This sermon emphasizes the importance of seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit to serve others selflessly, following the example of Jesus. It highlights the need to prophesy to edify, exhort, and console others, rather than seeking personal gain or fame. The message encourages believers to pursue love, humility, and the ministry of building up one another daily through words of encouragement and prophecy.

Last Sunday, we were considering the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the early church. And by that, I was saying, really the early church is, there's not a lot that's written about it, but we get a little idea of what the early Christians were like. And those of us who've been used to traditional Christianity, you must remember that the early church never had church buildings. They never had big auditoriums or huge congregations because they were poor. In Jerusalem and in other places. And they probably met in a number of houses and were groups like this, meeting in crowded homes. And we've had a taste of that in India because most of our churches are in poor villages and most of the brothers and sisters are, don't have big homes. And almost all our churches started as house churches, small groups that over a period of time grew and grew the way the early church grew. Today we have, you know, we are so used to what we've seen of traditional Christianity that we need to get all that out of our mind to understand how the early Christians met. They didn't have evangelistic crusades. There was no such thing as evangelists so-and-so or going around having meetings. They always, I think a lot of their evangelism was through personal conversation and what we would call personal evangelism. That's the way our churches have grown as well. Once a little church is established and, you know, people would invite their friends to come along or someone in their place of work to come along and little by little, one by one by one, that's certainly the way our church has grown from, we were eight or nine people in the beginning 37 years ago and including children, we are close to 400 now. Now that's not something we are proud of because I don't know whether all 400 are disciples. That's the only thing that matters ultimately. But our expansion has been through personal evangelism. Somebody brings a friend of theirs or a relative of theirs, they are gripped by the truth of somebody in their place of work and that's how the early church grew. They didn't have the money to conduct huge crusades and hire all the stadiums and things like that. And the other thing is, those early Christians, remember, they didn't have a Bible. When they met together, they were so dependent on the Holy Spirit and the little bit of scripture that they knew in their memory. These printed Bibles, I hope you know, available only in the last 500 years. For 1500 years, there was no printed Bible. You couldn't have a Bible at home. And the early manuscripts of scripture were written in expensive, some type of material which only very rich people could afford or you could have one copy in a synagogue or something like that. And so a lot of scripture had to be in memory and that's why I believe memorizing scripture is a very, very good thing. And, you know, when Jesus quoted scripture to Satan, it's because that had been in his memory from childhood. He had, by the age of 12, he had heard, heard and accumulated enough to, you know, talk to the great scholars. So they were so dependent on the Holy Spirit and they were not, you know, nitpicking on some little word and verse here and things like that. It was more in the spirit. You couldn't say whether a person was quoting a verse exactly. They understood the spirit of scripture much more than the letter. And that's so important. You know, because we have the printed word, we can get so taken up with the letter of scripture and that's a good thing to study scripture carefully. But we've got to be careful that we don't become idolaters of the Bible. Is that possible? Yes. That's what the Pharisees were. They went by the letter of the law. And when you go by the letter of the law, they studied it so much that they thought Jesus was the prince of devils and that women caught in adultery must be stoned to death when Jesus would let them go. You go by the letter of scripture, you can do so many things wrong. You can hurt other people and you can have a completely wrong concept of Jesus Christ. But the Holy Spirit, you know, Jesus said the Holy Spirit will show you things about myself which nobody else can know. So we must always remember this. This verse about the Holy Spirit in John chapter 16 and verse 14. Referring to the Holy Spirit in the previous verse. He will glorify me and He will take of mine and disclose it to you. This is something wonderful we see in the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That none of them seek to draw attention to themselves. The Son of God came to earth and glorified the Father. And He was always trying to point people to how good a Father they had in heaven. Who would provide for them, care for them. And at the end of His life He could say, If you have seen Me, you have really seen the Father. Because that's what He demonstrated in His life. He was not trying to promote Himself. When they wanted to make Him a king, He ran away. He said, I don't want to be a king. He had come here to be a servant and His only job was to promote the Father. And it says in John 1.18 that the Son of God explained the Father. And the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, He comes and He doesn't talk about Himself. He glorifies the second person of the Trinity. Glorifies Christ. And it says here, He will take of mine and show it to you. And so I see from there that if a person is really filled with the Holy Spirit what will he do? He will not draw attention to himself. A person who draws attention to himself, I can write him off as a person who is not filled with the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit doesn't draw attention to Himself. He doesn't try to show what a great guy I am. Jesus didn't come with that spirit. That's the spirit of man. It's the spirit of the devil. It's the spirit of Lucifer. To show what a great guy I am. And I've seen so much in the Christian church of people who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And even others who despise the gifts of the Spirit. Both are in the same category if they're trying to exalt themselves. And to show what a great guy I am. If you listen to somebody and you're more attracted by him than by Christ whom he proclaims. There's something wrong with that type of ministry. I'm not saying that we, I think if I were listening to the Apostle Paul I'd have a great admiration for him. And I would like to listen to him frequently. Because he draws me to Christ. So I do have my favorite preachers. I do have my favorite authors. Whom I read. There are very few. But they're always the ones who point me to Christ. And that's the thing that we need to remember in a world of deception. The Holy Spirit will take of the things of Christ and show Him to us. And He'll show me. When I see Christ what happens is exactly what happened to Isaiah. It says when Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord he saw himself and said, Oh Lord what a sinful man I am. And that's what happens when we see the glory of the Lord it humbles us. And how do we know that the Holy Spirit's working in you and showing you the glory of Christ? You will be constantly humbled. You'll be humbled and humbled and humbled. Like, finally you'll see like John at the age of 95. This is the John who leaned upon the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper. But 65 years later when he sees the same Jesus in the Isle of Patmos he's not daring to lean upon His breast. It says he falls at His feet like a dead man. That's the mark of a man who knows God. There's a reverence the Holy Spirit brings into his life. A tremendous reverence for Christ. Like I said last Sunday there's so much missing in Christendom today. The spirit of the fear of the Lord that the Holy Spirit is. So He will exalt Christ. And He shows us more and more about Jesus as much as we can bear. And it's not just scripture. In the Old Testament God's word was a light unto our path. A very well known verse in Psalm 100, 1905. Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. That was the only light they had in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament Jesus said I'm the light of the world. John 1, 4 says in Him was life. And that life was the light of man. So the Holy Spirit does not just point me to the word like in the Old Testament. But through the word to the light of the world which is Jesus Christ. And shows me the glory of Jesus in scripture. And transforms me or conforms me into that lightness more and more. So we must not think that we have understood the ministry of the spirit. Or experienced the ministry of the spirit. If we are not seeing Jesus more and more in scripture. I mean to me it's one of the most exciting things to see Jesus in scripture. And to see my own need there. And I'll give you one example. And you know there are many like that I've found in scripture. It's been so exciting. Let me show you this. In John chapter 7. We read of Jesus preaching that very powerful sermon on the fullness of the Holy Spirit. How he says in John 7, 38. Rivers of living water will flow from a person's innermost being. As he spoke of the spirit. And it was such a powerful sermon that some people said. Verse 40. John 7, 40. This is definitely the prophet. And they were all so excited. And at the end of it. After listening to this powerful sermon. It says in verse 53. Everybody went to his own home. Now this is in Jerusalem. Jesus' home was in Capernaum. I don't know maybe a hundred miles away. He had come down to Jerusalem. This is in Jerusalem. Everybody went to his own home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. The next verse. John 8, 1. Do you see something there? I see something. I've never in my life had the experience where I've gone to a strange place. And everybody's been delighted to hear my preaching. And none of them asked me where are you staying tonight? That I had to go and sleep under some trees. In some mountain. Have you ever thought of that? That they were so blessed by Jesus. And they knew he's come from Capernaum. And none of them invited him home. Hey Lord, where are you staying tonight? He just went. It's okay. Nobody's invited me home. Fine. Thank God it's not raining. We go and sleep under the trees. The Mount of Olives. And next morning. Early morning. John 8, verse 2. He came again to the temple. And he sat down and began to teach. And nobody said, where did you sleep last night, Lord? And by the way, he just continues. And I said, Lord, make me like that. Where I never expect anything from anyone. I'm satisfied with you. I'm here to serve people. I don't expect them to serve me in any way. And once I finish my service. Well, there's nothing else I can do. I go and sleep under the trees. And come back next morning and act as if I had a wonderful time. Last night. And continue on. And not be disturbed by anything, you know. There can be so much of expectation in us. When we've done something for people and served people. That they should at least express their gratitude. This is one example. Of the Holy Spirit showing us the glory of Jesus. In the Scriptures. And when you see it. You see your own self-centeredness. And you say, Lord, forgive me. If ever I've been like that towards anyone. And I tell you that's just one example. Just go through the Gospels like this. I've been absolutely amazed and humbled. As I've seen the glory of Jesus in different, different places. And seen my own need. And it's drawn me to seek for the Holy Spirit. To make me like Christ. And talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You see, there would have been no church at all. In the world today. If it were not for that mighty baptism in the Holy Spirit. That the apostles received on the day of Pentecost. So I'm not surprised that the devil has made that the most controversial doctrine. In Christendom in the last 100 years. I'm not surprised. He wants a controversy to whirl around that. You see, it's not the only one. There's controversies around the deity of Christ. And many other things. Anything very important. Like the deity of Christ or the humanity of Christ. Which most Christians don't have a clue about. The Holy Spirit makes sure it's so controversial. That people are more afraid of heresy than they are of sin. It's amazing. I believe we must be careful about heresy. But when you're more afraid of heresy than of sin. There's something wrong. And I see that when it comes to the doctrine of the humanity of Christ. Yeah, be careful. Don't talk too much about it. Don't reduce Him to a man. And these are the people who do not believe that they can walk in Jesus' footsteps. Because they haven't seen Him as a man. It's like if you don't see Him as God. You won't worship Him. You won't pray to Him. Because He's helpless. It's when you see Him as Almighty God. Then you say, Lord, all authority in heaven and earth is given to You. Why can't You do this for me? Or for Your work on earth. But if you don't see Him as Almighty God. You won't come to Him like that. If you don't see Him as a man. 100%. You won't believe that you can walk as He walked on this earth. You won't believe that you can follow Him. So, everything depends on seeing Christ. And this is why it's so important for us to see the Holy Spirit showing us Christ in Scripture. And so the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit has been a tremendous controversial doctrine. Like everything valuable is counterfeited. You see, people don't counterfeit brown paper and newspaper and things like that. They counterfeit diamonds and gold. So, if people say there's been a lot of counterfeit in the area of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I agree. That proves the original must be pretty valuable. That's why the devil counterfeits it so much. It's not as cheap as brown paper. It must be really valuable. So, I want to make sure that what I have is the genuine thing. Whatever I receive, if I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I want the genuine experience. And not some emotional experience that just tickles me and sends a shiver down my spine. Like some people say they have. I'm not interested in all that. I'm interested in being conformed to the likeness of Christ. And nothing less than that. And I don't care whether I get tickled down the spine or not. It's not important for me. But if I'm conformed to the likeness of Christ, these other external things are unimportant for me. To me, the external things, there are external experiences people have in the gift of the Holy Spirit. But to me, the external things, I like the wrappings in which a gift comes. I mean, if somebody gives me a diamond. Nobody's ever given me that. But if somebody does. I'm not interested either. But if somebody does. Well, let's take currency notes. Somebody gives me some money. It doesn't matter to me whether it's an old newspaper. Or whether it's wrapped up in a nice box with a blue ribbon and a nice shiny paper. What difference does it make? What do we do with the wrappings that we get a gift from? We usually just take it off, throw it away and see what's inside. But children. Oh, they are taken up with that shiny paper. They're not worried about the currency notes inside. This ribbon is so nice. And I see this exactly the same. The gift of the Holy Spirit can come with these external manifestations. And many people are taken up with the external manifestations which proves that they're babies. They're not concerned about the gift inside. So I say, I'm not. I don't want God to give me the power of the Holy Spirit in the same wrappings that somebody else got it in. For example, the first people who got it, got it with the fantastic wrappings. That was a wind and fire and shaking and all types of. They spoke in about 17 languages there. Boy, I've never prayed that I'd have all that. But the reality they got inside that package is the same we can have today. Without the fire and the 17 languages and the wind and all that. That's the important thing. What are you looking for? If you are mature and you see what the Holy Spirit has come to do, you're not concerned about the external wrappings so much because God can work in different ways. You know, let me give you an example of that from the Old Testament. In the book of Job, we read like this. When God spoke to Job, it says in Job 38. And the Lord answered Job, Job 38 and verse 1. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. God was in a whirlwind, a fantastic storm. And from the middle of that storm, God spoke. Now if you turn to 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19, you read about Elijah. You probably know the story where he was running away for his life. And he was alone in a cave. 1 Kings 19 and verse 9. He was in a cave. And an angel came to him and said. Verse 11. Go and stand on the mountain before the Lord. The word of the Lord came to him rather. Go and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord was passing by. And a great and strong wind. A mighty whirlwind, just like in Job's time. That rent the mountains and broken pieces the rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind. How do you like that? He was in the whirlwind in Job's time. But he was not in the whirlwind here. So just because the Lord manifested himself in a mighty whirlwind at some time. Doesn't mean every whirlwind is from God. And Elijah recognized it. Yeah, it's a whirlwind. I know there was a whirlwind in Job's time when God was there. But it's not here now. We need to have that discernment. And then an earthquake. And the Lord was not in the earthquake. Verse 11. And then a fire. Well surely the Lord would be in a fire. No, he was not in the fire there. Verse 12. And then a gentle breeze. And the Lord was in that gentle breeze. Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. You hear the wind blows where it lists and where it feels like. Maybe a whirlwind sometimes. Maybe a gentle breeze. You cannot control it. So don't think that every manifestation of the Holy Spirit should be identical. You read about some revival somewhere and then you got this picture of revival in your mind. And you think that only when that happens there is a revival. This is the mark of babies who are taken up with the wrappings. The inner reality is the main thing. You find the Holy Spirit showing you the glory of Christ and making you more and more like him. Every day. Every day. I believe that. I believe that the Holy Spirit wants to make us a little more Christ-like every single day. Now we may not have got there yet. Maybe we are at the stage where we are becoming a little more Christ-like once in a year. Okay. Let's start with that and move on to say a little more once in six months. But remember the goal is every day. I'll show you that from Scripture in 2 Corinthians 4. This is Paul's experience. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 16. 2 Corinthians 4, 16. He is testifying about his own experience with the Lord. He says we don't lose heart. We don't get discouraged. Even though our outer man is decaying. You know that every day. I think once you cross the age of 20 or 25 or something. Every day you are past the peak. You are going down. Whether you know it or not. Your body knows it. You are just going down after that. And decay sets in little by little by little by little. And every day our outer man is decaying. And you got to do nothing about it. I mean you can aggravate the process by eating the wrong type of food etc. But even if you eat the right type of food, decay will be there. But our inner man is being renewed every single day. Look at the experience of this man who is walking with God. That he had a renewal. That means I understand it. His mind was becoming more in tune with the mind of God by the Holy Spirit. His conduct was becoming more humble and gracious and firm with the firmness of God. And becoming more like Christ day by day. In other words the Holy Spirit was showing Paul areas in his life that were not Christ like. And he was judging himself. Cleansing himself from filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And becoming more Christ like every day. This is our goal. This has been my goal for a long time. And the way I know whether I am reaching that goal is. Is there something I find I have to repent of every day. Some area of un-Christ likeness. In something I said or something I did. Where the Holy Spirit of God shows me. Yeah that was not gross sin. But it was still un-Christ likeness. You know Paul says in one place in 1 Corinthians 6. All things are lawful for me but all things are not profitable. Paul didn't just live by things that were lawful. Out of a hundred lawful things that he could do. He picked out the ten profitable things and did that. That's the way he made the most of his life. So this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to make us more and more Christ like. And I believe this is what is mentioned in the very first chapter in the Bible. I don't know whether you have heard any of my messages. You have probably heard me saying one of them. Genesis chapter 1 is the message of the Bible in a nutshell. Genesis chapter 1 is an overview of the whole Bible. The message of the Bible which is. God created the earth perfect in verse 1. That means God created man perfect. And then sin came and the earth became formless and empty and dark. And sin came upon Adam and made him empty and formless and dark. And immediately after that it says in Genesis 1 through the Holy Spirit began to move. And we apply that to ourselves. The Holy Spirit begins to move on my. Formless means I have lost the image of God. Dark means there is no light of God in me. And empty. That's what I am as a child of Adam. And the Holy Spirit begins to move. And not only the Holy Spirit. The second thing that begins to work verse 3 is the word of God. God said. God said means the word of God. Joint operation of the Holy Spirit plus the word of God. Why do we share God's word? The same purpose is here. When God's word came in the power of the Holy Spirit. Something happened on the earth. When He said there was light, let there be light. There was light. And that's the very first thing that happens. And then the next day something else. And the next day something else. Every day there was transformation. Just like we read in 2 Corinthians 4. Day by day a renewal. A day by day a renewal until the final day. Sixth day. And every day God was examining. Examined it. Yeah, that's good. That's good. That's good. Every day He was examining. Like He examines our lives every day. That's what you see in Genesis chapter 1. The message of the Bible in a nutshell. And then finally on the sixth day. Completely in God's image. A man in God's image. That's the ultimate goal. Where my life becomes exactly like Christ. And then God says, Now I can rest. And that's eternity. The millennium. And eternity where God's work is over finally in us. The whole message of the Bible is there in chapter 1. And in the New Testament commentary on that. You read in 2 Corinthians 4. Same passage we read. About day by day. When He speaks about day by day. He says something earlier about the first day. And that is 2 Corinthians 4. And verse 6. He says way back in the beginning. When God said on the first day. 2 Corinthians 4. Light shall shine out of darkness. Let there be light. Is the one who first shone light into our hearts. And brought Christ into our life. That's the day we were born again. So He says that's the first day. In Genesis 1. And then He goes on to say. Verse 16 that day by day there is a renewal. So like I said. Way back there is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1. The Spirit of God has come now to move upon us. And to make us. The only difference is way back there in Genesis 1. The earth responded. Every day. God said. Let the trees come forth. Earth responded. And that's the problem with man. When God says something. The Holy Spirit is trying to move. We are resisting. We say not now Lord. Or wait till tomorrow. He convicts you about something. For example. Go and ask forgiveness from that person you hurt. Yeah I'll think about it. Nothing happens. So we don't have that renewal every day. We are delaying our own spiritual progress. And one of the things that God shows us. Is the ministry of Jesus. He not only transforms us into the likeness of Christ in his life. But Jesus came to serve others. And it's very interesting that he. Did not attempt to do that. Till he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Do you know the first. Recorded. Prayer of Jesus. In the Gospels. What's the first thing he prayed for? I mean we read about times when he. Prayed all night. And we are not told what he prayed all night. But if you read the next thing that happened. You know what he prayed all night. That's in Luke chapter 6 by the way. You read he prayed all night. I think it's verse 12. And then it goes on to say the next day. He. Chose 12 apostles. He was praying the whole night. Father. I don't want to make a mistake because. I'm going to select 12 men. Who are. Going to be the foundation stones of the church. Even he. Needed to wait on his father. Because of his humanity. Because of the limitations of his flesh and mind. He had to wait on the father for clarity. Concerning whom to select. I mean why couldn't the father have just said. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Go home. Go to sleep. It didn't work like that for him. We think it should work like that for us. That's because we are lazy. He wanted God to speak to us like that. Jesus prayed all night to find out. Because it was such an important decision. The more important the decision we have to take. The longer we have to wait on the Lord. To know his answer. Then we won't make mistakes. For Jesus to make a mistake. In choosing those 12 apostles. I believe that even Judas Iscariot. Was a whole hearted. Disciple of Jesus when God chose him. He was not. It says in Luke chapter 6. He became a traitor. You know when something is white and becomes black. It means it wasn't always black. So when he chose him. He was a whole hearted disciple. And became. God directed him. At another time in Luke 5.16. We read. He went out and prayed frequently. Because. He was becoming very famous. All people were coming from all over. And getting healed. And he needed to go and get along with the father. And give the glory to the father. So he wouldn't touch that glory himself. He was so human. He needed to pray to keep going to the father. So what is the first prayer he prayed? The first prayer he prayed mentioned. Luke is the one who talks more about Jesus prayer life. The first time he prayed is mentioned in Luke chapter 3. The very first time. That he prayed. That is. In Luke chapter 3. Verse 21. Came about. When all the people were being baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying. There is the first time. It is mentioned. That Jesus was praying. Do you know when. Jesus was being baptized. He was praying. And. I know what he was praying for. Even though it is not written there. Because whenever Jesus prayed for something. In the very next verse. You know what happened. If he prayed. For Lazarus to be raised. The next verse. Lazarus was raised. Whenever he prayed. Something happened immediately. I know that is what he was praying for. And he says. He prayed and heaven was opened. The Holy Spirit came upon him. So Jesus was praying. Father. I have got to go into the ministry now. I need to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. I need the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. To serve you. I have lived a holy life until now. Never sinned for 30 years. Being tempted in the power of the Holy Spirit. Overcome temptation. But that holy life. Is not good enough. To serve you. I need. An anointing. This is the thing that came home to my heart. I said Lord. A holy life is not good enough. The knowledge of the Bible at the age of 12. Is not good enough. We think. I know the Bible. I have got a holy life. I am already anointed. I am ready to serve God. No you are not. You think you are. Jesus knew the Bible better than you and me. He knew it at 12. Can you imagine how much he knew by 30? He lived a sinless life. And he is praying. Father. Give me an anointing. With supernatural gifts to serve you. God answered immediately. And the Spirit of God came upon him. And. Then it says he began his ministry. Verse 23. And notice what he says there. When he goes into Nazareth. Verse chapter 4. Verse 16. Luke 4.16. He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And he entered the synagogue. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. And you know they had scrolls those days. And one of the scrolls was Isaiah. And in the sovereignty of God they gave him Isaiah. And he turned the scroll. And he found a place. What we today know as Isaiah 61. Verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And he later on said in verse 21. Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because he has anointed me. That happened at the waters of baptism. And notice. Everything that's mentioned here. Is to serve others. He didn't say the Spirit of God has anointed me. So now I can live a holy life. Or now I can love everybody. Now I can be really humble. No. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me. To preach the gospel to others. To proclaim release to others. To recovery of sight to others. To free others. To proclaim the favor of the year of the Lord to others. And Lord what about yourself? No. Nothing. Do you know that the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Is meant to be like rivers of living water. That flow out to others. The fruit of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit fills my life. Makes me holy. Makes me full of love, joy. For example the Spirit of God fills me with joy. The joy of the Lord. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's a blessing to me. It's a blessing to you indirectly. In the sense that I don't have a bad mood when I'm with you. But basically it's a blessing to me. Peace. If I have perfect peace. Freedom from anxiety. That's a fruit of the Spirit. It doesn't bless you, it blesses me. But the gifts of the Spirit. Are entirely for others. Every gift. So when we seek for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And you seek it for yourself. Oh I want to be a great preacher. You got it all wrong. You ask. James says you ask and don't receive. Because you ask with wrong motives. And I believe that's a fundamental problem. With a lot of people who are seeking for the anointing of the Holy Spirit today. And that's why a lot of. The Pentecostal movement has gone completely astray. I remember. When I began to preach. And God had given me. A gift to preach God's word. I was not naturally a preacher. I was a very very shy person. Afraid to stand in front of people. Never took part in public speaking in the school. Or even in the military academy. I was very reserved and shy. And God filled me with the Holy Spirit. And made me stand before people. And I said Lord you really got to give me. A part of the Holy Spirit. I was like Peter. Afraid even of a servant woman. To testify about Christ. On the day of Pentecost. When God filled him with the Holy Spirit. He became another man. Leave alone servant women. Or little servant girls. He could point at the chief priest and say. You crucified Christ. And it was not a gradual growth. Over a period of ten years. To that boldness. It was just instantaneous like that. Before that they would close the doors. Afraid of the Jews it says. Even after they saw the resurrected Jesus. In John chapter 21. One would have thought well. At least now that you have seen Jesus. Alive from the dead. You should be bold. They were not. Jesus spoke to them. They were not bold. It's very interesting to see there in John chapter 20. That Jesus appeared to them. And they were. John 20 verse 19. John chapter 20 verse 19. The doors were shut. Because the disciples were afraid of the Jesus. Of the Jews. And Jesus resurrected from the dead. Came and stood in the midst. And said peace be to you. And he showed them his hands and feet. And he says receive the Holy Spirit. Verse 22. I think this was something similar to being born again. They were not anointed. It's an initial reception. And if you forgive the sins of others. And he said as the father sent me. Verse 21. I send you. They heard all that. Verse 26. Again the doors are shut. And they locked inside. They had seen Jesus. They heard him say go out. As the father sent me. They were still scared. But on the day of Pentecost. They threw the doors open. And stood out. And confronted even the chief priests. And they came a boldness into their life. And utterance given by the Holy Spirit. And that was supernatural. Jesus prayed for that. And from the moment that he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. He began to preach. With an anointing. He hadn't preached for 30 years. Was it because he knew nothing? I'm sure. He would have shared comforting words. With a lot of people in those 30 years. As he met people and talked to them. But there was a difference when. He was anointed. The power of God came upon him mightily. And he was equipped. And if Jesus. The perfect son of God. Needed to be equipped with an anointing. Where are you and I? And so when the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus. That's what he shows us. The beautiful way he lived. The way he washed people's feet. And his humility. His purity. And then he shows us. How he served the father. We did not dare to serve without the anointing. And. I believe that's an example for us to follow. Because he shows us the glory of Jesus there in his ministry. And we see our own need. And we say Lord I want to be like that. And the wonderful thing is the Holy Spirit will do for us. What he did for Jesus. To me this is one of the greatest truths in scripture. That Jesus is our elder brother. And there's no partiality. With God. No partiality with God. And I've often compared that to myself. And I have four sons. And I've tried my best to make sure there's no partiality. In my treatment of any one of them. I did for my eldest son. I do for all the others up to my ability. And I see that in God. Jesus is my elder brother. We're all younger brothers and sisters. And if. God. Did something for Jesus on earth. That he wouldn't do for me. You have to say he's partial. But he's not. Romans chapter 2 says very clearly. It's the 14th verse or something. There is no partiality with God. That was a. A revolutionary verse for me. No partiality with God. That means he'll do for the younger brothers of Jesus. What he did for Jesus. I mean. A poor father like me. Tries to avoid partiality. How much more almighty God. He will do for me what he did for Jesus. That was the expression of faith that came into my heart. And it really blessed me so much. I was so gripped by this. Everything that God did for Jesus. He will do for me if. I fulfill the same conditions. I mean Jesus fulfills certain conditions for example. God gives his grace to the humble. And Jesus constantly humbled himself. So he constantly got grace. Now if I exalt myself. Then I'm not going to get that grace that Jesus got. Because the laws of God don't change. He will do for me everything he did for Jesus. If I. Walk as Jesus walked. That means if I'm willing to humble myself. If I'm willing to pray and cry out to him like Jesus prayed. I can walk in victory every day. He will care for me as he cared for Jesus. It's an amazing truth. That what he did for Jesus. He will do for me. Just like we sang in that song. What he did for Jesus. He will do for me as he cared for Jesus. He will care for me. That was such a comfort to me. Lord I don't have to fear anything. As he cared for Jesus. He will care for me. Every situation. God plans in advance. I mean if God knows that. Soldiers of Herod are coming to. Kill Jesus. He will take Jesus out of there. Before the soldiers arrive. If he knows that all the people. In Luke chapter 4 you read. After he finished preaching that sermon. Before finishing. The people caught him and took him to the cliff to throw him down. God knew that and planned for Jesus to escape from there. As he cared for Jesus. He will care for you. It's a wonderful thing. To let the Holy Spirit have complete charge of my life. In every area. Lord I want to be like Jesus. And this is so important when we seek to be a local church. Why is the local church called the body of Jesus Christ? Because. We are supposed to do. Exactly what Jesus did in his body. In Nazareth and in Israel for 33 years. That was what he did in his physical body. That same ministry is to continue in his spiritual body. And if that physical body was humble. His spiritual body must be humble. If that physical body was holy. His spiritual body must be holy. If that physical body could love those who called him the devil. And spat on his face and killed him. This spiritual body must love those who spit on us. And call us the devil. And even crucify us. And if that physical body was anointed before it could serve the father. This spiritual body must be anointed. Before we can dare to serve the father. That's why we call the body of Christ. It's not just a pious expression. It's a carrying on of that. Ministry that began with the physical body of Jesus. And if that physical body of Jesus was first born. Not in Herod's palace. But in a lowly cow shed. Then perhaps. The spiritual body of Christ today. Is going to begin in some lowly place. Not in some fantastic cathedral. But in some lowly place. Who has seen it? I often say those wise men. Were very wise until they went to Herod's palace. That's the first foolish thing they did. You know they would follow the star. Which is a picture of God's word. And if they followed the star, followed the star. And they were humble enough to follow the star. The star would have led them to Jesus. God's word always leads us to Jesus. And they came all the way from Persia or somewhere. And miles and miles and miles and miles. And when they came to Jerusalem. They said ah. Now we don't need to follow the star. We know where a king will be born. Where? In a palace obviously. That is the first foolish thing those wise men did. We think the king should be born in a palace. And they went to the palace. And those guys didn't have a clue. And the cathedrals today don't have a clue. Where the body of Christ is being formed. It's the same story. And wise men. Still follow the star. God's word. And so they had to humble themselves. And say oh the palace is not the place. Let's follow the star again. And I don't know how long they stayed in Jerusalem. But by the time they followed the star. They missed the opportunity. Of seeing Jesus. In the cowshed. That would have been wonderful. And by the time they came to see him in Matthew chapter 2. They had left the cowshed and he was in a house. But if they had followed the star all along. I feel they would have joined the shepherds. Who saw Jesus in the cowshed. And seen the saviour of the world in a manger. But they missed that. And so what I see there is. That the Holy Spirit will show us. That the body of Jesus is not being formed. Where we think it should be formed. It's in some lowly place. Most unlikely place. That we wouldn't even dream of. And that's how it was in the early days. The God who made Abraham rich. Who made Job rich. Who made David rich. Who made Solomon rich. Could have made Peter rich. Could have made the early apostles rich. Would that be difficult for them? Could have made those early apostles so rich. That they could have had a huge auditorium. And got hundreds and thousands of people together. In a huge church. But he kept them poor. So poor that. Peter didn't even have money to give a tramp. And a beggar sitting at the door of the temple. Because God was teaching them. The body of Christ is not going to be built. With human wealth and riches. It's going to be built by people. Who are filled with the Holy Spirit. Who got another type of wealth. Because this is not the old covenant. Where God's blessing was manifested. In wealth and health. And you know. Defeating all our enemies. Defeating Canaan for ourselves. It was not like that. This is a new covenant. A new agreement. That we were following one. Who didn't have a place to lay his head. And following one who was despised. And rejected by men. And is the spiritual body of Christ. Going to be any different from the physical body? If his physical body was despised. And rejected by religious people. His spiritual body will also be. Even though he had all those supernatural gifts. He was rejected by men. The Bible says here in 1 Corinthians. In chapter 14. In verse 1. Pursue after love. And earnestly desire spiritual gifts. Especially that you may prophesy. The greatest gift that's needed in the church. Is not the gift of healing. It's not the gift of miracles. It is the gift of prophecy. And prophecy is defined in verse 3. As speaking to men. To edify. Edify means to build them up. To exhort means to challenge and encourage them. Consolation means comfort them. That God can give us words. Prophecy is spoken words. That the Holy Spirit inspires us to say. That builds up people. Never tears them down. A ministry of condemnation and tearing people down. That's not from God. We need to tear down Babylonian structures. Or Babylonian concepts in our mind. That's like if you go to a place where you want to build a building. According to a certain plan. There's an existing building there. You got to tear it down. So those old concepts that we have. Traditions that all need to be destroyed. But otherwise it's a ministry that builds up. Encourages. Strengthens. Now we would think that the greatest gift. That God should give everybody is a gift of healing. No. It's the gift of prophecy. Because that's what brings the presence of Christ into a meeting. And it says here. In verse 24 of 1 Corinthians 14. If all prophesy. And an unbeliever comes in. The secrets of his heart. Verse 25. Are disclosed to him. And he'll say hey God is here. And I believe that's the purpose of prophetic teaching. And preaching and sharing. That what I share. Without knowing anything about the needs of other people. God will give you and me words. That go straight to the heart. Like an arrow. To convict people. Of the wrong attitudes they have in their life. And they'll say hey that was God. I met Jesus at the meeting. You know this is how the early church was. Right in the beginning. They would come together a few people. The Holy Spirit. Filled with the Holy Spirit. They'd share God's word. And they went away feeling. It was just. We had a good time singing. You know so many people go to church. Boy wasn't that a good time of singing we had. I don't know whether these folks had much. How much singing they had. They certainly didn't have instruments in all those. Small little house churches. That they met in those days. They didn't have song books etc. Like we have today. And I don't know how many musically minded people there were. But. They met with the Lord. And they shared. And they worshipped God. If you were to. Ask the average Christian. Who comes away from a church meeting. What do you mean to the Lord? They probably just heard a good sermon or. Had a wonderful time of singing. And they want to go back next Sunday. For another time of singing. Where they can forget their sorrows. You know like. People who drink. At the drinking bar. Why do you go there? Because I have so many problems at home. At least for one hour I can forget all about it. Get drunk and be with all my friends. And go back home. None of the problems are solved. What are they longing for? Next Friday or Saturday when they can go. Back to the bar. What are a lot of Christians longing for? Next Sunday when we can go have this wonderful time of singing. For one hour we can forget about all our problems at home. And then go back. Problems are not solved. That is not Christianity. Such people haven't met with the Lord. They just had a good time singing. The music is wonderful. I mean they could have gone to a rock concert. And felt the same way. Problems are not solved. Their life doesn't become Christ like. That's not Christianity. It's a counterfeit. There's a lot of it today. So earnestly desire to prophesy. Earnestly desire spiritual gifts. But pursue after love. And the Holy Spirit shows us. How Jesus. You know He. He. Was longing. To serve the Father. And prayed that the Father would equip Him. To serve Him. And it's so wonderful. To follow His example and to pray and say Lord. Anoint me as well. That I can anoint the body of Christ. You know like Jesus. Like Mary anointed the body of Jesus. To me it's a beautiful picture. Mary spent all the money she had. To anoint the body of Jesus. And to me it's a picture of. You know. Pouring out myself to the Lord completely. So that He can. Give me the anointing with which I can. Anoint the body of Jesus. Imagine if all of us. Go to the Lord like that. And say Lord here. Here's all that I have. I deserve nothing for myself. I'll say this in closing. You know. When I started my ministry preaching. One verse that the Lord showed me was. The first temptation. In the wilderness. The very first temptation. You know there's a lot. Satan's temptations are very subtle. And you need to see the subtleness. The subtlety of those temptations. The first one. Turn the stones into bread. It's much more than just turning the stones into bread. And that's what as I meditated on it. What the Lord showed me was this. Satan telling Jesus. Now you're the Son of God right? 40 days ago you were baptized in the voice from heaven. And you're anointed. Now you've got power. You didn't have that when you were in Nazareth as a carpenter. Now you have power. Now use this power. Which you got through the anointing. To satisfy your need. You're not stealing anybody else's bread. Use your power. To turn. To turn stones into bread. To satisfy your own need. Is there anything wrong in that? And the Lord said to me. You must never. Use the gifts I've given you through the anointing. To get anything for yourself. Whether money. Or honor. Or anything. Not even the gratitude of people. You don't use my gift. To get something for yourself. But. Jesus did use that power. When he had to multiply bread for 5,000 others. What he wouldn't use for himself. He used to produce bread for 5,000. And the Lord said to me. Use it to bless others. Always. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are never meant. To promote yourself. To get any gain for yourself. To get a name for yourself. Or anything. And what I see in Christendom today. Is the exact opposite of that. People are using the gifts God has given them. To promote themselves. To become wealthy. And famous. More like film stars. Than like humble followers of. Jesus of Nazareth. So. It's very important to. Get our minds focused away from today's. Film star type of preachers. To Jesus. I remember when. I started preaching. I said Lord. I want to follow Jesus as my example. I don't want to follow. All these American preachers I see on television. Who run up and down the platform with a mic. I want to follow Jesus. In everything. I want to speak like Jesus. And it says about Jesus in Matthew 12. That he wouldn't raise his voice and shout. He wouldn't speak gently. And he didn't have to shout. When the Holy Spirit was convicting. And taking God's word to people's hearts. He didn't have to shout and yell. To get the word home. The anointing of the Holy Spirit took care of all that. And I said Lord. This is the way. It doesn't matter whether I prophesied. In two minutes to somebody. Prophesying by the way is not just in the meetings. Of the church. Somebody comes to visit you and has a chat with you at home. In two three minutes you share something with them. And boy. That built him up. That encouraged him. Sent him home rejoicing. You prophesied. Why does it only have to be once a week in the meeting? Why not prophesy to your husband and wife every day? Wouldn't that be wonderful? To encourage one another. To build up one another. To Lord I want the anointing of the Holy Spirit. To encourage. There is a verse in the Bible. Which says encourage one another. How often? Oh you don't know that verse. And I'm not sure if you know. It's in Hebrews chapter 3. And verse 13. Encourage one another every day. Let me ask you a question. Which is the sister you see every day? Which is the brother you see every day? The one who is living with you. Encourage one another. Every day. Your husband. Your wife. The one you are living with. The one you meet. It's not having meetings every day. Encourage one another every day. So that you can save them from the deceitfulness of sin. This is prophecy. And every one of us can have it. If we earnestly desire an anointing. That God will give us a word. And help us. Let's bow our heads in prayer. I don't want you to be overwhelmed by what you heard. Because that's not God's desire. He doesn't seek to overwhelm us with his word. But to encourage us and challenge us. So that we can say Lord. I really want this. I want your best in my life. It doesn't matter if I don't understand it all. But I want to live an anointed life every single day of my life. I want to pursue after love. I want to love people so much that I want to bless them. Bless them and disappear. Help us Lord. In this ministry. Give us grace each one. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.