We Must Decrease for Christ to Increase

So, as I said yesterday, I'm always amazed how Jesus could speak to 5,000 people without a mic. But also, we had to be wise and there are many places I've spoken continuously for many days without a problem. But, when I speak in that hall where there's so much noise in between the sessions, I had to keep raising my voice and that's how I got a bit of a sore throat.

But I'm okay. I find through the years a lesson that's good for all of us to learn. Like Paul said, when I am weak, then I am strong.

Because we all have a tendency to depend so much on our own ability that God has to sometimes remind us that we're weak. And He makes us weak physically, He makes us weak in speaking, and even in our thinking He makes us weak, the purpose is so that we lean more upon Him. So, please remember this all your life.

God makes you weak in any way. It's in order that we might lean upon Him. In fact, even the great Apostle Paul needed to learn that lesson.

Turn with me to 2 Corinthians in chapter 12. Paul was a man who was actually transported to heaven. It says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 3 and 4, he says, I don't know whether I went there physically or just in my spirit.

He could not explain it, 2 Corinthians 12, 3. But I was caught up into paradise. He was right into God's presence. And you know, the interesting thing about nowadays, if you go to Google and search for people who have gone to heaven, there's such a huge list of them.

Most of them are liars, or I wouldn't say liars. They imagined a dream was reality. If they're Christians, they would at least speak the truth.

But sometimes they confuse dreams with reality. They maybe had a dream and then they talk about it as if they actually went to heaven. Now, I'll tell you from Scripture, and also if you go to Google, they talk about all the things they heard there and what Jesus spoke to them and all that.

Now, I'll tell you how I find whether something is true or not. It'll help you so that you don't get deceived by people. Go by the word of God.

If there's no answer in the word of God to some particular solution, then we have to go to godly people on earth and say, what do you think we should do? But if there's an answer in God's word, then it's to find it there. Okay, here's my question. This guy says that he, or this lady or somebody says they've taken up to heaven and they heard so many things.

You know, there was a story of some young child who spoke like that and some 15, 20 years later when he grew up, he publicly announced that was a lie. My parents told me to tell that lie that I went up to heaven. So there's a lot of fake and don't believe everything that's in the news.

So, I test everything by the word of God. How to know whether a person really went to heaven or not? Okay, here's the test. First of all, Paul says in verse, he says I was caught up to paradise, verse four.

And the other thing I want you to notice is in verse two. I know a man who experienced this 14 years ago. Imagine being taken up to heaven and keeping quiet about it for 14 years.

How would you feel? I mean, if you were taken up to heaven, you'd want everybody to know about it by the evening. And if there is internet, we'd want the whole world to know about it, just to get honor. So this is the first mark I know of a man who's been really taken to heaven.

He'll keep quiet about it. And he's willing to keep quiet about it for 14 years, just lest people think of him more highly than others. It's a tremendous temptation in all of us to exalt ourselves above our fellow believers, to give the impression that I'm some type of favorite of God's.

He's taken up. I mean, that temptation comes to me, because so many people appreciate my preaching. I can fool myself, think I'm some favorite of God.

I am not a favorite of God. I'm a weak human being just like anybody else. Jesus keeps me from falling.

That's all. And Jesus gives me strength to do his service. Otherwise, I'd never be able to do it.

I mean, if he's kept me going for the last 60 years in full-time Christian work, all the glory to him. But this is the test. I compare with scripture.

If a man's really taken up to heaven, he won't talk about it so easily. He'd be quite happy. And even after 14 years, he would never have spoken about it.

But he spoke about it because these Corinthians to whom he wrote, they were despising him. See, because Paul was, I don't know whether you realize, history tells us Paul was four feet, 11 inches tall. He wasn't this great, mighty six foot six man.

Four feet, 11 inches. You know how much that is, less than five feet? He was bald. He had a hooked nose.

He had a speech defect. And he had pus coming out of his eyes, which he had to keep rubbing out all the time. God made him weak, unattractive.

He was not the film star type of preacher like there are many today. Because God did not want people to be attracted to Paul. And Paul himself did not want people to be attracted to him.

You know, we live in a world where we are so conscious of appearance and impression. And Paul was so concerned that he should hide, he said, I must decrease. And he wanted to be hidden so that Christ would be seen.

That's a mark of a man of God. He does not want people to be attracted to him. He does not want to be known or seen or even spoken about.

If Jesus is exalted, that's all that matters to him. Like John the Baptist said, he must increase and I must decrease. If a man is a true man of God, every year of his Christian life, he will long that he will decrease in the eyes of others.

I mean, people may appreciate him naturally if he's a man of God. A lot of people appreciate Paul even after 2,000 years we appreciate him. But he himself had no desire for that.

So that's one of the first things we need to learn in the Christian life. That if you really are a disciple of Jesus, you will have a great longing to decrease in the eyes of others so that Christ alone may be seen. Because what is the biggest hindrance to Christ being seen through us? It's we ourselves.

We sort of come in the front and block Christ. So I'll come back to this. I want to show you a verse in John chapter 10, John's Gospel chapter 10.

He's talking about his being a shepherd and a sheep. Verse 7, John 10 verse 7, truly say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Now verse 8 is what I want you to point out to you.

And in English, there's a double meaning here, and I want you to see that. It's not a complicated English word. All who came before me are thieves and robbers.

But the sheep did not hear them. What does that word before mean? Before can have two meanings. In terms of time, that means people who came in the last 4,000 years before Christ.

And before can also mean in front of. This chap is standing before me. You know, in a line, somebody standing before you means he's in front of you.

So before has got two meanings, in terms of time and in terms of space. So he's saying all those who came before me in terms of time are thieves and robbers, and I also say all those who come before Jesus, that means who project themselves so that Jesus is hidden. He's a thief and a robber.

Anyone, any believer who wants people to see him, he's come in front of Christ. He's a thief and a robber. I've taken it seriously.

If ever I make an effort, or even, anyway, if I avoid it consciously, I'll avoid it unconsciously also. If I want people to be drawn to me, to be attracted to me, to think that I'm a great man of God, and they appreciate me and speak well of me, and I'm always waiting to hear some approval of me or some praise of me. I am a thief and a robber.

Dear brothers and sisters, if you don't hear anything else in this meeting, please hear this. It'll do you a great deal of good. He must increase, and I must decrease, must be the motto of our life.

If you really want to be a man of God, a woman of God, you want to be spiritual, make that your motto. Lord, every day of my life, I want to decrease so that you can increase. So I find myself that when I'm weak, I'm strong.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 12. He says, I know a man, he said, I don't know verse three, whether I was in the body or out of the body. I told you, one mark of a person's really gone to heaven.

He won't even speak about it for 14 years, perhaps, or never. That's what he said in verse two. The second thing, very, very important.

This is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul is writing verse four. I was actually caught up into paradise, and I heard inexpressible words.

What does inexpressible words mean? That means it's very difficult to say what I heard. Something like, if you go into another country where you don't know the language, and you hear a whole lot of people speaking another language, you can't have a clue what's happening. Heaven is something like that.

But even though you can't understand everything, it blesses you. That's what Paul was tremendously blessed by his trip to heaven. But he says the words are inexpressible.

You ask me, what did you hear? I can't say it. It was some language I couldn't understand, but it blessed me. It's an amazing thing about heaven that even if you don't understand, it blesses you because of the spirit of heaven.

That's what he's saying here. And the second thing is, even what I could understand, I am not permitted to say it. Did you read that? I'm not permitted by God to speak about what I heard there.

That is the mark of a man who really went to heaven. Then how do all these people on the internet speak about what they heard and what they, liars. I have no hesitation in saying that because let God be true and every man a liar.

I don't know if you know where that verse is, turn to Romans chapter 3. In Romans chapter 3 it says, verse 4, middle of verse 4, Romans 3, 4. Let God be found true even if every man is a liar. So if God is true, even if everybody on earth is a liar, that's in scripture. So I have a tremendous respect and reverence for God because this is the only book on earth that God wrote and gave for man.

And I spent 60 years, 66 years studying it. And so all these type of questions that come up like going to heaven, somebody heard, I don't get fooled by it because I've got an answer here. So I don't care how many people say on the internet that they went up to heaven and came back and they said this, that, and the other.

I just trash it because I know that the Holy Spirit says that if a person really goes to heaven, he's not permitted to speak it. And what he hears is not able to express it. And even if he could understand it, he's not permitted to speak about it when he comes to earth.

That settles the question for me forever. And I hope that settles the question for you. That's just one example that if you know the word, it has an answer to so many current situations.

So I hope you will keep that in mind. And in this connection, he says in verse seven, because of these fantastic revelations that Paul is having, going up to heaven, and God speak to him, inspired scripture, he wrote so many books of scripture. He was in danger of getting proud.

Let me ask you, brother, sister, do you feel that you are in danger of becoming proud? I mean, you and I don't have the revelations that Paul had. You ask me, Brother Zach, are you in danger of becoming proud sometimes, thinking much about yourself? Absolutely, yes. I have to battle it all the time, but God helps me.

And I know I have battled it. I'll tell you how. I know that I've overcome that by the fact that God gives me grace.

And how do I know I get grace? That I never lose my temper, that I never get irritated with people, that I don't get upset, that I can control my tongue, that I can forgive anybody who does any harm to me. That's grace. I can't do that on my own.

If I get grace, I know God gives his grace only to the humble. I say, Lord, you have protected me. If you're falling into sin, with words, actions, getting upset, getting irritated, my brother, sister, please acknowledge you are a proud person.

God did not give you grace. Face up to it. Young or old, it doesn't matter who you are.

Anger is a sin. And if you get angry, it is equivalent, in God's eyes, to committing murder. You know the commandment, thou shalt not kill? It's one of the commandments in the Old Testament.

Jesus explained it in the New Testament. We turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5, verse 21. Jesus established a new covenant.

We were speaking about new covenant proverbs. Well, here's something about the new covenant. The old covenant was the expounder and explainer of the old covenant was Moses.

The expounder and explainer of the new covenant is Jesus. Okay. How much higher than Moses is Jesus? Five times? Ten times? A hundred times? What do you think? Inexplainable.

Infinite times. Jesus is almighty God. Moses is a created human being.

The difference between Jesus and Moses is the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant. And the old covenant said, verse 21. Matthew 5, verse 21.

You shall not murder. Jesus said, in terms of the new covenant, the equivalent is you shall not get angry. So in the new covenant, if you get angry, it's equivalent to you're killing somebody if you were under the old covenant.

Do you believe that? I believe it. You may not believe it. I'll tell you why.

Because you want to find some excuse for your anger. As long as you're finding excuses for your sin, I can prophesy you will never overcome sin in a hundred years. Never.

Because you're always finding some excuse for it. It's because this happened. Because my wife provoked me.

Because that guy in the office acted like that. Always you are the right person. It's always somebody else who did something wrong.

Brother, sister, repent of that self-justification. One of the greatest sins found among believers. Justifying myself.

You find it all the time between husbands and wives. She was wrong. I mean, I tried my best to be patient with her, but she's like that.

And then she'll say, brother, you don't understand what my husband is like. He's such a tyrant. Okay.

He'll go on like this forever. Until you fall on your face before God and say, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's one of the things I discovered.

I wish somebody had taught me that the day I was converted. But the people who were my leaders in the church I was in did not have victory over sin themselves. How could they teach me? I mean, you can't teach mathematics in the 10th standard if you only studied up to the 1st grade.

How can you teach the 10th grade? So a lot of elders and leaders of churches are in the 1st grade. What can they teach others? Nothing more than 1st grade. CAT is cat and BAT is bat, 2 plus 2 is 4. That's the level of Christianity.

And you can't, I mean, you can't, a 1st grade teacher can't take a book on differential calculus and mathematics. And explain it. They can read it out, but they can't explain it because they haven't done it themselves.

That is how a lot of people are teaching the Bible today. So, take it seriously. I've taken it seriously.

Moses said, you shall not commit murder. Jesus said, you shall not get angry. Okay, one more.

Verse 27. Moses said, you shall not commit adultery. Old covenant.

Jesus said, you must not look at a woman with lust in your heart. New covenant. There are believers, preachers, pastors, who have not followed even what Moses said.

Leave alone try to come to the level of Jesus. This is the pathetic state of Christianity in the world today. In India, in America, in every country in the world.

And the devil's happy when preachers keep everybody at that level. And preacher will get up and say, after all, we all sin. Elders and churches are like that.

After all, we all sin and nobody's perfect. I know nobody's perfect. But if a kindergarten student says to someone who's in the postgraduate, studying a postgraduate degree, and the kindergarten student says, you're not perfect and I'm not perfect.

But that student is way ahead of you. You're in the kindergarten for the last 25 years. He spent his 25 years going up and getting a postgraduate degree.

So, to say that I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, is an easy way of escaping the fact that we're not serious about following Jesus. So, I want to encourage you, my brothers and sisters, to take God's word seriously. Let me come back to 2 Corinthians 12.

2 Corinthians 12, we read Paul saying further, because I was in great danger of becoming proud. We're seven. As I said before, do you feel that you are in danger of becoming proud? Now, if I were to ask you, are you in danger of going and killing somebody? Maybe one or two people here, but I think most of you wouldn't be in the place of wanting to kill someone.

Okay, you're safe there. Are you in danger of becoming proud? Think about it. All of us are.

The number one characteristic of Satan is not murder. He didn't become the devil because he killed another angel. No.

He became the devil because he was proud. I am the head of all the angels. It's like some elders are.

I am the elder in this church. Or I am a great preacher. Could be anything.

Or it could be your education or your good looks. Or your imagined good looks. Whatever it is.

Anything can make you proud. You can look into the mirror and be proud. You can look at the degree certificates hanging on your wall and become proud.

Anything. You can look at your Bible knowledge and be proud. You can finish a sermon and become proud.

It is so close to us. Why do we take a shower regularly? Because dirt is there. Even if you walk very carefully in this world, dirt comes onto your body.

And not only from outside, we perspire. That makes our body dirty. So we are living in a world where we are constantly exposed to dirt.

Coming from inside, coming from outside. Sin is exactly like that. So we need to cleanse ourselves every day.

Say, Lord, show me. Where am I dirty? I am not speaking what I don't preach. What I don't practice.

I seek to live before God's face every day. I begin the day by talking to my Heavenly Father. Saying, Lord, fill me with the Spirit for today.

Help me to honor you. Keep me from sinning today. I can't keep myself.

I am in danger of pride. And what does God do? Paul, the great Apostle says, I was in danger of exalting myself. Is anybody here who thinks he is greater than the Apostle Paul? Or humbler than the Apostle Paul? I am not.

That man, what mighty grace he had to establish churches all over in so many places. To write so many books of Scripture. What a mighty man of God.

Where are we compared to him? And that man is honest and says, I was in danger of becoming proud. Be honest and acknowledge it. And how did God humble him? Not by giving him a sermon.

He humbled him by giving him a sickness. And a sickness which I believe was visible. And called, it was such a bad sickness, he gives two names to it.

In verse 7, 2 Corinthians 12, 7. It was a thorn in my flesh. And it was a messenger of Satan. He calls his sickness a thorn in my flesh.

Which he couldn't take out. And it was a messenger of Satan. That tormented him.

Paul, how bad was your sickness? It tormented me, man. Have you ever had a sickness that torments you? Why does God give it to such a mighty man like Paul? Who was so faithful. You know, Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, and verse 4, I know nothing against myself.

His conscience was so clear, that he could stand, write scripture. This is not just giving a testimony. He's writing scripture.

And in the presence of God, he writes scripture and says, I know nothing against myself. My conscience is absolutely clear. I'm not perfect.

Because there are hidden areas in my life where I may be failing, which I don't know. When I get light on it, I'll overcome. But right now, according to the level of light and understanding I have, I am not aware of any sin in my life.

That was Paul's testimony. And to such a man, God had to give a thorn in the flesh because he was in danger of becoming proud. It was a mark of God's immense love for him.

It's like, you know, somebody gives you a gift in a beautiful box and you open it and inside there's a thorn. That's what I see here. It says here, there was given to me on your birthday.

Somebody comes and give you a beautiful gift in a box that was given to Paul. A gift. And he opens it and it is a thorn.

God only knows how to give wise gifts. What Paul needed was not money. What Paul needed was not a new robe.

What he needed to keep him humble was a thorn. God's gifts are like that. If he loves you, he may give you a thorn.

Humble yourself and accept it. He's given me, I know, thorns in my flesh at different times. And I can say before God, I have thanked him for it.

I said, Lord, those thorns have kept me from becoming proud. Those thorns have kept me from sinning. How will I not thank you for it? I will thank you for all eternity for the thorns you've given me in the flesh.

Paul doesn't specify here. You come and ask me, what is a thorn? Paul never told us what his thorn was. And I'm not going to tell you either.

You read here, try and find out what Paul's thorn was. I can sort of guess from other parts of scripture that his thorn was some problem with his eyes. In Galatians 4, he says, you did not despise me, my appearance.

There was some problem with Paul's eyes. But you were willing to pluck out your eyes and give to me. So that shows me that Paul had some type of defect in his eyes, maybe all his watering or pus coming out, which made him a bit repulsive.

You know, if you see a person with pus coming out of his eyes all the time, always having to rub it, it's a bit obnoxious. Well, so Paul felt bad about it. But he said, these Galatians love me so much that they were willing to pluck out their eyes and give them to me.

So, God has some amazing gifts that he gives to his greatest servants. Now, if you don't get such terrible thorns, maybe you're not one of those greatest servants. But God loves us and he's always wanted to keep us humble.

I believe that the greatest thing God can do for us is to keep us humble. Because there's no limit then to how much he can bless us. If God has not blessed you more, it's because he's seen that you're not humble enough.

God's greatest gifts are in the lowest shelves. It's not in the top shelf. It's in the lowest shelves.

Humble yourself and go down. That's where God's greatest gifts are. And he said, the reason this thorn was given to me, verse 7, was to keep me from exalting myself.

What is the result? Such a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit on Paul that right to the end of his life, he could keep on serving God even when he was in prison, he was serving God and he, amazingly, he supported himself. All through his life, he never received a salary, never was dependent, never depended on anyone for, unlike all today's preachers, Paul was a preacher who never took a salary. You find preachers like that today? Pastors? Paul said in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, and verse 1, be a follower of me.

Be an imitator of me as I am of Christ. I took that very seriously many years ago. When I left my job in the Navy in 1966, which is nearly 60 years ago, I said, I want to do this.

It's a word of scripture. Be followers of me as I am of Christ. And I saw in Paul's life he never took a salary.

He never sent reports about his work in order to get money. He never asked God to provide his need. Yeah, people sometimes gave him gifts, but he didn't look for it.

He didn't expect it. And he never took gifts from people who were poorer than him. And I said, Lord, I want to follow those principles.

And God's amazingly helped me all these 60 years of my full-time Christian work. And God gave me a wife who was willing to live by the same principles. And I can say from my experience that the New Testament teaches it is possible for you to live according to that standard today.

And I want to say, my brothers and sisters, that you and I should be living demonstrations to the world to say it is possible to live according to New Testament standards. It is possible to be free from anger. It is possible to be free from lusting with our eyes after women.

It is possible to be free, listen to this, never to be in debt. 1 Corinthians, sorry, Romans, chapter 13. Here's another principle I've followed all my life.

I'm 86 years old today, nearly 86. And here is a command by the grace of God I took seriously many years ago and God helped me to keep it. Romans 13, verse 8. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.

Is that inspired by the Holy Spirit? I take verses like believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Yeah, that I believe. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.

I take such things seriously. What about this one? Didn't the Holy Spirit inspire this verse? Owe nothing. What does nothing mean? Don't owe anybody more than a thousand dollars.

Is that the meaning of it? Nothing doesn't mean more than a thousand dollars. Nothing means zero. Is it possible to live without ever being in debt? Now I'm not talking about you know, you take a mortgage for a house.

That's not a debt and I'll tell you why. Because I presume it's done like that here and it's done like that in India that if a bank loans you money to buy a house, they keep the document of the house with them. So that if you don't pay up, they'll take the house from you and sell it.

So you're not in debt. You're never in debt if a bank has loaned you money to buy a house and they keep the documents. They say, this house is ours until you pay off your debt.

So you're not in debt. The same if you buy a car and the car is insured, they keep the, if the car is in accident, they cover the cost, but that's why they are willing to pay it and you keep paying insurance for the car. That's not a debt.

Anything that you get a loan from a bank which they keep some type of security, that's not a debt. But when you take money for which there's no security from one another, from somebody, from a friend, from a believer, loan me this. Okay, in an emergency that can happen, you suddenly are in a tight spot, you're in a store and somebody's with you and they want to part with you.

You borrow but then you should pay it back the same day or the latest by the next day. You're not in debt then. Owe nothing to anyone.

Is it possible to live like that? I testify it is. And I've come from a poor country in India. I did not grow up in India as a millionaire.

My father was a poor retired servant in the government. He had a very small pension. And it's possible in a poor country like India.

And I'm not the only one. I know godly people even in a poor country because they discipline themselves. And if you discipline yourselves and especially in the things that you buy for your home, you can live free from debt.

It's a very important thing because I find so many believers credit card debt which they don't pay off every month. If a bank permits you to have a credit card debt, fine. But you should pay it off every month.

And every month you should be able to say I'm free, free from debt, free from debt. Otherwise there's something wrong. There are believers who are careless about this and get into such complicated situations.

And it's a bad testimony for Christ. Can you imagine Jesus going around borrowing, borrowing, borrowing money from different people? If Jesus wouldn't do it, I wouldn't do it either. Do you have that standard? That is true Christianity.

And particularly in the area of money. It's very, very important. Owe nothing to anyone.

Nothing means zero. Except to love one another. There is a debt I owe to everybody and that debt is that God has loved me so much I have to share that love with other people.

Whenever I see any human being I have to see that there's a person I owe a debt. And that debt is the love that God has poured into my heart. Even if he's a total stranger.

Somebody, that's why I have to be kind to everyone on the roads or on the train. I have to be kind to everyone because God's been so immensely good to me. He's put me in debt to that stranger.

I don't know who that person is but God's put me in debt to him. That if he's in need, if I can help him in some way I'm glad to help him and forgive him and not be upset with people. You know in India I've never owned a car on my own at any time.

Not here and not there. And scooters, you know, people don't follow the rules of the road. One thing about India is they're not under the law.

They don't follow any laws on the roadside. They're on the roads. They just go, drive, there are no marked lines of going here or there.

And so there are a lot of collisions particularly if you're on a scooter. And when two people collide the way to find out who is wrong is who shouts loudest. That's the law in India.

So two people collide and one of them will get up and start shouting. He may be 100% in the wrong but he shouts so loud that everybody in the road thinks this other guy did the mistake. It's experienced, it's happened to me also.

Somebody comes and collides with my vehicle and he starts shouting. Now I got, after one or two times I know, I found the rule. The thing that shouts loudest is the one who is right.

Immediately I'd say, I'm sorry sir, please forgive me. Even though it was his fault. I'd immediately say, I'm sorry sir, please forgive me.

And he's so gracious. He says, oh that's okay even though he collided with me. And he's so happy and I'm happy because I don't understand listening to his shouting for the next five minutes.

This is the law in India. If ever you ride a scooter in India please remember this. I know he's made a mistake.

Okay, he made a dent in my scooter. I can go and fix it. But I don't want to stand there yelling against him.

So, I've discovered that I have a debt of love to that person. He's a total stranger. Never seen him before in my life.

He collided with me in my scooter. It was his mistake but I'm in debt. God's poured love in my heart for every human being in the world.

I'm in debt to this man. Do you recognize that as much I must owe nobody anything in terms of cash I must owe love to every single human being. That's God's word.

And if you live by the you just live by this one verse owe nothing to anyone except to love one another your life will be transformed and people will love to be with you and fellowship with you. It's a wonderful word. We were discussing these and it was also one of those things that we need to learn.

See like I said yesterday when you're absolutely secure in the love of God when you know that you're the object of God's love that's what makes us able to forgive others able to love others and stay free from debt. I am the object of God's immense love. That applies to you too.

Big huge letters. God so loved me that he gave me the greatest gift that he could ever give his son not just to be my guide but to die like a criminal on a cross for me. You know whenever I used to go to the streets in India and preach there people would make fun of you and call you the devil and all that.

I experienced all that when I was very young. I used to always think of this thing Lord I'm not ashamed to proclaim Christ to you in the midst of these non-Christians and others who make fun of me because this is what I would say Lord you were not ashamed to hang in just an underwear that's all he had on the cross one underwear. Imagine that.

I mean we'd be ashamed to be he wasn't hanging there for himself. He was hanging there for me and I meditated on that something Lord you were not ashamed to hang on that underwear for my sake so that I would never go to hell. I will not be ashamed to proclaim that you're my savior that you died for me on the cross and I'm willing to proclaim that on the streets of India.

I don't care what they think of me whether they'd call me the devil and all that. That's fine. They call Jesus the devil.

It's a great privilege to be in fellowship with him. So when we are secure in God God loves me so much when I'm secure in God's love and that God's got a plan for my life that's another wonderful thing that before I was born before you were born God made a plan for your life. Psalm 139 has been a great blessing to me.

I read it this particular section many times I want to encourage you. If you don't know it you must know this passage. It's talking about something that happened before I was born.

What happened to me before I was born? Psalm 139 verse 13 to 17 very precious passage meditate on it. Psalm 139 verse 13 to 17 In my mother's womb you formed my inward parts he determined the shape of my face whether the features I should have don't complain when you look in a mirror if you're not as good looking as other people God determined your features before you were born and I say Lord you never made a mistake he determined the color of my skin I don't want to have any other color of skin than the one he determined for me when I was in my mother's womb I'm not longing to have a fairer skin I'm not longing to have a different type of features I'm not longing that I should never be bald if God determined it I accept it and you wove me in my mother's womb and I give thanks to you for that I wish all of us could especially young ladies when you look into a mirror and the devil tells you you should have been like that film star or that other film actress and you say no God wove me in my mother's womb and I give thanks to you for the way can you look into a mirror you young sisters and say Lord you made me wonderfully perfectly I could not have been more good looking than this this is what you made me you gave me the right color of skin the right features I'm deeply thankful and he says when I was made in secret not only my body it says in verse 16 middle in your book means in your mind all the days that were ordained for me before I lay down before I started my first day on earth you know something God had a plan for me before I lived my first day on earth before I came out of my mother's womb there was a plan written for me I believe that that when this guy is about nearly 86 years old he should be in Loveland speaking at a conference I didn't know that I didn't even know that I live up to the age of 86 God had planned it what shall I say to that verse 17 how precious are your thoughts Lord he determined that when I leave the Navy I should leave with zero in my bank account so it happened all my life savings I saved it up and gave it for God's work and I said Lord I'm going to step out of service with zero in my bank account and so when I got married that's how it was Annie and I were so poor we could not afford to rent a house when we got married God's plan he didn't provide us a palace he did not even provide us a house but fortunately my dad and mom they were retired they had a spare room in their house so we decided to stay there we were not on the streets God ensured that God will never allow his children to be on the streets he'll never allow his children to be like the homeless people never in no country in the world in no time even in the poorest country in the world he will never allow one of his children to be like the homeless people on the streets but we must be willing to submit to whatever limitation he gives now a newly married woman she's not looking forward to staying with her father-in-law or mother-in-law definitely not what she looks forward to is all my life as a single girl I've been living with my parents now I'm getting married I'm looking forward to even if it's a little hut that I can be the queen in my home I couldn't afford it because all my life savings are given away for God's work but did we suffer because of that? no, my parents were good to us we survived there three, four years later we could afford to move into a house of our own but I said, Lord, there must be some purpose because this is part of your wonderful plan before I was born you planned it all that when I get married I should not be able to afford a house and I should be able to all the inconvenience of that and years later see, most of my ministry has been among the poorest people in India poor villages where there's no doctor no pharmacy, no nothing and many of them have never even learnt to read or write these are the people among whom we have planted churches from non-Christian religions who have accepted Christ and come to the Lord sometimes persecuted by their relatives but wonderful believers and Lord, the honour God has given me to serve these wonderful people of His and you know they are so poor when I go to minister to them they are so poor that when they get married they cannot rent a house they have to live with their parents ah, now I know why God took me many years ago with the same thing in my life I can be a forerunner for them have you ever read the word forerunner? one who runs in front it says in Hebrews 6 gone ahead of us and each of us, if you want to be a guide or a leader or an elder you have to be a forerunner which means God will lead you don't ask God to make you an elder you really have to be a godly elder He will lead you through circumstances that your people have to face well in advance you have to go through all that so that you can tell this man I've been through that I've been through trials now I see that now God may not call all of you to work among poor type of people so you may not need to have that type of experience but in my case God knew that He was calling me to work among some of the poorest people in India who when they get married they cannot afford to rent ok, I have to train my servant to go through that himself for 4 years then he can be a forerunner for them I said I'm willing you know God will do this for you only if you unconditionally surrender and say Lord I have no conditions I'm prepared to be anything you tell me to be I'm prepared to go through anything you want me to go through I want to be your servant I want to build something that will last for eternity I don't want to just have the honor of being an elder that's garbage I don't want to be known as an elder I always call myself brother Zack that's all I remember once when one college here in the United States some years ago wrote a letter to me dear brother, dear Mr. Poonen we have been so blessed by all your books we have decided the board of this college to give you an honorary doctorate in theology I wrote a letter thank you sir I don't want it that's probably the first letter they got refusing a doctorate I said I never want to be known as Dr. Poonen I want to be Dr. Zack I want to be to the end of my life known as brother Zack because Jesus said in Matthew 23 don't be called rabbi don't be called father like some preachers call themselves father so and so you are all brothers you read that verse? that's the day I decided I will never be called anything other than a brother you see that's a very small thing some people call themselves reverend let them call themselves reverend in the Psalms it says it says about God holy and reverend is his name they are taking that name when a man calls himself a reverend he is taking the name of God I will not take it people say you are being too nitpicking you can call it what you like but I believe in obeying God down to the letter that's what's changed my life and that's what's kept me healthy and strong and in touch with God year by year I would encourage you follow God's word exactly every little thing and never regret it how precious are my thoughts to me so what I want to say is when you are secure in the love of God and you say God doesn't make any mistake in the plans he has made for my life he has planned every little detail of my life and he will know us he will know exactly when to give us something which we need and to withhold something when it needs to be withheld so that we can be an example to others then we will never compete with anybody we will never be envious of somebody who has got something more than us no because God determined how much I should have why should I be envious of him God has determined that he should have more privileges or earn more never never will I be jealous of anyone or compete with anyone or judge anyone that's another proverb ok I also mentioned this yesterday I want to repeat it that one mark of proud people please listen there are many marks of proud people but one mark of a proud person is even he finds it difficult to express appreciation for others even when they see something really good in them they are quick to criticize but very difficult to express appreciation a humble man will be very quick to appreciate something good he sees in others let me give you an example can you find something good in an unbeliever you say boy if I say something good in an unbeliever he will get puffed up let me give you an example of Jesus Matthew chapter 8 this has been a great challenge for me that's why I say that should we appreciate other people or not should we express appreciation or not when Matthew chapter 8 verse 5 Jesus entered Capernaum and a centurion came to him pleading with him Lord my servant is lying paralyzed at home a centurion is like a military captain who's got a hundred people under him centurion he's got a centurion means a hundred people under him and he's a very powerful a Roman centurion was a very influential powerful man and imagine that he's so concerned about his servant his servant is probably a slave the average centurion would say well get out I can't take care of you you're sick go and find someone else I'll find another slave to work in my house but this centurion was not like that his servant was sick paralyzed the average centurion would have thrown him out but this person says I've heard of a man called Jesus who heals the sick let me go and find him where he is ask him to do what to heal his slave and Jesus knows everything you know how the Lord knew everything about anybody who came to him supernaturally and he says Lord verse 6 Lord my servant is paralyzed fearfully tormented please come and heal him and Jesus said I will come and heal him and the centurion says Lord I am not worthy I am still a Jewish preacher I am not worthy really he had revelation of who Jesus was I am not worthy that you should even come under my roof to my house the Pharisees who knew the Bible never could speak like this this Roman he said Lord just speak stand here and speak one word and 20 miles away my servant will be healed immediately what faith and Jesus because he said I will tell you why I say that Lord I am a man under authority I have soldiers under me when I tell a soldier go go he goes he doesn't even wait one second and if you are in the military you know that that's why they train the military in the parade ground left turn if you hesitate five seconds in turning left even one second in turning left that you will never forget I remember in the military they told us 6.30 in the morning is parade and if you come at 6.31 you know what happened they'd ask us to hold a big heavy rifle over our heads and keep running around the parade ground one mile keep on running around till the parade is over you'll never be late again for the rest of your life that's how they taught discipline in the military immediately Lord you tell that sickness to go it will go immediately when I tell another soldier come he comes immediately when I tell the slave to do this do this immediately boy this is how it is in the military and I said Lord that's how I obeyed in the military all the years I was 11 and a half years in the military and that's how I obeyed now Lord when you tell me something what am I going to say I have to obey the Lord just like in the military he said do this do it go I said go and what he was saying is Lord when I tell somebody to go and why did this centurion have such authority over soldiers when he told a soldier to go he'd go because there was one sentence he said in verse 9 I am a man under authority that is why I have authority yes sir I don't wait I drop everything and run yes sir that is why I have authority over the people who work under me this is a spiritual principle do you have elders in your church do you believe he's appointed by God to be an elder in your church do you respect him do you do what he says in church matters I mean he's not there to run your private life but in church matters you respect him you have authority in your life all the years that I was not an elder I was in different different churches for many years of my life before the first CFC church was started I can say before God I always respected my elders in every church I was in when sometimes I've gone through discipline when they misunderstood completely misunderstood me had heard false reports about me and disciplined me unrighteously and made me sit quiet in an assembly once for two and a half years in a church where I spoke regularly every Sunday somebody spread some false report that I had criticized the elder in some way which is completely false and he believed it without checking up with me and I was not permitted to speak for the next two and a half years and the Lord said keep your mouth shut sit there with your wife at the back of that church and if somebody asks you what's happened just don't give any explanation I said okay so I sat there for years in a church where I used to I took special meetings they told me to keep quiet I sat there for two and a half years and the Lord said don't justify yourself and I was like that one day he started CFC that's how CFC began so I see that you know how God sent Moses into the wilderness into the desert into the wilderness for 40 years and says now you're ready he sent Jacob to work under his father-in-law for 20 years he said now you're ready David was anointed by Samuel at the age of 20 to be king does he become the king the next day? No! he has to wander in the deserts and the caves hunted by Saul for 10 years misunderstood threatened at risk of his life then one day God says David now you're ready Joseph he had seen visions of the Sun and the Moon bowing down before him at the age of 17 was he ready to be next to Pharaoh in Egypt? he had to spend 12-13 years in jail misunderstood falsely accused tested will you keep your mouth shut? yes you read that he helped one of those prisoners who was Pharaoh's cupbearer and said yeah Pharaoh will restore you and it happened and he told him please remember me 13 years in jail and that cupbearer forgot another two years Joseph was wondering what happened 13 years in jail God says Joseph now you're ready I'll make you next to Pharaoh the ruler and your name will be remembered for centuries dear brothers and sisters when God takes you through some trial don't blame yourself don't blame anybody else be submissive to the mighty hand of God he's numbered every day of your life in his book obey like the general says go you go he says come you come see what the Lord says about such a man Matthew 8 verse 10 truly I say to you I have never found such great faith in anyone in Israel is it right to express appreciation of somebody if we were there we may say Lord Lord don't say such thing you'll get puffed up unnecessarily the Lord wouldn't care for your advice imagine telling a heathen Roman soldier I've never seen in all of Israel anybody who's got faith like you we human beings are so reluctant to express appreciation oh he may get puffed up Jesus was not so scared as you are where he saw something good in a person he'd appreciate him that's a quality which is very rarely found even among Christians I want to ask you how many of you have expressed appreciation for your wife or your husband we take so much for granted do you say thank you to your wife and she brings you a cup of coffee in the morning I've been married to my wife for 57 years I still say thank you to her when she brings me a cup of coffee in the morning I don't take it for granted oh she's my wife she's my slave rubbish why does she have to make coffee maybe I should bring her a cup of coffee in the morning learn to be grateful brother sister it's a mark of humility learn to appreciate people when you see something good in them don't make this silly excuse it'll puff them up Jesus could tell a heathen I have never seen faith like you have in all of Israel and he was not afraid this chap will get puffed up and go to hell so there are many things you know when you learn little things like in the Bible if you meditate on it you learn something for yourself so proud people never learn to appreciate others if we are humble we will be able to express appreciation of others the proverb new covenant proverb let's pray thank you father for clear guidance you give us in your word concerning so many things as we look at the example of our savior heavenly father thank you for giving us an example help us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus we pray in Jesus name Amen