The Narrow Way Alone Leads to Life

We read the Bible again and again, unlike storybooks that we read only once. And if you're serious about studying the Bible, I believe you will always see something new when you read it. I've been reading it for 66 years and I give you my honest testimony that I find something new even now.

Okay, what I want to share is from Matthew 24, if you'll turn with me there. Please turn in your Bible because it's much easier if you follow it in Scripture. He's speaking here about the last days.

They asked him, what will be the sign of your coming in verse 3, the last part? What will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? Now, we are living in the end of the age. Those disciples thought the world would end in 100 years, but we know it's gone on for 2,000 years, more than 2,000 years. And sometimes we are taken up with the more common signs of the last days that many people talk about.

Verse 6, wars, rumors of wars. We see plenty of them. There are two warnings he gave us.

Verse 4, see to it that no one deceives you, number one. And the middle of verse 6, see to it that you don't get frightened. Please remember these two things.

In the last days, don't get frightened by what's happening around you and don't let anybody deceive you. Those are the two warnings he gave. And it says here that wars, verse 7, nation rising against nation, famines, earthquakes, all these things, signs of the last days, most Christians know.

But there are some things mentioned here that most Christians don't know, which are signs of the last days. For example, do you know that one of the signs of the last days is, verse 10, many believers will fall away. Did you know that? Many believers will fall away from the church.

And verse 12, many people's love will grow cold. But in the midst of all this, who's going to be saved? The one who is not disturbed by people's love growing cold, the one who's not disturbed by people falling away, the one, verse 13, who endures to the end in loving the Lord, he will be saved. So this enduring to the end is not something that many people speak much about.

The most common, the most familiar and common part of the gospel that is preached everywhere is, accept Christ and you're born again. It's almost as though that's it. You got your certificate and you're definitely going to heaven, whatever you may do thereafter.

But that's not what the Bible says. And if you don't have a Bible, then of course you could be deceived. But I've often made this statement many times.

If you know English and you have an English Bible and you don't read it carefully, listen to this. You deserve to be deceived. You deserve to be deceived.

If you know English and you have an English Bible and you don't read it regularly. And you will be deceived. Okay, let me give you one example.

Matthew chapter 7, this is the reason why many people fall away. One of the signs of the last days, if people ask me, what are the signs of the last days? Today I don't speak about earthquakes and wars and all that. That's everybody knows.

I say one of the signs of the last days is many believers will fall away from the faith. And I don't want to be in that number. Matthew chapter 7, and I'll tell you the reason why many will fall away.

Because the other thing he said, there'll be a lot of deception in the last days. This is one of the first things he said in Matthew 24. When they asked, what is the sign of the last days? The first thing he said is don't allow anybody to deceive you.

That's why I said if you know English and you got an English Bible and you don't read it regularly, you will definitely be deceived. Because many of us think we know the Bible. And I'll tell you why I say that.

I asked a brother once who had been a believer for more than 20 years, good believer. But he had a very important job and he was very busy in his job. And I said, do you read the Bible every day? He said, no, I don't get time sometimes.

Do you get time to eat your food? Yes. Do you get time to go to work? Yes. But you don't get time to read what God has to say.

There's something wrong with your priority, I told him. And I say that to anybody sitting here, you eat your food every day, you go to work every day and you don't have time to read the Bible every day. I would seriously say, I doubt whether you're really born again.

I doubt whether the life of God has come into you at all. Or is it just a religion with a whitewash that you have? Because I know when the life of God came into me, I was not a regular reader of the Bible. In fact, when I joined the Navy, I didn't have any desire other than to go up in the world.

But when the life of God came in, I had such a tremendous desire to know what God said in his word. Nobody had to tell me, nobody had to tell me, urge me, read, read, read, read. Not even once is the life of God, it's like a baby crying for milk.

Do you have to teach a baby to cry for milk? I remember when my wife told me how sometimes she's been in the delivery room as a doctor with somebody giving birth and the baby wouldn't cry, come out and just be like that. And my wife would take that baby and press his chest. And there were at least two believers like that in our church in Bangalore who were saved like that because my wife was in the delivery room.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be alive today because the baby was not crying out. It should cry out as soon as it's born, you know that. And after some time, if it doesn't cry for milk, something is seriously wrong.

That is why I say many people who claim to be born again are not really born again. Because the Bible says as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word. You know that verse in 1 Peter 2, like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the word of God because that is how you will grow in your salvation.

Have you ever understood that verse? What does it mean to grow in salvation? Have you ever read that? Have you ever read 1 Peter 2 verse 2 in your life? If you read it, you should know the answer. And if you don't know the answer, I would say, my dear brother, sister, you know I speak very frankly. You're a lazy Christian.

That means you read something, you don't understand it and you leave it. When I was a student in school and I would read something and I did not understand the meaning of it, I would immediately close that newspaper or book, take a dictionary and try and find the meaning of that word, then go back to reading. That's how I improved my English.

I'd recommend that to anybody. Whenever you read a word, if you're interested in knowing English and you don't know the meaning of that, whether it's in a book or a newspaper or in the internet or anywhere, stop that, take a dictionary, look up the meaning of that word, your language will improve tremendously. Now the same principle I applied to the Bible.

Sometimes I read a reference quoted in an article, I don't know it. I stop reading the article, I take the Bible and look up that reference. Or sometimes I hear somebody quoting a reference and I don't know it.

I stop and I listen and I stop listening and I turn to the Bible. Just like my English improved, my knowledge of the Bible improved. Now if you don't do that, for example, if in your place of work they are proclaiming something that has to be done and you're one of the important staff there and you don't know what they're talking about and your job is dependent on it, would you seriously find out what is this thing they're talking about? If I can't do it, I'll lose my job.

All of you would do it. I want to ask you, why don't you do that when it comes to the Bible? That a verse is quoted, you don't even know what it is. I'll tell you, because your job is more important than Jesus Christ.

You may not believe it, but it's the truth. Your job is more important to you than your Christian life. That's sad.

As newborn babes long for the milk of the word, a baby that does not cry for milk, something is seriously wrong with it. And that is why I speak strongly. I feel that many of you have just heard about sitting on the lap of God, sitting on the lap of God, the lap of God forever and ever and ever.

That's baby stuff. When are you going to grow up Christian, you're sitting on your mother's lap? You don't sit in your mother's lap when you're 25 years old. Some of you have been Christians for so long, you should be growing up, you should be eagerly fighting God's battles, not sitting on a lap.

So I want to tell you the reason why it is not like that. Turn with me to Matthew 7. In Matthew 7, I sought the Lord, I said, Lord, why is it there are so many people falling away? Around the world, not just in any one place. Because, here it is, because there are false prophets.

And here it says, Matthew 7, one verse, Matthew 7, 14. Please read carefully so that you don't miss it. The gate is small, even I could ask a child here the answer to this question and you can give me the answer.

The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. And there are few who find it. My question is, what are the two things that lead to life? I'll make it easier.

Is it a gate alone or is a gate and a way that leads to life? Anyone who reads that verse can answer. Is it only a gate that leads to life? Or is it only a gate and a way that leads to life? This is where Christendom has deceived people. They have told them it's just a gate.

You accept Christ, you're saved, you're entered into life. That is why in the very next sentence, Jesus said, beware of false prophets. Why is that the very next sentence after that? Very next sentence, beware of false prophets.

Because the false prophets are the ones who tell you there's only a gate. I said, Jesus said there's a gate and a way that leads to life. That's what I have preached for 50 years.

And I've seen the result of it in CFC Bangalore today. It has become a strong, powerful church with many, many people. It's a continuous number of mature people growing up and elders taking over the responsibility generation after generation because we have preached the gate plus the way.

And I've seen people who don't take that seriously, they'll fall away. So I'm connecting to that with what I said before. What is the mark of the last days? Many will fall away from the truth.

And the truth is there's a gate and a way, and many will fall away from that. Because of this, what I call the easy believism. Take that seriously, my dear brothers and sisters.

There is a gate and a way. Make sure you come through the gate first of all. And then make sure you're walking the way.

I guarantee if you do that, you will definitely come to life. Equally, I can guarantee if you think you've come through the gate and you don't walk the way, I can give it to you in writing. You will not come to life.

Because I believe the words of Jesus Christ. And I don't cut the statement of Jesus in half and take that and say the gate is enough. Now it doesn't sound so crude the way many people are preaching it, but that is how many people are, that's what's happening really.

Let me show you another verse in Hebrews. It's not just one verse. Compare scripture with scripture.

Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12. Read carefully. I always read scripture very carefully.

Take care brethren. Let's stop. Who are the brethren? Are non-Christians brethren? Are people who call themselves Christians but are not born again, are they brethren? Who is he writing to? Who is the Holy Spirit writing to? Who is the writer of Hebrews writing to? To born-again believers, not nominal Christians.

Dear born-again believers, all born-again believers here sitting here, please listen to me. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Take care all you born-again believers sitting here, that in you there should not be an evil unbelieving heart.

Have you ever heard anyone tell you that you can have an evil unbelieving heart even though you're born again? And if you have that, you will fall away from the living God. Anybody told you that till today? That you born-again Christian will fall away from the living God? But encourage one another, otherwise you'll be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Again deceitfulness, just like Jesus said, there'll be many deceivers in the last days.

Then how shall we become partakers of Christ? Verse 14. Read carefully. Read very slowly and carefully.

We become partakers of Christ if we enter through the gate and are born again? No. If we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, then we become partakers of Christ. Who in the world told you that you'll become a partaker of Christ just because you raised your hand somewhere and said, I accept Christ.

My dear brothers and sisters, take God's word seriously. It has changed my life so completely in the last 66 years. Many, many things.

This is what gave me boldness 60 years ago to leave my job, never to take a salary, never to give a report about my work, never to look to any man for money, to believe that if I honored God, God would honor me and who's taken care of me and my family for 60 years. Because I believe God's word. And I can recommend that to any of you.

You find your security in some earthly job. I didn't have an earthly job. I found my security in God.

Many people are insecure. We don't know what will happen with the changing circumstance in the United States. I'll tell you what, you'll be terribly insecure if you're not secure in God.

If the only thing you want in your life is God's perfect will for your life, you'll never feel insecure in your whole life. I haven't felt insecure in 60 years. I believe that many of us are finding our security not in Jesus Christ and God.

And God, I pray that God will shake us out of that. Because whatever other thing you're finding your security in, I'll tell you it's very insecure. One day or the other, that foundation will collapse under your feet and you'll be floundering like a man drowning in water and he doesn't know how to swim.

And I don't want anybody here to be like that. We become partakers of Christ, verse 14, If we hold fast the beginning of our assurance, that's when we are born again, firm until the end. You see a gate and a way there.

Not just a gate. All scripture is like this. There is a uniformity in scripture.

And you will see it if you read it carefully. This is not to scare us. No.

Why should you be scared? Those of you who are married, let me ask you, is it a scary thing if at the time of your marriage, whoever conducted your marriage, the pastor says, you have to be faithful to her till the end of your life. Oh my, you mean I have to be faithful to her till the end of my life? Is that how you felt that day? I didn't feel like that at all. I said, I'm delighted.

Even if you never asked me, I want to be faithful to my wife till the end of my life. I love her. She's the one God chose for me.

That's not a burden. You've got to be faithful to her till the end of your life. What about being faithful to Christ? And devoted to Him in every area till the end of your life.

Supposing the pastor who conducted your marriage said, you must not be unfaithful to your wife even for one day. You must love her every day. In fact, you should love her more and more as time goes on.

It's certainly true in my life. I've been married 56 years, supremely happy. I can honestly say I love my wife more today than yesterday.

And I can keep on saying I love you more than yesterday. That's how it should be. Why can't it be like that in our relationship with Jesus Christ? Dear brothers and sisters, this is the way to a useful, profitable, happy Christian life.

And that's the way I want it for all of you. That's why I speak so strongly. You know, many people say, Brother Zach, he speaks so strong.

He's like a lamb when you meet him at home, but he's like a lion when he gets into the pulpit. But I'll tell you why. 2 Timothy 4. Paul is speaking about the last days.

He says, the time will come. Speaking about the last days, 2 Timothy 4, verse 3. The time will come when they will not endure healthy, sound doctrine. But they will want to have their ears tickled all the time.

Oh, God cares for you. He loves you. He'll never forsake you.

You can sit on his lap forever like a little baby. And like that, they will accumulate themselves, teachers, according to their own desire. What is our own desire as human beings? Comfort, security, ease, no persecution, no trial.

Is that what the Lord promised the early Christians in the first century? Where would you have been as a Christian, my brother, sister, if you were in the first century, or the first three centuries of Christianity? I have a great admiration for those Christians. I read as much as I can about those Christians who lived in the first three centuries. Many years ago, I got a little book called, a thick book called Fox's Book of Martyrs.

I read through the whole thing. I read it to my children. What all those early Christians went through.

And I say, Lord, I want to be true like that. I'm going to meet those people in heaven. And I'll ask their stories, and they'll ask me for my story.

And I hope I won't have a story of backsliding and carelessness. The time will come when they will not endure healthy doctrine. Strong preaching, they will not want it.

But they will turn away their years, verse 4, from the truth. The truth is there's a gate underway. They'll turn away the years from that, and turn aside to all type of myths.

Myths means the deception of the devil. I'm 100% against the devil. And I'm determined to expose every lie of his that he has propagated in Christendom.

But you, Timothy, verse 5, be sober, serious, endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Do fulfill your ministry.

Because Paul says, I'm going, I want somebody to take over. This work. See, when we get older, I feel the same way myself.

I'm in pretty good health, though 85, by the grace of God. But none of us, even if you're 25 years old, you don't know when the time is over. It's not a question of age.

We must live in such a way that if we have a responsibility, particularly in the church, I feel a great responsibility that Paul had a great burden, that somebody should take over that work that he had started. And that's been my burden, too. And I praise God that God has raised up people in India who can take over all of India's work today.

I've had it all over. I'm so happy that I can see Paul's burden. He says, I'm about to be poured out, and so you fight the good fight.

And one of the things he said was, this is the word that came to my heart. How should I preach the word in the last days? Especially for preachers. Here it is.

It's written very clearly. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. It's taken about the last days. Preach the word of God and be ready when you feel like it and when you don't feel like it.

That's the way I translate it. When you feel like preaching and you don't feel like preaching, preach the word. I have preached numerous times when I don't feel like preaching because I'm so tired and exhausted.

Preach it whether you feel like it or you don't feel like it. And I've taken it very seriously. And what should I do in my preaching? What should be the content of my preaching? Reprove.

Reprove means correct them. Rebuke them. Exhort them.

Challenge them. Hey, Paul, what about encouraging them about sitting in the lap of God? No, no, no, no. That's all baby stuff.

We are talking about training warriors for the last days. We are teaching people how to fire spiritual weapons, not training them to be babies. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, and be patient to keep on doing it.

Keep on doing it. Keep on doing it. And instruct them along that line because there'll be very few people who will be preaching like that.

Most of them will be wanting to tickle the ears of, it says in verse 3, teachers who the last days they'll be accumulate for themselves, the last part of verse 3, teachers according to their own desires. And Christendom is full of preachers. You know how the pastor system, how do they appoint a pastor? We've never had any pastors in any of our 110 churches around the world.

We don't have any pastors because pastors are selected like CEOs are selected. You know how they select a CEO in a company? They ask these agencies that will give you names for potential CEOs and they invite them, interview them, the board interviews them and interviews a number of people, say, okay, we select you. And the CEO wants to know what's my salary, et cetera.

How do they select pastors in 99.9% of churches? They ask agencies, can you send us names of preachers who can come here as a pastor? Okay, come and preach one sermon here, we'll listen to you. Next fellow, you come and preach the next Sunday, we'll listen to you. And they interview them, interview them, okay, we'll select you.

And the pastor will say, what is my salary? It's exactly like a secular company. Is that how they selected leaders in the early church? Where do you read that in the New Testament? There you see how far Christendom has become exactly like the world. We thank God that we never selected leaders like that to see how well they could preach, to see what salary they wanted.

Garbage. How far Christendom has drifted from healthy, sound doctrine. And do you think those people who come and come for a salary will tell you the truth? No.

They'll tickle your ears because you got to pay them their salary. That's happening everywhere. I praise God that God has raised up churches where, and godly men.

I thank God for the wonderful co-workers I have, particularly in India. At least a dozen of them. Like Jesus, 12 disciples, I've been tremendously encouraged by the boldness with which they proclaim the word without seeking anybody's honor.

And I believe God's raised up such people in other lands too. So I was thinking, what are the things that established us in CFC Bangalore? I'll tell you what we preached in the early days. As soon as we started in 1975, we were two families when we started.

Just two, me and another family. And then two or three people joined. Then some days, some others would come.

Some of those were curious. And that'd be a great turnover. People would come and they'd go and come and they'd go and come and they'd go.

And out of six years we met in our house, after six years we finally met about 60 people. And out of the 60 people, I think there are only about seven or eight left today. Where did the others go? I don't know.

Well, the Bible says many will fall away. But here's what we preached and here's what offended people in the early days and will continue to offend people today. Jesus said, when you go into all the world, you must make disciples.

Matthew 28. This was the commission we took. Go into all the world.

Make disciples in every country. In India, we were thinking of India then. And then all the nations means once we cover India, we go to Sri Lanka and the Gulf countries.

That's how we expanded. And now to many other countries. Go to all the nations.

And what should we do? Make them disciples, number one. Baptize them. And then, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and then teach them to do everything.

A-L-L means everything that I commanded you. That's a tremendous commission. It's not just that you have a baby and dump them on the street and go and find another convert somewhere else.

That's what a lot of people are doing. Bring the person to Christ and then what happens to him after that? Oh, well, let him find some church to go to. You've heard me say this.

Some of these evangelists who say, I went here and had a campaign and thousands came to Christ, some other place, thousands came to Christ. And I ask these people, where are they today? These thousands who came to Christ, where are they? Oh, I don't know. I hope they found some church.

I mean, imagine going to a mother and said, I had four or five babies in the last 10 years. I said, where are they? Oh, I don't know. I just had the babies and then went off.

Can you imagine even a heathen mother talking like that? But there are Christian preachers who talk like that. They say, I had a baby, but where are they today? I don't know. But you go to Paul and say, I heard you brought some people to Christ in Philippi.

Where are they? Come to Philippi. I'll show you. And he'll take you to the Philippian church and say, see this one, this one, this one, this one.

These are the people I brought to Christ and they're in a church. And come to Thessalonica. I'll show you the people I brought to Christ.

They're all here in the church. Paul wouldn't say, oh, I don't know where they are. He did not deliver babies and leave them on the road.

He made a home for them. That is the New Testament pattern. And that's what we've sought to do.

We don't want to have many babies. We want to have the number God wants us to. God gives us, we have 600 in Bangalore, praise the Lord.

But we started with four or five. That's fine. God decides the number, but we must have a home.

If it's five people, we must have a home. If it's 600, we must have a home. It must have the atmosphere of a home.

That's a true church. You know, if your children aren't happy in your home, something is wrong with the father and mother. The father and mother must make the home such a good place that the children don't want to go into any other home.

This is the home we want to be in. But there are some rules in the home. That's why father and mother don't allow their children to do whatever they like.

You can't go scribbling on the wall, and you can't waste your time here. We want you to go to school. You have to be educated.

You have to behave properly with your brothers and sisters. There are so many rules in a home. And we are strict, and I was very strict with my children always.

Any good father would be. So when Jesus said make disciples and teach them to do what? Every single thing that I commanded. All that I commanded, Matthew 28, verse 20.

So we had two commissions. First, make them disciples, not just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Disciples.

Baptize them and teach them everything that I taught you, not just one or two things, and that's a lifetime job. So we first made disciples. What is a disciple? We had to discover that.

So we went to Luke 14. I'm telling you exactly how we started. It was like 50 years ago in Bangalore.

And today, after 50 years, you can see the result of it. It's like these, you know, you see these advertisements somewhere sometimes of a muscular man who's got muscles all over the place. I didn't even know muscles existed in such parts of the body.

So many places, muscle, muscle, muscle, muscle. And people are interested in that, say, boy, how did you get that? He'd say, I'm very disciplined in my eating and very disciplined in the exercise I do regularly. That's how I got it.

You can have it too. So I say, I admire a church that's gone on for so many years and has got some spiritual muscle about it. I say, I want to know how that was.

That's why I'm explaining to you. Luke 14, this is how we started. Disciples.

How does a person become a disciple? Luke 14, 25 to 35, three conditions of discipleship. Very clearly stated here. This is what we preached, first of all, in Bangalore 50 years ago.

And I took a number of weeks to explain it. There are three conditions of discipleship. Number one was 26.

If you come to me and you don't hate your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your brothers and your sisters and your own life, you cannot be my disciple. There's no such thing as a second class disciple. You know, those who don't do this can be second class.

No. You're either a disciple or you're not a disciple. We taught it.

Now, it's up to you whether you obey it or not. I decided to obey it. I decided that Jesus Christ would be more important to me, always, more than my father, more than my mother, more than my wife, more than my sons, more than my brother, sister, and my own life.

Otherwise, I cannot be a disciple. I can say I came through the gate. I was not interested in the way.

To be in the way, you have to be a disciple. Disciple is a follower. This is the problem.

Many people come through the gate, they don't want to be disciples because there's someone they love more than Jesus Christ. I can stand before Jesus Christ today who is here, and I can say in his presence, Lord, you know that I have always loved you more than I love my wife, Annie. There was never a day in the last 56 years when I loved her more than I loved you.

Never, not today, never. I will not dare to be a servant of God if I don't take that position. Because I see that's what it means to be a disciple, and I'll tell you the result is both of us have a marriage which is a foretaste of heaven in our home.

It is. You obey Jesus Christ, he'll bless you so immensely. He'll bless your family so immensely.

That's why we've been preserved, and I decided that I would love him more than my father or my mother. They had many plans for me, and one day when the Lord called me to leave the Navy, I told my dad, Dad, I'm leaving. I didn't ask him.

I didn't ask his permission. I said the Lord has called me, I'm quitting. My dad was so keen that I should join the Navy and go right up to the top.

And I said, Dad, I'm leaving. And I said, I'm leaving to serve the Lord when I'm not going to join any Christian organization or join any group or take any salary from anybody. Okay.

And then, over a period of time, as my father found that I was gifted and I was being invited to around the world, I was being invited to Ireland and Europe and Australia and Japan and here and there, my father was happy. Okay, even though he's left the Navy, he's got a ministry. He can be like another Billy Graham.

That's what he told me. You can be like Billy Graham. And then one day he saw me throw that all away and meet with two families in our church.

He just couldn't understand it. What are you doing, son? He won't understand, Dad. The Lord's called me not to be like Billy Graham, not to be a famous preacher, but to build a church.

Because Jesus said, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. And he built churches. Paul built churches.

And I see in the New Testament, I know it's more difficult to build a church. It's more unpopular to build a church. It's easy to be just a wandering preacher, answerable to nobody and be famous and make a lot of money and fame.

I'm not interested in that. I'm not called, I told my dad, to be like Billy Graham, like you want me to be. I'm called to build a church.

If there are only two people there, Jesus said, two or three, that's enough. We'll start like that. He could not understand it.

We started in 1975. My father lived for another six years and died in 1981. He could not understand it.

But today he's in heaven. And I don't know how it is in heaven, but if he can look down, he'll say to me, son, you were right. And I was wrong.

And he'll say even more of that in eternity, when he sees the final result of all our work. Hate father, mother, wife, children. I have children.

And God is my witness that I've never, ever put any of my sons above Christ. Christ is first. If my children want to follow Christ, well and good.

If they don't want to follow, just too bad for you. But I'm not going to put you above Christ in my life. Never, never, never.

And that's why I'm always at rest in my heart, no matter what happens. Always. Because Christ and I have a wonderful relationship.

That will remain forever. I'm telling you, my brother, sister, your life can be supremely happy. Some of you love your children too much.

They are more precious to you than Christ. Some of you love your father. Oh, my father.

My mother. Even if Jesus says something else, I've got to not displease my father. But God have mercy on you.

I don't know whether you're even saved. I don't know whether you're saved. If you want to obey your dad more than you obey Christ.

Or you want to please your mom more than you want to obey Christ. Something's wrong. Christianity calls for radical discipleship.

And I'll tell you, that's what we preached in CFC. That's where we are today 50 years later. And I doubt whether that is true of all of you sitting here.

That's why there's so much of rumbling. Because you're not disciples, many of you. I have to do what the Bible says.

Rebuke, exhort firmly. Because the time will come, Paul said, when they will not listen to sound doctrine. The second condition was, take up your cross, verse 27.

And die to yourself and follow me every day. Luke 9.23. Also here in Luke, second condition of discipleship. Luke 14.27. That's the second condition.

Okay, we finished with the first one. Second is, now every day of your life. Every day is not mentioned here, but it's mentioned in Luke 9.23. You got to take up your cross, which means you got to die to yourself and your opinions.

And you're getting offended and all that garbage every day. And I decided. Lord, it wasn't perfect that the first day I started, I got to understand more and more of the way of the cross as time went on.

I must die. And the example I set for myself was, if there's a dead man here. I used to meditate on what it means to be dead.

Here's a dead man. Will he get hurt by anything anybody says to him? Whatever, rebuke, insult. Whatever people say, it will not affect him.

I say, Lord, I want to be like that. That's taking up the cross. Or if somebody comes and praises me.

Oh, brother, you're a great prophet. You're the greatest man of God. No change.

In other words, Lord, I said, Lord, bring me to the place where if someone calls me a prophet or a devil, my reaction is exactly the same. I love both of them. If I can't do that, I'm dead.

I'm not dead, brother. If I'm dead, I will love the fellow who calls me a deceiver and the one who calls me a prophet. Just the same.

I will not love one more than the other. Because he praises me or criticizes me because I'm dead. I will not be offended if I'm dead.

I will not keep a hurt in my heart that this chap spoke like this to me. I will not get offended at home if my wife slips up and makes a mistake in something. Dead people don't get offended if something goes wrong.

If the food is not up to the mark. What all things Christians get disturbed by? I say, they haven't taken the second condition of disciples seriously. They're not dead.

They've come to an easygoing Christianity, a third rate, good for nothing Christianity that they heard from whichever pastor or church they were in. And no wonder their life is so shallow. Their home life is so shallow.

Their personal life is shallow. They get anxious and worried about so many things. They're afraid of so many things.

And their security is in their job and in their money and not in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Be honest. Ask yourself, my brother, sister, where is your security today? And give an honest answer to that.

And I believe the Lord wants to deliver you from an insecure type of security. Die. Lord, help me to do that every day.

Die to the honor of men. I used to write that in the front of my Bible. I want to be dead to the world and its praise and its criticism.

And what they think of me, what they write about me. What all names people have called me. I'll tell you where I got comfort from in that area.

Jesus once said in Matthew chapter 10. I took these words very seriously. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 24 and 25.

Have you read this slowly, carefully? Matthew 10, 24, 25. A disciple is not above his teacher. I'm not supposed to be above Jesus Christ.

Understood. A slave. I'm a slave.

I'm not above my master Jesus Christ. It is enough if I come at least to the level of my teacher. I cannot go above my teacher.

I'm far below the level of my teacher. But if I reach the level of my teacher, I should be satisfied. And the slave should want to long to be like his master.

Now listen to this. This is the important part. Read carefully and judge yourself.

If they called the head of the home of the house, Beelzebul. Beelzebul means there's a name for the Satan. If they called the head of the house Beelzebul, ruler of demons.

That's the meaning. Beelzebul means is the margin of my Bible. It says Beelzebul or ruler of demons.

If they called the head of the house, ruler of demons. How much more they will call the members of his house. So I meditated on that verse.

And I said, Lord, how will I know whether I'm a member of your house or not? How will I know that I'm a member of Christ's house? According to that verse, people will call me worse names than they call Jesus Christ. That means I must be called a devil by people. And I began to be called a devil when I was three years a believer.

When I was 21 years, 22 years old. Because I stand out in the streets as a naval officer after working hours. In the streets and preach the gospel.

In the streets of Arnakulam. And some of those fellows would call me the devil. Aha, I qualified.

According to this verse. I want to ask you brothers and sisters here. Has anybody called you the devil in your life because of your Christian faith? Not because of your stupidity or something like that.

But because of your Christian faith. Did somebody call you a terrible name? The worst name is the devil. If not, does this verse disturb you? If they have called the head of the house a prince of devils.

How much more the members of his family. And you claim to be a member of his family. And your unconverted relatives think you are a wonderful Christian.

And your people who live around you think you are a great guy. We have a third rate Christianity I tell you with many Christians today. We are so ashamed to be known as out and out disciples of Jesus Christ.

This is what it means to die. To die to the opinions of men. I will tell you it never disturbed me that people called me the devil.

Actually they call my savior the devil. What does it matter? I am in good company. The third condition of discipleship.

I must rush. Luke chapter 14 and verse 33. The third condition of discipleship.

You cannot be my disciple if you don't give up all your possessions. That was a tough one for me to meditate on. Because I was earning a huge salary as a naval officer.

Many comforts. To give us a grand place to live in and all types of things. And those were my things that I had.

I said what does it mean to give up my possessions? I meditated on that and I understood. There is a difference between what you own and what you possess. What you have and what you possess.

So I realized it's like if I hold something tight in my hand that's a possession. But if I keep that in my hand. Say it's gold.

I hold it tight. Or let's say a hundred dollar currency note. A hundred dollar note.

I hold it tight. That's my possession. But if I keep it in an open palm.

It's there. It's in my hand. I say Lord if you want to take it away you can take it away.

I won't cling on to it. I understood that the difference between possessing something and having something. You can have a car.

It's in your name. But if you possess it. Oh I want that.

Or I look at somebody else's car and say I want one like that. That's possession. Not because you want greater comfort.

That's okay. But because you want greater prestige. You know the difference between prestige and comfort? Jesus never went around looking for prestige.

I want to be respected. I thank God I never sought for it in my life. Don't possess anything brother in this world.

Have. God will give you. God has given me amazing things in my life.

A tremendous amount of comfort. Far more than I deserve. But I decided I'd never possess them.

Even now I don't possess them. Thank God he gave me a wife like that who didn't want to possess anything. We have so many many things through the years God has given us.

But we always kept them in an open palm. Even today. Are you afraid? Somebody will snatch it from you? Impossible.

You hang on to it with your tight fist. Somebody stronger than you will take it from you. You open your palm and say Lord these are not mine.

These are yours. Nobody will dare take it from you because God guards them for you. Do you believe God is a loving father? I know how much my wife and I have sacrificed for our own children.

How much we have sacrificed. We'd do anything for them. I say God is a million times better father than that.

He'd do anything for you and me. Ultimately it all depends on whether you know God as your father. Your personal father.

That's what changed my life. That's one of the results of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It says the Holy Spirit will come in and cry out Abba Father is one of the first things.

The result of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is you become aware. I have a real father in heaven who cares for me. I'm not an orphan anymore.

Okay let me just share that in closing. Jesus said in John chapter 14. We'll close with this.

John 14. He said the first time he's talking about the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit.

The greatest gift God has given to us Christians. More than forgiveness of sins. Is the gift of the Holy Spirit coming to dwell within us.

I will ask the father. Verse 16. John 14.

He will give you another helper. Who is the first helper? Jesus Christ. But he's going away.

It's like the father going away. I'll be an orphan. No, no, no.

Don't worry. He says another helper means one just like me. In other words the coming of the Holy Spirit is to be exactly the same as the disciples had with Jesus standing there.

Jesus is in the boat. I don't care what storm there is. When you have the whole baptism in the Holy Spirit it's like that.

A security just like having Jesus there in the home. In your home. Will you be worried about anything if Jesus was living in your home? Would you be worried about losing your job or losing your house or losing anything? If Jesus was there.

But then there's another thing. If Jesus is in your home you better be careful how you talk to your wife or how you talk to your husband. Because Jesus is there.

There are two sides to it. So I'll give you another helper and he'll be with you forever. I can't be with you all the time.

The Lord says. Sometimes you're without me but when the Holy Spirit comes he'll be with all of you forever. And then he said.

Verse 18. You will not be orphans. Everyone who's not filled with the Holy Spirit is an orphan.

Without a doubt. That's why there's insecurity. That's why there's fear.

That's why there's anxiety. That's why you lay awake at night wondering what will happen next. Orphan.

Orphan. I want to tell you the good news. You don't have to be an orphan.

My dear brother, sister, you young people here. I wish you would start this early in your life. I'm glad I started as a Christian when I was 19.

That I did not wait until I was 35 or 40. I'm very thankful. God laid hold of me when I was 19.

From your earliest life. Help your children to come to this life where they're not orphans spiritually. But secure in the love of a Heavenly Father.

Amen.