This sermon emphasizes the importance of being part of the remnant in the last days, just like those who were ready for the first coming of Christ. It highlights the need to prepare for Christ's second coming by examining the examples of Joseph, Mary, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, the shepherds, and even non-Jewish believers who were ready for Christ's arrival. The sermon stresses the significance of living by conscience, surrendering to God, and being part of a church that prepares people for the Lord's return.

We have been looking at some of the people who knew about the first coming of Christ when 99.9% of Israel was ignorant, even though they had the Word of God, and even though I suppose every Saturday in the synagogue they spoke about the coming of the Messiah. It was only a routine announcement. Nobody was in touch with God to know when He was coming or that He had already come, but there were a few. We could call them a remnant. The Bible speaks about a remnant, and in the last days we're living in, there will also be a remnant. The vast majority of Christians talk about the coming of the Lord. They won't be ready, but if we can look at the reasons why some of these people were ready for the first coming and were part of that remnant, we can be a part of the remnant in our time for Christ's second coming, and we looked at Joseph and Mary, first of all, young people, very young, but whom God chose to reveal when Christ was coming, Zacharias and Elizabeth, the very old couple, teaching us it doesn't matter whether you're young or old, to whom also the Lord revealed through the birth of their son, John the Baptist, that he'd be the forerunner of the Messiah, and to Simeon and Anna, a very, very old devoted servants of God. One was a widow, and one was like a prophet who were anointed with the Spirit, who were waiting eagerly. The shepherds who were probably illiterate, poor, simple people, not scholars, were also new about the coming of the Lord. In fact, they were the first ones to see Jesus after Joseph and Mary were in the manger. And then, surprisingly, we saw last time non-Jewish people, God-fearing non-Jewish people, were seeking God, who knew more about the coming of Christ than the scholars who studied the Bible in Israel, teaching us that we're going to get a lot of surprises when Christ comes again. That we see in the Gospels about the Roman centurion who had more faith than everybody in Israel, Jesus himself certified that. We see about the Syrophoenician, the Canaanite woman, out in Tyre and Sidon, whom Jesus praised for her faith. And Jesus himself said in his first sermon in the synagogue, there were many lepers in Israel, but none of them were cured. It was a non-Jewish Naaman who got cured. He said there were many poor widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, but God didn't send his servant to any of them but to a non-Jewish widow in Zarephath. And that's what made the Jewish people furious in that synagogue. They wanted to kill him because they thought, how in the world can God accept anybody other than Jews? You think a lot of Christians like that? I'll tell you, we're going to get a lot of surprises. Those three wise men, they came from Persia. They never knew anything about the Bible or the Old Testament or law of Moses or anything, but they knew that there was a God in the heavens. Romans 1 says that the sun and the stars declare that there is a God. And there's another thing that all those people had, that was a conscience. And Romans 2 tells us how God will judge people by their conscience. And I'll tell you something, among believers, among born-again believers I have met, many of them live less by their conscience than non-Christians I have met. Do you think God would be so unrighteous to take these so-called believers just because they come to the church and said the magic words, Lord Jesus, I believe in you and don't live by their conscience, live in sin, they live in adultery, they live in pornography, they live in internet pornography, and they think I'll go to heaven because I accepted Jesus. If anybody's sitting like that over here, I want to tell you in Jesus' name, you are deceiving yourself. And if God takes you to heaven and sends that God-fearing non-Christian to hell, he'd have to be very unjust. And that's what the message of the three wise men teaches. That's what the message of the Roman centurion, the Syrophoenician woman in the gospels teaches. And that's what the message of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 teaches us. He prayed. Now many of us think because we haven't read the Bible properly that if a non-Christian prays, God doesn't hear him. I want you to read your Bible properly. Turn to Acts chapter 10. Here was a non-Christian, a man who knew nothing about salvation, who didn't even pray in the name of Jesus. But it says in Acts 10 verse 1, he was a devout man, one who feared God. Can we say about non-Christians there are people who fear God with all his family? Do you know that there are non-Christian men who bring up their sons and daughters in a more God-fearing way than the shameful way that many believers bring them up? The shameful way that young believing women dress these days, following the fashions of the models and the film stars. And there are God-fearing Hindus whose girls are dressed 10 times more modestly than these so-called believers. It's true. He feared God with all his household, even though he did not have the Bible, he didn't have any knowledge of the true God. And he gave alms to the poor people and prayed to God continually. This is a non-Christian. How many of you pray to God continually? How many of you can the Holy Spirit record? This is a Holy Spirit record, by the way. There was a non-Christian man who prayed to God continually. Many of you are believers, my dear brothers and sisters. How many of you can the Holy Spirit write down? There's a man, there's a woman who prays to God continually. There's a man, there's a woman who with his whole household fears God. He had sons and daughters and I'm sure he brought them up modestly, even though he was a Roman soldier, a well-paid Roman soldier. And the angel came to him and said to him, now listen to this, verse 4. He said, what is it, Lord? Your prayers and the money you've given to poor beggars have ascended as a memorial before God. Was that a devil who told him that? Or was it an angel from God who said, Cornelius, you never prayed in the name of Jesus. God heard your prayer because he saw in your ignorance, your sincerity. Do you know that all of us are going to be judged by the amount of knowledge we have? That's why I've often said to people who come to this church, if you're not serious about following Jesus, you better not come to this church because every time you hear a message, your responsibility increases, your condemnation increases. When you hear the highest truths of God here, you have the potential to rise much higher or sink much lower. Others who live in systems, whether Christian systems or non-Christian systems, where they don't hear the truth at all, they don't have the potential to rise very high and they don't have the potential to sink very low. But here in our midst, you have the potential to rise the highest and to sink the lowest. It's like that. When you're standing just one foot off the ground, you don't rise very high. If you fall down, you don't get hurt. But if you go into a 10-story building, you're pretty high. When you fall, you kill yourself. That's the difference. Many of us don't realize that. We think, oh, it's a great place to be, great church. We hear so many wonderful truths. We're challenged, stirred. You don't realize every single time you hear the word of God, every single week you come here, your responsibility increases. And here's a man who knew so little. I want God to say to me, Lord, I hope you'll say about me what you said about Cornelius, a non-Christian. Your prayers have come before God as a memorial. Your prayers have brought you to God's attention. The message Bible translates, your prayers have brought you to God's attention. I believe that. I also believe there's no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ. I believe there's no way of salvation except through Jesus Christ. I believe there's no other name given under heaven among men except the name of Jesus by which anyone can be saved. Because Christ alone died for the sins of the world. Christ alone rose from the dead. And anyone who's saved and enters heaven, whoever he is, of whatever religion, will enter there on the basis of Christ's death and resurrection. But what I'm saying is, there are many people who know about that death and resurrection who will not be there. Many who think they're born again who will not be there. And many who have never heard. We may get a few surprises. We don't know exactly how God's going to do it. And I don't profess to have all the answers. But I know from the message of those three wise men, that there were certain people, it's not just the shepherds and not just the Simeons and the Annas and the God-fearing Jews, who already there were non-Jewish people also, who were part of that remnant whom God saw, who recognized, think of this for example, which even so many so-called Christians don't understand today. We read about them in Matthew chapter 2, that when these wise men came to the house, they saw Mary and they saw Jesus. Verse 11, Matthew 2 verse 11. They saw Mary and they saw Jesus and they fell to the ground and they worshiped only Jesus. There are Christians today who don't do that. They worship both Mary and Jesus. These men were wise and they were non-Jewish people. They didn't have a Bible. But I tell you they have a knowledge of God. When you have a knowledge of God, you know more than those who just know the Bible. You can study the Bible like a book of chemistry or geography or history. It won't enable you to know God. These people knew God. How did they know this is the one must be worshiped? Non-Christian religions very often give a big place to the mother, mother of God. These were non-Christians but they knew whom to worship, only Jesus. I tell you these examples humble us. I want to see one more example now of someone who was ready, who knew by the coming of Christ and that's John the Baptist. Just let's look at him because he's one of those people who knew Christ is coming. He was part of that remnant and just wanted to say a few things about him from Luke chapter 1 first of all where the angel spoke to Zacharias and Elizabeth concerning his birth and that's in Luke chapter 1 and the angel told Zacharias in verse 14, you'll have a lot of joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. Many will rejoice that such a person was born. Don't you think you should be one like that? All of you, all you and I, that many people in the world should praise God that such a person like you was born on this earth to be a blessing to them, to be a witness for God. You know that possibility exists for all of us. Many will rejoice at his birth. There was another baby born around the same time. He was named Judas Iscariot born around the same time maybe a few years later. Jesus said about him, about his birth, it were better for that man if he was never born. See the contrast. Is it possible that Jesus can say about some people it is better for that person if he was never born? He was such a nuisance. He created so many problems for so many people. He harassed his wife continuously. She nagged her husband continuously. Better such people were not even born. They claimed to be Christians but there were such poor witnesses for me in their place of work, in their college, in their home, with their neighbors, with their relatives. It was better the person was not even born. At least my name would not have been so disgraced. Is that you or are you this one? Many will rejoice that such a man, such a woman was born on this earth and that his life, he may not have been very popular. He may not have made a lot of money. His name may not have come in the newspapers. He may not have been famous or whatever it is but he was a witness for Christ and a blessing. That puts us all at equal levels. You don't have to have a degree or a qualification or money or anything. Pray this prayer, Lord, there are many things in my life I've messed up but at least from now on I want many to rejoice that a man or a woman such as me was born onto this earth and he will be great in the sight of the Lord. That's the only place where you need to be great. Make that your ambition. Don't seek to be great in the church. Don't seek to be great in the world. Don't seek to be great among your friends or your relatives or your neighbors or any such thing. Have one passion to be great in the sight of the Lord. The world has seen great rulers like Nebuchadnezzar and pharaohs and all who were great in the sight of men. Where are they today? Seek to be great in the sight of the Lord and your name will last forever and ever like the names of Abraham and Moses and David and Peter and Paul and John. Ordinary people, farmers and fishermen seek to be great in the sight of the Lord. You know, if you want to be a part of the remnant that is ready for the coming of Christ, you've got to have some of these principles. Lord, I want to be great in your sight. That means more to me than anything else on the face of this earth. I don't care. And I'll tell you, if you say that, if you pray that prayer to God, he will test you in different situations to see whether you're seeking to be great in the eyes of your boss by telling a lie, by compromising, by signing false statements or whether you want to be great in the sight of the Lord and if necessary be willing to lose your job because you refuse to tell a lie or refuse to compromise or refuse to do something wrong. Yeah, you'll be tested. It's great to be sight in the Lord. He will not drink wine or liquor be filled with the Holy Spirit while he is in his mother's womb. There's a man who lived a very simple life and I believe godly men always live very simple lives. It's one of the things I've noticed of almost all the godly men I've met in my life. They live in simplicity. They don't spend too much on themselves. I don't mean they live in dress like beggars and go around in ragged torn clothes. That would be a hint to everybody. Give me some money. So I'm not asking you to dress like that. Dress decently but don't don't follow the passions of the world. Seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit and he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. He will turn people to the Lord. Imagine if you can be one like that. It says about John the Baptist in another place which is I've shown I've told you that before that can be said about you and me at the end of our life. It'd be really wonderful. It's related to this passage. He will turn many to the Lord their God in John's gospel chapter one. These words Luke 1 John 1 says about disciples of John the Baptist. John the Baptist said in verse 35-36 he looked at Jesus and he said there is the Lamb of God. Behold means look carefully at him. That's the Lamb of God. And this is the sentence I was thinking of. The two disciples heard John speak and they followed Jesus. They didn't follow John. They heard John speak and they didn't follow John. They followed Jesus. If that can be said of your life, man, young man, young woman, older man, older woman, that when people hear you speak they follow Jesus a little closer, not you because you push them off. You don't let them follow you. You don't let them cling to you. You shove them off. Then you're part of the remnant because you don't want to follow him. When I was a young man, I read a piece of poetry. I carry it around with me. I have never forgotten it. It says about a person holding a flaming torch to a beautiful painting of Jesus. And it says that as people looked at that painting, they couldn't see the hand that held the flaming torch. And from that time, I was gripped with a longing to be a preacher like that. That I'd hold the light and nobody would see the lamp that's holding the light, hold the hand that's holding the light. They would only see Jesus. You can be like that. We can all be like that. And the second verse said, there was this trumpeter who blew the trumpet loud and clear and prepared people for the coming of the Lord, but nobody saw the trumpeter. He just heard the trumpet voice. That's what John the Baptist was. Somebody asked him, what are you? He said, I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. How many of you can honestly say, Lord, I'm willing to be just a voice for you. I just want to be on this earth, a voice and a lamp points people to you. And if they follow you, that's my delight. I'll tell you something. Those are the only people whom God will use in these days to build his body. A lot of things called the church these days, which are not the church of Jesus Christ. They're congregations. Congregations that are meant to boost a man's popularity. And so the man's got to be very careful when he says things that doesn't offend anybody. Should never talk about hell, never talk about sins that those people may be engaged in, never talk about divorce and things like that, how evil that is, how divorce equals adultery. Don't ever talk things like that. That'll drive away people to other churches. I say, let them go. We have another type of Christianity these days. Paul predicted it in 2 Timothy 4, that people will accumulate, preachers will tickle their ears. It's another word for psychology. Paul mentioned in 2 Timothy 4, tickling ears, psychology, making people feel nice when they're living in sin, telling people they'll go to heaven when they're on their way to hell, making them two-fold children of hell. Lots of preaching like that going on today. It gets huge crowds. They have plenty of money to go on television. Babylon always has plenty of money. It's Jerusalem that's struggling financially, but it doesn't matter because the work of Jerusalem is not dependent on money. It's dependent on the Holy Spirit. In Babylon, even though the Holy Spirit disappears, it won't make any difference, and they'll still continue doing God's work, what they think is God's work. That's the difference. Supposing the Holy Spirit, you know, the Holy Spirit came to earth on the day of Pentecost, and he comes into us, and he wants to fill our lives. John the Baptist was filled with the from birth. Boy, what a way to live. Supposing the Holy Spirit just quietly, without making any announcement or noise, left the earth, and we were back in old covenant times. My question is, would you sense it? Would you sense it when you got up in the morning? Hey, something missing. What happened? How would you get up in the morning, carry on with the normal work, and come on Sunday to the meetings? And I think many millions of Sunday services will still continue. Missionary work will continue, and requests for money will continue, and reports about massive conversions and revivals will still go on. The Holy Spirit's gone. This is the condition of Christendom today. Don't be a part of it. There were millions of Jews, at least hundreds of thousands of them in Israel at that time, who didn't have a clue that Jesus had come. We're not ready for his first coming. There are lots of Christians who won't be ready for the second coming of Christ, and don't think because you come to this church you're going to be ready for the second coming of Christ. You may not even be born again. You may have come here because your brother came here, or your sister came here, or your husband came here, or your wife came here, therefore you also oozed and crept into this church without radical turning from sin and discipleship and being gripped by the calling to be a disciple of Christ. Well, my duty is only to warn you. I'll tell you what our calling is as a church. Here it is. Luke chapter 1. He will turn people to the Lord their God, and it says in verse 17, he will go as a forerunner before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children. There's going to be a tremendous emphasis on the home in the true church of God, relationships between fathers and children, bonding between fathers and children, and children and fathers in a day when fathers have no time for children. They're busy with their work, busy with entertainment, busy watching television. They have no time to bond with their children. They're not prepared for the coming of the Lord, but John the Baptist would turn the heart of the fathers back to the children so that the children don't feel lost in a wicked world. I feel sorry for poor young people who are lost in this wicked world because their parents have no time for them. When I hear a 16-year-old turn to her mother and say, I have no time to talk to you, mom. You had no time for me when I was five years old. I have no time for you now. Be careful. Bond with them when they are five years old, and six, and seven, and eight, and nine, and ten, and they'll be your friends for life. It's true. I have four boys who speak to me like a friend. I prayed from their childhood, Lord, they are my children. One day I want them to be my brothers in Christ, and they are my brothers in Christ today. I didn't speak peace, peace to them. I didn't follow the principles of psychology in bringing up my children. I followed the principles of scripture. You read them in Hebrews chapter 12. God disciplines his children because he loves them. Dear brothers and sisters, we want to be a church where fathers and children are bonded together. That's part of the last day's church. The hearts of fathers and children are going to be turned to each other. Children are going to look up to their fathers as heroes. I hope your children do. My children do. They've told me that. And when they have children, they say, Dad, if we can bring up our children the way you brought us up, that's good enough for us. Your children can say that to you. I'm not boasting. I'm just saying, I don't want to teach something which I haven't practiced. I'm not ashamed to say, follow me as I follow Christ. You should be able to say that too. We don't want all this false humility, which says, oh, no, no, don't look at me. Why shouldn't people look at you? You're supposed to be an example. Jesus said, you are the light of the world. Matthew 5, 16. Didn't you know that? What do you mean being the light of the world and say, don't look at me? Where are they supposed to look then? Are they supposed to look at the darkness of the world? Every Christian is supposed to be the light of the world. Imagine if Jesus went around on earth and said, don't look at me. He was the light of the world. He said, look at me. Then he turned around his disciples in John 9, verse 5, and said, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world, but I'm going. And now Matthew 5, 16, you'll be the light of the world. 14 to 16. There. It's our responsibility. Your family life must be an example to others. Your behavior as a father and mother must be an example to your children. That's the message of John the Baptist. And he's going to turn the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous. There is an attitude of righteous man. And the message of this church, the message of John the Baptist, preparing people for the coming of the Lord, turn to the attitude of a righteous man, a righteous woman. I want to ask you, do you have the attitude of a righteous person? It's not just I did one righteous thing here or one righteous thing there. The attitude of the righteous, that's what I want to have. Attitude of the righteous doesn't mean you won't slip up here or there. We may slip up. I may slip up, but I've got the attitude of the righteous. That means my heart is set on going in a certain direction. And in going in that direction, if I slip and fall, I get up and continue going in that direction. Turn the hearts of the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous and thus make ready a people prepared for the Lord. We want to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. That's why the study of John the Baptist is so important. In his day, it was one man, because he was the last prophet under the old covenant. And under the old covenant, God called individuals. And Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, John the Baptist. But as soon as you come to the pages of the New Testament, a new covenant, Jesus sent out his disciples two by two. That was not there in the old covenant, because two becomes a body. You know that? You know how a body is formed in a mother's womb? Two individual dissimilar, dissimilar units becoming one. That's a body. That's why Jesus sent out people two by two and not one by one. There was no body in the old covenant. You don't need 2,000 people for a body. You need two. But two people are one. That's what makes a body in a mother's womb. Two dissimilar units becoming one. The moment they are united is the beginning of a body. They are not united. They'll float around there. There's no body. You know that. That's how it is. That's how a body is built even today. It's so similar to nature in the spiritual realm. Two dissimilar brothers or sisters coming together. Maybe a husband and wife. They come together. They become one in Christ. Christ becomes their bond. Christ becomes in the center. That's the beginning of a body. And the devil will do everything possible to bring a miscarriage, to abortion, destroy that body whether it's between husband and wife, come bring division, misunderstanding, confusion between them. Don't think just because you don't divorce your wife or husband you're very spiritual. Far from it. It's unity the Lord looks for, not lack of divorce. To say that I don't fight with my husband doesn't prove that you're united. No. I don't fight with my wife doesn't prove anything. Oneness is more than saying I don't fight. There are millions of people in India about whom I can say I don't fight with them. So what? Does it mean I'm one with them? There are neighbors I've never met I can say I don't fight with them. Or if I say hi and bye to them on the street I don't fight with them. That's not unity. Unity is where you know each other and you're one. You know everything. You know all about each other's weaknesses, strengths, everything. It doesn't make a difference. I recognize I'm imperfect and the other person's imperfect and God unites two imperfect people together to be a body. You think that baby that's born out of a mother's womb is perfect? Far from it. It's two imperfect dissimilar units that unite to become one unity. You don't have to be perfect. Perfection is only in heaven. There's no perfect baby born on the earth. So that's that's what the Lord's looking for. And so in the Old Testament it was an individual who's a prophet. In the New Testament it's the church that's going to be the forerunner. The real church. I don't mean everybody who calls himself church but people who recognize what it is to be the body of Christ. And it says about him that he's going to come. Notice this phrase in Luke 1 verse 17. He's going to come in the spirit and power of Elijah. And that's why Elijah is a very important person to consider in the Old Testament. I want you to turn to the Old Testament. The last two verses in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 4 verse 5 and 6. You see something very significant there. The Lord says I'm going to send Elijah the prophet. The message Bible says to clear the way for the big day of God. The decisive judgment day. I'm going to send Elijah the prophet to clear the way or prepare the way for the great day of God. The decisive judgment day. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children etc. And that is the verse that Gabriel quoted in his prophecy to Zechariah. The message he brought from God. This John the Baptist is the one who 350 years ago Malachi spoke about who will come in the spirit and power of Elijah. So what was he supposed to do? What was the spirit and power of Elijah supposed to bring? Prepare people for the coming of the Lord. But people asked John the Baptist are you Elijah? He said oh no. And people went okay we don't know. John may have been humble. He didn't want to claim anything. Are you that prophet who Moses said will come? No no no I'm not. What are you? I'm just a voice. But see what Jesus said about him in Matthew chapter 11. Jesus tells us something very interesting about this prophecy of Malachi and what Gabriel said about John the Baptist. When people from John the Baptist came to Jesus. You know John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus saying in verse 3 Matthew 11 verse 3. Are you the expected one or should we look for somebody else? And Jesus said go and report to John what you see etc. And finally when they went away Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. This is the type of man who prepares people for the coming of the Lord. This is the type of church that's going to prepare people from the coming of the Lord. What did you go out in the wilderness to see? Verse 7 a reed shaken by the wind. The church is never meant to be a reed shaken by the wind. Unfortunately a lot of churches are like that. Everybody starts falling on the ground and laughing. They also start falling on the ground laughing. Some preacher in America pushes people down to the ground. They all start pushing people to the ground. This is a reed shaken by the wind. Then some strange doctrine comes up there. They follow their strange doctrine. They don't have the Bible. Jesus is not their example. They're following some western preacher who thought up some gimmick to gather a crowd. You don't need any gimmick when you have the Holy Spirit in God's word. If Jesus didn't do it and the apostles don't do it, didn't do it, forget it. I don't care which western preacher does it. If Jesus didn't teach it and the apostles didn't teach it, forget it. I have a fourfold test for all so-called manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Did Jesus do it? Did the apostles do it? Did the Jesus teach it? Did the apostles teach it? If it fails on all four counts, brother you can have it. I don't want it at all. It protects me from deception. It has protected me from deception for 50 years as a believer. Okay so here we read. He's not a reed shaken by the wind. He was steady. God wants you to be rock steady, like unshakable, like a house that's built on a rock foundation, like a tree that's got deep roots. What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing who's always going shopping for clothes. They've got umpteen clothes in their cupboard but they're still not satisfied. They want to go buy new clothes and clothes and clothes and clothes. The Lord says there's such people not prophets. Those are kings and palaces who waste their time and don't do it. They're not at all effective for eternity. Are you like that brother or sister? Always shopping for clothes even though you've got plenty stacked up in your cupboard because you want to follow the latest style. You saw some film star, some model wearing that and you want to follow that and you want to go to the hair stylist because you saw some model having that hairstyle and that's the thing which all the worldly people are following. I must have that style. Do you think Jesus' mother Mary was like that as a young girl? Do you think that's why God chose her? Because she had the best hairstyle and because she had the latest fashions and clothes and don't miss out dear young sisters on what God wants you to be and you mothers teach your daughters something. Don't say well they're like that. You should have bonded with them from the age of five and if you haven't at least warn them now. Say but some people in CFC are like this. Tell them not to be like those young sisters in CFC. Yeah why not? Everybody in CFC is not spiritual. Why did you go out to see a prophet? Yes I tell you and one who is more than a prophet is the one about whom I write. Behold I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before your boy. Imagine hearing those words of Jesus. You know you and I can hear it today. If Jesus could say about you and me, this is my messenger. This man, this woman whom I have sent ahead of my second coming who will prepare people for my coming and he says about John the Baptist, I say to you there's never been a man born of women greater than John the Baptist but the least in the kingdom of God can be greater than him. This is the place I want you to see here. Verse 14 this verse is a big if there. Jesus told the Jewish people if I am capital if you Jewish people accept John the Baptist and his message only then is he the Elijah that Malachi prophesied about in Malachi 4 verse 5 and 6 and we know that the Jewish people did not accept John the Baptist and therefore that prophecy in Malachi 4 5 and 6 was not fulfilled. If it was not fulfilled then it has to be fulfilled like it says there before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Verse 15 he who has years to hear let him hear that before the great and terrible day of the Lord God will send the prophet Elijah but that will not be an individual. I told you that it'll be a corporate body one new man. It'll be many people together who will be the voice of God in the last days with the spirit of Elijah and spirit of John the Baptist. In Christian history there have been some crazy preachers who suddenly got up and said I am the Elijah whom God sent. Well they all died but people still don't seem to have woken up to the fact that that's because most Christians are old covenant Christians. They think God is still working through some one lonely prophet here or there. No God's working through a body through the church one new man and you and I need to be part of that body to be the Elijah in the last days and you know what it means to be a part of the body. Every part of the body is not the tongue so you may not be able to preach like Elijah but you can still be a part of Elijah because Elijah was not just tongue he was liver kidneys heart and so many other things in his body that made the tongue to function and so it's the calling of the church together to be the voice of God in our day turning people from sin turning the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous with the spirit of Elijah and I want to say to you in Jesus name the Lord is sending that ministry that the prophet Elijah had that John the Baptist had to prepare people for the coming of the Lord in our time in every country God's going to raise people who have that vision and who will together be the Elijah of the last days and who will do their part if they can't preach they'll pray they'll support and support such a ministry one way or the other so that the voice of God can go forth a lot of similarities between Elijah and John the Baptist and that will also be characteristic of this remnant of the last days that will be like the Elijah of the last days and that is both Elijah and John the Baptist were absolutely fearless men they never preached a single sermon to please anybody they offended lots of people left right and center John the Baptist was offending people everywhere Elijah was offending people everywhere they're offending people all the way from the king's palace Ahab and Jezebel in Elijah's time and Herod and Herodias in John the Baptist time all the way from the top they offended the greatest people and they didn't care and the greatest people were after their lives Jezebel wanted to kill Elijah and Herod Herodias the lady it was always a woman who was after Herod didn't want to kill John the Baptist it was Herodias it was Jezebel Ahab didn't want to kill Elijah strong women they're going to be strong women in the last days who detest the preaching of prophets the spirit of Jezebel can be in the church yeah there are strong women in the church I believe in the gift of prophecy that God gives to women but I also believe in false prophetesses like Jezebel that can be in the church we need to distinguish between the false prophetess Jezebel in the church and the people who got the sisters who got a spirit of prophecy like we read in Acts 2 17 you don't have that discernment you'll be thoroughly deceived in the last days and if you love the truth so as to be saved from sin you will not be deceived I guarantee no Jezebel will be able to deceive you but they'll be opposed the spirit of John the Baptist I've seen powerful women try to oppose me but they always drop out of the church so that they're persecuted there'll be persecution there'll be persecution who were the ones who persecuted Elijah it says in the in the Mount Carmel there were 850 prophets of Baal and remember those prophets of Baal were all Jewish people they were not from strange nations they were Jewish people who worshiped Jehovah and worshiped Baal and Elijah stood before them and said choose this day whom you will serve if Jehovah is God serve him if Baal is God serve him and that is what the voice of Jehovah voice of Elijah will say in the last days too if God if Jesus Christ is God serve him if money is God serve that you know money is the equivalent of Baal today money and property and mammon a composite word for wealth in whatever form it is whether stock market shares or property or real estate or money or clothing or gold or silver one big name Jesus gave for it is mammon as Elijah said Jehovah or Baal Jesus said in Luke 16 13 God or mammon it's the same thing you look back at that Old Testament and say how in the world could anybody serve Jehovah and Baal is it possible you mean sometimes praying to Jehovah sometimes going after Baal that's crazy but you may be doing the same thing yourself when you go up to Christ on Sundays and I'm up to money on other days like someone asked me once brother Zach what's the difference between your church and other churches I say well I'm not here to first of all to compare my church with any other church there are hypocrites in our church there are hypocrites in every church we're not perfect other churches are not perfect but we place emphasis on the ministry of the word from the pulpit more than whether there are hypocrites in the congregation and I'd say one thing for many churches I'm not saying all for many churches Sunday is the most important thing most important day but for us the most important day is Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday afternoon also and Sunday evening in other words after the meeting is over that's the point for other people the important thing is how is the meeting my eye question is how was your week did you live with a clear conscience did you complain did you grumble did you yell at your wife and your husband was he is praising God here on Sunday morning Sunday morning is not the main thing for us Sunday morning is a time when we cooperatively come together and praise the Lord and thank him and then we get instruction on how we can worship God the rest of the week you know when my worship meeting is after the meeting here is over because worship means Lord I have nothing on earth but you and I'm going to live the rest of this week proving that I desire nothing on earth but you that's worship be a worshipper the moment you leave this house this hall through the week and come back next Sunday to praise and thank God that's how I do it I worship God throughout the week and come here to praise God and to thank you but since 99.999 percent of Christians don't have a clue of the difference between praise and worship they don't understand that if they take a concordance and read the New Testament they'd understand it pretty quickly but they don't read the New Testament they read Christian magazines and Christian books more than they read the Bible they listen to CDs and Christian television more than they hear the voice of God no wonder they go astray so Elijah said serve God Jehovah are beyond we say serve Christ our money and there are many many Christians who think that they can equally serve Christ and money they can have their attention on Christ and money and say you can't you have to make one your servant and the other your master in the Old Testament they had to get rid of bail and what do we have to get rid of we got to get rid of the worship of money not money itself the love of money you got to get rid of that you got to keep money under your feet money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master we are the bride of Christ imagine if you women had a lovely husband you're married to and he's got a worker there coming to work in the house very hard worker and you fall in love with that man that's the marriage of money so what should you do kill the man no no don't kill him keep him as a servant don't make him your husband that's all I'm saying keep him as a servant do you have 10 servants keep them all as servants don't marry any of them you got a husband are you earning a hundred thousand rupees a month God bless you brother keep those hundred thousand as your servants whether you earn one thousand or a hundred thousand keep them as your servants don't let it be your master that's what it means to worship Christ the spirit of John the Baptist that's how we are to prepare people for the coming of the Lord see Luke's gospel chapter 3 is a wonderful passage again about John the Baptist which speaks about the remnant church in the last days which you and I want to be a part of it's a beautiful passage have you ever thought why this big introduction in the 15th year of these are the greatest men in the world Caesar Tiberius world emperor Pontius Pilate Luke 3 verse 1 governor of Judea Herod ruler of Galilee Philip ruler of Ituria and Trachonitis Lysanias the ruler of Abilene these are all the secular rulers then we come to the religious rulers the bishops and archbishops and popes the chief priest Ananias and Caiaphas after listing all the world's greatest secular rulers religious rulers it says the word of God bypassed all of them and came to John dressed in camel skin in the wilderness I like that the word of God bypassed all these great men in the secular world that we can understand but it bypassed all the great leaders in the religious world how about that the people who knew the Bible and came to a prophet who lived before God's face who wanted to be great in God's eyes dear brother sister I tell you India needs prophets not religious managers not emcees masters of ceremonies who can conduct a good meeting crack a few jokes and make people laugh and no those are fit for nightclubs India needs prophets and some of you young men can be those prophets some of you young women can prophesy or maybe one day be the wife of a prophet but that won't happen overnight God will test you in 101 situations see whether you're a compromiser see whether you worship money see they go after money whether you go after honor whether you seek to please men whether you violate your conscience to make a little profit here a little profit there see whether you study God's word whether you're more interested in watching television or reading God's word he'll test you in 101 ways and aluminum is to be used for making an airplane they test it through intense testing but then word of God came to John and and I believe it came because he had a listening ear he was listening out there in the wilderness he wasn't a great man in the secular world he was not a great man in the religious world he had no title he was not reverend right reverend nothing he was just John the word of God came to I tell you God is looking for such young men and women be one of them and when he heard he preached he preached repentance wasn't a popular message repentance is not a popular message today but he came and preached it he says you can't get forgiveness of sins unless you repent no use just believing where do you hear that message today everywhere the message is believe believe believe believe believe did you remember did you notice when we sang that song to God be the glory that one line of the one word of that is changed the way we sang it the vilest offender who truly repents that's not the way it's in the original the original is the vilest offender who truly believes who truly repents and he said I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness may the Lord make our church oh my heart longs for that the voice crying in the wilderness of India make ready the way of the Lord for the coming of Christ make his path straight lift up all the valleys of depression and there's no time to be depressed now and discouraged and jealous valleys speak of depression and self-condemnation and jealousy of others who are better than you get up from there get out of all that repent of all that and bring down all the mountains of pride and arrogance and conceit and thinking that you're better than somebody else every month has to be brought every valley has got to be filled up and all the crooked areas in your life all the unrighteousness and money matters all the crooked things you're doing in your life and work make it straight and all the rough areas of your life where you rub other people and hurt them and hurt them smoothen them out that's how you're going to be ready for the coming of Christ and all flesh will see the salvation of God yeah we've gone through the study of a number of people who were part of that remnant 2,000 years ago and God saw from heaven and prepared them and I believe today as we approach the end of the age in the second coming of Christ God's looking out from heaven seeking to prepare people for his coming even today be one of that number the remnant let's pray let's bow our heads before God you don't have to be the tongue of Elijah you can be just a part of his body God may give somebody else the job of being the tongue for many others that doesn't mean you don't have a part every one of us is an important part to pray to support to stand true in the spirit of Elijah even if we don't have the gift of speaking with the words of Elijah Heavenly Father help us to be the church a church after your own heart a church after your own heart Lord to be your voice in these last days to be able to hear your word when secular people rulers cannot hear it and religious rulers cannot hear it to be able to hear your word and to proclaim it faithfully whether it's popular or unpopular to a needy nation in India in the world to prepare people for your coming we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ amen