Our Greatest Need

Thank you very much. When we read the word of God, one of the sad things we see is that God has been very frequently disappointed with his people. From the beginning, first book to the last book, we have a repeated history of God being disappointed with his people. And always the reason is that his people don't trust him. Right from the beginning till the end. So, we need to ask ourselves this question. You need to ask yourself this question. I need to ask the question, is God disappointed with me? You ask yourself this question. Is God disappointed? Is he sad when he thinks of you? When you see the first man whom God created, can you imagine what a wonderful plan he had for Adam and Eve? God knows the future, that is true. And it's true that God knew that they would fall. But he had a plan for them. You know, just like God has got a plan for your life and my life. You may not fulfil that plan, but God has a plan for you. You may disappoint God, but God has got a plan for your life. And God had a plan for Adam and Eve. He had a wonderful plan for them to have a very happy married life and bring up their children in the garden of Eden, which is like a paradise. And that the whole earth would be like a garden of Eden. God wanted man to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. With people, with number of children who would all fulfil God's plan. That was God's plan. It says God blessed Adam and said, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Don't you see there a plan of God? Did God tell Adam, no, I know you are going to fall in a few days and you are going to fall into sin, you are going to mess up all that I have planned for your life. Even though he knew that, he never told man that. You may become a backslider next week, but God is not going to tell you that today. Today what he will tell you is, I want you to be fruitful. I want to bless you. I want to make you a blessing to other people. Even though he knows, you may be a backslider tomorrow. Because God is always trying to encourage you to fulfil His plan. So, if you want to know how Adam was supposed to live, God has given us a demonstration. The way Jesus lived. That is exactly how He wanted Adam to live in Eden. And not only Adam, that is how He wanted Adam's children to live, his grandchildren, all the world's population that came through Adam. God's plan was that they should all live just like Jesus lived on the earth. Can you imagine what a wonderful earth this would have been? But God was disappointed. He was disappointed because man failed him. So, God started again. He wiped out the entire human race at the time of Noah. He said, let me start again. With one God fearing man, who had brought up his three children properly. He said, ok, now we will start with this one family and their three sons and their wives. Again, it was a new start. God told Noah the same thing. God said, you go and fill the earth. That was very quickly, again the world went into, his children went into sin. Adam's first son became a murderer. And Noah, he had to curse one of his own children because they were disrespectful. Very quickly, God was disappointed with man. Then you see God starting again. He says, ok, he calls Abraham and he starts all over again. He says, let's start a new nation. And you know, the nation of Israel came through him. And you read the whole history of the Old Testament. God brought them out of Egypt. Go into Canaan. They won't go. Unbelief. Oh no, no, no, these giants are too big. Again, God is disappointed. He is not only disappointed, he is so angry with them. He says, I won't allow any of you 600,000 people to go into the land of Canaan. Then finally, he leads some people in through Joshua. Gives them so many victories. Gives them the land. Kills the giants. Then you read in the book of Judges. Again, they go and worship idols and disobey God. And again, God is disappointed. He says, ok, let me start again. And he starts with Samuel, a new prophet. Raises up a king called David. Before that, he raised Saul and he was disappointed with him. And then he raises up David. And then David's son, Solomon. Again, God is disappointed. Again, Israel goes into failure. Now and then, God will send a prophet and bring them back like Elijah brought them back. But only for a short time. Again, God is disappointed with them. The whole history of the Old Testament is like that. God sends his message through some prophet. For a short time, they will all get stirred up. They all disappoint God and let him down. Then finally, God sends his son. Jesus came and started a completely new thing. This is so different from all the other new beginnings in the Old Testament. See, Noah, Abraham were all new beginnings. David. But now, it is a completely new agreement. Now, God has given us an example in Jesus Christ. And poured out his Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And he says, now let's begin again. And within a very short time, again they disappoint God. See the last book of the Bible. Out of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, chapter 2 and 3. Five of them are so bad. They are going after money. They are going after idolatry. They are going after immorality. They got plenty of money. But no devotion to the Lord. And the Lord says, I am tired of you. I will spit you out of my mouth. Can you see the heart of God in all this? This constant disappointment with man. There are some very sad words written in Genesis chapter 6. Very sad words. Genesis 6, verse 6. It says in verse 5, the Lord saw the wickedness of man. It was great on the earth. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth. And he was grieved in his heart. Can you read that verse again? The Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth and it grieved him in his heart. God has got feelings. He gets angry, the Bible says, with people who keep on disobeying him. And here it says, he is sad. Just like a father would be sad with how many chances he is giving to his children and they keep on messing up their life. What are these things written in the Bible for? I want to ask you a question. The Lord made you. At the end of your life, will it be written about you that the Lord was sorry that he made you on this earth? That's written about some people. The Lord made me. I don't want him to be sorry that he made me. No. He redeemed me by his blood on Calvary's cross. I don't want him to feel sorry that he redeemed me and I live for myself. Or that I live for money. Or that I never hated sin which crucified Jesus on the cross. I want to ask you a question. Do you hate Those large nails that were driven into Jesus' hand? Do you love those nails? Those long four inch nails? Do you love those nails or do you hate them? I know all of you will say, well, I hate them. Well, let me tell you what those nails were. Those nails were your sin. It was not the nails that held him to the cross. It was your sin. Now, let me ask you. Do you hate your sin or do you love it? Do you hate your sin or do you love it? That is what disappoints God. That after all that he has done, his people still love sin. They treat sin so lightly. They say, oh, the blood of Jesus will cleanse us. I can lust with my eyes, but the blood of Jesus will cleanse me. I can watch this internet pornography, but the blood of Jesus will cleanse me. I can watch these dirty TV serials, but Jesus' blood will cleanse me. I can fight with my husband and wife every week, but the blood of Jesus will cleanse me. I can sit at home and speak evil of other believers in other groups, but the blood of Jesus will cleanse me. Don't you think the Lord is sorry that he has got such people on this earth? Don't you think these words in Genesis 6 are written today also? Now it is written in another way. The Lord is sorry that he redeemed these people from their sin by the blood of Jesus, and it grieves him in his heart that they still behave like this. I believe that is how God feels. And the failure in every case in the Bible is a failure of faith. You know, if you fall, it is not serious if you don't lose your faith. Even if you fall, it is not serious if you don't lose your faith. But if you don't lose your faith, you are okay still. Turn to Luke chapter 22. The Lord said to Simon, The Lord said to Simon, Simon, verse 31, Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. And before verse 34, before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times that you know me. That is what Satan is trying to do to you, Peter. He has asked permission to sift you. He is going to tempt you, and I know what is going to happen. Jesus could look into the future. See, Peter is going to be tempted to deny me. What do you think Jesus should pray for Peter? He says in verse 32, I prayed for you. What should you pray for a man who is going to be tempted seriously? Oh God, don't let him fall. Help him not to deny me. Don't you think that is what Jesus should have prayed for Peter? But he didn't pray that. Isn't that amazing? I know you are going to be tempted to deny me, but I am not praying that you won't deny me. You will deny me. And I am not going to stop you. But I am praying this, after you have fallen three times, that you won't lose your faith. Verse 32, Peter, that is the most important thing. Your falling is bad. Even if you fall once, it is bad. And if you fall three times, it is really bad. But after falling, if you also lose your faith, then there is no hope for you. So I am praying that you will not lose your faith. And what does that faith mean? Peter, you must believe, that after you have fallen, God still loves you. And God will still help you one day, to be an overcomer. That is faith. Even though I have fallen three times, I believe God loves me. And one of these days, He will make me an overcomer. And even though I have fallen three thousand times, I know God loves me. And one of these days, He will make me an overcomer. And even though I have fallen three hundred thousand times, I know God loves me. And He is going to make me an overcomer. And He is going to make me an overcomer. That is the faith that God loves to see. You cannot say, I will never fall again. Is there anybody sitting here who can say, I will never fall again? Even I can't say that. As long as we live on this earth, we may fall anytime. But one thing I know in my life, I will not lose my faith. God has done a work in my heart. He has convinced me that He loves me, no matter how much I have fallen. And, He doesn't love my sin. But He loves me. It's like if your child falls into the muck and messes up his clothes and gets hurt. You don't like all that. But you love your child. So God doesn't love your sin, He hates your sin. And He is sorry that you are still choosing that wretched sin. But He still loves you. And He wants you to believe that you will be an overcomer. That's why we have this verse at the back, Jesus can meet your every need. Some of you think your greatest need is for a bigger house. Maybe your wife is keeping on saying, we need a bigger house, we need a bigger house. And there are enough preachers on television and other places today to tell you, yeah, you trust God, God will give you a bigger house. And your wife says, see, let's send him some money, we'll get a bigger house. Please don't be deceived by all these people. There are enough crooks in the marketplace. Don't believe all these people saying, give me your money, I'll double it. And all these people who say, give me your money, God will give you a hundred times. You know what your greatest need is? I'll tell you what the television preachers don't tell you. Your greatest need is not a bigger house. You can live in a smaller house than you have now. Your greatest need is that sin is destroying your life. What is the use of living in a bigger house and sin destroying your life? When the man with leprosy came to Jesus, what did he say? Did he say, Lord, give me a better house? No. He said, I've got leprosy. Why don't you come to Jesus like that? Lord, I sin in my life. Leprosy. I lust with my eyes. I get angry with my wife. I shout at my husband. I tell lies. I cheat. I watch pornography on the internet. I read dirty movies. Lord, head to foot, I'm full of leprosy. I don't need a bigger house. I don't need a car. I need to be healed of this leprosy of sin. Thank God the leper did not ask for a bigger house. What about the blind man? Lord says, what do you want? Imagine if he said, please give me a chariot with a horse, Lord. Thank God he didn't ask for stupid things like today's believers are asking. He said, Lord, I'm blind. I can't see. You're also blind. You don't see the seriousness of sin. You don't see the glory of God. That's what you need to see. That's what you need to pray, that God will open your eyes. I have never prayed that God will give me material things. I say, God has given me enough. But I tell you what I pray for regularly. Not only pray, I believe. And I pray with tears because there's a longing in my heart. Lord, make me more like Jesus everyday. Make me more compassionate towards people. Make me more anointed in my ministry. Make me more free from the love of money. Detach me from this earth so that I can rise up to heaven. Let me not hold on tight to anything on this earth. You know why you cannot rise up to heaven? Because you're clinging so tight to so many things on this earth. Ask God to free you from that. God can supply all your needs. Jesus can meet all your needs, like that verse says. But you have to understand what your need is. What is your greatest need? You see, in the Bible you see that anyone who came to Jesus with a need, he always met that need. But they came with their actual greatest need. Lord, I'm a leper. Lord, I'm blind. Lord, I'm lame. Lord, my daughter is dead. They were not asking for a bigger house and better car or better job. Or Lord, give me a job in Europe or Dubai. They were not asking for such things. They were saying, Lord, I have a need here. Do you know where God is disappointed? He is disappointed because His people cannot see their need. He is disappointed because His people cannot see their need. The devil has blinded them to their need. They are not able to see what their real need is. It's a failure of faith. You know, all sin is a failure of faith. When Peter denied the Lord, some servant girl asked him, Hey, aren't you one of the Galileans with Jesus? What did he have to believe at that time? My God is mightier than this girl. My God is mightier than these Roman soldiers who may catch me when I say that I belong to Jesus. My God is mightier than Caiaphas and Annas and all these people who may crucify me also. Was God more powerful than Annas and Caiaphas? Yes. But at that moment, Peter did not believe that. So he fell. What will they do to me if I say I belong to Jesus? You know, such days may come in this country also in a little while. You belong to Jesus Christ? Are you an Indian first or a Christian first? What will you say? I know what I will say. I am a Christian first. India is not my God. Jesus Christ is my God. I am also an Indian and I am proud to be an Indian. But India is not my God. I belong to Jesus Christ. My loyalty is to Jesus Christ. My commitment is to Jesus Christ. I will never forsake Jesus Christ for any idol. I will never forsake Jesus Christ for any increment in my job or a promotion in my job. You ask yourself, what are you first? Are you a Christian first or are you an Indian first? Are you a Christian first or a Tamilian first? Are you a Christian first or a Nadar first? So many people, their loyalty is not to Jesus Christ first. Their loyalty is to their country, their language, their culture, their caste. They deny Jesus Christ just like Peter. Yeah, you are doing it. You are doing it. You don't realize it. God is disappointed because you do not choose Him first. I have made a choice. I am not a Malayali or any such thing. I am a Christian. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and by the grace of God, I will never deny Him. I was working in the Navy and I had great ambitions in the Navy to become the Admiral of the Navy. When I was 19 years old, Jesus came into my life and gripped my life and I decided I would live for Him. There were many situations in the Navy where I could not do certain things because it was against my conscience and I would stand up before my commanding officer and I would say I am sorry sir, I can't do that because I am a Christian. I am a Christian sir, I can't do that. God is more important to me than the Indian Navy and I am glad I said that. Many times, different situations, once when I said it, I got transferred in half an hour from my job. I said that's okay but do you know, I was only 23, 24 years old but do you know how God rewarded me? I am so excited when I think about it. I was born again only for 5 years 3 years after I took my baptism God called me to His service. That is the greatest honor that God can give to any human being. And God personally called me to His service 40 years ago because He saw I would not deny Him Do you know how much you have missed in your life because you denied Jesus Christ in your office? Do you know how much you have missed in your life because you compromised with your unconverted relatives to please them? Do you know how much you have lost? Because you pushed your caste and your country and your language before Christ. I hope this younger generation that's growing up will not put their caste and their culture and their language before Christ. Because God wants many servants of His from this younger generation in India who have faith that if I stand for the Lord He will give me the best and I can tell you after 47 years of being a believer I have never sought to please men and I have never gone after anybody's money and for the last 30 years I have supported myself financially and served the Lord just like the Apostle Paul God has given me everything I need He has met my every need that is my testimony He has helped me to overcome sinful habits I was a slave to He has given me healing from my sicknesses given me power to serve Him every need grace to be a husband and a father and I can tell you from experience you are missing something if you don't have faith and have faith for the things that God wants you to have and number one have faith that God can free you from all your sinful habits and He can give you a glorious life in Christ Jesus I told you when God created Adam He wanted him to walk in a particular way to live in a particular way How was that? Exactly like Jesus lived on this earth You know Jesus lived a life of dependence on His Father He never made a decision without praying I've got to pray He would say Once there was a great revival you read in the last verses of Luke chapter 4 and many people were healed Demons were cast out Late into the night He was praying for people But early in the morning we read that He went out into the wilderness and He prayed Father, there is a revival going on here and humanly speaking it looks as if I should be here When there is a revival you should stay But Father what is your will? He waited on the Father You won't hear from God if you are in a hurry I'll tell you something You go to God and say Lord tell me what do you want me to do No reply, ok I'll go and do whatever I want If you are in a hurry don't waste your time knocking just go and do what you want You can't treat God like a servant Come on tell me what do you want me to do God is your master and if He delays in answering wait that is where He tests you to see whether you are humble and to see whether you have faith So Jesus waited That's why He went out early because He knew it would take time Even for Jesus it took time even though He was a son of God How proud we are to think that God should immediately answer us in two seconds Once Jesus prayed all night because He was waiting to find out the Father's will and the Father told Him Yeah there is a revival but I don't want you to stay here Time is short you must go to other cities So we read the people came to Him Oh Lord everybody wants you You are very popular here You must come here God says no I can't stay The whole crowd came and told Him to stay He said no All your 10,000 voices don't mean anything to me because I heard another voice in the morning You know that's the way to live We listen so much to men and that's why we mess up our life Jesus didn't live like that If He had lived listening to everybody's suggestions He would have just messed up His life He listened to His Father That's how He lived There God has given us a demonstration how He wants me to live God has given us a demonstration through Jesus 1 John 2 verse 6 The one who says he abides in Christ must walk as He walked That is necessary I say I abide in Christ Many of you say the same thing How must you live on this earth You must live just like Jesus lived That is you must wait on the Father Father what do you want me to do You say brother life is so busy I don't have time You have time to watch those useless things for 2 hours on television Don't say you don't have time Say you are not interested in God's will That is the truth We all have time I remember one brother came to me and said brother I don't have time to read the Bible I said do you want me to prove to you that you have time Shall I pray that God will make your child sick and admit it in the hospital And then how much time you will have to go and spend 2-3 hours everyday in the hospital How you suddenly got time How you suddenly got time to spend 2-3 hours in the hospital Don't worry I am not going to pray such things I never pray that people will be sick I pray that people will be healed But I am only telling you that if you want to find time you can find time Don't say I don't have time Speak the truth I am not interested in living like that I want to do my own will That's what Adam said also God said don't eat of the tree He said no I am not interested in living like that I want to do my own will That is why God was disappointed This Adam If only he would listen to me how happy his life would be What a foolish man he is listening to the devil That is exactly what God is saying to some of us This child of mine what a fool he is to listen to the devil I wish I could catch him by the neck and make him obey me But I don't do that Because I never force anyone But I wish he would have the sense to know that what I tell him is better than what the devil tells I wish he would have the sense to know that when the devil tells him to watch that dirty movie it is only to destroy him I wish he would know that if he turns from all that and spends 10 minutes with me his life will be much happier But the devil whispers No, no, no, don't listen to the devil Don't listen to God You watch TV The devil whispers My brothers and sisters I want to ask you Is the Lord sorry that he made you and put you on this earth? Is the Lord sorry that he redeemed you with the blood of Jesus Christ? Is God grieved in his heart when he sees the way you live? It is a failure of faith You don't believe that what God says is better for you than what the devil says I want to tell you the good news Every need of yours can be supplied by Jesus Christ Every need of yours can be supplied by Jesus Christ I am not talking about a house or a car or a good job I am talking about your greatest need Your leprosy Your blindness can be healed You can be free from sin You know the first promise in the Bible The first promise in the New Testament Do you know what that is? Many Christians don't know what is the first promise in the New Testament The first promise in the New Testament is in Matthew 1.21 When the angel told Joseph You must call his name Jesus because he has saved his people from their sins That is the first promise in the New Testament He will save his people from their sins In the entire Old Testament three quarters of your Bible there is no such promise There is only God will forgive you He will forgive you forgive you come back to him he will forgive you But now at last is this wonderful promise He will not only forgive you He will save you from your sins and that is the meaning of the name Jesus This is the meaning of the name Jesus It says there You shall call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins Do you know Jesus means Saviour not forgiver He forgives That is only the first step to salvation His name is Saviour His name is Saviour That means he saves us from our sins Many of you say he is your Saviour But I ask you has he saved you from your anger Has he saved you from your lust Has he saved you from your love of money Has he saved you from bitterness Has he saved you from gossiping and back biting against others Then what sort of Saviour is he When you give a tract to somebody Somebody who does not know anything about Jesus You tell him here is the good news Here is a tract It is about Jesus That non Christian says What can Jesus do for me You tell him he can forgive all your sins He can forgive all your sins Can he save me from my anger No no no He can't save you from anger He is not so strong But he can forgive your sins I am always lusting with my eyes Can he save me from that No no no No Jesus can't save you from all that He has not saved me also from all that But he can forgive your sins Then I have a lot of bitterness in my heart Can he save me from that No Jesus can't save you from all that But he can forgive your sins He will say you keep your tract I don't want this Jesus What sort of gospel are we giving to other people Jesus can forgive all your sins But he can't save you from any of your sins Because he is not so strong He is not so strong Your sins are so strong Jesus is not so strong He is quite weak But he can forgive all your sins What a shame It is better not to preach such a gospel It is an insult to Jesus Christ I know for 16 years After I was born again I preached this half gospel I am ashamed of it I have not preached that half gospel For 30 years now Now I preach the full gospel The full gospel is not that you will speak in tongues The full gospel is that you can be saved from your sins So when Jesus said Anything you ask the father in my name Don't we all pray in the name of Jesus What is the meaning of praying in the name of Jesus I am saying father In the name of one who has saved me from my sins In the name of one who came to save me from all my sins I am asking you For what Better house Better job Better car No I am asking to be saved from all my sins When you pray in the name of Jesus Remember what the name of Jesus means He can save you from all your sins That is the good news I have experienced it I have experienced it In my life In my family In my church In my ministry And it has made me a very happy man So happy I have not met a happier man than myself On the face of this earth If you find someone let me know It is salvation from sin that will make us happy Don't you think the man Who was cleansed from his leprosy was happy He didn't have a house He didn't have a job But he was happier than other people in Jerusalem That is what happens when we are saved from sin That is what you need You will think more about this tomorrow evening And day after So please come Let's pray While our heads are bowed in prayer For whatever you have heard I want to invite you to respond to God Will you say Lord you have spoken to me And I want to speak to you I want to turn from my sin I am praying in the name of Jesus Who came to save me from all my sins I am not asking for anything on this earth I am asking you to save me from all my sins You have given me enough of all these earthly things But Lord save me from my sins I know you will do it I have prayed for other things foolishly in the past But today I have learnt what I should pray for I want to be saved from all my sins Thank you Lord for hearing me In Jesus name Amen