This sermon emphasizes the importance of seeking and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit to experience transformation and power in our lives. It highlights the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to overcome weaknesses, love others with divine love, and be equipped for all situations. The speaker shares personal testimonies and encourages believers to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit with a sense of desperate need and surrendering all aspects of their lives to God.

We will listen to brother Vincent. He is another brother who has been an elder for a number of years, maybe over 10-12 years in a couple of places in Tamil Nadu and he is now an elder in one of the towns in Tamil Nadu. It is very interesting how he became a part of us. A wise woman builds her house. We had a fine young sister in our church who married him when he was in the Assemblies of God. I don't know all the details but I think he agreed to marry her if she would never bring him to our church. He never wanted to come here but his wife suggested, why don't we go just for one conference and see. So he knew he was strong enough to resist all the wrong doctrines being preached here and came. But you see how the Lord can grip a man if he is sincere, even if he is going astray. Like the Apostle Paul who was going in a completely wrong direction, the Lord could turn him around and he was gripped and more gripped than many others who had been here longer than him. Wherever I go in Tamil Nadu, now he has been my faithful Tamil translator. It is very easy for me to speak in Tamil Nadu when he is there translating. So I thank God for him. He is a very precious brother and he has given great leadership to the church in Thanjavur. We thank God for him and his family. He has got two fine sons. We praise the Lord. We praise the Lord for families like this, for elders like this. He is a professor in a college and I understand registrar in a university and all that, but you will never sense that when you meet him. He is just an ordinary brother. So Brother Vincent, please. I praise God for his manifold wisdom that he brought me in touch with. I don't know what to say, otherwise I would have missed a lot in my life. We will turn to John's Gospel, chapter 5 and verse 39. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is these that bear witness of me and you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life. It is possible that we search the scriptures, we read the scriptures, we hear the scriptures, we come to church, we come to conferences and yet to be found as one in this group that you are unwilling to come to me to receive life. In order to receive life, those Pharisees were around Jesus. They were all very near to Jesus. But Jesus says that they were unwilling to come to him to receive life. The result with all the searching of the scriptures, reading the Bible, coming to the meetings, they just had the knowledge but they never received the life. Again Jesus says, I do not receive glory from men but I know you that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. So the result of not coming to Jesus is that they don't have the life, they don't have the love. Sandwiched between these two verses is that Jesus says, I do not receive glory from men. Probably the reason that the Pharisees, the religious people could not come to Jesus is that they want to receive glory from men. That's why Jesus says, I do not receive glory from men. I do not receive honor from men. I do not want to get the good opinion of the people. But these Pharisees, they wanted the glory, honor and opinion of men. Now first it starts with opinion. But what do you think I do? It's always good to have the opinion of the godly brothers, mature brothers for our growth and definitely it is not wrong to get their opinion. Suppose some elder brother says, brother you love your honor or you are loving money, by all means I have to receive life from them. I have to receive their opinion. But I should not have the opinion of men which blocks me from receiving the life of God. As brother was telling, I went to so many churches and then came to a conclusion that you cannot find a church where you can receive life, where the thoughts of hearts are exposed. I wanted that. Because everywhere I went, they said, you are reading the bible and you are praying, you are coming for the meetings, you are a good brother. I said, Lord, is it all that I need? I want something more to be exposed so that I can cleanse myself. And I said, it is vain to attempt searching for a good fellowship. So I was involved in the student's ministry and I was going here and there preaching and I was engaged to my wife. I never knew that she was from CFC because the relatives who introduced her to me were from IPC. I thought she is also from IPC. So I accepted. And our engagement was also over and then I received a letter which exposed that they are from CFC, from Brazack Church. I was really taken aback and I thought I should stand for the Lord and immediately I told my parents that I am going to reject her and I am going to cancel this and I went to her and I told her, I never knew that you are from this particular cult and probably I thought God sends me as a saviour to save her and probably through her family and I told her, I am going to reject this proposal. She said, if it is God's will, it will be rejected. I never expected that answer but then I told her, okay, I am giving one more chance. Are you prepared to come to the church where I go? She said, yeah, by all means. Then I came to a rest. Then I went to my place of work and then I had a very serious assignment. All in my mind was that I should go and prove to them that this is a cult from the word of God and they are preaching wrong doctrine from the word of God. So I started asking one after the other. I went to one brother and asked him. He was also a minister of God and they said, they will all pray with a loud voice and suddenly they stop. I thought that is not, you cannot prove that from the scripture that it is wrong. However, it says that you should not stop suddenly, you should stop slowly, progressively. I was not satisfied. Then I went to another brother and said, he was, he attended Bible studies in this fellowship in Bangalore and he was working in Karniya and I asked him, brother, this is the matter. For me it is life and death. I am going to marry from this fellowship and please tell me what is wrong. And he was scratching his head and said, you know brother, Zac is a very powerful personality and he attracts people and he dominates this and that. No brother, tell something from the word of God. And I went to nearly more than ten people with sincere heart but nobody could tell. One pastor told the church where I was going. He is a senior pastor of many churches and he said, they preach that women should not go to job. I was very happy. I didn't want my wife to work. So, I don't know how to convince them that this is a wrong doctrine. But I was having the urge to find out from the scriptures. So, I started listening to some of the messages and then she called me for the conference, Bangalore conference. I was warned by many people that I should not go to Tirugata Pali and she is from the church where brother Victor, yesterday he spoke and they warned me, you go to your father-in-law's house only during the weekdays, even if you have to apply leave because when you go on weekdays, weekend, they will pull you. So, they warned me and with all these warnings, I was a bit careful. But then she called me to come for the Bangalore conference. I thought I should be very careful and I should avoid. But then she was calling me, then my friend, he is also living in Bangalore and he came to Bangalore only to listen to these truths and he said, the first time she is calling you after the marriage, why can't you go and come. I came for the conference with much carefulness and I was very cautious. I didn't want to yield in any other way to the pull and the first meeting, God broke me. Because when I came for the meetings, I was, all the people's words were ringing in my mind, be careful, be careful, you should not go the way your wife goes and nobody should pull you there. I think I was sitting in the back of the CFC church and the first thing God told me was, I told the Lord, Lord, I died to the opinions of all men. Very close relatives whom I loved very much and they loved me and many in the spiritual circle whom I consider to be my mentors, they all want me. I said, Lord, I died to all the opinions of men, or opinions of all men. Even if they say that I have gone behind my wife, afraid of her, no problem Lord, I want to stand for you. And that was the, I think only conference where they prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and it was a different experience for me and God broke me and showed how much I sought after the opinion of men, honor of men and glory of men, in preaching God's word to various places. I started measuring myself based on how many callings I get to preach, how many prayer groups or churches and God exposed everything, how much proud I was and I was serving myself and I never thought what God thought of me. So here, probably, they were all bothered about the opinions of men and they were not able to come to Jesus in order to receive life. But Jesus, He said, I am not going to receive the witness from men. We read in the 34th verse, but the first witness which I receive is not from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. I don't receive the witness from man, I am telling these things so that you may be saved. Such a serious thing that receiving a witness from man prevents me from getting saved. Yeah, we come to hear the truth. Jesus says, you shall hear the truth and the truth shall set you free. But many people stop with the first half, they hear the truth, they don't want to obey, they don't want to be delivered in order to receive life from Jesus. The reason is what my parents would say, what my village people would say, what my friends would say, what they would think of me, opinion of men, what my peer group would say in the college or in the school where I study and that prevents us from coming to Jesus. And here Jesus says, the witness which I receive is not from man. You know which man? He says even John the Baptist who came bearing witness for this truth. Yeah, next verse we find that he was the lamb that was burning and was shining and we were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the witness of which I have is greater than that of John. I don't even consider the witness that is given by John as important. The witness or the opinion or the glory or the honor that I receive, I want to receive from God, the Heavenly Father. I don't want to receive even from a godly man and I want to be satisfied. That's what Jesus says. But these people, they were willing to rejoice in the light of John. Probably your parents are godly parents and you are willing to rejoice in their light. That prevents you from coming to Jesus to receive light. Probably in your church you have a very good elder and he thinks very good of you and his good opinion, his thought about yourself prevents you from coming to Jesus or prevents you from seeking the opinion of Heavenly Father and the result that we don't receive life. We don't receive life and love. So Jesus says, I don't want the opinion of any men. Then he goes on to say on 31st verse, if I alone bear witness of myself, my testimony is not true. Jesus doesn't even want his own opinion, does not even want his own opinion. He says it may not be true. He was tempted to think high of himself because he came in our own flesh, like we are all tempted. So Jesus says, I don't believe in my own testimony. Sometimes it could be wrong. What a sober estimate he has got about himself. He is an example. So my opinion could be wrong. Sometimes we have very strong opinion about ourselves that prevents us from coming to Jesus to receive life, to obey to what Jesus says. So he says, I don't want even my own opinion. Then he says, I want my Father's opinion, what Father says and based on that what I do, I want to consider this as the witness. We find another group of people in John's Gospel chapter 8. They were Jews who believed, like we believe on what is preached. They were also Jews who were believed. But they were not disciples because they were not abiding in God's ways or the doctrine of Jesus. To them Jesus says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free, 31 and 32 verses. What was their problem? Their problem was that they thought they are the descendants of Abraham. That is their opinion. We are satisfied that we are descendants of Abraham. That prevented them from coming to Jesus to receive life. But Jesus told them the truth. You are not sons of Abraham, you are sons of devil. If you read the whole chapter. They were willing to rejoice in the light of Abraham, a godly man. But they themselves were not willing to come to Jesus to receive life. Once Jesus was asking the disciples, his disciples, what do people, who do people say I am? We read in Matthew chapter 16 and disciples said that some people think that you are Jeremiah the prophet, some think that you are Elijah. Then he asked Peter, what do you think? Peter says, you are the Christ son of the living God. And Jesus appreciated him. Matthew chapter 16 and verses 16 and 17. The word, the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven. Jesus came in flesh and blood and Jesus said, this is not something that I have convinced you to believe. He even said, don't tell others that I am the Christ. 20th verse, he warned the disciples, don't tell that I am the Christ. Because he wanted everybody to receive a revelation from the father, that he is the son of God, he is Christ the son of God, son of the living God. So, he appreciated Peter because Peter received from the heavenly father. Yeah, Jesus is the son of the living God. And when Peter thinks back about his life in 2nd Peter chapter 1, 17th verse, before that we read that Peter and two more disciples went to the mount of transfiguration along with Jesus and there he wanted a tent for Elijah and Moses and one for Jesus. Then he heard a voice from heaven, he is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And here in 2nd Peter 1 and verse 17 we read that, for when he received honour and glory from God the father, Peter was quoting when he thinks about Jesus Christ. Yeah, Jesus was always receiving the honour and glory from the heavenly father and as a sample he took us to the mount of transfiguration and we heard, we heard an utterance, as this was made to him by the majesty, glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Jesus also taught his disciples to always seek for the opinion of the father or the honour from the father. That's why he taught them to pray in secret, go to your room, lock your door and pray to the heavenly father. When we lock our door and we are alone and we pray to God, we are not seeking the opinion of anybody because nobody knows that we are praying. He taught us to fast in secret. He taught us to give alms in secret because in all these areas you can easily get an opinion, honour and glory from men. Oh, he is a brother who prays for 2 hours or 3 hours. Today's Christendom is like that. When poor believers, they have some problem, they want to go to their pastor for prayer or for some consultation, the assistants to the pastor, they come and say, you can't see pastor today, he is on fasting, he is on fasting, you can't see him. They think, oh, what to do? And they wait, wait, wait to see him or they go with a heavy heart. Our pastor is there on fasting for 5 days, he can't speak to anybody. Because he is fasting and giving and you have seen in many churches, all the fans will be revolving with the names on it. Yeah, always it's a glory for people to see, oh, this fan is donated by so and so and this is donated by so and so and this room is donated by so and so. So in giving and in fasting and praying, very easily we can get the honour. That's why it's very difficult to become famous in other fields because you have to work hard in business or in studies or in other areas. Very easy to become very famous in Christian circle. People know how to get the honour and glory, the spiritual circle, through prayer, fasting and giving. So Jesus also says that, you don't have the love. John chapter 5 we read, that you are not coming to me to receive life and that you are not having love. Do you think those people who were there, were not showing love to their children, to their families, to their wives, definitely they would have shown the love. Then why Jesus says that you don't have love? What Jesus meant was the divine love, the love which is shed abroad in our hearts by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Romans 5, 5. Yeah, we have a vessel and we go to God, Lord pour out your love, but that vessel is not clean. God says, I cannot pour, pour my spirit, pour my love in that one. Like nobody will pour milk in a dirty vessel or a vessel which has got something which will spoil the milk. They will say first go wash your vessel and come. Like that when our hearts are filled with the opinions of men, honour from men, glory from men and with that we go to God in faith, God says you can't receive my love because all the vessel, the entire vessel is filled with the opinion and honour and seeking and you find in another place that those who seek to please men, they cannot believe. Those who want to receive glory from men, they cannot believe. So our love, human love, how is it? On the surface there will be some love, but below the surface hatred will be there. Amy Carmichael was telling once, when you have a sweet water in a vessel and when you shake it, that which spills out will also be sweet, it will never be bitter. Once I went to Chennai and I wanted to buy some articles and I saw the fevicol tubes, 10 or 15 tubes, sold at a cheaper rate. I thought so, they are selling at a very cheaper rate, 10 pieces for 5 rupees or so. So I bought 2 or 3 bunches having 10 tubes. I came home and wanted to paste something and I pressed, initially there were 1 or 2 jumps of fevicol and after that puss, puss, nothing was coming. It was blown with air and every tube was like that. One grandson was asking his grandfather, grandpa will you get angry? He said no, I won't get angry. Grandpa, will you get angry? No, I won't get angry. Grandpa, really will you get angry? How many times I have to tell you, I won't get angry. He is not angry. That's a human love. When it is squeezed, initially there may be some love, hello brother, how are you and then when something is squeezed or something is pressed, something else comes out, probably hatred or acid which hurts others. Yeah, ourselves got some love on the top but beneath that has got acid. When somebody comes and shakes it, it comes out to hurt others. We find in Hebrews chapter 3, do not be like the people of Israel who tried Heavenly Father in the day of wilderness and that is a quotation from Psalm. David also quotes that in Psalm 95 and verse 8, Psalm 95 and verse 8, do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Masa in the wilderness. But in Tamil, these two words are not coming. Meribah and Masa in Tamil Bible it is not there but in English Bible it is there. Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, very specific, what happened at Meribah. And in the day of Masa in the wilderness, we will go to Exodus chapter 17 to find out what happened in Masa and Meribah. God led them in wilderness so that they can know, they might know what is in their hearts. Exodus chapter 17, when the people were gathered in the wilderness, a place called Revithim, there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? When there is a lack of water, if people had asked water from Moses, Moses would have told them, why are you asking for water? But here he is not asking them, he is telling, why are you quarreling? Why are you rebelling? Whenever there is a lack of something, it is like being squeezed, it is like being tested to find out what is there inside. And these people, they were thirsty, but because of that lack, because of that lack, they started fighting, quarreling. In our homes, when husband brings lot of money, everything is happy, everybody is happy, because we have, we can purchase anything that we want. But then, when the pocket money goes down, wife has something and husband could not get them, the masa starts, meriba starts, quarrel starts, fighting starts. You see the neighbor, he has also studied like you and you see what are the items he has purchased for his home, you are unable to do that. Wife starts blaming her husband, why did you marry me? Is it for this purpose that I should suffer here? Did you marry me? That's all type of questions. Husband can ask wife when something is short and when the food is not tasty, whenever there is some lack. In many homes, they give a name, Bethel, God's house. When there is strife and questioning and quarrel, on the back you should write masa or meriba and turn the board and hang it, it's not no more Bethel, it is masa or meriba. The meaning of meriba is a place of quarrel, place of strife, place where we try God. There are many occasions where we are tempted by devil, by our own lust, by the world, by the attractions, but here people tried God and they are squeezed. So God on certain occasions allows certain situations, so that we find the lack in our heart. Lord, when there is no water, what these people could have said? They could have gone to Moses and probably asked Moses, leader, what shall we do? There is no water and shall we search or shall we appoint some people to go and search or bring water or shall we pray or shall we ask God? No, they never did that. Whenever the small lack is there, they started questioning. Young people, you want a bike like that your friend is having or you want a iPod or this and that and if your father is not able to get you, if he is not financially sound to get you that and how do you respond? Do you fight back and quarrel and make your home a masa or meriba? There was a dinner hosted by Martha and Mary because they wanted to express their gratitude to Jesus for raising up Lazarus from the dead and they were all invited, all the disciples along with Jesus were invited and Judas was very happy because he thought that because Jesus raised Lazarus, they are going to give us a very good dinner and more than that they are going to give offerings, a lot of money. So, he went there with that expectation and to his dismay and disappointment, Mary was pouring the costly ointment on the feet of Jesus. He thought it's bad, it was lacking and here she was wasting, he thought. It was sold and given to the poor. He wanted something for himself, he wanted money and there was no money and all his hearts were exposed. He got offended and Jesus said, the poor are always with you and Jesus appreciated Mary for that act and that stirred the heart of Judas and he went and discussed with the Pharisees and all to betray Jesus and Jesus was also tempted. Now Judas is going to betray and he is having secret relationship with the Pharisees and other people who are going to kill him. So, but Jesus planned for the last supper, probably he was tempted to send Judas away and have dinner with other people but then he realized, as we read in John's gospel chapter 13, third verse, Jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God. Now Jesus thought Judas and all other disciples were given by God and he has to love them until the end, a divine love. If it were a human love, he would have sent him Judas or he would have told him, all authority for judging is also given to me, I judge Judas now itself and he could have cursed him. He didn't do that. He was concentrating on his own salvation. He was telling to himself, I have to love him until the end. When he was tempted, he said, Lord, all these 12 disciples were given by you. When you find difficult to love a particular person, probably husband, sometimes when your wife questions you, you find difficult to love them and if you see them as they are, probably you will not be able to overcome that unloving attitude. But ask a question, Lord, who gave this wife or who gave this husband? Young people, children, you can ask, Lord, my parents are given by you. When you say that, when you realize that they are given by God, their value goes up and it becomes easy for you to love. It is easy, it becomes easy for you to overcome the hatred, the ill feelings. Might be God has allowed one person to be in your office, the place of work, who always does something to make you unpopular. I had that experience. I was working in a college and one person always wants to work against me and he wants to prove how strong he is. He used to go and get signatures and write this and that and I was, you know, in my night time, I was thinking how to tackle this person and what way he would commit an error so that I can find and take vengeance or take action. But God said, I have kept that person in your place of work so that you may love him. Whenever I come by scooter to my place of work, the first prayer, Lord, you have placed this person in the college so that I can love him. I want to love him. I want to think the best for him. I want to do good to him, Lord. When I was in my home as a young boy, my younger brother, I have two brothers and two sisters, my younger brother used to fight and we used to fight and beat and but when I got saved, I could not overcome. I will beat and Sunday I will go and cry, Lord, please forgive me and Sunday evening I will be tempted to beat him. Then God anointed me with the Holy Spirit. After that I started praying to God, Lord, why he beats me? And then why he scolds me? And then the prayer changed when God anointed me, Lord, I thank you that you have given me that brother. If I were born as a only child in my home, I would not have known how much anger I have in my heart, Lord. I would not have known what is in my heart, but I thank you, Lord, for giving me this brother. It became easy for me to love him and they also understood that God has changed me. So Jesus thought that they are given by God. Is it difficult for you to love a particular brother in your church? Lord, it is that brother you have sent. You have given me, Lord, and they are very valuable. Somebody, some great man has given me this as a gift. I will keep it very safe. Even a pen some great man has given, whom I regard, I will keep it very safe. It is not having the intrinsic value, but it has got greater value because of the person who has given me. So the church, Lord, it is your church. You have given me, Lord, and my elder brothers, you have given me. And in the place of work, in your own family, Jesus loved them till the end and he washed their feet. When he was washing the feet of the apostles, you know, Peter had a lot of hesitation. I remember some children, you know, they will refuse to get their dress changed. They will be stiff and when you call them to some place, they will be stiff. Like that, Peter would have kept his legs stiff on the ground. Lord, should you wash my feet? I am unworthy, Lord. Please don't. It was the attitude he had. When brothers come to serve us, what is their attitude? Brother, I am not worthy. Brother, who am I that you are coming and giving this to me or you are inquiring or you are praying for me. I am unworthy. But when he came to Judas, he thought I am a holy man. He pretended. He was hypocrite. I was thinking why Jesus prayed for Peter but he didn't pray for Judas or at least it is not recorded because Jesus wants to pray for the sincere people. Lord, I prayed for you, Peter, that your faith will not be lost. You know, when he came to Judas, Bible says, he lifted up his heel against the Son of God. He said, I am worthy to be washed. I was waiting. Oh, you have come. Now I lift up my head without any hesitation. How is our attitude? Yes, yesterday we heard brother saying, even if I am in the hospital for one year and nobody comes to see me, I will be at rest. What a great life it is. Are we having expectations that others should serve us? Wife should serve me or children should serve me or husband should serve me and all should love me. In Philippians, there is a verse, you know, let every man, let him not look for his own interest but for others' interest. In Tamil, it is in a different way. So, I should not be bothered as what is coming to me, whether it is a insult or somebody hates me or somebody doesn't do this and that. I am not bothered. Lord, let me only be bothered about what is going from me. Am I loving others? Am I serving others? And at the end of this incident, John chapter 13 and verse 34, Jesus says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. How Jesus loved us with a divine love, with the same love He wants to love others. And He says, it is a new commandment. What is it? Having spent three and half hours, three and half years with His disciples, they are coming close to the earthly life of Jesus because this is the last supper. After that, He is going to the cross. When you go and join a company on the very first day or the first week, they will give you all the rules and regulations. But Jesus, after spending three and half years, He gives them a new commandment. At the end of His life, why should He give? At the end of His life, should He not have given to the disciples as and when He had selected them? That was the right time, we would think. There may be two reasons. Number one, Jesus wanted to do and then preach. He wanted to love Judas until the end. And He said, now Lord, I glorify your name. God's name is glorified when He loved Judas until the end. And He has finished that. And then He says, you also love one another. Another reason is, Jesus knew very well that if He had given that commandment earlier, it is not possible for the disciples because they have not received the power of the Holy Spirit, anointing. And Jesus knows that after a few days from this incident, the disciples are going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit and with that anointing only it is possible to love His disciples. The cross, two thieves are hanging. One said, if you are the Son of God, you first deliver yourself and then deliver me. Where did he get that idea that he was the Son of God? Because he was looking after the opinions of the soldiers and other people who were scolding Jesus. Their opinion was great for him. But the other thief who got saved, he was not listening to those opinions. He was seeing Jesus. Lord, you did not do anything bad, but you are punished. He said, we are justly punished. Both were near Jesus, but it was not their own choice. Probably some of you are here not because of your own choice, but because your parents are in the church or your brothers or your sisters are in the church. But you have come very close to Jesus. Now the question is, are you going to receive life like the one thief who got saved or are you going to listen to the opinions of all others and in spite of coming close to Jesus, you have to go away without life? Lord, I want to receive life. Lord, I want to come to you. Coming to Jesus means obeying. When we are filled with the love of God, we will obey to His commandments that love is the driving force for us to obey. When somebody whom we love gives us some commandments, it's very easy for us to do that. Suppose they go and say, you buy groceries and come, buy rice and come. It's very easy. We don't find it is heavy because we love that person. Jesus says, if you love me, my commandments are not burdensome. So it is a matter of obedience. Life is there, not out of fear or compulsion, but out of love. Lord, I come to you with a vessel which is free of opinion of men, honor of men and glory of men, Lord. Fill me with your love, Lord. I want to love others with divine love and not a human love, Lord. May God help us to be filled with the life and the love and the new wine. Thank you. May God bless all of us. There was one thing in his testimony, if you remember. He said that when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, that's when he found light on himself and the ability to hold back from fighting. I feel that because of the number of counterfeits that we have seen, it's possible that many of us have not valued and sought for a genuine baptism in the Holy Spirit. I can without any hesitation say that my own life and ministry is based on the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The church in Bangalore was born in our house because of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It's because we preached the baptism in the Holy Spirit that we were thrown out of one church. Otherwise, we'd have been still stuck there. And that's why we started. And I see this something so significant. We were not Pentecostals. We were baptized in the Holy Spirit. There have never been Pentecostals. I mean, there are very good brothers among Pentecostals, among brethren. I think there are some believers among the Catholics too. But we were seeking for that which is in the New Testament. It equips us for all types of situations, not just in the church. I remember Brother Vincent telling me once that in his professional work, he had to go to Bangladesh and he took a flight or something and landed up in Dhaka in Bangladesh early in the morning. It was still dark. And there was some rickshaw driver who he didn't know where to go. He had to ask and it was all dark. And this man said he will take him. And as he was going, he stopped somewhere. And these things happen in India and Bangladesh. A couple of men accosted him and I don't know what they wanted to do to him, steal or whatever it is. And he just prayed in tongues aloud. They got scared and ran away. I don't know whether they thought he was a man. Does the gift of tongues have some value? No. That's not the only purpose of the gift of tongues. It says he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself and protects himself also. My brothers and sisters, seek for the power of the Holy Spirit. It can make a world of difference in your life. Don't be turned off from the counterfeits that you have seen. And don't be satisfied with a once for all experience. We have to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit all the time. I was a tremendous slave to discouragement and depression. My wife knows that in the early years how we were, I was very discouraged. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of speaking in tongues, I, I can't even remember whether it's 20 or 25 years ago that I was last discouraged. It's gone, completely. You know, we all have different personalities. And every personality has got its strong points and weak points. We can't change our personality. Some people are inward looking, some people are outward looking. But the Holy Spirit comes to fill us. You see, I was basically very inward looking. That's why I was frequently discouraged. Couldn't be bold. I was afraid to stand before people. But the Holy Spirit comes to take away those weaknesses in our personality. That's great. To make us balanced personalities. Is it your temper that you cannot control? Some people have got that type of thing. Choleric, quickly angry. You know what you need? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you one of those who's frequently gloomy and discouraged? You know what you need? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you timid and shy and afraid to stand up before people? You know what you need? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You find your tongue tied for words when you stand up to share the word? You know what you need? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you from my experience. Always, if you're always filled with the Spirit, I can guarantee He will always have a word for you. I don't mean from the pulpit. Most of you may never stand in a pulpit, but we can prophesy when we speak on the phone to somebody. You can prophesy if a sister comes to visit you and you spend just five minutes talking. You can bless her before sending her away instead of passing on the latest gossip. If you're filled with the Holy Spirit and seek to live in the Spirit all the time. This is the type of church we want. You know that burning bush in the Old Testament? Every twig and branch was on fire. That's the church I long to see. Every brother and sister, young people baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. A flame for God. A blessing to others. Seek for that, my brothers and sisters. Seek for it. I'm not too much in favor of public meetings, praying for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, because there's too much of emotion there. And we can be excited with the emotion. And it's good at times and sometimes we do it, but I don't find that's always the answer because some people are very emotional. And they get all emotional and excited and they can get some counterfeit experience. I received it in my room or in my house all by myself. God met with me. You can pray with others. I've also prayed with people. I remember in my wife's case, she was a very zealous young medical student in Belor, actively witnessing for the Lord to her college students and going to the women's jail and witnessing, witnessing. And then we got married and I was extremely poor. I didn't have enough money to... I'd left my job and I was serving the Lord and we were struggling financially, living in a small little room. And then we had a baby and it was real struggle. And her whole life was now, she was like in a prison from this free life that she had as a young girl. And she was so discouraged. And I was also discouraged. And one day, she was praying with another sister. God met with her and filled her with the Holy Spirit. And she birthed forth in speaking in tongues and her life was changed. She had a need. Her need was she was so fed up, discouraged and God met with her. See, when there is a need in your life, if you're desperate and say, Lord, I need you. I want to live. I'll tell you honestly, I want to live with that sense of need every single day of my life. You may not know it and you may not believe it. But whenever I stand up to speak, I stand up with great fear. Paul said, I came to you in much fear and trembling. I experienced that almost every time when I get up to speak. I say, Lord, I don't know what to say. I mean, if I were to take a Bible study, I know the Bible so well, I can take a Bible study for a whole month. Like that 70 hour Bible study. But that's not the thing. It must be a prophetic word according to the need of people. How can I have that? I don't know the needs of all these people sitting here. And I don't want to say a wrong word that will lead people astray. I want a word from you. A word according to the need of people that will reveal the secrets of people's hearts. That is why I fear and tremble when I stand here. I often compare myself to a heart surgeon. A heart surgeon who's doing delicate heart surgery on a patient. He's cut open the heart and the man can die. Even if he's got 30 years experience as a heart surgeon, he still is fearful when he does a heart operation. That's how I stand. I say, Lord, I'm dealing with people's lives. Some of them may go to hell if I don't warn them correctly. Some may get discouraged if I'm not gentle. How can one meet the need of so many people? It's like doing one heart surgeon doing three, four, five, six heart surgeries at the same time. Boy, he'd be scared. It's something like that. I want to encourage you, those who share the word, live in fear and trembling. Say, Lord, I want you to anoint me with the Holy Spirit. Give me words that will bless people. The other thing that happened in my life was through the power of the Holy Spirit, I was freed from anger, bad moods. I cannot remember how many years ago I had my last bad mood. Was it 20 years ago, 25 years ago? I don't remember it, honestly. To be in a bad mood, it's gone. I've experienced what it says, rejoice in the Lord always. Dear brothers and sisters, seek for the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the greatest gift God's given us. He sent the second person of the Trinity to die for the sins of the world, and when he went up, he sent a third person of the Trinity to come and dwell with us forever, to change our lives permanently. Open your being to him. Let's bow in prayer. God does not meet us according to our knowledge, but according to our need. If you have an understanding of the doctrine, that won't help you. The early Christians who were filled with the Holy Spirit had no understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but they had a tremendous sense of need. They were poor in spirit. They said, Lord, we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our life. There's an Old Testament law, when you place every part of the offering on the altar, the fire would fall, and that's all I want to ask you. Is your need so desperate that you're willing to give up everything in your life to God? Everything. Your life, your time, your ambitions, your plans, your prestige, your reputation. Are you willing to do whatever God tells you, whatever he tells you? Are you willing to go and ask forgiveness from somebody you spoke rudely to, somebody you hurt? How soon? Are you willing to make a phone call immediately after this service and say, immediately, Lord? I'm willing to pay any price. I have no reputation, desire, honor, nothing. I lay everything on the altar. My time, my future, everything. God, show me if there's anything in my life I have not yielded. I give it all to you. And Lord Jesus, I open my whole heart to you completely. I don't withhold anything. Come and fill me, Lord. Jesus the baptizer is here. Praise God. Jesus the baptizer is here. Open your heart, my brother, sister, to him and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit by simple faith. According to your faith, be it unto you. It will be so. Thank him when you pray, believe that you have received. Open your heart and say, thank you, Lord. Thank you. As you go home and thank the Lord and you find one day that words of thankfulness, the English language is not enough. Other syllables of expressing your thankfulness come to God. Express them to God in secret. God bless you, Heavenly Father. Help each one who's seeking you here that none will go away empty. The rich you have sent empty away. But the poor, the needy, you've always poured water upon them. Thank you. You'll do it again. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.