In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of staying away from temptation and sin. He warns against taking unnecessary risks, especially when it comes to exposing oneself to potentially harmful influences, such as movies that can pollute the mind. The speaker also highlights the need for true worship and service to God, stating that many Christians do not fully understand what worship entails. He further discusses the temptation to seek honor and fame, using the example of preachers who misuse their anointing and supernatural abilities for personal gain. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the devil's temptation to use power for selfish purposes, urging Christians to resist such temptations and remain faithful to God's calling.

We are, most of us anyway, familiar with this verse in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 4, where it says that, in verse 4, 2nd Corinthians 4, verse 4, that God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. What is that referring to? There are two aspects to the glory of Jesus Christ. One is that He is eternally one with the Father, the Son of God, all eternity equal with the Father in every way, God Almighty, and to see His glory. And if we see that, then we worship Him, we pray to Him, we give Him honour like we give to God the Father. With most Christians, that may not be a problem. But there is another aspect to the glory of Christ, and that is that He was a man, just like us. He was made like His brothers in all things, and He was tempted like us in all things. And it appears to me that it is this one half, and it is half. Don't think that Jesus Christ being God is 90%, is becoming man is 10%. No. His being God is 100%, and His being man is 100%, equally. And if we don't see Him as a man, then we have missed seeing a major part of His glory. And I believe that is the reason why most Christians are defeated Christians. I mean, you yourself know this. It is very rarely that we come across a Christian whose life is radiant, who is always rejoicing, and who can boldly testify that God has given him victory over sin, that he has overcome anger, and lust, and the love of money, and things like that. I mean, how many Christians have you met like that in your life? Believers, I'm talking about. They're so rare. And I've found even in our churches where we have preached these truths for 30 years, it's so rare to find someone like that, because they've understood it all in their heads. But they haven't seen the glory that God of this world has blinded their mind. And that is the Gospel. It says here, it's the Gospel of the glory of Christ. It's the good news. God has written it in His Word. You know, we don't need an angel from heaven to come and tell us that. Once when the rich man in hell told Abraham, if somebody goes from heaven and tells my brothers, then they will repent. Somebody goes back from the dead and says that everything you read in the Bible is true. And Abraham said, there's no need for that. They've got the Bible. That's what Abraham said, they've got the Bible. If they don't believe the Bible, they will not even believe if somebody comes back from the dead. So, it's God's Word that He's given us in order to show us this glory. And when we read in John's Gospel chapter 1 and verse 14, it says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw His glory. John is writing this 65 years after Jesus rose up from the dead. And he still remembers the glory that he saw. Not the glory that he saw of Jesus as God, no. It is the Word became flesh. There was a glory in verse 1, where the Word was God, it was with God from the beginning, from all eternity. I'm sure there was a glory there. But in verse 14, he's speaking about the glory that was seen in Jesus when He came to earth in the flesh. And it is my firm conviction, from what I have seen, that the vast majority of born-again believers haven't seen this full glory. Because if they had, their whole lives would be different, their lives would be radiant, their homes would be like a little heaven on earth. And the devil doesn't want that. The devil wants our homes to be like a little hell on earth. And he wants our lives to be gloomy and miserable, like people in hell are. He doesn't want our life to be filled with the glory and joy of heaven. You know, even in the Old Testament, there's a verse in Deuteronomy 11, where it says that God wanted His people, their days on earth, to be like the days of heaven upon earth. It's an amazing verse. And if that was true in the Old Covenant, how much more in the New Covenant? Do you know, my brother, sister, God wants your life to be like the days of heaven upon earth. If you're not familiar with that verse, let me just show it to you. In Deuteronomy 11, it says here that it's the land you're going in. He's describing the land that you're going into in verse 9 onwards, verse 10. It's not like the land of Egypt. It's the land, verse 11, which drinks the water of the rain of heaven, and the Lord cares for it from the beginning of the year until the end of the year. And if you listen obediently, all that I'm commanding you, then the Lord your God will give you rain in the early season and so on, and He'll bless you and care for you. And in the King James Version, it's one of those verses there, it says your days will be like the days of heaven upon earth. And that's God's will for us. A life on which, like it says in verse 12, the eyes of the Lord will be upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. And the last part of verse 21 is where it says in the King James Version, as the days of heaven upon earth. You see that in the margin there too. That means even in the old covenant, God's will was that our days, their days should be like the days of heaven upon earth. And I've often thought about that phrase, that every day of my life should be like a day of heaven upon earth. When God sent Jesus to this earth, He sent Him basically for two purposes, we can say in a nutshell. One, to die for the sins of the world, so that man and God could be reconciled. There's no other way, except through His death and resurrection, that man can be accepted by God. But that's not the only reason why God sent Jesus to the earth. He also sent Jesus so that as we look at His earthly life, God showed in Jesus' life how He wanted man to live. And it's the second part that most people haven't understood. They don't believe it's possible. They accept the first part readily. Which Christian is there who won't accept the fact that Christ died for my sin? But the second part, God sent Him to earth to show us how we're supposed to live. Do you want to know how you're supposed to live every day of your life on earth? You look at the life of Jesus, that's exactly how you're supposed to live. Every day. That's exactly how you're supposed to treat your enemies. The people who do evil to you, the way He treated His enemies. That's what you're supposed to do when somebody calls you a devil, when they called Him a devil. And He forgave them. And that's how you're supposed to live when you see corruption in Christianity. Stand against it like He stood against it in the temple. Without fearing man. You don't find Christians like that. Most Christians are first-rate compromisers. First of all, they don't live like Him their daily life at home. And when they see corruption in the church, they just sit quietly and let the devil take over. Jesus wouldn't do that. He took a whip and chased everybody out. He didn't care whether people thought He lost His temper or got angry. But most believers are so concerned about their own honor. What will people think about me? That in a hundred years they'll never follow Jesus. I'll tell you this, my brothers and sisters. If you are concerned what other people think about you, you'll never be a disciple. You got to make one decision in your life, sometime or the other, if you want to be a disciple. That from now on, I'm not bothered one bit what any human being thinks about me. It's only what Almighty God, my Heavenly Father thinks about me that matters. Full stop. Then you'll begin to live the Christian life the way Jesus lived. The whole secret of His life was that. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted like us. We may think that He didn't understand the struggles and the pulls and the pressures that we face. If it were like that, then He would not be an example for us. He faced every pressure, every temptation, every trial. And I'll tell you something, He faced it more than you and I face it. Think of somebody who came from the pure atmosphere of heaven into the filth of this earth. Don't you think He would have had a greater struggle than we who are born in this filth? Even some of us who had the good fortune of being brought up in hygienic, healthy surroundings by our parents. If you were to go and live in a dirty slum, where there are no proper toilets and the drains flow in front of you and filth, you'd find it so difficult to live there. Well, that's exactly how Jesus felt when He came from the pure atmosphere of heaven to this earth. So He found it more difficult. Somebody who was born and brought up in that slum wouldn't find it 1% as difficult as you and I would, who never grew up in that slum. That's why I say Jesus found it more difficult than you and I. Some of us, you know the devil's done a masterwork in fooling believers saying, Oh, Jesus had it easy. He didn't have it easy. He had it more difficult than you and me. He came from the purity of heaven to the slum of this earth. You and I were born in this slum. He had it much more difficult than you overcame. He would never ask us to overcome if He had not faced it just like we faced it. Unlike we face it today. Turn to Revelation chapter 3. You see, this is the glory we need to see. And I believe that many, many times we miss overcoming. We don't overcome because we haven't seen this glory. And I know in 30 years that we have proclaimed this truth. How much the devil has fought us, accused us, criticized us from Christians, accused us of heresy and all types of things. Why? Because the devil doesn't want people to hear the truth that will make them overcomers. Great is the mystery of godliness. He was manifest in the flesh. And the church is supposed to be the pillar and support of this truth. It says in 1 Timothy 3, 15 and 16. Read it together and see. The church is the pillar and support of this truth. Great is the mystery of godliness that He was manifest in the flesh. Where do you find churches that are upholding this truth like a pillar? Rare. And even many who proclaim it have gone off into doctrine more than reality. And they don't manifest it in their lives. They speak about Christ manifest in the flesh and the devil is manifest in their own flesh. That's hypocrisy. I can't speak about Christ manifest in the flesh if Christ is not being manifest in my own flesh. Then it's a deception. Then it's only a doctrine. But here we see in Revelation 3 how Jesus says in verse 21. The entire Christian world knows verse 20. I wish they knew verse 21 equally well. Verse 20 is, Behold I stand at the door and knock. Everybody knows that verse. I wish they knew verse 21 which follows on from verse 20. After He comes into our heart and supps with us, dines with us. He says, He who overcomes. Why does He come into our life? Why does He want to open the door and us to open the door so we come in? So that He can make us overcomers. He who overcomes, I will grant to Him to sit with me on my throne just as I also overcame. Didn't He have anything to overcome? Of course He did. He overcame and He says He sat down with the Father on His throne. And He says to us, Now you also overcome. How? Just as I also overcame. And that's a great encouragement to me in the moments of temptation. I'll tell you, I never knew what it was to have victory over sin in my life. For more than 16 years after being born again. I was sure I was going to heaven. But I was equally sure I was defeated by sin every day of my life. Until one day I saw. Not heard and understood. I heard and understood long before that. But I saw like Peter. You know, Lord said to Peter, Blessed are you for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my Father in heaven, I saw one day that Jesus was tempted like me. And overcame. And that gave me the tremendous hope and possibility and faith that I can be an overcomer. Because He was like me. Exactly like me. Tempted like me. Facing my pressures. Facing my temptations. And I said, Lord, that's great. I don't have just commandments. I have an example to follow. You know, it's like if somebody were to give you directions, some complicated directions to somebody's house. Even if he writes it down. It's not as good as his saying. Just come with me, I'll take you there. Isn't that much better? The Old Testament was instructions. You want to go from here to God's house? This is the way. And it's a complicated maze and everybody got lost in 1500 years. Everybody got lost in that maze. Then Jesus came along and said, I'm not going to give you instructions. Just come with me. I go with him to my Father's house. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's how we're supposed to live the Christian life. Not instructions. I feel sorry for all these Christians who are quoting this verse. Hey, you're not obeying this little verse and that little verse. Both of them are lost in the maze. The fellow thinks he's obeying and the fellow is not obeying. I don't want instructions. I've got an example. Why do I need these instructions when the man who's written the instructions says, Hey, come with me, I'll take you there. He was tempted. I want to turn you to Matthew chapter 4. This has been, you know, so many people say, How can you say that Jesus was tempted? And they quote James 1, which says, God cannot be tempted. Well, that's like saying God, God doesn't sleep. It says in the Psalms, God doesn't sleep. Psalm 121, Lord doesn't slumber or sleep. Did Jesus sleep? The Bible says in Isaiah 40, God is never tired. Was Jesus tired? God is never hungry or thirsty, it says. Was Jesus hungry or thirsty? It's a stupid argument. God is not. Of course, Jesus was God when he was on earth, but he never used his resources as God. Otherwise, he wouldn't be an example for us. He was like a millionaire who never used his million dollar credit card. He was a millionaire, but he never used his credit card. He was God, but he never used those resources in order to live like a man. Like a millionaire who lived in a slum and says, I won't use my credit card while I'm here. I'll just work like you fellows in the slum and teach you how to live within your income without getting into debt. If he used his credit card now and then sneakily, then that would be cheating. And I want to say Jesus never cheated. He never secretly used his credit card as God. He was a man. He was tempted just like us. Otherwise, how could he teach us in the slum? How not to get into debt? So, Matthew chapter 4, it says, Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. It's so clear. He was tempted by the devil. That proves that he didn't, though he was God, he didn't use his credit card. And he had fasted for 40 days and nights. Now, that wouldn't be a great thing if he did it as God. It's a great thing if he did it as a man. You know, the devil is trying to rob the glory away from God, from Jesus by saying, oh, he did it as God. Is it a great thing if God comes to earth and fasts for 40 days and 40 nights? He can fast for 40 million years. No, the great thing is that he did it as a man. Don't let the devil rob that glory of Jesus away from your eyes. That he did everything on earth without using his heavenly credit card. He did it as a man. With the same power of the Holy Spirit that he gives you and me. If he fasted 40 days and 40 nights, it's possible for a man to fast 40 days and 40 nights in the power of the Holy Spirit. And if believers don't even fast one or two days, it's because they're just too downright lazy. And that's why their lives are so shallow and empty and worldly. And they say, oh brother, why we can't get victory over this? You'll never get victory in a thousand years. Because you're not serious. Jesus was serious about his life. He was serious. He fasted, he prayed, he cried with loud crying and tears. And we don't do any of those things and we say, oh, I don't get victory. You'll never get victory. Not in a thousand years. But you get pretty soon when you see that Jesus did all this as a man. And it's possible for us to do it as men. And women. He was hungry. And the tempter came. And we see these three temptations with which he was tempted. The same type of temptations with which we are tempted. Basically, the three temptations were temptations to selfishness, to presumption, and compromise. And I'll just show you in a moment how we are tempted also in exactly the same way as he was tempted. And particularly those who seek to be witnesses for the Lord. Who seek to serve the Lord. The temptations that came to him were the same that come to us. But he overcame. He sought the power of the Spirit from his father as a man. Otherwise he couldn't have overcome. Neither can you and I. If he had lived by the principles of the law, even Jesus would not have overcome. He lived in the power of the Spirit. So we see here the first temptation was, If you are the son of God, command these stones to become bread because you are hungry. And Jesus replied, Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He didn't say we don't need bread. That would be a lie. He didn't say we don't need food. He wasn't super spiritual. Religious. He was a normal human being. As a man he came and he said we need food. But you don't live only on food. You live by every word of God. And the question is which is more important? So here the temptation is basically two things. One is to place the physical need above the spiritual need. Okay? Here is a temptation to place our physical material needs above our spiritual needs. It's not that we don't have physical material needs. The temptation is to place them above our spiritual needs. Does it come to you? It comes to all of us. Every day. We have a spiritual need and we have a physical need and we place the physical need as above. I'll give you an example. I've often used it. How many of you would be disturbed if you got AIDS? Would you say, oh well, what to do? I got AIDS. It's okay. You wouldn't shrug your shoulders like that. But when you lose your temper every day, what do you say? What to do brother? I lose my temper. The way you say that proves that you are more scared of AIDS than anger. Do you know that AIDS can never send anybody to hell? I hope you know that. No sickness can send a person to hell. Cancer cannot send people to hell. I know people who got cancer, because of it they went to heaven. They repented. Cancer doesn't send anybody to hell. But you read Matthew 5.22. Jesus said anger can take a man to hell. We read that. And we are still more disturbed by AIDS than anger. This is the first temptation. Physical sickness is much worse than sin. I tell you the devil has convinced the vast majority of believers about that. They do anything to get rid of even little aches and pains. How much do they cry out to God to be delivered from sin? Like they would cry out to God to be delivered from some sickness. That is the proof that 99% of believers place their physical and material needs above spiritual needs. That's the first temptation. People say, brother I forgot to read the Bible. Has there been a day in your entire life where you say, I forgot to eat my food? Does that happen? I mean you may not have eaten your food, that's another thing. But you never say, I forgot. These are examples how I could place numerous examples. Which show us that the devil has succeeded in winning in that temptation where he couldn't succeed with Jesus. This is the temptation to selfishness. And we are really foolish. Because our spiritual need is much greater than our physical need. I mean if I were to put it like this. If you got a child at home and it is sick. And you got a dog at home and that's sick. Whom are you going to take to the hospital first? Now you can fast and pray and tell me the answer next week. You need that much time? To see whether you'll take your child to the hospital first or the dog? It's not because you don't love the dog. The dog may be your pet dog, you loved it for so many years. But you couldn't care if it dies. You want your child to be healed. That's normal. Normal human beings are like that. That's the difference between the spiritual and the physical. I'm just using an example. We are spiritually sick and we are physically sick. That's like a child being sick and a dog being sick. Which do you take care of first? Which are you more concerned about? I'm not saying you shouldn't take your dog to the veterinary hospital. And I'm not saying that if you are sick you shouldn't get that treated. I'm saying which is more important to you? Which do you cry out to God more for? This is the temptation that came to Jesus. Place your physical need, you are hungry now, eat. Jesus said, no. God hasn't told me. The word of God that I hear from my father is more important to me. And his attitude was, if God doesn't tell me, I'm ready to die. It's more important to obey God's word than to live. That's the meaning of that statement. And that's what all the martyrs through the ages have said. My life is not important but to stand and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's important. Caesar is not Lord and some other God is not Lord. Are you going to kill me for that? Kill me. My life is not important. Jesus Christ is Lord. My relationship with God is important. They all place the spiritual above the physical. Even to the point of death. But those were not people who said, I forgot to read my Bible. You can't suddenly place the spiritual above the physical in the time of martyrdom. If the rest of your life you are always placing the physical above the spiritual. I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, face up to it. Do you want to be a spiritual man? Do you want to see the glory of Jesus? Here's the glory of Jesus. He was tempted like you and me. We are tempted tremendously all the time to place our physical need above our spiritual need. And we have to resist it like Jesus and say, no, Satan, my spiritual need is greater than my physical need. And that's one purpose of fasting. That we seek God earnestly for something. And we're saying to God, God, I'm hungry, sure. But my spiritual need is more important than my need of food right now. And when a man never fasts, he's saying to God, well, to meet my spiritual need well and good. I can't go without food, God. Forget it. Fine. And that's why year after year after year after year after year we remain in the same shallow spiritual condition. We don't seek to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire, to be filled with God's power. We pursue so hard after making money and getting a job. There's nothing wrong in that. I hope you pursue more hard after being filled with the Holy Spirit. Then you're okay. I mean, otherwise you'd be a person who's running around from one veterinary hospital to another veterinary hospital to get your dog treated when your child is dying at home. It's like that. And the other thing in the same temptation we see is to use the power God gave you for your own ends. Are you the son of God? A few days ago, 40 days ago, you were anointed with the Holy Spirit in the River Jordan, the devil says. You got power? Use your power which God gave you to benefit yourself. Turn the stones into bread with this mighty power of God. Get some benefit yourself. Do you know that the entire Christian world is being tempted by the devil like that? And lot of people are succumbing to that temptation. The devil tells the preacher who's mightily anointed and who's got a supernatural ability from God to preach the word of God powerfully. The devil says to him, you got power to preach. Use that power to make money for yourself. Do you know the number of preachers who fall for that temptation? Use that power to become famous, to promote yourself. Don't speak on subjects that will offend people. Your audience will be wider. Use the power God gave you to get some benefit for yourself. And when you're old and dying, make sure that benefit passes on to your children. That your children will take over your ministry. Because after all, the devil says, you have labored so hard to build up an organization. Why should that go to some stranger? Let your children benefit like all the business people in the world. And do you know the number of people who are deceived by the devil in that? And we see them all around in Christendom. And I'm not talking about the people who don't believe in Jesus Christ. I'm talking about born again believers. Use your power which God gave you for your personal benefit. And Jesus said, no. How many people are there in the world who will say, God has given me power, but I'll never use it for my personal benefit. I'll only use it for others. Jesus used that power to produce bread when he needed to feed the 5,000. That was for others. Never for himself, he overcame where many Christians fall. Why do they fall? Because they haven't seen the glory of Jesus. Tempted as we are. And the Lord says to us, overcome as I overcame. And you can sit with me on my throne. I want to sit with Jesus. I don't care whether it's a throne. I don't mind sitting with Jesus on the dust. The important thing to me is not the throne. When you read a verse like this, he who overcomes will sit with me on my throne. What is the big word for you there? You already know because I gave myself away. Is it with me or my throne? You all know the right answer to give, right? I hope you mean it. The important thing is with me. Not the throne. I'd be happy to sit on the floor with Jesus. I told the Lord once, Lord, I'd be happy to be in hell if you're there. Because it won't be hell anymore. It'll be heaven. I don't care heat. Supposing the Lord says, temperature in heaven is about 120 degrees. Or 45 degrees centigrade or something like that. Would you like to go to heaven? Every day there's no winter there. It's all just hot, 45 degrees. I'd say sure, I'd be there. I'd be happy to be there if it's 100 degrees centigrade. No problem. You're there, Lord. It's heaven. See, heaven is not comfort. For a lot of Christians it is. Ideal temperature. Everything great. No. It's the presence of Jesus. It's not the throne. He'll sit with me. That's enough, Lord. I don't want the rest of the sentence. I don't care where it is. If you overcome, you'll sit with me. Lord, that's great. But you got to overcome. Put the spiritual above the physical. Never use the power God gave you for yourself. Use it to bless others. And God will take care of your needs. And then we go to the second temptation. The devil took him. Again he was tempted. To a high, to the pinnacle of the temple. And said, jump down. And claim the promise. Because it says in God's word, Psalm 91. He will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they'll bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus said to him, on the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to a test. So we see there a second temptation. This is also a temptation that comes to many believers. The temptation to presumption. Presumption is not faith. Now some of you may not know the word of what presumption means. Presumption means to take advantage of God in some way. And to claim, to say by, to think it as faith. It's not faith. You know it's like the devil, exactly you see it here. Jump from the temple and claim the promise. Now if there's a staircase down from the temple, there's no need to jump. Use the staircase. That's what every common, I mean, man with common sense does. I mean in any building if there's a staircase, why do you jump from there if you want to go down? Does anybody do that? Does anybody jump from the 10th floor window when there's a staircase going down? You may come down quicker if you come through the window, but that'll be the end of you. And people take the staircase. The point is when there's a staircase, why should I jump down? You say, well that's common sense, Brother Zach. Agreed. When medicine is available to heal you, why do you have to say God heal me without medicine? It's the same thing. There are people who do that. Now, if you were in some jungle where medicine was not available, sure you can trust God to heal you. But don't tempt God when you're sick. Like a lot of believers have done. The devil says, come on, prove your God, claim the promise of God. He will give his angels charge over you. He'll protect you and some other promise like that. He quotes the Bible. If the devil can quote the Bible to Jesus, you think he won't quote the Bible to you? He'll quote it out of context. And because he knows that you don't know, he'll like Jesus to say it is also written. Like some great man of God once said, the truth is not contained in it is written, but in it is written and it is also written. The devil said it is written. His angels will take care of you. Jesus said it is also written. You need to compare scripture with scripture to get the whole truth of God. You know the devil has quoted so many individual verses to tell sick people you can be healed, and they are not healed. Even great healers, in those healing meetings, one out of a thousand may be healed and 999 are not healed. And the 999 are told you don't have faith. And they are stupid enough to believe what this man says, because they don't know the scriptures. The devil has fooled them. If God has provided a staircase, use the staircase. Don't tempt God by doing something stupid and saying God protect me now. Jesus told us to pray, lead us not into temptation. You can't go into a bookstall selling pornographic books and say, Lord, deliver me from evil. You must pray, Lord, lead us not into temptation and don't walk into temptation yourself. You can't watch a filthy movie, and most of them are filthy nowadays, and say, Lord, please help me to get victory over sin. You won't get it. You are going into temptation yourself. You are presuming. You are trying to claim a promise and jumping off the temple and saying God protect me. That's exactly what a lot of people are doing. Exposing themselves to temptation. Exposing themselves to situations which are not in God's will. Fooling around with people of the opposite sex who are not wholehearted and spiritually minded and saying God protect me. He won't protect you no matter what promise you claim. That's what I mean by presumption. Lead us not into temptation. Lord, keep me from temptation that's too strong for me. And then you can pray, deliver us from evil. Otherwise, we are presuming. It's presumption. The other thing in this temptation, you know, why did the Lord, why did Satan tell our Lord to jump down? Because there were people in the courtyard below and the devil was saying, you know, when you land there without getting hurt, they'll all accept you as the Messiah. Oh ho! It's a great way to be accepted as the Messiah. In other words, do something spectacular like a magician and get some honor. And everybody will accept you as a great man of God. Don't you see that in Christendom today? I see a lot of these platform evangelists. They remind me more of magicians standing up there performing their show, collecting their fees and disappearing by the time the show is over so that nobody can meet the magician. This is what's happening. Did Jesus work like this? Is this how He went around preaching? Get some honor for yourself. Get everybody to admire you. You are the great man of God. When Jesus healed people, He didn't pull them up and say, come on, give your testimony so that everybody knows what a great healer I am. No! He said, don't tell anybody. I'm so delighted you are healed. That's enough. Just you and me know it's enough. Where in the world do you find a healer like that today? Jesus didn't pass a collection bag around before He healed the sick. Where in the world do you find a healer like that today? I tell you, I'm not surprised that these people deceive others. I'm surprised that thousands of believers, believers who sit with their mouth open thinking that these people are men of God. That's what surprises me. Do I believe in healing? Sure I do. I've experienced it in my life. But, I don't believe in these type of gimmicks. No! The seeking honor from people. Aren't we tempted? Aren't we tempted sometimes you heard some testimony of somebody who did something and you try to imitate that. Maybe God gave him faith for that. You can't imitate it. Do you know that? Do you know sometimes God may give somebody faith for something and He doesn't give you faith for that? George Muller could have faith to look after 2,000 orphans without ever expressing his need to God. But, you and I don't have that faith. We'll starve those orphans to death if we try to imitate George Muller. Otherwise, you'll have to send begging letters like the orphanages in India do. One of the biggest rackets in Christendom today in India. Bible colleges and orphanages to fool the gullible people in the West who don't come and check up what's going on here. Let me show you a verse in Hebrews chapter 11 about presumption. And I hope you'll remember it all your life. You know, tempting God by trying to claim promises when they're not for you. Or you don't have faith for it. Maybe God's given faith to somebody else for it, but not you. Faith is a gift of God. In Hebrews 11, I want you to see this verse and see what it says here. Verse 29 By faith, the Israelites passed through the Red Sea as it was dry land. And when the Egyptians tried to imitate them, they were drowned. You got it? Somebody does something by faith and you try to imitate it, you are drowned. And you deserve to be drowned. Because you try to imitate somebody. You cannot imitate faith. If God gives it to you, you can have it. But don't imitate someone. That's why I tell people who want to step out in the full time Christian work, make sure God's called you. Oh, you think of that man of God who's stepped out in faith many years ago, but that's because God's called him. He had faith for it. You may not have faith for it. If you imitate, you'll be drowned. That's a great verse. We must grow in faith, sure. But don't imitate somebody. You know, supposing you see some rich businessman writing a check for 100,000 rupees. I say, that sounds great. And you got about 500 rupees in your bank. Take your checkbook and write check for 100,000 rupees. Impresses people. You know what happens to that check? You give it to somebody? According to the current laws of the land, it'll bounce. And you know what'll happen to you? You'll be in jail. Humble yourself and say, listen, I can't write a check for 100,000 rupees. My faith is only 500 rupees. I can write you a check for less than that. Humility. Saves you from many problems. You can't imitate. Presumption. Trying to get honor for yourself. Trying to claim something which you don't yet have faith for. It's something like, to use another illustration, like a first standard student trying to do a 10th standard question paper. How in the world can he do it? He's gonna fail. He's gonna get every question wrong. If he's patient and he's faithful, one day he'll reach 10th standard. Then he can do that question paper. But meanwhile, humble yourself. I've seen young people who try to imitate some great man of God who's walked with God for 40 years. I've seen preachers who try to imitate me preaching without any notes. And in 10 minutes they started boring everybody. I said, listen, don't imitate. I've been doing this for 40 years. You just started yesterday. You probably need to do a lot more preparation and prepare and write it down so that you remember the verses, you know what you're gonna talk about. Otherwise neither you nor anybody else will know what, there'll be no head or tail to anything you say. That's what happens in a lot of places. I'm just giving you examples how presumption. That fellow does it, I can also do it. He goes across but you drown. Many, many, many areas. Presumption. Seeking honor. Oh, that's great honor for me to get up and just speak from my heart. But you don't have the grace for it. You don't have faith for it. Don't try it. It's all honor seeking. If you were humble, you'd have no problem. Many, many areas. Just humble yourself and say, Lord, my faith is only this much. I've got only 500 rupees in my bank account. Somebody else can write a check for maybe 1 million. I can only write for 500. What's wrong in saying that? Do you despise a person who's got only 500 rupees in his bank account? You despise him if he's trying to fool everybody that he's got a 100,000. I've seen preachers get up with about 5 rupees in their bank account, get up and talk as if they've got a million. Haven't you heard them yourself? They should sit down after 2 minutes and they go on for 45 minutes. Crazy. It's all part of that temptation. The seeking honor, trying to act as though you've got faith for something you don't have faith for. We're tempted. Jesus was tempted and he didn't fall for it. And the third temptation, we see here, the devil took him to a high mountain, Matthew 4, verse 8, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all of this I'll give you if you fall down and worship me. I want to tell you something about the devil. Right from before the creation of Adam, when he was the highest of the angels, before he became the devil, when he was Lucifer, the head of the angels, he wanted one thing. He had so many things. He had beauty, intelligence, wisdom, position. He had the highest honor. He was the highest position of all created beings. But there was one thing he didn't have. And that was worship. People didn't worship him. And he wanted it. Everybody worshiped God. And he just worked him out. I've got so many things, but I want this one thing more. I want people to worship me. That's why he tried to become equal like God, and God cast him down. And now, when God was on earth as a man, he said, at last let me try now when he's a man. Do you know that the devil knew that Jesus was a man? Otherwise he wouldn't be so foolish to try. You may not know it, but the devil knew it. The devil knows a lot of truths, which you and I don't know. He said, at last I can get God to worship me. Come on. Because I know that Jesus has come to win this earth for the Father. And I'll give him a shortcut. You don't have to go to the cross. I'll give it all to you. Just worship me. This is what I've been longing for, for millions of years, to get God to worship me. Will you worship me? He didn't succeed. This is the temptation to compromise. And that is, don't go the long difficult route of the cross to get what you want. Compromise. Here's a shortcut. Who would take the long difficult route when there's a shortcut? Would you? Jesus said, no, I don't want the shortcut. To get the world with a shortcut? No, I'll take the wrong difficult route. Why? Because the shortcut involves worshipping God, worshipping the devil. He said, no. I'd rather go the long difficult route and get it God's way than your way. How many people would say that? I would rather go the long difficult way, God's way, than your way. Shortcut. It's like you go for your driving license and the inspector says, you don't know how to drive, never mind, just give me a thousand rupees. I don't know what the rate is nowadays. Anyway, I'll give you your license even though you don't know how to drive. That's a shortcut, isn't it? On the long difficult route where you go and you're rejected and you go and you're rejected and you go and you're rejected finally after ten times you get it. That's a difficult route. Particularly when you don't know how to drive and it takes time to learn. Take the shortcut. Get what is illegal by giving a bribe. Cheat somebody. There are many many opportunities on earth. The devil says, why do you want to go all that long way? Just bow down to me. He tells preachers that. Don't speak on this subject here. They won't invite you again. Bow down to me and I'll give you a wider audience. Keep quiet on this subject, that subject, the other subject. Just speak on the bare essentials. The devil reduces the Bible to about half a chapter and says, just speak on that and you'll get a wider audience. I know he's tempted me many times like that. And I say exactly what the devil, God Jesus told the devil, get away Satan. I'm not going to listen to you. I'm not interested in a wider audience. I'm interested in proclaiming the whole truth of God. I'm not your servant, I'm a servant of God. That's what Jesus said. I don't want your shortcuts Satan. How many of you will turn around to the devil and say, I don't want your shortcuts. I'm not going to compromise my convictions because compromising convictions means bowing down to you. It's like, you know the, you remember when we did that Daniel drama and those three, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the compromisers told them, listen, just bow down your head a little bit and afterwards you can ask God to forgive you. You won't lose your head. They said, no. Let the wickedness throw us in the fire, it doesn't make a difference. We're not going to compromise. That's what Jesus said, I'm not going to bow down. I'm not going to compromise in any area of my life. And something else involved in this temptation is this, the devil was saying, you can get the best of both worlds. Why only get the best when you go to heaven? Here, get the glory of this world and also get heaven. I want to tell you it's not possible. The lot of preachers who are telling you that today, that you can get the best in this world and also get the best in heaven. You can become rich and a millionaire and everything that is what the world considers glory and also go to heaven. Well, it's not really true. You'll find yourself having to compromise, bow down to the devil in order to get it. You can get it, I know, but you'll get it at the cost of bowing the knee to the devil. The temptation to compromise comes in our work spot, to tell a little lie, to get a little more money, to cheat as sales people to tell somebody this is the best product when you know yourself it's not, you wouldn't buy it yourself. But you got to make money, you got to get your job. I'd rather lose my job than tell a lie. A lot of Christians doing it, keeping on telling lies, selling a product which they wouldn't buy themselves in order to earn a living. It's not worth it. I'd rather die than have to earn my living by cheating other people and telling lies. Is that your position? Oh, you say, what to do, brother? We have to bow the knee to the devil a little bit on this earth because he's the ruler of this earth. Well, Jesus knew he's the ruler of this earth. He said, the ruler of this earth comes to me and he's got nothing in me. That's why Jesus died at the age of 33. He wouldn't yield to the devil. And now the Lord says, if you overcome as I overcame, you can sit with me on my throne. Have you seen something of the glory of Jesus? I want to say one more thing about the words that he spoke to the devil. First of all, his first word was, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. That's the first and most important thing in our life. To listen every day to God's word. Listen, listen, listen. Lord, what have you got to say to me? I don't mean just reading the Bible. God can say something to you when you see an accident on the street. God's spoken to me at times when I've had a little toss from my scooter. Lord, what are you trying to say to me? Don't go so fast. You hear God speaking to you in little things? He's interested in you. He's interested in preserving your life so that you can live long on the earth and glorify God. God speaks all the time through little things, through big things. Listen, listen the whole day. When there's sickness, listen, what is God trying to say to you? The second word Jesus spoke was, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Don't put the Lord your God to test. Don't tempt him by, you know like children go to the edge of a cliff. They have competitions. Who can go closest to the edge of the cliff without falling off? Grown up people don't have such stupid games. You see them sometimes in railway platforms. Children can say, who can stand closest to the edge of the platform when the train comes in? Have you seen grown up people having that type of competition? These are little babies. There are babies like that in Christendom. How close can I go to the edge of the world before falling over? What type of movies can I see before I pollute myself? The answer is almost nothing. Maybe one or two, but they are always testing God. How far can I go without losing my salvation? How much can I do without corrupting my mind? What does a sensible grown up man say? Stay away from that cliff. Stay as far away as possible. Why take a risk? I mean that may be a great movie, but if it's going to pollute my mind, I don't want to take the risk. If there are some scenes there that are going to remain in my mind for the next 50 years, maybe the scene was there only for 5 seconds. I see it for 5 seconds and it remains in my mind for 50 years and plagues me and plagues me and plagues me. And I say, oh God, I want to get victory over sin. You'll never get it. Because you're testing God. Going to the edge. How close can I get? These are the people who finally fall off the edge. And the third word Jesus said was, Thou shalt worship the Lord and then Thou shalt serve Him. Do you know that most Christians, I'd say 99% of Christians, believers don't know what worship is. They say they have a worship meeting. What they mean is a praise meeting. The other day I spoke on the difference between thanksgiving, praise and worship. Thanksgiving and praise with our lips. Worship is not with our lips. Did you know that? It may come forth in our lips, but it's not primarily with our lips, but thanksgiving and praise is primarily with our lips. We give thanks to God with our lips. That is for what He has done for us. We praise Him for what He is. Even if He's done nothing, we praise Him for what He is. But worship, worship is, I find the best place to worship is not in the meeting. Not even when I'm with my wife or children. All by myself. Alone. Flat. Before God. Say God, You are everything to me. Everything in my life is burnt up like the burnt offering. All ashes. My ambitions, my plans, my money, my health, my energy, my everything. It's nothing. I've got nothing on earth I desire beside You. Worship may begin with speech. It may go on to song. But the highest form of worship is silence. You know the first place in the Bible where it says worship? Abraham worshipped God, it says in Genesis 22, when he offered up Isaac. That's worship. To give the best that we have. Say God, You can have it. Nobody saw him. He was all alone. Very few people know how to worship. Even the people who praise God excellently on Sunday morning, they don't know worship because they haven't studied the Bible to see what worship is. They call that praise, worship. And the devil has hidden worship from them. Jesus said you shall worship and then only shall you serve. My service all these years has come out of the fact that I'm a worshipper. I don't care if I don't serve. I'm a worshipper and that's what I'm going to do to all eternity. I would encourage you to be a worshipper too. Let's bow our heads for a moment.