Zac Poonen emphasizes the necessity of being lifted by the Holy Spirit to truly understand God's Word and experience His fullness. He reflects on Revelation 4:1, where John is called to come up higher, illustrating that earthly distractions prevent us from grasping divine truths. Poonen warns against the dangers of relying on our own understanding and encourages believers to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance to see the throne of God, which provides perspective and strength for the challenges ahead. He stresses that true discipleship requires humility and a willingness to surrender everything to Jesus, who must be the center of our lives. As we enter a new year, Poonen calls for a renewed commitment to making Jesus Lord in every aspect of our lives.

I want to turn to Revelation chapter 4, verse 1. We were looking at Revelation 4.1, the whole of the last four days, and seeing how God called John the Apostle to come up higher from where he was. You know, right from the beginning of Scripture, Genesis chapter 1, we read there are two things, or two factors, let me put it like that, that are absolutely essential in our Christian life if we are to experience all that God wants us to experience. And those two factors are the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Notice here, there was a Word of God saying, come up here, and I will show you many things that you can't see if you're down there. There are many things we can never understand, no matter how clever you are, no matter how many meetings you go to, until you come up higher. You know, you can sit in earthly places, occupied with earthly things, pursuing earthly things, and listen to the most wonderful truths, like we heard in the last week, and it won't make the slightest difference in your life. Have you wondered why many times you have been stirred in a meeting, and you say, boy, I really believe that's going to be a turning point in my life, I'm so sincere. I think many of us have had that experience for the last 10, 15 years, and it's never been a turning point. We're still back down in the gutter of gossip and backbiting and pursuing after so many other things that don't please God. Why is that? Because we are trying to understand these things while we're sitting down here, occupied with earthly things. Look what the Lord says, come up here, and I will show you some things you'll never understand if you're down there. John, you may be suffering for my name's sake, you're a wonderful apostle, you served me for 65 years, you're in the Isle of Patmos because you're being faithful to me, but you still won't understand what I'm trying to tell you. Imagine where we will be. We haven't been apostles for 65 years, and if you're crazy enough to think that you can understand what John couldn't understand living on the earth, we've really got to be pretty conceited. We've got to humble ourselves and say, Lord, if a man like John who had been faithful to you for 65 years couldn't understand anything until he was lifted up high and the Lord had to show him, come here and I will show you something. That's what God says to us. You can understand it in your head, it won't change your life. But if you come up here, then I'll show you something. And I'll tell you, those who allow God to lift them up in their spirit to the heavenly places see things which human eyes have never seen, human ears have never heard, not even entered into the heart of man. The thing, wonderful things God has prepared for those who wait for it. We're missing out on a lot. The way the devil cheats us, not just by robbing us of heaven, a lot of people in the world get robbed of heaven, they go to hell by the devil cheating. Maybe you don't get robbed of heaven. But I think many believers are going to be robbed of a joyful eternity in heaven. Because when they look back over their life, they'll see what a lot of things they missed out on, because they didn't trust God's word. They trusted their own reason. They thought, I think I know how best to take care of my life. They'll discover in eternity that all those who live like that have wasted their life. But he who does the will of God remains forever. So that's the word of God, come up here. And what we have heard in the last few days is God's word challenging us, come up here, come up higher, come up higher. But you know that by itself will not accomplish it. And what's the use of John saying, John hearing, come up here. And then it says the spirit lifted him up. That's the second thing. If you go back to Genesis 1, you see there God's word saying, let there be light. God said, let there be a separation in the heavens, then let the earth come forth, let the trees come forth. There was always God's word. And then right in the beginning it says the spirit of God brewed on the face of the waters. Right in chapter 1, it's the Holy Spirit plus God's word. And I want to tell you, no matter how much you hear God's word, you will never be able to come up there until the spirit lifts you up. Don't ever think you can get there by gritting your teeth, by making a new decision. The Holy Spirit has to lift us up and we have to honor the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's agent on the earth today. That's why the devil has counterfeited so much of the Holy Spirit's work today. So much of counterfeit. I mean, if I saw plenty of counterfeit of some particular currency, you'd know that that's pretty valuable. Have you ever seen a counterfeit one rupee note? I don't think you'll ever see it in your life. Nobody wastes their time counterfeiting one rupee notes. I think even two rupee notes and five rupee notes, people don't waste. I mean, the value of currency is going so low now that even a hundred rupee notes, they don't counterfeit. What do they counterfeit? They counterfeit the really valuable things. So when there's so much of counterfeit, then you know that that's valuable. I remember in one country, I heard that after a war, the way they knew that the value of the currency was going down was there were no more counterfeit notes. It's proof that the value of the currency has really gone down and that's how it is. Why is there so much of counterfeit of the ministry and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Christendom today? Because it's so valuable and the devil knows that. And most people have either fallen for the counterfeit or shied away from the counterfeit so much that they've got nothing. But in the midst of it all, my brothers and sisters, there is something genuine, something that you may have missed in your life, is the mighty supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of God. And he always lifts us up. You never see in the Bible the Holy Spirit throwing it down. That's another counterfeit that we see in Christendom today, people being passed out. Wherever you see the Holy Spirit lifted him up, the Holy Spirit lifted him up. If Jesus saw a man lying paralyzed, he'd lift him up. If Paul saw a man lying paralyzed, he'd lift him up. If Peter saw a man, beautiful gate of the temple, lying down, lift him up. And everything that the Holy Spirit does, the devil is counterfeiting. Put them down. Don't lift him up. People are falling for the counterfeit. The Holy Spirit has come to lift you up, not cast you down to the earth. People say the Roman soldiers fell back when Jesus, I'm not a Roman soldier, and I didn't come to capture Jesus, why should I fall back? I'm a worshiper of God. I'm going to be lifted up to the heavens, like the Spirit lifted Ezekiel, the Spirit lifted John. You must have faith for that. Lord, I'm in the footsteps of these godly men. And the Spirit lifted up, and immediately I was in the Spirit, and the first thing you see when you're in the Spirit is the throne of God. I saw a throne, and the glory of God, and the people, and the 24 elders, and their crowns, and they fall down, and what he sees there, you'll see in the next two chapters, when he's lifted up, before he sees anything about the future, and all that, that comes from chapter 6 onwards, he's got to see the throne. He's got to see the throne, and God sitting on the throne, and people worshipping him, and adoring him, and casting their crowns before him, and saying, thou art worthy, thou alone art worthy, nobody's worthy, you're so occupied with God, and John had to see a vision of that before he can face the terrible things that he sees about what's going to happen in the future. So, as we stand at the threshold of a new year, and we don't know what is going to be in 2008, but I can prophesy one thing, it's going to be worse than 2007, it's not going to be better. There's a verse in scripture, which says, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, I believe this is how it's going to be in 2008, and 2009, in fact, all the way through. I'm not going to go back until the Lord returns, 2 Timothy 3, 13, evil men and deceivers will proceed from bad to worse. Do you hear of terrorists in the world, did you hear of them in 2006, 2007, evil men? What are they going to be in 2008? Worse. Do you hear of a lot of deception and christened them with all types of counterfeits, people swindling others for their money? What's going to happen to those deceivers in 2008? Those deceivers will go from bad to worse, they'll swindle even more people of even more money, and they will deceive them, it says. They will deceive people even more, more Christians will be deceived in 2008, and they will deceive them, and more people will follow after them and be deceived, verse 13. But in the midst of all this deception and things getting worse and worse and worse, there are some who want to live a godly life, and they are described in verse 12. All those, it doesn't matter who they are, there won't be many, there are some in every age who desire to live a godly life, they will be persecuted. And that persecution can take many forms. If you are a peacemaker with the devil, say, Satan, I won't trouble you, I won't trouble your kingdom, I'll just mind my own business and go my way, you'll never be persecuted. But if you are determined to stand against the kingdom of Satan because you belong to Jesus Christ who fought the kingdom of Satan, you'll be persecuted one way or the other. And that's why, before all those terrible things happen, you need the Holy Spirit to lift you up and show you the throne. John needed to see, before he saw the bowls of wrath and the deceivers and the antichrist and all the vision of that in chapter 6 all the way up to chapter 16 and then the counterfeit church Babylon in 17 and 18, before he could, if he had seen all that, he would have got thoroughly discouraged. He'd say, Lord, don't show me anymore. You know why he didn't get discouraged? You know why he couldn't even write it down and speak about it? Because before he saw all that, he saw the throne. He saw the throne. He saw who was in control of the universe. If you haven't seen that, it's better not to know what's going to happen in the future. And you won't be ready to face the future. I'll tell you this, you're not ready to face the future if the Holy Spirit has not shown you the throne of God and see who runs this universe. You know why we have to go and make disciples in all nations? Many years ago, the Lord told me, it's not enough to go and make converts. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, it's Mark 16, it must be coupled with Matthew 28 to 18, go and make disciples of all nations. But it's a thousand times more difficult to make a disciple than to make a convert. That's why people prefer to be evangelists rather than prophets. An evangelist just goes around, comes for a few days, three, four days in a place, lives in a five-star hotel and has his crowds come up, pays all the Indian agents to arrange meetings for him. They are happy because they get their commission. He's happy because he gets his video footing of all the people who raised their hands. And he goes back after four days, back to his comfortable life in some western country and publishes news about how many thousands or millions were saved in India. They're not saved. They just raised their hands. But maybe one or two out of those millions were saved. But they haven't become disciples. And if they haven't become disciples, they get lost all over again. You know, if I believed, please listen carefully, if I really believed that the moment a man said, Lord Jesus, come into my heart, he's saved for eternity, he'll never be lost, I would never wish on making disciples. I say, this guy's saved, forget about him, let's go to the next person. The thing is, that guy can be lost if he doesn't become a disciple. That's what the Bible says. He who endures to the end will be saved. We belong to Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm until the end. These are the scriptures. It's because of that, I believe, that that person has to be made a disciple. And that's why Jesus also said, make them disciples, make them those who follow me, who learn from me, who love me more than they love their parents and their relatives and love me more than they love money and property and their job. You get a person to be like that, he'll be the Lord's forever. But before he said that, he told his disciples in Matthew 28, 18, All authority in heaven and earth is given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples. Many years ago, when I was traveling to a country where you're not even allowed to take a Bible in, you have to take it secretly. I was wondering, what would happen if I get caught there, imprisoned or something? And this verse came to my mind. All authority in heaven and earth is given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples. And if you're going there to do business and make money, I don't know whether you can expect the Lord's protection. But I wasn't going there to make money, not even to receive an offering, and certainly not to do business. I said, Lord, I'm only going to make disciples. I have no other desire. Any place I go on the face of the earth, I only have a desire to make disciples. I'm not even going to see the tourist sites. In fact, all places I go, I say, I'm not interested. I was in Australia, and they said, brother, there's some special type of rocks here that you'd like to see. I said, no, I'd like to see people. I've seen enough rocks in my life. Rocks and buildings. Imagine going somewhere to see rocks and buildings. I said, people. That's what I'm interested in. So, if you go to make disciples, you can be absolutely sure that all authority in heaven and earth is going to support you. And I tell you, I have experienced that. All types of situations. It's a wonderful thing to see the throne first, before you do anything. And I want to encourage all of you, my brothers and sisters, even if you're not called to the ministry I am, you're called to be a disciple of Jesus. You need to see the throne. And who's sitting on the throne, if you want to face the future? And if you keep that vision of the throne in front of you all the time, your life will be a life of rest in God. 366 days of the next year. Yeah, there are 366 days next year. It will be like that for you. God wants his people to live in rest. They may be persecuted, but they'll be in rest. That's why Paul and Silas, when they were locked up in prison, could praise the Lord. It's fine. God is on the throne. I mean, we may be in jail, that's okay. But our Father is on the throne and he controls everything. And there must be a wonderful reason why he kept me in prison. That's because there was a jailer there who needed to be converted. It's almost as though the Lord was saying, I need a jailer to be converted. But who's willing to go to jail to convert him? Would you say, yes, I'm willing? How many of you would be willing to go to jail if there's a jailer there to be converted? I hope so. I hope you're willing. You volunteer, God may take you at your word, I'll tell you that. So be careful. Don't try to act bold before people. Say, Lord, I want to be your witness wherever you go, wherever I go. And Paul was willing. Okay, Paul, I'll send you. Some others may not be willing. Do you know the number of soldiers who were tied up those days to prevent people from escaping? They would put a chain on the prisoner's hand and one chain on a Roman soldier's hand and particularly high-profile prisoners like Paul. So they'd lock up his hand with a handcuff to a Roman soldier and he's got an eight-hour shift. And he's sitting there. Paul can't escape, but the wonderful thing is the Roman soldier can't escape either. So Paul says, have you heard about Jesus? You see, you know after one hour you can go. That guy couldn't go for eight hours. He had to listen. And he heard and heard and heard and heard and heard and he got converted. Okay, Paul, my time's up. Yeah, that's great. Now the next fellow comes along and he's going to be locked up eight hours. It says in the Bible that there were people in Caesar's household who were converted. How in the world did Paul get in there? He couldn't get in there. But through prison he could reach some of those people who were guards in Caesar's palace. I tell you, if you are wholehearted like Paul and you surrender yourself to God with zero conditions Lord, I'm not saying I'll serve you if you don't allow me to suffer like this. I'll serve you no matter what. He will do the most amazing things through your life which is unimaginable. Now if you haven't experienced that till now say, Lord, I'm going to surrender myself to you today with zero conditions. No conditions. If I go to jail, I go to jail. God won't allow anything to happen without his permission. Do you know that ten years ago almost ten years ago, 1998 there were people who, religious people religious Christians who took us to court to take this building away from us. This building. Ten years ago they wanted to take it away from us because we called them a cult. It's a question of who's on the throne. I don't care for this building, I'll tell you honestly. I care for the people. Just like I didn't care for the rocks in Australia I don't care for this building here. It's people. God doesn't care for buildings or rocks. He cares for people. And the church is not a building. The church is people. But if people need a facility to meet in God takes care of that. I believe that all authority in heaven and earth will always be in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why he's told us to go and make disciples. That's why we're not afraid of anybody. Actually, we're not bothered if somebody gets offended with us and leaves our church. I say, go. God bless you. I never run after one person who's left this church. I say, goodbye. Rich young ruler didn't want to follow Jesus Jesus said, goodbye. Somebody said, I've got to go and bury my father before I follow you. Okay, Jesus said, go. He was not, Jesus was not interested in anyone following him who had the slightest hesitation. Who said, I'll follow you, but let me do this. Jesus said, not only do that first, do it for the rest of your life. You don't have to follow me. If you come to Jesus and say, Lord, I want to follow you, but let me do this first. Let me get this done first. The Lord will say, you don't have to come back. Go and do that for the rest of your life. Don't ever say to the Lord, Lord, I'll follow you. But, I have something else which I've got to finish first. I've got to get my children educated first. I've got to get my children married first. I've got to build a house first. The Lord will say, don't come back. Spend your life educating your children and building your house. And I tell you, there are people in CFC who have missed God's best because when they heard me say this 25 years ago, they wouldn't listen. They put other things first. They put the accumulation of wealth first. Yeah. Well, you see the consequences. And the sad thing is, it'll affect you and it'll affect your family. If you honor God, He will honor you. You know the place in the old scriptures in the Old Testament where that verse comes? Those who honor me, I will honor. 1 Samuel Chapter 2 Verse 30 It's easy. 1, 2, 3 1 Samuel 2, 3, 0 Remember it like that. 1, 2, 3, 0 1 Samuel 2 verse 30 But the thing I want you to notice here as we look at that verse is in what context did he say it? It's a very well-known verse but people don't know the context of it. The context is how you brought up your children. That is the context. How did a spiritual leader bring up his children? In this case, Eli. Notice what he says in 1 Samuel 2 verse 30 I actually said that your house and the house of your father will walk before me forever but it's not gonna be like that. Just stop for a moment and think I did make a promise to you but I'm gonna break that promise. Does God break promises? Does God change his mind? He certainly does. Sometimes he threatens judgment and he didn't judge. There were times when I told my children I'll really give you the rod if you do that and then they did it and afterwards they felt repented and I didn't give them the rod. And I said, Lord, is that right? Or should I keep my word? The Lord opened my eyes to see how he threatened Nineveh with punishment but didn't punish them. But they repented. He said, in 40 days I'll destroy the city. They repented. So he didn't destroy the city. He went back on his word because the people changed. The reverse can also happen. Yes, I did say that your house that is your children and the house of your father that is all the way back to Aaron would walk before me forever. You will be my priests, your children will be my priests but now far be it from me. It's like saying that will be a million miles away from me. I'm not gonna do it. Why Lord? Because those who honor me are the ones I'll honor. Those who despise me will be lightly esteemed. And what did you do? Verse 29, the last part. You honored your children more than me. You took the offerings which were meant for me and gave it to your children. Have you done that? Did you promise something to God and then give it to your children? I hope not. That's what Eli did. I'll tell you something, brothers and sisters. He doesn't pay. I'm not trying to frighten anybody. These are laws. God doesn't change laws. You can pray as much as you like but if you jump from the roof of the building God will not change the law of gravity for your sake. These are laws. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. He honors those who honor him. Those who seek his kingdom first and his righteousness will find all the other things added to them. These are laws as sure as the law of gravity. If you understand laws and submit to them, it can go exceptionally well with your life. If you don't understand these laws and you think, no, no, no, I can somehow do things secretly and escape them, you won't escape. It's not possible. The most wonderful thing to do is to live by God's laws. You know how careful we are with the laws of nature? We have to teach our children how to keep themselves from getting sick when it's raining. Don't get your head wet. Rub your head if you got wet in the rain. They don't know that. We teach our children those laws because otherwise they get a cold, they get sick. There are children who got pneumonia and died because they were careless. We teach people, cover yourself in cold weather. These are laws and we are so careful to follow it ourselves. So careful to teach our children. What about these laws which are a million times more important than those? Those who honor me, I will honor. I don't know for how many years I have drilled it into my children's heads. Honor God and he will honor you. My dear brothers and sisters, please drill it into your children's heads from childhood. Yes, they need to study chemistry, physics, mathematics, science and social studies and all that, but they also need to know that they need to honor God from childhood. That's why I keep on telling children honor your father and mother. It will go well with you. Teach them to honor you. It will go well with them. So, these are laws. When the apostle was lifted up by the Holy Spirit up there, it doesn't matter how much bad things get in the days to come. I've seen who's on the throne. I've seen who's got all authority. It's all a question of the whole great controversy in the universe right from the beginning of time. From the time the first angel was created. Heavens and the earth, the angels were created and there was one who was the head of the angels. There was no sin in those days. Think of a world where there was no sin. Everything was bright. No devil. There were no demons. There was no evil. Can't think of a universe like that. It was like that. If a fallen earth is so beautiful sunset and the flowers and the trees can you imagine what this earth will be like when the effects of the fall are removed? It will be unimaginable. The beauty of creation. The beauty of heavens and the earth and the new heaven and the new earth. That's how it was way back there before sin came and then there was a controversy. The head of the angels. What was the controversy? It was not related to money. Today the big controversy is a lot of things in money. But even money, if you go back the real thing is this. The controversy centered around worship. Who is going to be worshipped? The head of the angels which people call Lucifer. We don't know his name. He was the leader of all those millions of angels worshipping God. God didn't need anyone. He is self-sufficient. He doesn't even need people to worship him. But he knew that God's nature is full of love and love one of the wonderful things about love those of you who are mothers and the good fathers know that you don't want to keep everything to yourself. You want to give to your children. A true mother wants to sacrifice give to her children food clothing. You deny buying clothes for yourself so you can get it for your children. Do you know where that love came into your heart mothers? It came from God. God was all there by himself. Father, Son and Holy Spirit self-sufficient. I can't keep this all to myself. I must create beings with whom I can share this. The desire to share the abundance we have is part of God's nature. If you don't have it, you don't have God's nature. That's all I can say. If all that God has done for you you don't want to share it with other people you don't have God's nature no matter how many years you come to CFC. God's nature is this God's done so much. I don't want to keep it to myself. I want to share it with other people. I want to create people. So that I can share it with them. That's how he created the angels. Those angels would get all that God has. They couldn't have his nature that was reserved. But they could have so many other blessings if only they would worship God. That's another law of nature. It's like the law of gravity. You can't change it. The law is that if you put God first everything falls into its proper place. I mean, for example let's take an example from the solar system. If we say no some scientist on earth said we don't want the sun. The sun has been too long the center of the solar system. Let's try and make Saturn or something the center of the solar system and work and work and work. It'll never happen. And if the earth one day decides I've got sick and tired of going around the sun why should the sun be so prominent? I'm going to decide to go around myself. Or I'm going to go around Saturn. Saturn is a good friend of mine. Or Mars. You know what's going to happen to the earth? Everything, every life on this earth will perish. You know that? Why has God said to the earth keep going around the sun? It's for the good of the earth. If it stops going around the sun it'll be the end of the earth and everything's been positioned so perfectly scientists have calculated that if the earth were just a few miles closer to the sun it'd be so hot, nobody would be able to live here. If it was a few miles away from the sun, it'd be so cold everything would be frozen to death. God's positioned it exactly the right distance from the sun so it never gets too hot, never gets too cold that we can live here. These are laws. And from these laws of nature, like scientists say we think God's thoughts after him we discover in nature the wonderful laws God has placed and they are so perfect. In the same way spiritually God has said to all of his creation if you make me the center of your life like the sun is the center of the solar system and everything in your life revolves around me everything will be perfect in your life. Adam and Eve decided no. You know that's basically the symbol of those two trees symbolized one, tree of knowledge of good and evil have the knowledge of good and evil inside in you you don't need God, you become the center of your life tree of life, where God is the center of your life. Which do you want Adam? Adam said, I want to be the center of my life. Go ahead. It'll kill you. You'll die. You'll die spiritually, physically your first son will murder your second one, all types of problems you'll have but that's your choice. And ever since that day whether believer or unbeliever where they've chosen to center their life around themselves it's been confusion. All the problems in your home let me tell you it's not your wife, it's not your husband it's you who are the center of your life. Try and make God the center of your life everything will fall into place your wife may not change but you'll be triumphant you won't be grumbling and complaining against her so much your husband may not change but you'll be triumphant you won't be complaining about him so much I'm amazed that believers in our churches who grumble and complain about so many situations in their home and their work and they think the problem is with their boss oh brother, you don't know what type of wife I have you don't know what type of husband I have as long as you live like that you're just creating more problems for yourself let your husband be like the devil himself or your wife like the devil himself he won't be able to touch you if you've seen the throne and make Jesus Christ Lord of your life and God on the throne and the center of your life every evil that other people try to do to you will work for your good it's true I've experienced that for many years I don't believe there's a human being or demon on earth that can harm me and I say that boldly, I'm not afraid to tell the devil that you can try as much as you like all you demons and devil you can't harm me, I'm sorry I've got someone on the throne of my life try harming me, it won't work it will not work do you have that boldness to tell the devil that or do you have the don't challenge the devil like that he may trouble you you know there are I really believe there are people sitting here like that who say I don't want to challenge the devil is he defeated or not is he defeated or not well Jesus didn't go looking for demons I don't go looking for demons either but if they came across his way he dealt with them, if they come across my way I deal with them we are to go into the future with the spirit of triumph not because of who we are I know one thing you remove the grace of God from me this moment I can be like Hitler or Osama bin Laden can't imagine that I'll be like that you think you're such a sweet person I give the credit to the grace of God 100% I am not like Osama bin Laden because of the grace of God not because I am such a sweet person or because I got up in such a good family some of you think like that and that's why you never grow spiritually you take the credit to yourself you take the credit to your family or good upbringing you keep on doing that you'll never grow spiritually Paul said by the grace of God I am what I am and I say that and I know every moment I'm dependent on that it's like a branch that says cut me off this moment there'll be no more fruit in my life I'll dry up be a withered branch here I know that and if you know that then you're not afraid of the devil you've seen who's on the throne a branch makes the tree the center it never wants to be the center go to any branch in any tree in the world and say do you want to be the center you're crazy I don't want to be the center I'll dry up the tree is the center of my life Jesus said I'm the tree of the branches take that position make him Lord of your life in every area it says in 1 Corinthians 12 I want to read this word to you and apply it to the baptism in the Holy Spirit the fullness of the Holy Spirit which we need all the time and I tell you there's one great need you have for 2008 is to be filled with the Holy Spirit you know I can stand up here and give you a pep talk what are the good resolutions we shall make for 2008 I shall be more humble I shall learn to be more thankful to God I shall learn to be more thankful to other people I shall be more disciplined I shall fast more yes I shall eat less I'll do a little exercise to keep my body fit and not keep on growing fat and fat and fat because I don't want to disobey God's laws I'll never forget something I read in a book on discipline one of the finest books on discipline I've ever read he said there supposing your life is shortened because you went out to preach the Gospel and you were martyred for the sake of Christ you stand before the Lord having lived a very short life on earth because you were martyred for the sake of Christ you'll get a great welcome but if your life is shortened because you ate too much too many fried stuff and too much ghee sweets you couldn't control your appetite because of that your life was shortened by 10-15 years, you stand before the Lord you ask the Lord, why didn't you fulfil all of my purposes? I like ghee sweets so much I just couldn't resist that butter on the table is that why you couldn't fulfil I had another 15-20 years planned for you on earth and you missed out what are you going to answer to God? I've never forgotten that I say Lord I don't want that to be the reason why I didn't fulfil some part of your life let me give up that many of us talk about self-denial our self-denial in 2007 has been pretty close to zero it won't be it won't be different in 2008 I'll tell you this it won't be unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit God is not God it says in 2 Timothy 1-7 God gives us the spirit of power and love and discipline you can't do it I can't do it I may have preached for 42 years I know my mouth will become without words without the Holy Spirit I depend on my experience no like I said that's alright if I'm teaching maths or chemistry and that's alright if I'm a Bible school professor teaching the Bible in some dead useless way but if it's to be anointed word from God it has to be the Holy Spirit everything in life has to be like that 1 Corinthians 12 this is the chapter where you read about by one spirit verse 13 we are baptized by one Holy Spirit we are baptized you know it's almost the only place in the New Testament after the Acts of the Apostles where the baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned I don't know whether you know that after the Acts of the Apostles the baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned in one chapter 1 Corinthians 12 and it says something here in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 3 the last part no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit a couple of things that somebody said during the conference that really came home to my heart because I saw the importance of it that Jesus that Jesus is Lord is the central message Christians need to hear or put in another way like he said the whole story is about Jesus not about you or me we are just a little corner of the painting but the whole painting is Jesus and if you are not willing to be just that little bit of red on his robe or the little bit of black on his hair or the little bit of light brown on his hand if you are not willing to be that you want to become bigger there is only one solution you got to be thrown out of the body but if you are willing to be just that little thing which God has made you in the body oh you can fulfill a glorious purpose the story is about Jesus it's not about you or me the whole of God's story is about Jesus you are happy with that? you will have a wonderful Christian life Jesus is Lord now turn back to Isaiah 6 where Isaiah saw Jesus in the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a throne see that's what happens when the spirit opens a man's eyes the spirit fills a person when a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit what does he say? Jesus is Lord no one can say that I mean you can repeat it as a mantra I don't mean that it comes out of the mouth but to say from the heart Jesus is Lord is quite another thing I think all of us can say Jesus is Lord of the mouth we have probably said it many times we sing it so many times but to say it from the heart is quite another thing it means to say that now there is only one person in the universe that matters to me that's Jesus Isaiah needed to see that vision in the year that king Uzziah died I don't want to go back to the story but you can read it in 2 Chronicles 26 Uzziah became a king when he was 16 years old look around at somebody who was 16 years old 16 year old boy he became king and he reigned for 52 years and he was a very good king in the beginning he had a prophet called Zachariah to guide him and he lived according to that it's all in 2 Chronicles 26 and he did what was right and he pleased the Lord and God helped him mightily what happens when God blesses a person mightily if he's not careful if he doesn't keep the vision of the throne before him gradually his head swells up ah I am somebody that hasn't happened just to the so called healers of today I don't know whether you see these healers with their heads swollen up nowadays or with the men and women who preach on television but it's so rare to find today, I'll tell you this a humble servant of God it is almost impossible I look around and it's so difficult to find one humble servant of God who no matter what God does to him he's just the same old person he was when he was converted be like that but Uzziah wasn't like that he didn't remain when he was 55 same humble person he was when he was 60 are you the same humble person? before we judge Uzziah you ask yourself do you have the same thoughts about yourself as you had the day you came to CFC think back I want you to do a little homework now think back to that day when you first came to this church you were a nobody nobody even knew your name you were in sin messed up you came here God blessed you God blessed your family maybe you were also pathetically poor you had no money you had hardly anything in your bank account God blessed you and it's gone well it's gone well with your family it's gone well with your life and your bank account and your job you got a house now what are your thoughts about yourself then you see same thing happened to Uzziah there was a time when Jesus was everything to you you needed him so much you needed him because you didn't have money you needed help you needed your children to be educated so many things you clung to him but you don't need him so much today right you can relax you're like the earth that's gone out of its orbit you don't need you don't need the sun so much now right that's why darkness has come and death without your knowing it it's what happened to Uzziah it says he got so puffed up that he began to think ah what are these priests God's blessed me you know a king was never supposed to be a priest in the old testament you read there that he went into the temple to do the job of the priest and the priest said don't do that Uzziah I don't care if you're a king I don't care how much God's blessed you you can't go into another person's ministry recognize your boundaries most people I have seen in Christendom have messed up their life because they haven't recognized their boundaries just like Uzziah it's written there in the bible they read it but they don't recognize it applies to them recognize your boundaries and recognize the boundaries God has given to somebody else if God's given another person a circle 10,000 times larger than yours praise the Lord and stick to the circle God's given you don't covet don't judge don't criticize he's a servant of God not your servant I tell you my brothers and sisters if you will just recognize these simple rules that I preached for 30 years your whole life can be really blessed in 2008 recognize your boundaries appreciate those who are in some others sphere Uzziah wouldn't do that and he became a leper immediately he died a leper they had to put him outside he was king but he was a leper then one day he died and Uzziah was the prophet those days and he said boy I think the thoughts that ran through his mind the year that Uzziah died what a man he was and how he ended Lord Uzziah says I'm a young prophet how will it be with me your blessing me will it happen to me also like that by the time I come to the end of my life the Lord said it won't happen to you like that see what I'm going to show you right now and the Lord opened his eyes and he saw a throne the spirit lifted him up that's what John saw John was 95 years old he needed to see the throne even if you are 95 years old you need to see the throne and you will see it when like John you fall at Jesus feet like a dead man the spirit will lift you up and show you Jesus as Lord that's what will bring the power of the Holy Spirit in your life he saw the Lord worship worship I told you worship is the controversy the leader of the angels Lucifer or whatever his name was led the people in worship and he said I don't want this I want some worship for myself as well why should it all go to God why should he be the center why can't I be at least once in a while and he wanted to be like God means he wanted people to worship him you think he's been the last person who wanted people to worship him don't accuse Lucifer before you ask yourself whether you have at times wanted people to admire you have you wanted people to admire you say nice things to you that's exactly what Lucifer wanted why should they only say nice things to God why not say a few nice things to me that's how he became the devil I don't want to be like the devil I don't want to go looking around for people to say nice things about me I don't want it because I know that's the way the devil became the devil don't go around looking for it my brother when Jesus is Lord I'll tell you only one person's opinion will matter to you and that's what the Lord Jesus Christ says about you and if he doesn't think highly of you all the good opinions that other people have about you you can throw it in the trash can it means absolutely nothing when you say Jesus is Lord you say Lord it's only your opinion that matters to me and very often that's the area where the Lord will test people I remember a great servant of God in the last century in the 19th century he was a great preacher if I get it right his name was Samuel Brangle he was a great preacher in Boston in the United States and he was seeking for the baptism in the Holy Spirit he was a preacher already he heard about people like D.L. Moody Charles Finney who were baptized in the Holy Spirit and he knew the power that came in their life and he wanted it himself and he sought God and he surrendered everything everything, everything, everything he thought he had surrendered everything still nothing happened he was sincere the Lord said you want the baptism in the Holy Spirit because you want to become a successful preacher can't get it are you willing to be a failure? then he saw that the purpose that he was seeking was honor for himself he was in the center the Lord was not on the throne Jesus was not Lord Samuel Brangle was Lord he yielded that he was baptized in the Holy Spirit he quit his job as a pastor he went and joined William Booth in the Salvation Army in England and here was a great man pastor from Boston coming and William Booth said your first job will be to polish all the shoes of the Salvation Army soldiers that's your job for the next few years he did it and he became one of the greatest leaders years later in the Salvation Army you know many times I have seen when I hear the testimony of people who are baptized in the Holy Spirit there was something in their life the last step they had to take was to die to something I found it was like that in my life many years ago I was in that church down the street desperate, defeated about 30 years ago and I said Lord I'm sick and tired I better give up the ministry I'm not going to preach and be a hypocrite you got to do something for me and one day the Lord said to me one Sunday morning, it was just a Sunday morning like this the Lord said there was a charismatic leader who had come to preach that day baptism in the Holy Spirit in the church every time he always used to give an invitation at the end of the meeting for those who wanted the baptism in the Holy Spirit the Lord said are you willing to go forward today and stand before that whole church where they heard so many wonderful sermons from you and tell them you are a hypocrite you are living a lie I said yes I don't care for the opinion of any of these people I die I went to the meeting this brother got up and preached I'm just waiting for the invitation meeting and all is secondary to me I'm just waiting for the invitation to go forward I'm going to run forward to be the first person and of all the times in his life he never gave an invitation that day I'm waiting, waiting, waiting he closed the meeting, I'm in I said Lord what's this and the Lord said you laid your Isaac on the altar I saw that I don't want you to kill it these people sitting here are bigger hypocrites than you you don't have to tell them that you are a hypocrite but as far as I'm concerned I've done it you know like Abraham he could say as far as I'm concerned that day that brother came home to me we had lunch together in prayer God baptized me in the Holy Spirit something I died to if you ask Ian what happened to him the next day it's the same thing something he had to die to I remember a brother now don't think that the thing you have to die to will be the same thing, it will be something different I remember a brother who was in the Brethren Assembly in Bombay he realized the need of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and one day the Lord told him you have to get up in the Brethren Assembly where people believe there is no such thing shout I need the baptism in the Holy Spirit so he went to the Brethren Assembly that Sunday morning and you know different people share so he got up and asked the heirs for permission can I share something the Lord has asked me to say they said sure he said the Lord has asked me to shout it ok you know before he went there he said Lord are you going to get me to stand up in the Brethren Assembly and shout out I need the baptism in the Holy Spirit I'll die the Lord said exactly so he got up and he died and he said Lord I need the baptism in the Holy Spirit and sat down and the Lord met with him story of many people I heard this book called they speak in other tongues by John Sherrill who was a respected Anglican he believed that you must sit in church like in a funeral service all quiet respectful he went to this Pentecostal meeting he was hearing different people God was meeting with them and they were speaking in tongues and he went there and everyone was clapping and tapping their feet it was all strange to him I'm not going to do this but after a while he found his feet started tapping and then they all stood up and they raised their hands and he said I'm not going to raise my hands you don't do such things in church and the Lord said you got to die and for you death is raising your hands and he raised his hands and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit immediately or something like that something like these lightning conductors you lift it up and the lightning hits that high thing so I've seen through the years to make Jesus Lord means very often there is something in your life unsettled something in your life where you have not said Jesus is Lord some debt that you are making no effort to repay somebody to whom you need to go and apologize for the way you have hurt them spoken against them you know how most people apologize they don't say anything they just go to that person ah so nice to see you brother or sister that's not apology you have cheated somebody you have hurt his reputation you have spoiled somebody you need to go and say those 10 difficult words I'm sorry it was my fault please forgive me I've spoken against you I've done things against you don't want to do it forget about the baptism in the Holy Spirit you don't want to die you have to make Jesus Lord, when Jesus is Lord you couldn't care less you are willing to humble yourself I remember I said Lord I'm willing to do anything under the sun, I want the power of the Holy Spirit I'll tell you this my brothers and sisters there are people waiting for years to be baptized in the Holy Spirit I'll tell you they can wait another 100 years until you say Jesus is Lord nothing will happen you got to put everything the opinion of men is garbage I'm willing to go and apologize to anybody under the sun I'm willing to say anything right but Jesus is Lord of my life from now on I'll tell you this you can do that, backslide from it one day lose it all over again do you know that there are elder brothers in our churches who were baptized in the Holy Spirit I don't believe they are baptized in the Holy Spirit today they are as boring as the Sahara Desert because they did make Jesus Lord in their life but somewhere along the line they got popped up like Uzziah and it went well with them and you can make out they are not the same they are unwilling to acknowledge an error unwilling to say I'm sorry brother please forgive me sister I'm sorry please forgive me you may need to say that to your children let's humble ourselves and make Jesus Lord let's pray what a wonderful way we can begin the new year making Jesus Lord did you have something once that you have lost now did you have gifts of the Holy Spirit once that you have lost now because you didn't value them anymore you thought your experience and your ability and the respect people have for you is good enough for you shame on you that you leaning on your experience leaning on the respect people have for you dear me how far you have backslidden see from where you have fallen you have left your first love come back today is the day come back make Jesus Lord of your life die die to your reputation and your honor and your name and every wretched thing the devil exalts in your mind say Lord I die Jesus is my Lord in every area Heavenly Father make it real make it real pour out your spirit upon a needy people we are a needy people pour out your spirit and give us a new beginning for the new year we pray in Jesus name