This sermon emphasizes the importance of repentance, humility, and seeking God's forgiveness to avoid becoming lukewarm in our faith. It highlights the need to constantly judge ourselves, forgive others, and maintain discipline in various aspects of our lives to stay on fire for the Lord. The speaker shares personal experiences and reflections on how to overcome lukewarmness by focusing on God's grace, seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit daily, and cultivating a selfless and unselfish attitude like Christ.

And she was well dressed and she had two little children with her, her husband also with her. After the meeting she said, Do you remember me? I am that baby you gave to this Amy Carmichael's place. I came specially, I heard you are coming and you are the one who sent me to this orphanage. I want to ask you something. Who is my father? Who are my parents? Because you are the one, only name I know that you gave me to this institution. So I thought you might help me to find my father and mother. And also help me, why my father, why is it that I don't have a father? Everybody else has a father, but how is it that I grew up without a father? Why did they do this to me? She has so many questions in her mind from the time she was small, growing up in that orphanage. Why this happened? And you know, I thought that is the question with so many girls face, who have good homes, who have good fathers, fathers are loving and caring, but inside there is something lacking. And they have the question and they think, where can I get the answer to my questions, my insecurities? So I told her, now it's too late. I wish I could say that I am your mother, but I am not. But you consider me as your mother. Take me as your mother and I can show you whatever. But I said, now you are married to a nice man, you have two small children, you be a good father and mother to your children. Whatever you lacked, you can give it to your children. But that wasn't enough to help her, but that made me think. And ever since then, I met so many young girls who have such sorrow, some are a little bit insecure. It all starts because of insecurity. And then I started thinking about it and then I thought, yes, after my father died also, for one year I was missing him so much. But thank God, I found God as a heavenly father. And that helped me so much. So the answer, whatever we face in life, whether we have a good father or not a good father, whether our father is still alive or not, whatever it is, the answer is to find our security in God as our father. And so today when I heard this message, I was so happy. I said, Lord, I thank you that you are a father to all of us. Your heart is so big that you can take not just one child, but all of us into your family and you care for each one of us. And not only that, you know our individual need. You know, some sisters send me emails, I have this problem and some cannot share with anybody else. But because it's email, we don't know who's sending it, but they want to tell somebody the problem that they are facing. And they write to me. And to each of them I can say, this is the secret, this is the answer. You find your security in God as your father. Take him as your father. And you know, he's not a father to all. Of course, to all people can say, I have a God. But for us it's a privilege to know God as a father because of Jesus. Because Jesus died for us and he shed his precious blood. Only then we can come into his kingdom and call him father. What a great privilege it is. So I thought again this evening, I cannot thank God enough for Lord Jesus for dying for me and that I can call you father. I have a father in heaven to whom I can tell. You know, that makes prayer also so simple. Prayer is not like, you know, many of us have come from churches where they used to repeat things and one priest will say something, we have to repeat after that. We come to God just like a father and we can tell him, Father, this is my problem. I have this need. I feel nobody understands me. I feel I have this sickness. Do you think I should take it, do some medicine about it, take some medicine about it? Do you think I should go for a checkup? Or I have this problem with my relatives. I can't tell anybody. Or I have this problem with my children. My children are growing up. They are not obeying. I need wisdom. Anything and everything we can tell God as a father. That's our privilege and I thought, that's the thing we can lay hold of and we can say, Lord, reveal yourself more and more to me as a father. You must have heard the testimony of Sadhu Sundar Singh. After his fire, he was a Sikh and he was seeking God, who is the true God. And after his mother died, he felt that emptiness because he was so close to his mother. That's what happens when we lose some parent. There's such an emptiness and for Sadhu Sundar Singh, his mother's loss was such a depressing thing that he thought he'd commit suicide. And he thought, tonight if I don't find God, I'm going to put my head under the rails and kill myself. And that night, he expected to find some other God, but he saw Jesus, whom he was persecuting. He saw Jesus and ever since he never turned back, he had that security in God and that security in Jesus. So, I thank God for that. And I thought, sometimes we take it for granted. If you listen to our CFC message last week, which my husband spoke, if you haven't listened, I request you to please listen to it. It was on the 10th of September. And my husband was speaking to the different churches in Revelation, some churches. And he spoke especially to one church that spoke to me and I wanted to share about that. That is to the church in Laodicea. If you open your Bible to Revelation chapter 3, God spoke to me so much that I thought I must share that. Revelation chapter 3, verse 16. He says in verse 15, I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. I was thinking, when Zach was speaking, he said, if you are cold, that means you have nothing of God. God wants us either to be cold or hot. Hot is a burning hot love for the Lord. And if we look back, many of us had that, or maybe we still have it, but for many of us, we had that love for the Lord. Such a strong love when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and we found Him and He was everything to us. We found Him as the pearl of great price. We found Him more than wealth and more than any friend or anything. And then maybe some of us have come out of that and become a little lukewarm. It's so easy to become lukewarm. Cold are those who have never found God. They have a chance because they can still come to the Lord and they can say, Lord, I want to come to You. But those who are lukewarm, they think, ah, at one time I found the Lord. At one time I knew all this. I read my Bible and everything is okay. But our true condition may be that lukewarmness. And that is so easy for us. It's so easy that, you know, if you keep hot water for some time on the table, it will become lukewarm. That's how easy it is to become lukewarm. And so that's a warning for each one of us. I definitely took it as a warning for me. I said, Lord, I know during my student days especially, I was so much, I loved You, and I was so much wanting to please You. And all of us who are married, we know, after our marriage we get a little settled, everything is comfortable, we take our spiritual life a little slack. And then that's how lukewarmness comes in. Yeah, that happened to me also at one time. A couple of years after our marriage, and I had a little baby, and then I used to keep awake at night trying to put the baby to sleep, and daytime I was tired, and financially we were not doing so well. And I took my spiritual life a little careless. Prayer became just short, short prayers. And then I found that I had gone away from the Lord so much. And then unforgiving attitude to different people, relatives, all that kept adding and adding. And I went, I know I drifted far, just lukewarmness, more than lukewarmness it was. And then I thought I've gone too far, there's no point, there's no use of me even trying to come back. And just at that time, a sister who comes visiting from house to house, she came to our house. I was staying with my husband's parents, so she came and knocked at the door, I've never seen her before. And she said, I'm so and so, can we spend a few minutes in prayer? First of all, I thought some more time, my time is going to get wasted. I said, okay, come. So we sat in the sitting room, and she read a little passage and she prayed. And something in that prayer was so living and fresh to me, and it spoke to me. At first when she came, I didn't want to spend time with her, but when she prayed, I felt like God was touching in my heart, some part of my heart which was getting dried up, a little drop of water was falling in that dry heart. And she said, can I come again next week? I said, sure, come. So next week when she came, I took her to the bedroom, because I thought I really want to meet with God, I've gone so far away from God. Then again, she read a passage and she prayed, and a little more drops of water fell in my dry heart, and I got a little thirsty. Then she said, she knew that sort of limitations are there because we are staying with my parents and my husband's parents, so she said, next week you come to my home. So I said, okay, I'll come. She gave the address also. So the next week, I was waiting for the next week, because I thought somewhere I can go out of my house, some change for me. So my husband took me and brought me at that house, and we went in. I took my baby also. We went in and we prayed. She welcomed me, and one more sister was there. So without much talking, one thing about that sister, she doesn't spend time talking other things or any, just say, okay, let's read, open the Bible, read, and she started praying. Then I said, Lord, I'm not going to delay this anymore. My heart is so dry and wretched, and if I delay one more, I'll be lost, and this is the time for me to come back to you, in my mind, I thought. So after she prayed, I prayed, and I said, Lord, I don't know where to begin. At one time, I was so close to you as a student and before my marriage, and I know that I'm still in your will. I'm your child, but I don't know what happened between me and you, such a big distance has come, and I don't know how to come back to you. Please, let me come back to you, and let me be your child again. Let me feel your forgiveness. Show me what I have done wrong in my life. I just said a few sentences, and I started crying, because my heart was so full, the words were not enough to show my wretched condition, and then I started crying, and then I felt like God was, and I felt like God was like a father to me. At that time, my father was still alive, but a distance had come between me and my father, so I could not tell him what, but I felt like God was close to me, and like a father, he was like my child sleeping next to me, he was picking me up. In my spirit, I felt like that, and I felt like God was wiping my eyes and my tears, and I said, Lord, have mercy on me, forgive me, and I felt such a comfort in my heart, I cannot describe. I'm not a person for feelings and dramatizing, but such a comfort, I felt like God was pouring His comfort in my heart, and wiping my eyes, and telling me it's okay, like we tell in Malayalam, don't worry, it's okay, and I felt so comforted, I said, thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord, and I said, thank you, Lord, just two or three times, and God gave me the gift of tongues, because words were not enough, and I am from a brethren background, which is against speaking in tongues, anybody speaking in tongues, I thought it will be like epilepsy, I won't be able to control myself, I was always afraid of that, I didn't want, but I found out of my heart, like Jesus said, from my innermost beings, gushing out, I felt like I didn't want to stop, it was like, it was not even screaming, it was just words coming out, I knew that I was just praising God, or thanking God, it was words of gratitude, but I couldn't understand, I didn't want to stop, and I thanked God that time, again, I came to know God as a father, and I said, Lord, this experience which I am in, I feel if you take me home to heaven now, I will be the happiest, because I feel as if I am in heaven now, and then I felt like, no, you have a child, you have to take care of the child, you have a work to do, but I felt such a restored feeling, that feeling of having God as my father, if I have God, I have everything, I don't need anything, I don't need money, I don't need a job, I don't need any of the comforts, I don't need anybody's comfort, because I have God, that was the feeling that God gave me, and that was such a rich, then I said, Lord, this experience which I had, I have now, I don't want to go back to that experience, that state I was living in till yesterday, I was like the prodigal son, eating the pig's food, and dried up, but now I have come back to the father's house, I have a father, I want to be in that, and you know, that was about 45 years back this happened, but since then, there have been many ups and downs, many more trials have come, that is like a baby trial which I went through, after that more trials came, but I felt like there's something, freshness in my heart, the grass in my heart is always green now, that dryness has gone, I can pray in that language, and I want to pray in that language, just between me and God, nobody can hear it, and I feel comforted, and always it's like the sprinkling in my life, that freshness, and I don't want to go away from that, and that's what I want to share with you, if you have not had that, I want you to share that, to have that, urge you to have that, you know, when we live here in a country like Singapore, many of us have come from poor countries and come here, and life is little more comfortable, you don't have to work so hard, things are easier, and that's when we can get lukewarm, I find like, in India we struggle, and things are a little easier, but we think like here you earn more money, and you can save, and then the desire for earthly things can come in, you look at others, and you think that, oh they have this thing, why can't I also have that, or they have, you put whatever is in your heart which comes up, they have that, I too can have, and then the love of this world, and even if they are good things, that comes in and comes in, and then that takes out the desire for God, and lukewarmness can come in, and last week I said, Lord, search my heart, now everything is good for me, my children are all grown up, they have got jobs, they have got families, everybody is okay, Lord, I don't want to sit back and think everything is okay, I still want you Lord, that gap, if you are not there, my life is empty, I don't want to go to that lukewarm state, so last week I asked the Lord, Lord show me, sometimes I see some of my colleagues, they have come up in their profession, and they have got big awards and all, and their names come in, and then I thought, Lord, thank you that you have given me, you have taken my eyes, that glory of those things from my eyes, from my heart, and I don't want to long after that, those degrees and those things, but my longing is for you, let there not be even a little bit of that, things of this world, even if there is Lord, take it away, my desire is that there should be nothing between you and me Lord, if my life is pleasing to you, that's all I want, so I was thinking also of another verse, when Jesus said about this lukewarmness, when God was speaking to this church, He was saying, I know your deeds, you are neither hot nor cold, and because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of your mouth, I thought, what a strong word, can it be Jesus who is saying that word, I will spit you out of my mouth, but I thought, another portion in the Bible, in John chapter 15, I immediately thought of that, John chapter 15, where Jesus was telling His disciples, similar things, but in such a more loving way, so I was thinking, sometimes when our parents talk to us, or we talk to our children, first we tell in a very loving way, you have to do this, please do this, and then we don't obey that, then it comes in a hard way, I warned you, this is the last warning, if you don't do that, severe consequences, so in Revelation 3, I thought Jesus is giving this, and it's serious, it's not like a threat, like I'll give you the stick, and we don't get the spanking, or I'll call the police, and fathers don't call the police, it's not like that, Jesus won't threaten like that, so this is such a serious word, that I'll spit you out of my mouth, I said, Lord, can it be possible, that one time I was hot, and I was on fire for you, and a time will come, and you'll spit me out of your mouth, and I'll be lost, if you turn to John 15, Jesus was telling the same thing, in a more loving way, today one sister was praying, Lord, abide in me, I thought of that verse, Jesus said, in John 15, he says, I am the wine, and verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, verse 5, 4, abide in me, and I in you, abide means remain, or live, remain in me, and let you remain in me, and let me remain in you, let me live in your life, and you remain in my life, and Jesus was telling that to his disciples, just before he left the earth, the disciples must have been very sad, they couldn't even understand seriously, what is Jesus talking, he's going to leave us, leave us, and he's going to go away, they heard it, but they didn't take it in, they thought, no, Jesus has been with us all trials, three years we have lived with him, eaten with him, we are going to be with him, he's going to start a kingdom, and we are going to be with him, that's all they could think, and Jesus telling, I'm going away, even if I'm going away, I want you to remain in me, and I will remain in you, and he says, otherwise, he says, I will cast you out, verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away as a branch, and dries up, and they gather them, and are cast into the fire, and they are burnt, so same thing, like, I'll spit you out, in Jesus, that gentle language was, I'll, you'll dry up, and I said, Lord, that was my state, I was drying up, because I didn't remain in you, I was drying up, I don't want that to happen, I don't want that to happen to any of us, drying up, and they gather, and they cast into the fire, and they are burnt, we don't take that word seriously, that's why we think, ah, it's okay, little low calmness, but every day should be a day of revival for us, we should not think, ah, yesterday I made a commitment to the Lord, say, Lord, yesterday I was with you, I made a commitment, but today is a new day, I want to abide in you, I want to say, Lord, I belong to you, I don't belong to this world, I belong to you, and I want you to belong to me, I want you to be the first place, to have the first place in my life, and the pearl of great price in my life, and renew our covenant with the Lord. Here in Revelation, to come back to Revelation 3, Jesus was telling about the true condition of that church, that also spoke to me. Jesus said to that church, verse 15, I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold, verse 17, because you say, I am rich, I thought, yeah, so many times we think we are rich, not rich necessarily money wise, but we have everything that we need, and many times we can think, yeah, I am ok, if you ask somebody, some people if, hi, how are you, I am good, I am ok, we may think, yeah, I am ok, everything is ok, if that sense of need is not there, we actually, we think we are rich, but we are actually poor. And God says, I advise you, by verse 18, by gold refined by fire, that you may become rich. We think we are rich, but God, Jesus wants to give us the true riches. What are the true riches? We know that all of us who have listened to CFC messages, the true riches are Christ-likeness, becoming like Christ is our true riches. Humility, all the virtues of Christ, those are the true riches we can take back with us. All the money that we earn, and all the money that is in the bank, they are not our true riches, because one day we leave it. And recently in India, we had that practical experience. So many people didn't have the sense, or couldn't put the money in the bank. They were keeping it in the secret places, hiding it, hiding it, hiding it in the pillowcases, mattresses, and all, thinking if in the bank it might get lost, which bank will be so secure my money is there. Suddenly overnight, something happened and in the morning we read in the papers every 500 rupee and every 1000 rupee note is invalid. You have 10 days to go to the bank and change it, or you lose that money. Then I thought, what Jesus said is so true. All that we save and we keep, it's of no value one day. It's good we open our eyes, get our eyes open to realize now, those are all of no value. God gives us enough for us to live and to take care of ourselves. Beyond that, all that we have to leave behind. The true riches which we can take to heaven is Christ-likeness. The nature of Christ, which Christ we allow him to work. I used to think Christ-likeness means we sing that song let the beauty of Christ be in me or walking in the footsteps of Jesus. Until I came to CFC and heard the CFC messages I used to think Christ-likeness is something God is going to give me. I just spend time with him and I look at him and then you look at him and he looks at you and then I'll suddenly become a different person and I'll be Christ-like. I used to have an imaginary idea that that is Christ-likeness. People look at me and say, ah that she looks like Christ or she's behaving like Christ. But that was not at all Christ-likeness. Afterwards I understood what is true Christ-likeness. Jesus said, if anyone wants to follow me, he has to deny himself, take up the cross daily. Not like one time I accepted Jesus. Why Jesus said that word daily also is so important. It's not like 50 years ago I accepted Jesus, now I'm okay. Now I'll be like Christ. When Jesus comes, he's going to do some polish on me and I'll look like Christ. Not at all like that. That's why I thank God for the messages that we hear. We have to do something to become Christ-like. We have to deny ourselves daily, take up the cross. When Jesus on earth, he said, Father not my will, but yours. Just like that, we also have to say Father not my will. In this situation I want to speak. In this situation I want to answer back. Or in this situation I want to give a peace of my mind. Then the Lord says what's the meaning of taking up the cross? Deny yourself. Don't say anything. First you learn to keep quiet. After some time the inside also, God deals with it. Then we don't feel anything inside. Let people say what they want, but we don't feel anything. And like that, that's in speech. Like that in every area. When we take up the cross, we deny ourselves. Then the person who comes out after 20 years is a more Christ-like person. That is the person who's going to be with Jesus. Not the angry person. We don't want that angry, bitter, unforgiving person to be there. It's the person who's completely changed, Christ-like on earth. So there again we read in further we think verse 17 Because you say I'm rich and I've become wealthy and you have need of nothing. You do not know that you're wretched and miserable, poor and blind and naked. So yeah, so many times we think I have need of nothing. I have everything and need of nothing. But the Lord has put such an emptiness in our heart. Lord, even if I have the whole world, if I don't have you I have nothing. I want you. Without you my life is empty. So I can never say I have need of nothing. I have need of you, Lord. And it says there, you're poor, blind and naked. We don't even if we have our eyesight we don't have our spiritual eyesight to see our true blindness. Yeah, sometimes I find like we talk or behave in a certain way and then looking back I think, why did I say like that? Was that really me who said like that? At that time I think I was blind. I didn't see the result of my talking like that. And after that God opens our eyes to see no need to talk like that. No need to behave like that. No need to dress like that to impress. So many young people they want to dress to impress people because their friends will think she's old fashioned or she's um not trendy or whatever words they use. But we are blind if we think of all that. When our eyes are open, say, Lord, whatever way I dress, if you're happy with me that's the most important. If I dress modestly, that's, you're happy with me. And I was thinking of naked and I thought you know, people come for x-rays to take an x-ray. Some people come with grand clothes and all shiny clothes and all makeup and everything they come to the x-ray, you see only the skeleton. And then the doctor is not looking at the grand, in the dark room the doctor is not looking at the grand shining makeup, lipstick, nothing. They are only looking at the skeleton that bone, this bone and all. And a poor woman comes dressed in rags, she also gets the x-ray and for her also the doctor is seeing only the bones. I said, Lord, whatever way I'm dressed you are seeing me like how the doctor is seeing the x-ray. That's all you are looking at. Outward thing is... So in this church Jesus was telling I am seeing you in a... like that only. Not all the outward things which you put on covering up to show people that you are such a great person you have so many degrees, you are so qualified all that is what God is seeing is that skeleton which the doctor is seeing. I said, Lord, let me always remember that that's how you are seeing me. You are seeing me deep inside, not like how people see me. Help me to be aware of that and live in your presence. And Jesus says, He doesn't scold us. He doesn't scold the church and say, you are naked, you are poor, you are wretched. He gives an answer to her. He says, I advise you. You get gold from me. That is the true riches that godly nature get from me. I'll give it to you and your nakedness I'll cover and your eyes will be opened. You'll get eye ointment that your eyes will be opened that you can see. And those of us who had... who have had a cataract operation will know that one time the vision becomes less and less and less and something hard gets formed inside the eye. And the doctor takes it out and then you see that you can see everything so different. You'll see even the wrinkles on your hand which you didn't see before. And that's how when god does that surgery, eyes are treated, we can see things so clearly. So, those are the some of the things which I wanted to share about that church. I was thinking, how do how can a person how does a person become lukewarm? Now, this church's condition was from hot it became lukewarm. And I said, we keep a hot a cup of hot water and just leave it like that it'll become lukewarm. And for us sisters, I think so, lukewarmness is so easy for us. Once you are hot give your life to the lord and Jesus, everything to you. How are some of the ways in which we can become lukewarm and how to correct that? I was just thinking of that. And I wrote down few of the things which I thought and I wanted to share that with you. Few of the ways in which we can become lukewarm so we can be aware. Now, if you know that some disease is coming spreading all over and how to avoid it? We try to take the precautions. Just like that, lukewarmness is coming. Jesus said, in the last days the love of many will grow cold. That's a warning. So, lukewarmness is a disease is going to happen to all the world. People who are hot on love for the lord, in every denomination, every church, that sickness or lukewarmness is going to come. How do we avoid? What can we do to avoid so that we don't get that lukewarmness even if we are aware? How can we prevent? So, I wrote a few things. I already said some of those. One was for me it came like, when I stop putting god first in my life. If Jesus is not supreme in my life, then the tendency for lukewarmness can come. You know, sometimes we think, those of us who are working a job can become important. You know, if you don't do your job, you can lose your job. So, only you have to look for another job. So, then trying to please the job, please your boss, becomes so important. Nowadays, I find, especially when I see my children working, I find that if you are a good worker and your boss is happy with you, he gives you more work. It's like going on the treadmill. If you run little, they make it faster. So, you run little faster. Then you do, oh, she's running so fast. They make it little faster. It's like that. I find that the work situation is such that if you are good at your work, you get more work. Somebody else who is lazy, he may lose his job, but his job also will come to you. So, you have to add more work. In such a culture like that, how is it we have to fight hard to put god first in our life. Otherwise, the work is like a big giant in front of us, like a big Goliath. We can't overcome and say, Lord, if I go on like this, either I'll die physically or I'll lose my job. But don't take my eyes away from this, that Lord, you are first in my life. I want you to be king of my life. I want you to be the pearl of great price. And sometimes I say, Lord, you know, when you're in the middle of my work and I think like I need to tell the Lord, even if I told him every day, I want to tell him again, Lord Jesus, you're the most important person for me. You're the pearl of great price. Without you, my life is empty. Just tell the Lord. Something, whichever comes, whichever way you can, tell the Lord in your words and say, Lord, between you and me, let nothing happen. Even if I lose the whole world, even if I lose my life, in my last breath, let it be of you, Lord Jesus. Something like that you tell. You know, it means so much when a child tells that to us. Something, Mommy, you're the most how much more God will be so delighted when we tell him, Father, you're the most important person for me. I may lose everything. I may lose my health. I may lose everything, but if I have you, I have everything. So make an effort. I, I, that's what I've been trying to do. Whenever I think of that, I say, Lord, what a great thing you have done for me. At my age, you're letting me live and take care of myself. So many people of my age are half paralyzed. Somebody has to feed them, turn them in bed, but you have given me health. Even that is a gift from you. My mind is clear. Do not forget to turn the gas on and leave it and go. You've given me all those things. You've given me children. You've given me love. You've given me church. You've given me brothers and sisters in the church. When I think your blessings you've given me, I count, I can't count. And when that worship comes to us, then more and more, God will become first in our life. And you have that attitude of thanking God in different ways. God will show something in your life. And even if a knife, you're cutting something and the knife falls, and it just missed your leg, and I think, Lord, how many times, this is not more than once you've saved my life, my toes from getting amputated. You come down the steps and you slip and you think, this is the hundredth time, if I had fallen this time, I would have had a fracture or paralyzed or something. Like that, you think of all the ways in which God has done, protected you, then that worshipful attitude will come and Jesus, and say, Lord, you are the thing in my life. I want you to sit on the throne in my heart forever, even today. Things like that will keep that little bit of that heat, that hot temperature in our heart for the Lord and prevent that lukewarmness. And all the things like the Pearl of Great Price and thank God for everything, whatever you can think, for your children, for your family, everything, whatever, you count your blessings and start thanking God. Then I wrote this verse down, Matthew 13, verse 46. Yeah. It says the Kingdom of God, what I said just now, it's like a man who found so many pearls, but when he found one pearl, fine pearl, he gave up everything and like that, God should be that Pearl of Great Price for us. Then the second point which I wrote is when, how we become lukewarm is when we stop reading and meditating on God's Word. So many times we read God's Word because we read it, ah, I didn't read my Bible today, I must read it. That's good, at least we are reading God's Word. But when we stop, you know, Psalm 1, it says, Blessed is the man who meditates on God's Word. So, if we stop, and I find that every time when I read like that, even if it's one verse, God speaks to me, or He brings some other verse to me. Yeah, last week I read that verse, now I find use for it, and that verse becomes fresh. So when we stop reading and meditating God's Word, that's another step towards lukewarmness. Now we have this through the Bible, and if you can have access to that, I find it such a big help. I was there when my husband recorded it, I listened to it while I was doing my work, I was playing it and listening to it. And then now when I read it, I think, yeah, every page, like I can, if I, from chapter 1 or, first Genesis 1 onwards, I can get, even if I read one paragraph, it means so meaningful. So thank God for all the help God has given us in studying God's Word. The Bible need not be a boring book anymore, if we have all these things which people have, brothers have studied, and meditated, and preached, and put it into print. We can have so much, and God is going to ask us, you had so much opportunities to hear my Word, so many meetings you could hear, you had so many messages you could just put on a switch and you could listen, open and you could read one chapter at a time, and you could have been blessed. So with all that, we have no excuse for lukewarmness. And God is going to ask us, in the 18th century and all, before the Bible was printed, there was some excuse, but there were even in those days, people who were on fire for the Lord, how much excuse do we have now when we have God's Word? So when we stop reading and meditating on God's Word. Then third, I said, was taking up the cross, when you stop taking up the cross. I mentioned that earlier, Jesus said, if anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself daily and take up the cross. We think like, ah, yesterday I took up the cross, now today I'm going to put it down for some hours. No. Every day, when Jesus was on earth, every day he said, not my will, but yours, Father. So we have to consciously say, Lord, I want to take up the cross. And the cross is not something that when we are taking up the cross every day, suddenly, as I said, something may come to flare us up. That's the time when we are tested. Is the cross still on your shoulder? Or are you going to answer back? Or you're going to ignore? Or you're going to get angry? And most of us who have come up are married. I think, like, one of the big temptations is, like, our relatives. I'll come to that point. When those temptations come, say, Lord, please make that cross fit nicely on my shoulder. I don't want to come down from that cross. I want to take it seriously. Help me, Lord Jesus. Just like you did, give me the power of the Holy Spirit. The fourth is when we quench. And taking up the cross, the verse which I have written is Luke 9, 23. You can write it down if you want. And the fourth I wrote was when we quench the Holy Spirit. The meaning of quench is when we put out a fire. The fire is burning and you pour water and you put it out. And the Holy Spirit is like the fire. Always the oil is poured and it's burning. And then you try to put it out. How do we put out the quench, the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit tells us something. In this situation, this is what you should do. Or you say something in this situation. And then we say, no, I'm not going to. This is the time to apologize. Suppose somebody has said something and you feel, and you answer something, it's time for you to, the Lord is telling you, you have to say sorry. And then the pride comes up and says, I don't want to say sorry. And you keep putting it off. And when you put it off, it's a way of quenching the Holy Spirit. That's like one example I can think of. Like that, the Lord shows so many chances when we, the Lord says, this is a chance when you can do some good for this person. Here, go and do this now. And you say, no, I'm not going to do. Then we are quenching the Holy Spirit. Daily, throughout our life, God will give us opportunities. Especially those of us who have families, they feel like I want to sleep till 7.30. And then you say no, I have to get up because I have to get up for my children's need, or my husband has to go to work. I want to do that. Then the Lord says, okay, you have a good point in your favor. And there we have not quenched. For each of us, it comes in different ways. Now, sometimes when I go, I go to see my children and my grandchildren and I think, I have worked so many years for my children. Now when I go, I want to go to relax. But I say, Lord, I want to put that thought aside of relaxing. This is my chance when I can go to see my children and I can do a little bit for my daughter-in-law. All these months, she's getting up, working hard, washing the dishes, getting up early for my son. I'll tell her, you sleep half an hour more. I'll get up and make the breakfast. All right, you keep the dishes, I'll do. And then I think, this is the time when I can do something. And I say, Lord, thank you that you've given me the health and strength so I can do something for my family, something for my grandchildren. And like that, if you look, God will give so many opportunities which we can do for others. If you're selfish, we'll be just thinking of like a frog in the well, you know, just thinking of that little area. But when we come and give ourselves over to the Lord, he shows the sea, not just the well. The whole sea is yours where you can do a sea of goodness to others. Then another way we can become lukewarm is when we start loving the world and the riches and the pleasures. That's a big temptation nowadays. Because you just turn on the TV. You don't have to go to a movie theater. You just put on the switch, and then a movie comes. And then you see the end of it. And then they say, oh, the next one will come next week this time. And then it goes on and on. How easy it is for us. How difficult it is for us these days to keep ourselves on fire for the Lord. Because the temptation is so right in our sitting room, the temptations are coming. That's why we have to say, Lord, please give me the strength. I don't want to turn on the TV at all. Even if I go to somebody's house and their TV is on, I don't want to keep looking at it because that temptation is so easy for me that I can't get pulled. And the Lord sees, yeah, this is my child. She wants to keep herself away from this. I'm going to give her strength. When the Lord sees that we want to, He will give us the strength to resist that. But it must start from us. We say, look at the TV and say, Lord, please don't let me see it. He's not going to come and shut our eyes. We have to do it ourselves. We have to either get up and go or shut our eyes or do. And that's what we have to teach our children also. It's so easy for them because now even the little children know how to use the cell phone and to scroll and to do which we find so easy, difficult. They know exactly. Before you realize they're seeing something, where did you get that? How did you put that on? That's why we have to be so vigilant. We have to be vigilant about ourselves and our children and say, Lord, temptation is so close to me. How much more it will be for my children? My little daughter who's growing up, what is she going to see? What my little son who's growing up, what is he going to see in this world? What's he going to face? Please help me to be pure so that my children will be pure. I think of a verse which Jesus said in John 17. For their sake I sanctify myself. That means for the sake of his disciples and that often comes to me. For the sake of my children, for the sake of other sisters, I want to sanctify myself. I want to keep myself away from all this. All these electronic gadgets, all those things we have to be so vigilant to put it in the proper place. Another big temptation which a lot of people nowadays face is the Facebook. How many hours have gone looking at the Facebook and then it goes on. One friend and another friend and it goes on multiplying. Then we say, Lord, this is going to be a big giant in my life. Please give me a stop. Thank God I don't know and I don't have, but my children have. Then they show and then they go to another and then they, oh, do you want to see so and so? Do you want to see? And then I think how many hours goes like this and there in the precious time which we have to answer to God. So there we have to make an effort. Say, Lord, so much and no further. Please help me to put a stop to that. Especially those of us who have more time. The children are grown up or they're not working or something like that. We have to be radical about that and the Lord is seeing all that in secret. The Lord is seeing our thoughts and our motives and what we actually do. It's not like, oh, nobody's seeing what I'm quietly. Sometimes I've seen some people sitting in the meetings and they think the phone is the Bible but it's not Bible. They're doing something else, looking at the messages and scrolling and smiling. Then I know that it is not the Bible they're looking at. And they think that the brother who's speaking is not seeing it. But who's seeing? Above all of us, God is seeing. So we have to answer. We have to answer the Lord and live before the Lord's face. Then another way we can become lukewarm is when we stop judging ourselves. That is so easy. You know, when we keep on doing things and we say it's okay. First time we may just have a bad thought and we say we ignore it. We don't confess it to the Lord and set it right. Then it becomes a word. It comes out. Then it becomes an angry word. Then it becomes a big fight. So in the beginning itself, we have the habit of judging ourselves. If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged, the Lord said. And the verses I've written for that are 1 Corinthians 11.31 and 1 Peter 4.17. That says about judging ourselves. And you know, the opposite of that, this is judging others. That's what we are expert in. We are so good at judging ourselves, judging others when we don't judge ourselves. We should turn it the other way around. That's upside down. When we are truly following the Lord, we start judging ourselves and let others dress what they like, how they like, eat what they like, say what they like. That's not our business. The judge of all is God. Not we. And we are not responsible. Even when my children are grown up, certain age, I think, now they are not my children anymore. They belong to the Lord. What I should have taught them till they were about 13, 14 or maximum 17, 18, beyond that, they are God's responsibility. If I keep telling them, there'll be a fight only. So I have to stop with myself and just judge myself and don't judge others. And that will solve a lot of problems. When we start judging others, only problems come. Why she's doing like that? Why she didn't talk to me in the meeting? She talked to all the others, but she didn't smile at me. So many things can come. Silly things, but may not mean anything, but we think it is serious. So we stop judging others, then that whole thing, that whole slate is wiped out. So, then another area how we can become loquacious is when we have an unforgiving spirit towards others. And that's so common for us. I find like those of us, especially those who are married and who have... Before that, when you're students and all, you have a roommate and you don't talk, that's like a baby thing. You get married and some brother-in-law or mother-in-law or father-in-law or somebody says something and it becomes like so heavy on us and we take it seriously and we're unable to forgive. That is so easy that's such a common thing that we should be vigilant and we say, Lord, I don't want to have an unforgiving attitude towards anybody. I want to forgive. Even if they are wrong, my duty is to forgive. If I keep that unforgiving attitude, that person doesn't know I'm having this in my heart. So she's okay. Who's the one who's going to suffer? Me. I'll be the one to suffer with that unforgiving, bitter attitude. I can't sleep. That keeps on rotating in my mind and judging and unforgiving. I don't want to go visit them. I don't want to step into their house. I don't want them to come here. All kind of problems come because of the unforgiving. Everybody faces that. As long as we live, people will do something to harm us. As long as we live. So we have to deal with that and say, Lord, I want to take the first step. In my heart, I want to forgive. And that thought what they have done towards us comes and say, Lord, see this thought, the devil is bringing this thought in my mind. She has done this harm against me. Right now help me to forgive. Help me take it out of my mind and immediately think of some verse or think of some good thing and let God. Unless we do something that thought will grow like some of these weeds. It will grow and grow and grow everywhere. It will grow and we can't pull it out. When it starts coming itself, we say, Lord, this thought about my so and so did this to me. Please help me to forgive. And after few times you say, Lord, help me to forgive. Help me not to think about it. You find that you stop thinking about it. But when you dwell in it and keep on thinking, ah, she said like that to me 20 years ago. Even for next 20 years, that will be like a big, wild creeper in our heart. So, we have to and the story which all of us know is about that man who couldn't forgive his fellow slave. You know that story. I don't want to mention. There was a man who was forgiven a big debt. And he went to the king who had a big debt and he told the king, this is too much for me to pay. Please, can you forgive me? And the king said, okay, I'll forgive you and cancelled everything. Otherwise, he and his wife, children, all would have become slaves. He was free. Then he went out and he saw one friend of his who owed a little bit. He caught him by his throat and said, what? Trying to avoid me, ah? What about this thing you haven't paid? And I'll put you in prison. You know that story, you know. So, I thought so many times, we forget how much God has forgiven us. And we think of the small thing. We can't forgive that other person and say, Lord, let me think of more about you. What you have forgiven me, let that occupy my mind all the time. Then all these things will go away. That song says, you know, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full on his wonderful face. Then the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his goodness and grace. So, when we look at Jesus, when we look at the things he has forgiven us, then whatever people have done to us, friends, relatives, all that, I'm saying that because I know from practical life how the Lord has helped me. That story has become so meaningful for me. At a time when my mother-in-law was staying with us and she was becoming forgetful. And she was doing things absentmindedly. And I had a girl to help me who I tried to teach, but she was slow, you know, from the village. And the Lord spoke the story to me and it became so meaningful to me. Almost as if all these people were telling me, have patience with me. You know, like this man told, have patience with me. I felt like my mother-in-law was telling me, even though she's not told me, in her heart she's telling me without words, have patience with me. I'm forgetful. Before I reach the bathroom, sometimes some little starts spilling on the ground. Please have patience with me. I felt like everybody is telling me, have patience. This little girl who doesn't know how to wash and she washes badly, all the soap is still there. She's also telling me, have patience with me. My children were little naughty and stubborn and I feel like telling I told a thousand times not to do that. I feel like they are also telling me, have patience with me, Mommy. I'll do it better. And now, looking back, I think how many, how much they have taught me. Because all of them have been my teachers, my children, my mother-in-law, the girl who helps me at the home. Everybody, almost the sisters, some sisters used to come home to share their problems. You know, insecurity. And they'll come, they'll find out that my husband has gone out of town for 2-3 days. So they finish the work fast and without telling me, they'll land up 10 o'clock. I wouldn't even have started the lunch and they want to share and they want to. Then I'll say, okay, you have lunch. They would have finished the work but I'll quickly make some lunch and then time goes and then I feel like, Lord, please help me at this time. And them also I felt like, I have to tell them, look, next time you come, please give me some warning. Fix me, fix a time and then we'll come. But they also I felt like, God is telling, have patience, teaching me through them, have patience with me. They're telling me, have patience with me, have patience. So this story became so important and meaningful for me. Then another thing where we can become, time is going on but how much time we have? Time. Okay, 5 o'clock. Okay. When we lack discipline, you know, I just mentioned it. We get up late and we're indisciplined about eating, indisciplined about time, lack discipline about reading God's word. And then another area, now I'll just say the points. When we become proud, oh, I have become somebody. Now I'm a spiritual elder sister. The moment we think like that, lukewarmness will start coming. When we have unsubmissive attitude towards our husband, especially for us, we think like, ah, I'm not going to listen. I'm also educated. I'm not going to listen. I also am earning money, or anything like that. Unsubmissive. Then cares of the world. When we start getting worried about, unnecessarily worried about our children, how to make money. So those are the ways in which we can become lukewarm. And many more. You can add to the list. God will speak to you many more. How to solve that? Say, Lord, I want to come back to you in repentance. The basic thing is come back again to the Lord in repentance. Lord, I'm sorry for all the ways in which I have let lukewarmness come. I want to repent and come with brokenness to the Lord. Like I told you, what happened to me when the Lord poured His Holy Spirit on me. Come with brokenness and repentance. And not that it's once in, not that it, I, because it happened 40 years ago, I'm okay. Every day I need repentance. Every day I say, Lord, today I said something. Today I said which I should not have said. Today I spoke in a rude way. Today I allowed my thoughts to go in a wrong way. Today I didn't read your word. Whatever. Daily repentance. Then, and ask the Lord to help us. Lord, I confess to you, these are the areas in which I fail. Please help me. Fill me with the Spirit every day. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit every day and we want to be separated from the world and the worldly ideas, worldly fashions, then more and more the Lord will help us to keep us on fire. And then we'll be beginning to think more and more of the Lord, more of our helping others than thinking of ourselves. Jesus, in Philippians 2, he says, let this be, mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. He humbled himself and he did not seek his own will. He did not come to do his will. That unselfishness we can get from him. So our time is up and we'll close in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we praise and thank you that we can come to you and call you Father. We thank you, Lord, that you are not far away, but you are so close to us, Lord. You said that we can abide in you and you abide in us. We want to always remain in you, Lord. We don't want anything to come between you and us, Father. Help us to be able to tell you everything that we face in this world. All our shortcomings, all our failures, all our lacks, everything that you see, Lord, please show it to us little at a time. Lord, if we see ourself, our true condition, we know that we won't be able to bear it. It is so terrible. But, Lord, show us little at a time, as much as we can bear, our un-Christ-likeness. And, Lord, help us to take up the cross every day, die to ourselves, so that whenever you call us, we'll be ready to see you and meet you, and we can present to you a life that is pleasing to you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that even though you're the judge of the whole world, you're not a judge to us. You're a father to us, Lord. You're loving and merciful, and you're helping us, Lord. Please help us not to take it for granted, but help us to take our life seriously and live a life that is pleasing to you. Yes, Lord, our desire is to please you always. Please help each dear sister who's come here, their families, their children, parents, husbands, and meet every need, Lord. Meet us in our need. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.