The Riches of His Grace

In Christ We have redemption through his blood The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace Let's pray Heavenly Father As we come before you in the name of Jesus our Lord and our Savior We pray that you'll pour out your spirit upon us And we shall see your glory hear your voice And everyone here Lord will receive something from you according to their need There's tremendous riches with you Lord We pray you will give us from that wealth there is there We humbly ask in Jesus name.

Amen Please be seated In the verse that I read in Ephesians 1 verse 7 There's a little expression called the riches of his grace I Was born again 50 years ago when I was 20 years old I wish somebody had told me at that time That grace was not just forgiveness of sins But there was a wealth in grace that I could have if I wanted When you don't know the truth You live in poverty Spiritual poverty Today among Christians, especially among Pentecostals and Charismatics There is a gospel being preached that Jesus will make you wealthy on the earth and healthy on earth But there is something far greater than that Spiritual wealth and Spiritual health Which is million times greater and more important than material wealth and physical health There's nothing wrong in being healthy I praise God for that God provides all our earthly needs But if we are satisfied with Material wealth and physical health that God gives us For spiritual wealth and spiritual health We can miss out on the most important thing that Jesus came to give In the riches of his grace Let's read another verse Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3 Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who has blessed us I'll read, let's read carefully He's blessed us with every spiritual blessing In the heavenly places in Christ And that means that every blessing of the Holy Spirit spiritual blessing means that Can be mine and yours If we seek for it in Christ And if we seek In our spirit to dwell in the heavenly places rather than on earth Why is it That health have such a tremendous attraction for believers Because their mind is set on earthly things Jesus said seek the kingdom of God first The Bible says in Colossians 3 Verse 2 and 3 if you are dead with Christ and Risen with him seek those things which are above When Christ sits at the right hand of God And if I spend my life Seeking for those things which are above Do you think God will not give me what I need for the things on earth But If I seek for the things of earth I May get the things of earth, but I may miss the most important things of heaven That's the great danger and that's the danger facing particularly Pentecostal charismatic Christians in our day That's what all the Christian TV programs are preaching They are not leading people to heavenly wealth or to spiritual health They are leading people to an earthly wealth and a physical health.

I Want to say to you my dear brothers and sisters Don't let the devil rob you of what Jesus purchased for you on the cross Supposing your father was a billionaire who had a lot of lots and lots of money and Before he died he wrote a will in your name Leaving you all the property he had in Brisbane and Melbourne and Sydney and all over and all the money he kept for you in various banks and Supposing you gave that will to a lawyer To execute it for you And he cheated you and Took away 99% of your wealth that your father worked so hard to get for you and Allowed you to get a small bit so that you live in a small little apartment Here in Brisbane struggling to earn your living.

I Feel bad you're all smart But you're not smart spiritually The devil is more crooked than any crooked lawyer on this earth He has cheated God's people of what Jesus died and wrote in his will for them And he's made them happy with petty things which have no value in eternity and That's why he has deceived so many Christians with a false gospel The Word of God is true if you set your mind on the things above and seek the things of God You will have those earthly things which God wants you to have Many of you your grandparents are from Romania perhaps Which is a poor country Faced a lot of persecution I can understand that I lived 70 years in India. That's my home. I lived there And I remember when I went to Romania for the first time a couple of years ago.

I Saw that In all the countries of the world I traveled Romania was most like India The people in Romania were most like Indian people. I've never found Any people in the world which are so similar because there was in India also we had a lot of poverty We still have and a few very rich people, but most people are poor and Those That earlier generation, you know your grandparents Who came into the baptism in the Holy Spirit in Romania? And who had the power of God? They were not very rich like many of you are they didn't have the comforts in the cars and Type of houses you have but they knew God In a better way than this generation knows God Did they starve Maybe they went through a lot of persecution but the persecution only helped them to know God better and their testimony In those days of persecution became a testimony to people all over the world Are you following in their footsteps They saw in God's kingdom first and the earthly things they needed were added to them I Had the same longing in India. I said Lord in a poor country like India.

I Want to prove that God's Word is true in the 20th century And so when we started our work I said Lord, I want to prove it in my life. First of all in my family and In the churches we plant That we live by the principles of God's Word And we will not lack any earthly thing. I Used to work in the Indian Navy and God called me I was a naval officer And God told me to leave my job 44 years ago And I decided to trust the Lord In all these 44 years As a servant of the Lord I have proved That God is a loving God that if I see the heavenly things The earthly things I need will be added to me without my seeking it The help that I need and God's kept me in hell for 70 years.

I couldn't do that on my own God's provided all the need of me and my family But one of the things I discovered I'm sorry to say that I wasted many 16 years of my life After I was born again, not understanding the riches of his grace You can be satisfied with a ministry a lot of Christians Even preachers they may not be so many of them are interested in money, but other people are interested in the ministry Oh, they want to preach You know, even that is not the greatest thing the greatest thing is grace and Most Christians I have met in my life 99% of them do not understand grace Except forgiveness of sins.

I never understood What I want to share with you this morning Is to is what this phrase the riches of his grace means So that you can become a wealthy person Or begin to become a wealthy person even before you leave this church building this morning If you would listen carefully and open your heart and If you have a hunger and a thirst You know, one of the things that Jesus said Was that God satisfies the hungry and the thirst The Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah says I will pour water upon the dry ground Many times it says I will satisfy the thirsty Jesus said in Matthew 5 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness They shall be satisfied.

They shall be filled What if you don't hunger and thirst for righteousness, but you just ask for it Well, you may not be filled There are a lot of people who ask God Saying Lord make me more holy Give me this victory over this habit or that habit But they never get victory Do you know the number of young people Who speak in tongues But who also watch internet pornography Who have immoral relationships with the opposite sex, but they speak in tongues It's a deception It is Jesus, you know the meaning of the name Jesus a lot of people don't know it They say Savior, yes, but saved from what?

That's the important thing The very first time We read in the word Jesus comes in the Gospel of Matthew where an angel spoke to Joseph He explained to him the meaning of that name in Matthew 1 21 He told Joseph you can get married to Mary because the Holy Spirit has produced that baby and you shall call this name Jesus Why? Because he was saving his people from their sins That's the meaning of Jesus Every time you take the name of Jesus in prayer or when you resist the devil Remember that name means the name that of one who came to save you from your sins When I pray in the name of Jesus, I'm saying father In the name of one who came to save me from all my sins, please answer this prayer Yeah, when you pray with understanding It'll be answered When you resist the devil And say Satan I resist you in the name of Jesus who came to save me from all my sins He will flee from you I've seen it and I believe it But if you try to resist the devil in the name of Jesus and you have sin in your life You will have to flee from him Because he will say Jesus I know Paul I know but who are you?

So we got to understand that something new came when we have the name of Jesus they never had it in the Old Testament The Lord Jesus brought something Which Moses could not give all the Israelites for 1,500 years and that is called grace In John chapter 1 We read Moses brought the law and the law was good The law was so good that the standard of the life in Israel was better than the whole world for 1,500 years The people of Israel had the highest moral standard in the whole world You know why?

Because they had the law Adultery was not so much heard in Israel as in the other parts of the world Murder was not so much in Israel as in the other parts of the world False swearing was not so much in Israel as in the other parts of the world In Israel children learned to honor their father and mother Unlike other parts of the world because they had the law But we read in John chapter 1 And verse 17 that Jesus brought something else Moses brought the law Jesus brought grace There was no grace in the world before Jesus came No the first person Who had grace from God? was Jesus Christ Nobody else had it before that And The words the word grace is a New Testament word.

It's never found in the Old Testament I mean in the King James Version there are one or two places where the wrong translation and Translates it as grace. It means favor. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord not grace Grace is a distinctively New Testament word And Jesus brought it Now the question is if the law Could make Israel Live so much better than the rest of the world What about grace how should that make Christians live It should make Christians live even better than those who are under the law That's the kingdom of heaven That's why Jesus said in Matthew 11 and verse 11 He said That the greatest man ever born of women was John the Baptist But the least person in the kingdom of heaven it's going to be greater than John the Baptist The kingdom of heaven is the church of believers Do you know that your life? according to Matthew 11 11 And it doesn't matter what your age is You can be 16 years old or 50 years old if you enter into God's kingdom Spiritually if you're born again into God's kingdom life and receive grace from God Do you know that your life can be higher? spiritually than the life of John the Baptist You tell me how many Christians have you met who you felt their life was better than John the Baptist I Met very few Who I could say that man is a really godly man How many people have you heard preaching who had more fire in them than John the Baptist? 95% of the Christian preachers I heard were so boring I never felt my history They were not like John the Baptist Why? The devil has robbed them of grace They have not got the riches of grace Which God wanted them to have like I told you a cheating lawyer can cheat you of your inheritance from your father The devil has cheated God's people of their inheritance from Jesus Christ he cheated me For 16 years after I was born again Baptized in water baptized in the Holy Spirit speaking in tongues preaching.

I was defeated by sin Yeah, because the devil cheated me But he's not cheating me today No, because I have known the truth and the truth has set me free just like Jesus said And I'll tell you this when you know the truth the truth will set you free And the devil's main aim is to blind your eyes so that you don't see the truth Because he knows if you know the truth you'll be free Your life must be a threat to the devil I Want my life to be like that I Want the devil to be so scared of me that he's scared where I go and preach the truth You know your life should be like that The Bible says we are to walk as Jesus walked on this earth The devil was scared wherever Jesus went because he's afraid people will get liberated. They will know the truth and they'll be free Jesus is coming there. He's gonna tell them the truth You know that Jesus said as the father sent me so send I you You are the light of the world he said Who is the light of the world when Jesus was on earth? He was the light of the world But he told his disciples in Matthew 5 14 you are now the light of the world wherever you go Light must drive the darkness out But as I said, I never understood that I wish when I was 20 years old somebody had come and told me that That this is the whole purpose to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire Yeah, many of your older generation they had a baptism of fire And I fear I think the early Pentecostals and charismatics had it but I fear that in the second third generation It's a painted fire It looks like fire But it's not fire When you come close, there's no light.

There's no heat Because it's a painted fire. I Was not born in a Pentecostal family I was born in a orthodox Syrian Orthodox, it's just like your Romanian Orthodox. I was baptized as a baby But everything I discovered I discovered by reading the Bible, that's how I was born again That's how I understood I'm a state water baptism That's how I began to seek for the baptism of the Holy Spirit That's how I opened myself to the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And that's how I opened myself to understand what grace really mean And I want to share with you First of all, many people have the idea that grace means God's unmerited favor That means when God shows you favor, which you don't deserve They call that grace. That is a lie It's a lie of the devil That's what they teach them in them in Bible seminaries. I Thank God that I never went to a Bible seminary.

I Possibly Grace is not God's undeserved favor. I'll tell you why Every human being in the world gets God's undeserved favor. You think that atheist who doesn't care for God That God is not blessing him look at all the godless people in the world who got money and health and all that It's all undeserved favor They should all be demon-possessed Why are they not demon-possessed because God is merciful to them Every human being gets God's undeserved favor.

Nobody deserves favor from God Even Abraham Didn't get deserved favor undeserved favor, but it was not grace Grace came through Jesus Christ. So grace is not undeserved favor all the billions of people in the world get undeserved favor grace is something else and The devil has fooled Christians by saying that grace is God's undeserved favor as if you got it and nobody else got it We don't think I'm sorry to say that a lot of Christians. They don't think you know They don't read the Bible enough They listen more to Christian television preachers than they read the Bible and then they deserve to be deceived We have a generation growing up today that does not study the Bible I Want to say to you in Jesus name if you spend more time watching television Than reading the Bible you will be deceived by the devil and you deserve to be deceived You don't respect God's Word I Started studying this book as soon as I was born again.

I was really born again When I turned around to the Lord it was not sort of half it was a complete turn And I had such a tremendous hunger for the word of God that's not special That's natural if you're really born again today, a lot of people are not really born again You know the difference between a premature baby and a full-term nine-month, baby When a full-term nine-month baby comes out of the mother's womb, you know what it does it cries And you know what it's crying for It's not crying for money It's crying for milk It won't be satisfied with anything other than milk And the Bible says as newborn babes 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 2 If you're really born again, if you're a newborn baby desire the pure Milk of the Word of God In the New Testament 1 Peter 2 2 says the milk is the Word of God And if you were born again and You didn't have a cry like all good healthy newborn babies have for the milk of the Word of God I would say you were a premature baby You need to be put inside an incubator You know how Little babies are born sometimes a little early Sometimes they're born at six months Well, they can hardly cry. They don't have any strength. I Look at a lot of today's born-again Christians.

They're just like those six-month-old Unfit to be there to be put in the incubator for ages And some of them are pulled out by some eager evangelist when they're five months in the womb Because he's got to count up his statistics as to how many people he brought to Christ and These people are even worse. You don't even know whether they'll survive They are too weak to cry out for milk. They have no interest in the Word of God You don't even know whether they are born again properly That's the condition of people today and then people get them to come on now.

You gotta be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Hang on They're gonna be born again properly first They got to repent first they got to turn from their sin That's a tragedy today I mean if you really believed That of all the books in the world all the millions of books in the world There's only one book that God Almighty wrote the Bible if you really believe it Don't you think you'd spend all your time studying this? I Studied it when I was working in the Navy on the ship In between we get a little free time. I'd go into my cabin and study this book It changed my life When we come to God's Word We discover that grace Is something that can take us all through life just like Jesus.

I want to show you some of you may have wondered why I said Jesus was the first person who received grace. I want to show you Luke chapter 2 verse 40 Luke chapter 2 verse 40 It says here about Jesus the child continued to grow and the grace of God was on him What was on Jesus Christ the grace of God The grace of God was upon Jesus Christ as a little baby He grew up with the grace of God upon him And that's why he lived the life he lived Because he came to earth as a man Even though he was equal with God the Father from all eternity as the Son of God He came to earth became just like us And if we need grace he needed it also Otherwise he wouldn't have been like us And that's why it says as he grew the grace of God was upon him Okay, that's what at his birth. Let's go to his death In Hebrews chapter 2 we read about how Jesus died Hebrews chapter 2 in verse 9 It says here about Jesus he's now crowned with glory and honor the last part of Hebrews 2 9 That by the grace of God, I'm reading from Hebrews 2 verse 9 by the grace of God He tasted death for everyone So how did Jesus have the Ability to die the terrible death on the cross I don't mean the nails and the whipping and the crown of thorns that are many martyrs Even New York and Pennsylvania who suffered like that Not for one day Jesus suffered only for one day few hours there are many people who have suffered in communist prisons for many years But I'm not talking about that suffering I'm talking about that agony that he suffered for three hours when hell He suffered hell for three hours forsaken by his father Because that was the punishment for our sin Do you think the punishment for your sin is a crown of thorns? Do you think the punishment for your sin is putting nails through somebody's hand? Do you think the punishment for your sin is physical death? The punishment for sin is hell Eternity in hell And if Jesus had to take your punishment For your sin and my sin He had to suffer the agonies of eternal hell.

Otherwise, he didn't take the punishment For my sin because the punishment for my sin is not a crown of thorns. It is not nails to the hands It's not even physical death You think God punishes people with sin and say, okay, you'll die physically and that's the end no he sends them to hell And that's why we read in Genesis in on the cross when Jesus hung there for the last three hours He suffered the agonies of an eternal hell. That's why he cried out my God my God That's the only time in his old life that he looked at the father and called him God He never called him God He always called him father father Because he was equal the father of all eternity But when he hung on the cross He was standing before the judge of the universe for your sin my And he was forsaken For three hours You and I would have experienced for eternity you know like the Punishment of an eternal hell was concentrated into three hours and put about Jesus on the cross How could he bear it how could anyone bear it I mean one day in hell we will not be able to bear How could he bear the agony of an eternal hell in three hours because he was an infinite being But he did it he tasted it it says here Hebrews 2 night by the grace of God So we saw he began his life with the grace of God upon him.

He tasted death by the grace of God his whole life It was grace that enabled Jesus to live the way he lived How was Jesus so free from the love of money How is Jesus all able to overcome all temptation the grace of God How was he how was Jesus able to forgive all his enemies the grace of God? And do you know that if you receive that grace you can live the way he lived That is the message of the new covenant even John the Baptist could not do that it says in 1 John and chapter 2 and Verse 6 1 John 2 verse 6 it says The one who says He abides in Christ must walk in the same manner as He walked I Want to read that slowly If you say you abide in Christ, I think all of you say that Then you have to walk in the same way he walked on this earth are you walking the same way Jesus walked on this earth You say that's not possible, you know who told you that the devil Anything that God says the devil says no The devil God told Adam and Eve don't eat of that tree the devil said no you can eat it The God says you must walk as Jesus walked and the devil says no that's not possible And do you know for how many years you have believed the lie of the devil? After I was born again, I believe the lie of the devil for 15 years and said it's impossible to walk as Jesus walked Who told me that? the devil God says one thing and the devil says the opposite naturally and you have a choice either believe God or believe the devil But I thank God that a day came in my life When I decided to believe God and his word And I said I'm gonna believe God's word from now on not the lies of the devil and he turned my life around I didn't change overnight Because I had lived for so many years in the long wrong way I had to turn around and come back But little by little I found a change coming in my life Little by little my I found a change coming in my family life I was frequently discouraged and depressed Discouragement and depression disappeared from my life When I understood that I could walk as Jesus walked when I could understood the meaning of grace. I Discovered that I could live 365 days of the year and never get angry with my wife even once never raised my voice and 366 days in a week I experienced it. I'm not talking furious but it was not like that before I Was defeated before I was defeated in my home life I was defeated in my thought life as a born-again dumb-speaking Christian, and if you're honest, you'll say the same thing The thing is we are afraid to be honest We have to keep pretending that we're holy when we know that our thoughts are impure When we know that we the way we speak at home is not the way of Christians would speak When we know that we love money more than we love Jesus Christ Well, I was not ashamed to admit it to the Lord I said Lord, it's true I'm sorry.

I'll tell you the truth Lord. I love money more than I love you, but I don't want it to be like that I want you to save me from it I'm defeated by anger. I'm defeated by depression and born again But I'm defeated in my thought life This is not the way the devil has robbed me of my inheritance, which my heavenly father willed for me Dear brothers and sisters, I'm telling you what God did for me as a defeated Christian.

He set me free He showed me what grace was that's what I want to share with you First of all in Hebrews in chapter 2 verse 17 we read That Jesus was made like us in everything That's the first thing I discovered which I never knew I Thought always he was God When he was on earth, he was like God. How can I ever follow him? But it says in Hebrews 2 17 he was made like me in everything The only thing he didn't have was sin I was born in sin he was not he was born holy, but other than that He was exactly like me in everything He hungered like me Felt tired like me. He was tempted like me.

That's the other thing Hebrews 4 verse 15 It says he was tempted like me in everything Not just tempted in everything You've got to read carefully not just tempted in everything But tempted like us in everything Between saying Jesus was tempted in everything and saying Jesus was tempted like us in everything. That's what it says Yeah, he was tempted like us in everything but He did not sin and he did not sin because he received grace Can I get that grace I Cannot overcome sin without grace that is impossible sin is too strong for me. The devil is too strong for me Without grace, I'll be afraid of the devil with grace the devil will be afraid of you Isn't that a good exchange get rid of being afraid of the devil and get the devil afraid of you Tell me honestly How many of you really believe the devil is afraid of you You really believe the devil is afraid of you Are you afraid of the devil? As a Christian for many years I Was afraid of the devil.

I thought he would harm me here and harm me there. I was scared What's he gonna do to me next but no more? It's gone It's not only gone I believe with all my heart the devil is afraid of me Tell you my experience I Have never till today seen a demon possessed person Where the demon doesn't go immediately When I rebuke it in the name of Jesus Christ every single case 100% success Not because of me because of the name of Jesus Once the demon-possessed woman turned around to me and said I told her tell the devil That you were defeated on the cross and she turned around to me and said I was not defeated on the cross. Oh This was a demon speaking to me I said you're a liar.

I Wasn't talking to the woman. I was talking to the woman inside her. I said you're a liar I said and get out of her right now in Jesus name Went I said I told that sister tell the devil now.

He was defeated on the cross and she said it because the demon didn't talk It's real brothers and sisters I Remember I told another Woman ask Jesus to come into my heart into your heart and another voice said tell her don't tell me There's somebody else living inside her. I said get out in Jesus name went I told her no except Jesus. Yeah, she's received Jesus We're living in a world Exactly like we read in Jesus time the devil's got here and there and God wants you To be full, but you've got to live a pure life The devil is not scared of people who live in impurity The devil is not afraid of people are watching internet pornography on the side There are young people and married people watching all that rubbish The devil is not scared of people who don't buy the Bible Who don't value God's Word even Jesus When the devil tempted him he used God's Word.

He said it is written The devil came again Matthew 4. He said it is written and he came a third time. It is written and the devil left him Do you know the Bible like that even Jesus the Son of God? Needed to know the Bible to drive the devil away. How do we think that we are smarter than Jesus Christ? My brothers and sisters, I want to say to you the devil has robbed you of Something you should have the grace of God it says in Hebrews 4 Because Jesus was tempted like us verse 16.

Let us come to the throne of grace To receive mercy Jesus didn't need mercy. Do you know the difference between mercy and grace? I Never knew it for a long time Mercy means forgiveness for our sins. It is an Old Testament word David said thousand years before Christ Bless the Lord.

Oh my soul who forgives all your sins who heals all your diseases. That's mercy But there was no grace David could not say in Psalm 103 bless the Lord. Oh my soul who gives me victory over sin in all temptation.

He couldn't say that If he looked at a woman he'd fall that's David But he could get forgiveness That's Old Testament and when you look at a woman and you fall you're like David Old Testament You need grace you need mercy to forgive your past sins, but you need grace to overcome sin And that's what it says in Hebrews 4 16 first you get mercy Jesus never needed mercy because he never sinned But we need it because we have sinned so much in our life. So first when we come to God we said Lord I'm sorry for all the sins I've committed I want you to cleanse me forgive me and God has mercy on me and cleanses me in the blood of Jesus Christ But then what do I do after that now Lord give me grace it says in Hebrews 4 16 We come to the throne of grace to get two things mercy and grace and What is this grace called help in time of need that's a wonderful definition of grace it's from the Bible help in time of need and My time of need according to verse 15 is temptation When I'm tempted like Jesus was tempted I need help and That help is called grace so that I don't fall Do let me use an illustration it's like supposing you're climbing a mountain, you know, there are people who climb mountains rock climbing and supposing you're climbing a mountain and you're About to slip and you're holding on to some cliff with just your fingers And you're too proud to ask anybody to help you you say no, I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it and You slip and fall And you break your bones you haven't died you broke your bones then you cry for help and The ambulance comes and picks you up that ambulance is called mercy When we fall and Next time you go and you climb the mountain again you fall Lord forgive me and the ambulance comes along. That's mercy Thank God for the ambulance It's always available the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

What I want to say is there is a better way That when you're hanging there and about to fall You say Lord, please keep me from falling I'm about to lose my temper now I'm about to lust sexually I'm about to get bitter and angry with somebody. Please help me that I don't fall and you'll find Arms lifting you up If you can stand on that cliff and you don't fall You see how did that happen? That was grace As you asked for grace in your time of need before you fell Well, we need mercy and we need grace for many years after I was born again, I only knew mercy Every day I would fall and every day the ambulance I needed the ambulance to forgive me cleanse me Till the day came in my life when I understood the meaning of grace Grace has helped me in my time of need so that I don't sin So that I don't fall Do you think God wants you to keep on falling all your life? Most Christians if they're honest their testimony is I fall every day Even though they have a Bible Which says in the book of Jude and verse 24 That Jesus can keep you from falling Do they believe it Now I'll give you all a one bit of advice You promise you won't get offended Your grandparents did that they became God We have become very lazy generation Because we don't know the Bible That the devil robs us of our inheritance, you know, supposing your father had written a will and you don't get a copy of it Then a lawyer can cheat you You say I want to see my father's dead. I want to see his will I want a copy of it This is your heavenly father's will Have you read it? There's a lot in this For you to make you a spiritually wealthy person In our church in India We knew there was software to project Songs on the screen.

I said, that's good Then everybody can sing along this And they told me that also software to predict the verses of the Bible on the screen I said no We don't want that. It would make everybody lazy The songs is all right God's Word they must know themselves. They're not so poor that they can't buy one Every I say the same thing when I'm in America Become familiar with the Bible become familiar with the verses underlying the verses which are important get familiar with them And now there are so many ways I have a little pocket diary with 16 versions of the Bible inside this I Read it all the time.

I'm traveling here there anywhere. I open it up. I search for the concordance and everything I read it.

It's so easy nowadays to have a Bible with you all the time And that Word of God will help me to overcome Satan keep me from falling I see that Jesus himself Resisted Satan with God's Word. I'm not better than Jesus at the age of 12 He knew the Bible so well that he could Question the great scholars of his day and remember nobody had a printed Bible those days Printing was discovered only 600 years ago It's only the last 600 years that people have a printed Bible. How did Jesus know the Bible? He would listen And meditate on it what he heard in the synagogues and he had taught it in the schools in those days That's how he knew the Bible And you can know it too 1 John and chapter 2 verse 14 says I've written unto you because you know the Word of God the Word of God dwells in you and you are overcome the evil one The Holy Spirit that is poured out, you know Pentecostals have brought one great truth to Christendom And that is the truth of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

I'm very thankful for that truth That was primarily brought to the Christian world by Pentecostal people And those old-time Pentecostals who lived a hundred years ago and 80 years ago. They were really people. They were not Very educated, but they were really people who longed up to God Hunger and thirst and God filled with them.

Jesus said if anyone thirsts, let him come to me And out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water Do you have a thirst? To be filled with the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit there's a prophecy in the Old Testament Zechariah 12 9. I'm sorry 12 10 Which says I will pour out on the people in Jerusalem the Holy Spirit of grace The spirit is called the spirit of grace Zechariah 12 10 What did the Lord pour out on the day of Pentecost it was the spirit of grace The spirit that would come and give people grace to walk as Jesus walked Or 1 John 2 6 in the Living Bible. It's paraphrased as anyone who says he's a Christian must live like Jesus lived think of that possibility that We can live as Jesus lived I want to ask all of you who claim to be Christians Is Jesus Christ your hero? I? Made Jesus Christ my hero many years ago I've seen young people who got big posters in their rooms of their heroes some film star some cricketer some football player some rock musician and they try to play music like him or Play cricket like that person or play football like that person or sing like that person What about Christians who's who should be their hero Jesus Christ and when Jesus Christ becomes your hero you will long to live like him Many years ago Jesus Christ became my hero My greatest longing was to live like him and when God called me to preach I said Lord I Want to preach like Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ never preached one boring sermon in his whole life And I never want to preach one boring sermon in my whole life Once when Jesus walked with two people to Emmaus seven miles We read in Luke 24 that must have taken three hours And it says he opened the scriptures and spoke to them from Genesis to Malachi And it says their hearts You know where if Jesus becomes your hero every aspect of your life Becomes he becomes your hero. I remember I said Lord when I live at home, I want to talk to my wife Exactly like Jesus would speak How many of you husbands have got that desire the Bible says husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church You know, there's a verse like that And I said Lord, I want to speak to my wife exactly like Jesus would speak I Want to treat her exactly like Jesus would When I speak in a church meeting, I want to speak like Jesus would speak And I handle money.

I Want to handle money the way Jesus would handle money. I'll tell you why because he's my hero You know like that young fellow who's got some rock musician as a hero and wants to play the guitar like him. That's fine Jesus is my hero and I want to do it exactly like him Is Jesus your hero or some worldly Superstar your hero How much disgrace we have brought upon the name of Jesus Christ calling ourselves Christians How disappointed God is when he looks at Christians who are supposed to be his representatives on earth And they're not even hungering they're not even weeping but they don't live like Christ I I Have wept on my pillow at night many many nights When I've slipped up and said Lord Some area in my life.

I didn't live like Jesus today. Forgive me And I pray that there will be at least a number of people especially young people here who love oppression To live like Christ I Tell you honestly my brothers and sisters, I don't care what you think of me of my servant, but I am concerned what you think about Jesus Christ Making me a hero today Say Lord, I want to experience the same Young person boy, you're lucky He can be gripped by Christ's brother sister, do you know that there's no difference between brothers and sisters now Actually something's God says I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters Who stop signs your sons and your daughters can get grace to overcome? What should I say don't let the devil rob you of your heavenly inheritance by getting occupied with something Less than what God has been there's a word that God is speaking to your heart today saying My son my daughter Come up Don't leave at the low level Let's pray Let's bow before God as he's and if God has spoken to your heart I want to ask you to pray a little prayer in your heart silently to God right now I want you to pray that Lord Don't let the devil take away from my heart the seed that you sowed in my heart this morning Don't let the devil take away from my heart the seed that you sowed in my heart this morning the hunger and Thirst you gave me this morning. Don't let me ever lose it Help me Fill me with the Holy Spirit Baptize me in the Holy Spirit and fire Give me a hunger and a thirst for righteousness Give me a thirst for rivers of living water to flow out from me Give me the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve you Help me to walk like Jesus.

I want to make Jesus my hero Heavenly Father help us all bless this church bless these dear brothers and sisters. I Pray that they'll walk in your footsteps and glorify your name in person We pray in Jesus name Thank you