God to show you clearly, what does it mean to be free from the Old Covenant completely? Can a believer give his money for interest? If you're lending money to a believer, be very wise.

Because the Bible says, Jesus said, when you lend, don't expect it back. Do you know he said that? So if you lend some money to a believer and he does not return it, don't come complaining to me. I remember when somebody complained to me, I said, the fault is yours.

You should have given it expecting nothing back. That's what Jesus said. In other words, give only what you can afford to give as a gift.

So what should be the extent of your loan to a brother? Only what you can give as a gift. Then you'll have no problem. If he doesn't return it, you say, fine, it was a gift in any case.

And I can't give you more than that. But if you do decide for some special reason to give a loan, it's not right to take interest from a believer. And I would say you've got to be very careful because a lot of tension has come between people.

I've come across when people lend something and they expect it back. But you can lend to unbelievers. I mean, if you're running a bank or something, it's perfectly okay.

Seeing that we don't put value, our idolized materialism as believers, what's the way to bring up our kids, to guide them and teach them, treat things in our home properly? Definitely, we don't place value on material things in the sense that if our children accidentally broke something, we're not going to get upset over it. I mean, accident can happen to anyone. I shouldn't love some material thing so much that I get upset if they accidentally broke something.

But if they did something deliberately, that's more serious. Because there I'm dealing with a child's disobedience, which is a very serious thing. And also if a child is not treating material things in the house carefully, we have to teach that children how to treat everything carefully.

Their own property or if they have a bicycle, they must take care of it, not just leave it lying around. And everything they have, their clothes, we have to teach children the value of material things, and not to just throw it around carelessly or not care for it. There's no conflict between that and materialism.

We are not materialistic. But we have to teach people to treat everything we have carefully and wisely. I got saved more than 10 years ago, where I believed a lot of wrong things.

And it was recently that I started looking at what the Bible says and listen to preachers who teach the truth. So I'm struggling a lot in seeking the Lord. What advice do you have? How can I start afresh? Well, first of all, thank God that you got light on certain things.

There are many people who live their whole life without getting light on these things. So you have to be very thankful. And I, you know, when I got converted, I was born into an orthodox church.

I was baptized as a baby, all sprinkled. And I didn't know much of the Bible when I got converted, when I was 19. As I started reading the Bible, I found that a lot of things taught by many churches were not in the Bible.

So I made a decision, and I'm glad I made that decision. I was nearly 20 years old, that I would not accept anything if I didn't find it in the Bible. I don't care which church preached it.

I don't care. Even if it was a church that I respected, some godly man was there, didn't make a difference to me. If it was not in the Bible, I wouldn't accept it.

And that has protected me for 57 years. And I would recommend it wholeheartedly to you. Because you won't have to change your mind later on.

Because you say, well, let me see it in the Bible. So if somebody teaches you something, ask yourself, is it in scripture? So now that you've found the truth, you try and unlearn all those things and just take a take and decide that in future, I'm going to only go by what I see in the scriptures and start that way. You've heard, I've heard you say, Brother Zak, that what you hear from me is secondhand and you should get it directly from the Lord.

Well, what I mean is that you can receive truth from me, but you must take it before the Lord and say, Lord, show it to me in scripture. Let me see it so that I'm gripped by it. You know, I used to tell people in our church back home that everything I teach you, you must go into scripture and see it for yourself there so that it's no longer something that I believe because Brother Zak said it and I trust him.

No, I've seen it in scripture. He showed me the scripture and I found it straight from scripture. Now, Lord, make this truth real for me from the scriptures and help me to know it.

And I used to tell them, supposing one day I get up in the church and say, okay, fellas, I don't believe all these things anymore. You'll have to turn to me and say, Brother Zak, we pray for you, but we already believe it. Because even though we got it from you secondhand once, we took it to the Lord.

You must be so gripped by it that you got it from the Lord. Now, I'm not saying that I'll go back on what I've taught, but I'm saying you should be so strong in it because you're connected to the Lord. That's very, very important.

Whichever preacher you hear. But you see, when I read the Bible, I don't get much revelation. What is the difference between revelation and getting a bright idea in scripture? The difference is this.

A bright idea is something which you think of sharing with other people to get honor. You know, in sharing meetings, a lot of brothers and sisters share something sounds very profound and they get some honor for it. Ah, everybody thought I'm very smart and clever because I shared it.

That is honor seeking. It'll kill you. Revelation is that when you see something, it changes your life.

It changes the way you live. It changes your values. That is revelation.

And bright ideas are worth nothing. They'll only give you honor, make you proud, make you lose God's grace. That's very dangerous.

But seek God for revelation. Lord, things I don't care whether I share it with others or not. I want something that'll change my life.

That's how you distinguish between revelation and other things. Okay. In a situation where parents are not united and tell you to do two different things, whom should I obey? I mean, not things which are not sinful.

Well, it's a very difficult decision to answer, to give for that. Because both your father and mother are your authority. So, you talk to them directly and say, who am I supposed to obey? You tell me this and you tell me this.

I hope it's not so difficult as that. But if it's not a sinful matter, you tell them, well, this is not a sinful area. So, can you give me the freedom to choose which I should do? What about, what does the Bible say about remarriage for a divorced person where the spouse is still alive? Okay.

I'll tell you what the Bible says. It's very clear what the Bible says and that is Romans and chapter seven. And it says in verse, do you not know brethren, verse two, a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he's living.

It applies the other way also, husband to wife, wife to husband. So that if her husband dies, she's released from the law. But if while her husband is living, if while her husband is living, Romans seven three, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.

But if her husband dies, she's free from the law, then she's not an adulteress, even though she's married to another man. That is scripture. You can take it or leave it.

You can go by what modern Christendom says or what scripture says. The Bible says, call her an adulteress or call him an adulterer. No, it's true.

There are many people who are like that and sometimes their partner has already married somebody else, there's no way of going back. I'm not saying they cannot be forgiven. But I don't believe that they should now compound that by going and marrying again.

And some of these things, you need to go to a godly person and seek counsel because Christendom today is full of compromising churches, evangelical churches, accept divorce, marry divorced people. I don't care if the whole world does it. You either accept scripture or you accept today's Christendom.

Most of today's Christendom is in a Babylonian captivity. And we don't, we've never permitted divorce in our church in 40 years that we have had 70, 80 churches. We have never had a single case of divorce still today.

And we will never permit it. If people want to get divorced, I say go somewhere else. If you divorce people, want to go and get married, I say there are a hundred other churches you can go and join.

Go and join one of them. But we're not going to lower God's standards because once you lower God's standard in the church in one area, it's just a matter of time before you go down in other areas and down after some time, you'll be a thorough Babylonian church. And this is how the devil does.

The devil doesn't drag people down suddenly, one step at a time. He's smart. And we don't want to go that way.

This is something to do with physical health. Go and ask your doctor. You know, in the Old Testament, there were laws about physical relationship and going to the temple.

You don't have any such laws, sexual relationship with a wife. In the New Testament, there are no such laws on that. What about if I'm married and parents are unconverted, my parents or husband's parents, you got to love them.

But the principle is you got to leave your father and mother and cleave to your husband or wife. That's very important. If you don't allow your father and mother to influence your life, your married life, otherwise your married life will be very unhappy.

What type of life needs to be manifested from the leaders for the glory of God to grow brighter in the lampstand? Yeah, if you're a leader that applies to you, but I don't think you should judge your leaders. But I would say one thing. And that is, sometimes people have asked me, Brother Zain, what type of preachers would you invite to speak in your church? I say, I don't invite a person to speak in our church just because he's a good preacher.

There are many good preachers in the world. I would not invite them. We have a specific calling in our church to build the body of Christ, to lead people to live a godly life.

So, whenever I'm considering inviting someone to speak in our church, I would ask a few questions. I'd like to find out certain things. One, is he a humble, approachable person? Or is one of those preachers who disappears from the pulpit after the meeting is over and won't talk to anybody, and is not approachable, or you got to go through 10 secretaries to meet him, or even one secretary.

Is he approachable? Is he humble? Do you sense a spirit of humility in him? Very, very important. That's number one. And secondly, I would like to see, I'm talking about the type of people I would invite to speak in our pulpit.

Secondly, I would want to find out, what is his attitude to money? Is he, even if he doesn't ask for money, is he sort of greedy? Does he want money? Is that a big factor in his ministry? I wouldn't invite him. I don't care if he's the best preacher in the world. And another thing the Bible says, if a man can't bring up his children properly, how can he teach the church? So, I would say, I want to find out, are his children, I'm not going to find out if his children are preachers, but are his children following the Lord? Are they born again? Because the children know us much better than everybody in our church.

Let me tell you that your children know you much better than everybody in your church. And you can fool people in your church, but you can't fool your children. They see you all the time.

So, if children have seen their father and decided not to follow his faith, that tells me a lot about the father. I would not invite a person to speak in my church whose children are not following the Lord. The next thing I would ask is, what are his closest co-workers like? Not all his co-workers, but his closest ones to find out what a person he's like.

You know, if I look at Timothy, I get a pretty good idea of what Paul was like. I mean, there are a few on the fringe like Demas and all who fall away, but those are the ones who backslid. Jesus also had a Judas Iscariot in his crowd.

So, I don't look at the Judas Iscariot, but I want to look at the ones who are closest to this man. If I look at the Timothy, I know what Paul is like. So, I want to see what this man's closest co-workers like.

And then another question I would ask is, since we are building the church, has this man built a local church somewhere or is he just a wandering preacher who goes around preaching here and there and building nothing? Well, if that may be his calling, let him do that. He's got nothing to teach us because we're building local churches. So, if he can show me a church that he's built and I'd like to see what type of church it is.

And if I can see a man having all these values, I'd say, brother, please come. I believe we have a lot to learn from you. We'll sit at your feet and learn.

So, it's a very small number of people that we feel free to invite to our church. So, because we have certain standards and we don't want to lower those standards. Because as I said, once you lower the standards, it's a matter of time before you go down the drain.

What did Jesus mean in Matthew 19, 12, that some were eunuchs born that way from the mother's womb? Yeah, there is just a fact of life that there are some people that are born. I'm not talking about people who have a same-sex attraction. No, I'm talking about people who are born as eunuchs, which is a medical fact.

And it's a very small number and it's true. But it's, I don't believe that same-sex attraction is something that anybody is born with. It's an attraction which has to be resisted, just like resisting heterosexual temptation.

A married man may be tempted with another woman. What does he have to do? He's to resist it. He's to keep on resisting it.

You know, some people say, I've heard this even said by some people who say, I had a same-sex attraction and I resisted, resisted, resisted, resisted. Finally, I gave into it. That's like a married man saying, I got tempted by this woman in my place of work, tempted, tempted.

Finally, I gave into it. What did he say of that? That's sin. He should have resisted it till he died.

Because it's wrong. The fact that we feel an attraction doesn't mean a thing. You can be attracted to money.

I think all of us are attracted to money. But you don't, because of attraction, attraction, one day you steal. No, there'll be so many pulls in our life till the end of our life.

We have to resist them till the very end. He who endures until the end will be saved. So just because something pulls me, it doesn't mean it's right.

A lot of things that pull me, which are completely wrong. I mean, even in, for example, if you realize the value of good eating habits, you're definitely attracted to a lot of foods, which are junk food, which you can't say there's no attraction. There isn't attraction, but you resist it because you say, this will ruin my health.

And you resist, resist, resist, you keep resistinging till the end of your life. So there are many attractions, which people say, oh, I feel attracted this way. It's a sinful attraction.

You must resist it. Another thing, it's a sinful attraction, resist it. You'll have to resist it till the end of your life and you'll be an overcomer.

What Jesus says in Revelation 3.21 is, he who overcomes, even as I also overcame, will sit with me on my throne. So remember this, till the end of your life, you will be tempted, drawn to certain things. God allows it to enable you to overcome.

Think of the Garden of Eden, in a situation where there was no sin in the world. In such a situation, Eve felt an attraction towards the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She knew God had forbidden it.

I don't know how long she looked at it and she felt, oh, I'm attracted, I'm attracted, I'm attracted, I'm attracted. What, what shall I do? Finally, I yield to it. That's stupidity.

Even if you stand in front of that tree for a hundred years and you feel attracted for a hundred years, you have to say no. Because God has said no to it. If we value God's word, we just resist every temptation that we feel attraction to.

This is the mistake of a lot of people in what they're saying today. I felt like marrying this person of the same sex. Okay, if you feel like it, so what? We feel like doing a lot of stupid things in our life.

We don't do all of that. If you, if you don't respect God's word, you don't have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you do what you like. I've got nothing to tell you.

The Bible says there are children of God and children of the devil. But if you're a child of God, God's word must be your standard. And the fact that you're attracted to do things which are contrary to God's word, doesn't prove anything.

You've just got to resist it. Okay, another question is, what is 1 John 5 and verse 16? It says, if anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask God to give him life. There is a sin leading to death.

It's a very difficult question to answer, but you know, when Ananias and Sapphira had sinned, Peter sensed in his spirit, as leaders, God gives that discernment. I don't have to pray for this man. This man has to die.

And so he died. There is a sin leading to death. There are other sins not leading to death where you pray for a person.

Does Satan attack Christians? Of course he does. It's like he attacks Jesus. But we don't have to be afraid of him.

Resist him and he'll flee from you. Resist the devil and he'll flee from you. And when a temptation comes, I don't have to sit and analyze, is it from the world or is it from the flesh or from the devil? If it's against God's word, I don't care where it came from.

I resist it. I don't have to, we don't have to analyze where it came from, whether it's from the flesh or the devil. When Titus 2.1 speaks about sound doctrine and starting mentions many teachings for people in daily living.

So when we talk about doctrine, is it right to say that is also part of sound doctrine? Certainly. It says in Titus 2 about how older women and younger women and older men and all younger women should behave, conduct in daily lives. Definitely.

Doctrine, true healthy doctrine is that which leads to life, good life, a godly life. What does it mean to take the name of the Lord your God in vain? Is it just when people say, Oh my God. Well, you know, it can be, you know, we, I don't want to judge people who say that.

It could be an expression of, you know, surprise. Oh God, help me. And I don't want to judge others, whether it's taking God's name in vain.

It could be a cry for help. Oh God, help me. I'm in a, I'm in an awkward situation now.

And I spontaneously cry out to the Lord for help. I don't know exactly what another man means. But if I say, Oh my God, help me.

I'm not using it as a swear word. I'm not using it in vain. I'm crying out for help.

Or, but we have to be careful. I agree. Okay.

These are some questions about verses in the Bible. I'll try and quickly go through the Matthew chapter seven, verse six, where it says, don't give what is holy to the dogs or pearls before swine. That just means that you don't give God's word to those who don't appreciate them.

If a person despises God's word, then you don't have to give it to that person. You must see whether a person will respect the word of God. I'm not talking about convicting person of sin.

John 20, 23, if you forgive the sins of any, they've been forgiven. That was specifically spoken to the apostles. You know, today, if somebody were to say, how do I know my sins are forgiven? I turn him to 1 John 1, 9 and says 1 John 1, 7 and 9. If he confesses our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us.

But remember, 1 John 1, 9 was not written till 95 AD. So how would the apostle John tell a person, your sins are forgiven? He says, John, can you tell me, apostle John, how do I know my sins? I'm telling you in Jesus' name, your sins are forgiven. He was given that authority in John 20, 23.

He used that authority and wrote 1 John 1, 9. We quote John today to say people's sins are forgiven. So there are certain things, certain authority, Jesus gave the apostles at a time when the Bible was not yet written. So that they could assure people that their sins are forgiven.

Today, we have the scriptures written by those apostles who was given that authority so we can quote scripture. If Jesus was fully man, how is it the difference between our will and our sinful nature? I don't think you understood clearly what I said, that it's when you yield to temptation that you sin. Till you yield to temptation, you don't sin.

So it's when you sin and keep on sinning that you can call your flesh sinful flesh. What about taking part in communion? I generally skip it because I struggle with sin. If everybody who struggled with sin didn't take part in communion, no one would take part except the dishonest people.

Everybody struggles with sin at a different level. The fact that you're struggling with sin shows that you can partake of the Lord's table, that you hate sin and you want to be free from it. What did Jesus mean by lead us not into temptation? It means don't lead me to temptation that too strong for me.

That's all it means. God will not do it but we still need to pray for it. Give us this day our daily bread.

God gives us our daily bread but still we pray for it. What does it mean to be baptized for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15, 29? That's referring to a certain cult in Corinth. They, he doesn't say we or you, he says they, they are baptized for the dead.

So even they believe in some type of resurrection. Why can't you people, if those heathen people believe that, why can't you believe in a resurrection? Now look at this crazy thing. Angels are supposed to minister to us.

Someone told me she lost her necklace and she ordered an angel to go and find it and next day she found the necklace. Please comment. Rubbish.

She happened to find it. Angels have got better things to do than to go find your necklace. Ask, I'm not saying God doesn't answer prayer but you cannot order an angel.

Sorry. That's all false charismatic teaching. If you, you don't find even Jesus ordering angels.

He lived on earth. Do you know what it says in Hebrews chapter 2? He was made lower than the angels. Have you read that verse? Jesus was made lower than the angels.

You read in Hebrews chapter 2? Can you order someone who's above you? Man was made lower than the angels. God in his grace has allowed angels to be, to serve us. That's because they have the same spirit as Christ.

The spirit of the greater serving the younger one. But it's crazy what some of these charismatic people teach. I'm sorry to say that.

They take things to an extreme. Okay. Will God give us a second chance after we die? No.

If you die without forgiving somebody, I want to tell you in Jesus name, you will never be forgiven in time or in eternity. You cannot enter the kingdom of God no matter how you lived on this earth. There is no second chance.

Hebrews 9.27. It's appointed unto man once to die, after that the judgment. Please explain the meaning of the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Cry Abba Father.

Abba means daddy. And it means that the Holy Spirit makes us aware in our heart that God is our father. It's a wonderful thing to know that.

But also through the scriptures. But it's wonderful to be able to have that intimate relationship with God where I often picture myself as a little two-year-old sitting on my heavenly father's lap. Perfectly secure, perfectly free from anxiety, fear, so many problems in life.

A two-year-old is never bothered. Think of a two-year-old sitting on his dad's lap. There's absolutely nothing that worries him.

And he can ask his dad for anything. His dad may not give him everything, he knows that. But it's such an intimate relationship of security.

And I like to picture myself like that, a two-year-old sitting on my heavenly father's lap in the midst of this world of turmoil. I want to encourage you to know God like that. He loves you.

He cares for you. He wants you to be very close to him. Another question is praying for the leaders.

1 Timothy chapter 2. My fellow believers say, why do you think God brought you to this country? I want you to pray for this nation, so come with me and pray. I feel guilty and I don't want to. We must pray for the country we are living in.

Definitely. And for those in authority, even if you're not a citizen, there's nothing wrong in praying for the leaders of the country you live in because you're living under the laws of that country even if you're not a citizen. Because it can affect you.

So what do we pray? We pray what it says in 1 Timothy 2. We should pray not who should win the election. That's not what we pray for. We pray that we, 1 Timothy 2, can live a peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.

That's what we should be praying for. Lord, please control the affairs of this country and those in authority, so that we Christians can live a peaceable life in godliness and dignity. We're not interested who wins the election.

That we leave it to God's hands. But we pray for ourselves and that's what we need to pray for. Okay.

All the questions are dealt with. Let's bow in prayer now. Heavenly Father, we pray that You will help us to understand Your Word more accurately and to obey Your Word and live in the light.

And even if we don't have a clear understanding of many of these verses, to live according to the light that we have in the areas where we do have understanding, to live a godly life. And please You help us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.