This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding the heart of God when reading the Bible, highlighting the longing and grief God expresses for His people to follow His commandments. It delves into the significance of recognizing God's personal interest in individuals and the need to seek the heart of God in Scripture to find blessings and answers to life's problems. The sermon also addresses the topic of sexual purity, urging young people to guard their hearts and minds, emphasizing the importance of fearing God in the face of temptation.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5. This is, there's a verse here, Deuteronomy 5 verse 29, where God says, Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me. Keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever. There's a word in English which is not translated in the Tamil. That makes a lot of difference. So, if you have an English Bible, you'll see the first word is Oh. That means, we don't use the word Oh in English unless there's a great longing in our hearts. There's a difference between saying, I want my sons to follow the Lord and saying, Oh, I want my sons to follow the Lord. See, that word Oh means a longing and a grief in the heart when they don't do it. It's like parents saying, Oh, I wish my children would study hard so that they can grow up and earn their living soon. Or, Oh, I wish this sick child of mine would be healed soon so that he can be healthy and run around. There are very few places in the Bible where you read God saying, Oh. And there you see the heart of God. See, I have said many times, when you read the Bible, you must try to understand the heart of God. If you don't do that, reading the Bible can be very heavy and boring like studying some chemistry book or something like that. I remember once I was in another conference in Tamil Nadu. And I spoke to the little children. And the little children are more daring than older people to ask questions. So, if I were to ask you, ask questions, you will all keep quiet. But if you ask little children, if you have any questions, they will come up with some questions. One of those children asked me, Uncle Zach, when you read the Bible, do you find it boring sometimes? What do you think I said? I said yes, it is boring sometimes. But I still read it. It is just like sometimes we have to take some medicine which is not very tasty. Which is more tasty, some bitter medicine or chocolate? I will say, yeah, chocolate is definitely more tasty. But when you are sick, particularly if you are sick in your stomach, you eat chocolate, it will become worse. But that bitter medicine will heal you. So, I say, I don't worry whether the food is tasty or sweet. Is it good for my body? So, when I read the scriptures, I say, I am not worried whether it is boring or not boring. See, particularly some places, there are just big list of names, so and so, so and so. What do I get from that? We may say, we get nothing. But there are many places like that in Chronicles, in Matthew, in Luke, where there are big list of names. In Numbers, in one chapter, it gives each tribe how much they offer to God. See, we may say, it is all boring. But if you try to look into the heart of God, God doesn't want to say, hundred people went. He lists the names. Who all went from Babylon to Jerusalem? So many people from this tribe and so many people from this tribe. That shows God's interest, personal interest in different people. And when He makes the list of names, He shows how He is interested in our father, grandfather, everything. It shows God's personal interest. So, even when I read things like that, I say, Oh, I see your heart Lord, that you are interested in so many details about me. But if you read the Bible without trying to see the heart of God, this will be boring. So, I give you one advice. Think of this as a letter from your heavenly father. In everything, there is something you can see of the heart of God there. So, if you see that, you will be blessed. That's the way I try to read the Bible now. You know, yesterday evening I was saying how we can think God's thoughts. Because we have the Holy Spirit. There was a great scientist who said that once. You know, we discover many things in the world. There is a difference between a discovery and an invention. See, a computer, for example, is not a discovery. It is something man-made. But a magnet, that is something you discover in nature. There is a thing which is a magnet. So, there are many things like the law of gravity. We don't invent it. It is there. We discover it. So, this scientist said that what science discovers is thinking God's thoughts after him. I mean, way back when he created the earth, he put certain laws into this earth like gravity and different things. And even when he cursed the earth with sickness, see, he has placed so many minerals and herbs and all in the world to cure these sicknesses. It was there. It was there in Adam's time. But over many years only man is discovering, ah, this herb is good for this sickness. But who put it there? God put it there thousands of years ago. So, in the same way, much more than all these earthly things, God has put many things in scripture. And if you are lazy, you will never discover them. But if you search them and read it and read it and read it, I will tell you something I have discovered from 50 years of studying this book. I have found an answer to every problem I have faced in my life. I am not exaggerating. It is true. What to do when you face any problem? And everything God has commanded, I have discovered is for my good. That's what he says here. I wish, oh means, I wish my people would understand that if they keep my commandments, it will go well with them. You know, a child, a mother is saying, I wish this child will realize this bitter medicine is going to heal it. But you know, a child says, no, give me chocolate. I don't want this. This is all boringness. That's how people say, oh, the Bible is boring. And so that child keeps on getting sick because it won't take the medicine. And because we think, oh, the Bible is boring, I don't read it. When you have a problem in life, you don't know what the answer is. You know, there is an answer to every problem in life in this book. Sometimes when we organize games for young people, there is a game called treasure hunt. Under some bush or under a stone, we will put some small little gift. Small, small gifts here and there. Whoever finds it first can get it. That's a very interesting game. Now, in the same way, there are more important treasures than that in the Bible. Those treasures are maybe one key chain, one chocolate, something like that. But here, there are treasures hidden here and there. And we have to search for it. And if we study this book, there is an answer to all of life's problems. Everything that God has commanded is for our good. If you believed it, it would change your life. One of my greatest longings is this. I wish I could tell all the young people in the world that every command of God in this book is for your good. Not for God's good, for your good. Why did God make all the angels and men? God doesn't need anything. Why did he make Adam? He already had millions of angels to serve him and worship him. Everything that God commanded Adam was for his good. And every commandment in the Bible is for our good. And if you keep it, it will go well with you. There are so many attractive things in the world. They are like poison coated with sugar. There is a little bit of poison put inside a very sweet chocolate. Or a little bit of poison inside some ice cream. That is what an enemy would like to give you. Take this ice cream, I want to give you. And it tastes so nice. Finally you die. Everything the devil gives is like that. There is a saying in one of our Indian languages. The cup the Lord gives us may be bitter but there is no poison in it. The cup the devil gives may be sweet but there is poison in it. So if you only go by the external taste, you will be deceived. So if you only go by the external taste, you will be deceived. See when you are a young person, one of the strong forces that drive you is sex. And lot of preachers don't speak about it. When I was a young person, I was like you. Every human being has a tremendous drive for sex when they become young. And in all the churches I went to as a young man, nobody spoke on that subject. They thought oh that is all for cinemas. It is not for cinemas. They do it in a wrong way. See it is like God put some tremendous power in a little thing called an atom. You have heard about the atom bomb. With that one breaking one atom, one whole city can be destroyed. If they drop an atom bomb on Thoothukudi, the whole of Thoothukudi will be destroyed. Everybody will die. At the same time if you channel that energy into electricity, the whole of Thoothukudi can get electricity. And that is what some parts of India they do that. So if we discover that, we can use it for good or bad. Now if sex was created by the devil, then we have to say it must be a bad thing. But the devil cannot create anything. He takes what God has created and spoils it. So we must remember the Bible says sex is created by God. Before sin came, God told Adam and Eve, I know that when I speak about sex, everybody will pay good attention. Even the older people. So please listen carefully. See what God said before sin came. Genesis chapter 1, when God created Adam, how did he bless them? The first words. Genesis 1.28. Be fruitful and multiply. That means you must have children. That is the first thing he told Adam and Eve. How are they going to have children just by shaking hands? God had made a way by which they are to have children and that was through sexual relationship. So he was telling them, you are husband and wife now, you must have sex together and have children. It is God who said that. God only speaks holy things. It is a very holy thing. But like the devil has taught people to use the atom to kill people, the devil has perverted this God given gift of sex into all types of evil things. So many women sell their bodies for sex and so many evil men kidnap little girls and use them for sex. So many young men get into bad habits in this area and destroy their body. You have to be very careful. Remember this is a holy gift God has given to be used only in marriage. It is a very good thing in marriage. But a very bad thing outside of marriage. So you must be very careful when you are young. Because you know once you are 14-15 years old, you find an attraction towards the opposite sex. That is natural. If you have studied physics, you have seen a magnet with north pole and south pole. They attract each other. I remember when I used to be in the physics lab in school, I used to take these two magnets and I would see how close can I bring it without making it touch. I want to keep it from touching very close. Every time it will suddenly touch. It is very difficult to keep it like that for some time. If you relax for a moment, it touches. Men and women are like that. You have to be very careful. If you keep those magnets at a distance, no danger. You can hold it for years like that. But if you keep it very close, you can't even hold it there for a few seconds. That is a parable. When you are young, be very careful that you don't get too close to somebody of the opposite sex. You may say, I have self-control. I really wanted to keep those magnets apart, but I couldn't do it. However much self-control you have, you will sin. I will tell you that. But if you keep a little distance, even for years you will not sin. When you go to a computer, there are sites that tempt you. Come and see here. It is just a site. If you click there, you will go to some dirty pictures. I have never been there, but I presume it must be something to stimulate your sexual drive. In all my life, I have never gone to one of those sites. I will tell you why. Because once I get some dirt into my mind, it is very difficult to get it out. If you get dirt on your hands, you can wash it away. If you get dirt in a vessel, you can wash it away. But remember this. If you get dirt into your mind, you can never wash it away in 50 years. My mind is like a pipe through which God wants to send his pure water. If I dirty that pipe with filthy pictures and all that, the water you get will be dirty. So, if you want God to use you, that should be your greatest longing in life. God, I want you to use me. I had that desire when I was 21 years old. And I made my mistakes many times. Particularly in the early years when nobody taught me about victory over sin. But one day God showed me how I can have a life of victory over sin. When I was about 35 and a half years old, then my life changed completely. Before that, I only knew how to sin, ask God to forgive me, sin, ask God to forgive me, sin, ask God to forgive me. Before that, I only knew how to sin, ask God to forgive me, sin, ask God to forgive me, sin, ask God to forgive me. I only knew how to get angry, ask God to forgive me. I only knew how to get thirsty, ask God to forgive me. I only knew how to lie, ask God to forgive me. We all have done that. But there is a better life where I finish with all that. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, I can keep my heart pure. See, purity is like health. How many of you like to be sick? Even small sickness? How many of you like to have a headache? Not every day. Can you say, I like to have a headache at least once a month? I don't want to have a headache even once a year. I don't want to have a stomach ache even once in my life. Who likes sickness? Nobody. Do you know that sin is worse than sickness? So, in the sexual area, we have to be very careful. All those dirty pictures of women they have there, just think that that is your sister. Would you like your sister to take off her clothes and stand like that? Would you like your mother to stand like that? If you don't want your sister to stand like that, remember that person is somebody's sister. If you are a Christian, you say, Lord, I don't want anybody's sister or daughter to stand like that. I don't want my sister or daughter to stand like that. Maybe they are poor. They have no way to get money. So, they are making money like that. But even if my sister is poor, I don't want her to make money like that. So, we must never feed the devil by going to all these, seeing all these pictures. That is why these movies are also so bad. Even when you see a cricket match sometimes, in the middle they will show you some advertisement of some woman dressed improperly. It's alright to watch a cricket match. But be careful about all those advertisements. The devil is so eager to capture your mind. If he gets your mind, he knows, I put some poison into his mind, now I will destroy it. So, keep your sexual desire under control. You know, many of us in India can get married only after we are 26, 27 years old, sometimes 30 years old. Because we have to earn our living and we have to sometimes help in the home and earn enough to be able to start a house. So, supposing you can get married only when you are 28. I once asked the Lord, I said, why this sexual desire starts in a boy when he is 12, 13 years old. Why didn't you wait till it started only when he is 26 or something. Till 26 years old, all boys and girls are just like little children. That would have been wonderful. Then in 26 years old or something, the desire comes up and they can get married immediately. But if they get that desire when they are 12 or 13 years old, and now with all the movies, I think some people get it when they are 10 years old. They have to wait 15, 20 years before they can fulfill it in marriage. Lord, why you made people struggle like this for 15 years? And this is the answer I got. You know, the first time, the first time in the Bible, where the word, the fear of God comes. You know where it is? You know, the fear of God is a phrase that comes many times in the Bible. But do you know the first time it comes in the Bible? I am almost certain that most of you don't know. But today you will know it. I will show it to you. It's not in Genesis 22, where God told Abraham, now I know that you fear me. That is where the first time God gives a certificate to a man, you fear me. That is in Genesis 22 and verse 12. When he gave up everything to God, when he gave Isaac, he gave everything. That's like giving all our desires to God and saying, Lord, I want to give it all to you. But the phrase, fear of God comes before that. That is in Genesis 20. And this is the story where Abraham went into one place called Gerar in verse 1. And even though his wife was about 80 years old, she was a very good looking lady. Actually, she was nearly 90. Now, if you see a 90 year old woman, you can't imagine anybody is going to be tempted by her. Those days, people lived up to 200 and all. So, even though Sarah was 90 years old, she looked like a 20 year old girl. So, Abraham is going around with his 90 year old wife. He says, she is so good looking that somebody will take her and kill me. So, Abraham did a very selfish thing. He said, if I say she is my wife, they will kill me and take her. So, I will say she is my sister. Was he so stupid? If you say sister, nobody will take her? They will say, ah, then we can definitely take her. But he thought, my life will be spared. See, how selfish a husband can be. Never mind if they take her and rape her, let my life be spared. He is a great man of God. Abraham, he also makes some stupid mistakes. So, what happened? He went there. He said in verse 2, she is my sister. Abimelech said, oh, your sister? I can take her as my wife. But you know, I like verse 3 where it says, God cared for his servant even when he made a mistake. Because Abraham had already made some wonderful choices in his life for God. He had left his country, he had left his relatives, he had done so many things for the Lord. He never fought with the Lord for property. But he made one mistake. You know, God understands. If you have given up everything for God and made one mistake, God will still stand by you. He stood by Abraham. God came in a dream to Abimelech that night. And said, you have taken somebody else's wife, return her. And the king began to tremble. So, he called Abraham in the morning and said, why have you done this, verse 9? Why didn't you say this to your sister? And Abraham said, because I thought, verse 11, there is no fear of God in this place and they will kill me because of my wife. Why would they kill him? Because they wanted to have sex with his wife. So, notice the first time the phrase fear of God comes in the Bible is in relation to sexual sin. First time in the Bible, the fear of God is connected with sexual sin. They will kill me so that they can have sex with my wife. Why? Because they have no fear of God. And that's what the Lord told him. Through sexual desire, I test people to see whether they fear me or not. Because almost all people commit their sexual sins in darkness. In private, where nobody can see. In their thoughts or in some private rooms. That's where almost everybody commits sexual sins. And in that room, it will be just the man and the woman. Sometimes they commit sexual sin alone also. Nobody else is in the room. Except God. God is everywhere. Now, if a man is there, he will not commit that sexual sin. He said, no, no, no, we can't do that. This man is here. We have to wait till he goes away. But when he goes away, and you think there is nobody else in the room now. But God is there. And he is watching everything. And the angels are watching. Do you know how many hundreds of angels are in the room watching you? Do you know how many hundreds of demons are watching you? If you recognize that, you will not commit sexual sins. But you say, now only God is here. Nobody else. God, I don't care for him. And you sin. What do you prove thereby? If a man is there, you are afraid of him. God is there, you don't care for him. But another person, like Joseph, you read in Genesis 39, he was alone in one room. And his master's wife saw this, Joseph is a handsome man. He said, come, Genesis 39, come, let's have verse 7, come and sleep with me. And what is Joseph's reply? He didn't look around and see, oh, nobody is here, then we can do something. He said, no, verse 8. And what is the reason? The last part of verse 9. How can I sin against God and do this great evil? He is not worried whether people are looking or not. He was a young 20 year old man. Young 20 year old man with a lot of passions in his body. And this attractive woman is calling him. And what does he say? Sister, God is also here. It's not only you and me in this room. You don't see this God, but I see this God here. I see this God standing between me and you. I have to push him aside and come to you. I cannot do that. How can I sin against God? And it says here, verse 10, day after day, he said, come, come, come, she said. But always Joseph would say, God is here. God is here. You say that and you will not sin. Whenever you are tempted to sin, you say, if a man was here, I would not sin. But no man is here. God is here. And everyday Joseph would run away. And God from heaven was watching that young 20 year old man. God was so happy. At last I found a man whom I can use on this earth. Do you make God happy or do you make him sad? Never mind the past. Ok, you have made so many mistakes in the past. We have all made so many mistakes in the past. Say, Lord forgive me. Some have done less things, some have done more things. But even if you are like Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, demon possessed, God can cleanse you so thoroughly that you become pure and holy. That is why God chose Mary Magdalene to be the first person to see Jesus after he rose from the dead. See, when Jesus rose from the dead, that was the greatest event that took place on this earth. In the whole universe, the greatest event that took place was not even the death of Christ but the resurrection of Christ. Many people have died. Many people have been crucified like the thieves. But only one rose from the dead. Never to die again. And who was the first person to see that? Not Peter or John. Not even his mother Mary. Who was the first person to see Jesus risen from the dead? Who was the first preacher who went and said to people, Jesus is risen? It was not a man. It was a woman. It was not an ordinary woman. It was a very sinful woman. It was a woman who was demon possessed with seven demons inside her. Why did God choose her? You and I would not have chosen such a woman to be the first preacher of the resurrection. Because God knew that in the world people despise women. They knew that even in the church they will despise women. And like in India, oh, they say a girl baby. Oh, how sad. God knew that. And he said, okay, I am going to make a woman glorious. And not a holy woman, a sinful woman. God cleansed her sins and made her as pure as any of the angels in heaven. That is a great encouragement for all of us. That even if you have been the most sinful person in the world, if you come to Jesus and say, Lord, I am sorry I made so many wrong decisions in my life. I am very sorry for what I did. I don't blame anybody else. I was foolish. I did some wrong things. Please forgive me. Cleanse me in the blood of Jesus. God will make you as pure as a newborn baby. Isn't that wonderful? You know there is a verse in 1 John chapter 3 which reads like this. There are two reasons why the son of God was manifested. Verse 5. He was manifested to take away our sins. Number 1. Forgive all our sins. Number 2. Verse 8. He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. There are two things in us. Sin and the works of the devil which the devil has done in us. He has come to take away our sin, cleanse us and destroy the works of the devil. So the Lord, the correct translation of that word is to undo the knots that the devil has tied in our life. I get this picture when I read this verse. When we are born like a newborn baby, God gives each of us a nice ball of thread, very nicely wound up. Or you see this sewing machine thread in rolls. It's so beautifully rolled up. You pull it out, it comes out so easily. Because it's tied up so neatly. No knots, nothing. That's how we are when we are born. But from almost one year onwards, we start sinning. We tie knots. Every sin is like a knot. One knot on top of the other, on top of the other. There are so many knots now. By the time you are even 16, 17 years old, it's no longer this beautiful roll of thread. It is one crore knots. Sometimes about 50 knots on top of each other. And all tight, tight. How to open this? You look at this mess that you have made of this beautiful roll of thread. Somebody asks you, can you make this a roll of thread again? Impossible. Then Jesus comes along and says, I will do it. I will untie all the knots that the devil made in your life. I will make you a new person. And I will give you that ball of thread again. That roll of thread. Just like when you were born. That should make us so happy. I made such a mess of my life and the Lord straightened it all out. That is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter whether there are 10 knots or 10 crore knots. Whether you are a small sinner or a big sinner, you come and give your life to Christ. He will take away your sin and undo all the knots the devil tied in your life. I praise God for the gospel. This is the gospel. Not only that he will forgive my sin, that itself is good news. But more than that, he will untie all the mess I made in my life and start using me again like a free thread in that roll. And you look at this roll and say, hey, nobody has ever tied a knot in this. It is so clean and straight. And you say, it wasn't like this before Jesus found me. It was a mess, but Jesus found me and straightened it all out. I thank God for that in my life. He made me a clean roll of thread again. And now, sometimes we again tie a knot. Will the Lord untie it? Yes or no? Yes. But one bit of advice. Is it easier to untie one knot or after you have tied up 50 knots in the same place? So as soon as you made one mistake, go to Jesus immediately. Lord, I am sorry I did it again. Please open it out for me. It can be done quickly. So don't wait. If you fall, go to Jesus immediately. Say, Lord, I fell again. And after a few years, maybe 5 years, 10 years, you will come to a life where you don't get angry. You don't get anxious. You don't grumble and complain. And you can look at a girl with pure eyes and say, that's my sister. I don't think anything impure about her. Or some badly dressed woman walks down the street. You say, Lord, you created that woman to be a child of God. But she has given herself to the devil. Please save her soul. Help her to repent. Help her to be a holy, pure woman for you. You pray like that, you will never be able to lust after her again. That's what one young man did. Whenever he was tempted with some good looking girl who was walking down, he would pray for her. Oh Lord, I want her to be saved. I want her to be born again. I want her to repent of her sins. I want her to be a child of God. And he said, after praying like that, he can never lust for her. Isn't that good? That we can turn a temptation into a prayer. There is a way of escape in every temptation. And when your sister is tempted to be attracted to some man, be careful. You must be the one who pulls back. You know, in a scooter, there is an accelerator. It moves at a full speed. In the foot, there is a brake. Or in the moped, there is a brake like that. Now I will tell you something, you girls. The boy's hand is always on the accelerator. When they come near you, they want to come very fast. Your hand must always be on the brake. Your foot must be on the brake. No. You keep that in mind, both of you will be safe. But it is the girl's responsibility to put the brake. Boys are not interested in putting the brake. There is only accelerator. That's because they are boys. All boys' hand is on the accelerator. They go and kill themselves. Sex also is the same thing. You girls must put your foot on the brake and say no. So that way you will be safe and you will have a very happy marriage one day. And to you boys, I would say, please slow down your driving. Lord, bring it down. Zero. You also put your foot on the brake a little bit. Heavenly Father, I pray you will help these young men and women to become godly people. Help them to live for the glory of God. Help them to please you in their life. And protect them from all the evil the devil has surrounded them with. We humbly ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Copyright © 2021 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent.