Eight Valuable Truths

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you will speak to all of our hearts according to our need. You know the need of everyone who's here. We don't know it.

And so your Holy Spirit, we pray, will move upon everyone and strengthen each one and speak to everyone. We know it's your good pleasure to bless us, so we believe you, in Jesus' name, amen. So brothers and sisters, I'd like to do a little Bible study with you today.

It's not what I normally do, but I usually give a message. But you know, if I can get all of you to get interested in studying the Word of God yourself on your own, I would really have accomplished something. So that's my desire that as we go through scripture today, you will have a passion to study the Word of God.

And that is what I want to accomplish at the end of the meeting. I pray the Holy Spirit will accomplish that. So I'm going to take eight passages in scripture.

If you want, you can write them down. But more important than that, pay attention. That's more important, because you can always listen to this message later on.

If you get distracted taking too many notes, you won't pay attention. So the first passage of scripture, which I want to point out, is what was done with our sins in the old covenant and what with man's sin and what is done with man's sin in the new covenant. I mean, that's elementary.

All of you who have heard me many times would know the answer. Please turn with me to Psalm 32, verse 1. You must turn in your Bibles, so then only this will be a proper Bible study. So people sinned in the old covenant.

And Psalm 32, verse 1 says, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is not cleansed, covered. There's a difference between cleansed and covered. Sin was not cleansed in the Old Testament.

You know, you take a piece of paper and cover something and you lift up the paper, you can read what's underneath. So when sin is covered, you take away the cover. The sin is there.

Turn to another verse in Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, Psalm 103, verse 1, and verse 3, who pardons all your iniquities. So pardon for sin, for all sin, was there in the old covenant.

David who wrote this Psalm experienced it. David was the one who wrote Psalm 32 as well. David sinned many times.

He knew his sin was covered and not cleansed. It's very important to understand that. Now turn to the New Testament and you see 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7. If we walk in the light, and let me explain that.

What is the opposite of walking in the light? Walking in darkness. People do things in the darkness because they want to hide something and therefore walking in the light means being honest, 100% honest. Do you know what is the requirement for fellowship with God? 100% honesty.

If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with Him. The problem with even many believers, they are not 100% honest. When they get angry with somebody, they will not admit that it was anger.

Husband and wife get angry with each other, but they will not admit it was anger. They'll say it was something, I was just trying to explain something. Okay, okay, what you'll miss is fellowship with the Father.

You can't have fellowship with the Father if you're not honest. If you call your anger, it was an explanation. I want to tell you in Jesus' name, you will never have fellowship with the Father.

Be honest. I've learned something. Call sin by the worst name you can imagine, not by some self-justification type of word you find for it.

If you're seriously interested in fellowship with God, it says walk in the light. It means be absolutely, ruthlessly honest. Then it'll be cleansed.

Then the blood of Jesus, verse 7, cleanses us, doesn't cover it. It cleansed means it's gone. There's no record of it anymore.

Turn also to Hebrews in chapter 8. When we walk in the light and we have fellowship with God, how does God cleanse it? Hebrews 8, 12, last part, I will not remember their sins anymore. I remember the day that hit home to my heart about two years after I was born again. For those first two years, I used to confess my sin and believe that Lord has forgiven me.

But I never knew that. He said, I will not remember it anymore. And I still remember that day I was standing on the deck of a naval warship I was working in.

And suddenly it hit me. I remember one evening this word came home to my heart. I will remember their sins no more.

I got liberated. I've never forgotten that verse since that day. Hebrews 8, 12.

But remember, you have to walk in the light. You've got to be honest. If you call your anger by some decent name, then your sin will not be forgiven and God will not blot it out and he will remember it.

One of the greatest needs I find is to teach believers to be honest. I found many, many believers. How do I know that? Because sometimes when there's a conflict between two believers, even sometimes I've had to counsel husband and wife.

And I talked to both of them. I can see clearly that both of them refuse to be honest. They are believers.

Everybody's got a self justification. Yeah, I did like this and that person did like this. And the other person says, no, it was like this and like this.

I give up. I say there's no hope for you until you learn to be honest. Don't need victory over sin first.

You need honesty first. I wish we could teach our children that from childhood. There were two things that I was very strong with about my children.

One was disobedience or speaking rudely to father or mother. Immediately, I would tell them to stop whatever you're doing. Go and apologize to mommy.

They're usually scared to speak rudely to me, but they would speak rudely to mom. I say stop what you're doing and go and apologize. Very, very important.

And the second thing I was ruthless with them was honesty. I've sometimes had to sit with one of my children. When they're only one or two years old, can you ask a child to be honest at one or two? Yes.

Did you do that? No, daddy, I didn't. I know he did it. I keep on working at him, working with him.

At the end of half an hour, you say yes. You know that verse in Psalm 58 and verse 3, the last part. It's talking about babies.

Psalm 58 verse 3. That babies are, they go astray from their birth. We know they've got the nature of Adam from their birth, but they're estranged from the womb. Means from the time they come out of the womb, they started telling lies from birth.

Psalm 58 verse 3. So that's the first sin that children commit. From the time they come out of the womb, they started telling lies. So that's what we need to teach them.

They become disobedient to parents. I believe these are the first two things we need to teach. Honesty.

Then we can move on. We don't have time, but please meditate on that. Each of these eight things I mentioned, please take your time to meditate on it later.

Okay, number two. In Psalm 40, I'm comparing the old covenant with the new covenant now. Psalm 40 verse 6 and 7. Sacrifice an offering you have desired, not desired, but my ears you have opened.

Burnt offering, sin offering you have not required. Then I said, behold, I come in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will.

Oh my God, your law is within my heart. Please read carefully. Verse 8. I don't have time to go back to this.

Can you remember? I delight to do your will. Oh God, because your law is within my heart. Remember that.

Now that is quoted in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 10. Whenever you hear, here's a principle of Bible study. Whenever you read an Old Testament quotation in the New Testament, stop your Bible reading there.

Search where that verse comes in the Old Testament. Many of you have concordance on your phone itself. Search where it is.

Compare the two verses. This is how I've learned many things in the Bible. Just by that simple practice of going back to the Old Testament and comparing with the New.

And here's one example of that. Psalm 40 is the verses we just read. I quoted here in Hebrews 10 and verse 5 from Psalm 40 verse 6. Can you notice the difference? Sacrifice and offering are not desired, but a body you have prepared for me.

In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices you have sinned. For sin you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I come.

In the scroll of the book it is written of me to do your will, O God. Did you notice the difference? Yes or no? Can you nod your head if you saw the difference? I see hardly anybody nodding their head. What is the difference between the two verses? It's almost exactly the same.

I'll tell you. Keep a finger here and turn back to Psalm 40. There it said in Psalm 40 verse 8, I delight to do your will, O God.

But in Hebrews 10 7 it says, I've come to do your will, O God. Do you know the difference between delighting to do your will and doing your will? A lot of Christians who delight to do God's will will never do it. We are in Psalm 40.

That is Old Covenant. You say, I have a great desire to do God's will. Good.

You're in Psalm 40, brother, sister. You're in the Old Covenant. No wonder you have not entered into the New Covenant.

Here it's referring to Jesus, who is our example. I've come to do your will, O God. How did I discover that? Because I developed a very simple habit.

I told you. Whenever I see a quotation from the Old Testament, I would stop my Bible reading, go back to the Old Testament and compare it. Not only just is not to improve my Bible knowledge or to have a subject to talk, preach about.

No, it is to help me in my life. I realize that if I delight to do God's will that I'm still in the Old Covenant. When I do God's will, then I'm in the New Covenant.

That shook me up. I thought if I have a great desire to do God's will, that means I'm in the New Covenant. Rubbish.

100% Old Covenant. I want to say to all of you, you have a great desire to do God's will, you're in the Old Covenant. When you do God's will, that is when you come to the New Covenant.

So it's wonderful to see the difference. And this is referring to Jesus. It says in verse 5, Hebrews 10, 5. When he, that is when Christ comes into the world, he is the one who says.

In sacrifices and offerings, you don't take any pleasure. Verse 8. But what does God take pleasure in? I have come to do your will, O God. What is it that it says? You don't take pleasure.

You're not desired. He does not desire, verse 5, sacrifice and offering of the Old Testament. And verse 6. He takes no pleasure in all these burnt offerings.

All your sacrifices. You say I gave up this, I gave up that, I stopped going to the movies. Forget it.

Okay, you gave up these things. You've made some sacrifices. But the Lord says I'm not interested in all that.

Don't tell me you gave up movies and you gave up smoking and you gave up alcohol. Jesus said God is not interested in all those things. He takes no pleasure in those sacrifices.

What he takes pleasure is when a person comes and says, I have come here to do your will, O God. That was the secret of Jesus' life. You turn to John chapter 6 and verse 38.

John chapter 6. I call this the one line autobiography of Jesus' life. One sentence. I have come from heaven.

What for? Not to die on the cross. Read carefully. He did not come from heaven to die on the cross.

He came from heaven to deny his own will every day and to do his father's will every day, every moment. And one part of it, one small part of it was dying on the cross. Which is only for six hours.

That is six hours. What about the remaining 33 and a half years? He denied his will for 33 and a half years and did his father's will for 33 and a half years. Then he hung on the cross for six hours.

So here is the autobiography. Autobiography means person describing his own life. Jesus describes his entire life in one sentence.

I came from heaven to do one thing. Perpetually say no to my own will. Perpetually say yes to the will of the father.

When you understood that, you understood the way the Christian is supposed to walk. Every single moment. Sometimes we glory in some great sacrifice we made.

Jesus could have gloried and I'm going to die on the cross. Greatest sacrifice. Sometimes some of you may think I made a great sacrifice for the Lord over there.

I'll tell you what the Lord wants, brother, sister, that you say no to your own will every day. Have you lived for 60 years from the time you were born again? I was born again when I was 19 and a half. I've been a Christian now for nearly 67 years.

But I'm sorry to say I did not deny my own will every day because nobody taught me that when I was born again. They said you're born again. You're on your way to heaven.

Relax. Just just shout the praises of the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for forgiving my sins.

Thank you. And I keep on sinning and I say, Lord, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. It was endless defeat because I was in a church that never believed in the baptism in the Holy Spirit or the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Never taught me to seek for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Never taught me to seek God's will. Never taught me to take up the cross every day.

No wonder my life was miserable. Till God revealed in mercy, revealed all this to me after 16 years of wandering in the wilderness. Finally, I entered Canaan.

Thank God it was not 40 years like the Israelites. Have you entered Canaan? Canaan is the place where you deny your God's your will every day and do God's will every day. OK.

We go to number three in Genesis 15 and verse 13. Genesis 15 verse 13. The Lord told Abraham in verse 13.

No, for certain. I mean, if God said no, no, this that would have been enough. But God emphasized this saying, I know the future.

So I'm telling you, know this for certain, Abraham, that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they'll be slaves and oppressed for 400 years. Who were the descendants of Abraham who were enslaved many years later? You know who they are. The Israelites enslaved were in Egypt.

How many years? Please note. How many years? 400 years. Who said this? God, who knows the whole future.

God, who knows the whole future, who knows right up to the end of time. Looks into the future and says your descendants will be slaves. God knew it was in Egypt, but he didn't mention Egypt.

He said they'll be oppressed in a land that is not theirs. That means not in Israel, somewhere else for 400 years. OK.

Now let's turn to Exodus chapter 12 and see how many years they were actually enslaved. This is the night of the Passover. That was the night they got liberated out of Egypt.

But the Lord told them Exodus 12 verse 2. This is the beginning of the month. And you have the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, verse 14. And verse 33, the Egyptians urged the Israelites, get out of the land.

If you live here, we'll be dead because 10 plagues had come and the Egyptians got scared. Their firstborn sons had died. And the sons of Israel, verse 37, left Ramses, Egypt and about 600,000 men and a mixed multitude went along with them.

And then it says, verse 40, the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was how many years? 430 years. Aha. Did God make a mistake? Did God not know the future? When he told Abraham 400 years.

When you read something like that, what do you do? You just forget it and go on to the next verse. I'm sure you've read that verse. I don't go on to the next verse.

I say, Lord, why is it? God knows the future. God never makes a mistake. I'll explain to you.

God's perfect plan. For the Israelites, they should be 400 years in Egypt. But that plan was frustrated.

It became 430 years. Why? I'll explain to you. Turn to Acts of the Apostles, chapter 7. I told you it's going to be a Bible study.

You better turn to these verses quickly. I don't have much time to wait till you find it. Turn to Acts, chapter 7. This is Stephen saying in verse 23.

When Moses was living in Pharaoh's palace at the age of 40. Verse 23. He visited the sons of Israel and he saw somebody being treated unjustly and he killed the Egyptian.

And then when he realized that Pharaoh discovered it. How old was Moses? 40 years old. It's written there.

Verse 23. Moses was 40 years old. Then Pharaoh knew about it and wanted to kill him.

Moses ran away. And then we read. After another 40 years.

Verse 30. Now Moses is 80 years old. Then after 40 years.

Wandering in the wilderness. He comes to the burning bush. And he's commissioned by God.

To go and deliver. The Israelites. Okay, now use your mind a little bit.

When he was 40. He went into the wilderness. And the purpose of God sending anybody into the wilderness is to break them.

All the strength and. Power that he had in the wisdom he had as the son of Pharaoh. Daughter.

It had to be broken till he became a zero. God has to break us and bring us to zero. Before he can use us.

So God had a plan to break Moses in the wilderness. And let me tell you this. Listen carefully and you'll understand the reasoning.

God's plan was to break Moses in 10 years. But instead of 10 years, he took how many years? 40 years. Verse 30.

He took 30 years more. Than God's plan for him. And that's why the Israelites had to spend.

Another 30 years. More than God's original plan. Of 400 years.

What do we learn from that? What we learn from that is. God may have a plan. From the time you're born again.

To break you. As soon as possible. So that he can fill you with the Holy Spirit.

And when the rock is smitten. The water flows out. The rivers of living water will flow out from you.

But he has to smite you first. And that can take a long time. In Moses case, instead of 10 years, it took 40 years.

God broke me also through many, many years. I was born again when I was. 19 and a half.

And God filled me with the Holy Spirit. When I was. 35.

Nearly 16 years. And it's only after that, the first CFC church started. In 1975.

So. There is a particular period. I'm not saying the day you're born again, he can break you.

He has to take you to a certain period. I don't know whether I. Took longer than I was supposed to take. That I'll know when I get to heaven.

But thank God I did learn it finally. And I want to say to all of you, my dear brothers and sisters. Especially those who are young.

You got your whole life ahead of you. Let God break you quickly. In Moses case, what should have taken.

10 years took 40 years. That is why we read. God said the Israelites will be.

In a strange land for 400 years. But they ended up being 430 years. Because the man who was supposed to deliver them.

Took 30 years longer. More than God expected him to take. Is God's work being delayed somewhere? Because you.

Are not allowing God to break you. Humble yourself. Take up the cross.

OK, we got a rush. You can meditate on that later. OK, now we look.

Another question. Can you tell me. What is the first sin.

Mentioned in the Bible. The first thing in the universe was. The rebellion of Lucifer.

Which made him the devil. We read that in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. I'm not talking about that.

But the first sin mentioned in the Bible. You say that was. Eve.

If you're not careful, you'll say that was Eve. Taking the fruit. No.

The first thing mentioned in the Bible. Was a lie. That Satan told Eve.

Before she ate the fruit. When Eve said to Satan. If I eat from this or touch it, I'll die.

The devil said in verse 4. You surely will not die. That is the first sin mentioned in the Bible. Lying.

Telling a lie. And Satan is called the father of liars. In John chapter 8. I think is verse 44 somewhere in John 8. He said you will definitely not die.

Okay. And by the way. The first sin that a human being committed.

Before I move on. The first sin that a human being committed. Tell me what it is.

You say eating from the forbidden fruit. Wrong. The first sin that a human being committed.

Was Eve. Not submitting. To Adam.

As her head. When the devil spoke to her. Saying to eat it.

Instead of discussing with the devil. She should have turned to her head. Adam.

God had appointed Adam to be her head. And said darling. What should I do? She never said that.

The trouble with many wives who don't listen to their husbands. Right in the beginning. And what does Adam sin? He also sinned.

Not eating the fruit. Before that. He was standing there.

We read in Genesis 3. And verse 6 next to Eve. Just next to Eve. And he saw this conversation going on.

Between the devil and Eve. And he did not intervene and said. Keep quiet darling.

Don't speak to that serpent. He was supposed to be the head. Appointed by God.

And he did not exercise. His authority as the head. Just like many husbands today.

They don't go in the right direction. But allow the wives to go a certain direction. And make a mess of their home.

And everything else. Then the next sin after that. Was eating the fruit.

Okay. Let's move on. What I wanted to say was.

What is the first sin in the Bible? Was lying. Okay. What is the last sin in the Bible? Mentioned in the Bible.

Turn to Revelation. And chapter 22. The last sin mentioned in the Bible.

Outside. Outside the kingdom of God. That is.

It says here about the gates of the city. In verse 14. And outside the gate are the dogs and sorcerers.

And immoral people. And murderers and idolaters. List of sins.

And everyone who loves and practices. Telling lies. The last sin mentioned in the Bible.

Is telling a lie. And as I told you. In.

John 8. 44. Jesus said. The devil is the father of lies.

So remember that telling a lie. Is a very very serious thing. It's the first and last sin.

Mentioned in the Bible. And. Jesus is called the truth.

I am the truth. He said I'm the way the truth is. Of the life.

There must be no lie in us hypocrisy. Is a form of lying. We can say the Pharisees stole lies.

By their life. That means they pretended to be holy. When they were not holy.

That's living a lie. He may not open your mouth. What is the first sin.

That was judged in the early church. after the day of Pentecost. You remember? The first sin that was judged after the day of Pentecost was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira.

There was no rule that you must sell your property and give all the money to God. No, people did it voluntarily. Everybody sold all that they had, gave all the money.

Ananias came and, listen carefully, Acts 5. Ananias came and stood in line. He did not bring all the money. He kept back, maybe he kept back 50% and brought 50%.

And he did not open his mouth. Very important to see. He did not open his mouth.

He just quietly left the money there and walked away. He did not open his mouth. And as he was going away, Peter called him and said, Why have you told a lie to the Holy Spirit? Ananias would have said, I never open my mouth.

Ananias, don't bluff me. You knew that everybody here was giving their entire purchase, selling price for the house. And you pretended that you were giving the entire amount, but you were not giving the entire amount.

Without opening his mouth, he told a lie. And it says he died immediately. Verse 5. After that, his wife comes along and she was, she was asked a question.

Then she opened her mouth and told a lie. Yes, that was the price. And she also died.

So telling lies, Ananias and Sapphira, that's the first thing judged in the church also. So you see what a serious thing it is to tell lies or to live a lie. You know, Ananias did not open his mouth.

You can tell a lie without opening your mouth. That's called hypocrisy. Pretending to be holy when you're not holy or some type of pretense.

Well, we got to move on. Number 5. What is the first thing that God wanted to tell man when he decided to write a book for man, which is the Bible? What is the first thing that God wanted man to know when he decided to write a book for man, the Bible? Is it about how the heaven and earth were created? Genesis 1 verse 1. No. Genesis 1 verse 1 was written by Moses, who lived about 1500 years before Christ.

But there was a man who lived before Moses. His name was Job. And he wrote the book of Job.

That was the first book of the Bible. Why is it then put in the middle of the Bible? Because it is put along with the poetic books. All the poetic books are put together.

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, etc. That's just because those books are put together. But the first book that God wanted to write for man is the book of Job.

So the first words that from God's mouth in the Bible are not in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. That is Genesis 1 verse 1. No. The first word that God speaks when he writes the Bible is there was a man who was blameless, upright, fearing God, turning away from evil, Job 1 verse 1. You see the significance.

God is not wanting us to know how the heaven and earth were created. That can wait. Job lived 500 years before Moses and God said how the heaven and the earth were created.

That can wait 500 years. Let me first of all tell what is in my heart. In my heart is not to tell people how the heaven and earth were created.

What is in my heart is how can I have a perfect man on this earth who fears me and turns away from evil. That is the first sentence in the Bible. There was a man on earth who feared God and turned away from evil, blameless, upright, and someone about whom God could boast to Satan and say to him, verse 8, Job 1 verse 8, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered, that means have you seriously looked at my servant Job? There's no one like him on the whole earth.

God compares his children one with another. Did he know that? He doesn't lump them all into the same category. There may have been other people fearing God to a lesser extent, but the Lord compared all of them and said Job is first in the class.

Number one, he is more than anybody on the face of the earth. There's nobody like him anywhere on the earth. Blameless, upright, fearing God, turning away from evil.

Blameless, upright, fearing God, turning away from evil. Where do we read about a person getting victory over the lust of the eyes? Jesus spoke about it in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, there's no reference to overcoming the lust of the eyes, only adultery.

But in the New Testament, Jesus spoke about lusting with the eyes is as bad as adultery in the Old Testament. But do you know who was the first person who overcame lust of the eyes? It was Job. See the book of Job and chapter 31 verse 1, the first mention of adultery in the mind.

Job says, I have made a covenant with my eyes. Then how can I keep on looking at a virgin and be tempted by her? And what is a portion of God for such a man? Is it not a calamity? And so on. Doesn't God see all my ways? Verse four.

And he goes on to say in verse nine, if my heart has been enticed by a woman, not my body, I don't go anywhere near my body with my heart and my eyes. I'm enticed by a woman. That is the man about whom God said, a man who fears me.

And who turns away from evil as soon as he's tempted, he turns away. What a shame it is that so-called believers who believe in the blood of Jesus and they say they are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. They can't do this simple thing that Job could do 4000 years ago.

Yeah. OK. Let's move on.

We saw the first words in the Bible are what we saw here, Job and not. In other words, the creation of the earth. It's not so important to understand how many days it was created and all that can wait before you.

There's so many people arguing today all about Genesis, Genesis chapter one. Was it one day? Was it really one day? Was it one week and all that? I tell you, I'm not interested in that argument. I'm interested in the first book of the Bible, which is Job.

And the first chapter is not Genesis one. I want to argue about Job chapter one. Are you interested in that? That is the Bible I read.

Job chapter one is the first chapter for me. I hope there is for you also from today onwards. And how he stood even when his children were killed.

He was faithful. That's the first chapter in the Bible. Job 122.

In all this, Job did not sin and he did not blame God. This is 4,000 years ago, 2,000 years before Christ. He never put the blame on God, even when all his 10 children died.

He didn't say, God, why did you allow that? He bowed and accepted it. But later on, he began to complain because he did not have the Holy Spirit. That is the difference.

We can remain in Job 122 all through our life. Job could remain in Job 122 only for a short period. Then, because he did not have the power of the Holy Spirit, he fell.

Okay, that's when we finish number five. Now, number six, how do we get eternal life? Well, some people quote Romans 6, verse 23. And they say, the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life. And they use logic and say, what do you do for a gift? You don't pay anything. You just stretch out your hand and take it.

So they preach like this. Take it, brother. You got eternal life.

That means you will live forever and ever and ever and ever in heaven with God. Well, first of all, I want to explain what eternal life is. Eternal life does not mean living forever.

Okay. Because eternity is not something we can, none of us can have eternal life. That means if you live forever, that's still not eternal life.

Because the proper definition of eternity is not never having an end. You know, we can say I have eternal life means my life will never end. That's not eternal life.

Eternal life is a life that had no beginning and has no end. No beginning and no end. That is eternal life.

Just having no end is not eternal life. That is a long life that doesn't end, but it's not eternal life. Eternal means no beginning, no end.

Only one person has eternal life. That's God. No angel, no human being.

And you can get it for we getting eternal life means we get the life of God. That is eternal life. That is when the Holy Spirit comes in, He gives us that same eternal life that God had.

That's why Jesus defined eternal life like this in John chapter 17. He defined eternal life. See this.

Here's the definition of eternal life given by Jesus Christ. John 17 verse 3. This is eternal life. He's giving a definition to know God and Jesus Christ personally.

That is eternal life. Do you have eternal life? Do you know God as your loving father? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal friend and savior who saves you from sin? Then you have eternal life to know God and Jesus Christ. He's not just saying I accepted Christ.

Okay, let me go on and explain it further. Matthew chapter 7. How do we come to life? The Bible speaks about Jesus spoke about life. There's always eternal life.

Life with a capital L. Okay, here it is. Matthew 7 verse 14. The gate is small.

How long does it take to enter through a gate? A moment. Any gate. You enter in, in a moment you're in.

One moment you're out, next moment you're in. How long does it take to accept Jesus Christ as our savior? One moment. One day you are an unbeliever, you accept Christ, in that moment you have entered in.

You have received Christ, you have entered through the gate. But Jesus said after the gate, there is a way. The gate is small.

You have to repent and forsake everything when you come in. But then after that there's a way that leads to eternal life. Aha.

When have you heard that gospel preached like that? That's what we preach in CFC churches. That there is a gate which you can enter in a moment and a way that finally ends in eternal life. So does that mean I live in fear of I may not have eternal life, finally I may lose it? Yeah, there are people who accept Christ to fall away, no doubt about it.

We've seen examples of that around us and we see in the Bible also. There was a co-worker of Paul called Demas who forsook Paul. Paul writes to Timothy about Philetus and Tychicus and all different people who fell away.

So in 1 John 2 he says there were some people who were with us and who finally left us. That showed that they had the spirit of the antichrist. You read in 1 John chapter 2. So when you read scripture, you find there's a gate and a way that leads to life.

It's a narrow gate. That's the way we accept Christ and there's a way. That's the way you take up the cross every day and like Hebrews 12 verse 2 says, let us run the race with patience looking unto Jesus who ran the race in front of us, the author and finisher of our faith.

He's not just the author of our faith, which is the gate, but the finisher who's leading. He's the first one who ran this race and the race is throughout our life where we attempted and we overcome and at the end is the finishing line. Okay, so eternal life is a gate and a way.

So let's move on from there to number 7, which are the two sins that Jesus said will definitely take you to hell. Not murder. There was a murderer who hung on the cross next to Jesus who went to heaven because he repented.

Not adultery because there are converted prostitutes like Mary Magdalene and others who get into God's kingdom. Two sins that can lead you to hell. Jesus spoke about them in the Sermon on the Mount.

In the Sermon on the Mount, in that wonderful sermon that speaks of the highest standard of holiness, hell is mentioned only three times. Have you noticed that? Only three times. Number one, let's read carefully.

Matthew 7, 22. Anger. Anger, Jesus said, can finally lead you to hell.

Not just when you get angry. I say to you, he was comparing Old Testament 10 commandments to the New Testament standard. The Old Testament commandment said, thou shalt not murder.

Jesus said, I say to you, Matthew 5, 22, you should not get angry. Old covenant murder equals new covenant anger. How many people know that? That when you get angry, it is just as good as having murdered somebody in the Old Testament.

The penalty is death. So he says, I say to you, if you get angry, even with your own brother, you're guilty. Forget about getting angry with a stranger.

You get angry with your brother. And then if you go still further, you know how sometimes people who get angry, they say something and then they're not happy. They have not said enough.

So they think about a little bit and come back after five minutes and say some more. Whether husband, wife or anybody else also. And they say some more.

Then you're guilty before the Supreme Court. And then if you go still further and call him some bad name and it speaks of extreme anger, you're ready to go to hell. Verse 22.

That's the first time hell is mentioned in the New Testament, in the Sermon on the Mount. Then the second time it is mentioned is, he said, the Old Testament law said in verse 27, don't commit adultery. But I say to you, if you look at a woman and lust for her, whether that woman is a woman walking down the street or a woman on your computer screen or a woman on your phone where somebody is loaded pornography in there and you look and you lust for what you see there because Satan has got some person to put pornography on the Internet and whoever it is downloaded it onto your phone and you watch it when nobody's looking.

And he says you've already committed adultery with that person, that strange person whom you don't even know. You look at that phone or the computer and you've committed adultery already, God says. The Lord says because you're lusting with your eyes.

What is the solution? Verse 29. Pull out your right eye. Oh, is it so serious, Lord? Is lusting the eyes so bad that I must pull out my eye? That means be willing to be blind in one eye.

But supposing you become blind in one eye, is it possible to lust with just the left eye? Sure. You don't need two eyes to lust. There are people who have lost one eye who can still lust.

So what should you do? Get rid of that eye as well. The meaning is learn to be blind. That is turn your eyes away.

That is cutting off the right eye and the left eye from looking. And if you don't do that, verse 29, you can go to hell. You can sin with your eyes and go to hell.

In the same way, he says in verse 30, if your right hand offends you, cut it off. Better to lose one part of your body, verse 30, than go to hell. That's the third time he speaks about hell.

Only three places where he mentions hell in the Sermon on the Mount. Nobody spoke about hell as much as Jesus Christ. Today's preachers don't preach much about hell.

They say somebody's accepted, right, he's finished. But here Jesus was not saying I would accept me and you're going to heaven. No.

He was saying, be careful that you don't get angry with somebody. Be careful that you don't lust after women, that you don't sin sexually with your eyes. Otherwise, you can go to hell.

So when we study scripture carefully, we understand it properly. And that is, those are the sins that Jesus mentioned that can take to hell. And I find that many people have asked me this question.

Brother Zach, I find you always, or very frequently, you speak against anger and lusting with the eyes. Why do you always speak about anger and lusting with the eyes more than any other sin? I'll tell you why. Because I don't want people to go to hell.

Very simple reason. I don't want the people sitting in my church, I don't want even one of them to go to hell. But Brother Zach, you preached about it last month.

Yes, I will preach about it every month till the end of my life. Because there are people, new people who come to the church who haven't heard it. And there are children growing up who are not old enough to understand it now.

Five years later, they've grown up, they must hear it. So there are always children growing up in the church who are coming to the age of understanding every month. And there are visitors, new people coming and joining the church every year.

So I must preach it every year and almost every month. I must preach on these two sins. Anger and lusting with the eyes.

I'm not asking anybody else to do it. I say God has commissioned me to do it and I will keep on preaching. And I believe as a result of it, I will discover in eternity that a number of people were saved from hell.

That's what I want. No matter what people said about me that I was a fanatic talking about these two sins all the time, it doesn't make a difference. I've been called all types of names and it doesn't disturb me.

If I can save people from hell and lead them into God's kingdom and eternal life, I'm delighted. I'm not worried about people calling me names. They called my savior much worse than names than that.

They called him Beelzebub, Prince of Devils. Only two or three people have called me the devil publicly. I mean, privately, some people may have done it.

I don't know. But my savior was called the devil frequently. So I'm not worried about people calling me a fanatic or all that.

Okay. Now we come to number eight. And that's the last in our Bible study.

Turn to John chapter seven and verse 38. John seven and beginning at verse 37. The last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, Do you know that Jesus most of the time spoke very gently? Did you know that? Very softly.

It was most of the time he preached very softly. Maybe I should show you that first. Please turn to Matthew chapter 12.

Beautiful words. Matthew 12. It tells us how Jesus preached.

Matthew 12, behold, my savior, my sorry, my servant, behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. This is the father speaking about Jesus. I will put my Holy Spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice or righteousness to all the people in the world.

He will not quarrel with anybody. People will come to quarrel with him and accuse him and tell him all types of things, but you can never, never get Jesus into a fight. And I say, Lord, I want that testimony also that nobody can get me into a fight.

And he will not cry out in such a way that his voice is heard on the streets. You know, when Jesus was preaching in a house, you couldn't hear his voice on the street. He wasn't yelling and screaming like some preachers.

He spoke in a very gentle voice when he preached in such a way that if he was preaching in a house, people on the street would not be able to hear him. And that is because he did not want to discourage anybody. He did not break a battered reed.

He would not put out a smoldering wick, but he will lead people to victory. What a wonderful passage. Meditate on it.

Verse 18 to 20 teach you how to preach. Okay. So we saw that Jesus did not raise his voice, but once Jesus raised his voice, once we read that he did raise his voice, and that is in John's gospel, chapter seven, verse 37, in the last day of the feast, he stood and cried out with a loud voice.

It's very unusual because Jesus never shouted and yelled like that, but this time he did it because it is very important. He said, if anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. He's going to speak about the Holy Spirit.

That's the one time he raised his voice. And we need to raise our voice as well in these days when people don't value the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If anyone is thirsty, the condition is you don't have to be holy.

You've got to be thirsty. He didn't say if anyone is holy, come to me. Who can come? Nobody can come then.

Are you thirsty? Then come to me and drink. And if you really trust in me, as the scripture has said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. And this, he spoke about the Holy Spirit, which those who really trusted in him would receive.

But that would not happen until the day of Pentecost, when Jesus would be glorified. So he's speaking about what is going to happen on the day of Pentecost. And that's what prepared the disciples to go out and preach the gospel.

When did Jesus, when did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit? Can you tell me? I'll show you. On the day Jesus rose from the dead. Turn to John's gospel chapter.

A lot of things you're discovering today, which you never knew were in the Bible. John's gospel chapter 20. Jesus on the day, the first day of the week, verse 19, John 20, 19, Jesus had just risen from the dead.

Verse 18, Mary Magdalene had just gone, told people, I've seen the Lord. First day of the day of resurrection. In that first day, verse 19, in the evening, first day of the week, Jesus came to his disciples.

The day of resurrection, he appeared to his disciples and he showed them his hands and feet. Verse 20, and he said, Peace be to you. Verse 21, as the Father sent me, so I sent you.

Then, and when he said this, listen to this. Verse 22, very important, many people have neglected it. He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.

Do you think those disciples received the Holy Spirit? Is there any word that Jesus spoke that would not take place? Many thousands of years earlier, 4,000 years earlier, in Genesis chapter 2, Jesus had breathed on Adam and Adam became a living soul. God means Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus was the Son, breathed on Adam.

Adam was just clay and Jesus breathed, the Father and Holy Spirit breathed on him and he became a living soul. What a difference between a model of clay and a living soul. Tremendous difference.

If somebody makes a model of clay that looks just like you, that's not you because there's no soul inside it. Jesus breathed, Adam became a living soul. Something happened here.

The same Jesus now, the day of the new beginning of a new era. That was the beginning of man's creation. This was the beginning of a new era in God's plan.

And again, he begins it by breathing. The Holy Spirit came in to his disciples. I believe they were born again there.

But then he told them, but you must wait for the power of the Holy Spirit, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. You have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You receive the Holy Spirit.

Now he says you've got to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 1 verse 4, don't leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father and which you heard from me, because John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Baptism means immersion.

You'll be immersed in the Holy Spirit in a few days. And they waited. There's already 40 days were over from the resurrection.

They waited another 10 days. And then Acts chapter 2 verse 1 on the day Pentecost was 4, Acts 2 verse 4. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. That was a baptism in the Holy Spirit.

What is the difference? You read in John chapter 20 after Jesus breathed on them, received the Holy Spirit, they still sat inside closed doors, scared. After eight, nine days, when Jesus came again, they were still inside closed doors. After 40 days, they were still inside closed doors.

They were scared to go out. But when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, they threw open the doors and went over the whole world, preaching the gospel. That is what the baptism in the Holy Spirit does.

And that is what the baptism in the Holy Spirit did for me 50 years ago, 51 years ago now. So brothers and sisters, you see the tremendous value of studying the scripture carefully. What I wanted to show you here is John 7, 38.

As the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from you. Now what did I tell you? Whenever you read a verse like that, as the scripture has said, what should you do? Find out where that scripture is. Let me ask you a question.

All of you have read that verse many times. Did you bother to find out where that scripture was? I'll tell you one thing I've learned about God's dealings with man. He never rewards lazy people.

If you read the scripture and you're too lazy to go and find out where that is, where does the scripture say that? Always waiting to be spoon-fed. So many believers are like babies, always want to be spoon-fed, spoon-fed, spoon-fed. When will they start feeding themselves? I started feeding myself pretty early because I would read the scriptures every day from the time I was born again.

I began to, in 40 days I read the whole Bible. Sorry, in eight months I finished the whole Bible. Then I studied, studied, studied.

By the time I left the Navy after seven years, I really got to know the scriptures. Because I said, I don't want to be spoon-fed. I want to study it and seriously take.

So I said a verse like this, as the scripture had said, where does the scripture say that rivers of living water will flow out of a person? And that must be the Old Testament. So I searched the Old Testament and found it was in Ezekiel 47. Out of his innermost being, rivers of living water will flow.

So when I go back to Ezekiel 47, what I see there is the house, house is the temple. The temple, the temple is my body now. Those days it was a physical temple.

And from the door of the temple, water was flowing out. This is the scripture Jesus referred to. And it was just a trickle, just a small, verse two last part, where water was trickling from the south side.

And then he measured, it was three thousand cubits. A cubit I think is one and a half feet, 1500 feet. And the water, which is only at foot level, came up to his ankles.

Water level is increasing. He was going into a river that started as a small trickle. Then it came up to his ankles.

Then he walked another thousand, five hundred feet, thousand cubits, and the water reached his knees. Then he walked another thousand cubits, 1500 feet, and it reached his loins. You see a man entering a river.

First of all, it's just at foot level, ankle, knees. Then it came to his loins. So what's next? Then he measured another thousand cubits, or 1500 feet, and it was so high, I could not, my, I was, water was to swim in.

So what happens when you come to that point? Meditate. Your feet get off the ground. You're detached from the things of earth.

That is the fullness of the spirit, where your feet come off the ground. And the river is carrying you now. Has that happened to you, my brother? Has the Holy Spirit lifted you off from attachment to the things of earth? Or you're still walking on the ground and saying, I've got the Holy Spirit.

It's up to my ankles. That's not enough, brother. As the scripture has said, out of his innermost being, rivers of living water will flow.

Jesus is showing a progression where you come to the place where you're filled with the Holy Spirit. And the mark is your feet are no longer attached to this earth. You're detached from earthly things.

And then it says, wherever the river went, it says in verse 12, there's all kinds of trees for fruit, all on both the banks of the river. So what happens when we are filled with the Holy Spirit? The river, the Holy Spirit produces fruit through us wherever we go. On the left bank, on the right bank, you go to the left, you go to the right, wherever you go, the Holy Spirit's producing through you eternal fruit for God's kingdom, bringing people to the Lord, building up people in Christ, building the church.

That is God's will for every one of us. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

How wonderful your word is. There's so much of treasure in it that we have missed so much by a careless study. We have despised you by despising your word.

Help everyone who heard me today to become a careful student of the word from today onwards, to be diligent to study the word. You are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you. Thank you.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Eight valuable truths. The first is God will cleanse our sins completely.

In the New Covenant, our sins can be cleansed, as we see in Hebrews 8 verse 12, instead of just covered, Psalm 32 verse 1. The second thing we heard was that God gives us the power to do His will. In the New Covenant, we have power to do God's will, as we see in Hebrews 10 verse 7, that means we actually do God's will, more than just having the desire to do His will. Allow God to break you is the third thing we heard.

The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 430 years. That's, we see in Exodus 12 verse 40, and even though God planned for them to only be there for 400 years, because it took God 40 years to break Moses when it should only have taken 10. Number four, lying is a very serious sin.

The first sin mentioned in the Bible is lying, when the devil lied to Adam and Eve about God's word. The first sin mentioned after the day of Pentecost is also lying, Ananias and Sapphira, and the last sin mentioned in the Bible is lying. God takes lying very seriously, deceit.

But the fear of the Lord is the beginning. The first thing God wanted us to know when He wrote scripture is this, that He is looking for those who fear Him and turn away from evil. Job is a tremendous example of that, in that he didn't have the Bible, he didn't have even the Holy Spirit dwelling within him, he didn't have church meetings to go to like this, and even the friends he had, the religious friends he had, were no good, people who made him feel worse, and yet he had the fear of the Lord, and that preserved him from evil.

And I'm reminded also of how he prayed for his children. Anytime they had a party, he'd call them and bless them and pray for them. It says that he thought perhaps in their heart they have sinned against God and he would pray for them.

Wonderful example of a father in the very first book recorded in scripture, written in scripture. Number six, there is a gate and a way that leads to life. Eternal life is that which has no beginning and no end, and only God has that life.

We can enter into this eternal life by first entering through the narrow gate in a moment and walking on the narrow way, which is a lifetime. Number seven, lust and anger will lead you to hell. The two sins that Jesus specifically mentioned would lead us to hell are anger and lust in Matthew 5. And finally, seek for the continual filling of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus normally didn't raise his voice, but when he did, it was to call out for the thirsty to come and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Even though the disciples received the Holy Spirit soon after Jesus' resurrection, they still needed to be filled on the day of Pentecost and continually thereafter.