Important Principles in the Body of Christ

So, we want to continue our study in what I call New Covenant Proverbs and I'll give you the whole list at the end of the conference, we'll have a web link where you can copy it, so even if you miss out on something you don't have to write it all down now. If you want to you can. So, this is one of the most important verses for Christians, 1 John chapter 2 verse 6 says, you'll hardly hear anyone preaching on this, the one who says he abides in Christ must walk and the same manner as he walked or live in the same manner as he lived.

So, that means our attitude, our walk and the way we live means our attitude to many things in the world we live in. Sin comes through our response to the various things we encounter in the world. So, here's what I want to say on the basis of this, a spiritual man looks at women, money, material things and circumstances in the same way that Jesus looked at them.

1 John 2 verse 6, the one who says he abides in Christ must walk in the same manner as he walked. Now, if you're not like that now, don't get discouraged, the Holy Spirit has come to make you like that but you have to have a desire, the Holy Spirit will not force you to go in a direction you don't want to go. If God could force people, nobody would go to hell.

The very fact that millions go to hell proves that God does not force anyone to go to heaven and the fact that millions of Christians were born again never become spiritual proves that God does not even force anyone to become a spiritual Christian. It's entirely up to you, there's one area in your life God will not intervene, that is your free will because if he forces you to do something, you know what will happen to you? You'll become a robot. You know what robots are? They are computerized, they are programmed to do everything the man who's programmed it wants to do and a robot will never tell a lie, never hurt anybody because it's programmed that way.

And God could have made us like that. The proof is all the stars that have obeyed him for millions of years. Why is it nothing has come and collided with the earth in all these millions of years? Because God programmed all those heavenly objects never to collide with the earth.

God could have made man like that, programmed like the robot, they come near the tree of knowledge of good and evil and immediately turn away because they are programmed to turn away. God didn't want robots. You don't want robots in your house.

Would you like a small little robot to come up to you and say hello daddy, I'm so happy to meet you or would you rather have a naughty child who comes and hugs you and says dad I'm not happy with you today? You'd rather have that child because when he loves you he's loving you from your heart. God does not want robots, he doesn't want you to be mechanically programmed to obey him. He wants you to make a choice.

That's why he's given you free will and he'll never take it away. Even if you choose to go to hell, he won't stop you. But he wants you to choose out of love to serve him, not because you're attracted by someone.

Even to love him because you want to go to heaven. Very selfish. No, it's like a woman loving a man saying you're so rich, I'd like to marry you because I know I live very comfortably.

That's how many people love God. That's not how we are to love him. Lord, I love you because you gave your life for me.

I don't care if I go to hell. I told Jesus this long ago and I still say, Lord, if you're in hell, I'd like to spend eternity with you in hell because hell will become heaven for me if Jesus is there. My heaven is not golden streets and fancy houses.

It's the presence of Christ. It's like a wife, we have the bride of Christ, a wife who really loves her husband. We'll say, darling, I'd be happy to live in a hut.

I don't want a palace. If you're there, that's a happy home for me. And that's how a true Christian is.

So we walk as Jesus walked because we love him. So we must check ourselves constantly. How men, how do you look at a woman? Don't say I don't lust after her.

Jesus' testimony was not, I don't lust after women. There was a purity in Jesus' eyes to such an extent that when a woman came to wash his feet, he was not even tempted because he'd been faithful for 30 years. You can be so faithful that by that, initially you're tempted, so you avoid.

But a time comes when you're not even tempted if a woman touches your hand or leg. Of course, Jesus was very discreet. He wouldn't touch a woman and I don't think we should either.

But my point is, there's a growth in spiritual life where certain things don't tempt you after a while because you're growing. So we have to see, do women tempt me? Do material things tempt me? Does money tempt me? Am I disturbed by circumstances? Lord, help me to walk as Jesus walked. And let me tell you this, the Holy Spirit has come for one reason, not to make you speak in tongues.

I speak in tongues and I still say that's not the reason why the Holy Spirit has come. The Holy Spirit has come to make us like Jesus Christ. Otherwise, there's no hope.

You can try your best your whole life, you will not even be one percent like Christ. But if the Holy Spirit comes, he can make you like Christ and make you look at women with pure eyes. He can make you look at money and not be attracted to it at all.

He can make you look at circumstances and not be disturbed, not be excited when it's good and disturbed when it is bad. You know that God is in control. It's an amazing way to live.

Okay, the next proverb. When we see that we don't have the mind of Christ in some area, we must repent and cleanse ourselves until we have it. 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. It says there, 2nd Corinthians 7 and verse 1. Therefore brethren, having these promises, what are the promises? The previous verse, I will be a father to you, you'll be my sons and daughters, if chapter 6 verse 17, you separate for yourself from the world and don't touch what is unclean.

Don't think of what is unclean. I'll be a father to you, you'll be my sons and daughters. Therefore, chapter 7 verse 1, since we have these wonderful promises, let us cleanse ourselves.

There is a cleansing that Jesus does for us. That is my past life. Lord, cleanse me.

I can't cleanse away my past sins. His blood cleanses me. But here is me cleansing myself from the wrong attitudes and thoughts and my bad speech habits and other things in my life.

Let us cleanse ourselves from all, that word A-L-L, very important. I must not be satisfied with a 90% cleansing. If a doctor tells you, well, I think you're 90% free from cancer, would you go home rejoicing? No, that 10% can kill you.

I want to be free from all cancer. Look at sin like that. I challenge you from today onwards to look at sin like you look at cancer.

You're not happy if your doctor says 99% you're free from cancer. That 1% cancer can kill you. Lord, I want to look at sin just like we look at cancer in the body.

It is a cancer in the spirit. Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Defilement of flesh is the external sins.

Defilement of spirit is the inner sins of thought, attitude, motive. Those are sins of the spirit. Sins of the flesh are the external things.

Your anger and your lusting with the eyes and things like that. Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God. Are you happy with the bare minimum? In India, in our schools, the pass marks, I don't know what it is now, but it used to be when I was in school, 40%.

If you get 40% in math, you pass. You get 40% in English, you pass. You get 40% in history, you pass.

And so would I tell my child, aim for 40%, somehow get promoted to the next class? No. I always used to tell my children, aim for 100%. If you aim for 100%, even if you get 60, 70, 80, something, but if you aim for 40%, you're not going to get anywhere in life.

We don't teach our children, aim for the bare minimum. No, aim for the highest. Aim for the stars, they say.

Then you'll at least reach the top of the trees, if you aim for the stars. So, aim for the highest. And what I want to say here is, Romans 8, verse 29 says, he wants to confirm us to the likeness of Christ.

In connection with that, I want to see Romans chapter 12, in verse 1 and 2. This is how, from our side, how we can perfect ourselves in the fear of God. Romans 12, verse 1 and 2. Romans is a book that explains the gospel all the way up to chapter 11. From 1 to 11, he's explaining the full gospel.

He concludes in Romans 11, verse 36, saying, here it is, everything is from God, everything is through God, and everything is to God. In the human way we look at it is, everything is from me, through me, and to me. Everything works towards me.

Then I got converted, and I say, Lord, everything in my life, I want it to be from you. I want everything to be done through your power, and I want everything to be done for your glory. That means God's will, God's power, God's glory.

That is true Christianity. A self-centered life is my will, my power, and my glory. But here it says in Romans 7, verse 36, to be a spiritual person, everything must be from him, Romans 11, verse 36.

From him, through him, and to him, so that he'll get the glory. Therefore, whenever you read the word, therefore, in a sentence, you must see what it is there for. What is it there for? See, the previous words, because everything should be in my life, should be from God, through God, and to God.

See, that's what it means to have gold, silver, and precious stone. You know the other passage, those of you are familiar with 1 Corinthians chapter 3, you can build with gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. And when the fire comes, everything built with wood, hay, and straw will be burnt up.

Everything built with gold, silver, and precious stones will remain. So, what is it? Wood, hay, and straw. From man, through man, to man.

That's wood, hay, and straw. What is gold, silver, and precious stones? When your life, everything is from God, through God, and to God. That means you seek God's will, you seek for the power of the Holy Spirit, and you do things for God's glory.

That's gold, silver, and precious stone. The Christian life, the Bible is a very simple book, if you come with a sincere heart to study it. Therefore, what should you do? Chapter 12, verse 1. By the mercies of God, present yourself as a living sacrifice.

In the Old Testament, they used to put a bullock on the altar. Here, he's saying, put yourself on the altar. And I'll tell you something, how to put yourself on the altar.

You know, in the Old Testament, if you read Leviticus chapter 1, how they put a bullock on the altar. You could not take a bullock and put it like that and burn it up. It was going to be burnt up.

No, the Lord said, cut it up. Cut it up into small, small pieces. And you wonder, why should you cut it all up? It was going to be burnt up as a sacrifice.

Why not just leave it there and burn it up? What a job it is to cut up a bullock. But there was a lesson there. You cut each part and put it there.

And so it says here, I must present my body like that. If I say, Lord, here's my body. No, no, no, no, no.

Cut it up. Then you'll understand whether you're really offering it. Lord, here is my, here are my eyes.

And offer it to you. I don't want to look at anything that dishonors you. Here's my tongue.

I'm cutting it up, you know, my body. And I don't want to say anything that dishonors you. And here are my ears, Lord.

I'm cutting it up and putting it on the altar. I don't want to hear anything that's bad. And here are my feet, Lord.

I cut and put on the altar. I don't want to walk anywhere where you don't want me to go. Here are my hands.

I cut it up and put it on the altar. I don't want to write anything or do anything with his hands that will dishonor you. When you cut up your body and put it up, then you realize whether you've surrendered your body or not.

Otherwise, you think, oh, Lord, here's my body. Take it. You fool yourself.

You haven't given it. Cut it up piece by piece and see whether you've given it. My thoughts, Lord, I put it on the altar.

When you cut it up, you know whether you've surrendered everything or not. Otherwise, so many Christians say, I've surrendered all. No, you haven't.

Multitudes of people say, I surrender all. I surrender all. They've surrendered nothing.

You know whether you've surrendered all when you cut it up. That was why the Lord taught the Israelites in the Old Testament. Cut up the bullock and put it on the altar.

Everything in the Old Testament has a meaning when you read it in the New. Present your bodies a living holy sacrifice acceptable to God. This is your real worship.

I told you how important it is to worship. Worship begins with, here it is, spiritual worship. There is carnal worship, worldly worship, a lot of this, you know, charismatic singing, making a lot of noise and everybody jumping and clapping and all that.

It's all soulish. It's not spiritual. It's just excitement of the body because a lot of people get excited like that and go home and commit sin.

But spiritual worship comes when you do this. Present your body piece by piece to the Lord. You'll become a spiritual man and you'll be able to worship God in spirit.

And you give your mind also not to be conformed to the world's way of thinking. That is the way to have the mind of Christ. So if we don't have the mind of Christ, we must repent and cleanse ourselves until we have it.

Okay, the next thing I want to say is about forgiveness. Next proverb. Forgiving everyone is the first step to true faith.

You cannot have true faith until you forgive everyone. And Romans chapter, sorry, Mark chapter 11, if you turn with me to Mark 11, verse 22 to 25. Mark 11, verse 22 to 25.

We read this, I'm sure, where Jesus says, speak to this mountain and say to it, be taken up and cast into the sea and you don't doubt in your heart it will happen. Now we understand that Jesus once said, the words that I speak to you are spirit and life. He said that in John chapter 6. So he's not talking about a physical mountain.

He's talking about a spiritual mountain. The words that I speak to you are spirit and life. Read it like that.

And you say to this mountain in front of you, haven't you all faced situations I have where you want to do something for the Lord and there's a big mountain in the way. God wants you to go in a certain direction, but there's a big mountain in the way. It happens often.

You say to that mountain, be taken up and be cast into the sea. Get out of the way. And you don't doubt in your heart it will happen.

I'll be able to go where God wants me to go. I've experienced that numerous times. An obstacle in the way.

See, that's the stories in the Old Testament are like that. There was a big obstacle for the Israelites to be delivered from the slave masters in Egypt. God removed it.

That mountain, what a mountain it was for two million people to be delivered from the slavery in Egypt. But God found a man, Moses. He could move that mountain out of the way.

So these are all written for our encouragement. Speak to this mountain, but you believe in your heart it'll happen. I say to you, verse 24, in this connection, whatever you pray and ask, if you believe that you've received it, it'll be granted.

This big obstacle in the way, you know this is what God wants you to do. This is the will of God. There's an obstacle in the way.

Speak to that in Jesus' name. Pray against it and it will happen. It'll be moved.

It will be granted you. It's a promise from the Lord. But there is a condition.

Very important condition. When you pray, if you have anything, verse 25, anything against anyone, forgive him. Then your father will forgive you.

But if you do not forgive, your father will not forgive you and the mountain will remain there. Got it? You see the connection between verse 23 and verse 25 and 26. Many times people don't understand that.

So, forgiving everyone is the first step to true faith. You say, I don't seem to have faith. Okay, let's have a checkup.

You want faith, right? According to this passage, faith to move a mountain, verse 23, begin with verse 25. Can you honestly say today that you have forgiven every single human being in the world? That means whoever has done harm to you, whoever has cheated you, whoever hurt your family members or did something to you, maybe when you were a kid, when you were growing up, or maybe your mother-in-law who kept bothering you. I don't know who it is.

You retain that in your mind. That person did such evil to me. And sometimes you say in your mind, I'll never forgive that person.

Uh-huh. Then mountains will remain in front of you. God wants you to go somewhere, but there'll be mountains in your way that will not move.

No matter how much you say, get out of the way in Jesus name, it will remain there because you have not forgiven someone. If there is one person you have not forgiven, I tell you in Jesus name, that mountain will remain in front of you forever. Now you know why you don't seem to make progress in the Christian life.

You're always hitting against the mountain. You're determined to go. You came to a conference, say I'm going to go on with the Lord and you get hit against the mountain.

Thank God that the Holy Spirit, like a doctor, gives us a diagnosis. Your problem, my dear child, I love you. I want you to go past this mountain and every mountain you face in your life, but you must forgive.

How shall I forgive? As God forgave me. How does God forgive me? I'll tell you. Turn to Hebrews in chapter eight.

We always compare scripture with scripture. Hebrews eight and verse 12. The Lord says, this is how God forgives us.

I will be merciful to their sins or inequities and I will not remember their sin anymore. That's how God forgives. It's not that God's forgotten.

God's not forgotten. And I'll tell you why. Jesus once told a story of a man who forgave, of a king who forgave somebody, let's say $10 million.

And that man went out and caught a fellow by the throat who owed him $100. Where's $10 million and where's $100? He caught that fellow by the throat and said, $100 is a lot of money. I can't let you go.

He wouldn't. He could say, please have mercy on me. I'll pay.

He said, no, no, no. You can't pay up. He got him thrown in jail for $100.

And the king had forgiven him $10 million. Somebody told the king, you know that guy you forgave, $10 million. He's gone and caught, put somebody in jail for $100.

The king said, call him back. And he told him, you wretched servant. You read this in the last part of Matthew 18 when you get time.

I forgive you so much. You couldn't forgive that person. Apply that to your life.

Is the Lord saying to some of you here, I forgive you so much in your life. Every time you ask me to forgive you, I forgive you. Think of that person you still haven't forgiven till today.

Right now, it comes to your mind, that person's name, right? Don't you remember right now the name of the person you're not forgiven because he did some terrible thing against your son or daughter or somebody in your family or cheated you or something like that? Come back here. And he took that man. Did the king remember his sin? Yes.

So when God says, I choose not to remember, that's not the same as saying, I forget. What he's saying here is, I choose not to remember. But if you don't forgive somebody, I will bring that back to an account.

And I'll call you to answer for it. And I don't have time to show that to you. In the last verse of Matthew 18, it says, he not only put him in jail, he handed him over to the torturers.

Some people are just in jail and some people are put in jail and tortured. So not only God punished him, but put the demons after him. Imagine God allowing the demons to torture one child of his, just because that guy would not forgive somebody.

Many of God's children are suffering, some way spiritually, not growing, hindered. Whatever they try to do, they seem to come to a roadblock, a mountain in front of them. Turn this way, there's a mountain there.

You turn the other way, there's a mountain there. You find your way blocked everywhere spiritually. You find year after year after year, you're not growing spiritually.

Despite all the meetings you attended, all the messages you heard, consider the possibility. As a doctor, I'll give you the diagnosis from scripture. You have not forgiven someone from your heart.

How do we pray in heaven? The Lord taught us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And for your name to be hallowed, please forgive me.

You know the rest of that prayer? Exactly as I have forgiven others. Lord, I've forgiven all those others, but I can't forget them. Forgive me like that.

Don't ever forget what I did against you. Is that how you want God to forgive you? Or do you say, Lord, please don't remember all the things I did? Well, the Lord says, don't remember what that guy did against you. Get it out of your mind.

This is so important that I want you to bow down in prayer now. Let's pray. Please bow your heads with me.

Close your eyes. Think. Who is that person you have not forgiven? One person.

Maybe two. Maybe somebody in the church. Maybe somebody in the office.

Maybe a mother-in-law. Maybe some family member who cheated you of your rights or your property or something. Maybe some boss who fired you, chucked you out of your job.

Maybe a neighbor who made life miserable for you. Maybe somebody to whom you said, I'll never forgive you. All those names come to your mind now.

Right now, forgive them. And it's so easy. Lord, I forgive this person.

Mention the name to the Lord. And I forgive this person. Maybe it's your marriage partner for something he or she did years ago.

Lord, right now, I forgive that person. And this person. And this person.

And this person. Okay. Now, there's one more thing.

Don't raise your head. Close your eyes. The Lord said, when you come to Him in prayer, and you remember that you have hurt somebody.

This is the other way. You hurt somebody, and you have not asked His forgiveness. Leave your offering there.

Stop praying, Jesus said, Matthew 5, verse 23, 24. Stop praying. Leave your offering at the altar.

Go and ask forgiveness from that person. Then come and pray. So, that's the next step.

Is there somebody you have to ask forgiveness from whom you hurt? Deliberately hurt? Or even accidentally hurt? Will you tell the Lord now, Lord, at the first opportunity, I'm going to call him up and ask His forgiveness, or I'm going to write him a mail and ask His forgiveness at the first opportunity after this conference is over, or even tonight, perhaps. I'm going to settle it, Lord. I don't want a single person whom I have hurt in any way, whom I have not asked forgiveness from.

This is going to be a revolutionary conference for me. My life is going to change. I've attended so many conferences, and my life has not changed.

Now, I know why. Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. Forgiving others, asking forgiveness.

Lord, please help me not to forget the decision I've taken now. Help me to keep that attitude of forgiveness towards all the people I just mentioned to you, and as soon as possible, to ask forgiveness from those whom I've hurt. Even if it's your son or daughter or husband or wife, at the first opportunity, set it right.

Father, we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, now we can continue.

Forgiving everyone is the first step to faith that can move mountains. Okay, the next thing. I want to say something about eternity.

We are told in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10, 2 Corinthians 5, 10. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that everyone is rewarded or recompensed, means rewarded or punished either way, for the deeds he did in his earthly body, whether they were good or bad, according to what he did. So, there's a day coming, whether we believe it or not, when we'll stand at the judgment seat of Christ, and you know what will happen in that day? You know that everything you have done in your life, every word you spoke, every thought you thought, every wrong attitude or right attitude, is all recorded in your memory.

There's a videotape that's been running in your memory from the time you were born. A videotape that's been running, running, running, running. Now, you don't remember all of that because, you know, as we grow older, we are not able to recollect in our memory.

I find that. I'm 86 now, and I find my memory is not all that good as it was when I was younger. But I've heard true stories of people having brain surgery, and I understand in some brain surgeries, man can even be awake while they are doing something in the brain, and they touch some part of their brain, and he suddenly remembers something that he had forgotten for ages.

That means it was there. The surgeon touched some part, and he suddenly remembered something. I've never forgotten those true stories I've heard.

Everything is stored in that videotape of our memory. Nothing has been erased except what you confessed and asked Jesus to cleanse with his blood. Praise God, that part is blotted out.

There are some blank spots in the tape, cleansed by the blood of Christ. What is not confessed remains there. And one day, you know, when you think of all the billions and billions and billions of people who lived for these thousands of years since the time of Adam, and they all stand before God one day, you wonder how in the world is God going to ask Jesus said every idle word that you speak, Matthew 12, you will give an account in the day of judgment.

Think of all the idle words we have spoken, one man. Think of all the billions of people. How in the world is God going to recollect all this? He doesn't have to recollect anything.

He makes the man stand before him, and presses the rewind button in his memory, and it'll all come back, and on the screen in the day of judgment, you'll see the man's entire life, his thoughts, and his words, and his attitudes, and his motives coming by, except what is cleansed in the blood of Christ, it'll all be there. And we will be judged according, 2 Corinthians 5, 10, to what he did, whether good or bad. So if we have lived selfishly for ourselves, or not for the glory of God, think of that, the memory of our life, even if you're forgiven, but the memory that God forgave you so much, yet most of your life after you are forgiven, you lived only for yourself, to make money, to advance in the world, even though you claim to be a forgiven sinner, child of God.

The memory of that, you're in heaven, of course you're in heaven. The memory, but when you see Jesus, how much he did for you, the sorrow, boy, Lord, how little I did for you. It's what you're saying, the Lord in heaven, I love you, I love you so much.

In the place where I should have said it, down on earth, where people despise you, I did not say it. And now in a place where you're popular, where everybody's admiring you, I'm also joining them and admiring you, but my words sound so hollow, when I say, Lord, I praise you and thank you. It sounds so hollow in heaven, because on earth, I did not stand up for you like that.

I have regret. I may be in heaven, but I'll have a regret that plagues me mind. Lord, how can I repay you now? I can't go back to earth again, to a sin-cursed earth and live that life for you again.

I had one opportunity and I missed it. I'm telling you what I speak to myself. I don't preach to you what I did not preach to myself first.

I say, Lord, I don't want that type of eternity where I have regret over the way I lived on this earth. And I want to think about it now. And whatever the price I have to pay, it'll be nothing compared to the price you paid for me on the cross.

I want to live for you 100%, not just because I don't want regret in eternity. That could be a selfish reason also. I don't want any regret in eternity, so I live for the Lord.

No, but because I owe such a debt of gratitude to Jesus for what he's done for me. The byproduct of that is I won't have regret in eternity. So live for him.

Okay, the next one is when we are secure in the next proverb. When we are secure in the love of God for us and the plan he has for our lives, that means I'm perfectly secure. God's got a plan for my life.

We will never again compete with anyone to do show that we are better than them or envy somebody who's doing things better than me. Maybe God's got another plan for his life. You know, sometimes you can envy a man who's very gifted.

Boy, I wish I could preach like him. Why? I want to ask you why. Why do you want to preach like a very gifted preacher? Because you see, he's getting so much honor.

He's respected so much. When I preach, I seem to stumble along. I wish I could.

I wish I could do something like him or someone who's a, maybe even more, if a man's got a gift of healing, prays for somebody, he's boy, I wish I could heal that. So much of that is seeking for honor. If it were the glory of Christ, if it was for the glory of Christ, it wouldn't bother you whether you did it or somebody else did it.

God's name was glorified. I didn't do it. That person did it.

Praise the Lord. The Lord's purpose will be fulfilled. There's so much of selfishness in this.

But if you're secure in God's love and his plan, God's got a plan for my life. You say, maybe you say, well, God has not called me to be a preacher. I've told many people in my home church, please.

I mean, 50 years ago when he started CFC itself, I told them, dear brothers and sisters, please don't try to preach like me. In my younger days, I was foolish. I admired somebody and I wanted to preach like him.

I admired people who could write such wonderful articles like Tozer and all. And I said, Lord, I'm not Tozer. I'm not John Wesley.

I'm Zach Poonen. I want to be myself. I don't want to be John Wesley or Charles Finney or D.L. Moody or Tozer or any of these people.

I'm Zach Poonen. And I tell people also, please don't try to be like somebody else. You are you and you are a very important part of the body of Christ.

Don't be in competition with others. God's got a plan for your life. And when you're secure in the love of God, you will never envy anyone.

You will never compete with anyone. You will never long to be the part of the body of Christ that he is. See, there are some parts of the body which are very important, you know, your tongue, your eyes, your ears.

And there are other parts of the body which are not so very small. For example, think of one of the smallest parts of the body, the nails. What are the nails in our body? You can live without your nails.

Supposing a person loses all his nails. It's okay. He's not going to die.

He's still got eyes, ears, his hearing, speaking, everything's okay. He lost his nails. But when somebody says, hey, I'm feeling itchy in my back.

Can you scratch it? I can't help him. I can't scratch his back because I don't have any nails. So those nails which you despise, when you feel scratchy yourself, your eyes and ears can't help you.

It's those teeny weeny nails that help you to scratch your back. You know what the ministry of scratching somebody's back is? The ministry of encouragement. Spiritually, to scratch a man's back means say something that will encourage him.

You sisters, when you're speaking on the phone to somebody, even if it's only for a couple of minutes, you've passed on all the gossip of the day. Why don't you end the day with a word of encouragement? And somebody comes to visit you. You've talked about so many things.

Did you say anything that would encourage that person before they went away from home, from your home? The ministry of encouragement. The Bible says in Hebrews and chapter 3, you know how often we should encourage people? Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 13. Encourage one another every day, as long as it is called today.

Because one of these days, it will not be today for you and me. All the todays of our life will be over. So as long as you're alive, you can put it like that, as long as you're alive.

Encourage one another because by doing that, you may save that person from being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. What a tremendous ministry. You don't have to be a preacher in the pulpit.

You just speak a word of encouragement on that phone. One sentence, you may save him from being hardened or save her from being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. So encourage one another every day.

Don't envy anyone. Don't compete with anyone. Don't judge anyone ever again.

Be secure in the love that God has for you. He's got a plan for you. You are a very, if you've accepted Christ, you're a very important member of Christ's body.

Even if you're only a nail that can scratch and scratch somebody's back means encourage that person with one sentence. You're not the great tongue like some prophet. God didn't make you the tongue in the body.

Okay, Lord, I humble myself. I'm not the tongue. I'm not going to sit in the pulpit and preach powerful messages, but I can speak a word of encouragement to somebody.

And if you do that every day, you probably will bless people more than that preacher who preaches to thousands. Encourage one another every day. Okay, don't compete with anyone.

Don't try to show that you're a better preacher or a better encourager or anything. Lord, I'm content to be myself. I think of these fingers.

They're all different sizes. I don't think this little finger is competing. I wish I was like the middle finger.

No, I'm happy to be myself. Look at your body and see the different parts of your body that are perfectly content the way God made it. And say to yourself, Lord, I am a part of the body of Christ.

I'm not like the others. Maybe I'm a little, maybe I'm one of the hidden parts, you know, like the liver, the kidneys. Have you ever appreciated your liver and kidneys? They do a much greater job than your fingers.

You know that you can lose your fingers and live. You lose your liver and kidney, you're dead. So don't think because you're not a well-known, visible member of the body of Christ, you are unimportant.

The liver and the kidney are much more important than the visible members of the body. The Bible speaks about the hidden members in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. So maybe you'll like that.

Be thankful for whatever you are and say, Lord, I want to be content. I'm not competing with anyone. Okay, the next proverb, Isaiah 49 verse 10.

Only those who have compassion for others are fit to be the leaders of God's people. They alone can lead others to springs of living water. Isaiah 49 and verse 10.

In the middle of that verse, the one who has compassion on others will lead them and will guide them to springs of water. You know, a person dying of thirst, spiritually, apply that spiritually. Here's a needy person who needs a word from the Lord, needs some encouragement.

Who will do that job? The one who has compassion. He who has compassion will lead people to springs of water. Think of that ministry, brothers and sisters.

Anyone can do it. Is it difficult to have compassion for people, to feel sorry for people? I mean, especially if you've gone through such trials yourself, you can feel sorry for someone. And even if you haven't, ask the Lord to give you that spirit of compassion, Holy Spirit of God, fill me with compassion for the people I meet.

Any of you who got responsibility in a church, you know what you need more than the ability to preach? Compassion. That's what I often pray to God. I say, Lord, you have given me the responsibility for 60 years now to stand in front of people and preach.

And you've given me some gift to preach. But how will I know what to preach? My biggest problem, I'll tell you honestly before God, even for this conference, I've been seeking God for so long. I say, Lord, what shall I say? They've put me up for so many sessions.

How in the world am I? I'm not some superman or anything spiritually. I'm a helpless branch. If I don't stay in the tree, I'll be dry as anything.

I won't help a single person who's taken the trouble to come for this conference. I want to have compassion for the people. And you promised that if I have compassion, the people will get some springs of living water in this conference.

They will not go empty. They'll think it was worth it coming here. I want to do that.

And I want to say that to you. It can be for you also. Only those who have compassion are fit to lead others as God's servants.

Strive for that more than the ability to preach. With compassion, you'll be able to do much more than with some prophetic ability. Okay.

Next thing. Next proverb. Jesus grew in wisdom, listen carefully, by being faithful at home and in his workplace, which was the carpentry shop.

This is how we can also grow in wisdom. And then Jesus was given a ministry. He spent 30 years in hidden preparation for a three and a half year ministry.

This is the son of God who was perfect from day one. He knew the Bible when he was 12 years old, better than anybody in Israel. You think because you know the Bible, you can preach.

I'm sure Jesus could have preached some powerful sermons when he was 12 years old. Why didn't he do it? The father said, no, you may know the Bible better than others, but I do not permit you to preach yet, my son. And Jesus kept quiet.

Going around Nazareth with more Bible knowledge than anybody in that town, he kept his mouth shut. I think of the little young Jesus sitting in the synagogue in Nazareth, listening to all the boring Pharisees get up with their sermons one after the other, preaching, shouting, yelling, and banging the table, if they are like today's preachers. And Jesus sitting there boring, boring, boring, and he knows more than all of them.

And he keeps quiet. Because the Lord says, no, I don't want you to speak yet. Do you have that type of self-control? And if he had, if Jesus had sat there judging now that useless fellow, that guy's useless, that guy's useless.

He's a useless preacher. He would have been sinning, sinning, sinning every day in the synagogue, like many Christians sin sitting in a church. Jesus didn't judge them.

God has been good to me. He's given me more light than that other person. How can I judge him? See, if God's made you healthier, let's take a look at your health.

Supposing you see a person who's very sick, and you're healthy. Supposing you see a person curled up in bed, handicapped. Do you despise her? I hope not.

You know, I've seen in India people coming with their fingers bitten off with leprosy. They come to our gate. Do I despise them? Do I show them my fingers? Hey, see how many I've got? I'd be an idiot if I do that.

Physically, we don't do it. We don't boast how healthy and strong we are compared to that poor leper who's crawling and coming to our gate. Do we do it spiritually? See how smart I am, how capable I am? No.

Compassion is a great power. Jesus was, he spoke only when the Father told him to speak. He was faithful in his home.

It says he obeyed Joseph and Mary who were imperfect. Many people have a question. How can I obey this elder in my church? He's not as good as I am.

Jesus could have said that from day one. Joseph and Mary, he, let me ask you, do you believe Joseph and Mary ever had a fight with each other? Any Roman Catholics here who believe they were all saints who never fought with each other? They were ordinary children of Adam and they were under the old covenant. They did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them because the day of Pentecost did not come.

Think of people who have received the Holy Spirit to fight with each other, husband and wife. How do you think Joseph and Mary lived? And this perfect Jesus lived there and saw Joseph and Mary arguing and fighting and here's the wonder of it all. He never despised them.

That is Christianity. You see two people fighting and arguing. You think, hey, they should be better than me.

And you don't despise them. God's been merciful to me. Let me not despise them.

Learn from Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, we run the race. I've spent my life trying to see how Jesus lived when he was 10 years old, when he was 20 years old, how he worked in the carpentry shop.

And for example, some child would come and some delicate thing that Jesus made there, the child would break it. Jesus wouldn't get upset. He'd pick up that child and hug him and say, that's okay, my son, I'll take care of that.

I can fix that again. Lord, give me an attitude like that. That is how we are prepared for a ministry.

30 years, he was tested in his home. I think of, say, there was some game like baseball in those days going on outside Nazareth, outside his home and Jesus young, 15 year old, joining with the others about and if time comes to bat. And at that time, his mother Mary says, Jesus, come, I want you.

He drops the bat and goes and all his teammates say, hey, you mama's boy, take your turn to bat, man. He says, no, I got to listen to mommy. And they tease him, mama's boy.

And he goes and mama says, go and draw some water from the well and bring it, Jesus. He goes, brings the water, comes back. Then he goes to bat.

His batting turn is over. His team's turn is over. And they, all they tease him.

Because of you, we missed out something. These are the things Jesus faced. The Bible says the Holy Spirit shows us the hidden things in Jesus' life.

That's what I prayed. I said, Lord, what you did in the last three and a half years, even if I'm not a Christian, I can read the Gospels and know. Show me the hidden 30 years what you did.

What I'm telling you is what the Holy Spirit showed me. It changed my life. How I should live, looking unto Jesus, how he lived in the first 30 years.

I'm not called to raise the dead. I've never done that. And I don't think I'll ever do it.

I'm not looking for that. I'm looking to try to live as Jesus lived. You can grow in wisdom by being faithful at home, faithful in your workplace.

Even if you're a carpenter or you're working in office, it doesn't make a difference. You can grow in wisdom. It says here in Luke, Luke's Gospel.

Please turn with me. Luke chapter 2, verse 31, 51, sorry. Luke 2, 51.

And Jesus went down with Joseph and Mary to Nazareth when he was 12 years old. And he continued in obedience to them. And his mother, Mary, treasured these things in his heart, in her heart.

And what was the result? Jesus kept on increasing in wisdom. Uh-huh. Lord, now I understood the secret.

How I can keep on increasing in wisdom by being obedient to you, wherever you put me. Have you put me in subjection to an imperfect boss? Maybe you got a boss who's unrighteous or crooked, imperfect. Jesus submitted to imperfect Joseph and Mary.

He did that and increased in wisdom. You can increase in wisdom. And God puts you in that situation where you are imperfect.

Maybe you wives, you got a very imperfect husband. I think many wives have got imperfect husbands. I think many husbands have got imperfect wives.

God's put you there. What's the solution? The worldly solution is divorce. That other handsome fellow over there, you should marry him.

That's what the devil says. But Jesus, he obeyed the father. He grew in wisdom.

There's very little wisdom in the world today. There's very little wisdom even among believers because they don't look at Jesus. You're supposed to look at Jesus and run this race.

Dear brothers and sisters, be faithful at home, be faithful in your place of work. One last thing, we'll close this session. A truly humble person receives such grace from God that he can overcome every sin and walk in triumph always.

Even Satan is afraid of such a person. Why do I say that? Because of two verses that we have taught repeatedly in our CFC churches. Those two verses are 1 Peter 5, verse 5, the last part.

God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. You know that God is the enemy of every proud person. He's opposed.

I picture it like this. I'm trying to progress in my Christian life and God pushes me back. What hope is there for me if God himself is pushing me back? I know the devil's pushing me back.

The lusts in my flesh are pushing me back. The world is pushing me. The world, the flesh and the devil are all pushing me back.

My only hope is if God is behind me pushing me forward, but he doesn't. He comes in front and also pushes me back. Why? He is opposed to the proud.

How can I get God behind me to push me forward against the forces of the world, the flesh and the devil? Only one requirement. Humble yourself. Don't think you're smarter than your husband or your wife.

Humble yourself. Don't think you're smarter and cleverer than that other guy in your church. Humble yourself.

If God has made you, keep it to yourself. Don't try to show off. Humble yourself.

Have low thoughts about yourself. Don't think you're so smart. Humble yourself.

God gives his grace to the humble. I remember when he put our first church building up in Bangalore about a little less than 50 years ago. I said, here's a verse we must put prominently in front.

God gives his grace only to the humble. And I've had people looking at that verse for nearly 50 years now. Remember that brothers.

Remember that. Remember that every time you come to church on Sunday. Remember God will give you grace if you're humble.

If you're not, no matter how much you pray, you won't get it. God gives his grace only to the humble. So what is the conclusion? Therefore what? When God gives grace, what happens? Turn to Romans 6.14. When God gives you grace, here's what happens.

Romans 6.14. Sin will not be able to rule you because you're under God's grace. Put those two verses together. God gives his grace to the humble.

And when a man is under grace, no sin can rule him. Dirty thoughts, you'll overcome them. Anger, you'll overcome it.

Bitterness, you'll overcome it. Temptation to cheat, you'll overcome it. Name it.

Unforgiving spirit, you'll overcome it. You say, I can't forgive that person. God will give you grace.

You can overcome it. And God gives grace to the humble. So put these two verses together.

God gives grace to the humble. And those who are under grace, sin cannot rule them. For example, no matter how much rain or hail or anything is falling outside right now, you cannot touch me.

I'm under a roof, protected. No matter how heavy the hail is, how heavy the rain is, I will be dry. I will not be hurt because I'm under a roof.

That is how when grace covers. Under grace, that's the expression used in verse 14. Under grace, what will be the result? Sin cannot touch.

What a promise. How to come under grace? Very simple. God gives his grace to the humble.

You can walk in triumph in every situation. And even Satan would be afraid of such a person. I remember the day once God spoke to me very clearly in my heart.

As you have been afraid of Satan for so many years. From now on, Satan will be afraid of you. That thrilled my heart.

Satan afraid of me? I tell you, I was scared of Satan. I would even as a little boy think of the demon may come in the house or some rubbish like that. Many people are scared.

Satan can do this. Satan can do that. He's almost as though he's almighty.

He cannot touch you if you're under grace. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, please help us not just to remember what we have heard, but to walk in the light of what we've heard.

We humbly ask in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you very much.

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