Sixteen Lessons I Have Learnt - Part 1

During the years that I've been walking with the Lord and seeking to serve Him, there are a number of lessons that God has taught me, and I thought I would share some of those important lessons with you. The most important lesson I learned, which I wish somebody had taught me the day I was converted, was how much God loved me. Now, John 3.16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, is the verse that I was taught from the earliest time I was born again as the most important verse in the Bible.

Very important verse, but as I studied the Bible, another verse became more important for me after I became a believer. John 3.16 is okay for the rest of the world, but for a believer, who's a child of God, who wants to be a disciple, John 17.23 became the most important word for me. I don't know how many, all of you know John 3.16. Do you know John 17.23? Very, very important verse for believers.

That's not for everyone. It's for a disciple, because John 17 is the one chapter where Jesus is praying specifically for those 11 disciples of His who had given up everything to follow Him, who wanted nothing on earth but to follow Jesus and to glorify Him. If you are in that category, I'm not talking about being full-time Christian worker.

You can be in a secular job. Paul was in a secular job throughout his life, and that has been my example. Paul did a secular job throughout his life and earned his living and served the Lord, and that is the best way.

The second best way is to be supported by somebody. There's nothing wrong. Jesus was supported by others.

You read that in Luke chapter 8, so there's nothing wrong in that, but in the world in which we live, where there's so much of corruption in Christendom, I felt that in our churches it's better that we seek to support ourselves and serve the Lord, and that is how we have taught in all of our churches. With all we have now over 300 elders and facilitators. The reason we don't call them deacons is because you probably don't know the word deacon is a from a Greek word diakonos, which means servant.

We don't want to call a person a servant. You won't say he's a servant. He's an elder, and he's a servant.

So we change the word to facilitator and say we have elders and facilitators, and we have more than 300 of them in all of our churches, and every single one of them is self-supporting. Every one of them, and they serve the church. So John 17 is for disciples, and the great truth here which I found changed my life was John 17 23, where the Lord says his prayer.

He's praying to the Father. Father, I want the world to know. When you hear something like that, God wants the world to know something through me.

I thought he only wanted to know that Jesus died for their sins. Go into all the world and tell the people I died for their sins, and I did that for many years, but I discovered in John 17 23 that God wants the world to know something else when they look at my life. Have you seen it yourself? The world may know that Christ died for their sins.

Agreed. But secondly, if you're a disciple, that the world may know when they look at your life that the Father loves you as much as he loved Jesus. Think of that.

That I have to demonstrate by my life to the world around me that God in heaven loves me as much as he loved Jesus Christ. I wouldn't dare to say that unless he had written it here. Now let me tell you, this is not for everybody.

See verse 8, verse 9 rather, John 17 verse 9. I am asking on behalf of these 11 disciples who have forsaken all to follow me. I'm not asking on behalf of worldly people. I'm not asking on behalf of worldly Christians who are just wanting to go to heaven when they die.

No, and even today there are people who only want to go to heaven when they die. The Lord says I'm not talking about them. I'm asking for these people who have forsaken all to follow me, and I'm not talking about full-time workers.

I'm talking about those who have put Christ, made Christ first in their life, who Christ is Lord of their life, and the Lord says I'm praying for them. I hope you're in that number, that you've made Jesus Lord of your life. Then this prayer is for you, my brother.

I've taken it for myself. My Heavenly Father loves me, that I know from John 3 16, but loves me as much as he loved Jesus. When I understood this nearly 50 years ago, I wrote a little hymn which we sing now and then, that God loves me as he loved Jesus.

As he cared for Jesus, he will care for you. As he helped Jesus in temptation, he will help you. That was a tremendous encouragement to me that in every situation in life, what the Father did for Jesus, he will do for me.

I never heard anybody preach that, but I understood it ever since I preached it to those who are disciples, and he says not just you must believe it, but you must live in such a way, John 17 23, that the world around you will know it. That's the challenge for me to believe. Yes, my Father cares for me as he cared for Jesus, loves me as he cared for Jesus.

That brings a great rest into my heart, and I'm free from anxiety. I can sleep peacefully at night, and any problem situation comes up, I say, Lord, problems and situations came in the life of Jesus, and you solved them. You will solve them for me.

That is great. It brings a great rest in my heart to know that my Heavenly Father loves me as he loved Jesus. But this is one step further in John 17 23, that the world around, when they look at my life, they will know, boy, this is somebody whom the Father must be loving.

I cannot find any other explanation for Zach's life. When I see all the details of his life, I can find no explanation for his life. It's impossible for him to have lived like this unless you loved him like you loved Jesus.

That must be the testimony of the world when they look at your life. Then how in the world does this guy live like this? It must be because he's got a Heavenly Father who cares for him and loves him. Dear brother, sister, if you have never seen the challenge of that verse till today, take it seriously.

It changed my life. It brought rest into my life. It brought freedom from anxiety, tension, worry.

I must say that the early part of my Christian life for about 16 years after I was born again, I was frequent worry, anxiety, depression, frequently discouraged, frequently sitting like this, wondering what to do next. That's gone. It doesn't mean, in fact, I've had more problems in the last 50 years than I've had before.

But underneath it all, I've had this assurance that I have a Father in heaven who's never taken by surprise by anything. Was there anything that happened in Jesus' life that took the Father by surprise? We read that in the very first sermon that Jesus preached, you read in Luke's gospel chapter 4, that the people got stones to, I mean grabbed him and pulled him out of the synagogue and wanted to throw him down on the cliff. Imagine 200 people grabbing a man, taking him out and wanting to throw him down the cliff in Nazareth.

And you know what it says there in Luke chapter 4? Jesus quietly walked away from them. How did that happen? It was not because some angel came. God arranged circumstances.

And I imagined then when I read the scripture, I meditate. How could that have happened? And I said, this is how I understand it. You know how man is always has got different ideas how to do something.

So they say, we got to throw this person over the cliff. So there are probably three different opinions. One person said this cliff is better, another person this cliff is better.

While the three of these groups were arguing which cliff is the one we must throw him over. It took about 15 minutes by the time Jesus walked away. Okay, we've decided it is this cliff.

And they look around and Jesus is not there. He's gone. That is how the Father enabled Jesus to escape, not by some supernatural storm from heaven or any such thing.

And that comforted me that God loves me as he loved Jesus and he can save me from all types of different circumstances in a very natural way. And he's done it. I hope you have experiences like that.

So God loves you as he loved Jesus is the number one truth that I wish all of you will be absolutely convinced by. If you say Lord Jesus, I want to be your disciple. I don't want to do anything which is my own will in my life.

I may not understand your will properly. But wherever I understand it, I want to do that. I'm willing to pay any price to do your will for my life.

Whatever consequences I suffer because of that doesn't matter. I want to do your will for my life because I know your will is the best. You made a perfect plan for my life before I was born.

Psalm 139. I want to fulfill that plan. I've got no other plan I want to fulfill.

The one you planned, that is the best and I want to fulfill it. I hope all of you God's children will say that to the Lord. And if you do that, then this promise is for you.

He'll love you as he loved Jesus. Okay. The second great truth that I learned in my life is from 1 John 1 9. The Christian life is not a very complicated life.

It may be a difficult life but not complicated. 1 John 1, I'm sorry, 1 John 1 7. If we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So I said this is a tremendous promise.

Fellowship with God and all sin cleansed. Wonderful. What is the condition? Walk in the light as God is in the light.

Now that sounds like a huge command but it is not. What does it mean to walk in the light as God is in the light? I tried to meditate on that and I found it was very simple. Be 100% honest.

Is that difficult? If you bungled up something, say, Lord, I bungled it up. You did something stupid. Yes, Lord.

It's me. It's me. I did something stupid there.

Take the blame. That's easy. I mean, even a prostitute can be honest.

Are you a prostitute? Yes, I'm a prostitute. Did you sleep with that man? Yes, I slept with that man. That is walking in the light.

It's not a difficult thing. But yet it is very difficult for many, many believers. Look at the number of families where husband and wife are arguing.

You did this and you did this. You think these people are walking in the light? Far from it. They're all so full of eyes seeing where the other person is at fault.

You did this and the other person is no, you did this. My brother, sister, do you want a happy life? Get rid of that habit. Get rid of trying to find fault with others.

Walk in the light. Be absolutely honest with God and say, Lord, that's me. There are some situations in life where it's easy to escape punishment or the blame if you keep quiet.

Even children, teacher says, who did that? There's no evidence. Everybody pretends they didn't do it. There's one person sitting there who did it who refuses to take the blame.

That is where a Christian is seen. Without anyone knowing who did it, he raises his hand and says, I did it. Sir, I did it.

That's a Christian. That is walking in the light. It's the easiest thing in the world.

To be honest, if God told you to run the 100 meters in 10 seconds or do something like that, it's tough. But to be honest, anybody can be honest. Even a little child can be honest.

And you know how our little children are. From the earliest time in their life, they learn to tell lies. It says that in the Bible.

Psalm 58. Psalm 58 verse 3, the last part. They start telling lies from the time they are born.

Can a child tell lies without opening its mouth, without knowing how to speak? Yes. I mean, I've had babies too. Sometimes they cry as if they're in desperate pain.

There's nothing wrong with them. They just want to be picked up. That's all.

And then they're picked up. They're happy. They stop crying.

What was it which was bothering them? They had no pain at all. But they have to act as if they're in such tremendous pain so that mommy will pick them up. From the time they are born, they tell lies by their actions and their words.

All of you who are mothers and fathers, you know that you've seen that yourself. We have all come from that race of Adam. And the Lord says, I'm asking only one thing of you, which is the easiest thing for you to do.

Be honest. God delights in honest people. So here's the first great truth.

God loves us as He loved Jesus. And the second great truth that I discovered, God delights in honest people. And I found that is the easiest thing for me to be.

To be holy, difficult. To love everybody, difficult. But to be honest, absolutely easy.

For anybody, the greatest sinner in the world can be honest. What is the difference between the two thieves who hung on either side of the cross? Only honesty and dishonesty. One said, bring me down from the cross, meaning I'm not guilty.

I've been falsely charged. Maybe I've done a few wrong things, but not so bad as to be crucified. Bring me down from the cross.

The other person has no such request. In his silence, he's saying, I deserve this. In fact, I deserve worse than this.

I deserve to be crucified. I'm bad. But Lord, please remember me.

That's all. I don't ask for any great favor. Please remember me.

That's how he got into God's kingdom. He could not explain justification by faith or sanctification or how the old man is crucified. He could not explain anything.

All he could say was, I deserve this. But Lord, please remember me when you come into your kingdom. I'm not asking for anything great.

Can you remember him? The Lord said, today you will walk with me in paradise. God loves honest people. For every one of you, I say, that is the easiest thing for you to be honest.

Okay. The third lesson I learned from that was from 2 Corinthians 9, verse 7. In 2 Corinthians 9, verse 7, we read, God, the last part, God loves a cheerful giver. So, what I learned from that third lesson, God delights in cheerful givers, not reluctant givers.

So many churches say, give 10%. And somehow, the reluctantly, they give it. He doesn't want it.

God doesn't even want 1% of your income. Keep it all. He loves only cheerful givers.

He doesn't want your life if you don't give it cheerfully. He doesn't want your service if you don't give it cheerfully. He doesn't want you to come and prepare the hall for the conference if you can't do it cheerfully.

Sit at home. Just come at the time of the meeting. You don't have to come and help at all.

God will not be upset with you. He loves only cheerful givers. That's a very liberating thing for me.

And that ensures that I don't make a demand on other people. Why isn't he doing this? Why isn't he doing that? Almighty God doesn't expect it. God says, I don't want him to do it.

I don't want him to come and help because he's not doing it cheerfully. Isn't that wonderful to look at people and inwardly, so many of us can be critical. We are all working here.

Why isn't that guy coming and helping us? Have you ever felt like that? When some work is being done in the hall and you look at somebody else and you don't say it, but you think, look at that guy. Even sisters, why isn't that sister doing something? My dear sister, finish with it. Die to all those wretched thoughts in your mind.

You're ruining yourself. That's why you have not grown spiritually. You're wondering why that person is not helping and that person is not doing this.

Finish with it. I'll tell you why that person is not doing it. Because God doesn't want him to do it.

Because God wants only those who will come and serve cheerfully. God delights in cheerful givers. And if you're not seeking to come and do something for the Lord cheerfully, please do not come.

Sit at home. Do not come because God delights only in cheerful givers. And not, it says here in 2 Corinthians 9, 7, not those who grudgingly or under compulsion.

A lot of Christian work is done grudgingly and under compulsion. And I will tell you this, you can impress all the people, your elders, but God is not impressed. Because God delights only in cheerful givers.

Everything we do must be done cheerfully. Why do you read the Bible in the morning? Oh, it's a burden, but somehow I'll open the Bible and read it. I'll tell you, brother, tomorrow onwards, close your Bible.

Go and do something else. You're wasting your time. You think God is always so happy when He sees you reluctantly opening your Bible and half-sleepy looking at that and easing your conscience for 10 minutes and then going home, finishing with it.

You think God that delights? You're fooling yourself. That is what the Bible calls a dead work. God hates dead works.

There's no, in the Old Testament, there were no dead works. There were good works and bad works, righteous deeds and unrighteous deeds. But in the New Testament, there's a third category, righteous deeds, unrighteous deeds, and dead works.

Do we have to repent of unrighteous deeds and actions? Yes. But in Hebrews 6, it says, let us repent from dead works. You never read that in the Old Testament.

Hebrews 6.1, let us repent. Old Testament was repent of sin. In the New Testament, more than repent of sin or in addition to repent of sin, let us repent of dead works.

In the Old Testament, people didn't have any definition of dead works. The Pharisees were doing dead works all the time, you know, paying their tithes reluctantly and everything they did, grudgingly, complaining, look at that, see I'm better than that fellow over there, see I'm praying and that fellow's not praying. Dead work.

The Pharisee didn't know it. What about in the New Testament when a person prays and judges somebody else for not praying or comes to the church and does something good but judges somebody else for not doing it, I say to such a person, please stop doing that work, don't do it. If you can do that only with along with judging others, it's better you don't do it.

If you do a work for the Lord, please do it without judging anybody else why they are not doing it. Otherwise, your work is a dead work. My brother, sister, I'm sorry to disappoint you, to tell you that all that you did in your life so far was dead works.

You wasted your time. If you had done those things cheerfully without looking around seeing whether other doing it or not, it will have been okay. But with your sharp eyes, you look around and see, ah, that person is not here, this person is not here.

Evil. I don't say you're bad, I say you're evil. Who in the world appointed you to go around passing judgment on other people in the church? Why they are not coming to do this? Why they are not doing that? Leave that to the gossiping women of the world.

And if there are gossiping women in the church, let them do it. You don't do it. There are enough gossips.

There are many gossiping women in churches and unfortunately some effeminate gossiping men also. Let them do it. You make sure you don't do it.

God loves cheerful givers and that's why he doesn't want anyone to come and do anything in his house or for him which is not done cheerfully. And that is why we never preach tithing. Tithing is a reluctant work for many, many people.

Oh, I have to calculate 10% and the question comes, is it 10% after income tax or before income tax? Can you imagine people asking such questions? Lord Jesus, shall I give you 10% after subtracting income tax or before subtracting income tax? So what type of relationship do you have with the Lord? Is it like a husband and wife? No. And yet there are multitudes of Christians who are calculating, calculating. Be liberated today.

We are here in the business of liberating people. God delights in cheerful givers. If you're not a cheerful giver, don't do anything.

Don't give anything. Okay. Fourth truth that I learned that changed my life.

Holiness comes by looking unto Jesus. Very simple truth. Hebrews 12 verse 1 and 2. Let us run this race, fixing our eyes on Jesus who went in front of us.

So holiness doesn't come by some sudden supernatural experience. The baptism in the Holy Spirit does not make you holy. You have to consistently keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit all the time.

And the way to be holy is by looking unto Jesus. That's how we become holy. As we look at Him, He communicates His life to us.

In other words, I look at His example. I look at His example in the Gospels and I ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to see His footsteps. You see, when I read the Gospels, I see the footsteps of Jesus.

And I want to walk in that. I see Him getting up in the morning and going and praying. Those are the footsteps of Jesus.

And I say, Holy Spirit of God, please help me to walk in those footsteps. That is holiness. Looking unto Jesus.

How did He treat poor people? And how did He treat rich people? They're all the same. How did He deal with Pharisees who claim to know so much of the scriptures but who did not live according to it? Yeah, I want to treat them like that too. Looking unto Jesus is the secret of holiness.

How should you treat a person from a despised section of society? You may have some people like that in America. In India, we have certain sections of society that are despised. And we had some people like that coming to our church.

We have people from different types of backgrounds coming to our church. Do you look at them differently? Do you treat them differently? Do you make special friends only with people at your social level? That's not what Jesus did. They called Him the friend of publicans and sinners.

He was known as one who became friendly with the despised people in society in His time. He was not friends with the Pharisees primarily. He was friends with sinners, with tax collectors and sinners, the most despised people in society.

He was known as the friend of the most despised people in society. Holiness comes by looking unto Jesus, saying, Lord, I want to be like you. And I want to teach my children to be like you.

We had all types of people in our churches, in our church in Bangalore. And I taught my children learn to mingle with the children of the weakest and the poorest and the dumbest people in this church. Don't just mingle with the intellectual elite who can speak at your level.

And I'm very happy that I taught all my four children to mingle with people of all levels of society. It has helped them till today. I've seen others who train their children only to mingle with a certain level of society.

May God have mercy on them. Holiness comes by looking unto Jesus in everything in life. Lord, what would you do here? I see the footsteps of Jesus.

Let us run the race looking unto Jesus, like saying, you see Jesus' footsteps there? Walk in those footsteps. Okay. Number five, another lesson that the Lord taught me was, be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit.

No once for all experience. I told you in the last session how three times you read about Peter filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 and chapter 4. And Ephesians 5 verse 18. It's unfortunate that difficult that the correct translation could not be given here.

The real translation is be being filled with the Holy Spirit. It's written as be filled with the Holy Spirit, but it's not a once for all experience. It's a present continuous.

It's like walking. Walking is a present continuous action. So be being filled with the Holy Spirit.

In other words, I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit all the time. That's the meaning of that verse. Continuously be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And if you're continuously filled with the Holy Spirit, you'll have a spirit of thanksgiving, verse 19, in your heart. And always, verse 20, this is one of the marks of a spirit-filled person. I know in my own life that I was frequently, even after being born again, a slave to depression, discouragement, wondering why these things are happening like this.

But when I really understood the fullness of the Spirit, I learned the reality of Ephesians 5 20, always 24 7, having a thankful spirit. How do you know whether you're filled with the Spirit? It's not by speaking in tongues. No.

It's by Ephesians 5 20, always having a thankful spirit. Has your fullness of the Spirit led you to be always have a thankful spirit? To me, that is one of the primary marks of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Always giving thanks to God, no matter what happens.

The name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we believe God is on the throne. He's arranging it all perfectly.

And no complaints against anybody. No complaints against God. Always giving thanks.

No complaints about your circumstances. Do you complain about your circumstances? I have one advice for you. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Do you have complaints against people? I have one advice for you. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit.

It's the secret of the Christian life. And I'm very thankful that God's helped me to understand a little bit about it. To be continuously filled.

Jesus spoke of it like rivers of living water. You know, how does a river flow? Not by stops and starts. No, no.

That is the cooperation water supplies like that can be stops and starts. But the rivers, God's rivers are flowing all the time. And Jesus said, it must be like that.

And only condition is, Jesus said, if you thirst, come to me. It'll happen in your life. If you want to have a continuous fullness of spirit, John 7, 37 to 39 says, thirst for it.

You want that life? Come to me. I will give it to you. You cannot manufacture it.

See, Lord, I thirst for it. I come to you. I want you to fill me with your Holy Spirit all the time.

And then for every need to overcome a sin, He'll give you power. Do you have to get up and share a word somewhere for two, three minutes? He'll give you the word to say exactly what you want to say. And He'll help you to sit down also after three minutes and not waste people's time.

That's a wonderful thing about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never wastes people's time. Do you believe that? Jesus never wasted people's time.

And I believe if you're really filled with the Holy Spirit and you share God's word, you will not waste people's time. We really need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Many of Jesus' sermons are only about five minutes long.

He never wasted people's time. Okay. The next lesson I learned is number six, that the way of the cross is the way of life.

2 Timothy 2 and verse 11. It is a trustworthy statement. If we died with Him, we will live with Him.

Definitely. If I choose the way of death to self, His life will be manifested in me. 2 Corinthians 4 was the passage from which it became very living for me.

2 Corinthians 4, verse 10 and 11 and 12. It's a very powerful passage of Scripture concerning the way of the cross. The way of the cross is the way of life.

And I'm very thankful that God opened my eyes to see that when I was very young Christian. I mentioned this before how I was seeking for the power of the Holy Spirit when I was a young 21-year-old believer. I've been baptized and I was going to a brethren assembly where they never talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit.

But they had a great emphasis on studying the Scripture, and I'm thankful for that. I learned to study the Scriptures, and then people told me you've got to go to the Pentecostal church to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So I didn't know what Pentecostal church was.

I was 23 years old and somebody took me to a Pentecostal pastor. And he told me, I said, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He said, just keep saying hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Keep on saying that and after maybe five minutes your tongue will trip and you'll speak in tongues and you'll be filled with the Spirit. I said, thank you very much. Goodbye.

That was fake. That's not what the apostles did on the day of Pentecost. The power came from heaven upon them.

They didn't have to repeat any garbage. And I never went back to the Pentecostals again for that. But I went to my room.

I was in the naval base. I said, Lord, what is the secret? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? And the Lord, the Father said, look unto Jesus. How was he anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism? He submitted himself, you know, in his baptism, he submitted John the Baptist, pushed him under the water in the River Jordan.

And he came up and the Holy Spirit came upon him and a voice said, this is my beloved son whom I am well-pleased. That is the answer I got that day. That burial in baptism was a picture of Jesus accepting death to self.

You know, you put a man under water, you killed him. I accept death to self and he didn't do it himself. He allowed John the Baptist to put him under water, meaning I allow other people to put me to death, to put myself to death.

That's how the message came to me. Don't resist it. Jesus didn't resist John the Baptist putting him under water.

Don't resist. Submit completely when other people put you to death. You'll find ample opportunities in life.

People all around you are waiting to put you to death. Accept it. Don't grumble or complain.

Don't resist it. And God says, I will raise you up from there. You will experience the power of resurrection when you voluntarily choose to go to death like Jesus chose.

That opened my eyes. I'll accept it only if I'm sure that God will raise me up. I will not allow a person to put me under the water if I'm not going to come up finally.

And many people don't accept the way of the cross because they're not too sure whether God will raise them up from there. It's a sign of your unbelief that you don't accept death to self. And this is what the Lord said to me that day.

I remember still. I was about 23 years old. The Lord said, as long as you choose this way of submitting to death to self, you will have my power upon your life.

But if the day comes in your life, you're aware you do not choose this way, my power will depart from you. I have never forgotten that in the last 63 years that the Lord spoke to me that when I was 23, I'm 86 now. I never want to go another way.

There are numerous circumstances where people have put me to, spiritually speaking, to death to myself. And the Lord said, keep your mouth shut and submit. I'll tell you this testimony in 63 years.

God has always raised me up. You die, He will raise you up. And I can't remember a time when I resisted it because I understood it right at the beginning.

If you want the power of the Holy Spirit, if you want rivers of living water to flow through you, choose the way of death to self. There is no resurrection without a death. There are many people who want the power of His resurrection, but they don't want to die.

How can you have a resurrection without death? You pray and pray and pray, Lord, give me the power of your resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit. But the power of the Holy Spirit is power of resurrection. You cannot be resurrected until you die first.

It's such elementary truth. And yet many people are praying for the power of God, the power of resurrection, but they don't want to die. Then how will there be a resurrection? Are some of you seeking for power? The only power that God offers to man is the power resurrection.

How can you be resurrected if you're not willing to die? They didn't have to drag Jesus to the cross. He stretched out His hand. I picture this in my mind.

How did they crucify the thieves on the cross? The thieves would kick and kick and shout and yell and refuse to give their hand. Then they come to Jesus, put Him on the cross, and He says, here, put my hand, put the nail. Here, I stretch out my other hand.

Here, I put one leg on top of the other. Please put the nails. That is how Jesus, He was so different from all the others being crucified.

The others are registered in part. And what a job they had. The Roman soldiers were surprised.

This man is just yielding. It's so easy to crucify Him. Which way do you get crucified? Like the thieves or like Jesus? The world is full of people who are ready to crucify you.

The question is whether you're willing to be crucified. If you're willing, there'll be a resurrection. If you're not willing, there will be no resurrection.

You can be crucified in your home. Maybe your husband acts unwisely. Maybe your wife acts unwisely.

Or maybe she acts selfishly or he acts selfishly. And the result is you have to die. And maybe your partner doesn't even know that you have to die in that situation.

Maybe she is so thoughtless. Maybe your husband is so thoughtless that he or she doesn't realize that you're suffering a bit as a marriage partner there. That you have to suffer a little bit.

You're going to die there. But the other person is completely unaware of it. Praise the Lord.

Just die, brother. Sister, just die. I guarantee there'll be a resurrection if you die in submission to the will of God.

You don't know how to create the circumstances. God will arrange that for you. God will arrange numerous situations for you to die in your office, in your home, in society.

He just says, stretch out your hands. Put one leg on top of the other. And don't resist.

Leave it to me to raise you from the dead. I've experienced that numerous times. Okay, truth number seven.

Man's opinions should never discourage us. Man's opinions are fit for the trash can. A man's opinion, if he's a godly man, is different.

If Paul had an opinion about me, I would listen. If a godly man wants to tell me his opinion, I will listen carefully to every word. But otherwise, most men's opinions are fit for the trash can.

The opinions of men should never discourage us. Isaiah chapter 2 verse 22. Isaiah chapter 2 verse 22.

Do you know this verse? Stop regarding man whose breath of life is in his nostrils. Why should he be valued? It's a great verse. You know, I remember the early days when I was, I didn't have any gift of teaching.

That came much later. But one thing I could do when I was just born again, I could give out tracts. I could stand in the street and say, Christ died for my sins.

I've received Christ as my Savior, inviting the people who would listen to me on the streets. Receive Jesus as your Savior. Christ died for your sins.

I was regularly in the streets preaching, street preaching. That's what I learned to preach. I did not learn to preach in a church.

I learned to preach on the streets of Arnakulam town in Kerala, where the naval base was. And in the evening after work was over, I'd go out and stand in the street. In a period of two years, I covered every single street in that town.

Along with another brother, we'd stand together and sing a few choruses. And everybody would wonder, what are these two madmen doing over here? And then once we got everybody's attention, we would give them the gospel. Just three, four minutes, and we move on to the next corner, and the next corner, and the next corner.

Those are the days I learned to be brave, to suffer shame for them. Because sailors who worked under me would stand there and listen and make fun of me. I became free from the opinions of men.

But I learned to die there. And the opinions of men, this is the verse that helped me. When I saw those people standing there and making fun of me, this is the word that came to me.

Stop bothering about them. Their breath is in their nose. Why should you esteem them? So the way I pictured it is, all these people standing in front of me, making fun of me as I'm preaching in the streets, their breath is in their nose.

If God takes away their breath, just for five minutes, they're all dropped dead. Five minutes or less. I don't know, three minutes or something.

In a few minutes, a person drops dead if he can't breathe. So his breath is in his nostril, the Bible says. If God takes it away, he's dead.

So I looked at all these people as people whose God takes away their breath, they're dead. Then do I have a problem preaching if there are a whole lot of dead men lying here? Am I embarrassed to preach? No, it's no embarrassment when I realize that these people are all people whose life, whose breath is in their nostrils. God has permitted them to live, he can take it away like that, they'll be dead people.

Why should he be esteemed? Why are you bothered about his opinion? Apply that to the different situations in your office, in your, it's your unconverted relatives. Why should his opinion be of any value to you? His breath is in his nose, God can take it away, he'll be a corpse, he'll be a dead body. Man's opinions should never discourage us.

Okay, I'll say one more. God detests what this world values highly. Luke 16 and verse 15, the last part.

That which is highly esteemed by men is detested, detestable in the sight of God. Have you understood this truth? That which men value so highly, God detests it. What is the thing which men value the highest, most, money? God detests it.

A high position in the world, president or something in society, bishop, archbishop, reverend, right reverend, wrong reverend, all of them, God detests it. I want to detest it too. We don't want to despise the people.

No, we're not to despise people, but these titles and positions and honor of the world, God detests what this world values highly, especially money. And that is one of the things which people esteem very highly, a lot of money. Are you a millionaire or a billionaire? And see what the Lord says about money.

I'll close with that. There are, I've just spoken about eight important truths I learned. I'll mention the rest in another session.

One Timothy 6, here's the eighth truth, God detests what this world values. One Timothy chapter 6, what does God say about money and those who love money and want to get rich? One Timothy chapter 6 verse 9 and 10 tells us about those who love money and those who want to get rich, not those who are rich. Don't misunderstand me.

Not those who are rich or who become rich, but those who want to get rich. Now, some people are rich because they got an inheritance from their parents. That's how God enabled me to live, me and my wife to live.

In the early days, my father gave me an inheritance, which I could invest and live on for 40 years in India. I didn't have to depend on anyone. But if you want to get rich, that's different.

Those who love money, so here's two verses. Verse 10, those who love money and verse 9, those who want to get rich. Verse 9 and 10, those who want to get rich and those who love money.

Okay, what does the Lord say? Number one, I'm just reading verse 9 and 10. There are eight things he mentions. Number one, they fall into temptation.

It's all in these verses. Number two, they fall into a snare or a trap. Who? Those who love money and who want long to become rich.

Number one, they fall into temptation. Number two, they fall into a snare or a trap. Number three, they fall into many foolish desires.

Number four, they fall into many harmful desires, things that hurt them badly. And number five, they plunge into ruin. It's like plunging into a deep pit.

Who? Those who love money and want to get rich. Plunge into ruin, that's number five. And number six, they plunge into destruction.

A lot of part of verse 9. And number seven, they wander away from the faith. A lot of part of verse 10. And number eight, the last part of verse 10, they pierce themselves with many griefs and sorrows.

You want it? Who are these people? Those who love money and eagerly seek to become rich. Fall into temptation, fall into a trap, fall into foolish desires, fall into harmful desires, plunge into ruin, plunge into destruction, wander away from the faith, pierce themselves with many sorrows, and look at the number of people running after it. There's a world of difference between that and God blessing you, providing your need, providing you more than enough for your need, maybe even making you a millionaire.

That's up to God. There's nothing wrong in being a millionaire. If God provided you didn't go seeking after it, provided you didn't love money, if God makes you earn a hundred million dollars, God bless you.

But if you go seeking after it, even if you earn ten thousand dollars, all these eight things will happen in your life. So God detests what this world values. Remember that.

So don't ever value what this world values. Make sure you don't, you value the things that God values. So let me repeat these eight things I said today.

One, God loves us as He loved Jesus. Second, God delights in honest people. And third, God delights in cheerful givers.

Fourth, holiness comes by looking unto Jesus. Fifth, we must be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit. Sixth, the way of the cross is the way of life.

Seventh, man's opinions are fit for the trash can, should not discourage us. And number eight, God detests what this world values. Let us pray.

Let's bow our heads in prayer. And Lord, please help us to bear these things in mind, to know what you value and what you don't value, to live a balanced Christian life, not to be a fanatic at this extreme or the other extreme. We don't want to think that poverty is your perfect will or that wealth is your perfect will.

We want to walk in your perfect will, which is to become more and more like Jesus in our life. Help us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.