In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of obedience to God in the face of deception. He highlights that knowledge alone will not help us stand in times of great deception, but rather it is our obedience to God's will that will keep us unshaken. The speaker refers to Matthew 5, 6, and 7, known as the Sermon on the Mount, as a guide for obedience. He also discusses the two types of believers in the last days, drawing parallels to the days of Noah. The sermon concludes with a reminder to follow the golden rule of treating others as we would like to be treated and to place our confidence in God's unshakable kingdom.

For many years, many hundreds of years, Christians have looked forward to the return of our Saviour. And Peter says that as we approach the end, many people are going to mock and say, where is the promise of His coming? But it's because God is long-suffering and He doesn't want anybody to perish, that He waits. Let me read that to you in 2nd Peter, in chapter 3, and verse 3. First of all, you need to know that in the last days, there are going to be mockers. And they are going to follow after their own lusts. It's when a person wants to live after his lusts, that he mocks the things of God. And they say, where is the promise of His coming? For since our fathers, our ancestors fell asleep, everything continues just as in the beginning of creation. But it says further down that the reason, verse 9, the Lord is not slow concerning His promise, but is patient toward you. He is not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. We are living in those days, you know. There have always been earthquakes and wars, and maybe not as many as in these days. But those of us who are living in humility, in repentance, and in the fear of God, would sense that it can't be long before Christ comes again. Because so many things that are happening, I mean, if they continue at that rate, all mankind will perish. So, I believe that we as believers need to understand how the Lord wants us to live in this time. It says here, the Lord wants, verse 9, all to come to repentance. Repentance is what the Lord is looking for in the last days. And repentance is going to be the thing that's missing in most preaching in the last days. So, it would be very easy to identify those who are in touch with Him, those who are aligned with the mind of God, by just seeing one thing. Is there preaching on repentance, on turning from sin, on leading people to a really holy life? If that's not there, then, personally, I'm not interested in listening to any preacher. And thereby, I protect myself from deception. In Matthew 24, when Jesus was asked by His disciples about His second coming, they asked Him a number of things. And one of the things was, first of all, they asked Him, He said in verse 1 and 2 that all these stones that are in this temple will be torn down. And they asked Him, when is that going to happen? Then they asked Him, what's the sign of Your coming? And what's the sign of the end of the age? And He answered all those three questions in one. A number of things He spoke there related to the time when the temple would be destroyed, about 40 years after He spoke. And some of the other things He mentioned were the answer to the other two questions, which is, what is the sign of Your coming and the end of the age? And it's very interesting that the Lord said, first of all, see to it that no one misleads you. Verse 4, For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many. Before He spoke of wars and earthquakes and other things like that, He spoke about deception. So I see the primary indication of the second coming of Christ is not wars, is not earthquakes, is not tsunami waves. They'll all be there. But the first thing Jesus said was deception. And if I see an increase of wars and earthquakes and seas roaring, that to me is not the primary sign. The primary sign is going to be an increase of deception. And deception means, you know how deception is, you know what a counterfeit note is? A 500 rupee note that looks exactly like the original, that's what the meaning of counterfeit. Something that looks vastly different from the original is not going to fool even a young child. It's something which looks so much like the original. So I can expect that as we approach the end of time, we're going to have many versions of Christianity preached, which look so much like the original. And Jesus said that. See to it that no one misleads you. And verse 11, again, it's almost as though He emphasizes that. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. When Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 and 7, and He gave those instructions, at the end of which He said, that if you listen to these words of mine, and obey them, Matthew 7, 24, you'll be like a wise man who built your house on a rock that will never, never be shaken. Nothing can shake you. I'll tell you that. Nobody can deceive you, if you obey what you read in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. Beginning with blessed are the poor in spirit, which means having a great sense of your own need, and not being occupied with the needs of other people around you. And all those other things, I don't know how many of you take those chapters seriously and read them frequently. I read them frequently because of one reason. Because I know that if I obey these things, I will be on a solid rock, and nothing will shake me in time or in eternity. Why is that important? Because the Bible says in Hebrews 12, that God is going to shake all things. Heaven and earth are going to be shaken, and only the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Do you know that verse? It's in Hebrews 12. It's good to know scripture. I believe that those who know the scriptures, and obey them will stand in the last days. It says, those who know their God will be strong in the last days. In Hebrews 12, It says, there's going to be a shaking. Hebrews 12 verse 26, His voice at that time shook the earth, but now He's promised to shake not only earth, but heaven. And verse 27, Yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. If you place your confidence in created things, what does it say there? Created things are going to be shaken. Money is a created thing. You place your confidence in that, you'll be shaken. Human beings are created things, and if you place confidence in man, you'll be shaken. Everything we see in the earth around us is created. And the more we place confidence in any of those things, in a system, in an organization, in anything human, it will be shaken. But the things which cannot be shaken will remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let's show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. So, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and that takes me back to Matthew 7, where we read of that house that cannot be shaken. And there Jesus spoke about a number of things in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. I want to tell all of you, my dear brothers and sisters, if you want to be ready for the coming of Christ, I would urge you to read Matthew 5, 6 and 7. I can give you a written guarantee, you will be ready when He comes. I don't know when He's coming, but you'll be ready. I don't need to know when He's coming, but you'll be ready. You know some of the things He spoke there in Matthew 5, 6 and 7? He spoke about purity of heart, and He spoke about mourning for sin, He spoke about standing up for righteousness and being persecuted for that, He spoke about standing up for His name, not being ashamed of the name of Jesus, being persecuted for that, He spoke about overcoming anger, He spoke about overcoming the lust of the eyes, He spoke about always speaking the truth, your yes must be yes and your no must be no, He spoke about loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, never having a bitterness in our heart against anybody, no matter what they do, He spoke about seeking to be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect, He spoke about giving to the poor and to God's work, and never letting anybody know about it, the important thing is not what you give or whether you give, but don't let anybody know, the things you sacrifice for the Lord, the things you do, keep it secret, He talked about praying in secret, so that nobody knows what you're praying, He talked about fasting in secret, you want to have a house built on a rock, fast in secret, pray in secret, give in secret, and He spoke about not loving money, it's all in Matthew 5, 6 and 7, He said you can't serve two masters, you got to serve God or money, one of the two, and you got to make a choice, if you serve money, you'll build on sand, if you serve God, you'll build on the rock, He spoke about not being anxious, but trusting God, spoke about faith in God for material things, not to become rich, like we hear a lot of people preaching today, He spoke about basic food and clothing, not luxuries, He taught us to pray, give us this day, not our daily ice cream, but our daily bread, and we need to understand that, and because there's another gospel being preached, which will lead you astray, stick to Matthew 5, 6 and 7, and you'll never go astray, He spoke about not judging other people, we've heard that for years, mind your own business, let other people do what they like, and if you can help them, help them, bless them, but don't judge them, don't judge them, we're not called to judge anybody, we're not called to judge according to the outward appearance, leave it to God, He can do His job of judging people, without your help, without my help, because judging often makes us accusers, and the moment we begin to accuse, from judgment is a very short step to accusing, and the moment you start accusing, the devil's got your hand and says, thank you, let's fellowship together, in accusing that person, you ask yourself, hasn't that been true, that whomever you have judged, you've gradually begun to accuse, and without realizing, you've begun to hold hands with Satan, then your house begins to shake, decide that you will not judge, you will not judge, I tell you my own testimony, my younger days, I was foolish, nobody taught me these things, you folks are so lucky, that you hear some of these things, I wish somebody had got a hold of me, when I was converted in 19, and said, Zack, don't judge people, leave them alone, I wish somebody whom I respected, had told me, read Matthew 5, 6 and 7, build your house on the rock, I think I'd have started much earlier, but I think I began to take all these things seriously, only when I was about 35, that's when we started building CFC, that's really when my Christian life began to take, began to be serious, I mean I was a Christian long before that, but some of these little little things, it's the little things, that destroy us, the little foxes destroy the vines, so, if you take these things seriously, I believe we can be protected, now at the end of all this wonderful teaching, do you know what Jesus said? In Matthew 7, verse 13, He said, this is a narrow gate, who said it was going to be easy? It's a narrow gate, which you can go only one at a time, you can't take your wife through, you can't take your children through, however much you'd like to, you have to go one at a time, and tell them, follow me, they have to make a choice, whether they want to go through this narrow gate, and not only narrow gate, the way itself is narrow, see in front of the narrow gate, verse 13, 14, there's a way that's narrow, all the way to the throne of God, it's narrow, so when anyone shows me a broad way, I know that's not leading to God's throne, it's not leading to life, and then, the next thing He said, in relation to the Sermon on the Mount, is, beware of false prophets, it's amazing, how many times Jesus said that, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, He said, beware of false prophets, in relation to the last days, He said, beware of false prophets, and one of the things, you've heard me stress many times, in relation to the study of the scriptures is, always read scripture in its context, in its context, and when you read about false prophets in Matthew 24, you say, yeah, the context there is the second coming of Christ, there are going to be many false prophets, before the second coming of Christ, counterfeiters, who preach another gospel, and then, when we read about false prophets, in relation to the Sermon on the Mount, what does that teach us? That teaches us, there are people who are going to, teach us something different, from what is written on the Sermon on the Mount, what's the meaning of that straight, and the narrow gate, and the narrow way that Jesus speaks, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and then false prophets, you put it all in context, and this is how I understand it, here is this wonderful teaching, that starts with, blessed are the poor in spirit, and ends with, verse 12, in everything, here is the simple rule of thumb, whatever you want people to do for you, do it for them, see that's how the Sermon on the Mount ends, the rest is all a conclusion, it starts with, blessed are the poor in spirit, and ends with, whatever you want people to do for you, grab the initiative, and do it for them, in other words, treat other people, exactly like, you want other people to treat you, do you want people to speak evil about you, behind your back, no, don't speak evil of others, behind their back, do you want people to gossip about you, no, please don't gossip about other people, how many Christians do you think are following this simple rule, it's a simple rule Jesus said, supposed to be the golden rule, treat people the same way, you want them to treat you, for he said, this is the entire message of the Bible, when you read the word, the law and the prophets, like in verse 12, that is an expression, for which today we use the word, the Bible, the word Bible, it's not an English word, it's a word from another language, it just means book, and in Jesus' day, instead of saying Bible, he said the law and the prophets, and that was all they had in the Bible in those days, the law, given by Moses, Genesis to Deuteronomy, and the prophets, all the way to Malachi, that's what he called the Bible, and so what Jesus is saying in verse 12, the whole Bible teaches one thing, treat other people, the way you want them to treat you, my brothers and sisters, if you just take that one verse, you'll have plenty to repent of, the rest of this year, I don't know how many of you will take it seriously, but if you just take that one verse, you'll have plenty to repent of, for the rest of this year, treat your wife, the way you want to be treated yourself, treat your husband, the way you want to be treated yourself, speak to your wife, the way you want her to speak to you, speak to your husband, the way you want him to speak to you, and speak to one another, the way you want others to speak to you, who likes being yelled at and screamed at, do you like anybody yelling at you and screaming at you, don't ever do it to other people, do you like anybody speaking evil of your children, then don't speak evil of other people's children, dear me, I mean, if we had only done that in the last 25 years as a church, where we would be today, can you imagine what a blessed home your home would have been, if you had followed that since the time you joined CFC, boy, your home would have been a little taste of heaven, can you imagine how, what great heights you would have reached today spiritually, if you had followed that rule, start with, blessed are the poor in spirit, Lord, I see my need, I don't see the need of people around me, and end with, I want to treat other people, the way I want to be treated myself, all of us know, how we want to be treated, if somebody borrows money from you, do you want him to return it, sure, you may be in need, and he may not be serious about returning it, well, do the same to other people, if you borrow money from other people, deny yourself, and pay it back, it's a very simple rule, I tell you it can apply to a thousand and a million situations, the simple rule, treat other people, the way you want to be treated yourself, and in between those two verses, the first one in Matthew 5.3, and the last one here in Matthew 7.12, is all that wonderful teaching in Matthew 5.6 and 7, and at the end of it he says, this gate is very narrow, you can walk it, lots of godly men and women, who walk this way through two thousand years, and you'll come to a glorious life, and then he said, there's another way, where you ignore these things, where you listen to all this, you don't take it seriously, you can choose another way if you like, that's a broad way, it's easier, you can live in sin, come to the meetings, and sing the songs, and praise the Lord, and live in sin, and don't treat other people the way you want to be treated, and just listen, but don't do anything that you hear, that's a broad way, it leads to destruction, and then there are false prophets, listen to this, in the context, who will tell you, it doesn't matter, if you don't obey all that you read in Matthew 5.6 and 7, that's the meaning of false prophets in this context, yeah, yeah, it doesn't matter, we don't have to take all that seriously, you mean we have to overcome anger hundred percent, who said that, that's impossible, I heard a preacher, say the other day, on one of these television programs, anger is energy, isn't that good, who doesn't want energy, anger is energy, by which we can use it for God, and he says, God himself is angry, so we can be like him, it's a good way to justify anger, there are a lot of things God is, which we can't be, God is a judge, we're not supposed to be judges, God receives worship, we're not supposed to receive worship, God can be angry with wicked people, we're not supposed to be angry, God forgives people only when they repent, Jesus forgave people even before they repented, we forgive people even without repentance, God doesn't, so there are certain areas, where we're not supposed to be like God, the devil says, said to Eve, you can be like God, and say, no, thank you, we're human beings, like Jesus said, I'm a son of man, I'm an ordinary man, and that's how we're supposed to live, and the false prophets say, no, no, no, that's okay, it doesn't matter, I mean, he's human, naturally you lust, okay, you lust to your eyes, but you repent, that's the question, if you're repenting, you're okay, the danger is, if you sin and justify it, boy, there's absolutely no hope for you, if you sin and you justify that sin, but I want to tell you this, if you're sinning, and sinning, and sinning for 40 years, and you're repenting, and repenting, and repenting, and baffling it, you're on the way to life, I hope that encourages, some of you are still defeated, in any area, if you're baffling it, and not justifying it, and not becoming proud, that you're better than others, you're on the way to life, but the moment you begin to justify something, and say, well, I had to do that, I tell you, you're on dangerous ground, you're on the broad way to destruction, the broad way to destruction, is the way of justifying yourself, I'm okay, be careful, false prophets will tell you that, and these false prophets, the other thing, which he said about false prophets, is, they come in sheep's clothing, verse 15, and that is, they have the right doctrine, that's how I understand it, that means, you look at them, immediately, the first impression you get of them, at a distance, is that's a sheep, it's a wolf, in sheep's clothing, and you can't recognize a wolf, in sheep's clothing, at a distance, and if their disguise is clever enough, you won't even be able to recognize them close up, but the moment they begin to speak, you know, there's a difference between the way a wolf speaks, and a sheep speaks, the moment they begin to speak, you'll be able to detect something, hey, that doesn't sound right, he seems to have the right doctrine, but they're ravenous wolves, ravenous wolves, and the message translation says, they are out to rip you off, in one way or the other, that means, a ravenous wolf is, what does a wolf get into, why do you think a wolf puts on sheep's clothing, what's his motive, it's certainly not to bless the sheep, it's to try and, what does a wolf get into the sheep's fold for, to get something for himself from the sheep, some of the sheep's meat, he's hungry for something that he can get from the sheep, and when you get a preacher, who's hungry to get something out of you, usually your money, sometimes your honor, when he's out to get something out of you, you know that's a false prophet, because God is not like that, Christ Jesus was not like that, he didn't come to earth to get something out of people for himself, there's a fundamental difference between a true prophet and a false prophet, a false prophet is out to get something from you for himself, maybe your honor, usually your money, and in some cases, sex, but a true prophet would be interested in blessing you, he wants nothing from you, he wants to give you something, he wants to give you something, it's a mark of love, God's love is always wants to give something to the other person, and so we see here, you will know them by their fruits, and you know the fruit of the spirit is love, from verse 16, you will not know them by their gifts, there are two things, the fruit of the spirit, and the gift of the spirit, and if you look at the gifts of the spirit, you will not recognize false prophets, you'll recognize them only by their fruits, but in spite of Jesus saying this so plainly, it's amazing how people are still deceived, they just don't listen to the words of Jesus, they get so overwhelmed and brainwashed by false prophets, that they forget all about what Jesus said, Jesus spoke about fruits and gifts, fruit of the spirit, and the gifts of the spirit, in relation to the sermon on the mount, so it's very interesting, right through the sermon on the mount, he doesn't mention anything about healing or prosperity, or any of these things that a lot of people speak of today, Jesus spoke about more important things, he wasn't leading people back to Deuteronomy 28, Deuteronomy 28 is full of healing and prosperity, it's an old testament gospel, it is a gospel, but it's outdated, it's like British Raj, British Raj finished in India, more than 57 years ago, you better wake up, we're in a new age today, it's the same thing, we're not saying there never was a British Raj, there was, it ruled India right up to 1947, but we're not in 1947, that's all I'm saying, and there was a time when the gospel was the gospel of health and prosperity, that was BC, before Christ, not after that, after that it's Matthew 5, 6 and 7, this is the good news, that I can live this life, describe Matthew 5, 6 and 7, but there's no mention of health and prosperity, but there's a mention of a soul and a spirit, that's been transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, that has the same attitude to people, that Jesus had, of wanting to treat them, the way they want to be treated themselves, the same attitude to material things, that Jesus had, not loving them, but using them, for the glory of God, that's completely different, it's a far, it's a million times higher level, than that Old Testament level, mentioned in Deuteronomy 28, but man's flesh is such, that he's always looking for something in the Bible, to satisfy himself, and therefore he lives at a substandard level, so it says here, about fruit, a good tree bears good fruit, verse 17, but a bad tree bears bad fruit, and he keeps on speaking about fruit, fruit, fruit, fruit, this is the important thing, and he says, it's not a question of impressing people, it's a question of the tree itself being good, in other words, the nature, is what produces the fruit, it's not just behaving nicely, there are a lot of people, who behave nicely, and just because they behave nicely, you know, that person is a good person, there are a lot of nominal Christians, who behave very nicely, but God, Jesus didn't come, to make people nice, he came to make people born again, and I believe one of the great deceptions, in the last days, is going to imagine, that nice people are born again, no, nice people are not born again, because there are nice people in all religions, I've seen some very nice people, who are atheists, who don't even believe in God, who never cheat, never harm anybody, who are extremely good, very gracious, but they don't even believe in God, but Jesus didn't come to make people nice, he came to make people born again, to come into a new life, God wants new men, new women, not nice people, and the church is not a place, where we are just trying to make people nice, sometimes we can hear, the word of God, and say, that's good, we'd like to do that, we'd like to be a little more gracious, in our speech, that's good, we hear in the church, about being gracious in our speech, we hear about being generous, that's good, let's be generous, a lot of good things, we hear in the church, we like to bless our enemies, that's a good thing, and you do all these things, that you hear in the church, what do you become? You become a nice person, but not a new person, there's a lot of difference, between being a nice person, and a new creation, and there's a lot of difference, between being a nice pig, and a cat, you know, perfumed and cleansed pig, no, it's very, very important, that we don't get deceived by that, Jesus said, the tree must be good, it's not just a question, of hanging good fruit, on a bad tree, the tree itself must be good, and who knows that? You know it, you know, whether Jesus has done a work in you, where you have become a new creation, where Christ himself, means more to you, than anything else in the world, and where material things, take their proper place, creative things, take their proper place, and then he spoke about gifts, in verse 21, he spoke about fruit first, then he spoke about gifts, the subject is false prophets, remember, subject begins in verse 15, ends in verse 23, and he says, the way to recognize false prophets, from true prophets, is by their fruit, but false prophets, may have a lot of gifts, and here are some of those gifts, verse 21, Lord, Lord, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, in the last day, but they will not enter God's kingdom, because the important thing, is to do the will of the Father, and many of these false prophets, will stand before me in the last day, and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, didn't we cast out demons in your name, and didn't we do many miracles, not one or two, but many miracles in your name, and I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness, the whole thing, is an issue of sin, and then he says, if you hear these words of mine, verse 24, and you act on them, you'll be a man, who builds his house on a rock, if you hear these words, and say, yeah, I understood it all, everything's okay, but you don't do it, verse 26, you'll be like a foolish man, so remember this, my brothers and sisters, it's not knowledge, but obedience, that's going to determine, whether your house will remain or not, many of us have got tremendous amount of knowledge, in our tape libraries, in our minds, in our notebooks, none of that will help us to stand, in a day of tremendous deception, it's going to be obedience, the more we obey God, in the little things, you go all the way to Matthew 5, 6 and 7, say, Lord, he who does the will of my father, and the will of the father is described in God, in those three chapters, I can never be shaken, no deception will ever shake me, let's turn back to Matthew chapter 24, in Matthew 24, Jesus spoke, further, about, these two types of believers, in the last days, he spoke about, there are going to be two types of believers, in the last days, in verse, he said, the coming of the son of man, verse 36, the day and hour, no man knows, even the angels of heaven, nor the son, but the father, for the coming of the son of man, will be like the days of Noah, they ate and they drank, before the flood, and they did not understand, and the flood came, and took them all away, it's something similar, to what happened, during the time of the tsunami, when suddenly, they didn't know, they were eating, drinking, and doing other things, and suddenly, the flood came, and destroyed them all, and people will, some in the field, some here and there, now, in the, similar passage, in the gospel of Luke, where he spoke about his second coming, we read a little more detail, that Matthew doesn't mention, in Luke chapter 17, he mentions, the time of the coming of the son of man, will be like verse 26, Luke 17, 26, will be like the days of Noah, everything carrying on as usual, right up to the time, when Noah entered the ark, and then suddenly, they were destroyed, and then he said, the days of the son of man, will also be, like in the days of Lot, verse 28, they were also doing normal things, right up to the day, Lot left Sodom, and suddenly, everything was burnt up, and that's how it will be, in the day, when the son of man is revealed, so Jesus took two examples, from the Old Testament, one was Noah, and the other was Lot, and he said, the last days are going to be like those days, where people, don't think about judgment, there's going to be sin, all types of, particularly sexual sin, was very rampant, in the days of Noah, and the days of Lot, there was a lot of violence, of two sins, that are very rampant, in the days of Noah, and the days of Lot, sexual sin and violence, they murdered people, ruthlessly in Noah's day, and you see, how in Lot's day also, those men tried to break open, the door of his house, it says, when those angels were there, they were violent people, there was violence and sex, exactly like in our day, they were crazy after sex, and they were violent people, who were ready to take up a fight, for a little thing, but that's not, what Jesus mentioned, he didn't mention, sex and violence at all, he said, people are just going to be taken up, with normal living, you know, eating, drinking, going to their work, going to office, coming back, getting married, planting, building, and etcetera, just normal things, that everybody does, but they are not ready, we may not be involved, in sex and violence, see, that's for the unbeliever, but Jesus was speaking to believers, and he said, the danger for believers, is not sexual sin and violence, I mean, that's going to be the world, the danger for believers, is going to be, that they are just going to be, verse 26, eating, and drinking, and marrying, and giving in marriage, and verse 28, buying, and selling, and planting, and building, and these are normal things, that all of us do, all human beings do it, Christians and non-Christians, we have to do this, because that's part of life, but the point is to be, so taken up with these things, that we are not ready, for Christ's coming, and then he spoke about, two types of believers, in the last days, one like Noah, wholehearted, radical, standing up for God, never compromising on anything, and never lowering the standards, and having a small church, of about eight people, which was basically his own family, and he saved his whole family, because he didn't compromise, and then he said, there will also be, in the last days, believers like Lot, and Lot, it's amazing that, I mean, I always thought of Lot, as a crooked, money loving, chap, who just took advantage, of being with Abraham, you know, I'm reminded of a lot of people, who have come to CFC, through the years, and who prospered, materially, and children have grown up, and got good jobs, and once that's all over, they leave CFC, because they got what they wanted, that's all they wanted, they didn't want anything else, well, it's a good thing they left, but that's how it's going to be, in the last days, Lot, also, he's a guy, who hang, hung around with Abraham, godly man, until he got prosperous, and rich, and then left, he said, that's all I want, that's all I was looking for, I got it now, and he left, I said, well, what's going to be the future of these people, I mean, I thought Lot is going to be, he's a crooked man, but yet, it says in 2nd Peter, some chapter 3, something which really, chapter 2, something which really amazed me, when I read it first, and 2nd Peter, we, read about the last days, again, when he speaks about the last days, Peter says the same thing, they're going to be false prophets, verse 1, false teachers, in the last days, and many will follow their way of sensuality, verse 2, sensuality means things that please our senses, not which helps our spirit, we're going to gratify our senses, more than seek what is spiritual, and the other thing, is in the false prophets, and false teachers, verse 3, will be greedy people, who will try to exploit you, with their false words, it's amazing, how always throughout the Old Testament, and New Testament, you read that false prophets, are always interested in your money, I'm always wary of a man, who's always talking about money, he's interested in your money, I mean, he won't say it's for me, he says it's for my ministry, but, if you want to be a false prophet, you know what the apostles, gave instructions, in their days to people, he says anyone comes and asks you for money, he's a false prophet, that's in one of the earliest books, next to the Bible, written in the second century, one of the earliest books, available today, Christian book, is a little book, called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and, we can find it on the internet, it says, there, one of the things they thought, one of the earliest Christian books, ever published, anyone who asks you for money, is a false prophet, why did they give those instructions, in those days, because they didn't have a Bible, I mean, most people in the second century, ninety-nine percent of Christians, never had a Bible, how do you know who's a false prophet, today we can check so many verses, what about, when ninety-nine percent of people, in different countries, don't have a Bible, then the apostles said, ok, here's a way to check them out, do they ask you for money, they're false prophets, rule them out, think if people had followed that instruction, for two thousand years, you know how safe Christianity, would have been, and today, so, here it speaks, about the last days, and then, it's very interesting, that just like, Jesus did, Peter also, speaks about the same two people, in relation to the last days, verse five, Noah, and verse seven, Lot, it's interesting, the same thing is in Luke seventeen, Noah and Lot, it seems as though the Holy Spirit, keeps bringing up these two people, in relation to the last days, why, why repeatedly, Noah and Lot always, because one was a wholehearted man, and the other was a compromiser, and then, here's what I said, I read here about, Lot being a righteous man, verse seven, I wouldn't have believed it, but if the Holy Spirit says so, I say okay, I accept it, he rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct, of unprincipled men, I didn't think that about, I wouldn't say all those good things, but the Holy Spirit says it, so I believe it, Noah, Lot was oppressed, by the sensual conduct, he was, the message Bible says, he was nearly driven out of his mind, with all the sexual filth and perversity, now you know, you can also be nearly driven out of your mind, by all the sexual filth, and perversity, that you see around you, and you may think you are a spiritual man, you may be no better than Lot, no, that's the point, just because we are oppressed, by all the filth and sin around us, doesn't mean that we are like Noah, we could be like Lot, you can be a righteous person like Lot, but not like Noah, will you escape and go to heaven, yeah you will, you probably lose your children, and your family, because you are a compromiser like Lot, but you go, Lot escaped and went, and it says here, further again in verse 8, he was a righteous man, a second time, boy, and then a third time, verse 9 again, Lord knows how to rescue the godly, from temptation, ok, since the Holy Spirit says it 2-3 times, I accept Lot as a righteous man, as a picture of a believer, who goes to heaven, but, I wouldn't like to be like him, even if I am oppressed, by all the evil in the world, I don't want to be like Lot, because there is another alternative, you can be like Noah, what is the difference between Noah and Lot, in relation to the last days, basically this, Noah's attitude was, I have got only one life, the world is coming to an end, only a few more years left, before everything is going to be destroyed, I want to spend all my life, and all my time, and all my money, to build that which will last for eternity, that's the arc, which will go through the flood rather, which will last through the judgment, I want to live for God, I want to use my maximum time, energy, money, wisdom, intelligence, everything for God, and the minimum required, to earn my living, to take care of my family, and there are going to be believers like that, in the last days, and then there are going to be believers like Lot, whose attitude is, yeah, I want to go to heaven when I die, sure, and I believe in Jesus, I have said the magic words, Lord Jesus come into my heart, but we got to live in this world man, I want to enjoy myself as much as possible, and not go so far, that I lose my seat in heaven, I won't go that far, but you know, how close can I come to the edge, without falling over, these are babies, you know like, on the railway platform, who are the ones who say, how close can you stand to the edge of the platform, when the train is coming, they won't be grown up mature people, there are only children who talk like that, grown up mature people stand little distance away, these are babies who say, how close can I come to the edge of the, become worldly, without losing my salvation, you find question answer times very often, I find that people ask, can I do this as a Christian, can I do this as a Christian, can I do this, in other words, they are trying to find out, what is the edge, can you define the edge for me, if I do this, will I fall over the edge, they are always trying to find out, where the edge is, they are babies, they are like lot, now if I go to Sodom, and spend my life making money, will I still go to heaven when I die, you know, people like lot, Noah, they are not interested in such questions, they are interested, I've got only one life, what can I do for God, before I leave, so we can, whereas lot's attitude is, what's the minimum I have to do, to go to heaven, I want to say my brothers and sisters, all of us sitting in this room, can be divided into two categories, and I'm not going to divide you, that's God's business, but you can find out, which you are yourself, by this simple question, a very simple question, what is your attitude, to the rest of your life on earth, you can't do anything about the past, what's your attitude going to be, to the rest of your life on earth, starting from today, is it going to be, what is the maximum, I can do for God, with my life, my energy, my intelligence, my money, my time, and what's the minimum I have to do, to survive on this earth, you know, I'm going to earn my living, and take care of my family, that's the attitude of Noah, and then, there's a second category of people here, and you know yourself, whether you're in this category, what's the minimum I have to do, to get to heaven, and what's the maximum, I can enjoy myself on this earth, and get everything I want on this earth, without losing my salvation of course, I want to say, there are only two categories, Noah and Lot, that's what Jesus said in Matthew 24, and that's what Peter says in 2nd Peter 2, and whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, you are in one of these categories, but you can change, the thing is, you can change from being a Lot, to being a Noah, the choice is yours, God won't force you, Jesus spoke about it, and he left it to us, and he made it clear, that Lot escaped, isn't that great, you'll go to heaven when you die, isn't that all you wanted, promised, seat reserved in heaven, live for the earth as much as you like, you'll go to heaven, but I'll tell you something, people like Lot, I don't know, it says he is righteous, so ok, he went to heaven, but go and ask him today in heaven, Lot, think of your earthly life now, tell me, do you have any regrets about how you live, would you rather live like Abraham, or are you happy the way you live, you lost your wife, you lost your two daughters, you lost your sons-in-law, etc., he'd say, boy, I wish somebody had warned me, I wish I had a bible, like these people had in 2005, I never had a bible, but Lot, you had a godly man, Abraham was your uncle, you were so close to him, yeah, I was a fool, I didn't listen to him, I thought he was too radical, I became a compromiser, the people who ask me, Brezhak, do you really think people are going to have regrets in heaven, you answer that question, do you think Lot's very happy in heaven today, do you think we forget about how we lived on earth when we get to heaven, I don't think so, and if you don't forget about how we lived on earth, I tell you, Lot's got a lot of regret, even if he got there, regret, you know, can be there, even when we get to heaven, when we see Jesus, and see how much he gave himself for us, how he sacrificed everything, gave himself totally that we might get to heaven, and we see how selfishly we lived our life on earth, to see the minimum we could do for him, you know, think of a husband and wife, where the husband is doing the maximum for his wife, and the wife is doing the minimum to keep the marriage alive, that's Lot, it's not a very happy relationship, and that's why a lot of Christians don't have very happy, they are so moody sometimes, they are discouraged, and depressed, and the doctors will tell you, yeah, depression is a common thing nowadays, I say, rubbish, the bible says, rejoice in the Lord always, but you can rejoice in the Lord always, only if you have this attitude, like Noah, I say, what's the maximum I can give for God, you show me a man whose entire attitude to life is, what is the maximum I can do for God, with my time, money, energy, everything, I'll tell you a man who will never be depressed, but you see a man like Lot, who is thinking, what is the minimum I have to do, in order to get to heaven when I die, what's the maximum I can enjoy myself on earth, there's a man who loses temper, who will get depressed, and who will lust, and who will do all types of things, and of course you'll say, I'm sorry Lord, forgive me, he'll never get victory in a hundred years, and you'll say, it's not possible, it is possible, but not with that attitude, never, so, you classify yourself now, now the question is, if you have honestly classified yourself, and you know, what nobody else knows, what is your attitude towards, this world and towards God, the Bible says about, Noah in Hebrews chapter 11, by faith, verse 7, Hebrews 11, 7, being warned by God, he prepared an ark for the salvation of his family, by which he condemned the world, he spent his life, building the ark, because he knew that's the only thing, that's going to go through the flood, Lot was different, he thought he could take care of his family, by giving them a rich lifestyle, ah, if I can go to Sodom, make a lot of money, I can do it really well for my children, give them everything they want, grand clothes and, etcetera, a lot of things, good food and everything else, and they fell in love with the, unconverted men of Sodom, whose interests were also the same, and, he lost them, he lost his daughters, because he was not radical, he lost his sons-in-law, because he wanted to please them, more than he wanted to please God, he was not radical, but Noah wasn't like that, he didn't listen to his wife, or his sons-in-law, or his daughters, or his daughters-in-law, or his sons, he stood for God, and his sons just followed, he said, I'm not going to compromise, his wife followed, think my dear sisters, if you can be like Mrs. Noah, encouraging your husband, to be a wholehearted, radical, maximum for God type of Christian, instead of trying to drag him back, like Mrs. Lot, can you imagine, what a blessing that will be to your family, that's the type of wife you should be, in the last days, and if you happen to have a godly father, be thankful for that, there are not many around these days, if you follow his radical example, son or daughter, you won't regret it, when you get to heaven like Lot, even if you get to heaven, I tell you honestly, I think in my entire life, I was never interested in going to heaven, that's the honest truth, I mean, I can say that before God, I've been born again 45 years, in 45 years, I was never interested in going to heaven, I was interested in pleasing Jesus, I don't care, I once told the Lord, Lord, if you're in hell, I'd like to be there, to me, heaven is not the place, my destination, my destination is, the side of Jesus Christ, wherever he is, and that's already begun, on earth, that's how we're supposed to live, not one day, I'll be rid of all the trials on earth, and one day, I'll finish with all my sorrows, that's not my goal in life, my goal is to be with Jesus, to please him, because we have only one life, only one life, remember this, my brothers and sisters, and take the example of Noah, how did he condemn the world? He condemned the world by not living for the world, he was so different, where everybody around him was living for earthly things, here was a man, who was spending all his energy and time, to build the ark, and when people around you see, that he wasn't a man who neglected his family, oh no, he took care of his family, we got up a little earlier, walked with God, spoke with God, prayed for his family, earned his living, he didn't have anybody to support him, do you know that he built a ship from his own money? Imagine if God told you to build a ship for him, and you had to pay out of your own pocket, there are going to be people in the last days like Noah, who served the Lord, with their own money, Noah did all of God's work, with his own money, nobody supported him, do you know how much it cost to build a ship? He didn't go asking people to give money, I'll tell you why I don't ask for money, even for God's work, you've never heard me say that in 30 years, and I'll tell you why, I've never said it before I think, but I'll tell you what God has told me, the Lord has told me, if you've got one rupee left in your bank account, don't ever ask anybody to give money for God's work, till you're given that also, when you've got zero left in your bank account, please get up and ask other people to give money for God's work, imagine if people followed that rule, yeah, I believe it's right to ask people to give money for God's work, provided you've emptied your own bank account, but today, it's not like that, a lot of people are asking you for money, have got their private jets and private homes and huge bank accounts, and there are gullible believers who sit with their mouth open before these television screens and are fooled completely, I don't belong to that category, I look for people like Noah, who are doing God's work, with their own money, and who don't ask anybody for it, I'm sure Noah had to deny himself in many ways to build a ship, imagine how much it cost to build a ship, he worked hard, he got, sold some of his land and cut down trees, because he wanted to build the one thing that will last forever, you go to Noah today and ask him, Noah, do you regret today in heaven that you denied yourself so much on earth and you lived on simple food and didn't buy extra clothes and all that because you wanted to give for God, you wanted to build a church, he said, not at all, not at all, and I'll tell you this, learn an example from that, one day we're all going to be in heaven hopefully, there'll be some like Noah, who have no regret, and there'll be some like Lot, there'll be many like Lot, who may be there, but who'll have a lot of regret, and I want to tell you another thing before I close, Lot never heard a sermon like this to challenge him, so you got an opportunity that Lot never had, God loves us, that's why he doesn't want us to have any regret in eternity, we fathers love our children, that's why we don't want them to have a regret later on in life, that's why we give them many instructions, which they don't understand when they are children, God loves us, he sees the future better than any of us, and he doesn't want you to have any regret in eternity, that's why he tells us now, my son, be wise and choose with eternity's values and view at all times, and don't let the devil take away the seed by tomorrow, many a times you've heard challenging messages and what has been the effect of that, still back to the same old thing, because you allow the devil to take it away, water the seed, you never get a plant growing if you don't water it, God's not going to do that, he plants it, and he sees whether you want it to be watered and to grow up to be a tree, that's your choice. Heavenly Father, help us to be wise, to number our days, so that we can apply our hearts to wisdom, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. www.cfcindia.com site and send us an email to the address given there. The Lord bless you richly.