This sermon emphasizes the importance of staying true to the true grace of God, highlighting the dangers of turning the grace of God into a license for sin. It warns against false teachings that lead to deception and urges believers to follow the example of Christ in living a life free from sin, humility, and obedience to God's word.

I have often said that a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. A foolish man does not even learn from his own mistakes. We want to be wise and learn from the mistakes of other churches. What is the reason why so much of Christianity today has drifted completely away from the truth of the scriptures? Why is it that most of the preachers who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit are crazy after money? To be filled with the Spirit makes you more like Jesus and you should be more free from the love of money. But it seems to go the opposite way, which teaches me that most of this Pentecostal charismatic movement is a counterfeit and a fraud designed to cheat people. I believe in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and experienced a number of them, but I do not agree with all these folks who have counterfeit gifts. One of the things that helped me right at the beginning when God filled me with the Holy Spirit and gave me his gifts was to show me what is the mark of a real fullness of the Holy Spirit. We have often seen in this church that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was only upon people, never in people. Jesus said to his disciples in John 14 that now the Spirit is with you and in that day he will be in you. That happened on the day of Pentecost. The first person in human history who had the Holy Spirit in him and filled him was Jesus Christ. So therefore I see the perfect example of the Spirit filled man is Jesus Christ. So any manifestation that people say this is the Holy Spirit is very easy for me. I compare it with Jesus Christ. I mean if you think currency note you got is counterfeit, you never compare it with another person's note because his may be counterfeit too. You can go to 10 people and compare your currency note with all of theirs and you could be wrong because all of them have got currency notes. You go to the Reserve Bank of India and check there and they will tell you this is counterfeit. So I don't compare one person saying he is filled with the Spirit with another person. I go to the scriptures and I compare everything with the perfect Spirit filled man. Jesus Christ. And there I see what the real fullness of the Holy Spirit is. And if any of you want to know, want to be protected from deception, I would encourage you to do that. I remember the day after God filled me with the Holy Spirit way back in 1975, the very next day when I was confused as to is this real, I mean was that gift of tongues I got which I never even sought for, was it real? And God, I said, if it is real I will get new revelation on the New Testament now. So I started reading Matthew chapter 1 and there the Holy Spirit showed me how the Holy Spirit, in Matthew chapter 1 the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and I realized what God had given me was real. And then I saw from there the Holy Spirit came upon Mary to produce Jesus' body in her. Not to make her go around even to be a preacher or any such thing, it was primarily to produce Jesus' body in her. You read in Luke chapter 1 the Holy Spirit said to her, the Spirit of God will come upon you and that holy thing that will be born from you will be called the Son of God. That is the mark of the Holy Spirit's fullness and the Lord showed me then the Holy Spirit has come upon you and filled you to produce Jesus in you. It won't happen overnight, just like Jesus' body was not formed overnight. It took a long time for Mary, for that baby to come to full size and the Lord said to me it will take a long time for Christ to be fully formed in you but just like a baby grows in the womb, more and more and more and more and one day is born. In the same way the Spirit of God showed me the Holy Spirit will make you more and more and more like Christ and one day you will be fully like Him. That solved my problems and that's what protected me from deception for 42 years. If you want to take it, take it. It will protect you. But this is the reason why so much of Christendom has gone astray because Jesus is no longer the model. They made other preachers and other great so-called great men of God I don't believe they are great men of God, they are examples. So if you follow a wrong example, Jesus once said you follow a blind man, he'll go into the ditch and you'll go into the ditch and there are many Christians who are going into the ditch. Especially those of you sitting here who are fascinated by many American television evangelists that you see even in India today. Ask yourself, how much like Jesus Christ is that person? Is he helping you to be more like Christ or is he just entertaining you with messages? Go and search the internet with that man's name or that woman's name and see something about his financial practices and principles. And then save yourselves from being deceived. I've done that. I've searched about all these people and I know where they stand and I'm not surprised. I don't need to go there. When I listen to the message for me it is clear because I have discernment. But most of you don't have discernment that's why I say go and search and find out. If you are interested in protecting yourself from deception and you find that when you look at the ministry of Jesus he never once spoke about wealth or health. He healed thousands. Today's so-called healers don't heal thousands. Two or three people walk out of a wheelchair. I've seen so many people in the airports walk out of wheelchairs without any healer. I've seen it all the time. That's not a miracle. So don't be deceived by all these things. I say this for your protection and also because I feel that there are people sitting here who are going to be deceived. Now let me give you my personal conviction. From what I have seen of many of you sitting here in CFC today, a number of you, I believe right now if Jesus comes you will go to hell. I don't have a doubt about it because there are things in your life that you have not said right. And it's my duty to tell you that. I can't save you from hell but I can warn you. If Christ comes today, the number of you sitting right here who are playing the fool with sin, who have cheated other people of money, who have not returned it, who have not set things right, you are on your way to hell. That's the word of God. And what is the reason? Because a certain amount of pride has come into you which has blinded you to reality. So that you don't face up to the truth. The devil is the one who blinds our eyes because he wants you to spend eternity with him. Do you know that the devil wants you to spend eternity with him? That's why he blinds your eyes. And don't be so sure of yourself. So the reason I share God's word frankly and freely is because I want to protect you from that. And that's why from the beginning of my ministry I always told people that I won't take any money from you. Because if I take money from you I won't be able to tell you the truth. In the old church we were in before CFC was started they wanted me to be the pastor of that Baptist church and I said no, I will not take that title, sorry. I don't believe in titles. I'm a brother, I'll always be a brother. And then they said we'll pay you a salary. I said no, I will not take a salary. Because if I take a salary I can't tell you the truth. So I refused to take a salary and refused to take a title and I preached to them for one year and they got fed up. But my hands are free from their blood. In the day of judgment when many of those people who rejected my message go to hell they will not be able to say to God that he did not send someone to tell them the truth. God will tell them, I sent somebody to you to tell you the truth and you chucked him out, you would not listen to him. Okay, what can I do then? They did that to Jesus, they did that to Paul, they did that to the apostles. I'm not surprised that they do that to me. So, it's very, very important that we take seriously whenever God sends somebody to speak to you directly. Because we are living in those days about which Paul said Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4 I solemnly charge you, verse 1. This is, you know, everything that Paul writes is serious. But when he says I seriously charge you that means something very important. In the presence of God, in the presence of Jesus Christ who will judge you Timothy one day. Remember Timothy, this God is going to judge you so better listen to what I say. He is going to appear in his kingdom and he is going to judge the living and the dead. Preach the word of God. Not the empty theories that so many people are preaching. And be ready in season, out of season. That means when it is convenient for you to preach when it is not convenient for you to preach. When you are fresh, when you are tired. Makes no difference. Always be ready to preach the word of God. And what should you do? Reprove, rebuke, exhort. How many sermons do you hear on Christian TV or on the internet which reprove, rebuke, exhort? Hardly any. And do it with great patience. That means don't give up. Just because they don't listen, preach it again. With instruction from the word of God because, listen to this. This is the time we are living in. I could paraphrase it, right? The time will come, 2000 years from now Timothy when they will not listen to sound doctrine. And the word sound in the Greek language from which it is translated is a Greek word from which we get the English word hygiene. Hygiene is originally a Greek word. And that's the word used here. Hygienic doctrine. Now, if you want to know, if you want to understand where is hygiene given importance? It's in a hospital. In a good hospital. And even in a bad hospital, the operating theater will really be kept clean. Hygiene is mostly found in an operating theater of a hospital where they don't allow any bit of dirt. You can't walk in there with your shoes. No nurse or doctor can go without washing their hands for a number of minutes. And even after they wash their hands, they've got to still wear gloves that have been sterilized for a number of minutes or hours. And everything there must be spotlessly clean. And that's what hygiene means. And hygienic doctrine means a doctrine like that that does not allow one germ, does not allow one sin, does not say, oh, that's okay. A few sins, it's alright. That is the false grace that is being preached in many places. And I fear there are people who have preached it in CFC also. It doesn't matter if you sin. God will always forgive you. There's plenty of grace with God. It doesn't matter. There are germs everywhere. We are operating on a patient, I know, but what does it matter if that glove fell down on the ground? Let's pick it up and use it again. That won't happen in CFC as long as I'm alive. We'll rebuke it, resist it, and throw such people out that we never hear them again. Because we are against false grace. It goes under the guise of we must comfort those who are condemned. Yeah, yeah. Go and listen to the TV preachers. Comfort those who are condemned. Here we rebuke those who live in sin. There is no condemnation. But if you keep on living in sin, you deserve to be condemned. Definitely. You have to reap what you sow. But if you turn from sin, if you really desire to be free from sin, then God will encourage you. But not if you're going to keep on living in sin. I'll tell you honestly, I'm here to reprove, rebuke, and exhort because I don't want any of you to go to hell. And don't listen to those people who say it's alright if you sin. Your blood will be on their hands. Don't be deceived. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort because the time will come when people will not preach this. They will not endure hygienic doctrine. They will not endure the doctrine which says no germs in the operating theater. No sin in your life. They won't endure that. They say, no, no, no. We are here on this earth. We can't be perfect. We can't have an operating theater which is completely free from germs. Okay, that's fine. Do your best about it. Don't take unhygienic things lightly. But people will want to have their ears tickled. And they will accumulate for themselves, teachers, in accordance to their own desires. You know, when you listen and appreciate a man who says sin is not serious, it shows your condition. Such a preacher will be very popular. Popular in hell. And popular with you. But not popular with God or the Holy Spirit or in heaven. But that's because your desire, and I'll tell you the type of preaching that you want to listen to shows me your condition. And the intensity with which a hospital ensures hygiene shows me the standard of that hospital. You go to a hospital which is low level of hygiene where the doctors say, well, it doesn't matter so much, casual. I will never want to be operated in such a theater. I'll die. So I'm surprised how many people today just listen to all these preachers who don't tell you to stay away from sin. And to pursue after other things. And the Bible clearly says, teachers according to their own desires. Why do such teachers flourish? Because there are many, many people who do not want to hear about sin. They don't want to hear that God is a holy God who hates sin. They only want to hear about God who is a merciful God who just keeps on forgiving, forgiving, forgiving. No matter how much you do, He'll forgive you and forgive you Show me a verse like that in the Bible. Everything in the New Testament warns against sin. Jesus was warning against it all the time. You remember what I told you last time, the full gospel. You can be a woman caught in adultery. She was probably a prostitute. I don't know. Going and sleeping with some man and they caught her. Terrible. She probably committed adultery a hundred times. And in one word, Jesus said, I don't condemn you. That is the first message we preach in CFC. No matter how great your sin, no matter if you have murdered people like the thief on the cross, no matter if you have lived in adultery a hundred times, if you have repented, if you are sorry, men may condemn you, but Jesus says, and in CFC we say, God does not condemn you. If you have repented, it's blotted out. We have preached that for 42 years, but we don't stop there. That's half the gospel. The next sentence, Jesus told that woman, and I'll never get tired of repeating this, go and don't ever sin again. Is that the message you hear from other preachers? No. And say, well, you will sin, but try not to. It's like telling this woman caught in adultery, you've done it a hundred times, so I realize that maybe next week you'll do it again. So it's okay. Come back to me. I'll forgive you. And maybe next week again you may do it. Come back. He said, don't sin again. He didn't say reduce the level of your sinning. The frequency of sinning should be reduced. You do it once a week, and then try and do it, adultery only once a month, then try and extend the period because is that what Jesus said? Go and sin no more. John 8 verse 11. In one sentence, you have the full gospel. And yet so many people can't understand it. Why? Because there are preachers in American television, over American television here, and many preachers here, and some who have crept into CFC as well, who want to be popular. Which is more popular? With people who play the fool with sin? Oh, God will forgive you? Or don't sin again? Which do you think is more popular with people who are not serious about sin? You know. We're not interested in popularity. I remember the verse the Lord gave me when I started preaching. If you seek to please men, you can never please God. I decided that years ago. I will never in my life seek to please a single human being. I will not seek to please even my fellow elders or any human being in the world because whatever people think of me is unimportant. So he said they will turn away, these preachers will turn away their years from the truth and they will turn aside to myths. Myth is a word we don't use much and I don't know if most of you know what it means. It means it's a fiction which is projected as if it were the truth. A falsehood which is projected as if it were the truth. Because it's got a little twist to it. For example, if somebody says God is merciful. Isn't that right? God forgives sin. Isn't that right? If you sin a thousand times God will forgive you. Isn't that right? Now you can take that and preach that in a way which encourages people to sin. That's exactly what Paul is telling Timothy 2000 years ago. From now you'll hear such messages. Before the end of the first century they started preaching that. That sin was not serious. Paul was prophesying and that is why he told Timothy be sober, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist. Evangelist means one who preaches the full gospel, not half the gospel and fulfill your ministry. He says as far as I'm concerned I have fought a good fight. I have preached God's gospel for years Paul says and now I have finished my course. I have finished my course fighting this falsehood and that's the way I want to go and I hope every one of you who preaches anything will want to go that way. I've kept the faith. I did not compromise it because I wanted some popularity with someone and therefore when the Lord comes as a crown of righteousness the words of Paul were rare even in those days. Timothy was one faithful co-worker. Turn with me to Philippians in chapter 2. When Paul writes about Timothy I want you to see this. I say this because many of you are not familiar with these scriptures. Some of you are. Okay, then it's worth listening to it again. Philippians 2.19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that you may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. Listen to this. I don't have anybody else he's thinking of he's not thinking of all the people in the church he's thinking among my co-workers whom can I send to you Philippians so that I can be encouraged when I learn of your condition. He's not thinking of some ordinary believer sitting in the back row. He's thinking among my co-workers and to be among Paul's co-workers you have to be a pretty high standard whom can I send to bless you and encourage you and let me know your condition. I have nobody except Timothy. Why is it like that? Is it because the others were not born again? Is it because the others were not anointed with the Spirit? No, it's because he could see that Timothy all the others seek after their own interests. Verse 21 or we can say they all seek after their own popularity. Most of you don't preach but I'll tell you as a preacher I've preached for now 55 years seeking popularity is one of the greatest temptations of a preacher. Even when he sits or stands and preaches he's tempted to say something which will not offend you. He's tempted to say something that will make you attracted towards him. Such a man is a false prophet, a deceiver one who will lead you astray. He's a flatterer. But it comes under the guise of preaching the compassionate gospel. It's the compassionate gospel that will send you to hell. He says, they all seek after their own interests not the interests of Christ Jesus. And isn't it amazing that among Paul's co-workers he could find only one? What about among all we have about 120 elders now in CFC churches. Do you think all of them are like Timothy? I am not deceived. The one who does not seek his own interest who is willing to be unpopular willing to preach the full counsel of God willing to preach the truth even if others reject him that's a man like Timothy who doesn't seek his own interest at all. He's not interested in being popular with you. He's interested in saving you from sin. He's interested in saving you from hell. Timothy was like that. Genuinely, verse 20, concerned for your welfare. Genuinely concerned for your welfare and not his own popularity. But there were hardly anybody like that. Let me show you a word which Paul wrote to the elders in Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the best churches that Paul planted. Paul planted churches in Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth, Galatian area, different places. But when you read his letters to the Galatians there are a lot of things he has to correct. When he writes to the Corinthians there are a lot of things he has to correct there also. When he writes to the Colossians which was not a church that he planted there also he's got a lot of things to correct. When he writes to the Thessalonians a church he planted a lot of things he's got to correct there. When he writes to the Romans which is not the church he planted there also he gives some warnings. But when he writes to the Ephesians, there is nothing, even to the Philippians, which is a very good church. You know, by the way, the Philippian church was the only church from which Paul would receive any gift. From none of the other churches would he receive, if they sent him gifts, he would say no. But sometimes, even though he was working hard, he was in need. Because of one reason, he was not only supporting himself, you read in Acts 20, he supported Timothy, he supported others, because they didn't have the ability to earn their own living, he supported them. He was a fantastic man, who not only supported himself, but supported some of his co-workers too. You hardly ever find a man like that today. And so, sometimes when he was really hard up, you read in 2 Corinthians 11 and Philippians 4, the Philippians sent a gift, he'd say thank you very much. But from no other church. But even in the Philippian church, there were some problems. There were two sisters who couldn't get along with each other. And there were some warnings he gave, but when he writes to the Ephesian church, you read Ephesians, there's no warning at all. And I think part of the reason was Paul spent three years in Ephesus more than in any other place. And he preached day and night, it says. Three years day and night means 2,000 sermons. Can you imagine sitting and listening to 2,000 sermons from the Apostle Paul and the appointed elders there? And he was going away after three years and he says in Acts 20 verse 17, he sent to Ephesus and called all the elders to come to Miletus. Now I don't know how many elders there were, maybe four or five. Now he's speaking to these four or five elders. And he tells them, you saw. He doesn't remind them of the 2,000 sermons. He says, you saw how I lived in your midst for three years. I served the Lord with humility and tears. You know that Paul used to weep, not so much in public but in private. The trials and all that, how people persecuted him, troubled him, harassed him, called him a false prophet and all that. But I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable to you. Publicly, in the church meeting and house to house, I solemnly, seriously testified that you must repent. That means you must turn from your sin toward God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he preached. Seriously, he preached it. Turn from your sin. So if you went listening to Paul and supposing you suddenly land up one day, oh, Paul is preaching in that house, I'll tell you what you'd hear. Turn from sin, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what you'd hear. And now he says, I'm going to Jerusalem and I'm going to suffer there. But I'm not bothered about all that. Verse 24, I want to finish my course and the ministry which I've received from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And this phrase, the gospel of the grace of God, is one of the most misunderstood verses, words, phrases in the New Testament. The New Testament definition of grace compared to law is what we have preached here for years. Sin shall not rule you when you're under grace and not under law. If sin is mastering you, you are under law. According to Romans 6.14, when sin stops mastering you, you're under grace. That's like saying you've learned to walk. You're not falling down all the time like a little child. Does that mean a grown man will never slip up and fall? You may slip up and fall today. Out on the road you can trip on something. It can happen to anybody. So Paul was not saying that people will not sin. But just because I saw you trip and fall, I don't say you haven't learned to walk. When I see a little child, a 10-month-old child tripping and falling, that's different. There's a difference between people who are falling and falling and falling and falling. And a person who falls once in a while, he's learned to walk. So when it says sin will not rule over you, it does not mean that you'll never sin. But it does mean that it cannot rule, it cannot master you. You are the master. And that is what we preach, the gospel of the grace of God. This was corrupted even in the first century that Peter had to write a full epistle on it. And in that epistle he says things like, If you call him father, then live in fear. And walk in the footsteps of Jesus, he says in 1 Peter 2. And at the end he says in chapter 5, this is the true grace of God. You read 1 Peter carefully, and you'll see what the true grace of God is. So he preached that true dear grace of God. And maybe I should turn that for a moment before we come back here. 1 Peter, because many of you may not be familiar with it. We've looked at this verse many times. But listen how Paul concludes, Peter concludes his letter. Verse 12. Peter's letter in my Bible is about 4 pages. 3 and a half pages. 3 and a half pages. That's all. He says in 1 Peter 5.12, I've written to you briefly. Exhorting and testifying. This is the true grace of God. Which means there is a false grace of God. This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. What is the true grace of God? What is the gospel of the grace of God? Which Paul preached and which Peter preached. Let me show you. Turn first of all to 1 Peter. And chapter 1. He says here in verse 8. Just as a beginning. Even though you have not seen him. Nobody had seen Jesus. You still love him. This is what the grace of God does. You've never seen Jesus physically. But you love him. That's one proof of the true grace of God. You're not going around saying, no, no, no. I'll believe only when I see him. No, I've not seen him, but I love him. And you still don't see him, but I believe in him. And I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Do you know that when you come to receive the true grace of God. It does not make you miserable. It does not make you miserable. It gives you an unspeakable joy. If you're always miserable, gloomy, complaining, grumbling. You've missed out on the true grace of God. I might as well tell you that. It says this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it. And when you live like this, you will obtain the result of your faith, verse 9, which is the salvation of your soul. Peter speaks about a salvation, which is more than salvation from hell. Salvation of my defiled soul. My soul has been corrupted by sin, through inherited sin from Adam. And I'm going to be saved from it. From all that has defiled and corrupted my soul. Made me selfish and miserly and grumbling and complaining. I'm going to experience salvation. And then he goes on to say, verse 16. The true grace of God, verse 15. Like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior. Be holy in all your behavior. Because the one who called you is holy. This is the true grace of God. And if you call him father, verse 17. How do these false preachers say he's your father? A father will just overlook all your sins and forgive you and forgive you and forgive you and forgive you and give you any amount of money that you want, do what you like, do what you like. Look what Peter says about the father. If you call him father, he will impartially judge you. According to every man's work. Then conduct yourself in fear. Very different from the false preachers. Don't be deceived. Go by the word of God. And not by the clever illustrations and stories people use to tell you what God is like. You know, whenever a person uses an illustration, you've got to be careful if it's a scriptural illustration or not. Because I've heard a lot of this. I don't have television in my home. I don't have time for it because I still don't know the Bible properly. I want to be ready to meet with God. I want to make full use of my life. But for one year, many years ago, for one or two years, I took cable television only to watch all the Christian TV programs in India. And I watched every one of them. 99% all American preachers. And I saw what they were preaching. I needed to see it. Because I wanted to see what other Christians, even some CFC people were watching. Otherwise, how can I help them and correct them? And I saw. All of them, they were not preaching the true gospel. They were not telling you what sin will not rule over you. They were not saying, if God is your father, live in fear, like it says here. Conduct yourself in fear during your entire stay on this earth. Have you ever heard that from any preacher? If God is your father, conduct yourself in fear during your entire time on this earth. This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. Because you were redeemed not with silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ. You've often heard me say, don't treat the blood of Christ like tap water. Peter says, don't even treat it like silver or gold. Forget tap water which is cheap. Even silver and gold is nothing compared to the blood of Jesus Christ. If you had 10 crores of rupees worth of gold, the blood of Jesus Christ is more valuable than that. How do we apply that in relation to sin? If you sin once, many of you say, what to do brother, I keep falling, I keep falling, I keep falling. Supposing you had to pay 1 lakh rupees every time you sinned to be forgiven. Don't you think you would stop sinning pretty quickly? Definitely. All this business of, I'm weak, I can't help it. That's the devil who tells you that. That tells you that the power of sin, Satan says, that I put in your nature is more powerful than the grace of God and Jesus Christ. And you say, yes Satan, that's right. You have to watch pornography, the devil says, it's part of your nature. The grace of God can't deliver you. Yes Satan, you're right. Shame on you, especially if you've been listening to CFC for so many years. It's because of these false preachers who comforted you with false comfort. The blood of Christ, next time you ask, you know, we sin, ok, next time you ask Jesus to forgive you, that may be within the next 24 hours, you slip up somewhere with a bad thought or a bad word, you ask, Lord Jesus cleanse me with your blood. Right? But please remember at that moment, that blood is worth more than 10 crores worth of gold. I don't think you ever thought of it like that till now. You thought of it like tap water. He says, it's more precious than of gold and silver. You were delivered from this foolish, useless way of life verse 18, that you inherited from your parents verse 18. You know, sin is a serious thing. Then he goes on to say, therefore verse 2, chapter 2 sorry, verse 1, this is the true grace of God put aside all malice it's all hatred, put it away all guile and hypocrisy guile and hypocrisy means the same thing but he uses two words to emphasize how serious it is to be a hypocrite put away all hatred of other people, people who harmed you Can you honestly say that you wish good for them? That is the way I test myself nowadays. I remember many, many years ago in my life when somebody did harm to me and I said, Lord I forgive them completely, to the best of my knowledge from my heart. And a little later I heard that something bad happened to one of them and even though I didn't say anything with my mouth, in my heart, I was a little delighted. And the Lord said are you happy? I said, yes I'm sorry I'm happy that something bad happened to that guy who did some harm to me and the Lord said to me, forget about him you have not forgiven him from your heart. I said, Lord I'm sorry all this time I sincerely thought I had forgiven him from my heart because I said it Lord I've forgiven him from my heart but in that moment when something bad happened to him and I felt happy about it, I discovered that I did not forgive him from my heart. Who feels happy when something bad happens to somebody? God or the devil? Tell me. You know, God's never happy when anything bad happens to anyone He wants to save that person from that, but the devil is happy and I realized that when I'm happy that something bad happened to someone who harmed me, without realizing it I'm sort of holding hands with the devil there yeah Satan, that's good that guy deserves it because he did some harm to me he spoke some evil about me that is the blood of Abel. The Bible says the blood of Abel cried out to God take revenge on Cain who killed me but Hebrews 12 says the blood of Jesus when it fell to the ground cried out, Father forgive them for killing me and it compares in Hebrews 12 the blood of Jesus with the blood of Abel and it says that is the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant and it's very easy to find out when somebody harms you like Cain harmed Abel or the Pharisees harmed Jesus what comes out? The blood that flows is it crying out for vengeance or forgiveness that's a very good way to find out whether you have entered the new covenant or not so often we think, I'm in the new covenant I belong to a new covenant church, hang on, just wait a minute check yourself you can check right now, think of all the people who harmed you did evil to you or you imagine they did evil to you, spoke evil about you what do you wish for them? right now, what do you wish for them? there are two ways you can test it one is if something bad happens to them, you feel happy or the other way is when you hear something very good happen to them or their children, you feel a bit sad oh, I wish it would go badly it's going so well with them both ways you can find out that you have not forgiven them from your heart is there any sin that another person has permitted to do to you which you are not supposed to forgive the greatest sin in the world was crucifixion of Jesus Christ and he forgave them what sin is there that you cannot forgive if you have that attitude it shows you have not understood the Christian message because you believe the false gospel preached in so many places and on Christian television I would encourage you to stop listening to those Christian TV programs lest you lose your soul and land in the lap of the devil one day if you go to YouTube listen to messages that stir you to stay away from sin there are a few like that maybe 1% I think but most of the others just encourage you to live as you like they entertain you the gospel is not meant for entertainment when a house is on fire you are not going to do a drama before those people you are going to rush in and pull people out and tell them to get out and yell at them, don't get out of there that's how I look at it if a man is sleeping in a house and the house is on fire you don't say, hey sir, will you please get out and he doesn't listen to you no, you shake the table, take the bed and throw him out and get him out of the house, even if he gets angry with you when he gets out of the house and his life is saved, he will be thankful that's what I tell many people in the day of judgment you will be thankful that you listen to me when you see what happened to all these other people who listen to other preachers I don't care what you think of me today, I'm not interested and so Peter says putting aside all malice how much of malice? All malice all hatred, all wickedness all guile, all envy all slander, this is the true grace of God not something that says, no, no, no, you can't once in a while you'll fall, that's not the true grace of God the true grace of God says, put aside all malice all guile, all hypocrisy, all envy, all slander and if you want to do that be like a newborn baby that's always crying out for milk have you seen newborn babies crying out, crying out I mean, anybody can see when a little newborn baby is crying he's crying for milk, he's not crying for money he's crying for milk, and if you're really born again I believe this is one of the tests of real new birth, and I have to say it's quite likely that a number of you here are not really born again I have to tell you the truth because I've seen some of you and I can see it in some of your faces and especially in your eyes, some of you are not born again the Bible speaks about people who've got haughty eyes the Bible speaks about people who've got eyes full of adultery Peter could see it people without discernment cannot see it but pride can be seen in a person's eyes adultery can be seen in a person's eyes, impurity there are many things that can be seen in a people's eyes that's why you know when they want to conceal a person's face all they have to do is cover his eyes, have you noticed that in all these pictures when they want to conceal somebody's face all they've got to do is cover his eyes and you can't make out who it is that's all that's why all these secret service people wear dark glasses it's in the eyes that you see what a person is like and spiritually I've seen that for many many years that's why I say I believe that a number of you are not born again really and unfortunately for you you somehow managed to slip into the old CFC commitment list by convincing some elder perhaps or some deacon I don't know who that you were born again that good brother may not have had discernment or he may have sought your popularity or he may have been a good friend of yours not loved you enough to tell you the truth about yourself thank God we've scrapped that commitment list so that nobody deceives themselves anymore that they are born again if you're born again I mean you go to any doctor any healthy child will immediately start crying for milk in fact crying is one of the first things it's mark of a healthy baby born and it cries regularly every day many times a day it cries for milk you have a baby that never cries for milk you have to put it in the incubator it's not healthy and you say a person was born again and has no desire to read the word of God I say that's not really born again because it says here like newborn babes read it in your Bible 1 Peter 2 verse 2 long for the pure milk of the word of God every newborn babe longs for the mother's milk and the true grace of God says every truly born again child of God will long for God's word I asked Jesus to come into my heart the first time when I was 13 I don't know whether he came, probably he didn't because I was not sincere or I didn't repent properly and in the next 6 years from the age of 13 to 19 many times I said Lord come into my heart and I was sure I remember when I was 19 and a half suddenly I got an assurance Christ has come in and you know what happened from that time I began to cry for the word of God I didn't have victory over sin no, I was defeated but I had a tremendous desire to study the word of God and for the next 7 years I devoured the scriptures and that is the knowledge of scripture that I studied between the ages of 19 and 26 that has preserved me till today and that's even given me a ministry but nobody told me to study the scriptures there was not a single person who said come on, Zack, study the scriptures you don't have to go to a healthy baby and say come on, cry out for your mother's milk you understand that why does somebody have to come to you and say come on, read the word of God, I will tell you why because you are not born again you are an unhealthy premature birth not fit to live and if you continue like that you will die the true grace of God shows that a genuinely born again person will have a constant hunger for the word of God every healthy baby will cry out for milk more than once a day and it's not just to ease his conscience some people ease their conscience ah, I read the bible today it's like a baby saying ok, I don't have to cry anymore for milk I drank my mother's milk this morning is that why a baby cries for milk? to ease its conscience, I did it today tick off, I asked my mother for milk, finished if you read the bible like that, you are not really born again I'll tell you that that's not the way a baby wants to drink milk I'm not saying you must read the bible all the time the bible says blessed is the man who meditates on the word of God day and night and who obeys it I don't have to have my bible, in fact for 1400 years there was no printed bible in the world but you could still have the word of God in your mind it's more in the mind, God speaks to our mind and our heart thy word have I hidden in my heart David said in Psalm 119 thy word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee so when we receive for example the word of God today every day of your life you must long to hear something God reminds you of the word of God, if you have a bible of course much easier, you can read it but everyday to be reminded of the word of God that longing for it proves you're really born again I want to say to all of you, you may not have victory over sin maybe you're slipping up and falling but my dear brother, sister, if you have a longing to hear God speak to you and to be reminded of the word of God everyday in your mind you're born again you're longing to hear what God has to say to you you can be sure that's an indication of birth you want the word of God, you want it there's a longing for it and then I want to go on and say another thing he says the true grace of God is 1 Peter 2 verse 21 the last part, Christ suffered for you leaving you an example this is the true grace of God Christ has left you an example to walk in his steps what steps? who committed no sin who had no deceit in his mouth who when somebody yelled at him, he did not yell back when he suffered unjustly, he did not threaten saying wait till one day I'll teach you a lesson, no he just entrusted his unjust treatment to a father in heaven who judges righteously this is the true grace of God you want to know whether you got the true grace of God are you seeking verse 21 to follow in the steps of Jesus who committed no sin are you looking at the Jesus footsteps and trying to walk in that exactly you know like children sometimes have a game there's a line in front of them try and walk on that line without going outside that line walk straight on that line what I want to ask you is are you even trying to walk on that line do you see what that line is Jesus who committed no sin or are you listening to preachers who say Jesus who sinned once in a while and it didn't matter because the father is so loving no, follow in his steps who committed no sin and you say Peter don't be unrealistic you can say what you like to Peter but Peter says this is the true grace of God he has set you an example you'll never find a verse like this in the Old Testament because there was no grace in the Old Testament in the Old Testament to live a holy life was like pushing a car in the New Testament you get into the driver's seat and the tank is full of petrol and you drive full speed that's new covenant old covenant is you push the car and push the car and push the car and you move a few inches if your Christian life is like that you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit the spirit that gives you grace and I want to say to you this is not something for some special class of Christians it is for everybody the early Christians were told you can be filled with the spirit the day you're born again you can be filled with the spirit not just to be excited and shout and praise but to overcome sin they could shout and praise in the Old Testament better than anybody I believe you read in the Psalms there were more Pentecostal than Pentecostal churches but some people think the shouting and praising that's the mark of being filled with the spirit that's the Pentecostal teaching it is old covenant 100% you find Jesus always shouting and praising and all that no, you don't feel like raising your hands not important Jesus raised his hands when he prayed once in a while but that's not the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit that's a wrong Pentecostal teaching that when you're filled with the spirit you'll shout and praise and yell and scream and praise God no, when you're filled with the spirit you'll be free from sin then there is value in your shouting and praising is a part of your personality don't get discouraged, let me tell you something many people don't understand personalities there are two basic types of personalities among human beings one is inward looking or called introverts and the other is extroverts and we are born with that personality and mostly our personality does not change in our lifetime there are people who are reserved and shy and inward looking and if you're like that it doesn't mean you're a sinner it doesn't mean you're not filled with the Holy Spirit it just means that's your personality and you see another person who's an extrovert and always shouting and yelling and praising God and you say, boy that's filled with the spirit no, that's his personality I've seen drunkards doing all that alcohol can make a person like that, you don't need the Holy Spirit another type of spirit will do it so, don't get discouraged because of that because that unfortunately is the image presented to Christendom today if you're filled with the spirit, oh you'll shout and praise and yell and praise the Lord, go to the Psalms they were not filled with the spirit and they could do it they had trumpets blaring and all that but here it says, follow in his steps who committed no sin do you know that a lot of people who yell and scream like that live in sin they get angry with their wives at home but in the pulpit they look so holy and spiritual song leaders who are leading everybody in worship but just see how they behave at home, they're not filled with the spirit don't be deceived by all this I want to encourage those whose personality is more introverted you can be filled with the Holy Spirit and be an introvert, that's ok and don't think that you have to force yourself to raise your voice or force yourself to raise your hands or force yourself to be exuberant and think that that is filled with the spirit, no, when you're free from sin you know that the Holy Spirit really filled you and when you have an inward attitude of thanksgiving to God, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory which is in your heart that's the mark of being filled with the spirit it's an inward thing, not an external thing for years and years we have said the old covenant was always the emphasis on the external, the external and the new covenant is inward, inward so this is what it means further, in chapter 3 this is the true grace of God when a wife has an unconverted husband, I'm talking about the true grace of God, in the old covenant there's no mention about husband wife relationships zero, you go from Genesis to Malachi in Malachi there's some mention husbands must be faithful to their wives that's almost just before the new covenant came but otherwise all the Old Testament, hardly any mention of it but in the New Testament it's emphasized all the time you wife, you have an unconverted husband who is disobedient to the word of God you can win them with your mouth shut without preaching to them by your behavior by your pure and respectful behavior do you know what the Bible teaches that a husband deserves and needs most from his wife what does a husband need most from his wife it is not sex, it is respect Ephesians 5 says wives respect your husbands the last verse of that let every wife ensure she respects her husband that's what it says here when they see your respectful behavior is your husband unconverted somebody sitting here, ask yourself whether it is your disrespectful behavior which is ensuring that he'll never be converted I've seen some wives in past years here in CFC who were converted whose husbands would not come here but when I saw the bossy, preachy type of attitude that woman had I said her husband will never be converted if this is the Christianity he sees in his wife and then it says, this is the true grace of God you wives, don't adorn yourself with fancy hairdos and gold jewelry and putting on expensive clothes people say, no, no, no, brother, this is all legalism Peter did not think it is legalism to speak about fancy hairdos and wearing jewelry nowadays people mention it, legalism brother I'm not afraid to mention what is written in the Bible this is the true grace of God you can throw it away if you like in the garbage bin that's up to you, but don't let your adornment be merely external and the italics in the NASB shows that it's not in the original why did they put it in? because Americans are like that sometimes because so many people use these things, we don't want to offend them we want them to buy the Bible but the word is, let not your adornment be external don't seek to have that I'm not saying you must be shabbily dressed if you are shabbily dressed, that's a very bad testimony for a Christian a Christian must always be neatly dressed to the best of his ability not fancily dressed, but neatly dressed they must have their hair combed properly, every woman must be like that but not in a way there's a difference between being neatly dressed and being adorned adorning is a different thing altogether when your aim is to adorn yourself like you remember I remember I mentioned once, one sister said to me brother Zach, you speak about we shouldn't wear gold jewelry but you're looking on the outward appearance you know God looks at the heart I said absolutely right sister God is looking at your heart to see why you're wearing that gold is it to impress Him or to impress man that's what God is looking at I'm looking only at the jewelry God is looking at the reason behind it He looks at the motive and if you can honestly say Lord I'm wearing this for your glory go right ahead and wear it, wear as much as you like but let everything you do be for the glory of God this is the true grace of God not external adornment now some people stop there and that's the tragedy with a lot of Pentecostal churches where people wear white clothes and remove all their jewelry because they stop there no it says you put away this and instead you must replace it with the hidden person of the heart that quality of a gentle quiet spirit so I'll tell you honestly if it's a choice I'd rather have a meek and quiet sister who wears jewelry than an arrogant sister who's removed all her jewelry and wears white clothes any day I'd rather have a sister who wears jeans and comes here and lipstick and never gossips about her husband, never gossips about anybody never speaks evil and is submissive at home and is living a godly life than someone who's taken off all these things and looks very simple and yells at home at her husband and speaks evil about others and gossips no, it's the inner life that matters and always is the motive that God looks at and that's the point here, the motive this is the true grace of God we don't have time to look at everything, let's look at chapter 4 verse 1 Christ suffered in the flesh and that's not talking about his physical suffering on the cross because at the end of the verse it says if you suffer in the flesh you'll stop sinning you don't stop sinning by being crucified on Calvary you stop sinning when you put yourself on the cross in your heart, that is the suffering in the flesh if you want to understand the phrase suffering in the flesh in verse 1 this is the true grace of God ask yourself which suffering in the flesh, verse 1, makes you stop sinning you see how the true grace of God is that which helps you to stop sinning not that which comforts you in your sinning, you go through the whole of Peter's episode and you won't find one verse that gives you comfort in your sin that tells you, oh no, no, no, it's ok you will keep on losing your temper, you will sin like this don't worry, God forgives you, that's not Peter's message that is a false grace he says suffer in the flesh and you'll stop sinning so that the rest of your life you can live for the will of God there are many other things like that and I'll say one more thing chapter 5, verse 5 you younger men, be subject to your elders this is the true grace of God if you have not learned to be subject to your elders I can say to your face you have not understood the true grace of God it's crystal clear to me this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it be subject to your elders in matters related to the church an elder brother is not telling you which house to buy unless you are cheating he'll tell you don't cheat and tell lies and get a house, be honest don't pay black money that's what we teach in this church don't pay black money to buy a house oh brother Zach, everybody does it everybody watches pornography every husband yells at his wife everybody cheats on their taxes so what? everybody goes to movies everybody does it everybody goes to hell no, we believe in righteousness so an elder doesn't tell you which house to buy if he advises you on marriage, he's not telling you whom to marry giving you advice on marry a godly man or a godly girl no elder, no sensible elder will tell you you must marry this person or you must not live here, or you must live there they only tell you what is good for your life in relation to the church they will tell you how to dress if you are a girl don't come here and tempt the men here men as it is have a struggle with all the filthy things that are everywhere in magazines and newspapers and on the billboards don't add to that temptation by you coming to church dressed in an immodest way with tight clothes and exposing your body with sleeveless blouses and all that just be careful you say can I go to work like that if you think Jesus will be happy with you, go I don't think he will Jesus believes in modesty do you want Jesus to go with you to your place of work the standards in this area is coming down tremendously and I am sorry to say parents are not strict with their daughters they just let them dress as they like be careful that you don't lose her one day that's all I say, lose her to the world or to the devil I remember once somebody asked me what shall I advise my young girl who asked me Daddy can I dress like some of these sisters, young sisters in CFC who are so fashionable and tight fitting clothes and plenty of jewelry and all what shall I tell her I said tell her there were two trees in the Garden of Eden and there are two types of sisters in CFC Adam could choose which tree he wanted to go to and your little girl can choose which type of sister she wants to be like the fashionable worldly types or the God fearing modest types have a choice in paradise in Eden there was a choice CFC is not better than paradise here also there is a choice choose we don't force people at all to dress this way or that way we advise people be subject to your elders and this is the true grace of God and if you want this grace he says humble yourself because God gives grace to the humble 1 Peter 5 and he is opposed to the proud then God gives you grace when the devil verse 8 comes like a roaring lion you can resist him and he will run away from you for me anyway I know if I have the true grace of God by a couple of things one that sin cannot rule over me anger cannot rule me lust cannot rule my thoughts fruit of the spirit is self control money cannot rule me then I know the grace of God is there and when I can resist the devil and he flees I know I've got the grace of God but if you are scared of the devil I want to tell you in Jesus name you are not living under the grace of God here it says God gives grace to the humble you will resist the devil and he will flee from you resist him none of us should be afraid of the devil if you are afraid of the devil you are afraid at night that the devil may come and harass you you haven't understood the grace of God I'll never forget that story I heard of a man of God this is what he himself said he felt his bed shake at night and he looked up and saw in some form the devil sitting there and he said oh it's only you and he turned over and slept it's only you, what can you do to me I don't know if it's a true story but the moral of that story I understand that if I see the devil somewhere, I've never seen the devil I've never seen Jesus but I don't want to see the devil I know that if the devil comes to me he'll come like an angel of light he will not come in a scary way don't be afraid, he's more interested in deceiving you than harming you remember this, he comes more as a snake more than a lion deceiving you but let's stand firm in the true grace of God let's turn back to Acts 20 I just want to point out this thing the way in which we are drifting today in Christendom is away from this true grace of God that Peter said Paul said in Acts 20.24 this is the true grace of God that I preach and therefore because I preach the true grace of God Acts 20.26 I testify to all of you I am free from your blood that's exactly what I said I am not guilty now if you go to hell that's what Paul was saying your blood is not on my hands because I have proclaimed the true grace of God to you I've solemnly testified this true grace of God to you therefore therefore I am innocent of your blood because he says you won't see my face again I don't know he says that in verse 25, you will not see my face again, I'm going off Paul had some sense that he'd be imprisoned and killed so he says folks, Paul was telling the Ephesian elders you may never see me now until the judgment seat of Christ so he told those Ephesian elders in that day when you and I stand at the judgment seat of Christ and you look at me Paul says I'll be able to say your blood is not on my hands and if you lost out you got yourself to blame and so he says in verse 28, be on guard for yourselves and that was a big responsibility he gave to the elders there and I believe that was a responsibility that many of you who are not just elders or deacons, especially elders and deacons should take it very seriously some of you who have been appointed as deacons I don't know how seriously you take your responsibility do you realize that you have a responsibility towards the flock, those whom you know the three elders here can't do it some of you got to help them to shepherd the church of God verse 28, which he purchased with his own blood and even if you are not an elder or a deacon you are just an ordinary brother but you have a sense of responsibility and you care for others around you that they will not miss out on the grace of God you can do that, you can be an under shepherd without any title brother, sister, you can care for the younger ones but Paul says the Holy Spirit tells me that you guys won't do it what a serious thing to tell these Ephesian elders I know, verse 29, after I leave savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock why couldn't the wolves come in when Paul was there because Paul was a very strict man who would not compromise on any of the teachings of God's word the wolves were scared, they were outside, they were scared of Paul those wolves stood outside and said well, Paul is going to go away from Ephesus soon let's see what happens after he goes he says, I know, the Holy Spirit told him these wolves will come in after I'm gone and they won't spare the flock, they'll tear the flock apart what does that mean? it doesn't mean the flock will become poor no, perhaps the flock will become rich but they won't take sin seriously anymore that's the point, the devil is not afraid of making you rich he's only scared if you take sin seriously in fact, that's how the devil has ruined so many people in Christendom by making them rich and healthy you make a Christian rich and healthy he will start taking sin lightly some of you ask yourself ask yourself this simple question were you more separated from the world and the spirit of the world in those days when you had little have you become more worldly now not so much time for prayer because you've become rich, you've got a grand house you've got plenty of this world's goods now you have plenty of time for television which in the olden days you used to fast and pray you see what's happened the devil succeeded, be alert because he says in verse 31 be on the alert and then he again points to his example I have desired no one's silver or gold or clothes verse 33 you won't find a church in Bangalore where the elders can stand up and say to you we have not desired any money from any of you we have not desired any gifts of clothes from any of you we have worked with our own hands and supported ourselves show me another church in India where the leaders can get up and say that you hardly find such churches anywhere in the world Paul could say that at the end of three years I did not, not only I didn't take it he says covet means I did not even desire he says I didn't go around expecting somebody will put an envelope into my hand you think Jesus went around expecting people to give him money Paul said follow me as I follow Christ this is the true grace of God and I tell you such men are rare be thankful if you have elders like that learn to appreciate them be thankful if you belong in a church like that where nobody is interested in your gifts or your money you are genuinely interested in your soul he says I have given you an example by my life verse 35 to follow Jesus words that it is more blessed to give than to receive let me closing point you to the book of Jude we'll just close with this verse it's the last letter before revelation and Jude says verse 4 certain persons have crept into your church not unbelievers, they claim to be born again they claim to be believers they have crept in and they have turned verse 4 the grace of God into a license to commit sin that's the meaning of that verse like you know when you get a driving license you can drive freely you don't even have to have somebody sitting in your car because the L plate is removed and you got your driving license but when you don't have a driving license always looking around if you get into that car is the policeman watching, is he going to catch me because you don't have a license and in the days when you did not have this understanding of the false grace of God you are always looking around I don't want to sin, I don't want to sin but now you got this message of the false grace of God now you got a license you don't have to be so careful about sin anymore like in the olden days because somebody gave you a license with his message it's ok, God is there to forgive you and forgive you and forgive you you got your license and you can sin as much as you like these are the people who have crept in unnoticed turned the grace of God into a license for sin they don't realize they are denying our Lord and Master Jesus Christ by like that and he says I want to remind you people that even after God saved his people out of Egypt he judged them, destroyed them verse 5, he destroyed people he had saved why is he telling these believers that it can happen to you and the angels in heaven who sinned he threw them out into darkness they became demons, another warning and Sodom and Gomorrah, you know how God dealt with them he waited a long time but he judged them so it happened in the 1st century too, not just in the 21st century you know people come to me brother Zag will condemn people with such a message you can go and tell that to Peter and Paul and Jude I have not said one thing which is not in the word of God and I fear for those who watch too many Christian TV programs listen to all these other preachers you know some of the people who left this church over the last couple of years you know what they left it on they said we have now discovered the message of grace some book which preaches about grace but go and ask them today how is your family life ok you found the message of grace right have you stopped yelling at your wife have you overcome your dirty thoughts ask them to be honest with you all I can say my brothers and sisters is we preach here what I have proved for many years I don't live in condemnation I can stand before God and say I don't live in condemnation or discouragement never, not a single day I don't live with bad moods in the morning, noon or night I don't have it, it's gone I know what the grace of God has done for me I can tell you, I say that for your encouragement if you take the word of God seriously the grace of God will deliver you from bad moods it will deliver you from anger it will deliver you from the love of money it will help you to love and forgive those who hate you and try to harm you and you will be protected from the schemes of the devil you will be a triumphant Christian you will be able to say like Paul thanks be to God who always leads us in his triumph in Christ that is what I desire for every single person here God bless you, let's bow our heads in prayer Heavenly Father we pray that everyone here will be careful not to let the birds of the air come and take away from their mind what they have heard and that they will not listen to some preacher who whitewashes all this and throws it all away please protect them Lord because their eternal destiny is at stake I pray that nobody here will be deceived I don't want to see a single person sitting here finally in the day of judgment being sent to hell by you no I want every single person here, every single child born in our homes to be God fearing and to be saved and to have godly marriages Lord this is what we desire for every single person here all the young people here we don't want them to get into ruinous marriages mess up their life we pray that you will give them godly partners we pray for every person who is coming here Lord please protect us and help us to be true and faithful to the message of the true grace of God we pray in Jesus name, Amen