Chapter

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Other Half of the Great Commission

The burden I have on my heart is to bring a balance in the matter of fulfilling the Great Commission. All Christians know how important it is to fulfill what is known as "the Great Commission," which Jesus gave to His disciples just before He left this earth.

The first part of that Great Commission is found in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creatures. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." But there's another part of this Great Commission -- the other half, so to speak -- which is described in Matthew 28:18-20. There Jesus says, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

I have observed Christendom -- born-again Christians, Christian missions, and Christian churches -- in the last 52 years since I was born again, and I find that most Christians emphasize the Mark 16:15 aspect of the Great Commission. Very few emphasize the other half, Matthew 28:19. My guess would be that 99% make Mark 16:15 their primary focus, while only about 1% prioritize Matthew 28:19-20. To use an illustration, that is like a hundred-people trying to carry a log, with 99 people at one end of the log and only one person at the other end, struggling to hold that end up. That's the way I see it.

So I found that the Commission the Lord gave me when I began to teach the Word as He gifted me was to emphasize the other aspect of the Great Commission, the one which is being fulfilled only by about 1%, because the true balance should be 50-50. The first part of the Great Commission is what we know as evangelism. It is generally called missionary work, and often requires going into unreached areas. It is very essential to bring the message of the Gospel (that man is in sin, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, that Christ died for the sins of the world, that He is the only way to the Father, that Christ rose from the dead, that he who believes in Him and is baptized will be saved, and that he who does not believe will be condemned) to these unreached areas.

But did the Lord want it to stop there? Once a person has believed, accepted the fact that he's a sinner, and received Christ as a Savior, is that all? Not at all. In Matthew 28:19, He asks us to go into all nations and make disciples.

What it Means to Be a Disciple

The early apostles who heard this commission for the first time had no doubt in their minds as to what was meant by "disciples," because Jesus had explained it very clearly to them in Luke 14.

When Jesus saw a great multitude of people coming along with Him, as we read in Luke 14:25, He turned and said some of the hardest words that He ever spoke to anyone. Most preachers and pastors, if they see a great crowd coming to listen to them, would never dream of speaking words like this, and this shows us how Jesus was different. He was not interested in numbers. There are very few Christian preachers today who are not interested in numbers; but what we see through the end of Luke 14 is Jesus emphasizing quality. He wanted disciples, and so He turns around and tells them, "If any of you come to Me and you don't hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters and even your own life, you cannot be My disciple." It's not that you can be a second level of disciple; you cannot be a disciple, period.

Here we see the first condition of discipleship. The Bible says that we've got to honor our father and mother. What then did Jesus mean when He said we must "hate"? It's a relative statement. Jesus used some strong language sometimes - for example: "If your right eye offends you, pluck it out." "If your right hand offends you, cut it off." "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God's kingdom." "If you don't eat My flesh and blood, you don't have eternal life." He spoke many strong words. But the words that He spoke were spirit and life. So, what He actually meant here was that, in comparison with our love for Him, our love for our earthly relatives should be like darkness compared to light. To use an illustration, if your love for your parents, wife, children, brothers, and sisters is like the light of the stars, then your love for Christ must be like the light of the sun. When the sun comes up, the stars seem to become dark. They are still there, but you can't see them in the light of the sun. So, the word "hate" here means that your love for your father and mother is almost invisible: you still love them, but in the light of your love for Christ, which is like the bright-shining sun, this love is like darkness by comparison. Love for our family members is like hatred when compared with our love for Christ. It also means that we should not allow any family member to hinder us from following whatever the Lord may call us to do.

So, the first condition of discipleship is a supreme love for Christ, where we love Christ more than our parents, more than our wives, more than our children, more than every brother and sister in our blood relationship or within the church, and more than our own life. Would you say that missionary work and evangelism has brought Christians to this place? Has every person who claims to be a born-again Christian come to this place? Have you yourself, if you claim to be a born-again Christian, come to this place? Can you honestly say that you love Christ supremely more than anyone on this earth? In my observation of believers in many lands in the last half-century, I don't find that to be true. Many have accepted Christ and sing, "my sins are all forgiven and I'm on my way to heaven," but they haven't become disciples.

The second condition of discipleship is mentioned in Luke 14:27. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Again, that is absolute: "cannot." What does it mean to carry the cross every day? He said "his own cross;" I don't have to carry the cross of Jesus Christ, and I don't have to carry anybody else's cross, but I must carry my own cross. Jesus explained it like this in Luke 9:23: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." In Luke 9:23 the word "daily" is added, which applies Luke 14:27 as well.

If we are to take up a cross every day of our life and follow Christ, it must mean that Christ Himself carried a cross daily. Otherwise, how could He ask me to follow Him daily in taking up my cross? There was an inward cross in the life of the Lord Jesus all through His thirty-three-and-a-half-year life, which culminated in a physical cross that He carried to Calvary. We need to understand what this inward cross was, because if I don't take up that cross in my life -- I cannot be a disciple. Today we don't use the word "cross" much because it has become the symbol of Christianity. People have golden crosses and ivory crosses, but in the day when Jesus spoke about it, it was the most horrible means of executing people that the Romans had invented. Today a more appropriate symbol might be the hangman's rope, the electric chair, or the guillotine. The cross was a symbol of execution, of a man being put a death because he's a criminal. Only criminals were crucified.

Jesus was speaking about something in us that had to be put to death every day if we are to follow Him. What is that? And as we see in other places, Jesus spoke about our self-life: "If anyone loves his own life (his self-life), he will lose it." This is the cross that we must take, where our self is crucified every day. Where we say, in the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, "not My will but Thine." The strength of my self is found in my will. I want to do my will, whatever pleases me. This is the root of all sin, and if that is not put to death, then I'm not taking up the cross. This is something that needs to be done every single day. It's only then that I can be a disciple. I don't have to necessarily say those words every single day, but I must have the attitude, "I'm not going to do my will this day in any area. I'm going to do the will of God." It's one of the things that Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." In heaven, none of the angels do their own will. They always wait upon God to see what God wants them to do, and that's what they do every single day in heaven. If our days are to be like the days of heaven on earth, if our life is to be a heavenly life, then here's the secret: "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." In other words, my attitude to the Lord is, "Lord I never want to do my own will in anything. I don't want to marry whom I like; I don't want to take the job I like; I don't want to live where I like; I want to know what Your will is, in every single area. When somebody treats me badly I want to react in the way You want me to react, and not the way my flesh, my self-life, wants to react." This is the meaning of taking up the cross every single day, and He says if you don't do that, you absolutely "cannot be My disciple."

Knowing that Jesus gave the other half of the Great Commission in Matthew 28, do you find that the believers you've met are walking in this way of taking up the cross every single day, of dying to themselves every single day? Are you doing that yourself? This is evidence of how little the Commission given in Matthew 28:19 is being taken seriously by Christians.

The third condition for discipleship is in Luke 14:33. The first is love Jesus more than all our relatives, friends and anyone on earth; the second condition is to love Jesus above our own self-life and our own will; and the third is to love Jesus above all material things. In Luke 14:33, Jesus says, "None of you (it's another absolute statement) can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." What does this mean in practical terms? We need to understand it. Does it mean we must become hermits or sanyasis and go into the jungles and live there, forsaking everything? No. "Possessions" refers to those things that possess us. My possession is what possesses me. If my house is my possession, I cling to it because it's mine. I possess it, and so it possesses me. It could be an expensive car that you've got or very valuable stocks and shares; you possess them, and then they possess you, because your mind is so much on those things. Your mind is not on the worthless things that you have in your home, but these very precious possessions.

So, what does it mean when it says that we have to "give up all our possessions" if we are to be His disciples? Do I have to sell everything that I have? There was one particular young man who came to Jesus, we read in Mark 10, whom Jesus did tell to sell all that he had, but Jesus never gave that command to everyone. Zacchaeus, for example, said to Jesus in Luke 19 that He would give away half his goods to the poor and repay those whom he had cheated, and Jesus said that was fine. He said, "salvation has come to this house." He didn't demand of Zacchaeus that he should give up everything like the rich young ruler. In the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Jesus didn't even demand that they should give up anything. So, He didn't tell everyone that they should sell everything. The love of money is like cancer: in some cases the cancer is so widespread that a doctor says the only way you can be cured is by removing the entire organ. It could be some internal organ that is cancerous, and the doctor says, "There is no other way. You've got to remove the whole organ, otherwise you'll die." But in other cases, the cancer has not spread so much, and they need to cut out just a little bit. The love of money is like a cancer. In the case of that young rich ruler, it had spread so much that the Lord had to tell him, "You've got to sell all that you have, and give it to the poor." But in the case of others, like Zacchaeus, it is less. And in case of Mary and Martha, it was much less. So, He didn't give that same command to everyone. It depends on how much the love of money has gripped you, how widespread that cancer is in your life, that determines how much the Lord will tell you to actually give up and sell your possessions.

The attitude of forsaking what we have is understood perhaps best by thinking of the story Abraham and Isaac. Abraham possessed Isaac as his own. He loved him, and he possessed him. Isaac was the darling of his heart, and he cared more for him than even for his wife. God saw that Isaac was a little idol in Abraham's heart, that Isaac was actually Abraham's god. He loved Him too much, and God wanted to detach him from that idolatry of possessing Isaac. So He told Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and kill him, and Abraham obeyed. God gave him three days to think about it, so he walked all the way for three days to reach Mount Moriah, and then he said, "Yes Lord, I worship You. I will offer Isaac up to You." But as he took the knife to slay Isaac, God asked him to stop, and told him to take Isaac home. From that day onwards, Abraham did not possess Isaac, but he had him. Isaac was still in his house, he was still his son, but Abraham never possessed him again, and that's a very beautiful picture of what it means to forsake our possessions.

Think of the things that are most valuable (earthly things, material things) to you in your life. What are the things that you value, which are very, very, very important for you? Perhaps you should make a list of them. Those are your possessions, and you must be very honest if you want to really be a disciple. You've got to be honest about what your possessions really are and then you must decide whether you are willing to stop having a possessive attitude to these things. You know a possession when you hold onto something tightly. For example, if I hold a pen tightly in my hand, I'm possessing it. It could be your house, it could be your bank account, it could be your stocks and shares, it could be your car, it could be anything valuable like your property or real estate. To have it means you open your palm. It is still there -- you haven't given it up to somebody else -- but now you say, "Lord I recognize this is not something that's mine. It is Yours. You've given it to me and I am a steward. I want to use it faithfully, but I'm not going to be possessive about it. This doesn't possess me. I have it, and I thank You for allowing me to have it."

So, this is the difference between possessing and having, and Jesus says that I must forsake all my possessions. I can still have many things that the Lord gives back to me and I can use them, but I no longer possess them. So, the third condition of discipleship is that I love Jesus more than all earthly things.

These are the three conditions of discipleship in Luke 14. First, to love Christ more than any human being on this earth. Psalm 73:25 is the confession of a true disciple: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? There is nothing and no one I desire on earth more than You." I do not desire anyone on earth more than Christ. Second, to love Christ more than my own will and my own choice. "Lord, I don't desire my choice in any matter. I want Your will in every single area my life -- how I'm to spend my time, my money, my energy, my life, my ambitions. My future is all laid at the feet of Jesus." The third condition is that I don't possess anything, that everything on earth I will hold loosely. Christ means more to me than all those things. If the Lord takes away some of those things or I lose some of those things, I say like Job said in Job 1:21, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." That is the attitude of a true disciple. If a person does not fulfill these three conditions of discipleship, according to Luke 14, he is not a disciple .

The Purpose of This Study

When Jesus told His apostles to go into every nation and make disciples in Matthew 28:19, He meant that we must bring people to the place where they not only know Christ as the Forgiver of their sins, but also as their Lord. That means we love Him more than anyone on earth, more than our own life, more than our own will and more than all the things we possess on earth. He means more to us than all of that. Would you say that Christian missionaries and evangelists who preach the gospel have fulfilled that second half of the Great Commission? I would say no. Do you see why I used that illustration of 99% fulfilling Mark 16:15 and 1% fulfilling Matthew 28:19-20? Ninety-nine people holding one end of the log, and one person holding up the other end of the log? That's why I found that the Lord called me to go and help the one person who is holding up the other end of the log. I believe that's a great need today, and this is also the reason why Christianity has such a bad testimony in so many nations. All of us know how born-again Christians have brought such disgrace to the name of the Lord. Why is it? Because they've only been converted; they have not become disciples. They've not been brought to giving up their own will, or being detached from the things they possess, and therefore the end result is like Jesus said in Luke 14: they're like people who have laid a foundation, but don't have enough to complete the building. In the middle of this whole section on discipleship in Luke 14, Jesus speaks about a man who wants to build a tower, which is a picture of the entire Christian life. By the time he finishes the foundation, it says he doesn't have enough to complete it. The meaning, if you see it in the context of these three conditions of discipleship, is that he's not willing to complete the tower by paying the price. Maybe he has the money, but he says, "I don't want to complete it."

The foundation is that once our sins are forgiven and we have been given the Holy Spirit, we become children of God. But is that all there is to the Christian life? It must be a tower, according to what Jesus said, not just a foundation. Verse 29 says that such a person who does not complete the tower is the object of ridicule, and that the angels in heaven are amazed that Christians who only lay a foundation in their Christian life imagine that that is the full purpose of Christianity.

So that's why it's very important to emphasize and understand what it says in Matthew 28:19, that we must go into every nation and make disciples . Whichever nation you are in today, if you are preaching, you should be making disciples.

Jesus ended this second half of the Great Commission by saying, "Lo I am with you always." In essence, "If you do this, go into all nations and make disciples, I'll be with you always." How can people lay claim to that promise without fulfilling the condition? What a wonderful assurance it is. If I have determined to go into all the world, to preach the gospel and to make disciples, the Lord will be with me always.

Chapter 2

Baptism

Think about the beauty in the symmetry of our human body. How ugly a body would look if one half of it was muscular and strong, and the other half of it was skin and bones. That would look hideous. What if one eye was normal size, and the other eye was 1 percent of that size? Or one ear was one percent of the size of the other ear? That's how bad it looks when the Great Commission, given in Mark 16 and Matthew 28, is fulfilled in an imbalanced way. Mark 16:15 is being emphasized to such an extent that Matthew 28:19-20 is almost ignored. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus speaks about making disciples in every nation, not just getting them to the place where their sins are forgiven. Not just getting them to the place where they were baptized, but making them disciples and then leading on to other things, which we will address later.

But let's look at Matthew 28:19. In the last chapter we saw the conditions of discipleship and what it means to make a person a disciple. Jesus's apostles understood this very clearly. We saw those conditions in Luke 14:25-33. Then He said, "Once you make them disciples, you need to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." In other words, before we baptize them, we must present to them the claims of discipleship, and say, "When you come to Christ, we're not inviting you just to go to heaven when you die. We're not inviting you just to come to have your sins forgiven. We're inviting you to make Jesus Lord of your life. Not someone whom you occasionally visit once a week, but One who's going to be your Husband. When a woman marries, she even gives up her parent's name, and she becomes completely one with her husband. That's the way she should be, and this is the relationship that Christ wants to have with each of us. This is what it means to be a disciple. A woman should not enter into marriage thinking, "I've only got to spend one day a week with my husband," or, "I can continue to live my own life and visit him once in a while." She must be made aware of the fact that, in marriage, it's a total commitment to this man whom she's going to marry .

Baptism Is for Those Who Have Agreed to the Conditions of Discipleship

Even in the preaching of the gospel, there must be a clarity in the way we explain to the people to whom we preach, that the Christian life requires total commitment. It means discipleship. It means following the Lord. Those who are ready for that, are ready to be baptized. We don't wait till a person becomes perfect, but we do say that a person must be presented with the claims of discipleship. When he accepts these claims of Christ as Savior and Lord, then we baptize him in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's why we like to wait in our churches to see whether a person is willing to follow the Lord before we baptize him. In countries where there's persecution, or where it's not popular to be a Christian, we may not need to wait so long. In the early days, for a Jewish person to become a Christian was a tremendous sacrifice (as it is even today), and that's why they could baptize a person almost immediately (as we see in the Acts of the Apostles). For an idol worshipper to give up their idolatry and become a Christian meant being cut off by their relatives completely. Thus it was easy to know that they were willing to be disciples, and so they could be baptized very soon. But nowadays, in countries where there's no persecution, it's not so easy to know whether a person has understood the claims of discipleship. He may have just accepted Christ because he wants to go to heaven. The claims of discipleship may not have been presented to him, or he may not have understood them, or even if he understood them, he may not be willing to fulfill the conditions of discipleship. We have no right to baptize such people. A person can backslide after they are baptized -- that's another issue -- but the claims of discipleship must be made clear to people right at the outset.

Jesus always proclaimed the truth like that. When a rich young ruler came to Him and asked Him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life," He virtually told the rich young ruler to forsake all that he had. When he was not willing to do that and walked away, the Lord never went after him. The Lord never sought to reduce the conditions in order to make it convenient. He didn't even ask him to come step-by-step. He said, "It's absolute. If you want to follow Me, you've got to give up all."

Baptism Is for Those Who Want to Die

What we see in Matthew 28:19 is the way the gospel should be presented. Then we can baptize them. Baptism is significant because, as we read in Romans 6, it is symbolic of the burial of that old self: my old way of life, which is basically doing my own will, doing what pleased me, seeking to please myself or seeking to please other human beings. That person, that Adamic person living inside me, has died. I have taken my place with Christ on the cross and that person has died. When I accept that, then I can be baptized. Coming out of the waters of baptism, I'm testifying that I'm a new person now. So that's the meaning of being baptized or immersed. If that is not true of a convert, then baptism becomes meaningless. You can't bury a man who has not died, and a lot of people who are baptized, are not dead because they have not chosen to die to themselves. Instead, they go into the waters as a ritual. Many parents want to urge their children to be baptized for their own honor. Or parents think that baptism will somehow protect their children from the world. It doesn't. Baptism is only a symbol of a choice that a person has already made - to die to doing his own will. If he hasn't made that choice, then it's a meaningless ritual. Sadly, a lot of Christians go through meaningless rituals like that .

Baptism in the Name of the Triune God

The other thing we read in Matthew 28:19 is that baptism must be in the name of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ emphasizes the Trinity, just as it was at His own baptism. We read there was a voice from Heaven, which was the voice of the Father. Jesus was the Son of God going to the river Jordan. And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Christian baptism (as commanded by Jesus in Matthew 28:19) emphasizes the Triune God, the three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Who are three distinct persons, but one God. And that's why it's mentioned "in the name," not "the many names." One name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is a mystery. I don't believe that it's possible for us as human beings to fully understand the mystery of how God is One but yet in three distinct Persons. To me that is one of the proofs that Christianity is the truth. One proof of it is that I can't understand everything about God. It's beyond my human understanding. To use an illustration, a dog is not able to understand a human being. Many things that a human being does, such as mathematics, are beyond a dog's understanding. You may be able to convince a very clever dog or chimpanzee by putting three objects in front of it that one plus one plus one is three. There are some clever chimpanzees who can identify that and say the total is three. But then if you go on from addition (one plus one plus one equals three) to multiplication, and try to explain to the clever chimpanzee that when one multiplied by one multiplied by one is still one, the chimpanzee is all confused. He can't understand that. Why is that? Because he is not a human being. Whereas when a little child going to school studies multiplication, he understands very clearly that one multiplied by one multiplied by one is still one. Three ones added together will be three, and three ones multiplied together will still be one.

This is a simple illustration which shows that even a 20-year-old chimpanzee won't be able to understand what an eight-year-old child can understand, because it's not a human being. For a chimpanzee to understand multiplication, it has to come to the level of the human being. Now consider this: the distance between us and a chimpanzee is much less than the distance between us and God. The distance between us and God is immense. And if a dog or chimpanzee can't understand what a human being can, then how do you think we as human beings could possibly understand Almighty God, and the fact that the three persons are one God. In fact, if I could explain God, I would have to be God myself, just like a chimpanzee would have to become a human being to understand multiplication. It's as simple as that. So I don't seek to understand the mystery of the Godhead. It is arrogance to think that the little cup of my mind can contain the ocean of God's wisdom, and His immensity, and the mystery that this truth represents.

So we can say that the Christian life begins with immersing a person into this mystery, as it were. He acknowledges there that there are things about God he cannot understand. We baptize him in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and he is being immersed into God Himself. When he becomes a disciple, he must have a personal, direct connection with God. He is not connected to God through a prophet, or through a pastor, or through anybody else. Just like a man doesn't want to have a secretary between him and his wife, Christ doesn't want to have any mediator between Him and His bride, which is you and me, if you're a disciple of Christ.

Emphasizing baptism as one part of the Great Commission includes this great mystery. "Make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

Experience Is More Important Than Understanding in Our Minds

Right at the beginning of the Christian life, introducing disciples to the mystery of the Trinity, which they can't understand humanly speaking, but which they can experience, teaches disciples that they can experience the love of the Father and the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives even though they can't explain that mystery.

There are many things like this in the Christian life, which are a mystery, which disciples may not be able to explain. The important thing is not explanation, but reality of experience, in regard to the mysteries of our faith. We human beings have such a tremendous faith in the ability of our own mind that we are tempted to arrogantly believe that our mind can explain everything. We can limit ourselves from knowing the truth if we say, "I only accept what my mind can explain." That is like a dog saying, "I can't understand multiplication, so multiplication must be all rubbish." That's how it is when a man says, "If I can't explain the Trinity, It must be all rubbish." But man has limitations in his mind, just like a dog's limitation that prevents him from understanding multiplication. As we begin the Christian life, it is important for us to realize that we are commanded not to lean on our own understanding if we want to follow Jesus.

I remember once a very tall person was being baptized in our church. When he was being immersed in the water by the brother who was baptizing him, I noticed that he did not go in completely. The top part of his head was still above water when the brother lifted him up. So I said, "Wait. We have to immerse him completely! And the top part of his head, where his brain is, has really got to die so that he can be resurrected and have the mind of Christ, and be humble enough to acknowledge that his human way of thinking is not capable of understanding divine mysteries apart from the revelation of the Holy Spirit." So I gave the instruction that he be immersed fully.

This is important for us to understand. It may be a very small thing, but I believe that many Christians go astray because they try to understand with their mind what can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus said that in Matthew 11:25, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to babes." Have you ever thought about that verse? Right at the outset of the Christian life, when we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are acknowledging (whether you know it or not), "There's a mystery here that my human mind cannot explain fully." It's hidden from the clever and the intelligent, who seek to explain everything of God with their minds.

Look at the foolishness of people who believe evolution. Just because they put certain evidence together, they come to certain conclusions, and yet they still have to acknowledge that there is a missing link there between that chimpanzee and the man, which they never have been able to figure out. When man is so confident in the power of his mind, he doesn't understand many things in Scripture. The explanation is here, that God has hidden these things from those who are wise and intelligent, and the reason is that they're proud of their wisdom, their cleverness, and their intelligence. It is not that God is against intelligent people, because God Himself gave us intelligence. But if I become proud of my cleverness and my intelligence, then I'll become blind to the things of God .

Revelation Is Given to the Humble

Why does it say that He has revealed them to babes? There's a word Jesus used in this passage, "revelation," which is different from understanding. Understanding comes through study and analysis and using my mind, and is useful for solving a chemistry equation or a mathematical. I can use my mind, my cleverness, and my intelligence to grasp and understand such things, but the things of God are not grasped by understanding, but by revelation. Revelation is a word used in the New Testament to speak about truths that cannot be understood by our natural mind without the Holy Spirit enlightening it.

It says that revelation is given to babes. What do babes have that clever, intelligent people don't have? Is there any book that anyone can write anywhere in the world that clever people will not understand, but that babes will understand? There is one such book, and that is the Bible. What does a babe have that the clever, intelligent people don't have? First of all, a babe has a pure heart. A little baby's heart is absolutely pure. He has got no bitterness against anyone. He has got no hatred, no grudges, nothing impure. They also have a humility that no other human being has. Jesus once picked up a little baby and said, "You have to humble yourself like this little child."

Baptism and Death on the Cross

A very important factor in revelation is humility, and humility is closely connected with death on the cross. Romans 6 says baptism is symbolic of our dying with Jesus, of death to self, of death to the old man. In baptism, I'm burying the old man that was crucified with Christ on the cross. Ephesians 1:4 says that God has placed us in Christ before the foundation of the world. What that means is God, Who knows the future, knew that millions of years later we would be born and at a particular time in our lives, we would open our life and surrender ourselves to Christ. He chose us on the basis of this foreknowledge. 1 Peter 1:1-2 says that on the basis of God's knowledge of the future, He chose us in Christ. Before Genesis 1:1, right at the beginning, He placed us in Christ.

Imagine a piece of paper placed completely inside a Bible. The paper represents you, and the Bible symbolizes Christ. The Father placed you completely in Christ, just like the paper is completely inside the book. So in that sense, whatever happens to the book, happens to the paper inside the book as well. You were in Christ, and when Christ died on the cross, because you were (in God's mind) placed in Christ before the foundation of the world, you died with Him when He died. And when He was buried, you were buried with Him spiritually; when He rose again, you rose again with Him spiritually; and when He ascended to heaven, you ascended with Him spiritually. Now when you are born again and the Holy Spirit comes into you, these things become a reality in your life. So in baptism, you are testifying: "I accept that on the cross, not only were my sins forgiven, but I also died with Christ." This is something that we need to lead Christians to understand right at the beginning of the Christian life. Your old man was crucified with Christ, and you have risen again. This is not some postgraduate lesson. It's okay if you were baptized and you didn't understand the full meaning of baptism. But since Romans 6 fully explains the meaning, it is good for us to seek to understand it. We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so that we can be raised up, and as we come out of the water, we are saying, "I'm raised up with Christ, and now my mind is set on the things that are above."

The command to be baptized in Matthew 28:19 is not something we should take as a ritual. It's unfortunate that many people, despite being obedient to Scripture, don't seek to understand the meaning of Biblical practices. If you don't understand the meaning of baptism, then you miss out on the full blessing of it.

"Make disciples and baptize them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." We must acknowledge that there are many things that we can't understand, but as we accept them by faith, and as we come in humility, God reveals them to us. For example, we read in 1 Corinthians 2:10, "God has revealed them to us through the Holy Spirit." When the Holy Spirit comes into our heart, He reveals things that our mind cannot grasp. As we come in humility like little babes, He reveals these things to us.

There are a lot of people who deny the Trinity. So there's something seriously wrong if you are not baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To really become a disciple, you need to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and then you can move on to more of what Jesus taught.

Chapter 3

Teaching People to Do All That Jesus Commanded

"Teaching them to do all that I commanded you…" (Matthew 28:20)

This is the next part of the Great Commission. First, we go into all the world and tell people that they are sinners, that Christ died for their sins and rose up from the dead, that He ascended to heaven and is returning, and that He is the only way to the Father. Wherever we find people responding, then we invite them to make Jesus Lord of their lives, to be disciples who are going to follow Christ all their life, baptize them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and introduce them to the mystery of the Godhead. But doesn't finish there; all of that is like coming to the starting line of the Olympic marathon race

Running the Race After We Reach the Starting Line

It would be a great feat if you were selected to represent your country and to get to come to the starting line of the Olympic marathon race. That itself is a feat, but it doesn't mean anything on its own, because coming to the starting line is just the beginning of the race. The fact that you have become a disciple and have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is likewise great, but just like the picture of the Olympics, you must begin to run the race. And to run that race is to do every single thing that Jesus commanded us. This will take a lifetime for every Christian, and this is what every church should be teaching people. If a church is prioritizing making disciples and baptism, it should not stop there. What should they be teaching every Sunday in their church services? Every single thing that Jesus taught. All that Jesus taught, not just a few selected things, and certainly not psychology or mere entertainment. It's sad when a church is more interested in improving its music than improving the quality of its members. That's extremely sad. What do you think God in heaven is more interested in?

Suppose a new church is gathered together. Assume they are full of people who are really born again, and they really want to make Jesus Lord of their life. If you find that such a church is concentrating on music, do you think God is pleased? It's good to have good music. I'm not against that. But it is a question of priority. What is God more interested in, the quality of the people in that church becoming more Christ-like, or the music becoming more entertaining? There we can see how Christians have drifted away, because Christian leaders haven't understood what pleases God.

What are we supposed to do in our churches? We are to teach people to obey every single thing that Jesus commanded. We cannot teach others how to obey God's commands if we haven't obeyed them ourselves. Notice the difference between these two statements: "Teach them all that I commanded you," and "Teach them to do all that I commanded you." If I just had to teach others all that Jesus commanded, I can take all the teachings of Jesus and teach them just like a man teaches chemistry or physics or history. I study the concepts and I teach them. But to "Teach them to do…" would require that I've done it myself first, so that I can teach them how they can also do it. If I haven't done it myself, I would be like a person teaching swimming when I don't know how to swim. If you understood the principles and techniques of swimming, you can explain it clearly on a blackboard to whole lot of people, and yet not be a swimmer yourself. That's merely "teaching them." But "teaching them to do…" is showing them in the swimming pool or in a river how you can actually swim on the surface of the water, and how to move from place to place.

A biblical Christian leader has the responsibility to teach people to actually do every single thing that Jesus commanded, and that is a huge amount of teaching. That's why I wrote this book, to fulfill that command. All that I am seeking to do in this book is to fulfill the command of Jesus, to teach all that Jesus taught, and to teach you to do it as I've sought to do it myself in the last 52 years of my life. Not just emphasizing the things that are my favorite commands, or the ones that are easy, and neglecting the others. In the Old Testament law, God gave many commandments. We all know the major Ten Commandments, but did you know there were 603 other commandments, making a total of 613 commandments? Many were "do's" and many were "don'ts," and some of those commandments were not as important as the ten commandments. Even Jesus emphasized that, in Matthew 5:19, when He uses the expression "the least of these commandments."

The Importance of Keeping the Small Commandments

So in other words, in Jesus' understanding, all commandments did not have equal importance. There was an order of priority. Some things were more important than others. There were certain commands, like certain types of food they were not supposed to eat, in Leviticus 11, that were not as important as not committing murder and not committing adultery. But they were still commandments, and that's what made Daniel a man whom God accepted, because he decided to keep those least commandments in the Old Testament. In Daniel 1:8, it says, "Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food." Perhaps there was some pork on that table, or some type of bird that God had forbidden in Leviticus 11. Daniel may not have been able to give a full explanation for the reasons why God had forbidden those things, but he decided, "If that is part of the Law of Moses, even if it's not part of the Ten Commandments, I'll keep it." It's written that, because he wouldn't defile himself, God honored him, and made him a mighty witness in Babylon. God saw in Daniel a man who was willing to keep all His commandments.

This is how it has always been through the ages. God has always looked for those who will keep His commandments, those who will do all that Jesus taught, and not just pick and choose the commandments they like. In Matthew 5:19, Jesus said, "Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven." Jesus doesn't say he'll go to hell, but he will be the least in terms of Heaven's recognition and values. To be least on the earth is absolutely unimportant. It doesn't matter. But to be least in the kingdom of heaven means that God Almighty doesn't think much of you. I don't want to be in that category! I don't care if the world doesn't think much of me, but I certainly want God to think much of me.

It is said about John the Baptist, that the angel Gabriel told his father Zechariah, "Your son John will be great in the sight of the Lord." To be great in the sight of the Lord is certainly something worth coveting. I don't want to be least in the sight of the Lord, to be one whom the Lord doesn't think much of. Yet here it says here that there are going to be some people who are least in the kingdom of heaven, not because they don't keep the major commandments, but because they ignore the minor ones.

I find that attitude among many Christians even today. They say they are New Testament Christians, but they neglect some minor New Testament commands and say, "That's not important, you don't have to obey that." I'm not questioning their faith in Christ. I'm not here to judge whether they go to heaven or hell. That's not my business. God is the judge of that, but I certainly believe what Jesus said, that if one cancels the least commandment of all that Jesus taught (and all that Jesus subsequently taught through His Holy Spirit through the Apostles, in the Epistles), then he will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. In contrast to that, who is the one who is going to be great in the kingdom of heaven? The one who keeps the least commandment and teaches people to keep the least commandment. Matthew 5:19 could not be clearer. It's very clear.

Your attitude to the smallest commandments in the New Testament is what shows where you stand before God in His kingdom. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." That's the mark of our love. Nobody can say, "I love Jesus," and ignore His commandments. To the extent that you ignore the least of the commandments of Jesus, in that measure, you don't love Him. Maybe you do keep the big ones, but it's your attitude to the least of them that determines your position in God's kingdom.

"All That Jesus Taught" Isn't the Only Commandments Made in the Gospels

One more word of clarification regarding "all that Jesus taught." There are some people who say, "What Jesus said in the Gospels is more important than what is written in the Epistles. The Epistles could be merely Paul's opinion, or Peter's opinion, or James' opinion. And if it is Paul's opinion or Peter's opinion and James' opinion, then I can throw that in the trash can." If that logic were true, then I wouldn't even keep the Epistles in my Bible. I'd cut out those pages and throw them in the trash can. Why do I want to know what Peter or Paul thought about something? It may have some value, but I wouldn't call such opinions the Word of God. Certainly not. A godly man's opinion may be important, but you can't say it is the Word of God. How in the world can I say something is the Word of God, and worthy of being included in the Bible, if it is just somebody's opinion? Do you know what Jesus said before He went to the cross, at the Last Supper? In John 16:12, He said to His disciples, "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (or you cannot understand them now, because you can't grasp the importance of them now). But when the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth." This is very important for us to understand.

Paraphrasing His words, what Jesus is saying is, "There are a lot of things I want to share with you, My dear disciples, but you won't be able to understand them. I wanted to tell you about all that's involved in New Covenant life. I want to share with you all that's involved in having the fruit of the spirit, and partaking in the divine nature. I want to share with you what it means to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve Me. I want to explain to you what Divine Love is different from human love, which is what you have right now. I want to explain to you what it means to build the church as the body of Christ. I want to explain to you how to build local churches and how those local churches are to be administered. I want to explain to you about My second coming and things that'll happen before I return to this earth; I want to explain to you the real meaning of grace, and how sin will not be able to rule over you when you're under grace. There are many things like that which if I tell you now, you won't be able to understand, because you don't have the Holy Spirit."

Jesus knew all of these things, and more. He could have shared a lot of things, but that would be like trying to explain calculus to a student in the third standard. What will he know about calculus? It will just go over his head. He's got to wait six or seven years before he can understand calculus. It is somewhat similar here, the Lord is saying, "Until the Holy Spirit comes into you, if I explain all these things, it's a waste of time." Just like it is waste of time teaching differential calculus to seven-year-old students, because they have to grow up. In the same way, Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth has come, He will lead you into all the truth." There are lot of commandments in the Epistles, and that's the fulfillment of John 16:12-13. It is Jesus Himself speaking in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, the Colossians, the Philippians, the Corinthians, etc. It is the same for the letters of Peter, of James, the three epistles of John, and the book of Revelation. This is Jesus speaking the things that He could not speak when He was on earth, because they would have never understood it. So in one sense we can say that all that Jesus taught includes a lot of things in the Epistles. Those are the things that He wanted to teach when He was on earth, but because of the limitations of the apostles, He could not. But once that limitation was removed (when they received the Holy Spirit), then He could teach them through Paul, Peter, James and the other apostles.

The Compromising Position of Ignoring Select New Testament Commands

If we apply all of these things back to Matthew 5:19, we can say that "he who cancels one of the least of these commandments in the New Testament , he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." I could tell you of a number of commandments in the New Testament Epistles which many Christians and Christian leaders ignore. They say, "That was for that time," "It's not for us today," "That was a cultural command only for those people in Corinth, and not for us today." Once you take that attitude to any commandment in the New Testament, however small it may be, you have to give freedom to another person to say, "Well, take same-sex marriage: it is no longer forbidden. In that time, they had to marry opposite sexes, but now it doesn't matter. Marriage between man and woman was only for that time." How can you prevent a person from saying that if you also have changed some commandment in the New Testament, saying "that was only for that time?" People can say, "Homosexuality is not wrong. In those days, two thousand years ago, yes, it was wrong. But not today. It was wrong only for that culture and that time." Do you see the foolish position that many Christian leaders put themselves in when they take one commandment out of the New Testament and say, "That was for that time"? The same difficulty applies to any such compromise.

Whoever cancels the least of Jesus' commandments, he will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. He won't go to hell, but he will certainly be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, and is totally unfit to be a servant of God. So what did Jesus say in the Great Commission? "Teach them to observe all," and "all" includes the big commandments, the small commandments, and every single commandment that He taught them to do. The important thing about the commandments, whether they are big or small, is Who commanded them. In the military, people are taught that to obey a simple command like "right turn" or "left turn" on the parade ground, is as important as "go to the battlefield" or "report for duty at such and such a place." One may be a more major commandment than the other; both are equally important. Instant obedience is the mark of any military officer or soldier, and that's the type of person that the Lord wants in His church.

I find that people are more careful to obey commands in the military than in the church. The church calls itself "the Lord's army," but most of them don't behave like soldiers. From the day they join as recruits, soldiers are taught to instantly obey everything, and not to try to figure out whether they can understand the reason or meaning of a command.

Have we fulfilled this part of the Great Commission? Do we "Teach people to do all that Jesus commanded" in this way? I find that very few people have taken this matter seriously.

The Difference Between Really Living and Merely Existing

Matthew 4:4 is the very first sentence that Jesus spoke, after being anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism, that is recorded in Scripture. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism in Matthew 3:16, and then was led into the wilderness to face temptation. At the end of forty days of fasting, we read these words, which are the first words that come out of Jesus' mouth in response to the first temptation. The first temptation was from the Devil, "If you are Son of God, command these stones to become bread" (Matthew 4:3). And we can say the very first thing that Jesus taught was His response, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." That's a huge subject that we need to think about a lot more than just in this brief space, but I want to mention it here.

How shall man live? He doesn't that say bread is not necessary. Jesus is very realistic. He says bread is necessary -- we need food in order to live -- but not food alone. He's also saying that food is not primary. What is primary is every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. What is every word that proceeds out of mouth of God? Everything that God has said - His commandments and His promises. These are the words that we find in the Scripture, and every Scripture is a word on which I can live. Really live. If I'm only thinking of existing, then I only need food; but if I want to live spiritually, the way God wants me to live, then I need every word of God. That has been revealed to us primarily in the Scriptures, the Bible. A person who is more interested in food than in studying the Bible has not really understood how God wants man to live. The very first words that Jesus taught us are, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

That is why God has given us His Word: so that we can know how we are to live. If you're a true disciple of Jesus Christ, you'll have a tremendous passion to know every word of God -- every promise and every commandment -- because that's the only way you can really live. That's why it's important to understand all that Jesus taught. Otherwise we only exist.

Do you know the difference between existing and living? It is this: Every single word of God . And this is not something we just read. Jesus says, "every word that proceeds out of the mouth God." God is constantly speaking. I can read the same Scripture 50 times and something fresh will continue to proceed from the mouth of God in that verse. God's word in the Bible truly is a most wonderful thing - because it is always living and fresh. We cannot fulfill the Great Commission really if we don't seek to hear all that Jesus spoke and taught, the promises He gave us, and the commands that He gave us.

Chapter 4

Complementary Functions in the Body of Christ

The great tragedy in Christendom is that many Christians who are fulfilling the first half of the Great Commission do not realize how important it is to fulfill the second half. What is worse, there are many workers who fulfill the first half and actually despise those who are seeking to fulfill the second half. If we are humble, we will see that we are fellow workers in the body of Christ, and that one function is as important as the other. The man who goes out to reach those who have never heard the gospel with the message of Christ dying for their sins is as important as the one who is seeking to complete the job by making that person into a disciple and teaching him to do all that Jesus commanded.

Some Functions are More Popular, but That Doesn't Mean They're More Important

It's very exciting to fulfill the first part of the Great Commission because this work often yields many wonderful stories to relate. The true accounts of missionary and evangelistic work are always exciting. There are stories to relate of people delivered from demons and idolatry and many things like that, and especially a lot of statistics to report. Evangelists can boast about the number of people they have brought to Christ. But what about another Christian worker, who is taking that convert and making him a disciple who obeys all that Jesus taught? He doesn't have statistics to boast about, but we may discover when Christ comes back that that person has done a more faithful job without getting any honor on the earth for making disciples. Generally speaking, Christians like to perform ministries that they can report about, and where they can quote numbers. That's why the Mark 16:15 aspect of the Great Commission is far more popular than the other half, in Matthew 28:19-20. But that is also why we are focused on the other half, and teaching people to do all that Jesus commanded.

Suppose you've spent 25 years reaching out into different parts of the world, preaching the gospel and doing evangelism. If you're an evangelist, you probably have the opportunity to report statistics of hundreds or perhaps thousands of people whom you have brought the Christ. But if you spent those 25 years teaching a group of converts who are not yet disciples to do all that Jesus commanded, you may not have much to report in terms of statistics. You have, however, produced Christ-like people who are a far better testimony for Christ on earth, and ones whom God can show forth to the devil as specimens of people who are redeemed from the nature of Adam, and who can manifest the nature of Christ. That effort brings glory in heaven, not on this earth.

If you're a Christian who is seeking honor from men (even from fellow Christians!), you will not care much about the second part of the Great Commission, because that won't give you much to report. You will only be interested in the first part, if your interest is in statistics and numbers and the honor of men. The Old Testament prophets were never popular; it was the false prophets who were popular in Israel. What is the difference between the two? One of the differences was that false prophets told people what they liked to hear, while true prophets told the people what they needed to hear from God. And very often, it was a rebuke for their sin, their worldliness, their idolatry, adultery, and their going away from God, as well as a call to repentance (turning back to God).

Prophetic ministry has never been popular, neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament. New Testament prophetic ministry is, in the same way, calling God's people back to Him, back to the word, back to obedience to the Scriptures, back to obeying all that Jesus taught. It is very different from evangelistic ministry - and the body of Christ cannot be built only by prophets or only by evangelists.

To use an illustration, fulfilling the first half of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15) through evangelism can be likened to taking food from a plate and putting into our mouth. What is the purpose of all evangelism? To bring someone who is not a member of the body of Christ into the body of Christ. That's evangelism essentially. Evangelism is designed to make an unbeliever, idol worshipper or person without any God, in to become a part of the body of Christ. My hand takes food, which is not a part of my body at the moment, and picks it up from the plate, and puts it into my body. That's a picture of how evangelism brings a non-Christian into the body of Christ.

How does food fully become a part of the body? First of all, I see the food and I take it with my hand, and put it into my mouth. This is evangelism, taking the unbeliever and bringing him into Christ. But this food, if it remains in my mouth, is never going to be a part of my body as long as I keep it in my mouth. It will rot, and I'll spit it out. A lot of people who raise their hands and sign decision cards and say they've come to Christ are like that, like food kept in the mouth. You go there and visit these five hundred people who've signed these decision cards, and you may find only one of them became a real disciple. The other 499 just drifted away. That happens all the time. It's not enough for the food to simply make it into the mouth. The teeth have to chew the food, and then it goes down the throat and into the stomach where there are all types of acids thrown upon it to break it down. At this point, it's no longer a potato, or a chapati, or rice. It will get converted into other forms yet, and after a process of digestion and many other things that happen inside the body, finally that food fully becomes a part of the body. This is a very gentle ministry, initially taking the food and putting it into the mouth, and this is evangelism. But after that, other parts of the body take over, and they do things that the hand can never do. Likewise, other workers perform functions which the evangelists can never do, such as prophetic ministry, teaching ministry, shepherding ministry, and apostolic ministry, all of which builds that person to become a living, functioning, effective, and powerful member of the body of Christ. Like that food which, after a few weeks, is no longer a potato, or a chapatti, but has become flesh and blood and bone, so it should be with every person whom the evangelist brings to Christ.

Light on the Complementary Gifts Given to the Body of Christ

So which function is more needed? The evangelist, or the prophet, or the shepherd, or the teacher? That is like asking, "Is the hand more important, or the teeth, or the stomach?" There is no way of comparing body parts, because if the hand doesn't take the food and put it in, then the teeth and the stomach have nothing to do; and if the hand does the job of putting the food into the mouth, but the teeth and the stomach don't do anything, then also it's wasted. So there's no use in thinking that the evangelist is more important than the prophet, or that the prophet is more important than the evangelist.

These are some of the words that Jesus wanted to speak to His disciples when He was with them on the earth, but that they couldn't yet understand. He wanted to teach them about the function of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers in the life of the church. We're told in Ephesians 4:11 that these are the gifts that He gave to the church after He ascended to heaven. He wanted to tell His disciples about these things while He was on earth, as we saw in John 16:12, in the previous chapter. To paraphrase, He said, "I want to teach you these things, but you can't understand them now because you don't have the Holy Spirit." Once they received the Holy Spirit, they could understand. Paul could understand, as he said in Ephesians 4:10, that when Jesus ascended, above all the heavens, He gave some the gift to be apostles. Paul knew these are not the apostles that He appointed when He was on earth, but that these are apostles that He appointed from heaven. They were apostles who would go forth and plant local churches, prophets who would diagnose the spiritual condition of people and provide them with a solution, evangelists who would bring non-Christians into the body of Christ, shepherds who would take care of the young ones, and teachers who would teach them God's Word. All of these Christ gave for the purpose of equipping all the believers so that all the believers could build the body of Christ, as he says in Ephesians 4:12. These are not the folks who will build the body of Christ. Ephesian 4:11-12 says people given these five gifts will equip all the other believers who don't have these gifts, and those believers will build the body of Christ.

So in the body of Christ, just like in the human body, every part has a function. We're not comparing those who fulfill Mark 16:15 with those who fulfill Matthew 28:19. Anybody who compares these two is a person who is ignorant of God's ways. God needs and uses both this one and that one. It is like asking, "Is your left hand or your right hand important? Which one would you like to cut off?" One may appear to fulfill a more important function than the other, but both are equally necessary in the body. God has determined that every part of the body must be healthy and muscular to be useful to fulfill its function .

We Need the Strength of Jesus's Authority to Fulfill the Great Commission

In order to help us do all that He commanded, Jesus began by saying, "all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). We must believe that if we're to go out and fulfill this Great Commission. If I don't believe that all authority has been given to Jesus, I'm going to give up after a little while, because Christian work can be very discouraging work. You don't see results immediately. Neither the evangelists nor the prophets nor the apostles see results immediately. Much like bringing a child up to adulthood. I can attest this through my years of planting churches and establishing believers and trying to lead them up to godliness. It is very easy to get discouraged unless we realize that the One Who is sending me forth into this ministry is One Who has been given all authority in heaven and earth. He is supporting me with that authority.

So I look at this part of the Great Commission like this. The second half of the Great Commission that we've been considering -- Matthew 28:19-20, which says, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teach them to do, by doing yourself first (don't teach what you haven't done), all that I commanded you" -- is bracketed between two of the most fantastic statements that Jesus made. The first is verse 18, "All authority in heaven and earth is given to Me," and the second is verse 20, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." If I have a doubt about either of these two facts, I'm not going to fulfill the second half of the Great Commission. I have found in fifty years of Christian ministry that it can be pretty discouraging, if you're not convinced that:

- The One who sent you forth is the One who has all authority in heaven (in the heavenlies, in the second heavens where the demons dwell) and on earth (over all people on earth). Christ has this authority.

- When I go forth trying to fulfill this part of the Great Commission, I have a specific promise from Him that He will be with me always.

We Must Meet the Conditions to Receive Spiritual Promises

Christians have a very bad habit of trying to claim a promise without fulfilling the conditions. For example, if you're told, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved," and you say, "well I'm not going to fulfill the condition, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I'm still going to be saved," wouldn't you think that's crazy? Or, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins." If you don't fulfill the condition of confessing your sin, how can you believe that He's going to forgive your sin? The promises of God are conditional. There are material promises, like God makes the sun to rise on the good and the evil and He makes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous, which He gives to everybody without any conditions. But when it comes to the spiritual promises of God, there are conditions to receive them. This begins with the forgiveness of sins. Without repentance and faith in Christ, nobody gets forgiveness of sins. Justification is by faith, and sanctification is by faith. Also, God does not give His grace to everyone without condition. He only gives his grace to the humble. There is a condition for every spiritual promise.

Why do so many Christians, who understand the importance of fulfilling the condition attached to the promise in all these other areas that I've just mentioned, come to this promise, "Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the age," and try to claim it without fulfilling the condition? That amazes me. They would be surprised if I preach that you can be forgiven even if you don't repent and believe. If I say you can be forgiven if you don't confess your sins, they would say that's ridiculous. The Bible says if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you, right? Well the same Bible says the Lord will be with you always to the end of the age if you go and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do all that I have commanded you. This is what the Lord said. Then He said, "Lo, I'm with you always."

So that is a promise specifically given to those who go forth to teach others to do all that Jesus has commanded. I've spent 35 years seeking to fulfill that, teaching people to do all that Jesus commanded, in many parts of the world, through CDs, the internet, and literature. I can testify that I have really experienced the presence and the authority of the Lord with me. So I want to encourage you to believe that God's promises are true. His authority will back you if you go forth seeking to teach people to do all that Jesus commanded, by doing it yourself first, and He'll be with you always. One of the results of His being with us always is, He delivers us from discouragement, gloom, bad moods, and all types of things like that. How in the world can I have a bad mood if Jesus is with me all the time? How in the world can I be discouraged or fearful if Jesus is with me all the time? A lot of people imagine that Christ is with them, when He's not. They're not seeking to do all that Jesus commanded; they're not seeking to teach other people what Jesus commanded. So there's a condition to fulfill before we can claim that promise, and I want to encourage you to see that clearly.

An Illustration from a Carpenter's Shop

The first part of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15) is generally being done more by Christians than the second part because, when we think of the phrase, "all that I have commanded you," it covers a wide range of subjects. There is a wide range of areas where we need first of all to do what Jesus has commanded us in our own lives, and then, to teach others to do as well. Otherwise, the Great Commission remains incomplete. Jesus was a carpenter for the first part of His life up to the age of 30, so I will use an illustration from a carpenter shop: Suppose Jesus as a master carpenter gets an order from a business that wants a hundred tables to be made. Suppose Jesus employs ten carpenters, and nine of them spend all their time making just the legs of those tables. Granted, legs are very important. You can't have a table without four legs, so at the end of a number of weeks, you will need to have multitudes of legs there. But because there's just one man making the tabletops, Jesus is going to have a tremendous disproportion between the number of legs and the number of tabletops, and ultimately, He will have very, very few fully completed tables. He may have hundreds of legs, and perhaps only three or four tables. So if you were hired now as an additional carpenter to go into that shop, what would you do? What would the Lord tell you to do? I think He'd tell you forget about legs for now, and focus on tabletops so that we can have completed tables.

This is a picture of what is happening in a lot of Christendom today. Many are being converted, and we should praise the Lord for that. Many evangelists are going into unreached areas with the gospel at great sacrifice. They are laying down their lives to preach the gospel. We should respect them and appreciate them, and I believe their reward will be great. They have fulfilled their calling, but there are other parts of the body that need to carry on from there and complete the work. That is the second half of the Great Commission: to make these converts into disciples and teach them to do every single thing that Jesus commanded. Is that something we can ignore? We can't afford to neglect a single command. For example Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters." He said that in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6:24. Those two masters are not God and Satan. Even though Satanis the master of many people, that's not the one Jesus was referring to here, because no Christian believes that he can serve God and Satan. A Christian does not attempt to do that. The two masters mentioned in Matthew 6:24 are God and mammon. Mammon means money, material wealth, material possessions, real estate, stocks and shares, houses, lands, cars, etc. Jesus said we cannot serve both of these, but there aremany Christians who feel they can serve God and material wealth. Jesus said you have to have a radical attitude towards the one or the other if you want to serve. He said, "You have to hate one and love the other or hold on to one and despise the other." How many Christians have understood what it is to "hold onto God and hate money?" To say, "I want to use money as my servant, but I won't let it be my master?" Have all those who've been converted through evangelism come to that place? Another example is what Jesus said about plucking out our eye if it stumbles us and causes to lust after woman. How many Christians have even been taught that? How many preachers have lived that standard of life so that they're able to teach it? There you see how so many tables are incomplete, and thus the work of the Great Commission is incomplete.

Chapter 5

Doing Must Come Before Teaching

Jesus wants us to do and then to teach, not teach what we have not done. We don't begin by teaching; we begin by doing. You can't go to a Bible school, spend three years there, get a degree, and then think that you can now teach people, if you have not done what Jesus has commanded in your own life. I remember speaking with a person who graduated after a four-year Bible college course in a particular Bible College. He was the top student in his class. At the graduation ceremony where I was speaking, he came to see me and I asked him, "What is your spiritual condition at the end of these four years of study, in your inner life?" He said, "It's worse than when I first came. I'm more defeated by sin." He was honest. I said, "Now that you are going to go out with your degree and become a pastor somewhere, what are you going to teach people? Hebrew and Greek interpretations of various verses, or can you teach them how to overcome the lust of the eyes, and how to overcome anger? That's what they need to hear, because that's what Jesus taught. And if you haven't experienced that overcoming in your own life, you will just teach theory."

This is the sad state of so many preachers and pastors, and that's why you hear every now and then of some famous preacher or pastor, who has been preaching for many years, suddenly admit that he's been living in adultery for many years. How is it that the people in the congregation could not discern the impurity in this man's spirit? Because they were taken up by the eloquence of his preaching and the knowledge that he had. Jesus said, "Teach them to do all that I commanded."

Acts 1:1 shows us Jesus' Own example. Acts was written by Luke, the co-worker of Paul, and before he wrote the Acts of the Apostles, he wrote Luke's Gospel. He wrote both of them to a person called Theophilus. In the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, he refers to the gospel that he had written previously by saying, "The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach…" If you were to ask Luke to give a title to his gospel, he would say "All that Jesus began to do and teach." Not, "All that Jesus taught," but "All that He did and taught." It was a principle in Jesus' life that He would not teach what He hadn't done. The principle is this: do and then teach. Not teach and do, but do and teach. Jesus did not practice what He preached; He preached what He had already practiced and continued to practice. That's the principle.

Based on that, if you were to ask Luke to give a title to the Acts of the Apostles, what title do you think he would give? If the Gospel of Luke was "All that Jesus began to do and teach in His physical body on earth," then the Acts of the Apostles would be "All that Jesus continued to do and teach through His spiritual body, the church." That is our ministry, to continue to do and teach what He began to do and teach when He lived on earth for thirty-three years. That's why the church is called the Body of Jesus Christ. That's why understanding all that Jesus taught is important, because we need to do it and then we need to teach it.

The Right to Proclaim the Gospel Is Reserved for Those Who Have Experienced It

There is a very interesting incident in Acts 10. There we read that there was a very God-fearing military man who was a heathen, not a Christian, and not even a Jew. He was a Roman soldier called Cornelius. That he was a Centurion means he was a certain high-ranking officer in the Roman army, and he was a God-fearing man. It says that "he was a devout man, a man who gave many alms to the people, he helped poor people and prayed to God continually." Does God listen to the prayers of people who are not Christians? Does God look at the money that non-Christians give to poor people? Well, have a look here. God sent an angel to Cornelius, and he said to him in Acts 10:4, "Your prayers have ascended as a memorial before God and the money you've given to the poor, the alms, have also ascended as a memorial before God." Isn't that interesting? And when Peter saw Cornelius later on, he says, "There's one thing I've discovered," Peter says, "That with God, there is no respect of persons." When the angel came to Cornelius, why didn't he give him the gospel? Why didn't he ask Cornelius, "Do you know that you're a sinner, that Christ died for your sins and rose again, that you need to receive Him as your Lord, repent and believe?" He couldn't say that. All that the angel could tell him was "Your prayers and alms have ascended, and now please send somebody to go and call for Peter; he's living far away in another place, in Joppa. It may take a few days for Peter to come here, but you've got to wait." And the angel then departed. Don't you think the angel could have told him exactly what Peter would tell Cornelius? The angel knew the gospel very clearly. There's a very important reason why Almighty God didn't allow the angel to preach the gospel to Cornelius. Cornelius had to wait for so many days to hear the gospel, till Peter came, because the angel had not experienced the gospel. He could not say, like Peter, "I was a sinner, but Jesus died for me, and His blood cleansed my sin, and I'm forgiven."

Because the angel could not say that, he could not preach it. He could not preach a truth that he knew only in his mind. He could probably preach better than Peter; it didn't matter. He was not allowed to preach it because he hadn't experienced it, which teaches us one fundamental principle: we are not permitted by God to preach what we have not experienced. There's a word for people who preach what they have not practiced or experienced, and the word in the New Testament is "hypocrite." There are many hypocritical preachers.

When Jesus said in His great commission, "Teach them to do all that I have commanded you," He was telling us to be free from hypocrisy. He was telling us never to speak about that which we haven't done. For example, if you have not gone to North India as a missionary, you can't ask other people to go there as missionaries, can you? While you can teach it but you haven't done it. It is very necessary, and very important to send missionaries to North India. But who's got the right to teach it? The one who's done it. That's just one example that applies in many other areas of life.

We must be willing to humble ourselves and recognize that God has placed many people in the body of Christ to preach various things, and we may not be called to preach everything ourselves. I can only preach what I have done. I cannot teach people to overcome anger if I'm still getting angry with myself, with my wife, co-workers, or anyone else. I cannot ask people to overcome dirty sexual thoughts, if I'm still defeated by them myself. I can say, "Hey fellas I am defeated, but let's you and I struggle together." That's fine, but I must be honest. Only teach others to do what we have first done ourselves.

The Very First Thing That Jesus Taught: Receive God's Word Every Single Day

The very first thing that Jesus taught after His being anointed with the Holy Spirit was that we cannot live if we don't receive the words that God speaks. We can't fulfill God's purpose and satisfy His heart, if we merely serve Him. A lot of Christians find a satisfaction in saying, "I'm doing this for the Lord," "I'm doing that for the Lord," "I'm running an orphanage," "I'm running a Bible School and I'm helping people," "I'm giving money to these people who are in need," and "I'm going here and doing that." They're always thinking of what they're doing for the Lord. I don't despise that. We need to serve the Lord till He comes, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." I want to do that till the end of my life, until Christ comes, "always abounding in the work of the Lord." I never want to stop serving the Lord. So I'm not despising that.

I believe we must serve, but I'd say more important than service, is receiving the Word of God. "Man shall not live by serving God alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." These are the first spoken words of Jesus after His anointing, so it must be very significant. Of all that Jesus taught, here was the very first thing: learn to receive the Word of God continuously every day. The Scriptures must come alive to you every day. In the early days, people didn't have a Bible like we have today. We are so privileged to have the Bible. We must read the Bible every day, if we are going to receive God's Word every day. In the early days, when they didn't have a Bible, they could still receive the Holy Spirit reminding them of what they heard from the apostles. A Christian who doesn't have a Bible, who is imprisoned for his faith and sitting in a prison, can still receive God's Word every day even though he doesn't have a Bible open in front of him, because he has read it in the days when he was not in prison. That's why it's so important to read and meditate on God's Word, because in our moment of need, God through the Holy Spirit will give us that particular word that will be the solution to our problem, and that'll be the answer to our need and the promise that we can claim.

This is illustrated in a story in Luke 10:38-42. There we read about Jesus entering the house of Mary and Martha. Martha received Him into the house, and went to prepare some food for Him, while her sister Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to His word. Now remember, connect this with what we read earlier, that "man shall not live by food alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth." Here are the two options, food and sitting at Jesus's feet. Is food important? Yes, it is. But what's more important is receiving the word that proceeds from God's mouth. This is illustrated so vividly here in these two sisters.

Martha was distracted with preparing food. For whom? Not for herself. She was very, very unselfish. Do you know how much labor it takes to cook food for 13 hungry men (Jesus and His twelve disciples)? She was slogging away in the kitchen, working hard not for herself, but for the Lord. She was spending her money, going to the market, and getting things to prepare food for the Lord. She was spending time, money, energy, and sacrificing to do work for the Lord. Maybe you're like that. Maybe you're sacrificing time, money, and energy doing so many things for the Lord here and there. Good. You might think, like Martha might have thought, "well, when I've done all this and I come before the Lord, He's is going to say, 'well done, good and faithful servant. You've done a great job!'" But that's not what she hears. When she came to Jesus, she was irritated with her sister Mary inwardly. Whenever a person is not at rest in his heart, it means something is wrong. She was not at rest. She was wondering, "why is Mary not coming and helping me?" and Jesus rebukes her. He says, "Martha, food is not the most important thing. To hear My word is far more important, and that's what Mary has chosen, and that will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). Do you see what Jesus means by, "Man shall not live by food alone"? What did Jesus want from Martha first? All that service? What does Jesus want from you? Service is good. We read later on that Mary served Jesus by pouring out perfume at His feet, and so we know that service is important; but the first, most important thing was to receive the Word of God. That is what Jesus taught.

We must learn this lesson first of all, that one thing is needful. Not 25 things. Luke 10:42 tells us to sit at Jesus' feet every day, to have that attitude all the time, and to receive what He has to say to us personally.

Long for God's Word like a Baby Longs for Milk

In 1 Peter 2:2, it says, "Like newborn babes, we must desire the pure milk of the Word of God." We should desire the pure milk of the Word of God, just like any newborn baby, if it's normal and healthy, as soon as it is born, cries out. From the very first day onwards, for a number of days and weeks and months, it keeps on crying out. What's it crying out for? Milk. Nobody has to teach that newborn baby to cry for milk. If it's a sick child, it will not cry, and unfortunately, we have a lot of "sick babies" in Christendom.

If you have had a proper new birth, and you're a spiritually healthy child of God, nobody will have to teach you to cry out for the milk of the word of God. I remember in my own life, when I was born again 52 years ago, I found within me a tremendous cry for the milk of the word of God. I was too young to eat the meat that is also found in this book, but I could receive the milk, and this is the very first thing that characterizes any genuinely born-again child of God.

If you claim to be a born-again and you have absolutely no desire for the milk of God's Word, I would ask you to question whether you're really born again. Every healthy baby cries out for milk all over the world. In every nation, every place, through all centuries, it's been like that. And so it is with the new birth: when it's genuine, there's a longing to receive God's Word and to hear what God has to say. Even if I don't have a Bible to hear what God has to say to me, I long to hear His word.

Don't Live by One Scripture, but by the Whole of Scripture

The second statement that Jesus made in his ministry was in response to the second temptation. In Matthew 4:7, He said, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." This is a very important principle. What the devil was saying to Jesus was, "If You're the Son of God, why don't You just throw Yourself down from the top of the temple and claim the promise of God? He even quoted Psalm 91, 'He will give his angels charge concerning you; in their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" This teaches us that Satan can even quote God's Word to you to get you to sin.

This temptation is related to the first temptation. The first time, Satan told Jesus to turn the stones into bread, and Jesus said, "Hey, man does not live by bread alone; he lives by every word of God." Satan caught on to that and said, "Every word of God, huh? Okay, here's the Word of God: 'He will give His angels charge over you and your foot will not strike against a stone.' So why not jump off from the temple?" When the devil sees that you have learned to respect God's Word, the next thing he will try to do is to twist God's Word to make it mean something it didn't mean at all. He will misquote God's Word, and take God's Word out of context. I can think of numerous Christians I have met in my life who have quoted a Scripture from here or there completely out of context, to satisfy their own desire. It's very easy to go to Scripture and find a verse to do what you want to do. There are so many people who go to Scripture and find a verse that justifies exactly what they want to do.

When we realize the importance of receiving God's Word, and read Scripture regularly, we need to remember from this temptation that Satan can come and misquote Scripture. That's why it's important for us to study the Scriptures in its context, and why it's important to study the whole of Scripture by "every word of God," as Jesus said, not just by one Scripture. We can't live by one Scripture (for example, "man shall live by every word of God"), and that's why it's important to know the whole of Scripture. That's why it's important to study it. If you are young, it's good to go and seek counsel from godly older men who know the Word whenever you're thinking of understanding what Scripture says on a particular subject. It is very easy. I've come across too many people who have deceived themselves by seeking to live by only one particular Scripture, and not the whole of Scripture.

Let me use a humorous illustration to highlight this point: Consider a young man who's very much in love with a girl called Grace. He wants to find the will of God, or at least he thinks he does, but he's already very much in love with this girl. The truth is, he wants to marry her and he just wants God's approval. So one day he reads 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you," and he's convinced. "Ah, God has spoken to me, Grace is the girl for me," he says to himself. He's just satisfying his own desire. Now consider another young man whose parents have suggested some girl called Grace to him. He doesn't like her at all and he has no interest, so he tells his parents "I will have to find God's will." He reads the same verse, 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you." He goes to his parents and says, "God has told me that His grace is sufficient for me. I don't want this girl called Grace, God's grace is enough for me." You can see how, from the same verse, these two young men get two different answers to satisfy their own lusts. What they want to do, they try to put into God's Word. That's one example of how the devil can take a Scripture and quote that to you. If he tried it with Jesus, don't you think he will try it with you?

What was Jesus' reply to the devil? It is very interesting to see that, when the devil said in Matthew 4:6, "It is written," Jesus replied in verse 7, saying, " Again it is written." Or, "On the other hand, it's written like this." That's what He meant by, "again it is written." This teaches us that the whole truth is not found only in "it is written" but in "it is written, and again it is written." When you put both Scriptures together, then you get the truth. That's why it is important to study the Scriptures to hear what God is saying to you. Otherwise, you can take one verse of Scripture and go completely astray. So Jesus said to him, "It is also written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." You shall not try to claim a promise just to try and test God.

Don't Test God by Insisting He Does Something Spectacular

How does this apply in practical terms? Here the temptation to Jesus was to jump off the roof of the temple, claim the promise in Psalm 91, and descend to the courtyard of the temple unhurt so that people will see and exclaim, "Oh, what a great man of God! Look at His faith, how He claimed that promise and was not hurt." And Jesus said, "I will not tempt God like that." When there are stairs provided from the roof of the temple to go down, there is no need to jump off. The meaning of Jesus's refusal is that we can use means that God has provided and not tempt God by asking Him to do something for us in some spectacular way. For example, in Acts 8:39, we read of an instance where, after Philip had preached to the eunuch, the Holy Spirit snatched Philip up and transported him all the way to another please called as Azotus. The Holy Spirit gave him an airlift like a helicopter would today. Now, if you want to go from one place to another place, and you try to tempt God saying, "Do that for me Lord," that's tempting God. If God has provided buses, trains, scooters, and airplanes, why do we need to ask the Holy Spirit to take us like that?

Another way to tempt God is to try and claim a promise so that I can perhaps testify later of a spectacular thing God did for me. For example, there are people who, when they are sick, say, "I am going to trust God to heal me even though medicines are available on the next street and there are doctors available to advise us. We don't use those doctors and those medicines." And there are many foolish Christians who have died like that, or allowed their children to die and their wives to die, because they try to claim a promise that "the Lord is my Healer, and so I don't need medicine." When God has provided stairs in the temple, He expects you to use them instead of trying to jump off the roof and claiming Psalm 91. Similarly, when God has provided medicines, He expects you to use them and not foolishly claim some promise that the Lord will heal you. It is as foolish as trying to ask the Lord to transport you from one place to another like He did with Philip.

We also must remember that God does certain things for certain people. He doesn't perform every miracle for every believer. We need to be very careful in studying the Scriptures that we're not trying to do something spectacular in order to get some honor for ourselves. The desire for honor from men is so deeply rooted in our flesh, but sometimes we are not even aware of it. It's one of the great things that Jesus taught His disciples to battle against. Here the basic temptation was to get honor, to claim God's promise and descend unhurt to the courtyard of the temple and people will acclaim you. But the temptation can come in less spectacular ways, too. Jesus said in Matthew 6, "When you pray, don't pray in such a way as to get honor from the men who are listening to you praying, and don't fast and inform everybody how many days you've fasted for." If you do that, it's to get honor. He also said, "When you give, don't let anybody know what you gave." Yet many Christians have disobeyed these commands, seeking honor and tempting God.

Seek for a Christ-Like Balance

The matter of putting God to the test has many, many ramifications. There are many, many areas where we can do this. We need to be balanced in our understanding of these Scriptures, and be able to say, "it is written and it is also written." The great need in the Christian life is for a balance. For example, the Bible says in John 1:14, "The glory of God was seen in Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth." That's balance. And when the devil said, "It is written," Jesus said, "It is also written." We must have grace and we must have truth. That's the balance there must be in our life. We must have the fruit of the Spirit and we must have the gifts of the Spirit. We find Christians sometimes emphasizing that the fruit of the Spirit is the most important thing, while some other group says the gifts of the Spirit are more important. We need both, and the answer always is to look at Jesus and see what he had. What did Jesus have? Did He have the fruit of the Spirit or the gifts of the Spirit? You know the answer: He had both. Did He have grace or truth? He had both. Many people say we must stand for the truth. The others say no, but we must also be merciful. Which was Jesus? Was He merciful, or did He stand for the truth? Both.

You see a classic example of that in the case of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees wanted to stone her to death. The truth is, Moses said to stone her to death. What did Jesus say? "He who is without sin, throw the first stone." But He didn't then tell the woman, "Oh, your sins are not serious." He balanced grace and truth in His response to her. He coupled grace ("I do not condemn you") with truth ("Go and sin no more"). So remember, we find the whole truth of Scripture in "it is written," and "it is also written."

Chapter 6

Seeking God’s Glory and Honor Alone

The Third Temptation and Satan's Great Sin

When Satan asked Jesus to bow down to him, he said, as it were, "you have come here to get all these kingdoms of the world back to God." So he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory in a moment of time, and said, "I'll give you all these if you fall down and worship me." In Luke's Gospel, in the parallel passage in chapter four, Satan says, "All these have been given to me - they're mine - but I'll give them to you." How did Satan get them? Adam handed it all over to Satan in the Garden of Eden. God had given Adam authority to rule over everything on the earth, but the moment Adam bowed down to Satan and did what Satan told him to do, he handed over what God had given him to Satan. And ever since that day, Satan has had that and Satan told Jesus, "I'll give this to you if you will bow down and worship me." That's what he has always wanted, and that's what made him the devil. He was the head of the angels, created by God, beautiful, full of wisdom, with the highest position in the universe, long before man was created. We read the history of this highest angel in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. We don't know his name, only that he is called the morning star (Isaiah 14:12), which is translated as "Lucifer" in Latin. So that title stuck to him, but that's not his name. We don't know his name, but this head of the angels wanted the angels not to worship God but to worship him. That's what he says In Isaiah 14, "I will make myself like God." Remember that this is how sin originated: When someone wanted worship, when someone wanted to rebel against God, and when someone's heart was lifted up with pride and wanted the angels to admire him.

This is the origin of sin. The first sin in the world was not murder or adultery; it was the desire to get other people to admire you. If you have that desire, whoever you are, even if you call yourself a Christian or a preacher, if you want people to admire you and not Christ, you are walking in the way that Satan walked. It's a dangerous spot because it finally leads to hell. Satan couldn't get it then; he was cast out from heaven, but now he tries to get it again. "Fall down," Satan says, "and worship me." But Jesus said, "Be gone Satan," Matthew 4:10, "for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him." There is only one Person we must worship. We can make the mistake of worshipping glorious beings and great servants of God. In Revelation 22:8, even the great apostle John made this mistake. He saw an angel and he fell down to worship him after he saw the wonderful things that were revealed in the book of Revelation. Imagine, if the Apostle John, at 95 years of age, who had known the Lord for so long, could make the mistake of admiring a mighty servant of God, any of us can make that mistake. We must not admire some mighty servant of God to the point that our contact with God Himself becomes through that servant.

Wherever a preacher or a pastor seeks to be a second mediator between God and men, you've got to be careful. The Old Testament prophets were people who communicated God's will to men, but in the New Covenant, there's only one Mediator between God and man, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't need a pastor or a preacher or any man of God to be a second mediator between Christ and you. You don't need Mary. You don't need anybody else. You can go directly to Jesus, and through Him, to the Father. But we can make a mistake, just like John did. In Revelation 22, we also see the faithfulness of this mighty angel. He says, "Don't do that; don't worship me." Where are the preachers and pastors and Christian leaders who will not allow other Christians to be attached to them, who will push them off and say, "Don't get attached to me; seek to be connected to Christ Himself"? That is a true man of God whom you can follow without any fear - the one who refuses to allow you to be attached to him and refuses to find God's will for you but tells you, "God is your Father. Go to Him directly, and He will show you His will." Because God's New Covenant promise in Hebrews 8:11 is, "They shall not teach every man, his brother saying, 'Know the Lord,' but all shall know Me from the least to the greatest." That means that even the one who's newly born again, a baby in Christ, all the way up to the greatest, the mightiest servant of God, all can know Him personally. So the angel says, "Don't worship me. I'm one of your brothers, I am fellow servant and you need to worship God."

Seek an Intimate, Direct Relationship with God

That's effectively what Jesus said in Matthew 4:10. The New Testament begins, as it were, with this phrase "worship the Lord your God alone," and ends (in Revelation 22:9) with the same message, "worship the Lord your God alone." Don't worship the devil, don't worship angels, don't worship human beings, and don't worship any great messenger of God. The word "angel" can also be translated as "messenger." You can fall down before a messenger of God when he reveals mighty truths; you've got to be very careful. We must honor God's servants, of course; we must respect and appreciate and express our appreciation to God's servants, but we must not worship them, nor imagine that they are God, nor give them the place that God alone should have in our hearts. We shouldn't give that place to our husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, material things or God's servants or anybody else. We must each have a direct connection with God and that's what Jesus was saying here: "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." It speaks of an intimate connection that we have with God directly because in the New Covenant, He has become our Father. He's not a distant God, as in the Old Testament, where He could only speak to people through the prophets: if you wanted to find God's will, there was no way to find it unless you went to the high priest and he used the Urim and Thummim, which were the things they had in those days to find God's will; and the people went to the prophet, who could hear God speak to him, because God was outside of man those days. That's why we see in the Old Testament about God speaking in an audible voice, because He was outside of man. But now, after the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has come inside. That's why we don't hear God's voice audibly on the outside now - we hear it from within us. We now come to know the will of God through the renewing of our mind by the Holy Spirit.

Worship in Spirit, Not Just Body and Soul

Worship of God is something that brings us into a very intimate, close relationship with our Heavenly Father, and worship is more than just speaking words or saying words to God. Let me clarify a misunderstanding that more than 90 percent of believers have. There is a very common expression used in many churches today for their Sunday morning meeting, which is called a "worship service." In Charismatic or other Pentecostal churches, they call it a time of "praise and worship." If you want to be completely scriptural and Biblical, that is a totally wrong expression; what they're doing there on Sunday morning is not worship. If you listen to the words of the songs they sing, it is praise and thanksgiving.It's not worship at all. If you don't believe me, you can take a concordance and look at the word worship as it is found throughout the New Testament. In the Old Testament, that was the only way they could express their worship to God: clapping and singing and using instruments to sing songs to God. But in the New Covenant, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4:23-24, "The hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."

Jesus spoke about an hour that was "coming." He was referring to the day of Pentecost, which hadn't yet come. He also said in John 4:23, "now is," which means it was already fulfilled in Him, because Jesus is the firstborn of many brothers in the New Covenant. He was the one who opened up the New Covenant for us, so in a sense, He was the first, and our Leader. And so, that hour had come where there was one man finally walking on the earth who was worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth, and that was Jesus Himself. Nobody ever had done it before. Man is spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that, and this indicates that when Jesus uses the word spirit here, He was saying that all Old Testament worship up until that point was only in the body and the soul. That means they worship God with their hands, raising their hands, clapping their hands; they worship God with their soul, which is using their mind, their intellect, their emotions; they felt joy and feelings, emotional feelings just like you when you sing songs of praise and thanksgiving in the meeting. That was the extent of worship in the soul and body. But He said, "Now you've come to a deeper level of worship that you can have from now on, when the Holy Spirit dwells in you like He's dwelling in Me." Jesus was saying, "You'll also be able to worship in spirit and in truth, not just in body and soul."

What should we do today? We still clap our hands and raise our hands, we still feel emotional and use our intellect when we praise God, but beyond all that, we must worship in the spirit, and that means that we penetrate that veil between soul and spirit, and enter into that realm where we're alone with God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there are three parts - corresponding to body, soul and spirit - and the last part, this closed part, which was covered by the veil, is the most holy place, where only God dwelt. In the outer court, they had lot of excitement with sacrifices being offered. In the holy place, a number of priests were jostling around each other offering incense and lighting the lamps, etc. But in the most holy place, it was God alone. So when a person entered in the most holy place, he was with God alone. He was not conscious of anybody else. There was nobody else there but him and God. That is worship in the spirit, where it's you and God alone, and that's something you can do in your room, and it is not something that you do merely with words.

One of the finest examples of what a true worshipper says in his attitude towards God is seen in Psalm 73:25. If you can say this honestly to God from the depth of your heart, you are a worshipper. If not, you are not worshipping in spirit. It says, "O God, Whom have I in heaven but Thee?" In other words, "When I get to heaven, I'm not looking for the golden streets or a mansion or a crown. I'm going to be happy and satisfied with God alone. I don't need anybody or anything else but God." That is saying, "I have wonderful brothers and sisters and family members who may be there in heaven, but You are going to be everything for me. "And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth." That is saying, "Not only in heaven, but before I get to heaven, here on this earth, I don't desire anything but You. I don't desire anything more of material goods than what You've given me. I'm perfectly content." Godliness with contentment is great gain. A worshiper never has a complaint about anything on this earth - he's perfectly content with all the circumstances that God has arranged for him. He's content with the family God has brought him into, the job he has, everything he has. He is perfectly content. He desires nothing but God. Like the old saying goes, if a time comes in your life where you have nothing but God and everything else is lost, you'll find that God is more than enough.

So this is true worship, where the attitude of my heart is that I desire nothing here on this earth but God. If you don't have that attitude of heart, no matter how emotional you feel when you praise and thank God on Sunday mornings, you're not a worshipper. You can call it worship and praise, but you're deluding yourself, and Satan is quite happy for you to do that to yourself because you imagine that you're worshipping God when you're not. But Jesus said in John 4:23 that the Father is seeking for those who worship Him in spirit. And what a longing the Father has. Do you have that longing to satisfy your Father's heart, to be a worshipper in spirit? Then go to Psalm 73:25 and don't rest until those words are the expression of your heart, that you desire nothing on earth but Jesus Christ, not even a ministry. Don't find your satisfaction in your evangelism or in your teaching or in your church building or in any ministry or in your money or your property or anything. "Lord, I have You and I desire only You." Will such a man be a lazy man? Far from it. "Thou shall worship the Lord thy God," Matthew 4:10, "and serve Him." True worship leads to service, and it will be highly effective service. The apostles worshipped and served, Jesus worshipped and served, and when you worship, it will lead to service, which will be far more effective than just serving.

Four Steps of Communion with God: Prayer, Thanksgiving, Praise, and Worship

In our communion with God, we can say there are four steps: First of all is prayer, which is asking God for things. Second is thanksgiving, which is thanking God for what He's done for us, and for what He has given us. Then we go one step higher with praise, which is expressing our appreciation to God and adoring Him for who He is, not for what He's done. Thanksgiving is for what He has done; praise is for who He is. The highest level is worship. Worship may be expressed in words like we just read, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee Lord? There is nothing on earth I desire beside You, Lord Jesus." Worship can be expressed in song, where we express to God words such as, "all that I have is Yours, Lord", "Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee. Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold. Take my voice, and let me sing always only for my King." This is expressing my worship to God in song. The highest expression of worship is silence, where I'm so taken up with the glory of God that I cannot even open my mouth.

Very, very few believers come to the point where they are blinded by the light of God in their hearts - not in their eyes, but in their hearts - like Isaiah, which makes them cry out, "Oh Lord, I'm a sinful man," like Paul cried out, "Oh wretched man that I am, I am the chief of sinners." That is the expression of a true worshipper who has seen the glory of God, and very, very few believers come to that point. The devil doesn't want you to arrive there. He wants you to worship him.

Seeking God's Kingdom First, Not Earthly Gain

Do you know that when you seek for something in the world, some gain in the world, you actually have to worship the devil in order to get it? But if you seek the glory of God- "seek first the kingdom of God," as it says in Matthew 6:33 - God will add to you whatever you need. Otherwise, we can long to get so many things that God doesn't want us to have. When we pray for them, we may think that God has blessed us, but some of those material things can be a curse to us and our children. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world," in John 18:36, "Otherwise my servants would fight." Jesus doesn't fight for earthly things.

So we don't pray for these things. We believe that if we seek God's kingdom first and are worshippers of God our Father, He will add to us whatever we need on this earth. We don't go to the devil to get things. Very often when people are saying, "Lord give me this, give me that, give me the other material thing," they are just proving that they're not content with what they have. Whereas Paul said, in Philippians 4:11, "I have learnt to be content with what I have, whether God gives me little or gives me much." Only a worshipper can say that. He seeks God's kingdom and God determines how much of this earth we should have, and gives us an amount which will not destroy us. It's better God decides that. Too much of things of earth can destroy us if we're not careful. So we need to come before God and say, "Lord, please guide us in this matter so that we can never stop worshiping you and never be distracted by Mammon and the attractions of Mammon."

Remember this: When we seek for something of this world and its glory, like the honor of men, very often we'll end up worshipping the devil. The devil said to Jesus, "Fall down and worship me. I'll give you the things of this world and its glory." So don't seek the glory and honor of this world lest you end up worshipping Satan. Seek the glory and honor of God alone - not your name but God's name. He taught us to pray "Hallowed be Your name" first - that's the way of salvation from worshiping Satan. Unconsciously, many believers are worshipping Satan; we need to worship God.

Chapter 7

The Kingdom of God

John the Baptist's primary message, described in Matthew 3:2, was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He was the last of the prophets to the nation of Israel. He was also the forerunner for Jesus Christ, who was going to open up the way to a new covenant that God was making with man, which would bring people of all nations into a relationship with God as their Father. And so, his message to the nation of Israel was, 'Repent." To repent means to turn around. The best analogy I can think of for this could be from the military command, "About-turn." When a soldier is facing forward and the Sergeant Major on the parade ground says, "About-turn," the soldier turns around instantly with his back toward the direction he was facing and looks toward the direction where his back was facing formerly. That gives us a clear picture of the word repent - to turn around. We have to turn around in our mind. In English and in most languages, the word repent is not translated very clearly, but in the Tamil language it is very clear. In Tamil, repent is translated as"manam thirumbudhal', which means the turning of the mind. An about-turn of the mind is exactly what John the Baptist was preaching to the nation of Israel.

The nation of Israel was promised a whole lot of earthly things. Throughout the Old Covenant, there is no promise that they could partake of the divine nature of God, or have a treasure in heaven, or about a heavenly life on earth, etc. It was all earthly. In Deuteronomy 28, we see clearly that they were promised material wealth, material prosperity, physical health, a number of children, and blessings on their businesses, crops and cattle. They were promised that they would be very prosperous, they would never be in debt, their earthly enemies will all be destroyed, they would be a great nation, and they would have a land, the land of Canaan, which was called Israel.

All the blessings promised to Israel up to this point in time were earthly, and their face was completely set towards the things of earth, all the time. But John the Baptist came along and said, "turn around now, about-turn from this. Stop facing the things of earth and turn around because now a new kingdom is coming. That is the kingdom of heaven, where earthly needs become secondary, even physical health becomes secondary. Material prosperity becomes unimportant because God provides us with material necessities. Turn around, because now God is going to give you spiritual wealth, that is, heavenly wealth. God is going to give you spiritual children, not necessarily physical children. You will have a spiritual, heavenly land to possess, not an earthly land, primarily." He was telling them to turn around because the kingdom of heaven had not yet come, and was near at hand. It was going to come on the day of Pentecost.

We read in Matthew 4:12-13 that John was taken prisoner by Herod. When Jesus heard this, He withdrew from Galilee and left Nazareth, where He had grown up and lived for thirty years, and came and stayed at a house in Capernaum, which is beside the sea. Then, from that moment onwards, Jesus began to preach the same message exactly as John the Baptist had preached. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). John, as it were, had run the first leg of the relay race and handed over the baton to Jesus and He took up the same message - "Repent." When Jesus ascended up to heaven, we read that the apostle Peter took up the baton from Jesus' hand and preached the same message - "Repent" (Acts 2:38). He preached to the people on the day of Pentecost, "Repent and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is the kingdom of God within us." Then, it had finally come.

When John the Baptist and Jesus talked about the kingdom of God, they said that it was going to come, or it was at hand. Jesus once said the kingdom of God is in your midst, referring to the fact that, in Christ Himself, the kingdom of God was already present. But it was not present in the people around Him. That would take place only on the day of the Pentecost, when those 120 disciples waited for baptism in the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit of God filled them and the kingdom of God came to dwell within them. That is the kingdom they proclaimed - the kingdom of heaven (or the kingdom of God) - where the Holy Spirit dwells within us. It is not an external kingdom of physical healing and material prosperity, as it is, unfortunately, being preached by a lot of Christian preachers today. Plainly put, that is a deception, and is not the kingdom of God.

What Matthew calls the kingdom of heaven is also called the kingdom of God in the other gospels. For example, when John the Baptist preached that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the same thing is quoted in the other gospels as, "the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15). If you compare Mark 1:15, where John the Baptist is quoted saying, "the kingdom of God is at hand, and so repent," with Matthew 3:2 where he says, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand," it becomes clear as crystal that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are the same thing. Some Christians try to make a distinction between them because they haven't studied the Scripture properly.

The Kingdom of God Is an Inward Reality

We see that the kingdom of God is one and the same thing as the kingdom of heaven. But what is it, exactly? In Romans 14:17 it says, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking. It is not something earthly like prosperity or healing - it is not an earthly blessing at all.

According to Romans 14:17, the kingdom of God is righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit:

• Righteousness: The righteousness of God Himself, first imputed to us when we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, and then imparted to us from within by the Holy Spirit, where the righteousness of God becomes manifested in our life.

• Joy: An inward joy that delivers us completely from discouragement and depression in the Holy Spirit.

• Peace: An inward peace, primarily given by the Holy Spirit, freedom from anxiety, fear, tension, discouragement, gloom, bad moods et cetera and an outward peace with all men, where we refuse to fight with people or anything.

So this is the kingdom of God. It's an inward thing. The kingdom of God is within us. It is the life of Christ coming within, through the Holy Spirit. This is the kingdom of God. This is the kingdom of heaven. It is the life of heaven, here on this earth, inside our hearts and that is what Jesus was preaching. That is what we read in Matthew's gospel as the very first thing he preached. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven (or the kingdom of God) is near." This is what has already come on the day of the Pentecost. That is what we should be proclaiming now - not as something that is near, but something that has already come. In fact, Jesus made that clear in Mark's gospel. In the gospel of Mark, when Jesus was speaking to some of the people, He said to the people standing in front of Him, "Truly I say to you there are some of those who are standing here," not all but some, "who will not die until they see the kingdom of God come with power" (Mark 9:1). Some of you standing here, He said, would die before that day, but there are some standing here who will not die. There were old people and young people there and He was saying that some of you will not die till you see the kingdom of God come with power. Now obviously, that is not referring to the second coming of Christ, when the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. No. That day is in the future and nobody who heard Jesus speak there is alive today. So He is not referring to that. He is referring to something else that would happen in the lifetime of some of those people standing in front of Him, when they would see the kingdom of God, which they hadn't seen till then. No one on earth had seen the kingdom of God until then.

The Kingdom of God Came at Pentecost

When did that kingdom of God, which Jesus referred to here, come with power? The answer is in the word 'power.' Jesus used the word power again before He ascended into heaven. He told His disciples in Acts 1:8, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you," and ten days later, we read that they did receive that power. That was the fulfillment of Mark 9:1. Some of the people who heard Jesus had died before the day of Pentecost, but some others, who were standing there, were alive when the kingdom of God had come to earth on the day of Pentecost. So when we compare Scripture with Scripture, we find this is the kingdom of God that we have to proclaim.

The Gospel of the Kingdom

When the disciples asked Jesus about the second coming, the question they asked was, "When will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3). Jesus said many things, and one of the things He said was about the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14).

What is this gospel of the kingdom? Now many of us have heard of a gospel of forgiveness of our past sins. Praise God for that! But what about this gospel of the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God on earth, the kingdom of heaven coming and dwelling in people's hearts? According to Jesus in Matthew 24:14, this is going to be preached in the whole world. But very few will receive it - probably only 1% or 2%. But it will be preached for a witness to all the nations and then, the end will come.

I am greatly encouraged by the fact that before Christ comes there's going to be a proclamation of this gospel of the kingdom. What is that? We saw earlier in Romans 14:17, a gospel of righteousness in the Holy Spirit, peace in the Holy Spirit and joy in the Holy Spirit. There are very few proclaiming it. Most people are only proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, which is a very good first step. To me it is like the cleaning of a cup. If my little boy comes to me and says, "Daddy, can you give me a glass of milk?", and he gives me a dirty cup (a picture of our hearts), what I do first is clean the cup. I would not pour milk into that dirty cup. I would take that cup and clean it thoroughly. But then, what's the purpose of that? I don't give him an empty cup! I fill it with milk and then give it to him. So when we come to Christ, the first thing He does is clean up our hearts, like cleaning the inside of the cup. But does He leave it like that? No! He fills it with the righteousness of God, the peace of God, and the joy of God, through the Holy Spirit. This is the gospel. If we only offer the truth that Christ will clean up the heart and clean up the cup, we are offering people an empty cup, and that is why so many Christians are thirsty. They are not satisfied because they are going around with an empty cup that may indeed be clean, but it is empty. What's the use of giving my son an empty cup that's clean saying, "Son, you gave me a dirty cup, here it is, clean". If that is all God gives us, it will be frustrating. My son would say, "Hey dad, I wanted some milk."

The Kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit

Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? The trouble is that a lot of Christians are not hungry and thirsty for righteousness and that is why they go around with a clean empty cup. Do you know the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant? It can be pictured like this. The gift of the Holy Spirit, who brings the kingdom of God to earth, as given to an old covenant believer, is like a cup that is placed on a table, upside down. And you pour water from a jug on the cup. This is the picture of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is how it was in the Old Testament times. The water flowed; the Holy Spirit was upon people and flowed out around them and probably blessed thousands and millions of people. There were two million people in the wilderness who Moses, the anointed servant of God, led. But the inside of Moses' heart was dirty. He could not overcome anger. He got so angry at one time, that he broke the tablets of stone that God had written on, with His own hands. Do you know what the new covenant equivalent of that would be today? It would be like tearing the Bible. That is what Moses did. Imagine a man getting so angry that he tore the Bible. Whatever may provoke you to anger, you shouldn't tear the Bible. But Moses did it because the inside of his cup was dirty. Despite his anger, the blessing flowed from him to bless the multitudes. David was an anointed person, but the inside of his cup was dirty. He could kill Goliath, but when he saw Bathsheba, he fell into sin. The inside of his cup had adultery. It was like that with Samson, Gideon and so many other people in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God was upon them. Even the great John the Baptist, who had the Spirit of God upon him from his mother's womb, had doubts about Christ when he was imprisoned. He questioned whether Jesus was really the Messiah, even though he had heard a voice from heaven. He had unbelief because the inside of his cup was not filled with faith.

But on the day of Pentecost, the Lord turned this cup right side up and poured the Holy Spirit inside the cup, which is the heart. Then it would not only overflow and bless people, like in the Old Testament, but much more than that, in the New Testament. It would be from the innermost being. That is the kingdom of God flowing out from within us. This is the kingdom that Jesus prophesied would come on the day of Pentecost. That is why on the last day of the great feast in Jerusalem Jesus said, "as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:38). That would not and could not happen before the day of Pentecost. That is why it says in John 7:39, "This He spoke referring to the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given," that means not given in this way, "because Jesus was not yet glorified."

New Covenant Cleansing

Christ had to die and rise again and present His blood before the Father. Only then, could the hearts of men be cleansed. In the Old Testament, people's hearts were not cleansed. Psalm 32:1 says their sins were covered. They were forgiven, but their hearts were not cleansed (Psalm 103:2-3). Today my sins are not covered, but cleansed. If your sins are only covered, it is like putting a sheet over your sins. You can lift the sheet up and still see your sins. The blood of bulls and goats could never cleanse people's hearts, and that is why God could not put the Holy Spirit within people. The kingdom of God could not come within people in Old Testament times. But now that Christ has shed His blood and ascended to the Father, every sin of ours can be cleansed if we confess it to the Lord.

People ask me what is a sin that cannot be forgiven. I say that the sin you do not confess will not be forgiven. Whatever sin you don't repent of and that you don't confess, will never be forgiven. But if you repent and confess any sin, it can be cleansed in the blood of Christ - however great it may be. So God turns the cup right side up and cleanses us in the blood of Christ and pours the Holy Spirit within us first, so that He strengthens us to do God's will. Then, His life flows out from us in words and actions, so that we can also lead other people to do God's will, like we've done it ourselves.

The Meaning and Importance of Repentance

The Holy Spirit flows from our innermost being. If the Spirit does not flow from our innermost being, then that is an old covenant type of ministry. In order to come to this life, the first step Jesus taught us is to repent or turn around (Matthew 4:17). Not only turning around from seeking the things of earth, but most of all from sin. We don't have to overcome sin before we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes in to help us overcome sin. We don't put the cart before the horse. The horse should be in front of the cart. I can't give up sin and then say, "Lord give me the Holy Spirit." Instead I say, "Lord, I need the Holy Spirit to be able to overcome sin." But I can turn around in my mind from sin; that means my attitude is that I genuinely desire to give up all sin.

That's all that God is asking you. Do you have an attitude where you want to give up every single thing that is dishonoring to God in your life? It may take you some years before you actually overcome them, but it doesn't matter. Make sure your attitude is always one of repentance, where you turn around from your old way of life. It is through repentance and faith in Christ that we come to the starting line of the Christian race. Hebrews 12:1-2 says that the Christian life is like a race, and I can come to the starting line only if I have repented. That message of repentance and turning around from sin is the message that is lacking in Christendom today. How many gospel messages do you hear on repentance? How many songs do you hear on repentance? Look at any hymnbook and see how many songs there are on repentance - hardly any. You will find many songs about believing. For example, there is a well-known song that says, 'To God be the glory, great things He has done'. One of the lines in that song says, "The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives". I disagree with it. Suppose there is a man attending a meeting - a complete wretched sinner - who doesn't know anything about the gospel. And he comes there and listens to that song - "The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives." He says, "Yes, I am the vilest offender," and he acknowledges that and says, "that is all I've got to do, just believe in Jesus. I believe in Him, He is the Son of God, He died for my sins." Is he forgiven? Not if he has not repented. The vilest offender who repents and believes is one who is forgiven. Many people will say, "Well that's the meaning of 'truly believe'". But that is a theological explanation that an unconverted, godless sinner does not know. He needs to be told that he has to repent. That is what the Apostle Peter made clear on the day of Pentecost: repentance. And that is what Paul preached everywhere. He preached two things - "Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21).

Repentance toward God, not toward prosperity and healing. Repentance is not turning away from sickness to healing. I am not turning away from poverty to prosperity. No! That is a false gospel that is being preached today. It says here I repent toward God from everything that was against God in my life and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says the same thing when he writes to the Thessalonians. He tells them that the Word of God came to them and they turned to God, having turned away from idols to serve the living God" (1 Thessalonians 1:8-9).

What is an idol? An idol is anything that takes the place of God in your heart. It could be your health, your wealth, your job, your house, your car, your wife or your children. It could be anything that takes the place of God in your heart. Just like Isaac took the place of God in Abraham's heart and God told Abraham to get rid of that idolatry. Turning to God from idols and from everything that prevents God from being first and uppermost in your heart - that is repentance. That is the meaning of seeking the kingdom of God first and His righteousness, in such a way that all our earthly necessities will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). You can be absolutely sure that you will never lack earthly necessities -- even if you never become a millionaire, He will make sure your earthly necessities are added to you -- if you seek God's kingdom first. Thank God for that. This is the way every Christian should live. It's a very sad thing today when Christians think that material prosperity and physical healing are the marks of God's blessing. That cannot be true because there are a lot of non-Christians who have a lot more material prosperity and a lot more physical health than even spiritual Christians. That itself proves that that is not the gospel. Moreover, they don't have freedom from sin that a true disciple has.

The message that Jesus proclaimed first, and that we need to keep proclaiming, is repentance. Jesus said, "Teach them to do all that I have taught." What did He teach? Turn around from sin, turn toward God and open your heart to the kingdom of heaven so that your mind is now set on things above, on the things of God - righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 8

Progressive Sanctification

If you are a Christian leader, you must not be satisfied until your flock is actually doing all that Jesus commanded. Not just one or two things that Jesus commanded, but every single commandment. Your job is not completed as a Christian leader until everyone in your flock loves all their enemies, blesses everyone who curses them, and is free from the love of money, anger, and lusting with their eyes. It is not enough to get them to say, "My sins are all forgiven. I am on my way to heaven." That is an incomplete fulfillment of the Great Commission.

An Incomplete Fulfillment of the Great Commission

Unfortunately, there is a lot of incomplete fulfillment of the Great Commission. I believe we must be honest with Scripture. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." If I submit to that authority, then I must say, "Lord, I am not here to preach the gospel that I think is right. You have all authority in heaven and on earth. You have all authority over me. You have commanded me to go. Therefore, I go. You commanded me to go and not just make converts but make disciples who put Christ first in every area of their life. You have called me to baptize them in the name of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then after that, you have commanded me to teach them to obey all Your commandments. I must first obey them in my life. Then I can teach others to do it." As I seek to do this ministry, only then can I claim the promise in Matthew 28:20 that You will be with me until the end of the age.

This is God's will for us. If we go around proclaiming this message, only then are we teaching people what Jesus taught and completing the Great Commission. Otherwise, we are doing an unfinished job. If you have a red letter Bible that shows the words of Jesus in red, you will easily be able to go through the Gospels and see all the things that Jesus taught and commanded. This is what we are to teach every single person.

Running the Race Looking at Jesus

Earlier in Matthew 4:17, Jesus was teaching repentance. The first step in the Christian life is to repent. Repentance is turning around or an about-turn. Up until this point, I might have spent my entire life following after money and earthly things, but now I turn around from all of that and follow Jesus Christ.

Now in Matthew 4:19, we read that Jesus saw Peter and Andrew casting a net by the sea. He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." The next step in the Christian life is to follow Him or running the race behind Him.

We run the race looking at Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2), who is the author and finisher of our faith. He does not ask us to run a race that He Himself did not run. Instead, He came to earth as a man and emptied Himself of equality with God. He did not regard equality with God as something to be held onto tightly, but rather He emptied Himself (Philippians 2:6-7).

Jesus did not empty Himself of His person as God, as that is something God could never do. For God could never cease to be God any more than you or I could cease to be a human being. God will always remain God. When Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, came to this earth, He was still God. That is why Jesus could accept worship. Seven times in the Gospels we read that people worshipped Him, and He accepted it. This is unlike the angels in heaven who do not receive worship. This is also unlike Peter who told Cornelius to stand up when he tried to worship Peter. Jesus accepted their worship readily because He is God. He has a right to be worshipped. He also forgave sins, which only God can do. We can tell people that God forgives their sins, but Jesus forgave them directly. For example, Jesus said to the paralytic in Mark 2:5, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Jesus was still God so what did He empty Himself of? He emptied himself of those powers, resources, and privileges He had as God. For example, God is never tired, but Jesus would get tired. In Mark 4:38, Jesus was asleep in a boat. In the same way, God is never hungry, but Jesus was hungry. He also had the privilege to call seventy-two thousand angels to defend Him in the garden of Gethsemane, but He would not call them. When He was on earth, He said that He did not even know the date of His second coming. He had given up that knowledge, which He now has in heaven. While on earth, He also emptied Himself of God's omniscience. He had to go near a fig tree to see whether there was fruit on (Mark 11:13). God can see whether there is fruit on the fig tree from a million miles away, but Jesus had to go near it. There are many similar examples that show us that Jesus emptied Himself of the privileges of being God, but not of being God Himself.

We Can Follow Jesus Because He Was Tempted

Jesus could be tempted because He had given up the privileges of being God. God can never be tempted according to James 1:13. Yet in Matthew 4, we read how Jesus was tempted. That must be one of the privileges He gave up and emptied Himself of. Why did He do that? Because only then could He be an example for us and be able to say, "Follow me." The very first words Jesus spoke after He spoke on repentance in Matthew 4:17 were, "Follow me" (Matthew 4:19). Suppose an angel came from heaven to teach us how to swim and flew across the swimming pool. The angel then says to us, "Follow me." How could we follow him? Can an angel teach you how to swim? Impossible. You would have to say to the angel, "First, get rid of your wings and take on a body like mine that sinks in the water. Then you can teach me how to swim." In other words, "Become like me. Live in a body constantly pulled down by gravity twenty-four hours a day. Then I can follow your example when you show me how to swim."

Along the same lines, if Jesus came to earth and lived with all the resources He had as God, He could never be tempted. The devil would not come anywhere near Him. If Jesus were to say, "Follow Me," that would be exactly like an angel with wings flying across a swimming pool and telling me to follow him. The angel would be taunting me because he is urging me to do something that he knows I cannot do. God does not do that. Jesus became exactly like His brothers in all things in order to become our High Priest before God (Hebrews 2:17). He had to be made exactly like His brothers in all things. If we have received Jesus as Lord, we are His brothers. Jesus is a high priest who can sympathize with our struggles in temptation. Therefore, He can say to us, "Follow Me."

It is a struggle to overcome temptation. We realize how weak we are in the moment of temptation. Even a little feather in the moment of temptation can knock us down into sin. One look at a pretty woman can make us sin. It is so easy for us to lie to get through some examination or to sign something false. There is also pride. We do something good, and immediately, we can become proud. Imagine a man whom you could knock down by touching him with a feather. How weak is he? That is how weak we are when it comes to temptation. But Jesus is a high priest who can sympathize with our weakness. Why? Because He was tempted in every way as we are, and yet, did not sin. He was made like us in all things (Hebrews 2:17), and He was tempted like us in all things (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore, these two verses show us that Jesus Christ has every right to say to us, "Follow Me."

Jesus Was 100% God and 100% Man

We can never turn around and say to the Lord, "You do not know what I am going through." He would respond, "I know very well because I became a man like you. I became one hundred percent man." The trouble with a lot of Christians is that they accepted Jesus Christ as one hundred percent God, unlike some other cult groups, but they have not accepted Him as one hundred percent man. That is as much a false teaching and heresy as it is to reject that He is one hundred percent God. The truth is in a balanced acceptance of both. He was not fifty percent God and fifty percent man like some people think.

The Bible never uses the expression "God-man" to describe Jesus Christ. He was fully God and fully man. When He came to earth, He lived as a man, and He ascended up into God the Father's presence as a man. In 1 Timothy 2:5, the Holy Spirit, who knows the truth better than you and me, tells us that there is one God and one mediator between God and man. Who is that? Not the God-man, but the man, Christ Jesus. He became a man when He came to this earth, and He remains a man forever.

In other words, when Christ, as God, became man on earth, He did not cease to be God. When He ascended to heaven, He did not cease to be a man. That is the full truth, if you are willing to accept it. That is why He can say to us, "Follow me. Walk in My footsteps. Deny yourself like I denied Myself. Take up the cross and die to yourself every day, just as I died to Myself every day." He can say all of this because He lived on earth with the same limitations and temptations as us.

Jesus Also Had to Fight Temptation

Was it easy for Christ to overcome temptation? Is it easy for you to overcome temptation? You might not find it difficult to overcome some serious sins like murder, but there are surely other, more subtle temptations in your thought life that are very difficult to overcome. For example, you might find it hard to overcome sexually impure thoughts, anxiety, bitterness, jealousy, grudges, pride, an unforgiving spirit, or love of money. Many of our inward struggles are very difficult to overcome. As someone who was perfectly pure, did Jesus find it any easier? Some think that because He was so pure, it was easier for Him. Because we are not as pure, temptation is much more difficult for us. They believe that He did not really experience what we go through. Therefore, it is still difficult for us to follow Him.

However, think of it this way. Suppose someone grew up in a slum or in a poor village in India and always lived in completely filthy surroundings. There are rats, cockroaches, and mosquitoes. There is no proper drainage or sewage. They are used to living in those dirty and filthy conditions. It is not difficult for them to live in that filth because they have been used to it from childhood. But think of someone comes from a very hygienic environment and was brought up in luxury. Perhaps they are from some western country where some people might never have seen a lizard or cockroach crawling in their house. Not even once in their life! Think of someone with such a standard of hygiene coming and living in this slum in order to help the people in that slum live a better life. Who do you think would find it a greater struggle to live in that slum? Is it the person who has come from totally sanitary conditions or the person who has always lived in the slum? You know the answer. The person who has come from the hygienic surroundings will find it much more of a struggle to live there, let alone keep himself pure from the unsanitary conditions.

In the same way, it must have been much more difficult for Jesus Christ, who came from the purity of heaven, to live on this earth than for us who are so used to this filth. Not only was the battle more difficult for Him, but He could not afford to sin even once if He were going to be a sacrifice for us. We know how difficult it is to keep from sinning in our thoughts, attitudes, or motives just for one day. What a feat it would be to live free from sin in thought, word, attitude, or motive for one month, let alone a lifetime!

Pray, "Lord, Forgive Me of My sins"

Jesus taught us to pray every day, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive others." Do you know that we need to pray for forgiveness every day? Even if we do not repeat Jesus' prayer each day, we must at least recognize that we need to pray for forgiveness daily. I pray every day, "Lord, forgive me of my sins." How do we know forgiveness is something we need daily? Because the previous line in the prayer is, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Therefore, it is a daily thing. Lord, I need my daily bread today, and my follow-up request is that You forgive me of my sins today as well.

You might ask, "How you can claim to have victory over sin, but also say that I sin every day?" There is a difference between overcoming conscious sin and unconsciously sinning in areas that we do not even know about. We are really only aware of about ten percent of our lives. Just like we can only see the tip of the iceberg, we can only see the top part of sin in our life. There are a whole lot of areas in our life where we are unconscious of sin and of un-Christlikeness. We need to pray that God will forgive us even in those areas.

That is the meaning of asking for forgiveness every day. We can live in total victory over conscious sin as the Apostle Paul did. In 1 Corinthians 4:4, Paul says, "I am conscious of nothing against myself." In other words, Paul is saying, "I am living in victory over all known sin." I might not be aware of any sin in my life, but that does not mean I am acquitted or completely free from guilt. The one who examines me is the Lord Himself, to whom I am answerable to. He sees a lot of areas in my life that I do not even see myself. That is why I cannot carelessly say that I am acquitted. I have to ask God to forgive me. When He gives me light on areas I had not previously been conscious of, then I can seek to overcome in these areas. This is sanctification.

The Path of the Righteous

The Lord gives us a simple command, "Follow me." The Lord then shows us the pathway to a wonderful life of progressive sanctification. Proverbs 4:18 says, "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day." If we are born again, we are declared righteous because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us. The moment of conversion is like the sun rising over the horizon at dawn, chasing away the darkness. The sun becomes brighter while it slowly rises into the heavens until it comes to the perfect noonday position when it is brightest. Similarly, if we are righteous, we should progress in practical righteousness to a greater degree day by day. The sun should not remain on the horizon all the days of our lives. It must increase in brightness. The path of the righteous is like the shining light of the dawn that gets brighter and brighter until the day Christ comes back. Then we will be like Him.

We will be completely like Him only when He comes, but we can walk like Him today. 1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." Notice the distinction made in 1 John 3:2. We are already children of God, but what we are going to be is not yet manifested. What are we going to be like? We are going to be like Jesus completely. Our total personality including all our thoughts, words, deeds, attitudes, motives, every area of our inner life, and our unconscious life will be like Jesus.

And when will this happen? When He comes again, and we see Him as He is. But until that day, what should we do? 1 John 3:3 says that if you have this hope that one day you will be completely like Jesus, you will keep on purifying yourself every day until you reach His standard of purity. This is similar to what is written a little earlier in 1 John 2:6, which says that if I say I am a Christian, I must live like Christ lived and walk as He walked. Then one day, I will be like Him.

There is a difference between 1 John 2:6 and 1 John 3:2. The message of 1 John 2:6 means that we need to walk by the same principles by which Jesus lived His earthly life and follow Him. We must have the same attitude that Jesus had towards material things, men, women, Pharisees, religious hypocrites, and enemies. For example, Jesus prayed for those enemies who crucified Him, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do."

The Holy Spirit will enable us to walk like Jesus, but it will only be in our conscious lives, which is only ten percent of our full lives. The remaining ninety percent is hidden. God will reveal more of that hidden area to us so that we may overcome in those areas and increasingly purify ourselves. God cleanses us from sin (1 John 1:7), but we must also seek to purify ourselves by getting rid of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit (1 John 3:3).

Jesus is Our Forerunner

To follow in Jesus' footsteps is seeking to root out sin. In Hebrews 6:20, Jesus is called our Forerunner. It is a title which many Christians do not know. We know Him as our Savior, the Light of the world, the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, and the Resurrection. We know Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But here is a title which is not so well known: our Forerunner. As our Forerunner, He has run this race in front of us. Hebrews is a great book that tells us about the humanity of Christ and how we can follow Him. In Hebrews 12:1-2, we are instructed to run this race looking at our forerunner, Jesus Christ, who was tempted like us and lived on earth like us. There is no excuse for us to say that we cannot overcome conscious sin. The only excuse is that we are not hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We are not seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live a Spirit-filled life every day.

Jesus is Our Dictionary

This is all that is involved in this simple command of "Follow Me".

We can come up with so many theological arguments about what a verse means. Sometimes people even make the Bible their idol and worship the Bible. But what do you do when you come to an English word that you cannot understand? If I find a difficult English word in a book, I put the book aside, take out a dictionary, and try to find out the meaning of that word. As a result, my English has improved.

In the same way, when you come across a verse that you cannot understand in the Bible, look it up in the dictionary. However, this dictionary is not an earthly dictionary. It is the Word made flesh in Christ. Jesus Christ is our dictionary. When you come across a verse in the New Testament that commands you to do something, and you do not know how to do it, look at Jesus Christ and see how He did it. The way He did it is the definition we are looking for and the way for us to follow Him.

If you want to understand humility, do not look it up in the English dictionary. Look at Jesus Christ. If you want to understand loving God, look at Christ. If you want to understand loving people, look at Christ. If you want to know how to treat women, look at Christ. If you want to know what your attitude towards money should be, look at Christ.

This is the meaning of the simple command, "Follow Me." We are not following the commands from the Old Testament. Everyone in the Old Covenant could only follow commands. There were 613 commandments in the law of Moses. It would be so difficult to remember them, let alone follow them! Now it has been simplified by the Holy Spirit, who constantly shows us how we can follow Jesus Christ's example without having to remember all the commandments.

Let us allow the Holy Spirit to show us the glory of Jesus so that we can follow Him more closely.

Chapter 9

Becoming Fishers of Men

All That Jesus Taught Is for Disciples

Doing all that Jesus taught isn't a message for everybody in the world, but rather, for those who are interested in being disciples. We've got to preach the gospel, forgiveness of sins, to the whole world, but when it comes to "all that Jesus taught," we have to teach that to disciples. There is no use telling worldly, unconverted people everything that Jesus taught. He said to first make them disciples (Matthew 28:19) and then teach those who have become disciples to do all that He commanded. If you don't make a person a disciple, it's pointless trying to teach him all that Jesus commanded. It will be just head knowledge that he has no interest in following. We have multitudes of Christians today who sit in churches listening to all that Jesus commanded, yet they have no interest in following His commands and no interest in doing them, and neither do their leaders. That's not what Jesus has commanded. The church can become a strong church that the gates of hell will never prevail against, if we first make disciples and then teach them to do every single thing that Jesus commanded. I believe God wants little groups of people like this - New Testament churches - all across the world.

The mark of a New Testament church is that its members do everything that Jesus commanded, and seek to love one another as Christ loved them so that all people will know that they are Christ's disciples. This is God's will, and this is why we have set out to study all the things that Jesus commanded beginning in Matthew 4. In the previous chapter, we looked at Matthew 4:19, where Jesus turned to Simon Peter and Andrew and said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." We looked at what the command "Follow Me" implies. In this chapter, we want to look at the rest of that verse.

Read the Bible Slowly, Intending to Obey

We need to read the verse slowly and carefully. Many Christians don't read the Bible slowly - they don't meditate on it or think about the words - and therefore they miss what God has for them. Much more important than going through the Bible 50 times in a year, is the Bible going through you once, in a way that changes you. I don't want to get into the Guinness Book of Records for how many times I read through the Bible or how many verses in the Bible I have memorized; I am not in a competition with anybody on those issues. (It is certainly good to read through the Bible many times. And it is also good to memorize portions of Scripture, if you apply them in your life, claim those promises, and obey those commands. Otherwise, it's worthless head knowledge that will only puff you up. But it is much more important to let the Bible go through you).

One of the prayers that I have prayed and continue to pray is, firstly, "Lord, before I leave this earth, I want to obey every single commandment that You have given me to obey, especially in the New Testament." There are many commands God gave Israel in the old covenant that are not for me, such as sacrificing lambs, keeping the Sabbath day, etc. But every one of the commands in Scripture that is meant for me, I want to obey completely (100%) before I leave this earth. Secondly, I pray, "Lord, before I leave this earth, I want to claim every promise that You have given me, especially in the New Testament." There are promises to Israel and to Abraham, which I am not interested in claiming. But before I leave this earth, I want to claim every single one of the promises which are for me - a child of God - whether in the Old Testament or New Testament. Isn't this a good prayer to pray? Why should I leave this earth ignoring certain sections of Scripture, certain commandments, or certain promises? I want to claim all of them before I reach heaven so that I can stand before my Lord not having despised a single commandment or promise of His. How do you think you would feel if, when you stood before the Lord, you discovered that you neglected a lot of His commandments, even just the small ones? Or if you discovered that you neglected to claim some of His promises, which made your life unnecessarily miserable on earth? I would feel terrible if I stood before the Lord like that! So I don't want to neglect any of His commandments or promises. That is why we want to read Scripture carefully.

Follow Jesus to Become a Fisher of Men

Keeping the above in mind, let us consider the simple statement "I will make you fishers of men." Who is going to make you a fisher of men? Christ. No man can make you a fisher of men. You can go to a Bible college and spend years there, but it will not make you a fisher of men. You don't become a fisher of men by studying the Bible, by hearing a missionary challenge and raising your hand, or by coming forward and kneeling down to consecrate your life for God's work. No, if you want to be a fisher of men, the Lord says, "Follow Me." Not even, "Study the Bible," but, "Follow Me."

The early Christians did not have a Bible. How could they become fishers of men? By following Jesus. We must understand this correctly. We certainly must study the Scriptures, as we learned at the beginning of this study: "Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). But we must not become idol worshippers of the Bible. Don't become a biblioidolator. The Bible is meant to help us follow Jesus better. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to show us the glory of Jesus Christ. And to follow Jesus is the way to become a fisher of men. It is Jesus Christ Himself Who is going to make you a fisher of men, not some missionary Bible training institute. God may use men, but ultimately it is Christ who wants to have a personal relationship with you, and He alone can make you a fisher of men.

True Fishermen Bring Men Completely Out of the Water of This World

What does it mean to be fishers of men? To be fishers of men is to be just like fishermen who go into the sea or river and let down their nets to pick up fish and bring them to the shore. They bring them from one surrounding into another. The fish is not naturally comfortable on earth; it is comfortable in the sea! And a fisherman is picking that fish up from the water and bringing it to earth, to a completely different environment from what it was in. It is important to understand that it is not like capturing a lion or an elephant and putting it in a cage, because the lion is already used to living on the earth, not in the sea. But when you catch a fish, it is being taken out of one environment, and put into a completely different one. Land and water are like opposites. So to be a fisher of men - a real fisher of men - is to go to people who are in the waters of this world, pick them up from there, and bring them into a completely different environment: the kingdom of heaven.

If you haven't brought a person out of the kingdom of this earth and into the kingdom of heaven, you haven't really brought that fish out. You may have kept that fish in your net perhaps, but if it is still in the water, you haven't really brought it out. You haven't really become a fisher of men. Which fisherman catches a fish in a net and leaves it in the net, still in the water, where the fish is very comfortable? But once you bring it out to the earth, you see how fish behaves. When it is on land, it flaps around and says, "Hey, I'm not very comfortable here!"

When a person is transported from the kingdom of earth to the kingdom of heaven - just like when a fish comes out of the water and onto the land - he is brought into a completely different environment altogether. The Holy Spirit makes us comfortable in the kingdom of heaven. So don't feel that you have completed your job and you are therefore a "fisher of men" just because you made a hundred people say, "Lord Jesus, come into my heart." Unfortunately, that is what has happened with many believers. They have not meditated on what it means to be a fisher of men because other human beings and teachers have made them fishers of men - not Christ. If Christ were to make you a fisher of men, it would be on the same principle that He preached two verses earlier, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We must teach these 'fish' to turn around and seek for the kingdom of heaven, to come into a completely different environment than they were in. That is what a fisherman is doing. He is taking a fish from the sea onto the land, and we must take people out of the kingdom of earth into the kingdom of heaven - out of the kingdom of the devil and into the kingdom of God - if we are to be true fishers of men. It is only Jesus who can make us fishers of men. Nobody else can do it.

Furthermore, it is not just the evangelist who is a fisher of men. The evangelist is only doing part of that job. The prophet, the apostle, the teacher, the shepherd, the pastor also have to complete the job of making these people really comfortable in their new environment, the kingdom of heaven. The complete task is to take a person out of the sea and onto the land - out from the kingdom of earth and into the kingdom of heaven. And the way to do that is to follow Christ. If I follow Jesus, I will do that just like He did it.

Don't Be Discouraged If Some Fish Want to Go Back into the Water of the World

Jesus called twelve people to be His apostles but He only succeeded in transferring eleven of them to the values of the kingdom of heaven; one of them dropped out. This teaches us that despite our best efforts, some will still drop out when we seek to lead people into God's kingdom. We are not to be discouraged by that because that happened even in Jesus' church. Even if somebody steals money in your church, don't get discouraged; even in Jesus' church, somebody stole money - Judas Iscariot. So we are not talking about a perfect 100% success with all those we work with. Jesus did not have perfect success with all those He worked with. He always said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." He does not force people to enter into His Kingdom. He did not force Judas Iscariot, and He will not force anybody else. So don't get discouraged if you find some people dropping out. Paul once said that, "all who are in Asia turned away from me" (2 Timothy 1:15). He once looked at his co-workers and said, "I have no one else of kindred spirit (like Timothy) who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests" (Philippians 2:20-21). But he was not discouraged because he knew that the way to life was narrow and few would find it. Jesus knew that (He taught it in Matthew 7), the apostles knew it, and I know it. We work with everybody, recognizing all the time that only few will really make it - only few will find the way to life - because most people are just not interested. They want the things of heaven as well as the things of the earth, and so they end up like Judas Iscariot or like the people who turned away from Paul. But if we are faithful with our job, there will always be a remnant that really becomes a part of the kingdom of heaven on earth and becomes a very powerful church, as a witness for Christ on this earth. They may not be large in number. In fact, they will not be large in number, because the way to life is narrow and very few find it. It is very important to understand that it is the Lord who makes us fishers of men.

Becoming Fishers of Men Changes Our Entire Outlook

Think of the picture in Jeremiah 18, where the Lord told Jeremiah to go to the potter's house. There he saw the potter taking clay and making a beautiful vessel out of it. It is amazing how experienced potters can make beautiful vessels out of ordinary mud. We are also like mud that the Lord takes and, by the power of Holy Spirit, transforms into servants of God - fishers of men. Most people in the world are fishing for money. They are looking for opportunities to make money just like fishermen who look for where they can catch plenty of fish. That is the way most people live on the earth. "Where can I make more money? Over here or over there?" However, when a person begins to seek God's kingdom first, his mindset changes. He is thinking of where he can turn more people into members of God's kingdom - to be more Christlike. He is looking for opportunities where he can bring an unconverted person to Christ, or where he can bring a person who is converted but not yet a disciple into being a disciple, or where he can make a disciple who is just sitting lazily, to obey every single thing that Jesus commanded, so that he is completely in the kingdom of heaven, following in Jesus' footsteps. Then he can reproduce himself in another generation that begins to follow Jesus. So first I begin to follow Jesus, and then as I fish for people and seek that they be transformed into people who follow Jesus completely, I produce another generation of disciples.

This is what we should do with our own children. Every true disciple of Jesus should desire that every single one of his sons and daughters also become followers of Jesus, so that Jesus (not I) can make them fishers of men. There are many preachers who promote their own children to follow in their footsteps. I am not talking about that type of nonsense. Only Jesus can make anybody a fisher of men. I can never make my children fishers of men. Jesus has to do that. I can encourage them to follow Jesus, but Jesus has to make them His servants. I cannot do that no matter how much I try. It is very important to recognize this difference as we seek to train our children and the younger generation whom we minister to, to follow Jesus' footsteps and say, "Lord, please make them fishers of men as well. Make them people who will draw others out of this world and bring them into your everlasting kingdom".

Jesus' Principles for Catching Men

In this process, we have to learn from the examples that Jesus gave in the gospels. Jesus taught those fishermen how to fish through His actions. He taught them once at the beginning of His ministry and once at the end of His ministry. It is very interesting to see that. We read of Jesus cleansing the temple twice - once at the beginning of His ministry (in John 2) and once at the end of His ministry as well. In the same way, we find Him teaching the disciples this truth by illustration once at the beginning of His ministry (in Luke 5) and then at the end of His ministry, too (in John 21). Consider the example in Luke 5 and see how He taught them to catch earthly fish as a principle by which we can learn how He makes us fishers of men.

In Luke 5, we read that Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. "And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch' (Luke 5:1-4). Jesus had borrowed Peter's boat, and so He want to repay Peter for it (wasn't that kind of Christ?). Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets" (Luke 5:5). This is the principle we need to understand in serving the Lord. If you work hard all your life without the power of the Holy Spirit, you will discover when you stand in heaven one day that you caught nothing, even if you yourself are in the boat and you are saved. Do you want a life like that? I certainly don't want it. That is why I want to learn to listen to Jesus, the word of God, and the voice of God in the Holy Spirit. Jesus says to him, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch," and Simon was willing to respond. He says, "even though we caught nothing, at Your bidding, I will let down the nets" (Luke 5:5).

This is the first principle: "Lord I will not go by my human reason. I am going to do what You say, even though my human reason says it's a waste of time - having tried all night, in the same areas, going to every single spot in this lake and not getting any fish." Imagine how many hours in the night they might have toiled (maybe 7-8 hours) and caught nothing. They were absolutely sure there were no fish down there, but at Jesus' bidding, they let down their nets again anyway. Their attitude was, "Lord, if You told us to do it, we'll do it." So they went out into the waters and "when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in other boats for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats" (Luke 5:6-7). This is like a picture of churches cooperating together, eager to bring people completely into God's kingdom and acknowledging that, "we cannot do all of this alone. Let us cooperate and fill both boats." Imagine getting such a catch that they even began to sink. "But when Simon Peter saw that," he knew it was an absolute miracle and not something accidental, and "he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, 'Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!' For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men'" (Luke 5:8-10).

This is Jesus' first principle for catching men: Recognize that you cannot do it on your own, and that all your labor will amount to zero. Bow your head before God and say, "Lord I do not want to do my will in my life. I do not want to serve You according to my plan. I do not want to go to this part of the lake or that part of the lake according to my own choice. You tell me where I must go and I will go." Is that the way you seek to serve the Lord? Only then will you accomplish God's will.

This is one of the great blessings I have discovered, particularly in the last 36 years, as I have sought to listen to where God wants me to go. I do not go everywhere people invite me because that may not be where God wants me to go. People think that I am a gifted brother, and if I speak somewhere, it will automatically be a blessing. Not so! I cannot be a blessing, except when God sends me. I cannot catch fish, unless God tells me to go. That is the first thing we need to understand. The second thing we need to understand is that when the Lord tells you to go, despite what all your feelings and your reason say, go, and you will find that God has a purpose in sending you there. I have found this many times.

The other example is in John 21, at the end of Jesus' ministry. This is the last miracle that He worked after the resurrection. We read in John 21:3 that the disciples went fishing in a boat, and they toiled all night, and again caught nothing. This time Jesus was not in the boat. This was a repetition of the lesson they had learnt three years earlier at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. "So Jesus said to them, 'Children, you do not have any fish, do you?' They answered Him, 'No.' And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.' So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish" (John 21:5-6). This teaches the same lesson: we can toil all night without seeking the Lord's will. It says, "Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' And the others said, 'We will also come with you'" (John 21:3). They went out doing their own will and caught nothing. Then a few hours later, as the day breaks, Jesus comes to them, after they had come to an end of themselves, and asks, "Have you caught anything with all your labor, doing your own will?" Very often the Lord has to wait until we come to an end of ourselves.

Look at the quality of your converts - they are defeated, they fight with each other, they love money, they do not do anything that Jesus commanded. Is that the type of fish you are going to present to Jesus? The Apostle Paul said that he wanted to present to God an offering that is acceptable to Him. Are the believers that you have converted in your church the type that are acceptable to God? Or do they fight and quarrel with each other? How are the married couples in your church? How are the children being brought up in your church? Are they acceptable to God? Paul says in Romans 15, "I want them to be acceptable to God." It is very important that we present the best before God. Just like when we invite an important person to our house for a meal. Paul says, "I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin" (2 Corinthians 11:2). In Colossians he says, I want to "present every man perfect in Christ and to this end I labor" (Colossians 1:28-29).

What does it mean to catch fish? To present the best possible fish to our Lord, by going out, laboring and working with other members of the body of Christ, not by ourselves, but by cooperating according to His leading. We do our part, and they do their part, so that finally we can transport people from the kingdom of earth into the kingdom of heaven and present to God an offering that is acceptable to Him, a pure virgin to be the Bride of Christ. Let us labor for that day. The way to do it is to follow Jesus Christ and allow Him to make us, like a potter makes clay, into a beautiful vessel.

Chapter 10

Follow God’s Will for You

Jesus' Ministry in Galilee

"Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people" (Matthew 4:23).

Jesus went about in all of Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of this kingdom - the same gospel of the kingdom of heaven that He has commanded us to proclaim. He was healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. It did not matter what that disease was. There was not a sickness that He could not cure. There was not a disease that He could not heal. The news went about into all of Syria outside of Israel and they brought to him all who were ill. Even non-Jewish people brought people with various diseases and pains. They brought demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics and Jesus healed them. There was nobody who was not healed. We have never seen a healing ministry like that since that time.

Jesus was the only One Who healed in such a miraculous way that every single disease and sickness was healed. In today's so-called healing campaigns, people are excited if one out of a thousand people walk out of a wheelchair, but so many people go away disappointed from these healing meetings with their diseases and sicknesses. Many of those who were proclaimed healed die a few days later.

This is not the reputation of the healing ministry of Jesus. A lot of this is just a mighty deception fooling people in order to collect their money. We should not be fooled by that. Don't ever think that is the reputation of Jesus' healing ministry. If you want to see the healing ministry of Jesus, read Matthew 4:23-24. Have you seen anything comparable to even 0.01% of that? No, we have not. Nowhere does that happen.

Why did Jesus heal like this? In Acts 2:22, Peter says to the multitude, "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst." The miracles and healings of Jesus were an attestation by the Father - "This is My Son." This was needed before He went to the cross so that people would know that this was indeed the Son of God dying for the sins of the world on the cross. It was an attestation from God.

Healing Miracle Is Not Guaranteed for Everyone

This was not something that every one of His disciples was supposed to do because there is not a single disciple who could do what Jesus did in this area of healing, not even the great, mighty Apostle Paul. Yes, Paul raised a dead man once (Acts 20), but he could not heal a simple problem like Timothy's stomach aches. Where is the comparison between a stomachache and a dead man?

Paul could raise a dead man in Acts 20 but he says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23, "For your frequent stomach aches, take a little wine as medicine." Do you not think Paul laid his hands on Timothy and prayed for him? I am sure he did many times. But Timothy was not healed. Timothy would have said to Paul, "Paul, I'm having frequent stomach aches. Can you pray for me?" Paul prayed for him and nothing happened. Paul said, "Okay, just take some medicine." Do you think Paul did not pray for Trophimus? In 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul writes, "I prayed for Trophimus but he is still sick. I left him sick at Miletus." Trophimus could have travelled with Paul, but he was sick and was not healed yet, so he couldn't go. We must be realistic when it comes to this matter of healing.

The miracles and healings of Jesus were total, but they were an attestation from God as to Who He was. Jesus was the Son of God Who has come to die for the sins of the world. We must keep this in mind so that we do not get an unrealistic idea of what Jesus has commanded us to do. Jesus has not commanded us to go into all the world and heal all the sick people. There will be healings and confirmations with healings, but that's not the main emphasis of our ministry. In Mark 16:17, Jesus says "Go and preach the gospel to all creation and these signs will accompany those who have believed."

We need to read Scripture slowly, carefully, and exactly.

"In My Name, they will cast out demons.

In My Name, they will speak in new languages.

They will pick up serpents, and if they drink deadly things, it will not hurt them.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Who is going to do this? Not every single believer, as it is often taught. It says "The group of people who believe in Me" (Mark 16:17) - the body of people who believe in Jesus. These signs will be in their midst. It is enough if one person out of 1,000 do it. But what will they do? They will cast out demons. They will speak in unknown tongues. It is all happening even today. When they are hurt by serpents or poison, they are protected supernaturally. When these people travel to preach in unknown regions, they face so many dangers and God protects them.

In their midst, there will be some who recover from sickness. These signs will accompany that group of people. This refers to the group of people who have believed. It is not something that every believer does. It does happen, even today, but differently from the ministry of Jesus, where every single person was healed. It says a number of times in the gospels that Jesus "healed them all" (for example, in Matthew 4:23 and Matthew 9:35). We must have an accurate understanding of this matter of healing. Jesus did not tell us to go into all the world and heal everybody.

Jesus Did Tell Us to Make Disciples and Teach Them to Do All That He Commanded Us

Jesus told us to go into all the world and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do all that He commanded. You are not to heal everybody who is sick. You are not to even heal every believer who is sick. If we try to add to Scripture, we get into problems. This is different from the Commission that Jesus gave in Matthew 10, which was given before the new covenant was established. When Jesus called His disciples, the very first thing He said to them was "Do not go to the nations" (Matthew 10:5). If you really expect to apply the commands in Matthew 10 for yourself, then you must begin with the first command: "Do not go to the nations, do not go to the Samaritans. Go only to the Israelites." Isn't that very clear? He could not be clearer than that. But there are people who ignore that first part and take the rest of it, saying the last part is for us as well. It does not seem to work in many cases. But they deceive believers who do not read the Scriptures carefully. Read them slowly and carefully.

"Do not go to the nations, to the people of other nationalities. Do not even go to the Samaritans (who are half Jews and half Assyrians), but go only to Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matthew 10:5-7). Today, this is not our message. We do not preach today that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We say, "The kingdom of heaven is here. Get your sins forgiven. Turn to Christ." Their message was the kingdom of heaven is near. This was a preparation for what was coming in the future. Jesus said to them, "Heal the sick." But where? In Israel. Raise the dead in Israel, cleanse the lepers in Israel, and cast out demons in Israel. Freely you have received, so freely give.

Jesus also said, "Do not ever acquire any gold or silver" (Matthew 10:9). How many preachers have you seen who follow that command? "Do not acquire any gold or silver. Do not carry any money with you." Where have you seen preachers following that? People are selective. They pick and choose from different verses and say, "This is for us; this is not for us." That is playing the fool with God and playing the fool with Scripture. Either take the whole thing or dump the whole thing! These words are not for us. This is what Jesus told His disciples to do when they went to Israel. Then He said, "Do not even take a bag for your journey. Do not take two coats." How many preachers have you seen like that? "Do not take an extra pair of sandals or a staff because wherever you go, the Lord will provide for you" (Matthew 10:10). He goes on giving them further descriptions of what they should do. When He finally commissions them at the end of His life in Luke 22, He cancels out the instructions He gave in Matthew 10. Many people have not seen Luke 22. "When I sent you out three years ago, I sent you out without a purse or bag or an extra pair of sandals. Did you lack anything? Did you not find that your sandals probably never wore out? Did you not find that somebody provided your needs supernaturally? You had no purse, no bag, and no sandals. You lacked nothing, but now, we are entering a new phase of ministry. Those rules I gave to you in Matthew 10 to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead do not apply now. "Do not take a purse. Do not take sandals.' That does not apply now. What should you do now? Take a purse with you. This is new covenant ministry. Take a purse with you. If you do not have a bag, take a bag with you. And if you don't have a sword, get one." Jesus never told them to go with a sword in Matthew 10. Jesus now says, "If you don't have a sword, it is better to sell your robe and buy one because you are going to face all types of dangers. You need to defend yourself. You don't use a sword to attack people, but you need to have a sword to defend yourself. For I tell you, this is going to be fulfilled, 'He was numbered with the transgressors.' And the disciples said, 'Lord, here are two swords.' They had two swords with them, and He said that was enough" (Luke 22:35-38).

Why Did Jesus Tell Disciples to Take Swords?

What was He telling them to take swords for when they went to Gethsemane? Peter took one of the swords and chopped up somebody's ear. Jesus healed that ear and told Peter to put his sword back. Jesus said, "He who takes the sword will perish with the sword" (Matthew 26:51-52). They could have said, "Lord, You're the One Who told us to bring these swords!" Jesus would have told them, "I never told you to bring swords to attack people. What I meant was if the Roman soldiers take out their swords to attack you, you do not have to lift up your hands and get injured. Bring a sword so that you can defend yourself with it." In other words, you can use the sword for defense, but never to attack. When we do not understand the words of Jesus clearly, we can go to an extreme position like a lot of people who say we should never take a sword at all. That is trying to be more spiritual than Jesus Christ Himself. If somebody attacks you, you have every right to defend yourself, but you are not to attack someone.

If somebody takes you to court, you have a right to defend yourself, but you do not go taking other people to court. That is the point. You do not attack people, but you can defend yourself. We have a right to do that. When people slapped Jesus, He said, "If I have spoken the truth, why do you slap Me?" (John 18:23). So we have a right to defend ourselves but never to attack. If we understand this, we realize that our calling today is not what we read in Matthew 10, because Jesus did not tell us to go and do what He has done. What is the command in Matthew 28? "Go into all the world, make disciples, and teach them to do all that I have commanded."

If we read Scripture exactly, we find that it literally gets fulfilled. We can do everything that Jesus commanded, but we cannot do everything that Jesus did. All those preachers who pretend to tell you that they are doing everything that Jesus did in the realm of miracles and healings are deceiving you. We need to understand what Jesus meant. "Go and teach them to do all that I commanded, not all the ministry that I did." When Jesus said, "Follow Me," He was not telling us to follow Him in His ministry , but in His life.

Be Followers of Christ's Life

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Be followers of me as I am of Christ." There are two people in the New Testament who said, "Follow me." No Old Testament prophet could ever say follow me. Their life was not an example to be followed. Not Isaiah or Moses; there was nobody. They could only proclaim, "Hear what God says through me. These are God's words." But not one of them could say "Follow my example." Moses quarreled with his wife and disobeyed God in not circumcising his son. They were not all good examples in their life, but they could proclaim God's Word accurately and say, "Thus said the Lord." But in the new covenant, we do not just say, "Thus said the Lord." We do not just say, "Come and hear what God is saying." In the new covenant, we say, " Come and see what God has done," which is different from the Old Testament prophets saying, "Come and hear what God is saying." The New Testament prophet says, "Come and see what God has done in my life. Come and see what God has done in my family. Come and see what God has done in me. Now I want to teach you to obey what Jesus has commanded so that He can do the same thing in your life. Follow me."

Jesus was the first Person in the Bible to say, "Follow Me." Then we read Paul saying, "Follow me as I follow Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). He goes on to say in Philippians 3:17, "Brothers, follow my example. And not only my example, but observe others who are walking like me. You can follow their example too, because I'm following Christ. "Christ is like the person who has climbed to the top of a 10,000 meter high mountain. He has reached the top, and we're following. Paul is probably ahead of us. Maybe he has gone up 3,000-4,000 meters. He says to those behind him, "Follow me." Maybe I have gone only up to 500 meters. I can say to people who are still further lower down on the mountain, "Follow me." I can follow the example of others who are ahead of me, who are following Christ to the peak. The peak is total likeness to Christ. That is the goal. The goal is not to heal all the sick people in the world, but to become totally like Jesus Christ in our life, and from that life will be an overflow of ministry.

We need to understand this. Jesus did not command us to go and tell people to do the same ministry He did. We could not follow Paul when he said, "Follow me" if he was speaking of ministry. He was not telling us to become apostles. How can everybody be an apostle? How can everybody be a prophet or an evangelist like Paul was? He was saying, "Follow me in my life. Imitate me in the way I imitate Christ." Even the Apostle Paul could not imitate Christ's ministry of healing all the sick, walking on water, or feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread. There were times when Paul said he himself was hungry (2 Corinthians 11:27). When he was in need, he shivered in the cold and asked Timothy to bring a blanket for him (2 Timothy 4:13). The early Christians suffered in many ways. They were not protected when they were thrown to the lions, but they followed Jesus, Who refused protection when He was being crucified. It is His life that we have to follow. We cannot follow Jesus in His ministry.

The clearest example of this is that His ministry included dying for the sins of the world. How in the world can we follow that ministry? We cannot. So, it is in His life that we follow. We need to distinguish between Jesus' life and His ministry. In one sentence Jesus could say He did the will of His Father - both in His life and in His ministry. We can do the will of God for us in our lives and in our ministry as well. In our life, it is to follow the example of Jesus exactly. That is what Paul did. In our ministry, it is to fulfill that particular function in the body of Christ that is given to us. If we understand this distinction between the life of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus, we will find that we are protected from deception and save ourselves from a lot of unreality and hypocrisy. A lot of hypocrisy is in Christians who pretend that they are doing the same things that Jesus did.

People sometimes ask, "What does it mean when Jesus said after the Last Supper, 'Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go to the Father. I am going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit' (John 14:12,16)?" What He was saying is when the Holy Spirit was going to come, you're going to be able to do the works that He did and greater works than those. We need to understand that.

If you were to ask somebody what are the works that Jesus did, they will immediately talk about healing the sick, raising the dead, walking on water, feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread. But you would only be talking about the last 10% of Jesus' life! This is what He did in the last three and a half years of His life. Is that all He did? What about the other 90% of His life? What did He do in that 90% of His life? What did He do throughout all of His life? In one sentence: He did the will of His Father. Jesus Himself said in John 6:38, "I came from heaven not to raise the dead, heal the sick, and walk on water. I came from heaven to deny My Own will and to do the will of My Father."

That in a nutshell is "the works of Jesus." He came to say "No" to His Own will and to do the will of His Father. The will of His Father included preaching the Sermon on the Mount, healing all who were sick, sometimes healing only one person like in the pool of Bethesda, walking on water, making Peter walk on water, and feeding the 5,000 with five loaves. The will of the Father for Paul did not include walking on water or feeding 5,000 with 5 loaves or raising someone who had been dead for four days like Lazarus, but it included fulfilling the will of the Father.

That is the point. The works that Jesus did were, in one sentence, the will of God. Paul did that as well. For him, the will of God was to travel around, plant churches, and write Scripture. Jesus never wrote any Scripture, but Paul did. We are not called to write Scripture. But we are called to do the will of our Father. Those are the works of Jesus. This included His obedience to Joseph and Mary at home. If Mary asked Him to bring a bucket of water from the well, Jesus would bring a full bucket of water. Those are the works of Jesus: obedience to the Father in the little things and the big things. All of us can do that. That in a nutshell is the works that He did and He says we can do that.

The opposite of that is living in sin or doing our own will. He was saying there you do not have to do your own will. You do not have to live in sin anymore. You can do the works I did. You can live in purity doing God's will.

What Are the Greater Works That Jesus Mentioned?

"And greater works than these shall you do." What is that? There is one work that Jesus could never do when He was on earth, and that was to make people one. He had preached to His 12 disciples for three and half years. At the Last Supper, they were still arguing as to who was the greatest and who was going to be the leader after Jesus dies (Luke 22:24). And He said, "You are going to do a greater work than that" (John 14:12). The reason why Jesus could not make His disciples one was not because of any failure on His part, but because they did not have the Holy Spirit within them. When people do not have the Holy Spirit, even Jesus cannot make them one. So He said, "After I go and I ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit (John 14:16) then the Spirit of God will come inside your hearts. Then you will become one. Then you will do a greater work."

That greater work He was referring to is to build the body of Jesus Christ. Not a congregation of people, like in the Old Testament, who were unrelated to each other, but born-again believers who are one with each other exactly like the members of a human body, functioning perfectly together. Those twelve disciples did not function like the members of a body because they did not have the Holy Spirit within them. But once the Holy Spirit came, Jesus said, "You are going to be able to do a greater work than even I have done." That is why building the church and building the body of Christ is the greatest work that anybody can ever do on this earth. And for that, we have to obey the command in Matthew 28:19-20 and make disciples in every nation. You cannot build a church without disciples. You cannot build the church if you don't teach them to do every single thing that Jesus commanded.

I hope that makes it clear as to what exactly it means to be a servant of God in this new covenant age. I hope it clears this fog of confusion concerning healing ministry. We believe in praying for the sick (James 5), but our calling primarily is to teach people to do all that Jesus has commanded. If we come across demon-possessed people, we have to deliver them in Jesus' name. I have done that myself often. We need to do that. But my primary ministry is to lead people to obey all that Jesus commanded, because that is the only way we will be able to build the church as the body of Christ. The church is God's ultimate goal, against which the gates of hell will never prevail.

Chapter 11

Right Attitudes 1 to 3

Beatitudes/Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5 marks the beginning of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, which comprises the next three chapters of Matthew. There's a lot of instruction here.

Beatitudes Were for Disciples

“When He saw the multitudes, He went up to the mountain, His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them” (Matthew 5:2). The first thing we should notice is that Jesus was speaking to His disciples. The Sermon on the Mount was not given to the multitudes primarily, but to His disciples - it was to those who wanted to follow Him. Only they could understand and live by the standards of the sermon. Many times, Christians neglect these three chapters, or take their instruction lightly. They say something like, “This is not for us, this is for the Jews!” There are many crazy, foolish, stupid arguments like that among Christians who do not want to obey all that Jesus taught. They find many excuses to do away with what Jesus taught. But if we see that these are very important words that Jesus spoke specifically to His disciples, then those of us who are disciples will take them very seriously (even if the multitudes are also permitted to listen).

Jesus Prepared This Message for 30 Years

It says, “He sat down, His disciples came to Him, and He taught them.” And at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, it says, “the multitudes were amazed at His teaching” (7:28). The picture is one of Jesus getting His few disciples close to Him and speaking to them, and the multitudes are behind them listening to what He was saying as well. They were amazed at his teaching, and one paraphrase says, “It was obvious that He was living (He had lived) what He was preaching” (Matthew 7:29 MSG). He had authority (unlike the scribes who preached without authority), and the reason behind Jesus’ authority was that He lived every word of what He spoke.

People take a lot of time preparing sermons. How long did Jesus take to prepare the Sermon on the Mount? Thirty years. He was speaking out of His life. These are not notes that He sat down one day earlier and wrote down to speak on, like a lot of preachers do today. He was speaking out of His life, a life that had faced all types of temptations and various circumstances in Nazareth. And from there, He was now speaking out of His life, and that is the example for how we ought to speak as well, as we have considered already in this study.

An Outline of the Sermon on the Mount

The first verses of the Sermon on the Mount describe nine “Blessed”s or nine of what I would call, “right attitudes” (beatitudes – verses 3-12). Then Jesus gives a little introduction in Matthew 5:13-20. From 5:21 up to Matthew 7:6, Jesus describes nine wrong attitudes that a believer should not have. At the end of chapter 7 is a conclusion, from 7:7 onwards. We will begin by looking at each of the right attitudes that Jesus taught.

Right Attitude #1: Poor in Spirit (Matt 5:3)

First of all in Matthew 5:3 Jesus says, “blessed are the poor in spirit.” This word “blessed” can mean “happy” or like the Amplified Bible says, “someone to be envied.” If you want to envy somebody on earth, don’t envy the rich person, don't envy the famous person, and don't envy the good-looking person. Envy the one who's poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to him. People with many other qualities, such as charisma and wealth, can have things on this earth and possess a kingdom on earth, but the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. In the long run, this is the one who is really to be envied, because his wealth is going to last for all eternity. When we think of our lifetime on earth, even if it's 70 or 80 years, if you really believe that man is an eternal being (eternity is never-ending, millions of years are like one second in eternity), what would 70 years be? Nothing! In 2 Peter, it says a thousand years is like one day before the Lord and one day is like a thousand years! In the light of eternity, our entire life on earth is very short.

A wise person is one who really seeks to have a future in God's kingdom, and here we are told that the one who's going to have the maximum possessions in God's kingdom is the one who is poor in spirit. This is a phrase that is not understood by many Christians because they don't seek to understand these seemingly confusing statements of Scripture. They just read and move on. One thing that helps me is to think in terms of an illustration. I find that when I think in terms of pictures, I get a clearer understanding of the Scripture. In fact, Jesus Himself explained many doctrines in terms of pictures, such as salt and light, and through many parables.

A Picture of Spiritual Poverty

We can compare “poor in spirit” with “poor in body,” because man is spirit and body, and we understand what it is to be poor in body. A tramp or a beggar is poor in body, which means he does not have what it takes to care for his bodily needs. A really poor beggar who's living on the streets might go from house to house begging for his needs, only to get just enough to survive for the day, and then he would have to come back to the same house to receive some more for the next day. So applying that picture to the phrase, “poor in spirit,” we see that Jesus means a person who is aware of his spiritual need every day. He is describing a person who is just like that beggar, who is aware of his physical need every day and goes to some generous man's house for help. And if the man asks him, “What about what I gave you yesterday?” he would say, “That was finished yesterday - the money you gave me yesterday was just enough for yesterday's need, and again I am in need. I am penniless, I'm in need.”

A person who is “poor in spirit” is one who comes to God in that way, saying, “Lord I'm a needy person.” He comes to God every single day aware of his spiritual need, and asks for help to meet his spiritual need, just like the beggar would ask for help to meet his physical needs. In the book of Proverbs, there is a verse that speaks about this condition. Proverbs 8 is a chapter on wisdom, and Christ is pictured here as wisdom, saying, “I, wisdom…” (starting in verse 12). He goes on to say that it is through wisdom that the world was created. And it says in verse 24 that He was there before the fields were there and the earth and everything else - when He established the heavens (verse 27), He was there. So wisdom is what we need, and it says, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, who watches daily at my gates.” Think of that beggar now, waiting at God’s doorposts. Just like a beggar waiting for his daily gift of money, we are to come before God as spiritual paupers every day.

We won't come like that unless we are needy. Rich people don't go begging at other people's houses; they would be ashamed to do it. A beggar is not ashamed because he's needy. He doesn't have money for food or his daily necessities, and he's aware of that. It’s only the person who's aware of his spiritual need every day who will come before God every single day and say, “Lord I'm a needy person. Please give me wisdom for today.” And as it says in Proverbs 8:35, “He who finds me finds life.” This is what it means to be poor in spirit: to be aware of our spiritual need constantly. The one who is aware of his spiritual need constantly, and who keeps seeking for wisdom from God, will possess the entire kingdom of heaven. If you see the kingdom of heaven as the riches of God's kingdom, the Bible says in Ephesians 1:3, that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Every single blessing of the Holy Spirit is ours in Christ in the heavenly places. We can think of all the spiritual blessings in the kingdom of heaven as a huge mansion with thousand rooms, and the master key that opens every door of that mansion is a poverty of spirit. Blessed is the one who is poor in spirit, because he can possess the entire kingdom of heaven - that is, every single room of the mansion. The treasures in every room will be his, if he holds fast to this master key.

Be Aware of Your Own Need, Not Judgmental of Others’ Needs

The master key to possess God's kingdom is to be aware of your own need. Very often the devil makes us aware of the needs of other people. Towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about the wrong attitude of judging others. He says to leave them alone. Judge yourself, and don't worry about the speck in somebody else's eye. See the log in your own eye, your own need. This is how Jesus begins and ends the Sermon on the Mount. Be aware of your own need. Don't be a busybody in other people's matters. Aware of your own spiritual need, come before God, and wait before Him day by day.

It is not enough to only be aware of our need in the beginning, when we come to the Lord. When we first come to Christ, we're all aware that we are sinners. We are hopelessly lost, and at that time we are very aware of the fact that we need Christ’s help to have our sins forgiven; but many people stop there. We don't realize that we need God's help for deliverance from this wretched nature, the corrupt nature that we've inherited from Adam, which has everything in it contrary to the nature of Christ. And if we're longing for that, we will become aware of our own need and we won't be looking at other people’s needs. A tramp or a beggar comes to a house asking for charity for himself, and that's how we have to come to God. We must say “Lord, I'm a needy person. I'm needy.” It is very easy to recognize and acknowledge that on the day we are born again, but we still need to live recognizing our need 50 years after we are born again. I'm personally very thankful that God has opened my eyes to see the great secret of the Christian life, to be aware of my need every day, even 52 years after I was born-again: to come before God empty-handed and say, “Lord I need You.”

The picture that Jesus used of need is that of a branch in a tree, “I am the vine and you are the branches,” He said. A branch is always aware of its need. Even if a branch has been in the tree and produced mangoes for 50 years, it still needs to remain in the tree to produce mangoes again this year. It can’t say, “I have 50 years of experience! Now I can be cut off from the tree and produce mangoes on my own.” It is impossible. A branch is constantly “poor in spirit,” and therefore it constantly produces fruit. It’s when a man begins to think that he can rely on his experience and not upon Christ that he stops producing fruit.

Let me also add one other thing: the branches that have been laden down with the most fruit are the ones that bend lowest to the ground, and the most upright branches are the ones that have no fruit. The more spiritual fruit we have, the humbler we will also be. And the less spiritual fruit we have, the prouder we will be. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Right Attitude #2: Mourn for My Sin and Others’

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). The word “comfort” means “strengthened.” It has the little word “f-o-r-t” right in the middle of it. “Fort” is a picture of a huge military protected area - a fort, strengthened. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” People in the world mourn for all types of things. Most people mourn because of some personal loss. Either they lost money, or they lost a loved one, or they lost their reputation, or they lost something of this earth, like their dignity, their position, their job, or something else like that. But Jesus is not speaking about such mourning. It is not mourning because somebody hurt me, nor is it weeping for my own sorrows.

Jesus never wept for His own sorrows, but He did weep for others. We read that He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and that He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35), but never once did He weep for the way people treated Him, whether they called Him the devil or spat on Him. He never wept for Himself. Not only that, as He was taking up the cross and stumbling on the road to the cross, we read in Luke 23:27 that a great multitude of people were following Him as He was carrying the cross, and some women were mourning and loudly crying when they saw Him being whipped and beaten, and the blood flowing down His head and back as He carried this heavy cross, with a crown of thorns upon His head. Do you know what Jesus turned around and said to them? “Daughters of Jerusalem stop weeping for Me! I'm OK; yes, My back is torn, there's a crown of thorns on My head, and I am carrying a heavy cross. I'm going to be killed in a few moments, but I'm perfectly okay because I'm in the center of the will of God” (Luke 23:28)! Can you have that attitude when you're suffering the most? “Don't weep for me, I'm OK, but if you want to weep, weep for yourselves and your children - look at their spiritual condition.” They are Pharisees, cloaked in robes and looking very grand. But look at their spiritual condition. What's going to happen in the day when Christ comes back and they say to the mountains, “Fall on us and cover us” (Luke 23:30)? That is the attitude of Jesus. He didn't have any tears for His Own griefs like the song says, but sweat drops of blood for my griefs.

The true disciple of Jesus mourns because he's not like Christ; he mourns when he has sinned, and when he has slipped up. He doesn't mourn for the way people treat him. He believes that's his appointed lot on this earth, to be dishonored for the sake of Christ. But he mourns whenever he has dishonored the Lord by sin or by failure. When he goes to a higher level spiritually, He also mourns for the sins of others, for the failure of others, like Jesus wept over Jerusalem. This is the mourning that Jesus spoke of. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be strengthened.” Perhaps the reason why some of us are not being strengthened is because we’re not mourning for our sin.

Spiritual Fathers Mourn for the Sins of Others

It's an even higher level to go beyond that to mourn for the sins of others. The apostle Paul had reached that higher level. He says to the Corinthians who had failed so miserably, “I'm afraid when I come to you, my God will humble me before you” (2 Corinthians 12:21). Why should God humble Paul? He had lived such an upright life, and was conscious of no sin against himself. But he says, “I will mourn over many of you who have sinned in the past and who have not repented of your impurity, immorality, and sensuality.” He lists some of the things they had in the midst of their church (verse 20): jealousy, anger, tempers disputes, slanders, gossips, arrogance, disturbances, etc. When he thought of all the sins among those people who called themselves God's people, he wept, because he was their spiritual father. It’s just like how an earthly father would weep if his son were very sick. If the father were spiritually minded, he would be very grieved that his son is going astray into drugs or evil habits. Paul was a spiritual father to the Corinthians, and every true Christian shepherd or pastor should be a spiritual father to his flock. One mark of a spiritual father is that he won't just criticize the flock, but he will also weep over them like Paul wept over the Corinthians. Only such a man is fit to be a spiritual leader. In Isaiah 49:10 (Isaiah 49 is a great chapter on spiritual leadership) it says, “He who has compassion on the people will lead them.” Who is fit to be a spiritual leader? It’s the one who has compassion on people. And so the “mourning” in Matthew 5:4 refers to mourning for oneself, for one's own sin, one’s unlikeness to Christ, and mourning for others. We will be strengthened if we do that, and we will find strength to be able to strengthen other people as well if we go along this way.

Right Attitude #3: Be Humble

“Blessed are the gentle (or those who are humble and meek) for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). I believe this refers to those who will not fight for their rights, who will not retaliate when ill-treated. Jesus showed what meekness was when His rights were taken away, and He did not fight back. He did not curse those who cursed Him. He did not pray for God's judgment on those who crucified Him. He said to us in Matthew 11:29, “Learn from Me, for I'm meek and gentle of heart - I'm humble and gentle of heart.” It’s not an easy word to fully translate in English, and that's why there are many different translations that people use - “gentle” (in the margin of my Bible it says “humble, meek”). The general picture is one who is not fighting for his rights on earth, because it says that he shall inherit the earth one day. God gives the earth to those who do not fight for it. This is God's Way.

It's not those who fight for their rights to whom God gives His greatest blessings, but those who yield their rights. Jesus went down to the cross; He yielded up all His rights. His humility and His meekness were seen in this, that He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a shameful cross (Philippians 2:8). He was humiliated and put to shame, and because He was willing to go down like that, to that level, therefore, it says in verse 9, “God exalted Him and gave Him a name which is above every name.” The reason why Christ is exalted to the right hand of the Father today is not because He was always there for all eternity. He was always there as God. But when He came to earth as a Man, He earned His right to come to the right hand of the Father. It is very important to understand that. He earned a right to come back to the right hand of the Father because He demonstrated the nature of God so perfectly in His earthly life, as a man facing all types of temptations, and He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. He didn't fight for His rights and therefore, one day the whole earth will be given to Him.

Right now He's been given a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. That's not yet happened. A lot of people despise the name of Jesus and do not bow to His name today. The demons don't, and a lot of people on earth don't. But a day will definitely come when every knee will bow at the name of Jesus and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and the whole earth will be given to Him. It will belong to Him because He was meek. And so, to the ones who follow Him in that road of meekness, Jesus said, “Learn from Me” (Matt 11:29). The only thing He told us to learn from Him was this gentleness and meekness. “Learn from Me, for I’m gentle and humble, meek and lowly of heart.” This is something we have to learn from Jesus Himself. He doesn't tell us to learn from a book. He says, “Look at Me and see how I did not fight for My rights, how I gave up My rights and I was meek and lowly, and you will find rest for your souls.” I believe there’s only one reason why so many Christians are at unrest, in tension, and some have nervous breakdowns: they're not meek. They are inwardly fighting for something. They are seeking for their rights, and therefore they are at unrest.

We must seek to learn these three values: to be poor in spirit, to mourn for our un-Christlikeness and to be meek, never fighting for our rights, but walking in humility and leaving it to God to give us what He sees we need.

Chapter 12

Right Attitudes(4 to 6):Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, Be Merciful, Be Pure in Heart

The Narrow Way

In the last chapter we looked at Matthew 5:3-5, where we saw the first three “right attitudes” that disciples should have. Jesus was primarily teaching His disciples, as we read in verses 1-2. Notice that these are not characteristics that people in the world appreciate. People in the world do not appreciate being constantly aware of their own need. In the world we are told to be full of self-confidence - confidence in our own ability. This is true as far as physical ability, intellectual ability, and human smartness are concerned, which are all required of salesmen, CEOs, etc.

But when it comes to the spiritual realm, it is exactly the opposite. It is the one who is poor in spirit who is going to possess God's kingdom. It is the one who mourns for his sin who is going to be strengthened spiritually. And it is the one who is meek and does not fight for his own rights who is going to inherit the earth.

In other words, God's ways are not our ways. His way of thinking is completely opposite to this world’s way of thinking. The right attitudes (beatitudes) mentioned here are not things that the world appreciates. In fact they are quite the opposite. That is why, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “This way that I have spoken of is a very narrow way, and very few people find it” (Matthew 7:14 - Paraphrase). I don't anticipate millions of people turning to this way. Millions of people want to go to heaven and millions want the power of the Holy Spirit, but very few want to have the attitudes that Jesus taught are the characteristics of God's people, who live in God's kingdom.

Right Attitude #4: Hunger & Thirst for Righteousness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). In the world, people are hungering and thirsting for all types of things. If you look at the things that people in the world hunger and thirst for, they are things like wealth, money, a comfortable life, houses and lands, advancement in society, higher position in their jobs, beautifying their appearance, and anything else that will bring them honor, comfort and pleasure in this world. This is also true for many Christians.

Most Christians, even those who claim they're born again, are pursuing these things. But hungering and thirsting to live a godly life - hungering and thirsting to overcome sin - is such a rare quality that I believe what Jesus said: very few find this way to life. I am not surprised when I find very few interested in a message of being totally righteous. In fact I am not surprised when people turn around and say, “That's impossible.” When people say the Sermon on the Mount has impossible standards and that nobody can live up to it, that is exactly the answer I expect from a worldly Christian or so-called born-again Christians who have worldly attitudes. I would question whether such a person really born again if he neglects all that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. That is why Jesus said, “Make them disciples” before He said, “Teach them all that I have commanded,” in Matthew 28:20.

Every person who calls himself a Christian, but who only wants to go to heaven and is not interested in obeying all that Jesus commanded, is far from it. If a person truly becomes a disciple, he will be interested to know what Jesus has commanded. The attitude of a true disciple of Jesus is, “If He wants me to be poor in spirit, I want to know what that means and obey it. If He wants me to mourn for my sin or to be gentle, I want to know what that means too. If He wants me to hunger and thirst for righteousness, I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? For example, if you say, “I'm thirsty for a little bit of water,” how much would you be willing to pay for that glass of water? What if a glass of water cost 100,000 rupees? You would say, “No, I'm not that thirsty, to pay 100,000 rupees for a glass of water.” But consider if you were a person who had been wandering in the desert for seven days and your whole body is dry and your mouth is dry and you are about to die of thirst. Boy, you would be willing to pay 100,000 rupees for a glass of water! That is thirst. And you would be willing to pay any amount for food if you were dying of hunger.

The type of hunger and thirst that Jesus is speaking of is a desperate hunger and thirst to be righteous at any cost, not to be righteous only if it's convenient or if it doesn't disturb any of my plans. Most people who sit in churches, even those who listen to messages of holiness, want to be holy if it doesn't disturb their plans, or if it doesn't ruin their ambitions for the future, or if it doesn't hinder them from marrying the girl or boy they want to marry. They want righteousness, as long as there's not too much of a price to pay for it. So when you offer them righteousness, if their first question is, “What’s the price?” then you know that they are not really hungry. A person who is desperately thirsty or hungry will not ask for the price. He will say, “Give me that water! I will pay! I will give you everything I have because I'm dying!”

That is the meaning of seeking God with all of our hearts. The reason why many people do not find God in the way that others have found Him, and why they do not have a satisfying Christian life (which is the condition of most born again Christians), is because they are not seeking God with all their heart. I have found very few Christians in my life, as I’ve traveled to many countries and been a Christian for 52 years, who can honestly say, “I am really satisfied with the Lord, I am satisfied with my Christian life, in the progress He’s given me, and I am thankful for the way it has gone. I'm excited about my life every day!” Very few can honestly say that. I find most people are bored of their Christian life. Maybe they were excited on the day they were converted, but now they are so bored. They have no time to read the Bible, they have no interest in spiritual things; they may be indulging in a certain amount of activity like going to church, witnessing, and caring for the poor, but they are not excited about following in Jesus’ footsteps.

To understand the reason behind this we need to understand a law concerning man and God. In Jeremiah 29:13 the Lord says to His people Israel, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” What if you do not seek Him with all your heart because you are seeking Him half-heartedly, or three-quarters of your heart? Sure, you would have a religion. You would have a Christianity that is a mere religion, with rituals and various things that you do, but you would not know the Lord. You would not know Jesus as a personal friend, and so you would miss out on everything in the Christian life. You may have a Christian name and be a member of a Christian Church, but if you don't know the Lord personally, you have missed out on the main thing. And the reason may be because you aren’t seeking God with all your heart. There are lot of things in the world you may be seeking with all your heart, but not the Lord.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (or they shall be satisfied)” (Matthew 5:6). So when a man says, “Oh brothers, I have been trying so hard for victory over sin, but I haven't got it, I can tell him on the basis of this verse that he is not really hungering and thirsting for a holy life. He is not really desperate about overcoming sin.

Jesus’ Own Hunger & Thirst for Righteousness

Consider how Jesus prayed to overcome sin. We know the fact that Christ was tempted on earth exactly like us and He never sinned, but it was not easy for Him. Hebrews 5 tells us about how Jesus faced temptation. We are told in Hebrews 4:15 that He was tempted in all points as we are, and then it goes on to say that this Christ is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6). It says further in verse 7, “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Hebrews 5:7). This is not speaking about the last day of His flesh in Gethsemane, but of the entire period that He was in the flesh on earth - for thirty-three and a half years: He offered up prayers and supplications.

Supplication means a specific request to His Father. They were not just general prayers saying, ‘Bless Me,’ but they were specific requests. And He offered up these prayers with loud crying and tears. Why in the world was He crying out loud and shedding tears when He prayed? Would Jesus pray like that? Can you think of a time in your life where you prayed with tears? Maybe if your child was sick, or if you lost something which you wanted badly, you may have cried and prayed to God, but Jesus wasn't praying for any such thing. Have you ever prayed with loud crying? Maybe when somebody died or something tragic happened, but Jesus wasn't praying on such occasions. It says He was praying with loud crying and tears to the One (that is the Father) Who was able to save Him from death. And He was heard because of His godly fear.

Now there are a number of things that that verse teaches about what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus did not have righteousness offered to Him on a platter in a way different from us. He had to struggle and fight for it, hunger and thirst for it, just like us, because He was a Man like us, in order to be an example for us. He faced every situation, every temptation that we face, and He faced it the way we have to face it, in order to overcome that temptation. That is the meaning of praying to the One able to save Him from death.

What death is Scripture talking about? Jesus was not afraid of going to Calvary. He loved us so much that He would be willing to go to a thousand Calvarys to save us from our sins. He was not afraid of physical death. There are Christian martyrs who have gone singing to their deaths. How could Jesus ever be afraid of that? It also says that His prayer “was heard,” but He was not saved from physical death. So how was His prayer heard? Both those statements indicate that it was another kind of death that He was praying to be saved from.

The Bible speaks about physical death and spiritual death. James 1 says, “When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” When you are tempted and yield, it leads to sin, and that ends in death. That is the death Jesus is asking to be saved from, in the moment of temptation: that there would not even be a smell of the spiritual death of sin brought about by Him responding to temptation in any way - in thought, attitude, motive, word, or deed. There should be no smell of sin. And because He was so desperately eager to be totally pure, to be pleasing to the Father, He had to pray with loud crying and tears.

For 30 years in Nazareth, and three and half years in His ministry (in all the days of His flesh), He prayed, “Father, I never want to sin. I never want to do My Own will, (that's the root of all sin).” He prayed and struggled in Gethsemane for that same thing, sweating as great drops of blood, because He wanted never to do His Own will and He was heard because of His godly fear.

So what is the mark of godly fear, according to this verse? One mark of godly fear is that you cry out desperately that you will not displease God in any way. And He was saved, His prayers were heard, He never sinned. Perhaps this is the reason why we sin - because we are not so desperate to be saved from it. The Bible says, “Flee from immorality.” Herein lies the secret of living a godly life. The first step is, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” And there is a promise: you will be filled. There is no doubt about it.

Right Attitude #5: Be Merciful

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Mercy is the attitude that includes both forgiving others who have hurt us and also doing good to those who are in need. The Bible speaks of two aspects of mercy. In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asks the man who questioned Him, “Who was the one who showed mercy and who was the one who loved his neighbor?” The answer was that it was the man who showed mercy to his neighbor. And what was that act of mercy? It was helping a man in his need. That is one aspect of mercy.

The other aspect of mercy is forgiving people. The Lord is merciful to us and He forgives us our sins. He taught us to pray, “Our Father in Heaven, forgive us our sins in exactly the same way as we forgive others for their sins against us.” What does that prayer mean? It means, if I don't forgive somebody for his sin against me, the Lord will not forgive me. What I am praying to God is, “Lord, forgive me in the same way that I have forgiven this other person.” But if I haven't forgiven this other person, I am really asking the Lord not to forgive me. Do you recognize that? “Forgive me in exactly the same way that I have forgiven this person; since I haven't forgiven him, You don't forgive me.” Or, “I have forgiven him but I have a terrible grudge against him because of what he did toward me, so Lord, when You forgive me, You too keep a grudge towards me.”

Do you realize that when you pray the Lord’s prayer, you are asking God to forgive you in exactly the same way as you have forgiven others? If you are merciful to others, God will be merciful to you. If you are not merciful to others, God will not be merciful to you. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

Whenever people do us harm or hurt us in some way, there are two contradictory thoughts that arise in our mind. One is a thought of mercy and the other is the thought of judgment. The Holy Spirit tells us to forgive and to be merciful, but our flesh tells us to be hard on that person and to judge him, and to pray that God will judge him as well. But it says in James 2:13, “For judgment will be merciless to the one who has shown no mercy to others.” If I am merciless towards someone, God will be merciless to me. And in the day of judgment, we are going to get a big surprise when God imposes a very heavy judgment on believers who did not forgive others - they will not enter God's kingdom.

Mercy Triumphs over Judgment

James 2:13 goes on to say, “Mercy must triumph over judgment.” That means that when there is a conflict in my heart between judging someone and being merciful to him, let mercy triumph, and not judgment. That is the mark of a man of God. Mercy triumphs over judgment. “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” It is God's business to take vengeance on people, not ours.

Romans 12:19 says, “Never take your own revenge” because that is God's business. God says, “Taking revenge is My business. It's not your business.” “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. So if your enemy is hungry feed him, if he is thirsty give him something to drink. We must not take revenge. We must be merciful and seek to do good wherever we can do good to others. “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” We will discover on the day of the judgment that if we have not forgiven others, God will not forgive us. Jesus repeats that same instruction again in the Lord's Prayer.

“If you do not forgive others, then your heavenly Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:15). “Your heavenly Father” implies that He is already your Father and you are a child of God. He did not say, “God will not forgive you.” If He had used the word “God,” then we could say that this verse refers to unbelievers. But notice what it says in Matthew 6:15 - “Your Father…” Is God the Father of unbelievers? No! But if you are a born-again child of God, then God is your Father. And it says “Your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Why? Because you did not forgive somebody else.

If your transgressions are not forgiven, how in the world can you enter God's kingdom? Do you think they will be forgiven after you die? Is there a second chance after we die? If you die without forgiving someone, what is going to be your fate in eternity? I have no doubt in my mind that you will go to hell, because no one can enter heaven with their sins not forgiven on earth. There is no chance of sins being forgiven after we die. They must be forgiven now, and that is why it is so important to be merciful to others. That is not a kind act that you are doing to someone else. It is actually a kind act that you are doing to yourself, because you want God to be merciful to you.

Right Attitude #6: Be Pure in Heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). There are many things about God that He reveals to those whose hearts are pure. It is lack of purity in our heart that blinds our eyes. Jesus spoke about the eye being the lamp of the body. I want to connect Matthew 5:8 with Luke 11:34, where Jesus spoke about the eye being the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear your whole body is full of light. If you want to know what it means to be blind, just shut your eyes and you know what blindness is. All the light outside is not coming in anymore and so you cannot see anything. “The lamp of the body is the eye, but if your eye is bad or blind or full of cataracts, then your whole body is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, then it will be wholly illumined”.

This verse is a reference to the conscience. The conscience is the eye of the heart. When you keep your conscience clear, your heart is filled with light, and you can see God. But when you neglect to keep your conscience clear, which means you did something wrong and you don't confess it – if you don't take the blame for it, and you try to put the blame on somebody else - the eye becomes dim little by little and you lose your vision of God. You can still have a head full of knowledge of the Bible, but you won't see God anymore, because that has nothing to do with head knowledge; that has to do with purity of heart.

There is another possible way of looking at this verse. We can say that this also refers to seeing God in all our circumstances when our heart is pure. When my heart is pure, I can look around and I see God in all my circumstances, in everything He does and in everything He says. I can say that God is in control, and even in the evil that other people do to me, I can see God using that for my good. Jesus could see God in the most evil thing that happened to Him. When the Roman soldiers came to capture Him in Gethsemane, all that Peter could see was this crooked betrayer Judas betraying Jesus Christ and the evil Roman soldiers coming to capture his Master. But Jesus did not see them. He said, “The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” The postman may have been Judas Iscariot, or the Pharisees and the high priest, but ultimately the cup came from the Father. What does it matter if the postman looks like an evil man, if the letter came from your beloved?

Jesus’ heart was pure, therefore He saw God in everything. That is why He could accept being captured, humiliated, and crucified. His heart was pure and He saw God in everything. When we love God with all of our hearts and we are called according to His purpose, then everything works together for good (Romans 8:28). If our heart is pure, then God makes it all work for good, and when we look at the evil that other people do to us in circumstances that don't seem to fit in with our desire, we can say “God is there.” This is why there is tremendous blessing in pursuing purity of heart. As we understand more Scripture, we will see Jesus more clearly in Scripture. Many people study Scripture and don't see Jesus. They see a doctrine and they fight for a doctrine. But when our heart is pure and our eyes are clear, the same Scripture, where somebody else sees a doctrine, will reveal Jesus. We see the glory of Jesus that the Holy Spirit brings out, and it draws our heart to Him and helps us be able to follow Him more closely.

Consider these three good attitudes seriously in your life. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they have a tremendous longing to be totally pure. Blessed are those who are merciful, who are ready to forgive no matter what harm another person has done to them. And blessed are those who seek with all of their heart to keep their conscience pure before God and men, like Paul did, and who are thereby pure in heart, because they will see God all the time - in the Word, and in their circumstances.

Chapter 13

Right Attitudes (7 to 9): Peacemakers, Rejoice When Persecuted for Righteousness and Jesus

Right Attitude #7: Peacemakers Will Be Called Sons of God

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Do we have a right to call ourselves the sons of God? It says here that it's not us calling ourselves sons of God; it says they shall be called sons of God. That means that God is going to call us His sons when we are peacemakers. We must have a reputation as peacemakers. The opposite of a peacemaker is a troublemaker. What is your reputation in your church? Maybe you say, “I'm not a troublemaker and I’m not a peacemaker, but I’m neutral.” Well then you can’t be called a son of God! It says here “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Peacemakers are those who are always seeking for peace.

God Is Pleased with Those Who Pursue After Peace

When Jesus was born, the angels from heaven came saying, “Peace on earth, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among the men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). God is pleased with those who pursue after peace. The world is full of all types of quarrels, fighting, grumbling, murmuring, and complaining. If we were to look at this earth from heaven’s standpoint, we would see it filled with darkness because of this. But in the midst of this darkness there are a few spots of light - those are the children of God, the sons of God; and one mark of these sons of God is that they are peacemakers.

We find the same thing repeated in Philippians 2. Why does it say that we must do all things without grumbling, disputing, and complaining (Philippians 2:14)? We must do every single thing in our life without any grumbling, without any complaining, and without any disputing - that's a pretty high standard. But it says in verse 15, that that's the only way we can prove ourselves to be blameless, “Innocent children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” That's the only way we can appear as lights in this dark world. How is that? What is the darkness? It’s murmuring, grumbling, and complaining. What is the light? It’s people who make peace and do not grumble or complain.

When Jesus sent out His disciples to the people of Israel He appointed seventy to go two by two, ahead of Him to every place where He Himself was going to come later (Luke 10:1). He directed them to look for a man of peace to stay with whenever they enter a town. He said, “Whenever you enter a house, say ‘peace be to this house,’ and if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And if you find a man of peace, stay in that house - don't move from house to house because you will hardly find another house like that in a town” (Luke 10:5-6).

In other words, what He was saying was: “You will probably find only one house in a town where a man is a man of peace.” Otherwise why did He tell them not to move from house to house? What if there were 10 or 20 or 30 or 100 houses like that? Jesus knew that it is very unlikely to find such homes. But such homes are exactly the type where God dwells.

Is your house a house of peace? Can it be said about you as a husband that you're a man of peace? It always requires two people to quarrel; you can’t have a quarrel if one person refuses to fight. It’s just like how both of your two hands have to collide with each other to make a noise. You can’t have a noise with just one hand clapping. If one hand refuses to clap, the other hand cannot make a noise; quarreling is like that. If anyone (say husband or wife) refuses to fight and dies to him or herself, there will be no fight. Instead, there will be peace. So I can never blame the lack of peace on another person, whether it be in my church or in my house or anywhere else.

You can’t say, “My wife is the one who disturbs the peace,” or “My husband disturbs the peace.” It is because you cooperate in that quarrel and fight that there's no peace. There can be no sound if even one hand refuses to come together with the other. So in a situation where there is conflict, if you are pursuing peace, then you will die to yourself and let the other person agitate as much as he or she likes. Then there will be peace.

Fellowship Is Better Than Peace

If both husband and wife are willing to die to themselves, then there will be what we call fellowship. Fellowship is even higher than peace. Peace is second best; fellowship is the best. Peace is where one person refuses to fight and dies to himself or herself; fellowship is when both die to themselves and their rights, and they both refuse to grumble or complain or find fault. They have fellowship. But where we can’t build fellowship, let's at least pursue after peace.

Two verses in the New Testament speak about the importance of this. We already saw in Philippians 2:14 the importance of never grumbling or complaining or finding fault in others. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” That’s exactly the same principle: if anybody wants to come for a fight or an argument with you, but you refuse to fight and quarrel, and you die to yourself, then there is peace. There may not be fellowship with that person - for example there may not be fellowship between you and your husband or wife - but there can still be peace in the home. As much as it depends on you and is possible from your side, die to yourself.

Pursue Peace Even If It Means Losing an Argument

I refuse to argue with people even on doctrinal matters if I find that all they are interested in is controversy. When people come to my home and inquire or ask questions after a meeting, if I find that they are really eager to know the truth, I'm willing to spend hours with them; but if I find they are only interested in controversy, I want to pursue peace. I say, “Listen, let's change the subject, let's talk about cricket or something like that where we’re united. Let's talk about pursuing humility instead of arguing about this doctrine because I know this person's interest is in controversies. He is getting upset and angry, and it’s pointless pursuing that discussion, because I don't want to win an argument and lose a friend. I'd rather say, “Let's keep the friendship. You can assume that you have won the argument but I'm not going to argue with you.”

Pursuing Peace Requires Dying to Self

If I believe that God is sovereign and will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability, I'll be willing to die to myself. Many people say that if you pursue this path, people will just take advantage of you; they will treat you like a doormat and walk over you. Not so. If you believe 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “God will never allow you to be tested beyond your ability,” then you will recognize that He will not allow people to take advantage of you, and you will confidently pursue the way of peace. You'll find, like it says in the book of Proverbs, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). When you find controversy, take refuge in the name of Jesus and then you'll find the fulfillment of Proverbs 16:7, that “When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, you come and hide in the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” It's amazing what God can do! I've experienced that. If you try to please the Lord, you too will find that even your enemies get subdued.

The peacemakers are called “sons of God.” Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men.” Not only are we to pursue peace with other believers, but with every human being - with your difficult neighbor, your difficult mother-in-law, your relatives, your brother-in-law who cheated you of the property, your family members who cheated you and took advantage of you - with everyone. Pursue peace with them and God will make sure that you get what you should get – and you don't have to fight for it. “Pursue peace with all men, and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Now this is an amazing verse; it says that it is not enough to pursue sanctification, but I must also pursue peace with all men. Many people are pursuing sanctification in their personal life with the Lord, but they're not pursuing peace with all men. However, it says that I need to pursue peace with all men and sanctification, without which I will not see the Lord.

“Sons” of God Are More Mature Than “Children” of God

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called be the sons of God.” The meaning of sons of God is different than the meaning of children of God. Children of God are babies; a son is a mature person who knows how to die to self and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Ask yourself whether you deserve the title, “son of God” or “daughter of God.” It's very easy to find out. Just ask yourself the question: Are you a peacemaker? Are you a peacemaker at home? Are you a peacemaker in the church or are you a troublemaker? Are you a peacemaker with your neighbors? Are you the type of person who kicks up a quarrel wherever you go? If yes, then you don't deserve the title “son of God,” since you are acting more like a son of the devil. So let's be careful.

Right Attitude #8: Being Persecuted for Righteousness Leads to the Kingdom of Heaven

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Earlier on we saw, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” When we take a position of humility and pursuing peace and hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and we pursue gentleness and we don't fight for our rights, we will find that we will run into people in the world who are evil persecutors. All those who seek to live in a godly way will be persecuted. So if we seek to live in righteousness, we will be persecuted.

2 Timothy 3:12 is an absolute statement inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” It doesn't say “some;” it doesn't say “many;” it doesn't say “most.” It could be some, many, most, or all. It says “all.” All includes every single believer in Christ Jesus (not every single person who calls himself a believer, but everyone who desires to live a godly life). You will be persecuted in your place of work. You may be persecuted for righteousness. What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness? It means that in your place of work or in some situation, you say, “I will not do that wrong.”

I remember numerous situations when I was working in the Navy, where I had to stand up to my senior officers and say, “I'm sorry, sir, I cannot do that because my conscience does not permit me. I'm a Christian.” And that is a very risky, dangerous thing to say in the military. If you say that in a secular job, you just get sacked and turned out of your job. But when you say that in the military, you're in danger of being court-martialed, which means being taken before a court and probably put into jail, because it is a very serious thing not to obey orders in the military. I remember numerous situations where that happened and I had to trust God to take care of me. If they asked me to do something that violated my conscience, I would say, “Sorry, sir, I am a Christian, I can’t do that.” It didn’t matter how senior the officer was.

It’s possible that I would have suffered in some way because of that, meaning that the commanding officer wouldn't give me a good recommendation for a promotion. Once I was transferred within half an hour to another post. I could suffer inconvenience, but that's okay. You can’t call this persecution at all; these are like little mosquito bites compared to the lions that ate up the early Christians. But the early Christians faced these too.

Standing up for Righteousness

We need to consider what it means to stand up for righteousness. There are many jobs in which people compromise - they tell lies, they cheat, and they give bribes in order to get something unrighteous done. When Christians go that way, they of course will not face persecution; but if they refuse to go that way, if they refuse to take a bribe, or to do something unrighteous, they may face threats from the people above them, who want a share of that bribe or something. There are many cases like this. When you stand for uprightness, you may lose your job or find disfavor with your bosses, but the kingdom of heaven belongs to you. You may lose something of earth in that process - maybe a position, maybe some promotion - but you will get something of heaven in exchange. Is that worth it?

Is it right for a person to tell a lie to get admission or to get a job in some situation? It’s not worth it! It’s never worth it for a Christian. It's far better that he doesn't do it because he will be out of the will of God. If you get admission into some situation by telling a lie, you can be pretty sure that God didn’t lead you there. When you face a tight spot, the devil may tell you, “Tell a lie here because a lie is almighty; it can get you anything.” And the Holy Spirit says, “No, that's a lie; God is almighty. Telling a lie is not the most powerful way to get what you want. Stand up for God. God is able to give you what He wants you to get.” Then you will find that God will give you what you should get.

Sometimes God will test you in this. I know God has tested me at different times and I believe that if I had failed that test in those places, I would not be where I am today and I would not have the ministry God has given me. Perhaps you could have had a ministry if you had been upright and had been willing to suffer earthly loss in some places for the sake of righteousness. The kingdom of heaven would have been more greatly yours to some extent, but you lost some of that. You can't do anything about the past; what you have lost is gone and you can’t get it back. But you can do something about the future. Say, “Lord, at least in the days to come, I want to stand up for what is righteous and upright.” A Christian is not supposed to be crooked in any area. A Christian is not supposed to tell a lie or cheat for any type of profit. God is looking for those who will stand upright so that he can commit a greater ministry to them.

Right Attitude #9: Rejoice When You Are Persecuted for Jesus’ Sake

“Blessed are you when men cast insults on you and persecute you (not for righteousness sake now (v10) and say all kinds of evil against you on account of Me” (Matthew 5:11). The difference between verse 10 and verse 11 is that, in verse 10, you're standing for what is right. There are even non-Christians sometimes who stand for what is right. There are people who have lost their jobs, judges who have been killed for giving a right verdict, and businessmen, politicians, and others who have been killed by their enemies for standing up for what is right. It is not just Christians who do this, and it's a shameful thing that non-Christians are sometimes more willing to stand for uprightness than many who claim to be Christians. I believe you're going to get a lot of surprises in the day of judgment when such Christians who imagined that they were entering God's kingdom are exposed as compromisers and backsliders. If you're righteous and you're willing to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, the kingdom of heaven is yours; not otherwise.

Matthew 5:11 speaks about being persecuted for Jesus’ sake. If you keep quiet about the fact that you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, you can get some benefits in your place of work. Maybe you’re righteous and that's appreciated by others, but you keep quiet about the fact that you believe in Jesus Christ as the way of salvation because you're afraid you won't get a promotion. Perhaps you'd rather let others believe that you are a non-Christian, just like your bosses are and you are ashamed to be a witness for Christ. I’ve seen government offices and banks where non-Christians will hang up a calendar with the picture of their favorite idol, but it's very rare that you find a Christian who is willing to hang up a calendar with the Word of God on it, which pronounces the fact that he's a Christian. This is because he's afraid of what will people say about him. “Will my boss see it and prevent me from getting a promotion or harass me in some way?”

“Blessed are those who are persecuted on account of Me, who are not ashamed of Me.” Are you ashamed of Jesus in your place of work? Don't glory in the fact that you're externally righteous because many non-Christians are externally righteous too. Go beyond that, one step further: declare, “I'm also a Christian. I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ.” If you stand up for God and His Word (and it's not only in the place of work, even as a preacher if you stand for everything that is taught in God's Word), if you are eager to expose the deception in Christian circles today, people will insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evils stories about you falsely, because you stand up for the truth.

Rejoice When You Are Persecuted for Jesus’ Sake

What should you do when that happens? Do we have to feel sorry for ourselves? Far from it! It says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:12). You won’t get a reward on earth - you might be persecuted and cast out - but your reward in heaven is great because that's exactly how they persecuted all the prophets who were before you. If you look at the Old Testament prophets, you’ll see that true prophets of God were persecuted. The persecutions that they faced, however, are not always mentioned. Take for example, a man like Isaiah, who spoke some strong words against the people of Israel. We’re not told in the book of Isaiah how he died, but tradition tells us that he was inside of an empty hollow log of wood and his persecutors sawed him into two pieces.

He is one of the people mentioned in Hebrews 11, who were sawn asunder. All those who stand up for Christ will be persecuted. Stephen, when he was standing before the chief priests in Acts 7, asks the crowd a very significant question at the end of his long message: he says in Acts 7:52, “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? Your fathers killed those who had previously announced the coming of Jesus, the righteous One. Which one of the prophets in Israel did your fathers not persecute? Can you name one?” Stephen was describing Israel's history. He had studied Israel's history and he concluded that there was not a single prophet in the entire history of Israel who was not persecuted. No true profit was popular neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament.

Pastors can be popular, evangelists can be popular, and even apostles can be popular at times. Teachers can be very popular, but a prophet is almost never popular because he is coming to diagnose and expose the faults in a church or in people. And he comes into a church to speak what they need to hear and not what they like to hear. He will show them the areas of God's Word that they are ignoring. He will show them the areas in their lives where they are falling short of God's standards, and then he will be persecuted. It happens even today. This is what it means to stand up for Jesus, “On account of Me and My Word.” If you are persecuted, you're blessed and you are to be envied. In another version it says, “Leap for joy!” You should be excited because you’re in the footsteps of the prophets and in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 14

Jesus’ Disciples Must Be Salt and Light

“You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Jesus didn’t say this to the multitudes. Remember that the Sermon on the Mount is primarily to His disciples and the multitudes sat around listening. The multitudes are certainly not the salt of the earth – they don’t have any salt. But the disciples are to be the salt of the earth. Jesus was a master of using word pictures, and He left it to us to understand the meaning behind them as we seek for the inspiration and revelation of the Holy Spirit. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how it will be made salty? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Purpose of Salt in Our Food: Taste

So what is the purpose of salt, particularly in our food? He is talking about taste here. Salt is used for many other reasons, such as preservation. But He is not speaking here about the preserving power of salt. He is talking about taste.

We can’t preserve the world from becoming rotten. It will become rotten, because men’s hearts are fully set on evil. But in the church, He is talking about disciples who have retained the taste of heaven in their life. That means that when you come in touch with this disciple, you will taste something of heaven, which is so different from what you see in the average person, who tastes of this earth.

Taste of Earth vs Heaven

What do I mean by “tasting of heaven” and “tasting of the earth”? When you meet many people, all they can talk about is what’s happening on the earth: what is the latest price of the stocks and shares, what calamity is happening here, what evil is happening there, etc. Or they may talk of the latest gossip concerning other people - this is the taste of the world.

The taste of heaven is something that brings life and joy and peace and goodness. It is very rare to find people like that, who have the life of Jesus bubbling up in them. They are like salt that gives taste to its surroundings.

Quality Salt

In a bowl of food, you need very little salt. You don’t even need one full spoon of salt; that would be too much. In a bowl of food, you need very little salt to give taste to the whole bowl, if the salt is really powerful and good. But if the salt is tasteless, then even if you put 20 spoons in it, it is not going to make any difference in the taste. So the point is not quantity, but quality. When Jesus says, “If the salt has become tasteless” (Matthew 5:13), He is not talking about the quantity of salt at all.

He is using this picture to show us that His disciples will always be small in number. If you have a plate of rice and curry, how much salt are going to put into that whole plate of rice and curry? You would not even put half a teaspoon. You need very little salt to make that whole plate taste right. And so the proportion of the amount of salt relative to the food is about the same as the proportion of true disciples on earth relative to the population of the world (and sometimes even the number of people in the church!). The true disciples are very few.

But it’s only those true disciples who are called the salt of the earth. It is because of them that the earth is preserved from judgment. Abraham once prayed to God concerning the evil city of Sodom, which the Lord said He would destroy. He asked to the Lord (concerning whether He would still destroy it), “Suppose Lord you find only ten righteous people in Sodom?” (Genesis 18:32), the Lord said, “I won’t destroy Sodom, if there are ten righteous people in that city.” Ten people were enough to preserve the city from being destroyed, but there were not even ten there, so it was destroyed.

In Jeremiah’s time, the Lord reduced that number even further. Jeremiah was prophesying at a time when Israel was about to be taken into captivity by the Babylonian king (that was God’s punishment), but before that, Jeremiah went to prophesy. He preached and warned them for 40 years, but they wouldn’t listen to him. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Go through the streets of Jerusalem and see if you can find one man (not ten, just one single man) who does justice, who seeks truth, and I will pardon the whole city” (Jeremiah 5:1). It’s amazing, but there wasn’t even one righteous man, and so the whole city went into captivity.

Very often God is looking around like that. Ezekiel was also a prophet at the time of Babylon and God said through Ezekiel, “I searched for one man among all of them who should stand in the gap for me and build the wall that I shouldn’t destroy the land, and I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). God spoke the same words: quality, not quantity. He wasn’t looking for 10,000 people. He was looking for even one man.

It’s amazing what God can do through one man if he is whole-hearted and radical. Think of Moses - one man in the Old Testament through whom God could deliver 2 million Israelites. There was nobody else in Israel who was fit to be the leader. In Elijah’s time, even though there were 7000 people who did not bow their knee to Baal (a picture of 7000 believers who don’t worship idols), there was only one man (Elijah) who could bring the fire down from heaven. It is the same proportion today. You might find only one believer among 7000 believers who can bring the fire down from heaven through their ministry or their prayer.

The 7000 may say, “I don’t do this, and I don’t do that.” Their testimony is negative! “I don’t go to movies, I don’t drink, I don’t gamble and I don’t smoke cigarettes.” They don’t worship Baal, but who can bring the fire down from heaven? The one who lives before God’s face, like Elijah did; Elijah had salt.

It’s the same in the New Testament. Can you imagine the loss that the church would have faced, and the loss we would have faced, if the Apostle Paul had never existed? How much Scripture would be missing? He was one man! Of course God’s work is not going to be hindered because one man fails (God could have used somebody else), but what we see in Scripture is that often God accomplishes more through one person who is whole-hearted than He does through 10,000 compromisers. That is the point Jesus emphasizes when He tells His disciples, “You are like salt.” Don’t ever complain, “We are so few!”

God Answers the Prayers of the Few

I remember situations in our own church in Bangalore where we found a need to pray for the government, because of some problems in the city. We were not a big church, but we had two good qualities in our midst: first, we were pursuing holiness with all of our heart. We were not there to compare ourselves with others but we could honestly say before God, “We are sincerely seeking to pursue holiness and to please You in everything. We don’t want to please men, or worship money. We have no interest in money in our church, and so we don’t worship Mammon; we worship Christ instead.” The second thing is, to the best of our ability and knowledge, we were one with each other. We were not a church full of strife, quarrels, disputes, and cliques. So we pursued holiness and unity. Those are the things God looks for, because if we have iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us (Psalm 66:18). And where two are united (Matthew 18:19,20), they can ask for anything, because the Lord is in the midst. So I said, since we have purity, and we have unity, we have a right to get an answer to our prayer. And we received that answer many times in many miracles that God has done.

How does God do these things? He does them through a few people who have not lost the taste of radical righteousness, purity, fervent love, pursuing humility, etc. So keep this in mind: you are the salt of the earth.

Quality Light

Next, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do men light a lamp and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Light is another illustration or word picture that Jesus used. In those days, they used lamps. The wick of a lamp is a very, very small thing (a bulb is a very small thing today). But it lights up a whole room! The wick of a lamp in those days was so small, but as it burned, it lit up the whole room. It was not the size of the wick or the size of the bulb, but the intensity of light that would come forth from it that mattered. Again the emphasis is not on quantity but quality. There are zero watt bulbs that emit such a dim light that you can hardly see anything from them, and then there are powerful bulbs about the same size, like halogen bulbs, which light up a whole street. A bulb can be very low wattage or very high wattage. The important thing is not its size, but its power - the intensity of power with which it can light something up. And Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.”

The world is in darkness, and there must be nothing of that darkness in me. If I am a bulb and the darkness of the world is in me, then I am like a broken bulb. A lot of churches have Christians who are like broken bulbs. Once upon a time they were burning, but now they are broken: they are backslidden and their light is not shining anymore. What is that light? It says here, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” In those days, light came through a lamp that was constantly burning with oil that enabled the wick to burn, and the oil is the picture of the Holy Spirit.

One mark of a person anointed with the Holy Spirit is that he does good. It says in Acts 10:38 that when Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, He went about doing good. He didn’t go around collecting money from people for His ministry like a lot of so-called “anointed” preachers do today. He was exactly the opposite of that. He went around doing good, and He never charged for it. People voluntarily gave Him gifts without His asking and He accepted them, but He would never make His needs known to anyone. He went about doing good without any charge.

He says, “Let your light so shine upon men so they may see your good works and not glorify you, but God!” If you do good works to get honor for yourself, to get glory for yourself, that’s actually darkness. And lot of good works that many Christians do are actually advertisements for themselves, to get honor for themselves. Their organization or their ministry is actually darkness because there is no glory that goes to the Father in heaven. Instead, glory comes to that particular organization or that particular man. But Jesus said, “Let people see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” That is the true light, where a person is doing good and as a result of that, Christ is glorified, not the individual.

This is what it means to manifest light. In John 1:4, this light is described like this: “In Jesus Christ was life, and that life was the Light of men.” So the light is not a doctrine, a teaching, or a particular message - it’s a life. It’s the very life of Jesus coming forth from us through the Holy Spirit. The life of Jesus coming forth from us is like an old lamp that was lit with oil, giving off light.

Jesus said very clearly in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall never walk in darkness.” Whenever a person is walking in darkness, according to John 8:12, we can say without a doubt that that person is not following Jesus. If you say, “Well, I am a bit dark right now,” the reason is that you may not be following Jesus. Please do not confuse walking in darkness with being unsure of God’s will. Even Jesus was confused about the Father’s will, being perplexed in the garden of Gethsemane. That’s why He prayed for one hour, “Father what is Your will, should I drink this cup or not?” That’s not darkness. Perplexity is part of the life of faith, but darkness is something else, something contrary to the life of Jesus. Jesus said, “He who follows Me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life, because I am the light of the world.”

Then He went on to say that He was the light of the world only for certain period of time. “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). How long was He in the world? He was in the world for 33 ½ years. That’s all.

People may be super-spiritual and say, “Isn’t Christ in the world right now?” Well, if you read John 17:11, He says, “I am no longer in this world.” We have to get rid of our super-spirituality. Just before Jesus left this earth and went to heaven, on the eve of the cross, He said, “I am no more in the world. But these disciples are here in the world. They are in the world, but I am no more here. I am coming to You, Holy Father, so I am not in the world anymore.” So when He said in John 9, “As long as I am in the world,” He was talking about that 33 ½ year period where He manifested life. After He went up to heaven, who is the light of the world today?

Jesus’ Disciples Are the Light of the World Now

Matthew 5:14 says, “You are the light of the world.” If somebody were to ask me, “Who is the light of the world?”, the Scriptural answer would be to say, “Me. I am the light of the world, along with others who follow Jesus.” Have you ever thought of it like that? Have you ever thought of answering the question, “Who is the light of the world?” by saying “Me and others who follow Jesus”? That is the right answer.

It is very easy to say “Oh, don’t look at me. Just look at Jesus.” But He is not in the earth! He said, “I am the light of the world only as long as I am in the world.” So many Christians haven’t read the Scriptures properly, and they get many types of wrong ideas in their heads that are from their own understanding and are completely wrong. Just like God depended 100% on Jesus Christ during those 33 ½ years to manifest His life perfectly, He is depending on His church - His disciples on earth - to manifest that same light perfectly now. “Let people see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus’ Life Was the Law Manifested

Matthew 5:17 says, “Don’t think that I came to abolish the law of the prophets; I didn’t come to abolish, but to fulfill.” The fundamental principle behind God’s law is His life. In the law, He was, in a limited way, putting into writing what His nature was like. The absence of idolatry and giving God the first place, honoring father and mother, never hurting other people with murder, adultery or any such thing, etc., was a manifestation of the life of God in man, and Jesus manifested that life. He said, “I haven’t come to abolish the law.” The fundamental principle behind the law was never abolished. Some people misunderstand that verse to mean that we should keep the Sabbath as well.

But it is the principle behind the law that the Lord was speaking about here. He says, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not a smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law until all is accomplished.” He says, “I have come to fulfill the law,” and then He goes on to say, “If you cancel one of the least of these commandments and teach other people that some commandment is unimportant, you will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But if you keep them and teach others to keep even the least commandment, you will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18-19) .

Is He referring to the ten commandments, or the commandments of Moses, such as killing lambs and offering peace, grain, and sin offerings? Those commands were all in Old Testament, so we can’t pick out one. The commandments (laws) were fulfilled in Christ. So when He is speaking about the “least commandment” in the law, He is talking about the spirit of the law.

The Law Was the Shadow of Christ

Colossians 2:16 says, “Don’t let anyone act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, because all these things are a shadow.” Did you notice that He included the fourth commandment, keeping the Sabbath? He says it is only a shadow. It is fulfilled in Christ. In today’s language, you could say it is like a photograph. Until Christ came, you needed the photograph. If I am not travelling with my wife, I may carry her photograph with me and look at it, but if I am travelling with my wife, why do I need to look at the photograph? There is something wrong with a man who is travelling with his wife but keeps looking at her photograph!

The law is over, now that Christ has come. He says that was only a shadow. It is an accurate picture of Christ - many things in the Old Testament accurately portrayed Christ - but it is only a photograph. The reality is in Christ. We need to keep that in mind when Jesus speaks about fulfilling the law. The Sabbath was fulfilled in Christ, and now it’s the inner Sabbath that the Lord is seeking to bring into our hearts. “Come to Me and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). That inner rest comes as we take His yoke upon us. Some people think of keeping the Sabbath as the one commandment that should never be cancelled. No, the fulfillment of the law is now through the Holy Spirit inside our hearts.

In Romans 8:4, it is explained like this: “The righteous requirement of the law is now fulfilled inside us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” This is how the law is fulfilled. We have to compare Scripture with Scripture. The law will not pass away. Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, and it must be fulfilled in us, too. How is it going to be fulfilled in us? The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us when we don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Holy Spirit instead, every single day (Romans 8:4). It’s not by keeping the Sabbath or other commandments.

Finally, in Matthew 5:20, He says “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law, and even in our lives, the law of God has to be fulfilled in our hearts. In the Old Testament, they fulfilled it externally in various ways - they kept the “outside of the cup” clean. But it is the inside of the cup that God is interested in now. We are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and that life has to come from the Holy Spirit, from within.

Chapter 15

Inward Righteousness and Anger

Don’t Lower God’s Standards

We need to receive the teaching of Jesus exactly like it is written because many have diluted it or made it mean something it doesn't mean. Because they're not able to live up to God’s standard, many teachers have lowered His standard down to their level. Whenever you see something in God's Word that you haven't attained to, or which is higher than your level of life, you have two options. One option is to say, “Well, God’s Word doesn't really mean that. It means something in a general way but not exactly that.” For example, “I know that it says, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’ in Philippians 4:4, but it doesn't really mean ‘always.’ It means, ‘generally speaking,’ or ‘most of the time.’” Thus you have succeeded in lowering God's Word down to your carnal level, and you satisfy yourself by imagining that you're obeying it. But the spiritually-minded Christian leaves God's Word where it is and says, “I'm supposed to rejoice in the Lord 24/7,” and he acknowledges humbly, “Lord, I'm not there yet. I'm rejoicing some of the time, grumbling some of the time (or most of the time), and angry often, but I'm not rejoicing in all circumstances. I'm not giving thanks for everything like the Bible says, so I acknowledge this. Please bring me there.”

That’s the person who will reach God’s standard. The other person, who has lowered God’s standard to his level, will never attain it. One day he will wake up in eternity and discover that he disobeyed God all his life. So, it's good to leave God's Word where it is, and acknowledge that either we haven't understood it or we haven't reached there. Then there's some hope we will get there.

Surpassing the Righteousness of the Pharisees

We must bear this in mind as we come to Matthew 5:20: “I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds/surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The righteousness of the Pharisees was a pretty high standard. They kept the Ten Commandments. The rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, “I kept all the commandments,” Jesus didn't question that. (Of course, they couldn't keep the Tenth Commandment, but nobody could keep that because the tenth one was inward. I'll come to that later. But they were keeping the other nine commandments, and all the Old Testament laws, which included more than 600 commandments.) The Pharisees boasted that they prayed regularly, probably three times a day, fasted twice a week, and gave tithes of all their income. So what does it mean when this verse says that your righteousness must exceed theirs?

Does it mean that you have to pray more than three times a day, fast more than twice a week, and give more than 10 percent of your income? That’s not the meaning. We always think in terms of quantity, because our mind is worldly-minded. The more worldly-minded we are, the more we think in terms of numbers, statistics, and quantity. We judge a church by the number of people there are, not by the quality of life of those people. We think Jesus said, “All men will know you are My disciples when there are 30,000 of you meeting in one church.” But that's not what He said. He told his eleven disciples, “All men will know you are my disciples when you eleven love one another.” The number of people doesn't matter. Love for one another is the primary mark of a true local church of disciples.

Jesus always emphasized quality. Today's Christianity, such as mission organizations and megachurches, emphasizes numbers. How many people are there in our church? How many places have you reached? How much is our yearly offering? These are the things they inwardly glory in. Or preachers will say: How many countries have I traveled to? How many sermons have I preached? How many books have I written? How many TV programs am I speaking on? These are the things that carnal people glory in.

Jesus always emphasized quality: quality salt and quality light. He had only eleven disciples at the end of His life. That’s not a large number, but look at the quality of their lives. Those eleven disciples turned the world upside down. Where do you find disciples like that, who have forsaken all, who have no interest in money, and things like this? It’s so rare to find even one preacher like that in the world today.

And it’s quality that Jesus was emphasizing when He said, “Your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.” Quality, not in the number of activities that you engage in. It's got nothing to do with money. It's got nothing to do with praying. It's got nothing to do with fasting. It's got to do with quality of life.

Jesus goes on in the remaining verses (in fact, almost until the end of the Sermon on the Mount) explaining this one verse. We can say the majority of the Sermon on the Mount is explaining Matthew 5:20. Do you want to enter the kingdom of heaven? He speaks a lot about this. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (verse 3). Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (verse 10). And now He says your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Two Strengths of the Pharisees

There were two good things about the Pharisees that Jesus Himself commended. If Jesus gave a certificate of approval for something, you can be sure it was pretty good. In Matthew 23:2,3, Jesus says the scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. “Therefore, all that they tell you to do and observe, do, but don't do according to their deeds.” He is saying that their doctrine was right. That's the first certificate of approval that He gives them. He wouldn't say that about the Herodians, who were worldly. And He wouldn't say that about the Sadducees, who did not believe in angels or in the resurrection from the dead. He wouldn't say to the disciples, “All that the Sadducees tell you to do, do,” because their doctrines were wrong. But when it came to the Pharisees, He said their doctrines were right. Here's one certificate of approval.

The other certificate that Jesus gave the Pharisees is in Matthew 23:25: “You clean the outside of the cup and the dish.” That means that their external life was very upright. What this shows us is that if your external life is upright and your doctrines are correct, you could still be a terrible Pharisee, on your way to hell. It is to these people that Jesus said, “How will you escape the damnation of hell?” He says in Matthew 23:33, “You people who have all your doctrines right, you people whose outer life is very clean, how in the world will you escape hell?” Do you think Jesus would say that to some Christians today? “Your doctrine is alright and your external life is so good that people appreciate you, but how will you escape hell, my dear Christians?”

What is it that Jesus is looking for? Your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees in quality. These are not comfortable truths that Christians like to listen to. We've been coddled and comforted for so long, and assured by preacher after preacher after preacher that our sins are forgiven, that we're all on our way to heaven, and that the blood of Jesus is all that we need. But it's better to trust in the Word of God than what some preacher tells you. See what Jesus Himself said: “If your righteousness doesn't surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees in quality, you are not going to enter the kingdom of heaven, no matter which preacher assured you that you are.” It is better to listen to a preacher who points you to God's Word and tells you the truth. Don't get a surprise on the day of the judgment, my friend.

Inward Righteousness Deals with the Root of Sin

Jesus explains the standard of righteousness that the Pharisees maintained. They kept the standard of the law externally and cleaned the outside of the cup. You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit murder.” It’s good when you don't commit murder, and in that area the outside of your cup is clean. But what about the inside of the cup? That's the question. Your doctrine may be right, but what about the inside of the cup?

Matthew 5:21 says that it is not just the man who commits murder who's liable to the court, but that if a man has the seed of anger in his heart, that is murder. Murder comes out of anger. That's the seed. It's like a little acorn seed from which the big oak tree grows. Anger is the seed from which murder comes, and Jesus was pointing out the root of the problem.

The Old Testament and the law were like a pair of scissors that snipped off the bad fruit from the tree, but John the Baptist said Jesus has come to lay an axe to the root of the tree. Jesus came to hit the root of the problem. To use a modern illustration, the law was like ointment that you spread upon a sore that comes in your body, to prevent it from coming forth. The law restrained people from murder, adultery, and so many other evils. After you rub on the ointment, the sore goes away, but then it comes up somewhere else. You rub in the ointment again, but then the sore pops up on your leg, and this process keeps repeating itself. Then, all of a sudden, somebody discovers an antibiotic, and the doctor says, “Now you don't need to keep rubbing in the ointment. Instead, take this antibiotic. The antibiotic hits the root of the problem, and gets to the root of this disease that is causing these eruptions on your skin. You can be healed.”

This is what grace does. Grace hits at the root of the problem. So in Matthew 5:20, Jesus says, “I want to tell you that anger will make you liable to the court. In the Old Testament, murder would make you liable to the court, but I'm saying that even anger will make you just as guilty today.” In the Old Testament, you were only guilty if you committed murder; in the New Testament, you are guilty when you get angry. Now, an anger that is just in the heart, even if it hasn't even come out of your mouth yet (verse 22), makes you guilty.

Wrong Attitude #1: Anger

There are nine wrong attitudes that Jesus spoke of after speaking about the nine right attitudes. The number one wrong attitude is anger. If you have anger in your heart, it's a wrong attitude, and you're already guilty, even though you have done nothing. You've said nothing, nor killed your brother physically or with your words, but you're guilty already.

And then that anger can go one step further. Out of the abundance of the heart, Jesus said, the mouth speaks. The mouth is like the overflow valve of what is in the heart, and if there is anger in the heart, it overflows through the mouth. Jesus says that if your anger overflows through the mouth and you say something to hurt your brother in your anger, now you're going to be guilty before a higher court, the supreme court (Matthew 5:22).).). Before that, you were just guilty at a lower court. He’s using human language to show that your guilt is much greater when you have allowed your anger to be expressed in words towards your brother. If you've kept it in, that’s good, but you're still guilty; if you express it, you're guilty at a higher level; if you go still further, and you hurt your brother with even more angry words, you can be guilty enough to go beyond court, and beyond supreme court, to hell itself.

What has Jesus taught us about anger? That anger in the heart is the first of three steps to hell. Have you ever heard any preacher tell you that, that when you get angry with anyone (it could be with your wife, with your husband, with your mother-in-law, with your neighbor, with your boss, with someone who has done some evil to you, or anyone else), in God's eyes the seed of murder is already there in your heart? You are guilty, and if it comes forth in hurtful words, you're guilty enough to go to hell without ever having murdered that person. This is where our righteousness is to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees only thought of physical murder as taking a man to hell, and it is to this outward attitude toward the commandments that Jesus added His, “but I say to you.” We can say that Moses went up to the mountain and brought down the two tablets with Ten Commandments, and Jesus went up to the mountain and replaced those Ten Commandments with the Sermon on the Mount. Whatever is written in those commandments that Moses got on the mountain, Jesus wants to tell you the spirit behind those commands.

Jesus said in John 6, “The words that I speak to you are spirit and life. The flesh profits nothing.” It's the spirit that's most important. He showed what was behind the law of murder: God is against your getting angry with your brother. It's a serious thing, so if you are angry with your brother, what should you do?

How To Deal with Anger

It’s wonderful that the Lord gives us a solution. He doesn't only identify the problem; He gives us a solution. A true prophet will not only indicate the sin in a church or in a person, but will also provide them a solution, just like a good doctor does not only diagnose a sickness, but also provides a cure. So He says, “If you come before God with an offering of apology because you realize that you have sinned, God will say, ‘That's not enough. I'm not going to accept your offering of asking for forgiveness.’ So here’s what you must do: leave your offering there. First go to your brother whom you spoke against, whom you hurt, and be reconciled to him. Then come back and present your offering to God and ask Him for forgiveness” (Matthew 5:24).

How many people do that? When you have hurt your wife by some words you spoke, or you’ve hurt your husband by something you said (or a co-worker or somebody else), as a Christian, what is the first thing you need to do as soon as you are aware that you did something wrong? Go to that person and say, “I'm sorry.” The Lord says, “Don't come to Me first.” We need to understand God's law. You have to go to the one whom you hurt first, otherwise God won't even listen to your prayer. It's so clear. Go first to man and not to God. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come present your offering to God.

But people may say, “What if I go to my brother and say, ‘I'm sorry for what I did,’ and he doesn't forgive me?” Your responsibility is over then. It's between him and God if he's got a grudge against you. God will deal with him, but you finished your responsibility. You don't have to force him to forgive you. You have to do your best to clear your debt to him because you sinned against him, and as far as you're concerned, your reconciliation is complete when you've done your part. If he doesn't do his part to forgive you, that's between him and God. A person who doesn't forgive another will go to hell. That's none of your business. You have to do your part to go and ask forgiveness, and then come to God. Otherwise, He says if you don't do that, then you can finally go to hell. That's the meaning of Jesus’ parable which says you'll be thrown into prison and you'll never be able to come out of there till you paid the last cent. It’s too late after you get into eternity to go and ask people for forgiveness. That's why we need to settle all matters with God and men right now.

The Righteous Keep Their Consciences Clear

The Apostle Paul said in Acts 24:15 when he was speaking to Felix in a trial, “I have a hope in God which these men cherish themselves, that there will certainly be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked.” All who are born again Christians believe in two resurrections. The book of Revelation speaks about the first resurrection and a second resurrection. Jesus spoke in John 5 of the resurrection of the wicked and the resurrection of the righteous. Here also, he says there'll be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. People die, and one day they're going to be raised up - the righteous and the wicked alike. Paul says, “I want to be in the resurrection of the righteous, not in the resurrection of the wicked.” In order to be in the resurrection of the righteous, what should we do?

“In view of this” means, “because it is true that there are going to be two resurrections, I want to make sure that I'm in the resurrection of the righteous and so I do my best...” He doesn't say, “I trust in the Lord to forgive my sins.” That's fine. Your salvation is only through the death of Christ, but he says - “I do my best to maintain always (always means 24/7) a blameless conscience before God and before man.” Not only before God. We should all be able to say, “I seek to keep my conscience clear 24 hours a day, seven days a week, before God and men.” You see an example of that in the previous chapter where he shouted at the high priest. As soon as he realized his mistake, he immediately asked for forgiveness (Acts 23:5). I believe it is implied there in the words written there.

First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and give your offering.

Don’t Grieve the Holy Spirit with Your Words

This is why we have such a strong word in Ephesians 4:31, which says, “Let all anger be put away from you.” Our words are very important. The one place in Scripture where it speaks about grieving the Holy Spirit - hurting the Holy Spirit, really making Him sad at the way you are conducting yourself - is in our speech. Ephesians 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” What is a subject in the previous verse and the next verse? The words we speak. The exact meaning of verse 29 is, “Let no rotten word come out of your mouth, but only what is good, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

“Don't grieve the Holy Spirit with your words,” and therefore, “Let all bitter words, wrathful words, angry words, clamorous words, slanderous words, be put away along with all hateful words” (paraphrase verse 31). The context of grieving the Holy Spirit is our words. So if we don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit, we must ensure that all angry words, and all spiteful words, and all bitter words, and all slander, and all gossip, and all ways of speech where we yell and scream, must be put away.

What percentage of those words should we put away? 100%! Verse 31 says “all.” I want to ask you: have taken that word, “all,” seriously? Do you believe what Jesus said, that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees? It's not enough to say, “I have not murdered people.” Have you gotten angry with people or expressed yourself in anger and hatred, or kept bitterness against people?

A Note on Speaking to Children

I want to clarify one thing. When you raise your voice at your children, that may not necessarily be anger. It may be because they aren’t taking what you say seriously. It's like when somebody is hundred meters away from you, you have to raise your voice to help them to hear; you are not angry with him. In the same way, a child may be sitting next to you, and you tell him to do something, but in his mind, he is 10 miles away. If you then raise your voice to help him hear you, that does not mean that you are angry. We need to distinguish between raising a voice without anger and raising a voice in anger. But just because raising your voice is permissible, don't justify yourself with that. Ask yourself if there's anger in your heart. There’s no excuse for doing that with adults. With your wife or husband, you can never make that excuse, because a raised voice in speaking to an adult is almost invariably a sign of anger.

Let's ask for the Holy Spirit's help to put away all anger. Call it “murder” and put it away from your life so that you can please your Heavenly Father, and so let your light shine before men that, as they see your good words and works, they glorify God for what He's done in your life.

Chapter 16

Righteous Anger, Unrighteous Anger and Lustful Thinking

Fulfilling the great commission of making disciples is more laborious than simply bringing people to Christ, which can be done in a moment. To lead people to the type of life that Jesus described in His teaching is a life-long process. This is not independent of the ministry of evangelism and missionary work, but it is completing the job those ministries begin. One needs the other, just like how a hand takes food and puts it into the mouth (a picture of evangelism). And then the rest of the human body’s processes digest that food and make it part of the body - that is a picture of the other ministries that complete the work and make that new convert an effective member the body of Christ.

This is what we see in Matthew 5, things that Jesus taught and commanded that we are to bring every single believer into this life.

New Covenant Standards: Anger

In Matthew 5 Jesus spoke about putting away anger. The old covenant standard was “You shall not murder” (Matthew 5:21), but in the next verse Jesus says, “My standard is, do not be angry” (Matthew 5:22). However, there is an anger that is not sinful and there is an anger that is sinful, and we need to understand the difference. In Ephesians 4, we have a command that says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). What it means is, the type of anger you should have in your life is an anger that is not sinful. So when Jesus raised the bar from the Old Testament standard of, “Do not murder,” to, “Do not be angry,” we need to understand what is the right type of anger and what is the wrong type of anger.

Whenever we do not understand a verse correctly we must look at our spiritual dictionary: the Word made flesh - the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus called Himself the light of the world and it says of Him, “In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men” (John 1:4). The life of Jesus Christ our Lord is the light that explains every verse in Scripture. So when we read, “Be angry, and yet do not sin” and we are trying to distinguish between an anger that is sinful and an anger that is not sinful, we’ve got to look at the Light that is in the life of Jesus.

Righteous Anger

When was Jesus angry and when was He not angry? We read in Mark 3:1-5 that when Jesus was in a synagogue, He looked around with anger at people who were trying to hinder a man with a withered hand from being healed. He was angry when the Pharisees, who were more concerned about keeping the ritual of the Sabbath than healing a paralyzed man. This is the right type of anger – anger towards religious leaders and religious people who are more interested in ritual than in people and more interested in keeping certain rituals than delivering paralyzed people.

Today the paralysis is found among Christians who are defeated by sin, and when we have religious people who are more interested to make sure that the people pay their tithes more than that they are free from sin. They are in the same category as the Pharisees who would not allow the man with a withered hand to be healed and were more interested in people paying their tithes and keeping the Sabbath. There are a lot of preachers and pastors like that today, who are not interested in delivering their flock from the power of sin in their life, but rather are more interested in ensuring that they pay their tithes. Jesus would look at such people with anger today because He did not come to earth to make people pay their tithes; He came to save people from their sins. He did not die on the cross to get people to pay their tithes; He died on the cross to deliver us from our sins.

Our Savior’s name is Jesus and He came to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21). When people hinder others from being saved from their sins and say, “Don't go and listen to this person because he is preaching victory over sin, but keep listening to me because I tell you how to pay your tithes,” we must be sure that Jesus would be angry with such people. And if you are in fellowship with Jesus Christ, as a servant of God you must also be angry with such people, who hinder others from being delivered.

Another example when Jesus was angry is in John 2 when Jesus went into the temple and drove the money changers out of the temple. It says that He made a whip and turned over the tables of the money changers and said, “Take these things away!” He was really angry and the disciples remembered the word that said, “Zeal for Your house has consumed Me” (John 2:15-17). Zeal for the purity of God's house should make us angry when we see people making money in the name of religion or in the name of Christ and exploiting poor people just like the sellers of doves and sheep exploited the poor people saying, “We will sell you these sheep and doves for your sacrifice but of course it’s going to cost you a little more than out in the market because we have to get our commission.”

He was angry with such people. He said, “If you want to make money, go out into the marketplace. The temple (the house) of God is not the place to make money.” Today we have a lot of preachers who are using Christianity to make money for themselves. They are using television and all types of means to become wealthy, to build huge houses, to buy airplanes for themselves, and all types of things. What would Jesus do if He were here today? He would do the exact same thing. He would be angry with them because they are dishonoring God's name by exploiting poor people. This is the right type of anger that we see in Christ. He was angry when He sees poor people being exploited, when He sees people making money in the name of religion by exploiting their ignorance. And when you see that happening today, if you are not angry, you are not like Christ. If you are Christlike, you will be angry when you see people, whether on television or on a platform or in a church, trying to make money in the name of Christianity or exploiting poor people in the name of religion.

Unrighteous Anger

When was Jesus not angry? One example is when He was called Beelzebub (prince of devils) (Matthew 12:22-24).). This occurred when Jesus cast out a demon from a man who was deaf and dumb. The multitude saw that, were excited, and began to say, “This is the Son of David. Look what a wonderful miracle He has done and set this man free!” But the Pharisees were jealous and they immediately said, “This man is casting out demons by the ruler of demons” (Matthew 12:24). They were calling Jesus, Satan. Imagine if somebody called you Satan when you are serving the Lord. But Jesus responded saying, “I am just a Son of a man, I am just an ordinary Man. If you have spoken against Me, you are forgiven; but be careful that you do not speak against the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 12:32).

He wasn't angry when people called Him the devil. He said, “It is alright if you speak against me, I am just the Son of a man. You are forgiven.” He was Almighty God when they called Him the devil, and He wasn't upset. He forgave them. A true Christian will never be upset with people calling him bad names, calling him a devil, pig, dog or whatever. It doesn’t make a difference. If he is Christlike, he will forgive them and not get angry. He won't even retain any bitterness or anger against the people who called him those names.

Another example of Jesus not getting angry is when He was standing before the chief priest at His trial and they spat on His face. They even slapped Him, and He still didn't get angry. When people physically assault us or spit on our face, if we get angry, then we are not Christlike. That’s the difference between anger that is sinful and anger that's not sinful. Anger that is sinful is when I am upset that people say something against me or do something to me. Your convenience is disturbed and your will is crossed. Be it your wife or husband or neighbor or your enemy or anybody. If we get angry then, we are not like Christ. We need to overcome that type of anger. The Holy Spirit comes to help us overcome to make us like Christ, Who was never upset when people called Him the devil or spat on His face.

Very few Christians want to be like Jesus Christ, but they all want to go to heaven when they die. Every Christian wants to go to heaven when he dies, but how many of them want to live like Jesus Christ on this earth before they go to heaven? Very few. That's the problem. Many of these folks are not really Christians. They are Christian by name because they were born in a Christian family, but they have not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their life and therefore as far as God is concerned, they are not Christians. They are going to get a big surprise when Christ comes again and they discover they were not Christians at all, because you cannot be a Christian by being born into a Christian family. You have to make a personal choice.

In the Old Testament you were a Jew if you were born into a Jewish family because becoming a Jew was by natural birth. But becoming a Christian is not by natural birth. It is by spiritual birth, and that comes when you repent of your sins and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord. That is the reason why many people don't take the matter of living like Jesus on this earth seriously. A true Christian will seek to live like Christ on this earth before he goes to heaven. Such a Christian, when he reads a command like, “Be angry, and yet do not sin,” is very eager to find out what type of anger is sinful.

When you see a television preacher trying to make money out of poor people in the name of Christ, if you are not angry at that, then you are not Christlike - you are sinning. You should be angry because Christ was angry when He saw people making money in the name of religion. If you are angry when people spit on you and call you the devil or hurt you in some way, then again, you are sinning because that is the wrong type of anger. When you look at a lot of Christians today, much like a lot of people in the world, they are angry at the wrong things - they are angry when people hurt them – but they are not angry when God's name is dishonored. They are angry when their own name is dishonored. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,” not, “Hallowed be my name.” It doesn't matter what people say about my name or me or my family. That is unimportant! Let the name of the Lord be honored. If that is our fundamental prayer, the first prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, then we will be angry at the right time and we will give up sinful anger.

This is so important for us to understand. This is the meaning of Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry, and yet do not sin.” And then five verses later in Ephesians 4:31 it says, “Put away all anger.” The two verses look contradictory, where in one place it says, “Be angry but don't sin,” and in another place it says, “Put away all anger.” What anger should we put away? Anger that is selfish, self-centered, and sinful. What is the anger that we should have? That which is God-centered, which concerns the glory of God's name. We should be burdened that God's name is not being honored on the earth today.

New Covenant Standard: Lust

Jesus continues teaching in Matthew 5 about a second wrong attitude. The first wrong attitude He spoke about was anger. We must get rid of anger from our life. The second wrong attitude, which is another major problem with all Christians (even all human beings),), is sexually lustful thinking – such as when a man looks at a woman to lust for her. Matthew 5:27-28 says that the Old Testament standard was “Do not commit physical adultery.” As long as you don't touch a woman who is not your wife, and you don't commit adultery with her, you were alright. That was the Old Testament standard. But Jesus raised that standard, too. Just like Moses went up to the mountain and came down with Ten Commandments, Jesus went up to the mountain and preached the Sermon on the Mount. He raised the level of those Ten Commandments to the spirit of those commandments. This showed that murder was like anger, and adultery was same as lusting with your eyes - in other words, you are committing adultery with that woman in your mind. Jesus said that in God's eyes, that was adultery because your inner life was impure.

The mark of the Pharisees was that they kept their external life pure - the outside of the cup. A Christian who keeps his outer life clean but his inner thought life impure is a Pharisee, and he is on his way to hell, whether he knows it or not. Many of us don't understand the seriousness of this.

During the last 35 years I have preached the most against a handful of sins, but two sins particularly - anger and sexually sinful, lustful thoughts. People have asked me why I speak so much against them. I tell them it’s because Jesus referred to these two sins when He first said that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Immediately after saying that your righteousness must be higher than the righteousness of all the Pharisees around you (who are very religious people), the first two sins Jesus mentioned were in the area of anger, and in the area of sexually lustful thinking. That’s the first reason why I preach against them the most.

The second reason why I preach against these two sins is that these are the only two sins that Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount where He said the danger of indulging in them was going to hell. Most people don't believe that. The only two times where Jesus spoke about hell in the Sermon on the Mount were in relation to these two sins, so this tells us that these two sins must be very serious.

There were other sins mentioned in Matthew 5, 6 & 7, but He didn't refer to hell again. But when it came to anger, He said there is a danger of hell: “you can be guilty enough to go to the fiery hell” (Matthew 5:22b). And when He spoke about lusting after a woman, He said the same thing in Matthew 5:29, “your whole body can be thrown into hell,” and again in Matthew 5:30, “your whole body can be thrown into hell.”

It is very significant that the only two times Jesus spoke about hell in the Sermon on the Mount were in relation to anger, and to sexually lustful thinking. So these must be very serious sins in God's eyes and there is not sufficient preaching against them today. Can you think of the last time you heard a message on overcoming anger? I don't think I’ve heard a message on that in my whole life. In the 50+ years I've been moving around Christendom, I've heard a lot of preachers on television, tapes, CDs, and in many churches. Yet I've hardly ever heard a message on overcoming sexually lustful patterns of thinking. Why is it that the devil has prevented preachers from preaching on these two areas?

The number one reason is that the preachers themselves haven't got victory. How can they speak about it if they’re still enslaved themselves? Secondly, the preachers are very often more interested in making people look nice on the outside in their churches and collecting their money. So there's a great need to emphasize these two things, which Jesus spoke about so much. These are the two sins that Jesus said would lead a person finally to hell and that is a very serious thing.

Jesus took the Ten Commandments and showed the people what was behind those commands.

You don't have to come to Matthew 5 to understand that lusting after a woman who is not your wife is a sin, as will be shown later. Jesus said that everyone (and it doesn't matter if the person is a believer or unbeliever) who looks on a woman to desire her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Lust means a strong desire. He said it is so serious that if your right eye makes you to stumble in this area then you must tear it out! You must be radical when you're tempted to lust with your eyes. You must act as if you're a blind man. That is the only way to overcome it. You shouldn't take it lightly and say, “Well, I'm just admiring the beauty that God has created.” There are so many ways we can justify this sin, and a lot of people do. It's when a person is careless in this area that over a period of time he will even fall into physical adultery, like a lot of pastors have throughout the world.

Overcoming Lust Through the Fear of God

You don't need to have a Bible to understand that lusting after a woman is wrong. Let me give you an example of a man who did not have a Bible and yet overcame in this area. That man is Job. The book of Job was the first book of the Bible that was written. We know this because there is no reference to Abraham, Isaac or Jacob in that book. Every other book in the Bible has some connection with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but the book of Job does not. There is also no reference to Moses. Job probably lived in the time of Abraham, and he certainly lived before Moses, for it was Moses who wrote Genesis. The book of Job must have been written before that because there are so many accurate details of Job’s conversations in this book that could not have been written by anyone else other than Job himself. This is a man who lived long before the Law was given, who had no understanding of the Ten Commandments, who had no Bible, and who had no fellowship. He was a lonely but godly man on the earth. But one thing he did have was the fear of God - a reverence for God. He turned away from whatever was wrong and sought to live uprightly. God Himself certified him saying, “For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless upright man who reveres Me and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8).

What was Job’s attitude towards women? He says: “I have made a covenant with my eyes, how then can I gaze at a virgin (a woman who is not my wife), because doesn't God see my ways and number all my steps?” (Job 31:1,4). “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway (when he is not there and his wife is there - v9), that would be a lustful crime” (Job 31:11). Who taught Job that? There was no Old Testament, and there was no New Testament in those days. There was no Bible at all! It was his reverence for God that taught him that even if he sinned only with his eyes, that it would be a sin against Almighty God, and it would be a disaster in his life (Job 31:3).

What Jesus taught in Matthew 5 was not something new that God-fearing men did not know. I'm sure John the Baptist knew it even before Jesus spoke it. Job knew it. Anyone who reveres God, even if he doesn't have a Bible like Job, will conclude that if I look with sexual lust at a woman who is not my wife, it is a sin before God. There is something within us that tells us that it is wrong. It is like stealing what God hasn't given to you. Even if you don't have a Bible, your conscience will tell you that when you steal something that doesn't belong to you, it is a sin. You don't need a commandment to tell you that. Reverence for God itself will tell you that.. That is a wonderful thing to remember as we see what Jesus taught.

Since Job knew this two thousand years before Jesus ever spoke it, even when there was no Bible available to anybody on the earth, what excuse is there for a Christian today who has a Bible? And those who speak English have the Bible in 20 or 30 translations today - every one of which tells the same thing. How is it that so many believers today take this matter of sexually lusting with their eyes so lightly? It is because there is a fundamental lack of reverence for God, which Job had. Today’s Christians have Bible knowledge, but no reverence for God. There are people who go to Bible schools and get doctorates in theology studying the Bible, yet still lust after women. What does that teach us? It teaches us that head knowledge of Scripture and “getting a degree” from a Bible seminary does not make you holy. There is so much Bible knowledge today with the abundance of translations and concordances. We even have the Bible on our mobile phones and on CDs, which people can listen to when they drive in their cars, etc. Yet in spite of all this abundance of knowledge, there is very little reverence for God.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught many things that we could know even without reading the Sermon on the Mount, as long as we have reverence for God. Some of these things are very clear to us: anger is sin, lusting after women is sin, and many other things written here. Therefore it is not because of a lack of knowledge that you continue in sin; it is because of lack of reverence for God. Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom. It is the “ABC” of the Christian life and if we don't have that, there is no amount of Bible study or listening to messages that is going to make us holy.

Chapter 17

Faith to Overcome Anger and Lustful Thinking

Taking Anger and Lustful Thinking Seriously

A lot of people are just happy with having their sins forgiven, and that’s it. Such people do not know Jesus as their Savior; they know Him as their Forgiver. For example, anger and sexually lustful thinking are not spoken about much because most preachers don't have any victory in either of these areas. Without victory, they can’t possibly have the authority to speak against them; and even if they do speak against them, victory-less preachers will not speak in a practical way, which leads others to overcome.

Let’s look a little more at these sins, so that we don't just see their seriousness, but so that we also understand how we can overcome them. Their seriousness is seen by the fact that these are the only two sins in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus connected with the possibility of a man going to hell. My observation is that 99% of Christians do not feel that anger is a very serious sin. They certainly do not feel that anger can take them to hell. Thus they don't really believe what Jesus said in Matthew 5:22. What type of Christians are they if they, don't believe what Jesus Christ said? Do you believe what He said about anger? Or do you believe the psychologists? Psychologists can’t lead you to heaven. In the same way, 99% of Christians don’t really believe that lusting after a women with your eyes is serious enough to take you to hell. Most people don’t take that seriously at all, which is proof that the devil has made sin such a light, unimportant thing.

Sin Is a Spiritual Disease

Think of a deadly disease, like AIDS or cancer: how many people would take contracting AIDS or getting cancer lightly? Only people who are completely ignorant of what such diseases can do. If you were to tell an illiterate, poor woman in a remote village that she's got cancer, she wouldn’t be disturbed, because she does not know what cancer is. An educated person, on the other hand, would be very disturbed if the doctor tells him that cancer has spread all over inside his body. Why is he disturbed? Because he sees the danger of cancer.

In the same way, when you're spiritually illiterate, you don't consider anger to be a serious sin. When you're spiritually illiterate, you don't consider lusting after women to be a serious sin. That is a mark of your spiritual illiteracy, just like that illiterate woman doesn't know how serious cancer is. In the same way, one who is spiritually literate will take these sins very seriously. He doesn't even need the words of God to tell him to, because he knows instinctively that these are serious sins, because one hurts other people, and the other hurts himself. So that's why we should look at these sins more carefully and ask how we can overcome them.

Teachers Must Obey and Warn Others Against These Sins

Jesus said that it is responsibility of those who preach God's Word to teach every single one of the people in their flock how to overcome in these two areas. If you are a preacher or a pastor or a teacher: are you doing that? Have you overcome in these two areas? And are you teaching others to whom you preach to overcome in these areas? Are you showing them how it is possible? If not, you're failing in your duty, and I would say that you have no right to be a minister of the gospel; you're not teaching people what Jesus taught. Today, most Christian teachers are preaching what the psychologists teach, not what Jesus taught in the Bible.

There are very few prophetic voices in Christendom today that hold people up to the standards that Jesus proclaimed in His Word. That ministry is sadly lacking. The devil has silenced prophetic voices in the church, and most people think of prophesy only as “predicting the future;” not only that, but usually predicting the future in relation to material things. That's a deception. A prophetic voice is one which leads God's people to repentance from the sins that are destroying them. Material prosperity is not the way to heaven; it’s freedom from sin that's the way to heaven.

What Jesus’ Name Means for These Sins

When the angel came to Joseph in Matthew 1, he gave the very first promise of the New Testament. It says in Matthew 1:21, “Jesus will save His people from their sins.” That is the meaning of the Name of Jesus. A lot of people who name the Name of Jesus don't even know what His Name means. Matthew 1:21 tells us that the name, “Jesus,” means “the One Who will save His people from their sins.”

What's the difference between being saved from our sins, and being forgiven of our sins, as it pertains to anger and sexually lustful patterns of thinking?

If you get angry in a sinful way, and then repent of it and ask the Lord to forgive you, He will forgive you. And tomorrow, if you will get angry again in a sinful way and ask the Lord to forgive you, He will forgive you. And next week, if you do the same thing, and you ask Him to forgive you, He will forgive you. In the same way, if you lust after a woman with your eyes and you realize it's a sin, and you ask the Lord to forgive you, He will forgive you. And if you do it again tomorrow, and you ask Him to forgive you, He will forgive you. You turn to the internet and watch pornography, and you ask the Lord to forgive you, and He forgives you.

But have you been saved from these sins? No. Have you been forgiven? Yes. The pattern of your life is one of sinning, asking the Lord to forgive you, sinning again, and asking the Lord to forgive you again. It’s an endless circle. Have you been forgiven? Yes! You may have sinned a thousand times, and all your sins are forgiven, but have you been saved from your sin? No, because you keep on doing it! It’s like coming out of a pit, and falling into the pit again; you ask somebody to pull you out, he pulls you out, and then tomorrow you fall into the pit again. Every time you ask someone to pull you out, you fall into the pit again. When is it going to end?

Be Honest with the Lord: What Do You Have Faith For?

What has Jesus done for you up to this point? Jesus has forgiven you. Then be honest and say, “I know Jesus as my Forgiver, but I do not know Him as my Savior. I know Him as One who forgives my sins, but not as One Who saves me from my sins.” We have to be honest. If we are dishonest with ourselves, we will never come into the fullness of what the Bible promises us. God loves honest people. I encourage you to be honest before God, and say to Him honestly, from your heart, “Lord Jesus, I only know You as my Forgiver. I do not know You as my Savior.

If you're honest with Him, and say, “Lord, I want to know You as my Savior, not only as One Who forgives me, Who keeps on lifting me out of the pit I fall into. Your promise is that You will save me from my sin. Your Name doesn't just mean Forgiver; it means Savior! “He will save his people from their sins,” not simply, “He will Forgive them their sins.’” Of course He forgives us, thank God for that. None of us could live without His forgiveness. But He does more than that! He saves us, and we need to experience that, too.

Consider the story of the two blind men who once came to Jesus. In Matthew 9:27, we read that two blind men followed Jesus and said, “Have mercy on us,” and Jesus asked them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (In the parallel passage in another gospel that becomes clear.) They said, “We want our eyes to be opened!” and then He asks them a question in Matthew 9:28, “Do you believe that I am able to do this for you?”

That's a very important question. It's an important question that the Lord asks concerning anything He has promised when you make your request to God. “Lord, I want my blind eyes to be opened,” or, “I want a sickness to be healed,” or, “I want to be saved from a particular sinful habit,” or, “Lord I want to get a job,” or, “I want to find a place to live.” There are so many things we can ask God for. God cares for all our needs, spiritual and physical, but the question that the Lord will ask us after we have made our specific requests to God is this: “Do you believe that I can do this for you?” That is Jesus speaking.

He's not asking you, “Do you believe that you can overcome this sin.” That's a very liberating thought! Thank God that Christ does not ask you or me, “Do you believe that you can give up this sinful habit?” I would straight away answer, “No, Lord. I can’t give up any sinful habit. I am such a slave to sin, being born as a child of Adam. Every single sin I'm a slave to. I'm a slave to anger, a slave to this, to that, and to any other - You name it - but I believe with all my heart that You can save me from it.” That’s the question: do you believe? The Lord says, “I can do this for you.” Thank God for that! Jesus didn't come teaching psychology, on how to train ourselves or our mind, and He didn't come to teach us yoga, how to control our thoughts or how to overcome anger with self-control.

No. He's asking you, “Do you believe that I can do this for you?” He said in John 15:5, “Without Me you can do nothing.” Thank God for that verse. I say, “Lord, You Yourself said, ‘Without You, I can do nothing.’ I agree 100%.”

Christ’s Deliverance Produces Inward Uprightness

A branch cannot bear fruit if it's not in the tree, and every branch can say to its tree after being in that tree for 50 years, “Without you, I can produce no fruit; but if I am in you, it’s almost effortless to produce fruit.” Do you think a branch is struggling? Look at a mango tree: is that branch struggling to produce mangoes? No. But if you cut that branch off of that tree, even if it's been producing mangoes for 50 years, it stops producing immediately, because it withers. As long as it's in the tree, though, the sap of the tree flows in, and that’s how the mangoes are produced. That’s the principle of overcoming sin and that's what we need to teach every single person who is a disciple in every nation.

Dear friends, you have to understand (and if you're a preacher, you’ve got to make other people to understand) that without Christ, you cannot overcome any sin. You can overcome external sins, sure. But what does that prove? There are multitudes of atheists in the world who don't murder anybody, and who won’t even commit adultery physically. To keep the outside of the cup clean, you don't need Jesus Christ; you just need to be a good Pharisee. There are non-Christians, even atheists, who never cheat, who are honest, and whose external life is very upright; but when it comes to the inner life, they are corrupt within. Inner uprightness is more than self-control. You can keep from expressing anger outwardly with the powers of yoga, but that's not deliverance. That's just closing the bottle tight so that the poison remains inside; it still destroys you. That's not the deliverance that Christ offers.

Christ offers deliverance from the anger within. I can open the bottle, and there's no poison there. If you look inside my heart, there’s no anger there; it is not by great effort that I am trying to keep my mouth shut and don't lose my temper - that‘s yoga, but that's not deliverance from anger. Deliverance from anger is where Christ delivers us from the anger within our hearts. It’s completely gone, and if you look inside of one such heart, there is no anger. If you look inside that heart, there is no lusting after women. Only Jesus can do that.

According to Your Faith Be It Unto You

Think again of the blind men who came to Jesus. After they made their request, the Lord asks them, “Do you believe that I'm able to do this for you?” Imagine that they came one by one to the Lord, and the Lord asks the first man, “Do you believe that I'm able to open your eyes?” Not, “Do you believe that you can open your eyes with some exercise?” or any such thing.

Imagine if the first blind man says, “Well Lord, I will be happy if you could open just one eye. That’s more than enough for me. I could survive on this earth with one eye, and I believe you can do that.” The Lord would reply to him just as He says in verse 29, “Be it done to you according to your faith.” Not, “According to My ability,” the Lord says, “but according to your faith.”

Do you know that the Lord does for us not according to His ability, but according to our faith? If you don't have faith for something, even if the Lord has ability to do more than that for you, you won’t experience all that the Lord wants to do for you. You will only experience deliverance according to the level of your faith. So when one man says, “I have faith to have only one eye open,” the Lord will say, “According to your faith be done to you,” and he will go out of that room with one eye open and the other eye still shut. Now that's pretty good; for a blind man to have even one eye opened is fantastic.

Then imagine that the other blind man comes, and the Lord asks him the same question, “Do you believe I can do this for you?” And he says, “Yes Lord! I believe You can open both of my eyes! What’s impossible for You?” He gets both eyes opened. If he meets the other blind man (who had only one eye opened), and that man asks, “How in the world did you get both eyes open?! This must be some false teaching!” It’s not false teaching; the second blind man just had more faith than the first, that's all.

We can think of these two eyes as being forgiven of our sins, and being saved from our sins. One person gets both; another person gets only the first one. Why is that? Is it because God was partial to that person? Is it because that person was a better person? No. He just had faith for all that Christ promised to do for him. One person only had faith that Christ could only forgive his sin, and so he got that. Another person doesn't even have faith that Christ can forgive his sin, so he doesn't get even forgiveness.

There are lots of people like that in the world. One has faith that Christ will forgive his sin, and he will get forgiveness. Another has faith for “both eyes,” that Christ can not only forgive me, but also deliver me from that sinful habit. He gets both. And when a person proclaims both, that Christ can not only forgive, us but also deliver us, then people who have experienced only forgiveness will call that greater deliverance a false teaching. Because they haven't experienced it themselves, they say it's impossible. They say it's impossible for any human being to have deliverance from sin. But the question is not whether it's impossible for men. The question is, is it impossible for God?

Jesus said there is nothing impossible for God. Many things are impossible for man. It’s impossible for a man even to get forgiveness of sins without God's power, but with God, nothing is impossible. Please remember that if you don't experience something that somebody else does, it's not necessarily because he has some false teaching; it could be because you don't believe as much as he does.

To use another illustration, imagine that rain is falling equally outside everybody's house and there's a shortage of water in the town, so the people put containers outside to collect the rainwater. If one man puts a little cup outside his house, how much rain is he going to get? Just a full cup. If another person puts a huge tub outside his house, how much water does he get? A full tub! Is there a difference between a full tub and a full cup? Certainly! The man with the full cup might say, “How in the world did you get a full tub of water? God was partial to you, sending more rain in front of your house!” The man with the tub would respond, “No; the same amount of rain fell outside your house, too brother, but you only had a little cup outside! That was the level of your faith, and so that's all you got.”

We get from God according to the proportion of our faith. God's blessing is unlimited. Ephesians 1:3 says He has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” every blessing of the Holy Spirit to deliver us from every single wretched sinful habit that we have inherited from Adam, our forefather. We have all inherited the same evil nature from Adam. Every evil man in the world has the same evil flesh that you and I have. Our circumstances and upbringing might have restrained us from doing some of the terrible, evil things that terrorists do. But we've got the same flesh that they do, and we can only be delivered from it by the power of Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. That's important for us to remember and to explain when we teach people all that Jesus commanded. His commandments can be fulfilled only through the power of the Holy Spirit, particularly in these two areas.

The New Covenant Life Is Much Higher

In the Old Testament, how did the Lord tell people to overcome anger? Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry and don't sin,” it is actually a quotation from Psalm 4:4, which says “Tremble, and do not sin.” You may tremble with anger but don't let that anger become sinful. And the solution for that is to go and, “Meditate in your heart upon your bed, be still, and trust in the Lord” (Psalm 4:4-5).

The Old Testament solution for anger was, whenever you're upset with somebody, withdraw from that person. Go and lock yourself up in your bedroom, and lie down on your bed and meditate on God till you cool down, and trust in the Lord to take care of that situation. That was all that's possible. So in the Old Testament, you could control the words that come out of your mouth in a manner somewhat similar to yoga.

But in the New Testament, God has given us the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is self-control from within. Jesus Christ delivers us inwardly from that anger.

It’s exactly the same with lusting with the eyes. In Matthew 5, He speaks about lusting with the eyes, and He goes on to say that nobody in the Old Testament could overcome it. The tenth commandment in Exodus 20 was the one commandment that nobody could keep. I don't know whether you know that. The first nine were all external commands, and they’re all that anybody could keep. But the tenth Commandment was, “You shall not lust after your neighbor's house or his wife or male servant or … anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Every woman that walks on the street is either your neighbor's daughter or your neighbor’s wife, and it says you're not supposed to lust after them. This was actually written as the Tenth Commandment, and nobody could keep it. Nobody in the Old Testament could keep that commandment.

The Apostle Paul once said, “According to the righteousness of the law, I was found blameless.” When he testified before a high priest in Acts 23:1, “I have lived with a perfectly good conscience before God until this day,” what did he mean? He meant that he was keeping all the commandments. What commandments was he keeping? Only the first nine, because he's honest enough to say in Romans 7:7-8, that when he came to the tenth commandment, which said, “You shall not covet, you shall not lust,” he “found lusting of every kind.” He discovered every type of lust - a lust for money, a lust for other people's wives and daughters, lust for honor, and every type of lust - within himself, and realized he could not keep this commandment.

The Holy Spirit Strengthens Us Inwardly to Fulfill the Sermon on the Mount

When the Apostle Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit in his heart (just like when the Holy Spirit came and filled people on the day of Pentecost), he says in Romans 8:2, that “the law of the Holy Spirit - which is not ten commandments but - the law of life in Christ Jesus, set me free from the law of sin that kept causing me to fall into anger and lust and everything else,” and he goes on in verse 4 to say, “the righteous requirement of the law - which is “You shall not lust” - is now fulfilled inside of us because we don't walk according to the flesh, but we walk according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.” This was impossible under the old covenant.

When Jesus spoke about overcoming these sins in Matthew 5, He was talking about something that is impossible for a man to do without the power of the Holy Spirit. If you read Matthew 5, 6 and 7, you find that, at the end of those three chapters, the most important question has not been answered. What is that? “Lord, how do I live this life?” That’s not even mentioned in Matthew 5, 6 and 7! The Sermon on the Mount just shows us the standard of life that God expects of a new covenant Christian, of a born-again Christian, but how to get there is not mentioned in the whole sermon.

Then how in the world will we know what to do? I believe that Christ only proclaimed the Sermon on the Mount to create a desire in our heart for this life, and that, if a person has a longing for this life, he will go to God and say, “Lord, what's the solution?” And Lord will say, “You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You need to be strengthened in the inner man.” There are a lot of counterfeit experiences of the Holy Spirit today, which only emphasize speaking in tongues, but this inner life of freedom from sin is not emphasized. I thank God that I speak in tongues - I have spoken in tongues for 35 years - but the fullness of the Holy Spirit brought something far more important into my life: it brought deliverance from inner sin! That's the primary purpose of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, so let's seek God for that.

Chapter 18

How to Overcome

Adultery and Lustful Thinking

“You have heard that it was said, ’You shall not commit adultery’” (Matthew 5:27). That was the standard under the Old Testament. Jesus was explaining what was behind that command. It is not just a question of physically avoiding adultery; it’s about not even lusting inwardly after a woman. God has put a strong sexual desire in all men, and this desire rises up in the early teenage years. It becomes strong and lasts for many decades.

Why has God allowed such a strong desire within man? A woman doesn't have such a strong desire for sex. God could have kept the sexual desire low in a man just as in a woman, but in His great wisdom, He has made it much stronger in a man, and there is a reason for that. God wants us to be overcomers, and this is an area where we should overcome before we get married. God could have made man in such a way that he didn't get this desire till he was 25 or 26, when he gets married. But yet God has allowed this desire to come up in our hearts when we are 12 to 13 years old. From that time, we have to battle it constantly, and God wants us to overcome in our thought life before we are married. This is the reason why He gives us 13 to 14 years to fight and struggle - to overcome before we get married. It doesn't have to take that long if you are faithful and have a radical attitude. If we are to overcome, then we have to be honest and acknowledge that it's impossible to overcome in our own human power.

Genuine Fullness of the Holy Spirit Leads Us to Overcome

The great Apostle Paul was a very upright man according to the law, but even he could not overcome this desire until he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and then the Spirit of God set him free. This is like Jesus opening the blind man's eyes: the blind man couldn't open them by himself.

It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that this is possible. In fact, we can live up to everything Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount only if we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

I'm not talking about the cheap counterfeits that are going around today under the name of “fullness of the spirit”. If the fullness of the spirit that you claim to have experienced made you shake, roll on the ground, laugh, and speak in tongues, but you are defeated by the sins like anger and sexual lust, if you still raise your voice at your wife or husband, then you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't let anybody deceive you. Many people are deceived. The Holy Spirit gives us a new tongue, not just the ability to speak in unknown tongues, but even to control our mother tongue. It is of no use to speak in unknown tongues on Sunday morning in church and yet shout at your wife in your mother tongue on Sunday afternoon. That's not the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

The fullness of the Holy Spirit gives us control over our tongues. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control, and He gives us control over our tongues 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If this is not the case, you should ask God to give you a genuine fullness of the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the gifts of the Spirit, but ask God for the genuine fullness of the Spirit, which is beyond just having the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That’s the only way to overcome. There is no other way.

James says that every animal has been tamed by man, but no man can control the tongue (James 3:7-8). Only the Holy Spirit can. If you're filled with the Holy Spirit, He will give you control over your tongue and over your eyes. These are the two parts of the human body that Jesus spoke of in relation to sin in Matthew 5:21 -32. Sinning with the tongue, and sinning with the eyes. Both are very, very important.

Don't ever be satisfied with any cheap counterfeit of the fullness of the Holy Spirit if it does not give you control over your tongue and control over your eyes. Go before God and say, “Lord I've got a cheap counterfeit. I want to be honest with You. I'm just convincing people that I’m filled with the Holy Spirit, and that is worth nothing. I don't want to miss out on the genuine fullness of the Holy Spirit.”

When I was a young Christian, I was defeated in both of these areas. As I sought for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, people sent me to different assemblies, but I was so disappointed with what I saw there. I heard a lot of noise and I said, “Lord, this is not what I'm looking for. I’m looking for power to overcome sin. Even if it takes ten years, I want the real thing. I want what Peter, James and John got on the day of Pentecost, not the cheap counterfeit that's going around the world today.”

The devil wants people to be satisfied with some counterfeit. If you were going to buy gold or diamonds, or even currency notes, how careful you would be to ensure that you don't get a counterfeit. If you know there's a lot of counterfeit currency going around, you will be careful to look at the five hundred rupee notes you pick up. How much more careful we need to be about something that concerns our eternal destiny: the genuine fullness of the Holy Spirit! Don't be satisfied with a counterfeit. If you are not satisfied with counterfeit gold and diamonds and currency notes, how much more you should not be satisfied with counterfeit in the area of the fullness of the Spirit. This is the test: has the Spirit of God set you free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)? That's the test.

Be Honest to Overcome

In Matthew 5:28, Jesus says, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” We need to go to God for deliverance from this, and the first step is to be honest. If you got angry, be honest. Go to the person you wronged and say, “Brother, I'm sorry. I am sorry for the way I spoke to you,” and if you sinned ten times a day in anger, go ten times to that person and say you're sorry. If God sees you’re honest and you’re humble, He will give you the power to be free from it.

But if you cover up, make an excuse, and try to justify your anger, you will never be free. The only time you are justified in anger is when it concerns the glory of God, not when it concerns yourself.

When it comes to lusting after women, you are never justified. You can look at your wife and admire her, but not any other woman. That's not God's will. God says you have to be radical here. First of all, you have to be honest and say, “Lord, I committed adultery.” Don't ever say, “I admired a beautiful face.” Instead, say, “I committed adultery.”

If you are honest, God will deliver you.

Be Radical to Overcome

The other thing is you must do is be radical. The Bible says, “Flee from immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). If you are at the computer and you're tempted, either run away from it or turn it off and say, “Lord I don't care what I miss, but I don't want to fall here.” When Jesus says, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out,” He is not telling us to physically pull out our right eye. That's obvious because you can still lust with the left eye. The meaning is that you must take a radical attitude towards sin, a radical attitude towards your tongue and your eyes.

Be like a blind and dumb man at that time when you are tempted. Can a dumb man raise his voice and shout at someone? Can a blind man lust? No. Be like a blind man and say, “Lord, You didn’t give me eyes to lust after women. You gave me eyes to see Your glory.” Jesus says that if you don't do that, you might preserve the physical parts of your body, but you’ll still be thrown into Hell. It is better for you lose one part of your body (i.e., voluntarily refusing sinful pleasure that your physical body craves for) and go into God's kingdom.

In the same way, Jesus says, “If you sin sexually with your right hand, and that makes you stumble, cut it off” (Matthew 5:30). Imagine that you have an amputated hand and that you can’t sin with your right hand or left hand. Jesus was very down to earth and practical. Jesus tells you to act as if you're blind, as if you’re amputated, because sin is very serious. If we take such a radical attitude, I believe God will help us to be completely free, and we will have better marriages as well. Don't think marriage will solve the problem of lust. There are lots of married people who fall into adultery in their thoughts all the time. Every day there are many married people who watch internet pornography. Marriage doesn't solve that problem because it's an inner desire. If you don't battle it in the power of the Holy Spirit, you'll be defeated, and you’ll delude yourself all your life that you're a spiritual Christian when you're not.

Is this some postgraduate level of Christianity that Jesus is speaking about? No, He's just talking about how to escape Hell. Escaping Hell is not postgraduate Christian material. It is elementary. Jesus says that it's better for your body part to perish than for your whole body to be thrown into Hell. Salvation from Hell is the bare minimum, and this is what Jesus wants us to teach every disciple in every nation. How much is this being taught? Hardly at all, and that is why I have been commissioned by the Lord personally in my own ministry to keep emphasizing it.

Jesus’s Teaching on Divorce

In Matthew 5:31, Jesus goes on to speak about another type of adultery. The Old Testament standard was to send your wife away with a certificate of divorce. It was not that God was telling people to divorce their wives. He was not even permitting divorce like the Pharisees said. God never wanted man to divorce his wife from the time he created Adam and Eve. God did not make two women for Adam to choose which one he wanted (“if you get fed up with one, just choose the other!”). He made only one woman for Adam, and He has made one woman to be your wife. That is God's will; Jesus said that very clearly in Matthew 19. But Satan has lead man astray, and it is a fact that people divorce. So the law was given. It is mentioned here in Matthew 5:31, which is a quotation from Deuteronomy 24. If you read Deuteronomy 24, it doesn't say God permitted divorce. God said if you do divorce your wife -- out of your own choice -- at least give her a certificate of divorce so that she can go away decently (Deuteronomy 24:1). That is what He meant when saying ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ It is different from permitting divorce.

But He says, “I say to you, I’m raising the standard. You can’t just get away with giving a certificate of divorce. I say to you that if you divorce your wife except for the cause of unchastity, you are making her commit adultery. And if you marry a divorced woman, you are committing adultery.” You cannot lower that standard. It is being lowered all over in Christendom, particularly in Western Christianity today; but you cannot change God's Word. Let God be true and every man a liar. It doesn't matter if 90% of Christendom accepts divorce. It is still against the Word of God. We have the tragic situation today of Christians, even well known Christian leaders and preachers, disobeying the Word, which says that whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. There are great preachers I know who married divorced women and justified it by saying that God led them to do it. Imagine using the name of God to justify one's own desire and lust. And there are many pastors and preachers today who are divorced themselves, and who are marrying divorced women, completely ignoring Scripture.

Seek for Purity in the Church

This is a day when reverence for God and His Word has disappeared completely, and there's a great need to come back to what Jesus said about going into every nation, making disciples, and teaching them to do every single thing He commanded. Will you have a large church as a result? No! Many people will get offended and leave your church, because this way to life is very narrow and few there’ll be who find it. Is the Lord interested in a large church? Far from it. He's interested in a pure church. And if it is pure and large, then praise the Lord. But if it's a choice between numbers and purity, the Lord says, “Purity is what I want.”

What about you? Is that your position too? The vast majority of pastors and preachers do not preach the whole truth because they're afraid some people will leave their congregations, but your congregation will become a better congregation when those people leave. Don’t you pull the weeds out your garden to keep your garden fresh and fruitful? That's what needs to be done in a church too. The standard is, God hates divorce. He said that in Malachi 2:16, “I hate divorce.” He hated divorce even in the Old Testament, and Jesus makes it very clear that anyone who divorces is committing adultery (verse 32).

Both Adulteries: Lustful Thinking and Divorce Are Equally Serious

Jesus actually taught us about two adulteries: one is to lust after a woman (Matthew 5:28), and the other is divorce. Both are equal to adultery. Many people ask me about the stand of my church on divorce, but never till today has anybody asked me about the stand of my church on lusting after women. Why is that? Why is there so much emphasis on adultery number two (divorce), and not as much emphasis on adultery number one (lusting)? There are churches that take a very strong stand against divorce (praise the Lord, they even put people out). But what about taking an equally strong stand on adultery number one, which is lusting after women? We can be very hard on divorced people, but not hard on people who are lusting with their eyes. Is there a difference? Both are adultery in God's eyes, and we need to take them both seriously. Some of you may say, “Well I'm not divorcing my wife. I'm a pretty holy person,” but you lust with your eyes. That is equal to adultery too. Why is it that so many Christians who would never dream of divorcing their wives, lust with their eyes? It’s because they have not seen that both are equally adultery. They have not taken God's Word exactly as it is.

God Looks for The Humble and Contrite Person

The latter half of Isaiah, beginning with chapter 40, has some fantastic promises for Christians. There are two parts in Isaiah, the first 39 chapters correspond to the first 39 books of the Old Testament, and the next 27 chapters correspond to the 27 books in the New Testament. The last 27 chapters of Isaiah are essentially new covenant prophecies - a lot of them referring to Christ and a lot of them referring to us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps - and so there are some fantastic promises in Isaiah chapters 40 to 66 which essentially relate to us in the New Covenant.

Isaiah 66:1-2 is a picture of building the true Church of Jesus Christ, against which the gates of Hell will never prevail. “Heaven is My throne and the Earth is My footstool, where's the house that you're going to build for Me? Where's the church that you human beings, you people who call yourselves born again Christians, are going to build for Me?”

When the Lord says, “To this one I will look,” He is describing the person that He will look upon with favor to build His church, against which the gates of Hell will not prevail. A church against which Satan cannot infiltrate with anger, lust, adultery, lying, stealing, and all the other wretched things that are found in the race of Adam.

“I will look at the one who is humble and contrite of spirit” (Isaiah 66:2). The number one quality He is looking for is humility and contrition, or brokenness of spirit. God looks at people who have a low opinion of themselves, not low self-esteem. Jesus did not have low self-esteem. He was the Son of God. He told His disciples, “I am your Lord and Master. You call me that, and so I am” (John 13:14). He had no doubt about Who He was. He knew He was the Son of God. He didn't have any low self-esteem. But he had such tremendous humility that He considered others as people whom He should serve, and He would wash their feet. Do you know that He even washed the feet of Judas Iscariot? That is humility, washing the feet of one who is going to betray you in a few hours. He had no low self-esteem, but took a low position. He had low thoughts about Himself. In our relation to others, Philippians 2:3 says, “Consider others as more important than yourself.” That is the number one quality, brokenness of spirit. A brokenness in sorrow because we’re not like Christ. God looks at that type of person.

Tremble at God’s Word

The second quality in a person that God looks for in Isaiah 66:2 is, “One who trembles at My Word.” This is so important to consider in connection to what we are studying in Matthew 5. When you read words like these, do you tremble at God's Word? At the word that says that if you get angry and speak in that anger to a person, you're guilty enough to go to Hell? Do you tremble at the Word that says that if you don't take a radical attitude to cut off bodily members that cause you to lust with your eyes and commit sexual sin your eyes or your hands, you must take a radical attitude, otherwise you will go to Hell? Do you tremble at that Word?

I find very few Christians who tremble at that Word, even among those who have heard me preach about this for years. I'm sorry to say that even in some of the churches where I have responsibility, where people have heard me preach against these sins for 25 years, they still do not tremble at this Word. That is the condition of a lot of Christians: they've got the knowledge, but they take it lightly. How can you take sin lightly when you see the price that Christ paid on the cross to deliver us from sin? There is a hymn that I often sing to myself, which says:

Ever when tempted make me see,

Lord help me to see,

My God alone outstretched and bruised

And bleeding on the earth He made

And make me feel it was my sin

As though no other sins were there

That was to Him Who bears the world a load

That He could scarcely bear.

I sing that many times to myself to remind myself how my Lord, Who could bear the load of this universe on His shoulder, couldn't bear the load of my sin. It crushed Him on Calvary -- and that's what has helped me to have a tremendous hatred for sin, and has caused me to tremble at God's Word. And this is what makes me have a burden to educate Christians, to help them to know that sins like lusting with your eyes are worse than getting AIDS, or cancer.

Take These Sins More Seriously Than AIDS

The day you understand that, you will fight these sins radically. You wouldn't play the fool with syringes infected with AIDS. Why are you so careful about them, and are yet not careful about something far worse than AIDS? I’ll tell you why: because you don't believe that sin is worse than AIDS and cancer, you don't tremble at God's Word. I have learned to believe this, and that's why I'm extremely careful with these sins such as anger, lusting after women, and divorce. To enter Kingdom of Heaven, our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees.

I find very few Christians who take this seriously, and very few preachers who preach it seriously. The Sermon on the Mount is the fundamental requirement that we need to have. Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

I believe this with all my heart. The Lord is expecting Christians to show a quality of righteousness that is way above the Ten Commandments. Idolatry is not bowing down before idols of wood and stone. It’s giving something other than God a place in my heart. The Sabbath is not just not doing work on a Sabbath day; it is an inner life of rest. Adultery is not just physical adultery; it’s lusting with the eyes. Murder is not just killing someone; it is anger. And so on with all the commandments, as we will look at later on.

Be the Person God Looks for to Build His Church

Let us learn to tremble at God's Word so that God can use us to build His church. The type of person God will look for and use to build His House is what we saw in Isaiah 66:1-2. May God help us.

Chapter 19

Love the Spirit of Truth

New Covenant Righteousness

The section beginning in Matthew 5:33 is an expansion of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, “Your righteousness must surpass or exceed the quality of the righteousness of the Pharisees (which is only external).” Your righteousness must be internal as well. Jesus was expanding our understanding of the Ten Commandments. He was saying that “murder” means more than murder; it means anger in the heart. He said that “adultery” means more than adultery; it means lusting after a woman in your heart, or divorcing her.

Let Your “Yes” Be “Yes,” and Your “No” Be “No”

Then Jesus went on to the matter of making vows (Mathew 5:33). In the Old Testament, the law said, “You shall not make false vows but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord,” and, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” In today’s terms, a vow is like swearing something under oath. People put their hand on a Bible and say that they will speak the truth. What they really mean is, “Most of the time I tell lies, but now I'm going to speak the truth.” That’s what the meaning of a vow is when someone puts their hand on a Bible and swears by it. However, in James it says you should be speaking the truth all the time (James 5:12), and that’s what Jesus said here.

The sum and substance of Matthew 5:33-37 is that we should always be truthful. We must not be ingenious and clever and subtle with our words, and claim to speak the truth legally as if it were in a court of law. We must be known as truthful people and not tell lies in anything. Our “yes” must be “yes” and our “no” must be “no.” Anything other than that is evil. If I have to say “yes” in a devious way, there is something wrong and that will ultimately lead to hypocrisy.

If you read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, it did not say, “You shall not tell lies.” The ninth commandment was, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” That was basically referring to a court of law, and that in a court of law you must not tell a lie. In other words, if you swear to something you must speak the truth. That was the standard in the Old Testament because God knew that nobody could keep a command to not tell lies. Similarly, there was no commandment in the Old Testament saying, “You shall not lose your temper,” because God knew nobody could keep such a commandment. Back then, the commandment was “You shall not murder.” Similarly, there was no commandment in the Old Testament that said, “Don't lust after a woman,” because God knew nobody could keep it. So the commandment was, “Don't commit physical adultery.”

But now in the new covenant, the gift of the Holy Spirit comes within, and makes it possible to live such a life. When the Holy Spirit comes in power, He comes in like electricity that lights up a light or runs a fan or runs our gadgets. Then we can do certain things that we could not do without the power of the Holy Spirit. Now it's possible to overcome the lust of the eyes, it's possible to overcome anger, it's possible to stop shouting at your spouse, it’s possible to speak the truth all the time, and it’s possible to let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”

To use a more up-to-date illustration: if you signed a sale deed or any other agreement in a court of law with witnesses, you were very careful to read that agreement before you signed it because you know that it will be enforced by the court of law. For a Christian, his word should be as good as that signed agreement. Would you say that is true in your life?

I remember once when in my own life I had agreed with someone who wanted to buy something that I was selling in my house. It was fairly expensive and we agreed for a price, but he didn't come back to take it for many months. By then the value of that thing had gone up and I could have said to him, “Hey, the value of this has gone up and you didn’t take it then.” Though I didn't sign an agreement, I had verbally agreed to give it to him for that particular price, and the Lord said to me, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’” He was a brother in crisis and that was all the more reason why I wanted to keep my word to him. I said, “Sure you can have it for that price,” and of course he was delighted. What did I suffer? Maybe I suffered a certain loss financially. Perhaps I could have made a few thousand more rupees by giving it to him at a higher price, but then I would have had a bad conscience that, because my ‘yes’ was not ‘yes.’

God Tests Us to See to Whom He Can Give a Higher Ministry

It's worth losing a little bit of money to be upright and to be Christ-like in our conduct. Many times we are tested in the area of money to see whether we're willing to let our yes be yes and our no be no.

God tests us in this area before He can lead us higher. I found in my life many, many times that God tested me in places where I may have had to lose something or sacrifice something. He tests me with these commandments to see whether I will live according to them. Then I discover whether I really believe it or not. There are many situations today where speaking the truth costs us nothing. There is no test there, but when speaking the truth could cost you your job, for example - it’s then that you're tested by God to see whether He can lead you to a higher ministry. I believe many of these areas are where God tests us. And many, many people young people have failed God’s test.

I remember once asking the Lord, “India has 1,200 million people - such a huge population - where are the prophets in this land who speak faithfully for You? We have wonderful evangelists but where are the prophets who will hold up God’s standard in His Word in every single area exactly the way Jesus taught and lived and spoke?”

The Lord spoke an answer to me; “I have prepared many young people to be my prophets in this land and many of them have fallen away and through failing the test. Either they go after money, or they join up with some American Christian organization to get a better salary, or they marry the wrong person, or they are unfaithful with their eyes or tongue and don't take sin seriously. By the time they could have become prophets they are unfit, and I have to set them aside”. That has happened to so many! I believe it has happened to hundreds of people. I myself have seen wonderful, zealous young people when I was a young man and I’ve seen where they are today - fallen by the wayside. There has been a tremendous loss for God.

God doesn't force anybody to be His faithful servant. I believe He wants you and me to be faithful servants of His, but whether you're going to be faithful or not, whether you are going to stick to the standards of God's Word, and whether you are going to compromise Him to please people will determine whether you ever become true servant of God or not.

“If I seek to please men, I cannot be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). This is absolutely clear. I remember I had that verse written on a little wooden plaque and I kept it in my sitting room before me for 25 years. I studied it every day until it was drilled into my mind. I don't need it in front of me now, since it is in my heart. It is a very important principle. If you ever seek to please men I can tell you in Jesus’ name that you will never be a servant of God! So don't ever seek to please men. Seek to please God. Jesus spent those 30 years seeking to please His Father and He got a certificate in the end. The question is not whether men think you're truthful. Can the God say about you that your yes is always yes and your no is always no?

Think of a situation for example, if you're working in an office and maybe there's an expensive machine there that you accidentally misused and spoiled, but nobody saw you doing it. Many people use that machine and a little later on somebody discovers the machine is not working, and the authorities come to investigate. The boss comes by and asks who spoiled the machine. You know it was you but you keep quiet because there's no way they can find out, since a lot of people were using it. You think you didn’t lie because you didn’t open your mouth, but actually you did tell a lie. You told a lie without opening your mouth! So that you would keep your job, you did not admit that you were the one who used it last and spoiled it in some way. Maybe if you had confessed it they would have sacked you from the job because it is an expensive machine.

Which is more important in that moment? The devil comes to you and says a lie is almighty; that if you tell a lie you can preserve your job. At the same time the Holy Spirit whispers to your heart that it is a lie. Is not God almighty? If you trust God in this situation and speak the truth, maybe you will lose your job, but God will give you a better one. Do you have that faith? It is in such situations that we are tested.

I'm not speaking in theory. Many, many times God has tested me in different things in this area, not to see whether I'm clever or ingenious to find my way out of some situation, but to see whether I'm honest and willing to pay a price for speaking the truth.

This is how He anointed me and gave me a ministry to speak the truth from the pulpit irrespective of the cost. I believe God wants many, many prophets of God in the pulpits in Christendom today who will speak the truth, irrespective of the cost - even if they get thrown out and become despised, rejected, misunderstood, criticized, or falsely accused. The way that God will prepare you for that ministry is by testing you in the ordinary circumstances of life to see whether you will speak the truth, even if you have to pay a price for it and lose your job, or if you have to lose money for it because you stand for the truth. This is a very important area.

Being Truthful

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. Jesus said, “The Spirit of Truth will guide you into all the truth, He will not speak on his own initiative. He will disclose to you what is to come, and He will lead you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

I want my life to be totally truthful from head to foot because that's what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” So often even Christian preachers are diplomatic in the way they speak to others. They say, “If I say it like this, well, that could cause some problems so let me be diplomatic.” Jesus was never diplomatic. He always spoke the truth plainly and directly. I don't mean that He was rude and I don't believe we should be rude, but Jesus was not diplomatic for any personal gain. I believe we should be gracious and considerate in speaking the truth (not rude), but I'm talking about speaking the truth where it's going to affect you. We're always to be gracious when we speak to other people, but we must be truthful when it comes to ourselves.

Did you know that the Holy Spirit leads us into all the truth? The first sin that was judged in the early church was the sin of dishonesty, not the sin of covetousness. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira saw many people selling their lands and bringing the money to the Apostles’ feet (many people were doing that in Acts 4:34). Ananias and Sapphira also wanted a reputation in the church of being wholehearted and surrendered to God completely, so they also sold a bit of their land, but didn't give the full amount of money to lay at the Apostles’ feet like the others were doing. Let's assume they sold the land for a 100,000 rupees and kept back 50,000 rupees, thus giving 50% to the church. If somebody sold their property today and brought 50% of their proceeds to God, you would call that person a wholehearted Christian! But Ananias was killed, not because of what he gave or didn't give, but because he told a lie.

He stood in the line with others and kept his mouth shut as the people were leaving their money at the Apostles’ feet. He also left his money and moved on. As he moved on Peter said, “Ananias, come back here.” God gave Peter discernment that this guy was a liar. Peter told him in Acts 5:4, “When this land was yours, it was your own. Nobody asked you to sell it. God doesn’t want your money or your land. Everybody is giving voluntarily and after you sold it, the money was still yours. Nobody has asked you to give 50% or 10% or even 1% -- why have you thought of this? You have told a lie to God.” Ananias could have said, “I never opened my mouth! I never said a word,” but do you know you can tell a lie to God without opening your mouth? Ananias just stood in line, put the money at the Apostles’ feet, and moved on. He never opened his mouth, but in that action, it was a lie. This is hypocrisy - to pretend.

You can come to the fellowship in a church and pretend to be wholehearted like all the others, and yet be a liar. If you sit with people pretending to be wholehearted like the others and you are not wholehearted, you are a liar even if you don't open your mouth. You can sing to Jesus “Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold,” because you're singing along with all the others and the tune and the words are nice, but you may be an absolute liar because you don't mean it. Many Christians tell more lies to God on Sunday than any other day of the week because of the songs they sing! If you sing “All to Jesus I surrender,” but you haven't surrendered all, then you're a liar. You may not hear a preacher tell you the truth, but you need to hear it because it is the truth. If you have surrendered all to Christ then say it, otherwise keep your mouth shut, or say, “Lord I want to surrender all, but I haven't done it all.” That’s more honest. It doesn't matter if it doesn't fit in with the tune that others are singing. You be honest with God.

Loving the Truth

What is the consequence of this? In 2 Thessalonians 2:10 it speaks of those who don't receive the love of the truth. Loving the truth is more than speaking the truth. I can speak the truth but a higher level than that is to love the truth. I have such a tremendous longing to speak the truth that I love it and I don't ever want to have any lie in me. If we don't receive the love of the truth to be saved from all lying, then 2 Thessalonians 2:11 tells us the consequence: that God Himself will deceive us. That's one of the most fearful verses in the New Testament. If you don't love the truth dear friend, let me tell you straight: Almighty God will deceive you. Satan is a deceiver. Your lusts deceive you. Your heart is deceitful. On top of that, if Almighty God, Who is your only hope of protection from deception, decides to deceive you, there is no hope for you. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 says that God will make you believe what is false. He will make you believe that you're born again when you're not born again. He will make you believe that you are filled with the Holy Spirit when you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because of one reason: you don't receive the love of the truth.

Do you know the first sin mentioned in the Bible? It was a lie, when Satan told a lie to Eve saying, “You shall not die” (Genesis 3:4). That’s the first sin mentioned in the Bible - a lie.

What is the last sin mentioned in the Bible? If you turn to the very last chapter of the Bible, you see that lying is also the last sin mentioned. In Revelation 22:15 it says that those who practice lying are outside the holy city. So the first sin and the last sin mentioned in the Bible is lying. The first sin judged in the early church was lying. The people whom God deceives are those who don’t love the truth.

It's very important for us to take this seriously. “Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Mathew 5:37). This protects us from deception. Jesus said, “I am the Way.” We all appreciate that. We acknowledge that Jesus is the Way and the Life. But He also said, “I am the Truth - I am reality” (John 14:6).

They couldn't have this in the Old Testament. David says in Psalm 51:6 where He makes his confession after sinning with Bathsheba, “Lord I realize You decide truth in the innermost being, I don't have it. I've been a hypocrite. I could kill Goliath, I could defeat the Philistines, but I was a hypocrite in my heart. I sinned with Bathsheba and tried to cover it up by first of all getting her husband to go to her bed that day. I didn't succeed there. Then I got rid of her husband and married her. Lord I realize You desire truth in the innermost being. I don't have it.” But truth in the innermost being is one of the wonderful things we can have today because of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Truth will make us truthful all the way to the innermost being of our life, and heart.

Revelation 14 speaks about certain people who are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Revelation 14:4 tells of a group of overcomers who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. One characteristic about them is, “No lie was found in their mouth” (Revelation 14:5). Children of men are liars from the time they are born. We read that in Psalm 58:3. But here's a group of people who are completely delivered from lying so that there is no lie is found in their whole system. They have become like Jesus: full of truth! I want to encourage you: we need to cleanse ourselves from every type of lie.

Even if you have to pay a price for speaking the truth, if you stand for the truth and decide that you are going to eliminate lying from your life, then 100% your life will be clean. You'll be able to see God. You will never be deceived by any of the deceptions going around in Christendom today. You will know the truth because God Himself will show you the truth, and you will never be deceived about your spiritual condition.

Chapter 20

The Spirit of Jesus' Commandments

Attitude of Taking Revenge

We have looked at three wrong attitudes so far. The first wrong attitude is the wrong attitude of anger (Matthew 5:21) and the second wrong attitude is that of sexually sinful ways of thinking and divorce, both of which amount to adultery in verses 27-32. And then the third wrong attitude is that of lying. We need to eliminate lying completely from our lives so that we are totally truthful.

The fourth wrong attitude is the attitude of taking revenge. This is also very common, unfortunately, even among those who call themselves believers. In the Old Testament, the law said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” This was a law that God gave in Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and also in Deuteronomy 19. What God was saying there was not that if somebody takes out your eye you must take out his eye. What He was saying is, don't take out both of his eyes if he took out only one of yours. The point is that you can forgive the offender and let him go, and not take any of his eyes out. That would be the best way. God was limiting punishment by saying, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

But Jesus raises the standard higher, and says, “Do not resist the one who is evil; if somebody slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him. If someone sues you to take your shirt, give him your coat as well. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with them two” (Matthew 5:39-41). Roman soldiers would sometimes force the Jewish people who were their slaves to carry their baggage and military equipment for a mile. The Jews were slaves so they had to do it. Jesus tells us that in situations like these we should go two miles with the person, to not fight with him about it, to give to him who asks of you, and to not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

We need to take these words in the spirit in which they are spoken. We need to see exactly what Jesus meant. Was He telling us to be like doormats? Are we to let people do whatever they like? It cannot be. Whenever you don't understand the Scripture properly, look at the example of Jesus Christ Himself - because He is the Word made flesh. In the Old Testament, they had scribes who examined the law to explain every jot and tittle in it. In the New Testament, we don't need to analyze verses as much as we look at Jesus, since we have His example now.

What did Jesus mean by, “If someone slaps you on your right cheek turn the other cheek”? We see that Jesus Himself, when He was standing before the chief priests in the trial just before his crucifixion, was slapped and didn't turn the other cheek. He said in John 18:23, “If I have spoken what's right, why do you slap Me?” They didn’t respond to that (they probably slapped Him again and He didn't fight back). When they slapped him, He didn't offer His other cheek to be slapped as well. So, we need to be careful to understand the spirit of what Christ is saying, otherwise we would have to accuse Jesus Himself of not practicing what He preached.

The principle here is: I don't desire revenge; I'm not seeking to get back at someone for what was done to me. If someone calls me a devil, I'm not going to call that person a devil. If I am slapped, I will not slap back. I'd rather just sit back and trust God to protect me from being taken advantage of.

What does He mean when He says that if somebody sues you in court to take your shirt, give your coat also? For example, if somebody unrighteously tells a lie and sues you for your own property saying it is his property - perhaps he got some false documents in court and wants to take away your house from you - what are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to tell him to take your house and offer your other house as well? Is that the meaning?

That’s not at all what Jesus meant. Again, we need to understand the spirit. If somebody forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. In other words, if someone forces you to do something, do more. You must understand the spirit of it. Jesus also instructs us not to turn anyone who wants to borrow from us away. Is He saying that you should give money to every single person who wants to borrow from you? Here in India, if you give money to someone once and you get a reputation as one who freely keeps on giving to anyone, you’ll end up bankrupt in no time at all!

If you don't understand the spirit of these words, and blindly take them literally, you're going to get into a lot of trouble. The same thing applies to words that He spoke earlier, such as, “If your right eye makes you to stumble, tear it out.” Imagine if you actually tore out your right eye because one day you lusted after a woman and then the next day you lusted with your left eye, and then you have to tear that out, and so now you are blind. Is that what He meant? You can still lust in your mind after both your eyes are gone! Do you think blind men don't lust? You can be totally blind and still lust in your mind without both eyes, so you need to understand the spirit of these words. He was talking about a radical attitude towards lusting when He instructed us to be as a blind man is, or as the one with an amputated hand.

That's the spirit in which we need to understand all of these things: don't seek to take revenge, be willing to be taken advantage of, and even be willing to die to myself; but it doesn't mean I have no rights. It doesn't mean that I have to give up my property to anybody who asks me for it. We need to balance Scripture with Scripture, so let’s look at the last statement in particular.

Principles of Lending

“Do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). Sometimes we understand things better by comparing Scripture with Scripture, so we must look at a parallel passage to best understand this verse. Jesus said in Luke 6:35, “Lend expecting nothing in return.”

I remember a brother once came to me saying that he lent three thousand rupees to this other brother who said he would return it. A great deal of time had gone by and he had not yet returned it. I told this brother that he is the one who disobeyed Scripture, because Scripture says to “lend expecting to receive nothing in return.” If you lend expecting to receive what credit is that to you, even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount (Luke 6:34). But when you as a believer lend you must be different - expect nothing in return.

What Jesus meant was that you should only lend an amount of money that you can write off as a gift. So, I told this brother that he probably should not have lent this other brother three thousand rupees when he asked to borrow it. He should have said, “Sorry, I can't afford to give you three thousand rupees, but I can give you 500.” In other words, lend only as much money as you are comfortable never seeing again. Treat it as a gift, and if he doesn't return it, that’s it. But if you didn't do that, then you have disobeyed Scripture. We need to understand the spirit in these things.

What did Jesus mean when He said, “Don't turn away from him who wants to borrow from you”? When I was as a young Christian, I was earning a lot of money as a naval officer (far more than I needed) and I had plenty of money to spare. There was a poorer brother in the church who knew that and would come to me and ask to borrow money. I asked how much he wanted and he agreed to pay it back in a month. The next month came along and he came to me and said he still couldn’t return what he borrowed and he asked for more money, so I gave him more money. I had in mind this verse, “Don’t turn away from him who wants to borrow from you,” and I continued to give him money for months. I just kept quiet thinking I was obeying Scripture. I was a young, newly-baptized Christian and I was doing what Scripture said as far as I knew, but after a while this person who took this money backslid and got into drinking and other bad habits. When I heard that, then I wrote to him saying that if he used the money to buy alcohol and to finance the devil’s kingdom, then he had better return the money to me because this money was to be used for God’s kingdom. He got very angry with me and he said that even the dead denominations did not make demands like I was making.

And the Lord told me to forget it. I never wrote back to him and I never got the money back. I thought, “Lord, what did I do wrong? I obeyed Your Scripture which said, ‘Don't turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.’” And the Lord taught me something that has helped me throughout all these nearly 50 years. That is, you must compare Scripture with Scripture. The Lord showed me that I treated that money as if it was my own. One Scripture said I must lend to him who asks, but there's another Scripture that says that nothing that I have belongs to myself - everything on earth belongs to the Lord. “The earth is the Lord's and everything that it contains” (1 Corinthians 10:26). So when I receive a salary that I think is mine, I have to see that it's not mine; I should forsake it. I should give it to the Lord. Even though I collect my salary on the first of the month and it's in my bank account, I must say that it's not my money; that it's God's money.

An illustration that came to me at that time: if somebody had given me 5000 rupees to keep and then return later, and another person comes to me at that time saying that he heard I had 5000 rupees and asks for me to lend him 3000 rupees, what will I say? I’ll say “I'm sorry, brother; that that's not my money, it's somebody else's. He just asked me to hold on to it for him. Let me ask him about it and if he allows me to give it to you, then I'll give it to you.” Wouldn't that be the righteous way to handle this situation since it's not my money? If I had treated my salary as the Lord's money, then I wouldn't have given it out as easily as I did. When that brother came to borrow from me, I would have said, “Yes, that's fine; it’s right for me to lend to somebody who is in need, but let me go and ask the One to Whom the money belongs (in this case, the Lord). I would have brought it to the Lord and said, ‘Lord, do you want me to give it to this person?’” And maybe the Lord would have said yes or no. God speaks; He is a living God. Perhaps the first time He would say yes, and the second time He would have probably said no, but I didn't wait to listen. I went by the letter of the law and I got into bondage, but I'm very glad that I learned a lesson very early in my life on how to obey Scripture – “it is written” and “it is also written.” I need to balance Scripture with Scripture to be able to understand. I'm willing to lend to everyone who asks of me today just like it says here. But I also want to recognize that all that I have belongs to the Lord, so I cannot give that out without asking the Lord and that's what I followed subsequently when people have come to me and asked me for money. I now say, “Let me seek the Lord; if I have freedom in my spirit, I’ll give it to you.” And there are times that I have given and I have never gotten it back, and there are times when I've not given because Lord didn't give me freedom to give, but my heart was willing.

This is an example of how we need to understand the spirit in which Jesus spoke all these things. It's not that we allow people to treat us like doormats. The principle is that we do not take revenge on anyone and that we do not wish to get back at someone who hurt us.

Another brother, who worked as a bus driver, once testified in a church meeting that as he drove down the street, he would sometimes at night see someone coming toward him in a car in the opposite direction with glaring headlights that would blind his eyes. They're supposed to dip their lights when there's another car coming in the other direction, but these people didn't. Because their lights were blinding his eyes, he felt like making his bus headlights also glare back at them in much greater brightness, blinding the other driver back to teach him a lesson. He suddenly realized that he was a Christian and shouldn't take revenge so and he decided not to do it. Notice the revelation that that brother got on what it means to take revenge: to hurt another person in the same way that he hurt him!

If I understand the principle Jesus taught, I will discover the application of that principle even when driving down the road as somebody is allowing his headlights to glare into my eyes. This situation may not be written in Scripture anywhere, but I'll understand the principles and be willing to yield, recognizing that my time and my money and my energy primarily belong to the Lord. I'm not a slave of men and I'm not going to allow every Tom, Dick, and Harry to reduce me to become their slave. I'm primarily a slave of the Lord and I'm not going to be a slave of men.

So if I keep that in mind, I understand these principles: I never want to take revenge, I never want to treat that person the way he treats me, and I don't want to speak back to him the way he spoke back to me. I want to yield, I want to be gracious, and I want to give up my rights.

Love Your Enemies

Jesus goes on to something that is very closely connected. The next wrong attitude He speaks of is hating people. “You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Matthew 5:43). In the Old Testament the Israelites hated the Canaanites, they hated the Philistines, they hated the Amorites, the Moabites, etc. They intended to destroy them. But Jesus now says, “I say to you, love your enemies.” Has God changed through the years? No. Man now has the higher possibility to live like Jesus Christ. He was not capable of living like Jesus in the Old Testament. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to really love your enemies the way God wants you to love them. You may love your enemy to get some honor as a very gracious person, but what about to love your enemy for the glory of God? Only a person filled with the Holy Spirit can do that. “So I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Remember that these are the commandments that we’re supposed to teach every single believer who is a disciple around the world. If I'm to build a church, I must build a church where every single person in that church loves every one of his enemies. If he has ten enemies and he loves nine of them, he has not obeyed that command. Jesus said, “Go into all nations and make them disciples, teaching them to obey and do everything I have commanded.” In other words, I have to go through the experience myself first, and that's why every servant of God is allowed by God to face enemies in his life - so that he can learn to love them. That's how he can teach other people to love their enemies.

That's also why every true servant of God has to face persecution - because it's only then that he can learn how to pray for those who persecute him, and then he can also teach others how to pray for those who persecute them. That is why Jesus says, “So that you can be sons of your Father Who is in heaven.” He instructs us to look at our Father in Heaven, Who “makes the Sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

Think of two farmers, one is an atheist and the other is a God-fearing farmer. Their farms are next to each other, and one man prays regularly while the other man thinks that there's no God and it's all rubbish. Yet God makes the sun rise on both of them and their farms! God makes the rain fall equally on both of their farms so that they get good crops and good fruit in their trees. Do you see how good God is! He pours equally on the atheist and the God-fearing farmer, and He tells us to be like that. Be like God - equally good to the person who is good to you and to the person who is evil to you. All of this is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit - that's why we don't read such commands in the Old Testament.

Jesus goes on to say that if we only love those who love us, there’s nothing special about that, because even the tax collectors, and evil sinful people like murderers, and people in false religions and groups, do that. So if you only greet your friends or your brothers, you're no better than the heathen (Matthew 5:47).

Have you ever gone out of your way to greet somebody who doesn't want to greet you? I've done that numerous times. As a servant of the Lord, many people are upset with me because of the truth I proclaim - the truth of God's Word. Just as people were upset with Jesus and Paul and many other servants of God through these twenty centuries, many would not greet me if they were to pass me on the road. Sometimes I cross the road to go and greet them because the Bible says to greet those who don't have an interest in greeting you, to show that you have nothing against them.

Someone once asked me how many friends I have. I said as many people as there are in the world I have as friends, and the number keeps increasing every day! If there are seven billion people in the world, as far as I'm concerned, they're all my friends. I don't have any enemies; I love them all. They may consider me as their enemy, but I don't consider them as my enemy. People who have done harm to me, persecuted me, I want to pray for them. People who have cursed me, I want to bless them. “Bless those who curse you” (Matthew 5:44). Do you do that?

You know that no curse can ever harm you. That's impossible because we're under the blessing of God. Christ took every curse on the cross and now we are under the blessing of God, so any person cursing me is not going to hurt me in any way. He doesn't know that and I can, in response, bless him by saying, “God bless you.” I can turn to every human being in the world and say, “God bless you.” That’s sincerely what I desire for every single person. Whether God blesses him or not depends on his attitude, etc. but I certainly desire that God will bless him.

Be Perfect in Mercy

Lastly, the Lord teaches, “You are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). What does that mean? In what area am I supposed to be perfect? I can’t be perfect in love and holiness and wisdom like God - that is impossible. He's not saying here that one day you will be perfect; what He is saying is that you must be perfect. Again, we should compare Scripture with Scripture. In Luke’s gospel the same verse is mentioned: “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Love your enemies and be merciful just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36) - that's a parallel passage.

By comparing Scripture with Scripture, I realized that there is one area where I'm supposed to be perfect and that is in the area of mercy. I must be perfect in mercy. That means that I must forgive 100% of the people who have harmed me. I must love 100% of my enemies. I must bless 100% of those who curse me. I must do good to 100% of people who hate me - that should be how I live. So when Jesus says, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” when we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see that it‘s something that is indeed possible.

Many people have not taken a serious look at this verse and so they take this as a promise that one day they will be perfect (that is 1 John 3:2 - one day when Christ comes back we will be like Him - that is absolutely true, but we are not talking about that now). Instead, here it says you must be perfect, and Jesus is giving the example of the Father in Matthew 5:45, Who makes the sun to rise on both the evil and the good. Be good to that person who is evil towards you, in just the same way that God makes the Sun and the rain to fall upon people who are evil and don’t even believe in His existence.

Isn’t that a wonderful way to live on the earth? This is true Christianity and if you are not able to live like this, it is for one reason only: you don't take the words of Jesus seriously. You don't tremble at His Word, or you're not filled with the Holy Spirit.

The fullness of the Holy Spirit is not something that will make us giggle, laugh, fall down and roll on the ground. It's something that will make us love our enemies, greet those who don't greet us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who persecute us, and be merciful to every single person who is evil towards us just like our Heavenly Father is merciful to us. Think of how merciful God has been to you: the millions of sins He just overlooks and forgives. Can’t we forgive others in the same way? Let's take these words seriously and be free of the wrong attitudes that the Lord wants us to be free from.

Chapter 21

Secret Giving and Praying

In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus speaks on one wrong attitude. We have already seen a number of wrong attitudes in the previous verses from Matthew 5:21-48. Another wrong attitude is seeking honor from human beings in relation to giving alms (money for charity, or giving to the Lord’s work), in relation to prayer, and in relation to fasting.

In all these areas of giving, praying, and fasting, Jesus said it is very important that we do not allow men to know anything about our sacrifices. We should keep these secrets before God as far as possible. This is another area where our righteousness is to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). Remember, that verse could be the heading for almost for the rest of the Sermon on the Mount: the ways in which our righteousness is to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, in order for us to enter into God’s kingdom.

Righteous Motives

In the matter of our giving, Jesus says our attitude must be completely different from the Pharisees, hypocrites who wanted people to know what they were giving. He said to beware of practicing your righteousness before men. That’s the fundamental principle. And that righteousness Jesus breaks down to giving, praying, and fasting. In all these areas, Jesus said not to do it in order to be noticed by people.

We can’t avoid people noticing these things sometimes, and we don’t have to feel guilty if people happen to accidentally to know about them, or if there is no way to avoid it, but we don’t do these things in order to be noticed by men. That’s the point. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in Heaven. According to this verse, there are a number of people who have prayed and fasted and given for the Lord’s work who are going to get NO reward in Heaven, because they wanted other people to know how much they gave, prayed, and fasted.

Righteousness in Giving

Jesus said, “When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you” (Matthew 6:2). Jesus always had a way of exaggerating something to highlight a point. He didn’t speak literally about swallowing a camel and straining out a gnat, for nobody strains out gnats or swallows camels. Jesus spoke about having a log in your eye, but it is impossible to have a log in your eye. And here He speaks about blowing a big trumpet. Nobody blows a literal trumpet before they give money.

Jesus was exaggerating in order to highlight a point. You want people to know what you are giving so that you can get honor from them. And Jesus said that if people do this, then they have already received their reward. This means that what they wanted is honor from men (and not from God), and so they received it. There is no reward from God left for them, because they have already received their reward. But Jesus said that when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, meaning that another member of the body of Christ should not know what you have given. Thus, your alms may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

This matter of giving is very important. In the Old Testament there was no law that said that other people should not know how much you give, because everybody knew that you had to pay a tithe. A tithe was not money in those days. The Jewish people were farmers, so they brought their grain, mint, cumin, and animals as their tithe. When they offered it up to God, people would see them bringing a sheep or an ox or grain or whatever it was. They couldn’t hide it. Thus, there was no law that said that people should not see what you are giving. And there was no law in the Old Testament that said you even have to give cheerfully, which is a rule and principle in the New Covenant, which says that God loves a cheerful giver, and that no one should give grudgingly or under pressure (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Giving - Not Tithing - Is the New Covenant Command

We need to understand the principles of New Testament giving. There is no law in the New Testament that says you must pay 10%. The last mention of a tithe being commanded is in the book of Malachi, in the Old Testament. When Jesus referred to it in Matthew 23, He was speaking to people who were still under the Old Covenant -- the Pharisees and the Jewish people. The New Covenant was established on the day of Pentecost, and after that, there is not a single command to Christians to pay the tithe. There is no reference to the tithe at all.

There is a vague reference to Abraham having given 10% to Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews, but that wasn’t a law that Abraham was following. He could have given whatever he liked. It happened to be 10%, but Abraham was not following a law, and he wouldn’t have sinned if he hadn’t done it.

The emphasis that we see on tithing in Christendom today is completely Old Covenant. Most Christians live under the Old Covenant in many areas. In the Old Covenant, you could only have your sins forgiven (Psalm 103); in the New Covenant, Romans 6:14 says that sin will not rule over you. When people have only forgiveness of sins and no victory over the sin, they are living in the Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant, there was a congregation that could not work together as one body. When a church today is like that - when it cannot function together as a body - that proves it is really just an Old Covenant congregation. When tithing is emphasized, that is also Old Covenant.

There are many areas where Christians today are living under the Old Covenant; they don’t realize that the New Covenant was established on the day of Pentecost. It is almost like people in India not knowing that we became independent in 1947. Can you imagine somebody being ignorant of that? It is just as ridiculous for Christians to still live under the Old Covenant.

In the New Covenant, the principles of giving are that it should be secret (Matthew 6:1-4), cheerful (2 Corinthians 9:7), and, proportionate to what you have earned (1 Corinthians 16:2). There is no law as to how much you should give. You can give as God has prospered you. If you have much, and you have got plenty to spare, then you can give more; and if you don’t have much, you don’t have to give. That is OK, because God is a billionaire, and He doesn’t want any of His poor children to suffer by giving to Him.

If you don’t understand these principles, a lot of pastors and preachers will exploit you and take advantage of you financially. But keep this in mind, that when we give, we should give secretly. Any church that makes you reveal what you are giving is actually asking you to disobey the word of God in Matthew 6:1-4. As far as possible all our giving should be secret, voluntary, and cheerful.

This is why I personally do not believe that we should put a bag in front of people and force people to give when they may not be giving cheerfully. It is probably not possible for them to give secretly, because their neighbors are watching them give. I believe the way to do it is by keeping a box somewhere in the church where people voluntarily give secretly, cheerfully, and according to their ability. But very few churches practice this because there is a tremendous love for money among most Christian preachers and in most Christian churches.

If you give secretly, your Father, Who sees in secret, will repay you. That is a wonderful reward that God has promised, that if we obey His command here, then one day, when Christ comes again, there is going to be a great reward for those who have given sacrificially and secretly.

Righteousness in Prayer

Jesus’ principle in prayer is the same: when you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. There are number of things Jesus tells us about prayer as a warning.

First of all, hypocrites love to be seen praying. “They stand and pray in synagogues and the street corners in order to be seen. They have their reward in full.” The principle here is that if you pray in public, and your aim is that other people should appreciate your prayer, that is seeking honor from men. Almost everybody who begins to pray in public will have to admit that they are seeking honor when they pray.

Ask yourself, do you pray in public in the same way that you pray in private? When you are kneeling by your bed alone, how do you pray? What do you say to God? Is that what you say when you’re praying in public? Or do you make your language more flowery and bring a little tremor into your voice and behave like an actor, like a lot people do when they pray in public, to impress people that they are very earnest or they’re very emotional?

It’s all hypocrisy. God hates it. I wish we would realize that type of public praying is detestable before God. God detests it and won’t even listen to it. Most public praying in churches falls under this category, where people are praying in order to demonstrate how well they can pray before other people. This is completely against the teaching of Jesus, and people do it because they have not been taught all that Jesus commanded.

How shall we cleanse ourselves from it? We should judge ourselves each time we pray. I remember the first time I prayed as a Christian in public. I have to confess that I was seeking honor from people when I prayed. When I went home and judged myself, I said, “Lord, that is not the way I should pray.” The next time I got up and prayed in public, I was still seeking honor, and so I went home and judged myself again. It took me a number of years before I could cleanse myself from this desire to seek honor from men in public prayer, but finally, after many years, I learned to pray to God Almighty alone, to my Heavenly Father. Have you come there? If not, I want to encourage you to work out your salvation from seeking the honor of men.

Seek Cleansing from Dead Works

Matthew 6:1-18 is warning against seeking the honor of men. It is a sin that many people don’t even recognize, and it is not spoken about much. You can do a good work, but when you do it to seek honor from men, it becomes a dead work. In the Old Testament, there were only bad works (evil works) and good works. There were no dead works. But in the New Testament, we read about three categories of works: evil works, good works, and then something in between, called “dead works.” We are told in Hebrews 6:1 that we must repent of dead works, and we are told in Hebrews 9:14 that the blood of Christ must cleanse us from dead works. 1 John 1:7 says the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all sin. That we can understand; but do you know what it is for the blood of Christ to cleanse you from dead works as well?

Nothing can be cleansed unless it is confessed. When was the last time you confessed a dead work? What is a dead work? A dead work is a good work done in order to seek honor from men. When I pray, that is a good work. But if I pray to seek the honor of men, that good work becomes a dead work, and I need to repent of that prayer. When I give money for God’s work, that is a good work. If I give money to a poor believer, that is a good work. But if I give in order to be seen by men, that good work becomes a dead work that I need to repent of.

Any work done with a wrong motive -- even doing work to get some reward from God -- becomes a dead work. People say, “Give your tithe to our ministry, and God will reward you with a car,” or something like that -- you are doing business with God, and it is a dead work. You can’t do business with God.

Whatever we do, we must do out of love for God, to glorify Him. Not because we want some return from Him, as if we are doing business with Him. Don’t pray like a hypocrite, seeking to impress others. You have to be radical in your attitude if you ever want to be free from this, otherwise you will never be free.

Praying Alone Before God

Then Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your inner room; and when you shut your door, pray to your Father in secret.” How do we do this in public? We can do it in public if we have a door in our mind that we can shut. Even when I am standing in the midst of 100 people, there is a door in my mind. I shut it, and then I say, “I am now standing before Almighty God, my Father, alone.” There may be people around me, but I don’t want to be conscious of them. That’s one reason we close our eyes when we pray. There is no law that says you should close your eyes when you pray. You can pray with open eyes, because even Jesus did that sometimes.

We close our eyes so that we don’t get distracted by our surroundings, so that we don’t seek honor from the people around us. In a sense we are shutting out people when we shut our eyes. We need to shut our mind, too, and say, “Father, I have shut the doors now and I am praying to You.” That’s the way to pray, and we can do that even in public. We pray to our Father in secret, and our Father, Who sees in secret, will repay us. You can be absolutely sure that if you are praying to God your Father, and not seeking honor from men, He will definitely repay you and answer that prayer.

Avoid Meaningless Repetition

Jesus gives us more advice concerning how not to pray in verse 7, “Don’t use meaningless repetition like the heathen do because they think they will be heard for their many words.” One of the mistakes that the heathen make is to use meaningless repetition. Some religions have a habit of chanting something. They repeat some religious phrase, and it becomes a meaningless thing.

It’s possible to take some spiritual language and repeat it. It is possible for us to say, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,” and it becomes quite meaningless after a while. It becomes a ritual. The same is true for phrases like, “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord..” Jesus said, “Do not use meaningless repetition.” If you read the New Testament, you discover the word Hallelujah only comes in Revelation 19, and it says, “Hallelujah because of this,” and then it goes on to say another time, “Halleluiah because of this.” There must be a reason why we praise the Lord, and so we should not just say "Halleluiah” meaninglessly. We must give thanks in everything, but if it is meaningless repetition, it can be pretty foolish, and it doesn’t amount to anything before God. It can even be taking the Lord’s name in vain because the last part of Hallelujah, 'yah,' is a short form of Jehovah, and the Jewish people were very afraid to even mention that name, lest they take the Lord’s name in vain. I believe a lot of Christians are taking the Lord’s name in vain, when they say “Hallelujah” meaninglessly. I often say it when I praise the Lord, but I seek to say it meaningfully every single time. I am not against using that word, and neither is God, but it must be meaningful, and not a meaningless repetition.

Do you see how Christians have not taken a simple command like this seriously? Jesus said that it‘s the non-Christians who repeat something meaninglessly like a chant, and that must not be true in our lives. The same thing applies to lot of songs we sing. When you sing a song, particularly a song you have known very well and have sung probably 500 times, check yourself. The next time you sing that song in a church, you may discover at the end that you don’t even remember what you sang. If you were to ask an average, born again Christian at the end of a church service, “what did you tell God today in the songs you sang?” he’ll have to scratch his head and think, “What did I say? I don’t even remember. It was a nice song, so I just sang it along without even thinking of what I was saying.” That is meaningless repetition! We need to reverence God and say what we mean. You can’t go before a king, or the president, or the prime minister of India and just repeat something, when you don’t even know what you are saying. We must have much more reverence for God. Avoid meaningless repetition.

Seek Faith and a Clean Heart Rather Than Long Prayers

Jesus also says, “Don’t think that you will be heard for many words.” That’s another mistake lot of people make in prayer. They think that if they pray for a long time, God will certainly hear them. “I prayed for 3 hours, so definitely God will hear me.” That’s a lot of nonsense, and that’s what non-Christians think - if they pray for long time, then God will definitely hear them. It’s not true.

On Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal prayed for many hours -- maybe six hours or more -- but nothing happened. Elijah got up and prayed for half a minute and the fire fell. It’s not the length of a prayer that makes Lord hear. It is very important to understand that.

A lot of people think that they will be heard for praying all night. “Well I prayed all night, so of course God will answer my prayer.” Who said that? It’s faith that brings an answer to prayer and a heart that is free from sin. Those are the most important things. “If I regard iniquity in my heart,” Psalm 66:18 says, “the Lord will not hear me”.

It doesn’t matter if you pray all night, and it doesn’t matter how wonderful your prayer sounds. If there is sin which is not settled, if there is unconfessed sin in your heart, if there is a wrong relationship between you and your brother, if you hurt somebody and you come and pray to God, God will not listen to your prayer. Go and settle that matter with your brother. If there is a sin between you and God, or between you and your brother, that is not confessed and settled, you can be absolutely sure that you are wasting your time praying, whether you pray for 1 minute or 10 hours.

Faith is the second requirement to be heard in prayer. If you don’t have faith when you pray, you will not get anything. You don’t have because you don’t believe that you will receive. Jesus said, “When you pray, believe and then you will receive” (Mark 11:24). Even if I pray for a long time, if I don’t believe that God is going to grant it to me, then I will not get my request.

Why do we say, “Amen,” at the end of the prayer? Amen is not just a signal that the prayer is over; it is much more than that. It means that I believe that I will get what I have prayed for. Amen is a Hebrew word which means, “It shall be done,” or “It will be so..” I am saying to God, “I prayed this, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, and I believe it will be done. I have asked in faith - I believe I have asked according to Your will - and so it will be done.” When there are areas where we don’t know what God’s will is, we say, “Father not my will, but Thine be done.”

As little children go to their father and ask for anything, you are permitted to ask God for anything. A little child can ask for an elephant or a real airplane! A little child can ask his father for anything, and you can ask God for anything, provided that you conclude your prayer with this one sentence, “Nevertheless Father, not as I will, but as Thou will.” This is effectively telling God, “I trust You to choose for me.” This is a wonderful attitude to have in prayer. “I trust You, Father, to choose for me, and I trust You that I will get this which I am praying according to Your Will.”

There are many areas where God’s will is revealed to us in Scripture. We must come in faith. Many Christians say, “I don’t know whether God has heard my prayer.” We should not be like that. We are not to pray like the heathen who think that we have to inform God about our needs. No, Your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you even ask Him. He asks us to pray so that we can have a sense of cooperating with God when the answer comes! We say, “Yes! I prayed, and God answered me,” and that brings a closer fellowship between us and our Heavenly Father.

Chapter 22

How to Pray

Having taught us in Matthew 6:5-8, how not to pray -- not as the hypocrites, not with meaningless repetitions, and not with length of prayer, but believing that our Father knows what we need -- Jesus next tells us how to pray. I notice, as I have observed Christians, that very few people actually pay attention to these simple statements of Jesus, which even a child can understand. He taught us how not to pray, and many people have not taken that seriously, and He has taught us how to pray, and even this many people have not taken seriously.

He was not giving us a prayer to blindly repeat though. There is no harm in repeating it if you mean every sentence. But Jesus was teaching us a pattern that should characterize all of our prayers.

First, Pray to Our Father Who Is in Heaven

Jesus said when you pray, pray like this -- “Our Father Who art in Heaven.” The first thing Jesus said is that when you talk to God, call Him Father. Nobody in the Old Testament could ever dare to look up to God and say, “Father.” Old Testament prayer was always, “O God, Lord Almighty, etc.” because God was the CEO of the universe and His people were like little employees in a factory. You can’t talk to the CEO any way you like! But in the New Covenant, we are God’s children, and just like the child of a CEO can walk into his Dad’s office and call him “Daddy,” so we need to understand the privilege of being a child of God. It is fundamentally different!

And yet, it is true of most Christians that they don’t call God, “Father;” they call Him, “O God.” There is nothing wrong in that. He is God, and it is right to address Him as God; but if you only address Him as God, and not also as Father, then there is something wrong.

In the Old Testament, God had a name, Jehovah (or Yahweh (Nobody knows the exact pronunciation of it because the Hebrew alphabet did not have any vowels in it)). As far as I am concerned, it is an absolutely unimportant discussion, because I don’t call God Jehovah or Yahweh! I call Him Daddy.

He is my Father because Jesus taught us to pray, saying, “Our Father.” In Romans 8, we learn that the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and cries out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). Yet if you look at some of the songs people sing, like “Guide me, Thou Oh great Jehovah,” are they speaking to their Father? He is Jehovah, but we need to learn to address Him as our Father. If my children came up to me and said, “Mr. Poonen,” I would think there is something wrong with them! Why are they calling me Mr. Poonen? They should call me Daddy. When I come to God, I don’t call him Jehovah or Yahweh, even though that is His name. I say, “Father,” because He is my Father. I have become His child.

That reality of having become the child of God has not hit many Christians, and this is because they don’t open themselves up to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit fills a person, one of the first things He does is make him cry out “Abba Father,” which means, “Daddy.” Has that happened to you? This is very, very important. It is not something that somebody trains you to say. It’s an automatic, inward cry. That inward reality comes when the Holy Spirit comes into a person’s heart, when he is born again. If he is filled with the Spirit, he really knows God as his Father. It is one of the most important things in the Christian life, to know God as Father and to call Him Father. You can call Him Lord, and you can call Him God. But the predominant way you should be praying is to your, “Abba Father.”

Not only “our Father,” but Jesus said to pray, “Our Father Who art in heaven.” We are not praying to some earthly father. My earthly father may love me very much, but he may be helpless to help me in a difficult situation. My Father in heaven is not helpless; He runs the universe. He is more powerful than the prime minister of India! Think if the prime minster of India were your father. If you had a problem, all you’d have to do is call your dad and tell him about it. Well, your Father in Heaven is mightier and more powerful than anyone in this world. Why don’t you go to Him with your problems?

Jesus was trying to lay a basis for faith in that very first sentence of this prayer. “Our Father, Who art in heaven,” makes it clear in my heart before I start praying that the One I am talking to is my Heavenly Father, a Father Who loves me intensely. This Father is in heaven, and He is almighty. These two truths, that God loves me intensely, and that God is all-powerful, are the basis for my faith. He can solve any problem - He can do anything - and He loves me intensely. This is the greatest basis for faith.

Prioritize God’s Interests

In the six requests that follow, if you look carefully, you’ll notice that the first three requests concern God. When you go to God in prayer, what is your first request? You’ll find it is almost always something for yourself or your family. “Lord meet this need,” or “Heal my backache,” or “Give me a job,” or “Take care of my children: provide a job and a marriage partner for them,” etc. There is nothing wrong with these requests. We can certainly pray for all of these things. God wants us to go to Him for every little thing, even small things. Even if you have misplaced your keys, you can ask God to help you find them.

You can ask God for every little thing, and every big thing, but what do you give priority to? Jesus said that when you pray, you should make your priority be God and His needs. That’s the meaning of “seek God’s kingdom first.” Jesus says this in Matthew 6:33, “Seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness and these other earthly things will be added to you.” You can ask for them, but put God’s kingdom first; this is God’s way.

Jesus says your first request must be, “God, my Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Never mind what people say about my name. That is unimportant, because my reputation is fit for the trash-can.” Are you concerned about your name and your reputation more than God’s Name? Then you are not praying in the way Jesus taught us. Suppose somebody scandalized you or scandalized your daughter. Does that disturb you more than the name Jesus being dishonored in our country? It doesn’t bother us enough that Christians fight with each other and do so many wrong things. If that doesn’t bother us at all, I wonder whether we really have relationship with God as our Father. If you are more concerned about your name, your family name and your children (what people are saying about them), then you need to reorient your thinking and get it more centered on God.

A Christian’s Life Should Revolve Around God, Not Self

The first three requests that Jesus taught us are “Hallowed be Thy Name,” “Thy kingdom come,” and “Thy will be done.” Notice everything has to do with God. Man is basically self-centered. What we have inherited from Adam is a self-centered life that makes us think of ourselves primarily, and very often ourselves only. It’s I, me, and my family, that’s all that concerns most people. If they get converted, it’s still I, me, and my family. When they receive Christ, they only think of how Christ can now bless I, me, and my family. That’s not Christianity. Jesus came to deliver us from this self-centered life, which is the root cause of all our misery and unhappiness.

The reason why most Christians cannot rejoice all the time is because they are centered in themselves. When something good happens to them, they rejoice; and when something doesn’t happen the way wanted -- if they didn’t get the promotion that they expected -- then they lose their joy. Why? God is still on the throne, your sins are still forgiven, the devil is still defeated! You can’t rejoice because something you wanted, you didn’t get. Jesus has come to deliver us from a self-centered life, which is the root cause of all our problems.

Can we ask for food? Of course we can, Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” “Daily bread” includes food, clothing, shelter, and children’s education, because they need to get educated and get a job so that they can earn their daily bread. There is nothing wrong in asking for these things. “Forgive us our sins,” and “Deliver us from evil” are also good requests, but all these three requests concerning us come after seeking God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s glory. Jesus is changing our priorities.

The right way to pray is to pray with God’s Kingdom, His name, and His will primary in our thinking. In other words, I must change my whole way of life, to now think in terms of God’s name, God’s Kingdom, and God’s glory. That is the truly spiritual Christian. Anyone can repeat this prayer - even a parrot can. But only spiritual people can pray this prayer from their hearts, because only spiritual people can honestly say that their primary concern in life is that God’s name will be hallowed in the country, in the church, and in themselves and their families.

“God’s kingdom should come soon, God’s rule should be established in the church, and God’s will should be done in my life, in my family, everywhere.” That is the mark of a spiritual man. Don’t consider yourself spiritual until these three are the uppermost desires in your heart. Everything else is meaningless if the center of your life is still around yourself. Many people, when they are converted, because their life has been self-centered all along, have just added Jesus into their orbit to serve them - to forgive their sins, to answer their prayers, to bless them, make them prosperous, and heal their sicknesses. This is not Christianity. This is a self-centered life with religion added on to it. When Christ really comes in, we turn from (repent of) our self-centered life, and God becomes the center.

Consider Others Even in Our Material Requests

In the three requests concerning ourselves at the end of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus does mention material things (give us this day our daily bread), but He links them with “Thy will be done on Earth as it is Heaven.” I am saying “My Father, I want to do Your will on earth in my life exactly like the angels do it Heaven, which is instant obedience; and in order to do Your will, I need health, so give me my daily bread. Are you praying for daily bread in order to do God’s will, or in order for you to do your own will? Is it in order to sin, or in order to please God? Our prayer should be, “Give me this day my daily bread for health and strength to live for God.”

The other thing to notice is that in this entire prayer, the words “me” and “my” are missing. Isn’t that interesting, that in our own prayers you’ll find “me” and “my” very frequently, but in the prayer that the Lord taught us to pray, these words are completely absent. He says, “Give us” - “it is not just me Lord, I think of my brother too, he needs his daily bread.” “Forgive us” - “don’t just forgive me, forgive my brother too.” “Deliver us…” The truly spiritual man is a man whose life is centered in God, and when it comes to considering himself, he thinks not only of himself, but also of the people around him - others who are also part of the family of God. Because God is the Father of large family, he thinks of others as well.

The proper order is Christ first, and then others and me together; not just me by myself. That’s the way a spiritual person prays: not just for his own needs. He is concerned about his children naturally, but he is also concerned about somebody else’s children. He doesn’t look down on them. It is not humanly possible to be burdened as much for other people’s children as for our own. We must be realistic, but we must have some concern for them. Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgiving Others

“Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven others.” This is an important request. It is the one request Jesus repeats at the end. He says in verse 14, “If you forgive men their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” It is very important to understand this condition, because Jesus Himself laid it down: if you don’t forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. Is this true, or not?

Does God withhold forgiveness when you don’t forgive somebody else for what that person did against you? Absolutely. He will not forgive you if you don’t forgive other people. Please remember this. It is a fundamental principle in God’s dealings with men that He treats us like we treat other people. If we are merciful to others, then God is merciful to us. If you forgive others, then God forgives you. We saw that in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.” Here we can say, blessed are those who forgive others, for they will be forgiven; and those who do not forgive others will not be forgiven.

Jesus once told a story in this connection to illustrate it clearly in Matthew 18:21-35. This is a very important parable that we need to understand. There was a king who had many slaves and they all owed him a lot of money. One man owed him 10,000 talents, which is something like a billion rupees - a huge debt that you can never pay. The king was merciful and forgave him. This forgiven man went out and found another person who owed him a hundred rupees, caught him by the throat, and said, ‘If you don’t pay me, I will take you to court and have you locked up,” and then he does just that. When other slaves saw this, they went and reported to the king. The king called the slave and said, ‘You wicked slave, you just asked me to forgive your debt and I forgave you. Shouldn’t you also have mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you? And he was moved with anger. The King handed this slave over to the torturers until he paid back everything he owed.

In other words, that forgiven debt was put back upon his head. How do you account for that? Does God, who forgives us, un-forgive us? Does He put back on our heads the sins He has already forgiven? According to this verse, yes. The Bible never says that God has forgotten our sins. He says, “I will not remember your sins anymore,” meaning, “I will not hold your sins against you.”

There is no verse that says that God completely forgets. I myself cannot forget the sins I committed, so how can God forget them? No, He still knows, but doesn’t hold them against us. This parable teaches us that if you forgive others, God forgives you, and if you do not forgive, God will not forgive you.

Be Humble Towards Temptation

And then the last request is, “Do not lead us into temptation.” What does that mean? God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability (1 Corinthians 10:13), but it is good for us to pray this, because it is good for us to recognize that some temptations are way beyond our ability to cope with. We know that God will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability, but we need to pray to not be led into temptation that is too strong for us. “But deliver me from evil.” I am expressing a humble position saying, “I do not know how to overcome this temptation. I don’t have the ability to overcome this temptation. So Lord, my Father, please don’t lead me into something too strong for me.” When I pray like this, I am expressing my inability and helplessness. That’s a good attitude to have towards temptation.

We are not to think that we are too strong to be overcome by temptation. That’s the reason many people don’t have victory over sin. The reason most Christians are defeated by sin is that they have too much self-confidence. They think they have the ability -- they think that having a few more good resolutions and gritting their teeth will help them overcome. No, that won’t. We have to acknowledge, “Lord, don’t lead me into temptation too strong for me, and when I face any temptation, deliver me from evil, because I can’t overcome evil on my own.” If only we would recognize that evil is far too strong for us, even in the matter of forgiving others, then we would pray as Jesus teaches here. If you find it difficult to forgive somebody -- if somebody has done terrible harm to you or to your family, and you find it very difficult to forgive that person, for the evil that person has done, -- then you can ask God for grace. Say, “Lord please help me, deliver me from this evil of an unforgiving spirit. I don’t have the ability to forgive this person, but I ask You to help me to forgive him.”

Prayer is an expression of our weakness and our helpless dependence on God, and faith is the confidence that God will help me because He is my Father Who is in heaven, Who sent His Son to die to free me from all my sins. Romans 8:32 says, “If He gave His son to free you from all your sins, how much more will He will give you everything that you need along with Him!”

The prayer concludes in Matthew 6:13, “For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen”.

It is very important that we conclude our prayer like this and say, “Lord, at the end of it all, when you have answered my prayer and done everything that I asked you for, I want to acknowledge that the kingdom is Yours, and the power is Yours. I don’t have power to be able live this life; I don’t have power to overcome sin. The power is Yours. And when I do overcome sin, the glory also be Yours.

Then the prayer concludes with “Amen,” which means, “It will be so”.

Keep Praying - Never Give Up

Jesus placed a great importance on prayer. One of the things Jesus said in Luke 18:1 was that men should always pray and not give up - not get discouraged. In each of the only two parables He gave on prayer, Jesus spoke of persistence. One example of this is the widow who went to a judge in Luke 18:1-8, who kept on asking until she got justice against her enemy. Hers is a prayer for overcoming Satan and the lust in our flesh. The other example is in Luke 11:5-13, where Jesus was speaking about asking God for bread - for strength and gifts to help another person who is in need who comes to us. In both parables, the emphasis is on persistence; the person keeps on knocking until he gets that bread. The total teaching of Jesus regarding prayer is never give up! God is your Father: He will meet your need, He will overcome the enemy for you, and He will give you all that you need to bless others. We need to go to God in prayer and in faith, believing that He will give us what we ask for his glory, Amen.

Chapter 23

Fasting in Secret and Love of Money

Jesus first spoke about giving, then about praying, and then about fasting. In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus speaks of fasting. The principle is the same for fasting as it is for prayer -- do it in secret. “Don’t be like the hypocrites who neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men -- they have their reward in full. But when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret”.

Many Christians like to secretly boast about what they have done for the Lord (in the areas of giving, praying, and fasting), but Jesus said to keep it secret -- let God reward you in the final day. Many would like others to know how much they pray. For example, you read in some people’s biographies that they would spend a certain number of hours in prayer every day. If that person was praying in secret, he should have never let anybody know that he was praying. Perhaps he couldn’t avoid his family members knowing, but otherwise nobody else should know how much a person prays. He should tell his family members not to tell anyone. Very often you read biographies of such people and you just get discouraged. The Bible doesn’t tell you to pray for two hours or for four hours. It just tells you to pray always (Luke 18:1) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

If you pray, don’t let anybody know how long you prayed for or anything concerning your prayer. When you give, don’t let anybody know how much you gave. And in the area of fasting, perhaps more than praying and giving, keep it secret. I have heard numerous people tell others that they fasted for 7 days or 21 days or 40 days -- and I don’t see any righteous purpose in that. Such stories are outright disobedience to the Word of God, which says that you should never let anybody know how long you fasted, whether it was for one meal or 40 days. Jesus said this so clearly, and yet this command is thoroughly disobeyed by almost everybody who fasts. I presume that very few people on earth fast without anybody knowing about it, but they are the ones who will get a reward from God.

Notice this expression that comes repeatedly in the areas of giving, praying and fasting. “Your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you” (Matthew 6:4,6,18).

People will see the result of your secret activity in these three areas in your life. There is no need for you to advertise. When you advertise, you are seeking your own honor and glory, the very thing that Jesus said you should avoid. This is why I have no respect for people who tell me how long they pray for, how much they give, or how much they fast. I don’t respect them because they are disobeying the command of God openly. If somebody tells you how long he fasted, remind him that Jesus said we are not supposed to tell anyone how long we fasted.

The Purpose of Fasting

All of us have a tremendous love for food. Every human being loves it, and it is very easy for food to become our god. In fact, in Philippians 3:18-19, it speaks about certain people whose god is their appetite. They are called enemies of the cross of Christ. Food can be an idol that replaces God and becomes too essential in your life. Fasting breaks that slavery to food.

Fasting also helps us really understand what hungry people in the world feel like. I never knew what hungry people in the world feel like until I fasted, and you won’t know what hungry people feel like until you fast. That is another purpose of fasting. It detaches us and helps us to concentrate more on the things that we are particularly praying about. Very often prayer is coupled with fasting, and usually, when you have to take some momentous decision, it is good to concentrate and maybe take a day off from work to fast and seek God in prayer. It doesn’t mean you have to be on your knees all the time. Sometimes you can also go to work while fasting.

Fasting is a very good habit to do as discipline. I believe that all godly men give, pray, and fast. A person who is spiritual will always give, pray, and fast in secret. A person who does not do these three things should not consider himself to be a very spiritual person at all. The important thing in all these areas is to do it in secret.

Now we come to another very important area. We have seen the wrong attitudes of anger, sinful sexual desire, lying, revenge, and hatred in Matthew 5:21-48. The sixth we considered is seeking the honor of men (Matthew 6:1-18).

Do Not Love Money

The seventh wrong attitude is an attitude that loves money (Matthew 6:19-24). Many people do not believe this is a wrong attitude. To have money is not a sin, to love money is a sin. Jesus said, “don’t lay up for yourself treasure upon earth, where moth and rust will destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasure in Heaven, where no moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves cannot break in or steal --the reason is -- because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:19-21).”

It is very easy to understand whether we have obeyed this command or not. If your mind is thinking more about earthly things than Heavenly things -- If you are thinking more about your earthly assets and properties than Heavenly things -- you can be pretty sure that your heart is on this earth, and that your treasure is also here. The way to know whether we have obeyed this command is to ask ourselves during the day where is our heart set. In the middle of our work (or anything else), if we’re terribly disturbed because of a little financial loss or excited because of a financial gain, this could indicate that our treasure is on this Earth.

I remember many years ago, when somebody gave me a small financial gift, the Lord asked me a question - ‘Has your joy increased?” I suddenly felt convicted and confessed to the Lord that my joy did increase because I got this little money. I learned that day that I must rejoice only in the Lord and not in money. I also learned that the increase of money should never increase my joy. If it does increase my joy, it means that my joy is in money.

The Bible says to rejoice in the Lord always - and the Lord is always the same - so if you gain money or lose money, your joy in the Lord should not increase or decrease. It should be the same. If your joy decreases because you lost some money, you can be pretty sure that your heart was there. If your joy increases because you got some money, you can be pretty sure your heart was there. We must trust God. He will provide all we need for our earthly life, but we must not find our joy in these earthly things. We can use these earthly things but should not find our joy in them.

Make Money Your Servant

Money is a wonderful servant, but it is a terrible master -- just like fire. Fire is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. We cannot live without fire in our houses, to cook, for example. But if the fire in that stove becomes a master, then the house will be burnt up. It is a terrible master - capable of burning down your whole house - but if you keep it under control (when you turn the knob say, “I am going to control when I turn you on, and when I turn you off. I am going to decide that. I, not you.” Thus you are master of the house), then it is a wonderful servant. Money must be like that. Just like we need fire, we need money to live on this earth, but it must be a servant. You must say, “Money I am going to decide that you are not going to control me; I am going to control you. You are not going to control my mind and make me think about you all the time. I am going to think about the Lord and things of Heaven, but I am going to use you.” This is the position of a spiritual man.

Gold is a very good thing if it is used as a servant. The Bible says there is even gold in Heaven! But there, we read about streets of gold. That means you walk on it, it is under your feet. This is the difference between a heavenly Christian and an earthly-minded Christian. A heavenly-minded Christian has put gold under his feet - it does not rule him - but a carnal Christian wears gold on his head and it is on his mind all the time.

So if money is on your mind all the time, then you love it, whether you like it or not. It’s like a boy who loves a girl and is always thinking about her. One who is always thinking about money is in love with money, and the love of money is root of all sorts of evil. You don’t have to be rich to love money. I have never seen a beggar in India who does not love money. Every beggar loves money. If you gave them 50 paisa they would despise it. They love money and want more. Thus, it is not wealth that makes a man love money. Poor people love money too just as much as rich people.

It is also the case that you can be free from money irrespective of how much wealth you have. It is a question of your attitude towards it. If you have one servant in your home, and he takes over your house, it would be terrible. You can have a little money (like having one servant), but he has taken over your house and rules your thinking. On the other hand, you can have 318 servants like Abraham had, yet they were all his servants and obeyed him. Like Abraham, you can have lot of money, and if you rule over it, then you can use it for the glory of God.

The love of money is the root of all evil, (not necessarily having plenty of money). It is very important to understand this distinction. I have seen many poor people who love money tremendously, and I have seen rich people who do not love it. I have seen that it is not a question of how much you have, but what you love. This is what Jesus was speaking about. Your mind must be set on the things above. Lay up treasure in Heaven. Check what are you thinking of, where your heart is, to discover what are you in love with.

Then Jesus goes on to speak about the eye in relation to money in Matthew 6:22, “The lamp of the body is the eye, and if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” This means that it is a question of how you look at money. If your eye is bad, it means that you look at money as something very important, as most important for your life on earth, and your body will be full of darkness. “If the light that is in you is darkness, how great that darkness is.” It is amazing that many people who have all of their doctrines right, and are good Christians in the eyes of others, who go to church services regularly yet they love money tremendously. They may even look down on other dead denominations without knowing that people in dead denominations are free from the love of money than they are, who claim to be in New Testament patterned churches.

Ask yourself some fundamental questions like these: do you get excited when you get little more money? Do you get depressed when you lose money? Then you love money. Our joy will be completely unaffected if it is in the Lord alone. If our joy is in earthly things, it will be affected by changes in our income.

If You Serve Mammon, You Cannot Serve God

Jesus went on to make a tremendously important statement in Matthew 6:24. Having just said that the love of money is as wrong as revenge or hatred, as wrong as seeking the honor of men, telling lies, lusting, and getting angry, He explains even further. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold on to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The two masters are not God and devil - there is no Christian who feels that he can serve God and the devil. The two masters are God and money. There are lot of Christians who think they can love God and they can also love money. They don’t think that they can love God and Satan, but they do think they can love God and money. But Jesus just demolished this idea and said, “You cannot do that.”

This is so important in our day, where we find that many Christian leaders and preachers are always asking people to give money to their ministry. A lot of the money that is given enables this great preacher to live a very luxurious lifestyle, often ten times better than the people who are giving him the money. This is a crime that people on earth don’t judge, but God will severely judge such people in the Final Day. Can you imagine Jesus taking money from poor people and living at a much higher standard than them? Is that the Jesus you see in Scripture? Far from it! Jesus would not take money from poor people and live at a higher standard Himself.

There are many today however, who call themselves servants of God and take money from poor believers to live in a luxurious lifestyle themselves. This is a crime of the first order, and if Jesus was here, He would take a whip and chase such people out of the church. He would say, “Listen, if you want to make money, go out and do business somewhere else. Go and do some other work, earn as much as you can, and do what you like; but don’t take money in God’s name, from people who give for God's work, and use it to live luxuriously.”

God has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14). But many people misuse this verse. The verse says, “The Lord has directed those who proclaim the Gospel to get their living from the Gospel.” It is right for those who preach the gospel to receive gifts to take care of their earthly needs, but the Lord has not directed that those who proclaim the Gospel should live luxuriously from it. This is the result of the covetousness of preachers. We see plenty of examples in Christendom today, of people who misuse this verse and live at a far higher standard of life than the people who support them.

Most preachers today, particularly those on television, are not serving God. They are serving money. Why is it that so many people who claim to be able to do miracles and healings in big stadiums and on television say God can do anything? It is quite hilarious when I look at it and hear them; “God can open blind eyes, raise the dead, open deaf ears, cleanse the leper, and heal the sick! He can do any miracle, and He can do all types of things for you. There is one miracle God cannot do - He cannot give me money for my needs, so you people have need got to do that.” You see what a joke this is? Is that the one miracle God cannot do? The Lord says the silver and the gold in all the universe is His, and that the cattle on a thousand hills are His (Psalms 50).” If I were hungry, I would not tell you.” If this billionaire is the Ruler of the universe whose servants we claim to be, then why do we go begging to people for money? No servant can serve two masters. If you cannot trust your Heavenly Father to meet your needs, stop serving Him and go do some earthly business.

If You Love Money, You Hate God

No one can serve two masters. “Either he will hate the one and love the other.” It is quite a radical thing Jesus says here, just like Jesus speaks about hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters in Luke 14:26. Jesus was radical. Jesus says that if you want to love God, you have to hate money (Matthew 6:24). Mammon refers to money, real estate, stocks and shares. Jesus says that if you want to love God, you must hate all of that. You can use it, but your love for God must be so supreme -- like the brightness of the sun -- that your interest in money disappears as stars disappear in daylight. If it is not like that for you, you cannot serve God.

Jesus says, “If you hold onto one, you despise the other.” Put “the Word God” and “mammon” into that sentence and this is how it reads: “No one can serve God and material things (material wealth, money). Either he will hate money and love God or hate God and love money.” The implication of what Jesus’ saying is that anyone who loves money, hates God. You may not have not known it before, but now you do. Jesus is saying that if you love money, you hate God. You may think you love God just because you sing a lot of songs to Him, but that is not what Jesus says. Jesus says that if you hold onto God, you will despise money, and if you hold onto money, you despise God. You can have money and earn money, but the moment you begin to love it you begin to hate God. God may have given a good job or an inheritance where you have lot of money, and that is fine. But if you love it, and hold onto it, you despise God and you hate God. It is so important for us to understand and to have a right attitude in this if we want to serve the Lord faithfully.

In Luke 16:11, Jesus said, “If you are not faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?” The true riches are revelation in God’s Word, likeness to Christ, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and partaking of God’s nature. Why is it we find so few Christians manifesting the likeness of Christ, getting revelation from God’s Word, and having a rich anointing of Holy Spirit? One reason is that they are not faithful with mammon. This is the reason for all the boring sermons that we hear in churches and all the unfaithfulness that we see in Christian workers. Money is an alternate master to God, and if you want to have a right attitude to God, you must keep money in its proper place, as a servant, under your feet.

Chapter 24

Do Not Be Anxious

The eighth wrong attitude, anxiety, is mentioned in Matthew 6:25-34. Many people don't think of anxiety as a sin, just like a lot of people don't think of anger, love of money, seeking honor from men, hating your enemy, or telling white lies as a sin.

Treat Sin as Seriously as God Does

Many people think of love of money or anger is a weakness. As long as you call it a “weakness,” you will never be free from it. Jesus didn't come to save us from weaknesses; He came to save us from sin. If we confess something as sin, Jesus will save us from it. But if you try to give it a more polished name, you will never be free from it. Call something by the dirtiest name you can think of -- call lust, “adultery,” call anger, “murder,” call the love of money, “the hatred of God,” and you'll be free from it because you see what an evil it is.

If you think of AIDS and cancer only as serious as a cough or a cold, you are not going to take it seriously. Many people take these sins very lightly even though Jesus spoke so strongly against them. I don't blame them because I would say that their leaders and teachers have not taught these things to them. There is a great lack of Christian preachers and teachers who preach the whole truth of God and who do not seek the honor of men. There are few preachers who do not want anybody's money but want to speak the truth to lead God's people to spiritual help. It’s like a doctor who is not interested in your money but who is interested in leading you to health. There are very few preachers like that.

People also call anxiety a weakness. It is not just a weakness. In Matthew 6:25-34, Three times in Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Universe, says, “Do not be anxious.” In the space of just ten verses, the Lord says “Do not be anxious” three times. This is the same Lord Who commanded us not to commit murder, not to commit adultery, and not to steal. Put them all together: “Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, and do not be anxious.” Which one is not a sin? Can you say, “Oh well, I'm anxious only once or twice a week?” That’s like saying, “Well, I murder people only once or twice a week” or, “I commit adultery once or twice a week, not too often.”

Why is it that we take some sins seriously, and not others? Because your teachers haven't taught you. Fear is not a weakness, it's a sin -- like murder is a sin. How do we know what is sin? If God says you shouldn't do it, then it is a sin. If God has said you must love your wife, even if your wife is an evil woman, you have to love her, because God said so. And if God has said not to do something, even if you don't think it is evil, don’t do it -- it is evil. It's not because I think adultery is bad. God has said, “Don't do it.” He has said, “Don't be anxious, and don't be afraid.” I want to see the things which God has said “don't do” as evil.

Anxiety Is an Insult to God

Anxiety destroys my fellowship with God. Anxiety says that God doesn't care for me. It is an insult to God. What would you think of a four-year-old child who is eating from the garbage bins? There are a number of them like that in our country. Unfortunately, they don’t have parents who care for them. Is our Heavenly Father like that? Does our Heavenly Father not care for us? It is an insult to put our Heavenly Father in the same category as the fathers of those children who are eating from those garbage bins. These children don't know where their next meal is going to come from -- they have a right to be anxious, because their earthly fathers don't care for them. But if you have a Heavenly Father and you're anxious, you're saying that your Heavenly Father is also in the same category.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life” (verse 25). Don't be anxious for your life -- what you eat, what you drink, or for your body. Isn’t your life more than food body and clothing? Luke takes the example of the birds of the air -- they don't sow, they don't reap, nor do they gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. How many times have you seen a dead bird on the road? It is such a rare sight to see a dead bird on the road. I think I can count on my fingers the number of times in my entire life that I've seen a dead bird on the road. Where have you seen birds starving? It's such a rare thing. There are millions and millions of these birds on earth, and they get food even though they don't sow, they don't reap, and they have to go looking for food here and there. Who feeds them? Jesus said your Heavenly Father feeds them. He's not their Heavenly Father; He's your Heavenly Father. He's their Creator, and He feeds them, but with you, He is not just your Creator; He is your Father. Are you not worth much more than these birds?

I read a little poem once which is a very interesting. It is about two little birds talking to each other. The Robin said to the Sparrow, “I would really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so?” The Sparrow said to the Robin, “Friend, I think that it must be that they have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.”

We need to remember that this is not just a lovely story. It is an insult to God to think that He doesn’t care for our every anxiety.

Concern Is Not Anxiety

To have a concern for our children, for example, is good. If your children have not come home at the usual time, to be concerned for them is not wrong. To be concerned is right, but to be anxious is wrong. It is like having money. It is right to have money. It is right to be concerned for our children, for their future education and their spiritual growth, etc. But to be anxious is wrong.

Faith Says, “God Knows”

Do not be anxious. Then Jesus says, “By anxiety can you add height to yourself?” No. Why are you anxious about clothing? He says, “Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow; they don't toil and spin clothing for themselves, yet I say to you that even Solomon the Great King in all his glory could not clothe himself like these flowers. And if God can so clothe the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow thrown into the furnace, won't He do much more for you, oh you of little faith?” Jesus is speaking to His disciples and saying, “Why are you so worried about what type of clothing you going to wear, where you will get it from, etc. God cares for the birds, He cares for the lilies, and for the grass of the field (not just the flowers, but even the grass of the field He cares for!). If He has clothed the flowers with such beauty won’t he cloth you?” He certainly will, so then do not be anxious saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “With what shall we clothe ourselves? For all these things the gentiles eagerly seek but your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Faith in this area is to say that my Heavenly Father knows what I need. If that is true, then why should we pray? We pray because, in prayer, we are expressing our need to God so that we come into fellowship with Him. God wants to have fellowship with us and that's why He wants us to talk to Him and commune with Him. God wants to commune with us, it is very, very important. This was not possible in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God just spoke to the prophets. The prophets spoke to God, and nobody else could have a direct communication with God. But today God is your Father. You know how much we love little children when they come into our home. Think about a couple that never had children for many years, and how delighted they are when they finally do have a child.

God says in Isaiah 49:15, “Can a mother forget her sucking child and not care for the child of her womb? Even she might forget, but I will not forget you.” That is a beautiful picture of God. He is not only a Father. He is also like a mother. He cares for us so intensely!

There are many people who are afraid and wonder who will take care of them when they get older. I have heard people complain to me that their children are not taking care of them now that they are old. But I ask, ‘Did you bring up your children to take care of you, or did you bring up your children for the glory of God?” Don’t bring up your children to take care of you when you’re old. Bring them up for the glory of God. Here is a promise for old people from Isaiah 46:3-4. The Lord says to you,

“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,

And all the remnant of the house of Israel,

You who have been borne by Me from birth

And have been carried from the womb;

Even to your old age I will be the same,

And even to your graying years I will bear you!

I have done it, and I will carry you;

And I will bear you and I will deliver you.

What a promise! Trust in God -- you don't have to depend on your children. God can use anybody and any means to provide what you need. You don't have to be anxious.

Deal With the Root of Anxiety

The Bible says to be anxious for nothing in Philippians 4:6. It is an absolute statement, “Be anxious for nothing.” But we do need to do something about the cause of anxiety. Perhaps there's some problem that you are facing now, and you don't know how it will work out. What should you do? God doesn’t say to do nothing; He says to pray about it. Supplication means to make a specific request to God and tell God exactly what the problem is. After supplication, don't forget to complete the prayer with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is saying, ‘Thank you, Father, for hearing my prayer, and thank you for caring for me.” Giving God thanks is like a receipt -- an acknowledgment that my letter has reached God's presence and he received the letter -- that’s what I’m saying when I say, “Thank You for hearing me.”

When you do these two things, Philippians 4:7 says, then “The peace of God which is beyond comprehension, which we cannot even understand, will guard (guard is a military word -- like a fortress) your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

To not be anxious is a command we must obey. When I am free from anxiety, I will also be free from a lot to discouragement. This is a wonderful step that we must take.

The Right Kind of Anxiety

Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 6:33 (paraphrase): “Don’t be anxious about all these earthly things, but if you do want to be anxious about something, be anxious about pursuing God's kingdom first and His righteousness’. In other words, let those energies be directed toward seeking God's Kingdom first and His righteousness, and you will find that all these earthly things which you are anxious about will be taken care of.

That’s a wonderful promise, and it applies to anyone in any age. The word ‘kingdom’ refers to the rule of God in our life. If God is my authority, then He is the one who rules over me. It is the government of God I submit to. This is the meaning of seeking God's kingdom. To “seek His righteousness” means to seek total purity in every area of my life. When I seek these things first, all my earthly needs will be added to me.

Financial Debts Reveal a Lack of Trust

Our lives should be a testimony to the truth of this verse. I have sought to live following this verse for more than 50 years now. Sincerely seeking God's Kingdom and His righteousness first - to the best of my knowledge and ability - and I can testify that God has certainly added all my earthly needs. I and my wife have been through times of deep poverty, but we have never been in debt in all my 72 years.

I have never been in debt. When we get into debt, we are saying that our Father has forsaken us. If we trust in God, He will provide our need. When the Bible says in Romans 13:8, “Owe no man anything,” it is teaching us never to get into debt.

I want to explain what debt is. If you take a loan from the bank to build a house, there is no debt there. Because for the money you borrowed, there's an asset counter-balancing that debt. If you take a loan to buy a car, and that car is insured, then there is a balance there, and there is no debt in this case. But if you have borrowed money to spend it on yourself - to go on a vacation, for example, or to spend it on a wedding - and it has evaporated (meaning there's no asset to counterbalance your borrowing), then it is a debt. We should not get into this type of debt; we must learn to live within our income. If we spend extravagantly, there will be plenty of reason for anxiety. Jesus says that the Gentiles live like this -- they eagerly seek to live a very luxurious, comfortable life, and if they can’t afford it, they use a credit card to keep buying things and get into credit card debt. It is a shameful thing if a Christian is in credit card debt. If you use a credit card, make sure that it is paid within the month so that you don't pay any interest on it. If you have gotten into the habit of using a credit card and getting into debt, I want to say to you in Jesus' name that you are living in disobedience to God. You have every reason to be anxious and worried. You are testifying that your Heavenly Father doesn't care for you. You're trying to live beyond your means, and you are not satisfied with what God has given you.

I'm not speaking what I have not practiced. I have been through times when my wife and I had very little, but we decided to never get into debt. We lived with what we had, and as God increased the circle of our finances, we could buy more things. This has been such a tremendous education for us. I can stand boldly before people today and say, no matter what our circumstances, I have learned to be content. Paul could say in his late sixties “I've learned to be content in all circumstances. I have learned to have little and I've learned to have much” (Philippians 4:12). However much I have been given is up to God. But I'm perfectly content. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6).

It’s very important for us to understand the simple principles of finances because a lot of anxiety comes from a wrong attitude in the area of money. It's a continuation from Jesus’ earlier statement, that you cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24), that Jesus spoke about anxiety. He said, “For this reason - because you cannot serve God and money - do not be anxious” (Matthew 6:25). So seek the kingdom of God first and do not be anxious concerning tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself (Matthew 6:34). Each day has got enough trouble of its own. Just live for today.

Saving Is Wise, Not Anxious

That said, do lay up for the future, by all means. The Bible says, “Go to the ant” (Proverbs 6:6-8). Because the ant knows that in winter time, there won't be enough grains, it lays up for the future. There is nothing wrong in having a savings account Even Jesus Christ had a treasurer who kept money. That was like a savings account; there is nothing wrong with having a savings account. It is not laying up a treasure for yourself. It’s being wise about the future. It is wise to provide for your children. 2 Corinthians 12:14 says that parents should lay up for their children. That’s a perfectly right thing to do. You don’t lay up treasure for yourself, but you must provide for your children; that's right. 1 Timothy 5:8 says that if you don't care for your family you are worse than an unbeliever. And so, as we conduct ourselves with wisdom, we can be completely free from anxiety. We don’t seek for things that God doesn't give us, we are satisfied with what God has given us, and we are going to live within our means.

It’s a good thing to ask ourselves this question. This little phrase that Jesus used in verse 32, “these things the Gentiles seek after.” What are the things that the Gentiles seek after? Ask yourself whether you're seeking after those things. Are you seeking for the same things worldly people seek? Then you shouldn't be calling yourself a Christian. You should be calling yourself a worldly person.

A Christian is one who seeks God's kingdom first and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and finds that all the other things are added unto him. At the end of his life, whether he has lived for fifty years or ninety years, he can that say he spent his life seeking God's Kingdom first and His righteousness. I can testify that, at the end of 52 years of being a born-again Christian, I have spent my life seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness, and God has added all that I need. May that be your testimony too.

Chapter 25

Do Not Judge

The ninth wrong attitude - judging and condemning others - is like many of the other wrong attitudes, in that it is another attitude which most people don't even think is wrong.

“Do not judge or condemn others lest you be judged and condemned yourself. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye” (Matthew 7:1-5).

Now it is a very, very common practice, unfortunately, among Christians to judge people, to look down on them, and to despise them. It’s a common practice among Christians to consider yourself better than others when most of the time, you don't even know everything about them. There’s a reason why we are told not to judge others, and if we understand the reason behind it, it is easier to obey that command. Jesus gives us the command not to judge here, but just as Jesus said in John 16:12 -- “There are many other things that I want to say to you which you cannot bear now. But when the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will explain the truth to you,” -- this is a command whose reason is given by the Spirit elsewhere.

When the Holy Spirit came, He explained through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 why we should not judge others. Jesus did not explain that in Matthew 7. This comes under the category of things He could not explain to them then. In 1 Corinthians 4:5, the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle Paul, “Do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait.”

The Holy Spirit is saying to those of us who have a tremendous lust (I call it a lust because it is a strong desire) to judge other people, “I will give you that opportunity, but just wait. Don't judge right now. That's all I'm saying. You can judge later, but hang on. Wait until the right time. Wait until the Lord comes. When He comes, He will bring to light the full story.” The reason why we're not allowed to judge others is because we don't know the full story. Think of the number of days and months sometimes a High Court judge takes to listen to both sides of an argument and evaluate the whole thing before he writes his 500-page judgment. If an earthly judge takes so much trouble to investigate fully before arriving at a conclusion, how can we make conclusions so quickly? “Do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will bring to light…” What will He bring to light? First of all, He will bring to light “the things hidden in the darkness.” Secondly, He will bring to light “the motives of men's hearts” (v5).

Confess How Little You Know

Those are two areas which we know nothing about. When you look at another person, you do not know what he's doing in secret. Most of us do not know, for example, how a person behaves with his wife at home. We do not know how she behaves with her husband, or how they speak to each other. They may speak very nicely and lovingly in public, but they may not be speaking to each other like that at home. You may think they are a very loving couple, but they may not be like that at all. They may be fighting and quarrelling with each other every day at home. So your assessment could be completely wrong. And vice versa too. You may look at a very quiet type of person and think that he is pretty useless. He is not doing anything for God and yet in secret, he may be doing ten times more for God than you are. The only thing is that he doesn't make a big show of it.

The things hidden in darkness, we do not know. You do not know the things that are private, even if you live with a person. A wife can live with her husband for fifty years and still not know whether he loves money or not. Externally, it may appear as if he doesn't love money. But deep down in his heart, he may be loving money. God will expose it in the final day. A husband and a wife may not know whether either of them has bitterness in their heart against somebody, such as a relative or a neighbor. It can be very carefully hidden in nice language. Yet in the darkness of their heart which we cannot see, there may be bitterness. There may be jealousy. Very often, you can’t make out whether there's pride in someone's heart. The person may appear to be very humble. Wait until God exposes the darkness as well as what's hidden in the darkness.

The second thing that God is going to reveal in that day is the motives of men's hearts. This means the reason why a person did something. For example, suppose that you hear a man preach a wonderful message. You may not know why he did that. He may have done that for money. He may be preaching for honor. Or he may be preaching to show that he is better than somebody else. There's always this tendency, in even the best of our actions, to do them with wrong motives. That is another reason why you shouldn't judge.

You can listen to a man praying and say, “Ah! He is just trying to seek honor!” He may not be seeking honor at all. He may be praying to the best of his ability to God. But you judge him. We have such a tendency to judge people in areas we know nothing about. We don't know their motives. Because of the evil of our Adamic nature, we often attribute the worst possible motive to people.

We Know Much Less Than We Think

Let me say this from many years of observation. Even if you know a person very intimately or even if you live with that person, you still know only 10% of his life. I want to say to every husband and wife who have known each other for fifty years - you know only 10% of your husband or wife. The other 90% lies hidden, like the bottom part of an iceberg or the lower part of an ice cube in water. There are depths which you know nothing about. You may know more than other people, but there are still hidden depths you know nothing about.

If you see a person occasionally, you still only know 1% of his life. Maybe you work with him in an office or you see him in church every Sunday for 25 years. You still only know 1% of his life. The same applies to the people you meet regularly at church or in your office. You only know 1% of their life. That is why, when one day, you hear that they have been in some horrible sin, you’re shocked. You say, “Hey, I thought I knew him for 10 years.” No, you didn't. You only saw 1% of his life.

What would you think of a teacher who evaluates a hundred-question exam on the basis of the answer to the first question? If the first question was wrong, the teacher gives a zero even though 99 questions may be right. Or if the first question was right, the teacher gives a 100% even though the other 99 questions were wrong. What do you think of such a teacher? I think such a teacher should be sacked from the school! How can a teacher evaluate a whole hundred-question test on the basis of the answer to the first question?

You can see the absurdity of that, yet that is exactly what you do when you judge others. You know one percent of his life, and you have evaluated him. You say, “he's like this,” or “he's not like this.” The Bible says, “Wait. Don't go on passing judgment before the time.” That is the reason why we should not judge: because we will be judging wrongly. We tend to judge people with wrong motives.

God Waits to Judge

The other thing to know about judgment is found in Hebrews 9:27. It says, “It is appointed unto men once to die and after this comes judgment.” So when does God judge people? When does Almighty God, Creator of this universe, judge people? According to this verse, “Once to die and after this comes judgment.” So God judges people only after they die.

When do you judge people? You judge people long before they die. Why does God wait till a person dies before He judges? He may be an evil person, but God says, “I have hope for him. Maybe he will change,” and so God waits. Think of what would have happened if God had judged the dying thief on the cross who went to paradise before he died. Consider if God judged him even a few minutes before or few hours before he died. That would have been terrible. He was deserving to go to Paradise finally, but he would have been judged and sentenced to hell. God waited until he died, and then took him to paradise. This shows that God waits until a person dies before He judges him. Man is impatient and judges people long before they die. This is the foolishness of man. He doesn't know all the facts. He doesn't know 99% of the person's private, inner life. He doesn't know how much that person has struggled or prayed, but he judges him. No serious High Court judge would ever judge with such little evidence. If a judge knows only 1% of the case, he will say, “Listen, I need more evidence before I can pass a judgment. Until then, I will suspend judgment.” This is what every Christian should say too.

Judging Others Is a Mirror

When we judge a person, we're really just showing the condition of our own heart. As it says in Proverbs 27:19, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.” Or like in mirror, a man sees his own face. This means what you imagine finding in that person's heart as a bad motive is only an indication of the wrong attitudes you have in your own heart. You imagine that man can’t possibly be doing that with a good motive. You think, “It must be with a bad motive because I myself would only do such a thing with a bad motive.” You are revealing your own heart. It's very foolish to judge other people.

Think of the story of the prodigal son. In the story of the prodigal son, we read about the elder son. He was very upset when he saw the Father rejoicing over the return of the prodigal son. When the Father goes out and asks the elder son why he hasn't come in, see what he says in Luke 15:30, “This son of yours.” He doesn't even call him, “this brother of mine.” What a despising way to speak. “He has devoured your wealth with prostitutes.” How did he know that? How did he imagine that his younger brother was going around with prostitutes? Did somebody come and report that back to him? Not at all. He assumed this man, his younger brother, must have been spending money on prostitutes. It may not have been true at all. He may have been drinking and wasting his money in foolish ways, but perhaps not on prostitutes. But when you have a wrong attitude like this older brother’s attitude towards his younger brother, you can always imagine the worst about the other person. And whenever you imagine the worst about somebody else, you can recognize that the problem is with you more than with the other person. The other person may end up sitting with his Father at the dining table and enjoy the fattened calf, and you may end up outside the house.

The story of the prodigal son is a story where in the beginning of the story, the younger son is outside the house and the elder son is inside. At the end of the story, the younger son is inside the house, and the elder son is outside the house, because he is judging people. Make sure you don't end up outside the Father's house because you're judging people with insufficient information. The safest thing to do is not to judge.

Consider Judgment to Be the More Serious Sin

Do not judge. Jesus says even if you're judging, what are you doing, judging a little speck in your brother's eye, when you have a log in your own eye? That's what He said. What is this log that is in a person's eye? You can’t have a physical log inside your eye. But Jesus is exaggerating to show how grievous your sin is compared to his. Granted, perhaps he did something terribly wrong. But your unloving attitude towards that person is a log compared to his sin, which is only like a speck.

Maybe he went to prostitutes. Okay, that's a sin. But then even that is only a speck compared to your unloving attitude towards him. That’s like a log. The Lord says to get rid of your unloving attitudes towards others. He says that unloving attitude towards that person makes you constantly want to find fault with that person. Whatever that person does, you put a wrong motive to it. That person cannot do anything good. The person is evil in your eyes, but you don't see how evil you are to have such an unloving attitude towards that person. So what does He say? Imagine a man who has very poor eyesight. Would you go to that person to pull something out of your eye? Would you go to an eye doctor who is almost blind due to cataracts and other problems with his eyes? How in the world can he look into your eyes and remove a little speck from them? I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that person.

That is what the Lord says. How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out your eye,” when there is a huge log in your eye that keeps you from seeing properly? You can damage his eyes. But the Lord says, “You hypocrite! See your unloving attitude.” Every person who has an unloving attitude towards another person and judges that person is a hypocrite according to Matthew 7:5. First, get rid of this unloving attitude, and then you will see clearly. Then that brother may come to you of his own accord and say, “Brother, could you please take the speck out of my eye?” Isn’t that wonderful when you come to that type of situation?

Only the Father’s Mind Is Fit to Judge

Jesus said in John 8:15, “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgement will be absolutely true because I'm not alone in this, but I and He who sent me.” Jesus walked in such perfect fellowship with the Father that He could say, “If I do pass a judgment, it would be absolutely right, because I'm in complete fellowship with the mind of the Father.”

You and I are not in such perfect fellowship with the mind of the Father. We have to humbly admit that. How in the world can we pass a judgment? Even Jesus, Who was in such perfect fellowship with the Father, says, “I do not judge.” Jesus says, “You people judge according to the flesh. You see something and you have your own carnal way of assessing that. And you judge that person. But even I am not judging anyone.” What a fantastic verse! Can you follow the example of Jesus, who was in such perfect fellowship with the Father and still said, “I'm not judging anyone”? The more we are out of fellowship with God, the more we judge other people. He said, “I'm not judging anyone.” This occurs immediately after the story of the Pharisees judging the woman caught in adultery, and Jesus setting her free.

Seek Discernment

In the previous chapter, John 7, Jesus speaks about how we are to judge. We are not to live in this world without any opinion, like zombies floating around this world. No, God doesn't want us to be opinion-less people. Paul had an opinion about the Corinthians. He said they were carnal. He had an opinion about the Galatians. He says, “You Galatians have been bewitched! You're foolish!” We need to understand this. We need to have discernment, but we should not have a suspicion of others. Sometimes what people call discernment is plain, simple suspicion.

“Do not judge, but judge.” Have you heard a verse like that? Do not judge, but judge. We are commanded to judge. Here is the balance. In John 7:24, Jesus says, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” That means don't judge by what you see or hear. Instead, you need to judge righteously. In Isaiah chapter 11, we are told that that's how Jesus would judge. “When the Spirit of God is upon Jesus, He will delight in the fear of the Lord.” One mark of fearing God is given in Isaiah 11:3, “He will not judge by what He sees or what He hears, but with righteousness.” We get a lot of information from our eyes and our ears. He says not to judge on the basis of that information. Listen and see, but reserve judgment. Say, “Lord, I've seen something, I've heard something, but I don't know whether this is the truth. I want to wait on You.” That's how Jesus did it. He would never judge by what His eyes saw or by what His ears heard because He wanted to listen to the Father. It's a very good example for us to follow. Never judge by outward appearance, but judge with righteousness and have a righteous opinion.

Recognize the Circle God Has Appointed You

Whom do we have to judge? We have to judge the people who are within our circle. For example, if you're a father and your children are quarrelling with each other, you can’t turn around to them and say, “No, I'm not going to judge because the Bible says, ‘Don't judge.’” You have authority in the circle of your family. You have to judge and sort out the problem between them. If you're an elder in a church, you have to discern the situation and sort out the problems between husbands and wives or between brothers. We read in 1 Corinthians 5 that the Apostle Paul once gave a man over to Satan, because he had authority over that church. He passed judgement. That is right, and that was after waiting upon God to know what to do. We are to judge the circle in which we have responsibility.

You don't have to judge what's happening in another person’s church. You don't have any responsibility there. You don't have to judge another person’s children because you're not their parent, but you do have to judge your own children. The principal of judgment is to see if that person is within your circle. For example, if you’re a boss having people working under you in your factory, and they have a problem, you have to pass a judgment because you have authority over them. But in spheres where you don't have authority, the answer is to mind your own business. It’s a wonderful word - mind your own business. Peter says in 1 Peter 4:15, “Let none of you suffer as a busybody in other people's matters.”

For many years, I had this little sentence written in front of my table - The happiest people in the world are those who never judge others but judge themselves constantly. I got that from 1 Peter 4: 17, “In the household of God, we judge ourselves first,” and 1 Peter 4:15, “Don't become a busybody in other people's matters.” We judge ourselves first. The mark of a true household of God is that it comprises of people who are not busybodies in other people's matters, but who judge themselves first. Such are the happiest people in the whole world. I'm thankful that I kept that before my mind for a long time. I've urged people who want to live a godly life to take this decision, to only judge themselves and the people whom God has put under their authority, but nobody else. I believe you can live a wonderful life. This is the ninth wrong attitude that Jesus warned us about in Matthew chapter 7. It is a very important word for us to follow. I hope you have understood the balance of where to judge, where not to judge, whom to judge, whom not to judge, and how to judge. May God help us.

Chapter 26

Seek to Prophesy the Right Word by Listening to God

Beginning at Matthew 7:6 we have the concluding paragraphs of the Sermon on the Mount. “Do not give that which is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6). Jesus is teaching us that we have to be wise concerning what we speak to whom. In Proverbs 26:4, we are told that we're not to answer a fool according to his folly. We must look to Jesus’ example when we try to understand a verse of Scripture.

Seek to Understand the Principles Behind Jesus’ Commands

When we look at a verse like this, it is not that we are to treat anybody like dogs, or to treat anybody like swine. We are all sinners. Every single person is a sinner. We're all sinners. Some of us are saved by the grace of God with our sins forgiven, and some are still in their sins, but we're basically all sinners to start with because we've inherited that from Adam. So there's no reason for one person to think that he's better than the other, or to look down on another like a dog or a swine.

We need to understand the principles behind what Jesus is saying as we read through the Sermon on the Mount. For example, when Jesus said, “Pull out your eye” or, “Cut off your hand,” He wasn't referring to us actually cutting off our hand by amputating it, or plucking out our eye. It’s the principle behind the statement that He wants us to obey. When He spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John 6, it's not His physical flesh or physical blood that He was speaking of. He was talking about a participation in His death. Some people took this word literally and got offended and left, but He said to them, “The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life. The flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63).

There was another instance of this when Jesus went Syrophoenicia, to the land of Tyre (Matthew 15:21-28). He went all the way that distance from where He was (about 80 kilometres) just to help one Canaanite woman. It's amazing that Jesus would walk 80 kilometres one way, and 80 kilometres back (over 150 kilometres), just to help one person. He was obviously led by the Spirit to do this. As a man He didn't know what He was going to find, but when the Spirit leads, if you obey, you will discover there's something wonderful at the end of the journey. When Jesus got to Tyre, a woman came asking for help for her daughter who was demon possessed. Jesus turned around and said, “It's not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26). Some people have questioned that statement.

Was Jesus calling her a dog? Would you walk 150 kilometres to help one single person? How long does it take to walk 150 kilometres? It would take a couple of days at least. There we see the intensity of Christ's love. Knowing how deeply He loved her, we see that the Lord was testing her to see whether she was willing to take any lowly position, recognizing that she deserves nothing from God. When she said, “That's fine. I'm a dog, but can I get the crumbs that fall from the table?” Jesus said, “O woman, your faith is great!” It’s only twice that Jesus ever said that to anybody, and both were to non-Jewish people. One was to a Roman centurion, and the other was to this Syrophoenician woman. Look how He appreciated her!

We need to understand that when Jesus speaks about dogs and swine in Scripture, He’s not despising people. He’s recognizing that we don't deserve anything at all from God. Anyone who thinks, “I deserve that God should do something for me” hasn't understood man's position before God. The only thing that you and I deserve is hell. If we go to God and say, “Lord give me what we deserve,” then He should be giving us hell. Anything better than that is God's grace. When we recognize that, then we will see that we get a lot that we do not deserve from God. But most people don't recognize that position.

The Difference Between Animals, Men, and Christians

When Jesus said, “Don't give that which is holy to dogs,” He meant, “Don't give something which people don't appreciate to them.” All a dog wants is a bone. He doesn't want something holy. When a human being is more interested in material things on earth than God, there is a sense in which he is no better than an animal. What do you live for? Do you live just to bring up children, have sex, sleep, and eat good food? Well, that's what all the animals are interested in too! Animals are always interested in earthly things. Dogs are always looking down on the earth. So are swine. You never see a dog or a swine looking up to heaven. Animals are always looking down at the things of the earth, and that's the meaning of the word ‘dogs’ here - it means “people whose minds are set on earthly things.”

A true Christian has his head lifted up. He is looking at things above. For people who are not interested in the things above, it is pointless giving to them that which is holy. It's like casting pearls in front of swine. What swine need is a lot of rubbish (slop). That's what they love to eat, so it's pointless giving them that which is holy. Jesus is speaking of the Sermon on the Mount - the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not meant for unbelievers. That is the point of Matthew 7:6: don't give this message to those who are not born again, because they cannot appreciate it.

What people who are not born again need to hear is the message of repentance. They need to know that they are sinners. They need to know that they deserve hell. They need to know that they are lost, and cut off from God, and are heading to an eternal destiny in hell. That’s the message that non-Christians and even people born in Christian homes (who are not born again, who have not come into a living connection with Christ) need to hear.

Every human being, if he does not give God first place in his life, is really like an animal. An animal has no interest in God, no interest in prayer, no interest in hearing what God has to say. When you have a human being living on Earth with no interest in prayer, no interest in God, and no interest in hearing what God is to say to him, he is no better than an animal. An animal is interested in sex. When man is primarily interested in sex, he is like an animal. Every animal is interested in sex and food, and when human beings are interested only in food, sex, sleep, and having children, they are just like animals. But there was a difference when God made Adam. He made Adam from the same dust that He used to make the pigs, the dogs, and all the animals. It’s exactly the same dust. If you look at the internal organs of dogs and swine, there's a lot of similarity there between man's internal organs and the internal organs of these animals. So what the Lord was saying is, physically, both of you are from the same material. And that's why God made animals and man both on the sixth day. The first part of the sixth day He made the animals, and the second part of the sixth day He made man. But there was one big difference with the animals: God didn't breathe on them. They automatically had breath when they were created from the dust, but as soon as man was made, God breathed into him, and he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7), and that was the thing that distinguished him from the animals immediately - the breath of God.

If God had not breathed into Adam, he may have looked like a man, but he would have been like an animal. But the moment God breathed into him, he became a living soul. He became an eternal being, unlike animals, which are not eternal. When an animal dies, they just become dust. But when God breathed into a man and man became a living soul, he became an eternal being at that moment. He became an eternal being answerable to God. He didn't have eternal life, because eternal life refers to life that had no beginning, and only God has that. But we can receive that eternal life when we repent of our sins and come to Christ and receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Then we will have eternal life. Otherwise, we are just eternal beings who go to hell and dwell there for eternity, separated from God.

What the Lord is saying is that there are two distinct categories of people on this earth. There are those who live just like animals (like dogs and swine), and there are others who recognize that they are supposed to be children of God, and who recognize that God has made them eternal beings answerable to Him. When God breathed into man, he was made of dust, but he also had a conscience that made him aware that he's answerable to God for his actions and words. Animals don't have a conscience. They don't have any sense of guilt when they do something wrong, whereas man (even if he's a completely illiterate barbarian in a jungle) has a sense of guilt because he has a conscience. Even the barbarians in the jungles bow down and worship - maybe a rock or a stone or the sun, for example. There's some awareness that there is a Creator, there is an eternal Being to Whom they are answerable. You never find a religious dog anywhere, or a religious monkey or swine. Why is it that even barbarians have that sense of awareness of an eternal Being to Whom they’re answerable? That's because they have a conscience. Every man has a conscience, and that's what distinguishes man from swine, dogs, and other animals.

Discern the Maturity of Your Audience

We need to recognize what truth we can give to each person. That's what Christ is saying in this verse. The Apostle Paul says when writing to the Corinthians, “I decided when I was with you I will only speak about Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Some people have misunderstood this verse, as if that is the only thing that we have to ever speak on. If ever you take one verse out of its context you can get a wrong doctrine, and that’s how many cults are built. Whenever you read a verse in Scripture, remember it is part of a letter, and if you take one sentence out of page two of a letter you can get a wrong understanding. Read the whole paragraph. Read the whole letter. When you read the whole paragraph here, you read that Paul is telling the Corinthians, “With you people I could only speak about Christ dying for our sins.” Then in Chapter 3 he explains why; “You're like babes, and babes can only drink milk.” You don't put solid food in the mouth of a one-month-old baby, it will choke to death. What do you give a one-month-old baby? Milk. You cannot put solid food into that child's mouth, because it can’t chew it. That's what Paul is saying about the Corinthians.

But he says in 1 Corinthians 2:6 (paraphrase), “We do speak wisdom among those who are mature, and you guys are not mature, so I can’t speak God's wisdom to you people. I can only tell you that Christ died for our sins, because you're constantly falling into sin and asking God to forgive you, and again falling into sin after that. What do you need to know? You need to drink milk, that Christ died for your sins, repent of your sins, confess them, and ask God to forgive you.”

Paul is saying to them, “How long are you going to be babes? You need to grow up.” That's what the Hebrews were also told. The writer to the Hebrews says, “You people can only drink milk. You're not ready to eat solid food (the food of righteousness).” This is being told to Christians who should have become more mature. The writer says, “By this time you should have become teachers, but you still need somebody to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you need milk and not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12). So just like we don't give pearls before swine, and we don't give that which is holy to the dogs, we should not give solid food to babies.

The point here is, we need to give appropriate truth to people according to their spiritual level. If they're not even converted, it’s no use taking a Bible study on the Sermon on the Mount to them, because that is not meant for them; that's meant for disciples. If a person is unconverted, what he needs to hear about is his sin. He needs to hear how terribly guilty he is because of his sin before God, how he is headed to an eternal hell, how he is a rebel against God, and how God’s wrath and judgment are resting upon his head. He needs to hear that so he can turn and be broken and humble before God and ask God for His mercy. That's the message for the sinners, not the Sermon on the Mount. Then, when the person is converted, we can teach him. First, we begin teaching them as a babe with milk, and then we can go on to more mature teaching of God's wisdom. Then, we can (once he is a disciple) teach him the Sermon on the Mount.

It is a very simple principle because there are many people in the world who think Christianity is only following the Sermon on the Mount. That’s not true. The first step of Christianity is laying a foundation, and that foundation is - you're a sinner and you're on your way to hell, you're a rebel against God, and you need to repent of that and come back in brokenness and humility and repentance, feel sorry for your sins and want to turn away from your sins, believe that Christ died and took the punishment for all your sins upon the cross, and believe also that He proved this was the only way of salvation by rising from the dead. The thing that distinguishes Christianity from all other faiths is two great truths; 1) Jesus Christ died for your sins (nobody else has even claimed to do that) 2) Jesus Christ rose from the dead, proving what He said was true (nobody else has ever raised from the dead). If you remove these two truths from Christianity, Christianity is like any other religion. Do good, help the poor, be kind, don’t hurt anybody, etc. That is the superstructure of Christianity, but the foundation is that Christ died for our sins and rose again. That foundation is what is lacking in all religions.

The superstructure of Christianity may look the same as that of other religions, but it's like comparing the man who built a house on the sand with the man who built on the rock. Both houses look the same, but one doesn’t have a foundation. A lot of things in Christianity may look similar to what is taught in other religions, but if you look at the foundation, you’ll see that there is no foundation elsewhere. Only in Christianity is a foundation that Someone died for my sins and took my punishment, which is the greatest need that human beings have. Nobody did that except Christ, and how do we know that's true? He rose from the dead. It’s on that foundation that we lead people to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and become disciples who give all to Christ. When a person has come there, the foundation has been laid. Then we can teach him the Sermon on the Mount.

Seeking the Lord for Wisdom

That is the point of Matthew 7:6 - we're not to give truth to those who do not appreciate it. That's why we need to have wisdom whenever we talk to people. We're not to have a standard message for everybody. We need to seek God to hear what God wants me to say to each person. Even Jesus lived like that.

There’s a prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 50:4 which is very appropriate for those who preach the Word, wondering, “What am I supposed to give to a person as God's message?” I first need to discern what his spiritual condition is. This is why I need prophetic insight from God when I speak God's Word to anybody. Giving God's Word is a supernatural thing. If you only think of it as giving a lecture, like teaching chemistry, then you can teach the Bible anytime to anyone. But if you want to minister God’s Word according to the person’s spiritual level, you need to have supernatural insight which only God can give. Isaiah 50:4 says (this is referring to Christ), “The Lord God, the Father has given me the tongue of a disciple, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.” In other words, “In order to get the right word for a weary one who comes across my path, God my Father awakens me morning by morning every day, and he awakens my ear in the morning to listen as a disciple.” Jesus is saying here that He would listen every day, and He would listen constantly so that He could give the appropriate word to the people who came to Him.

One example of this is in John 8. We read of the Pharisees bringing a woman who was caught in adultery to Jesus and quoting the Old Testament Scriptures, which clearly said that she was to be stoned to death. Jesus did not disagree with that because He knew the Old Testament Scriptures. He had given them Himself to Moses hundreds of years earlier! So what does He do? It says that Jesus did not reply. They kept on accusing this woman, and Jesus just stooped down with His finger and started doodling on the ground (John 8:6). He was waiting for a clear word from the Father. “What shall I give these people? What is the appropriate word to give these people who want to stone this poor woman to death?” He was not going to contradict Scripture, since the Scripture which He Himself gave to Moses said to stone her. When He had a word from His Father, He just straightened up and spoke to them (John 8:7 paraphrase), “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone. Go ahead - you can stone this woman according to the law, but only the one who's without a sin can throw the first stone.” And it says that they all went away beginning with the oldest, because the oldest had sinned the most.

One word was enough to handle the situation! It did not take a whole sermon. There were other times when Jesus would say nothing. For example, once when somebody asked Him a question He said in reply, “Let Me ask you a question first: the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or is it from men?” And they began to dispute among themselves, “If we say it was ‘from men’ the people will be upset because they considered John a prophet, and if we say ‘it was from heaven,’ Jesus will ask us ‘why didn’t you believe him then?’” So they didn't know how to reply and so they said, “We don't know. We're not going to say.” So Jesus said, “Well I'm not going to reply your question either” (Matthew 21:27).

Jesus didn't have a standard way of dealing with everybody. Sometimes people came to Him and asked Him a silly question, like, “A man died and his wife was married by his brother, and that happened with his seven other brothers. Who's going to be her husband in the resurrection?” Jesus gave a reply to them; He didn’t just walk away. He took the time to explain to them that in the resurrection there is no marriage. If you look at the replies that Jesus gave, it wasn’t like getting a fixed answer, like you would get if you looked up a computer program saying, “What’s the reply to this?” He was always listening to the Holy Spirit, and that's a very important principle that we need to learn from Matthew 7:6.

Earnestly Desire to Prophesy

Many times, we need to know what the appropriate word for a particular person is. It is so important in all ministry to know exactly the right word to give to people. Why does the New Testament say that we must covet to prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14:1? Every believer is told that he must earnestly desire to prophesy. The reason is that in the New Testament church meeting, if all prophesy, and all have the gift of prophecy (all are not prophets, but all can prophesy), then it says that when someone comes in who is an ungifted man, who probably doesn't believe in these gifts, he's convicted by what he hears and the secrets of his heart are disclosed because he heard a word exactly according to his needs (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). He will then fall on his face and worship God saying, “Boy! God is certainly here, because I got a word according to my need!”

Every single church meeting should be like that. Every church should have people who prophesy prophetic words. You need to wait upon God, and you need to surrender everything to Him to do that. And if you're not doing that, then you're not fit to be a preacher of God's Word. You need to know exactly what is appropriate to give to a person. That is the point of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:6. When you see someone who's like a swine, give him what's appropriate for a swine; when you see someone who is like a dog, give him a bone. You can’t give animals the Sermon on the Mount. As we seek for the gift of prophecy, God gives us the ability, at the moment we get up to speak, to discern exactly what the need of the people who are in front of us is, and God will give us the word for their need. This is a very important principle that Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with and it’s very, very important for us to understand - especially for those of us who are called to preach God's Word, whether it’s to unbelievers or believers. We don't despise anyone. If you despise someone, you're not fit to be a servant of God. Jesus didn't despise the worst of sinners. But we need to have an appropriate word according to the need of the people. That is the point of Matthew 7:6.

Chapter 27

Asking Receiving Spiritual Blessings

Matthew 7:7 repeats the core message of the Sermon on the Mount. The bar to live up to is so high that it is impossible, humanly-speaking, to live up to it. That is why most people look at it and simply give up, believing that no one can live in such a way—nobody can be completely free from anger, nobody can be completely free from lusting with the eyes, nobody can be completely free from the love money, everything that Jesus speaks about.

Christians look at what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount and say that the standard is too high. Is it possible to speak the truth all the time? Can you pray without caring at all for the opinion of men as you pray? Can anybody live without judging others? If you asked Christians about the standard Jesus gives us in His sermon, many of them would say that you can’t live at that level, especially not in all areas. In a sense, they’re right, because with human strength, it is impossible. However, Jesus also said later in Matthew’s gospel that “with men this is impossible, but not with God—with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). It’s a lovely verse that Jesus spoke when a rich young ruler came to Him and Jesus told him to sell all that he had. He couldn't do it, and Jesus said to His disciples, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, we can apply this truth to everything that Jesus has already said. All of the exhortations that Jesus has given up until Matthew 7:5 are impossible—but that's not the end of the sentence—yet with God, they are possible.

Praying for Spiritual Needs

It comes together in Matthew 7:7, where Jesus says you need to ask, otherwise you won’t receive. What you ask for will be given to you, and you need to ask for power to be able to live according to this standard. That is the meaning of the verse in this context. Very often, we ask God only for material things. “Lord, I need a house; I need a car; I need healing from my sickness; I need this, that, and the other,” almost all entirely worldly things. It is the same with our requests for others: “I need this for my family and my children;” again, all worldly things. To tell you honestly, there's not much difference between the prayers that believers pray and the prayers that unbelievers pray. The prayer that non-Christians pray in their mosques and temples is quite similar to the prayer many Christians pray in their private lives. It’s almost 99% about material things, and the one spiritual thing they may pray is, “Lord forgive my sins,” but nothing more than that. For example, when was the last time you prayed that you would learn to forgive every single person? When was the last time you prayed that you would love all your enemies? When was the last time you prayed that you would be completely free from sexually sinful ways of thinking? When was the last time you prayed that you would be 100% free from anger, and persisted in that prayer? When was the last time you prayed that you would speak the truth 100% of the time? Or that you would be completely free from the honor of men? Or that you would never judge others? We hardly ever pray for these things. Instead, we're praying for material things, just like the non-Christian. There's almost no difference between the non-Christian and the Christian, because the standard of Christianity taught today is so pathetically low. The teachers of these Christians have never taught them to do all that Jesus commanded, and these people have not experienced a genuine fullness of the Holy Spirit.

The fullness of the Holy Spirit that many Christians experience is just a counterfeit. It is counterfeit in the same way that there are also fake diamonds, fake gold, and counterfeit currency notes. When people are genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit, they'll become holy. Everybody knows that unclean spirits make people unclean, and evil spirits make people evil. What is the Holy Spirit? Some people say the Holy Spirit makes you make a lot of noise. That's not true! The Holy Spirit makes you holy! I remember one man who came to our church in Bangalore once. He was from some particular denomination that believed in making a lot of noise during Sunday morning meetings. He came to me after the service and said, “You don't have the Holy Spirit here.” I said, “How do you know? Have you lived in our homes and seen how we live, whether we live holy lives or not?” “No,” he said, “you don't have enough noise in your meetings.” “Oh,” I said, “your Trinity is Father, Son, and noisy spirit. My Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The third person of your trinity makes you make noise, and the third Person of my Trinity makes me holy.” Which is the third Person of the Trinity in the Bible, the noisy spirit or the Holy Spirit? It’s as simple as that. Even a little child can understand.

Requirements to Receive: Desire, Asking, and Faith

But if we don't desire the Holy Spirit who makes us holy, we will never have the ability to live up to Jesus’ standard. That's why Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you.” In the last part of James 4:2, we read, “You do not have because you do not ask.” Remember this little sentence at the end of James 4:2, you do not have something that God wants you to have because you do not ask. There are many things that God wants to give Christians, but they have not received them because they do not ask. Take the verse in Luke 11:13, “How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” There are millions of things that Christians have missed just because they don't ask God.

Why does God wait for us to ask Him? Because He wants us to appreciate what He gives us. What He gives without us asking, we don't usually value. Forgiveness of sins, that’s the most important thing of all. Didn’t you get it by asking for it? Would you have gotten it if you didn't ask for it? Would you have received salvation if you didn't ask for it? There are millions of people on earth who have not been saved because they don't ask for it. They don't humble themselves to acknowledge that they need it.

What are the other requirements for receiving God's highest spiritual blessings? First of all, we must have a desire, a thirst, for them. Then, we must ask in faith. Asking speaks of that desire, and Jesus speaks about faith a few verses down, in Matthew 7:11. He says, “If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.”

If you don't ask, you won't receive. If you seek, you will find. If you want to know the truth, you’ve got to seek for it. There are treasures in God's Word. There are some things on the surface, which everybody can receive, but its deepest treasures are inside, and you have to seek for them. Think about the earth. There are a lot of valuable things on the surface, like mangoes, coconuts, and so much other good fruit, but if you want the really expensive treasures, like gold and diamonds, you have to dig thousands of feet into the ground. In the same way, there are certain things you get from the surface of the Bible, such as how our sins can be forgiven (because Christ died for them). But if you want to discover the deepest truths of Scripture—how to live a Spirit-filled life, how to partake in God's nature, how to overcome all sin, how to overcome anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, sexual lusting—then you have to dig deep. If a person doesn't dig deep, God sees he is not really interested. “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek with all your heart, and you will find.”

It’s a promise we find in Jeremiah 29:13, “When you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me.” If a person has not found God and the wealth that is in Him, I can say without the slightest hesitation, that this man has not sought God with all his heart. He has sought half-heartedly, and there is no promise for the half-hearted in Scripture. There's no promise for the three-quarter-hearted either, but tremendous promises for the whole-hearted. You can be so close, you can give 90% of yourself to God and get no more than the person who gave 10% to Him. But, when you give a 100% to God, you get everything. If you give 90%, you're in just the same category as the person who gave 10%. That's what Christians don't realize. Seek God with 10% of your heart, and you won’t find Him. Seek Him with 90% of your heart, and you won’t find Him. Seek God with all your heart, and you’ll find Him. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. These are promises. God never breaks His promises. Every single person who asks receives. Why haven’t you received? You’re obviously not asking the way God wants you to ask. Everyone who seeks, finds. Maybe you haven't sought the way God wants you to. It will be opened to everyone who knocks. Perhaps you have not knocked sufficiently. Jesus emphasizes faith, thirst, and persistence in prayer.

Persist In Prayer

In connection to this, there are two parables that Jesus gave, both emphasizing persistence. One is in Luke 18, where He spoke about prayer and said men ought always to pray and never to lose heart (v1). Then He speaks about a judge, who didn't fear God or man, and a widow who was being oppressed by her neighbor (and perhaps an enemy). She didn't want to trouble the enemy in any way. She asked the judge, just protect me, give me legal protection so the enemy does not take advantage of me. He might have been encroaching into her property or troubling her in ways he had no right to. She was asking for her legal rights, and the judge wouldn't help her. The judge was not willing, but she kept on at him. She went to his door at two o'clock in the morning and woke him up, and he said, get away from here. She came again the next morning at two o'clock in the morning, knocking, knocking, day and night at his door, until he got so fed up that he said, “This widow bothers me so much that I'll give her legal protection, otherwise she will wear me out” (v5).

The Lord said, “Look at what an unjust judge does and says; do you not think that a just God is better than that? Don't you think He will bring justice for His elect? Who are the elect? Those who cry to Him day and night. Do you think He'll delay in answering them? No, He will answer them speedily” (Luke 18:7). What a lovely promise. God will answer me speedily if He sees that I'm earnest in asking Him to help me overcome Satan, my enemy, 100%. Will you say, “Lord, Satan has taken over certain areas of my life, certain areas of my home”? Maybe he's come and taken over your wife, or husband, or children, or someone else. Pray, “I want to drive him out. Give me protection from my enemy.” If you persist, you can be absolutely sure that God will answer.

The other place Jesus spoke about prayer is in Luke 11, when the disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray" (v1). He taught them to pray, and He gave them a parable. He told them, “Suppose one of you has a friend who visits your home at midnight, and out of courtesy and love for him, you ask him if he has eaten. If he says he hasn’t, and you look into your refrigerator and see that there is no food there or in the rest of the house, what do you do? You go to your neighbor.” Now, this is very rare. Hardly anyone would go to their neighbor at midnight and wake him up to ask food for their friend, but this person does. He goes, knocks at his neighbor’s house, and says, “Please lend me three loaves. I’ll return it tomorrow, but lend them to me now. A visitor has come to my house, a very good friend of mine, and I've got no food for him.” Now, the man inside the house tells him to not disturb him or his children because they are all in bed, “You're disturbing us at midnight, waking us all up, and you keep on banging at the door.” But this person will keep knocking and won’t let his neighbor sleep till he gets what he needs.

The Lord says, “Even if this neighbor doesn't give you anything because you are his friend, because of your persistence and because of your shameless knocking, he will get up and give you as much as you need.” What a lovely expression this is, “As much as you need.” Jesus then finishes— “I say to you, ask like this.” Matthew 7:7 echoes this message, but from the parallel passage in Luke 11, we see the full story. We have to ask with constant asking, seeking, and knocking. Everyone who asks like this will receive.

Why We Pray to God

In Luke 18, the widow went and knocked for her own need, and in Luke 11, someone went and knocked for somebody else's need. We have two reasons why we go to God. First of all, we go to Him for our own need. “Lord, the enemy is oppressing me. I’m defeated in certain areas by the enemy, by sin. He has taken over certain areas in my life, he's come and occupied areas of my home. He's gotten hold of some of my children, and I want them to be free.” This is personal need. The other reason we go to God is for the need of others, for ministry. “Lord, I want you to give me that which will help me meet the need of these people whom I have to serve.” When you have a burden for the people in your church, to lead them to a Godly life, to lead them to do all that Jesus commanded, to lead them to live according to the standards of the Sermon on the Mount, you will ask for the power of the Holy Spirit, you'll ask for a prophetic word from heaven that will meet the need of those people and deliver them from the clutches of the devil and bring them to a Godly life. And if you love them enough, you'll be persistent. Don't you think that this person, who went to his neighbor’s house at midnight, loved his visitor? He must have loved him so much that he was determined to get him food that night. Most of us, if we didn't have food the night the visitor came, would tell him, "I’m sorry, but we have no food, so let's go to bed now, I'll get you something in the morning.” But this man loved his hungry visitor so much that he said, “I’m going to get you something tonight, even if I have to be shameless before my neighbor.” It’s a wonderful picture of going to God with persistence and saying, Lord give me the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve these people.

I remember when I sought for baptism in the Holy Spirit - for the power of the Holy Spirit to be an effective teacher of God's Word - to have utterance. I was a very shy person when I became a Christian and began to share God's Word. I knew I needed the power of the Holy Spirit, and if I got the power of the Holy Spirit, I'd be transformed into another person. And that's exactly what happened. If you seek God like that for the mighty supernatural anointing of the Holy Spirit not for yourself, but for others, and you keep on knocking, saying, “Lord, give me bread to feed these people (we saw this expression in Luke 11:8),” then God will give you as much as you need (Luke 11:13). I'm referring to the Holy Spirit here. Jesus made it clear what we're supposed to ask God for. “Give me the power of the Holy Spirit to serve others. My needs are met, we've gone past Luke 18, now I'm thinking about the needs of others.” That's a true Christian.

Very often, people seek for the power of the Holy Spirit to get some tickle down their spine, some electric shock or feeling, some speaking in tongues, or something for their own benefit. We need to seek for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be able to bless other people. I remember when I sought God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was to serve other people, and even if God gave me the gift of tongues, it was to keep myself fresh, because the Bible says that he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. I wanted to edify myself so that I’d always be fresh when I'm serving other people. Therefore, even the gift of tongues was to benefit others, to keep myself fresh and to build myself up. No gift of the spirit was for my own personal edification, but rather for personal edification that led to the blessing of other people.

We need to remember that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are meant for others. The fruit of the Spirit benefit me. If I have joy or peace, that benefits me, not you. But, if I have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, whether it be prophecy or healing or any other gift, those gifts benefit others. We need both of these. You need to ask God, and you need faith.

God Only Gives What Is for Our Good

“If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give what is good (especially the Holy Spirit and all His good gifts) to those who ask Him?” We need to have faith that we're coming to our Father. We're not coming to the CEO of some company, who is so distant that we have to approach him through a secretary. We’re coming to our Heavenly Dad, and what will He deny us? There’s absolutely nothing good that He can ever deny us. If God doesn't see fit to give us something, we can be absolutely sure that it’s not good for us.

The Apostle Paul once had a sickness in his body which he called a thorn in the flesh. He prayed three times for it to be removed (2 Corinthians 12). God didn't remove it, and he realized that it was for his good, because it kept him humble and broken. God always gives us what is good, and when God is good to us like that, tremendously good to us, what should we do? We need to be good to other people.

The Golden Rule

Jesus then goes on to what is often called the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). Therefore, since God has been so good to you, to give you all that you need, you must treat people in a good way as well. Freely you received, freely you give. God has forgiven you, so you forgive other people. God forgave you all your sins, forgive other people all their sins. God is good to you; be good to them. Treat people in the way you want them to treat you. How do you want people to treat you? Treat them in the same way. Don't treat people the way they treat you. A lot of human beings live like that. They say, “I treat people the way they treat me. If they're good to me, I'm good to them. If they are bad to me, I’m bad to them.” That's the law of Adam. The law of God is to treat people not in the way they treat you, but to treat them the way you want them to treat you.

Do you want people to gossip about you behind your back? Do you want people to speak evil about you in their homes? No? Then don't speak evil about them in your home. Do you want people to spread bad stories about you, even if those stories are true? Suppose you slipped up and made a blunder? Do you want everybody to broadcast that all over town? No? Then don't broadcast the evil you know about others either. Treat other people the way you want them to treat you. If you want them to be kind to you, be kind to them. If you want people to speak graciously to you, speak graciously to them. What about husband and wife? Let me ask you husbands, how do you want your wives to speak to you? Graciously? Respectfully? Then speak to them graciously and respectfully, and vice versa.

It is certainly true that it is a Golden Rule because Jesus said the whole message of the Law and the Prophets—that’s an expression for the entire Old Testament, the Law being the first five books, and the Prophets and history making up the remaining 34 books— is this: God has been good to you (Matthew 7:11), therefore you have a debt and obligation to be good to other people around you. You have to pass on the love that God has given you, to treat others exactly like God treated you. Treat them the way you want them to treat you.

For example, Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other…” And how exactly should we extend forgiveness to others? “Exactly like God in Christ forgave you.” Be kind to one another like God has been kind to you in Christ. Be tender-hearted to others - especially your children when they slip up and make a mistake, and towards your wife, and towards your husband - because God has been tender-hearted towards you. Forgive like God forgave you. It goes on to say in the next verse, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children.” That's a lovely expression. Do you know that you're called to imitate God in the way He's tender-hearted, kind, good, and forgiving towards you? Do you know that we're supposed to reflect that to others like the moon reflects the light of the Sun? We are to be like that, reflecting the light of God and the goodness of God to other people, and this is why we need to ask - and keep on asking - for the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the message of the whole Bible.

Chapter 28

Narrow Way and How to Discern False Prophets

Matthew 7:13 marks the conclusion to what Jesus had already taught. We need to read the following verses in the context of all that precedes them in Matthew 5-7. “Enter by the narrow gate.” What does Jesus mean? Jesus meant that what He has preached so far is, in a sense, a very narrow gate. “For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. Many are those who enter by the wide gate and the broad way” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The Broad Way Disregards the Sermon on the Mount

Destruction is eternal hell. Did Jesus speak about Hell in the Sermon on the Mount? He certainly did. He spoke about it three times. Let's look at the way to destruction. In Matthew 5:22, Jesus said, “If you're angry with your brother, you’re guilty before the court. If that anger gives expression to words of anger, then you are guilty before the Supreme Court. If it goes further to serious words of anger, then you’ll be guilty enough to go to hell to destruction.” Again, Jesus says in Matthew 5:28, “If a man looks at a woman with lust for her in his heart, it is better for him to pull out his right eye. Otherwise, you can be thrown into hell. It is better to cut off your right hand if it leads you to sexual sin.” Otherwise, Jesus says in Matthew 5:30, you can be thrown into hell. That is the way to destruction. The way of uncontrolled anger and uncontrolled sexual desire is the wide way, and there are multitudes of people walking along that way. The world is full of people who are angry and saturated with sexual lust, uncontrolled sinful sexual desire, exploiting poor women, etc. That is the broad way to destruction.

What if a man says he's a born-again Christian, but watches internet pornography, taking advantage of poor women being exploited? What if this Christian expresses his anger outwardly? That is the way to destruction. Whether he calls himself a Christian or a non-Christian, it makes no difference. He is on the way to destruction. It is the wide way. The way is sometimes made wide by preachers who say we don't have to be so narrow-minded and say that only those who overcome these things are going in to eternal life. No, they make the gate wider than Jesus taught. Jesus said that the way to life was like a needle’s eye. Can a camel go through a needle’s eye? No. Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the man who is rich in himself to possess the kingdom of God. Our richness is not only in wealth. It could be in our intellect. It could be our intellectual arguments when we come to Scripture. We take away the seriousness of God’s words with intellectual arguments. You are not going to enter God's kingdom through the wide road that leads to destruction. But the gate is small, and the way is narrow, that leads to life. That is the way Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount. What Jesus is saying is, “All that I've spoken here so far is a very narrow gate and a very narrow way, but it is the way that leads to life. There are very, very few people who find it.” Do you expect multitudes of people to choose the way described in the Sermon on the Mount? Not at all.

Few Will Find the Narrow Way

The Sermon on the Mount is not meant for non-Christians. It is not meant for non-disciples. It is meant for those who have already laid a foundation in their life of repentance and faith in Christ, who are born again, and who have become God's children. If a person has not taken that first step when he tries to follow the Sermon on the Mount, he is like a person who is building a house without a foundation. But here, it is speaking about disciples who are seeking to follow the Lord. They will find that this is a very narrow gate, and that there are very few who find it. I don't expect multitudes of people to come rushing to obey the things written in Matthew 5-7.

When you see mega churches with thousands of people sitting there, you might wonder if these are the “few” people who have found the way to life. Or are these people are being led astray by false preachers, and going on the broad way that leads to destruction? We do not want to judge any of them. I would be delighted if thirty thousand people in one little area want to obey the Sermon on the Mount and follow Jesus. I would be happy if there is a church of three hundred thousand people who want to follow Christ. I would not be happy with 300,000 people who just want to go to heaven without following Christ on earth. From what I have observed, the people sitting in most churches want to go to heaven without following Christ on earth. That is not the true church of Jesus Christ. That is a church against which the gates of hell will certainly prevail, and where the preachers have made the gate wide so that multitudes of people can get in without paying the price. The gate is wide enough so that you can love money and imagine that you love God as well. They made the gate wide, and are deceiving themselves that they are making disciples of Jesus in that church.

We need to see very clearly that it is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus explained this gate is very small, and this way is very narrow that leads to life. There are very, very few that actually find it.

False Prophets Dilute the Scriptures

The very next thing He says is, “Beware of the false prophets” (Matthew 7:15). We need to see who these false prophets are in the context of this passage. Are these false prophets the ones who come to church but talk about some other religion, and start teaching from the holy book of some other religion? No. False prophets are those “who come in sheep's clothing.” Sheep's clothing means the appearance of being a servant of Jesus Christ and being a sheep of Christ. They come in sheep's clothing. They look like sheep. They come with the Bible in their hand, but they made the way broad. They explain away the commands of Scripture, saying, “This command is not necessary,” or “It does not mean exactly this…” These people have tried to explain away so many things in Scripture. If they come to verse like Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” they say, “It doesn't mean 24/7. It means generally speaking, or most of the time.” When it says in Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing,” they say, “It doesn't mean ‘nothing.’ It means generally speaking, you should avoid anxiety.” When it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that we must “give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus,” they say, “That it doesn't really mean every single thing.”

God's Word is being diluted and robbed of its sharpness and power by many preachers. Take for example a small thing like a woman covering her head to show her submission to male authority. Such preachers say, “Well, it doesn't mean that we have to do that. That was for that culture, in Corinth,” and thus everything is explained away. There is an explanation for everything. God's Word has been diluted. The Bible says that if you do not take sexual sin radically, you can go to hell. Such preachers say, “No, it is not that serious.”

Beware of Hypocrisy

You will discover in the final day when you stand before Jesus Christ that God meant exactly what He said. Christ meant exactly what He said. If you do not believe these words in the Bible, you must be honest and scratch them out or tear up those pages in the Bible.

You are being dishonest and hypocritical if you say the Bible is God's Word, but then you do not follow it. God is going to judge this hypocrisy. God loves an honest person. I believe God loves many atheists more than hypocritical Christians because they are honest. They do not believe there is a God. They act like there is no God. The businessman out in the world says there is no God but money. He worships money, and he is honest. But Christians, who say that Jesus Christ is the true God and the Bible is God’s Word, if they live like those worldly people, they are the hypocrites. Remember that when Christ was on earth, He condemned the hypocrites more than anybody else. The adulteress was saved. The thief on the cross was saved. The murderer was saved. But the hypocrites went to hell.

The same thing is going to happen today. Beware of the false prophets who come to you with sheep’s clothing and with the Bible in their hand. They speak the right doctrine, but inwardly, they are ravenous wolves. They put on sheep's clothing in order to come in the midst of the flock. They pretend to be sheep, but all they want is to bite the sheep and get what they can out of them. It is a picture of a preacher who comes with his Bible college degree, quotes Scripture, and is an eloquent speaker. But all he wants is to get your money. Whenever you find a preacher like that, think of this verse. He is a “ravenous wolf” who has come in “sheep’s clothing.” That person is not a shepherd. He is a wolf. A good shepherd cares for his sheep. He is interested in leading the sheep to the green pastures and by still waters, not to bite off the sheep like a lot of preachers do.

How to Know False Prophets: Fruits, Attitude Towards Money

Jesus said you will know these false prophets by their fruits, not by their gifts. Many people seek to identify a man of God by His gifts. That is the biggest mistake of Christians. They go directly against what Jesus has said. In Matthew 7:16, Jesus said that you will not be able to distinguish between a true prophet and a false prophet if you look at the gifts. Both may appear to have gifts. A true prophet has gifts, and a false prophet has gifts. But the true prophet also has fruit. If you want to know whether one of these is a true prophet of God, do not look to see if he has a healing gift. Do not look to see if he is eloquent. Do not look to see if his doctrines are right. Both of their doctrines will be right, but one of them has sheep's clothing.

The way to distinguish which one is the real sheep and which is the wolf is by their fruits. What is the fruit of the Spirit? This is primarily humility. Does he have humility? Does he have a genuine compassion for people? Is he free from the love of money? If he is always compelling you to pay your tithe, that is a wolf, without a shadow of a doubt. Most preachers are wolves like that today. A lot of them only preach on giving your tithe to their ministry. They give you all types of false promises that God will give you a hundred times if you give to their ministry. Do not be deceived by these preachers that dominate Christian television. They are ravenous wolves who are after your money.

“You will know them by their fruits.” Always look for fruit. For example, the fruits of goodness, kindness, and humility. Look for someone who treats you with respect and is not out to get your money. Look for the fruit of Jesus Christ in their life. Where do you find in the Bible that Jesus Christ went after anybody for their money? Never once did He take a collection and offering, at any time in His ministry. When He healed the sick, He did not take an offering. He did not ask His disciples to go with an offering bag and collect money from the people He healed, unlike what we see in today's healers and preachers. I believe they are counterfeits and deceivers compared to Jesus Christ. You never find any of the apostles going around with an offering bag after they preached to people or healed people. How will we have money for God's work? Yes, we can keep a box and let people voluntarily give. We should not put a bag in front of them and compel them to give. Also, the Bible teaches that Jesus and the Apostles would never take a cent from unbelievers. It is a great tragedy today that unbelievers are invited to a meeting, hear the gospel, and are asked to give money. Do you have to pay money to get your sins forgiven? Do you have to pay money to get healed? Beware of false prophets. They are worse than unbelievers.

Someone invited me once to sit on the platform for a healing meeting in Bangalore. I said, “I'm all for getting unsaved people to Christ, but I want to know whether the organizers are going to be upright and honest in presenting the gospel.” I wanted to ensure that the gospel is absolutely free. Even praying for the sick is free. Let me use an illustration. If I were to go and buy a CD player from a non-Christian store and next day, I find it doesn't work. I will take it back to the store and tell the store owner that it doesn’t work. He will refund the money to me. If I paid two thousand rupees, he will refund two thousand rupees to me. Now apply that illustration to this situation. I said to the organizers that you conduct a healing meeting and invite a famous person somewhere to pray. Before he prays for the sick, you take a collection in the background. There is a non-Christian there who brings his paralyzed wife to the healing meeting to be healed. You pass a collection bag and that non-Christian man thinks, “If I give money, God will heal my sick wife.” He puts two thousand rupees into the bag. You pray for that sick wife, and she is not healed. This man comes back to you the next day and says, “Your prayer didn’t work. (It’s like saying your product didn’t work). My wife is not healed. Will you please return the two thousand rupees I gave you?” If you say no, I say you are a bigger crook than that an evil store keeper who doesn’t return my money when his CD player he sold me didn't work. Your prayer didn’t work to heal that person. You should return that money to them, but you don't do that.

I asked the organizers, “How in the world can I sit with all of you on a platform and conduct this type of counterfeit healing meeting in Jesus’ name?” Show me a healing meeting where you do not take any money at all and where people are genuinely healed. That is the type of healing meeting that Jesus and the apostles had. A lot of what goes on today is just a gimmick and used to swindle people from their money. Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing. You will know them by their fruits.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, "You do not go to thorn bushes to gather grapes; you do not go to thistles to get figs, do you?” It is so simple. If you want to go to get grapes, you go to a vine. You do not go to a thorn bush to get grapes. The fruit manifests what the tree is like. When you see thorns coming out of it, you know that is not fruit. Always look for fruit, not for gifts. Gifts can be deceptive. For example, Satan has tremendous gifts, but he does not have fruit, nor character. Satan can give those abilities to his servants. The Bible says that Satan’s servants can appear as ministers of righteousness.

Further, Jesus said that even so, every good tree bears good fruit. There is no doubt about it. A good tree will always bear good fruit. You can buy good fruit, tie it up on a bad tree, cut off all the bad fruit, and fool people that your tree is a good tree. But it isn’t. This is the way a lot of Christian behave. I look at a lot of Christians and see how they appear to be good in public, but are really bad in the way they live in their homes and in their offices. They live in unrighteousness, cheating, etc. I am reminded of a man who has a bad tree in his garden: it produces rotten, stinking, dried-up mangoes, but he doesn't want anybody to know, so he cuts them off, buys very luscious mangoes from the market, and ties it up very cleverly on this tree. People look at this tree and say, “Boy, what a lovely mango tree you have!” It looks very nice, but it is not coming from within the tree. It is something which is meant to deceive people. This is hypocrisy. A good tree will produce good fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit” (Matthew 7:18).

How to Deal with Bad Fruit

What should you do with the tree that does not bear good fruit? In Matthew 7:19, Jesus said that it must be cut down and thrown into the fire. The nature of ours that we have inherited from Adam needs to be crucified. That is the great need. That is the meaning of “cut down.” John the Baptist said that Jesus is coming with an axe that is laid at the root of the tree to cut it down. He is going to cut it down in the root, throw it in the furnace, and replace it with another tree. Many people have not experienced this. They try to get rid of superficial sins in their life and respond to Christ. But the root is still there. It is like seeing a doctor. If you have symptoms, he will not just give you some ointment to get rid of those symptoms. He will give you an antibiotic that treats the root of the disease. When the root of the disease is treated, then its symptoms will disappear. That is how a good doctor treats patient who are sick. That is also how Jesus does it.

Jesus says that the root to all these problems in your life is a self-centered life. From that self-centered life, only fruit that seeks your own will come. You can tie nice fruit there and preach nice things like many preachers, but if you're a self-centered person, you will be seeking your own all the time. Until you hit the root of that, you are not going to be really experiencing the salvation that Christ came to give.

Numerous people who have come to our church in Bangalore have told me, “Brother Zac, I never knew what it was to be really converted until I came here. This is because I never knew what repentance was until I came to your church. I thought I was born again. I took baptism somewhere. But I never knew how serious sin was. I never knew what repentance was because I didn't know what sin I had to turn from. When I came here, I saw and I heard what sin really was. It was a self-centered way of life. I saw that I had to turn from that. It is only now that I'm really saved.” I believe a lot of people who imagine they are born again, are really not, because they have not turned from their self-centeredness. The root of that bad nature is not being hit by the axe. That bad tree has not been cut down. They are trying to produce good fruit on a bad tree.

What is the mark of those who belong to Christ? Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh.” “The flesh” speaks of that self-centered life that wants to do its own will. The attitude of those that belong to Christ is to crucify that self-centered life. The Romans reserved crucifixion for the worst criminals in their society. The ordinary criminals will be just jailed; the worst criminals were crucified. When you see that this self-centered nature that you inherited from Adam is the worst possible criminal and deserves to be crucified, then you have understood what repentance all is about. Then you can belong to Christ, because all those who belong to Christ have taken this attitude.

We Must Crucify Our Self-Life

What is the right attitude to have towards my self-centered life? Crucify it with all its passions and desires. Some people will say that they belong to Christ even if they don’t crucify their self-centered life. Suppose those who belong to Christ may not have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Then God's Word is meaningless. But God's Word is true. A tree that produces bad fruit must be cut down and thrown into the fire. Then we can have this other nature that the Holy Spirit gives us, that produces good fruit. Many people who have fruit, may not have the gifts of the Spirit. That does not matter. God gives different gifts to different people. If you can remember what Jesus repeated twice in Matthew 7, then you will be saved from a lot of deception. In Matthew 7:16, Jesus said that you will be able to identify a true and a false prophet, not by their gifts, but by their fruits. Again, Jesus says in Matthew 7:20, “You will know them by their fruits.” If only all Christians had just taken this one simple sentence to heart, we would be saved from a tremendous amount of deception in Christianity today.

Christianity today can be divided into two categories: Babylon and Jerusalem. That which is Babylonian, or harlot Christianity, is described in Revelation 17, and it will be burnt up and destroyed by God one day. The pure holy bride of Jesus Christ is called Jerusalem in Revelation 21. That will shine with its glory through all eternal ages. There is a way to distinguish between the two. Both may have gifts, but remember that only one will have the fruit of the Spirit, of humility, love, goodness, freedom from the love of money, etc. Whenever you look at a preacher, this is what you need to look for. Is he a true prophet, or he is just false prophet? Is he a real sheep, or a wolf in sheep's clothing? This is such an important work for our day. Does he preach the Sermon on the Mount? Does he preach the narrow way that leads to life? Or is he just showing off his oratory and his abilities? This is the way to distinguish between a true and false prophet.

Chapter 29

A Bridal Relationship with Jesus

In Matthew 7:14, Jesus says that the way that He has described in the Sermon on the Mount is a very narrow way. Salvation is only through faith in Christ; it's not by works. It's not by keeping the Sermon on the Mount that we get life. We get life, first of all, by coming to Christ and acknowledging we are sinners, and that we can do nothing to get our sins forgiven. Next, we must believe that He paid the entire price for all our sins on the cross, and that because He died and He rose again from the dead, we receive forgiveness of sins as a free gift from God. However, salvation comes only when we have turned from our sin – this is called repentance. If I have not turned from my sin in repentance, it's no use believing that Christ died for our sins because salvation is offered to those who repent and believe, not just to those who believe. There are many who believe - the world is full of Christians who believe that Christ died for their sins - but 95% of them haven’t repented. In that case, they have not received anything. They’re asking God to forgive them, but they are still facing their sins; they need to turn around. But how do we know that our faith is genuine? James says in his letter that “Faith without works is dead.” That's where the Sermon on the Mount comes in: if our faith is genuine, it’ll produce a desire to live the type of life described in the Sermon on the Mount.

Desire to Obey Is the Proof of Faith

Just like a human being has different desires from an animal, a Christian has heavenly desires. When God created Adam, He breathed into him the breath of life, but Adam also had flesh, so there were two pulls in him. One was the downward pull to earth because he had flesh, just like the animals. The other was the upward pull from God because of the divine life, divine breath in him. He responded to the downward pull in the garden of Eden, which is how he sinned.

And when a man keeps responding to the downward pull, he becomes like an animal. You find around the world that most men behave like animals towards each other, and animals don't have any interest in God. A lot of people don't have any interest in God, and they are just like animals. But when we respond to the voice of conscience that’s reminding us of God, that helps us to turn towards Him, and that's the first step of Salvation. When we respond to that and are really born again, it will produce a desire to live the type of life described in the Sermon on the Mount.

James describes it like this: just like the body without breath is dead, so faith without works is dead (James 2:26). He compares faith in the doctrines of Scripture to all the parts of our body. You may believe every single truth in Scripture - that's like saying this person has ten fingers, ten toes, two ears, two eyes one mouth. If all the internal parts of the body - liver, kidney, heart - are all there, but he is dead, what’s the use of that? In that case, it doesn't matter if he is in even worse shape - has no hands and no eyes and no legs and no heart and no kidney - if he's dead, everything is useless. In the same way, what’s the use of believing all the doctrines, if the breath is not there, and if the Holy Spirit has not brought in us the desire to live according to what is described in the Sermon on the Mount? “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). That kind of faith is exactly like a dead body. It may have all its parts, but not breath! Only when the body has breath, do you know it's living. And it’s better to have a body with one hand (incomplete doctrine) that's living than have two hands (perfect doctrine) and be dead. We shouldn't glory in our doctrines; we shouldn't even glory in our gifts. That's the point: that the way to life is narrow. When a false prophet wants many people in his church, he is going to widen that gate. And that's exactly what many preachers have done, widen the gate so that many people would come in.

Don’t Lower God’s Standards in the Last Days

Noah in the Old Testament is a great example of a man who did not widen the gate. He was living in a time of tremendous sexual sin, immorality, violence, and evil, and Jesus said that the last days will be like the days of Noah, much like they are today. Noah, however, kept the gate narrow so that nobody could get in unless they were willing to fulfill the conditions. Ultimately, it was only his own family members that fulfilled those conditions and stayed in that church. Noah’s church was comprised of eight members - he, his wife, his three sons, and their wives - his whole family, but nobody else. It's not because he didn't want anybody else - he preached to the whole world of his time to enter into the ark - but only these 8 wanted to enter in. Now if he had lowered the standard (Noah is called a preacher of righteousness), he could have gotten many more people. He could have gotten 80 or 800, but none of them would have qualified to get into the ark, and the entire world would have been destroyed. You and I wouldn't be living today. We should thank God for Noah’s faithfulness.

If the last days are like the days of Noah, then there must be a few people like Noah in the last days, too, who don't lower God’s standards. There must be preachers of righteousness who keep the gate as narrow as Jesus made it - not legalists who try to make it narrower than what Jesus made it. I'm sorry to say there are some people like that, too, who add to Scripture, who say things which Jesus never said and try to make the gate narrower than what Jesus made it. We have to make it the right size, and that's why we need to know Scripture. False prophets are those who widen the gate, and we could also say that there are false prophets who make it narrower than the way of Jesus (like a lot of legalists). You will know them by their fruits.

The Fruit of the Spirit Is More Important Than Gifts and Doctrine

The test is always the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and that's why the fruit of the Holy Spirit is much more important than the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Both are necessary, but fruit is more important. Jesus’ life produced the fruit of the Spirit for thirty-three and half years, but He manifested the gifts of the Spirit for only 10% of that time, just three and a half years. So which is more important? This shows that the fruit of the Spirit was ten times more important than the gifts of the Spirit in Jesus’ Own life.

We do need both, but both are not equally important. That's what comes up in the next section of the Sermon on the Mount, starting in Matthew 7:21. In the earlier section, verses 15-20, Jesus spoke about the importance of fruit. Good trees produce good fruit, and “You will know them by their fruits.” He begins and ends that section with the same sentence, “You shall know them by their fruits.” The same sentence is repeated in verses 16 and 20, emphasizing fruit and then He compares it with gifts. He says, in relation to gifts, that, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,” and He then describes fruit as “Doing the will of My Father in heaven.” That is a beautiful expression of what fruit is - doing the will of my Father, whatever it is. And that means denying your own will. You cannot do the will of God if you don't deny your own will. Jesus could not do the will of the Father in Gethsemane if He did not say, “Not My will.” That “not my will,” is described in verse 19 as cutting down that which doesn't bear good fruit. My will is always contrary to God's will. Man's human self-will is contrary to God's will, otherwise Jesus would not have said, “Not My will.” In heaven, before He became a man, He could say, “I do My Own will” because it was the same as His Father's will. However, the moment He came as a man, He said, in John 6:38, “I came from heaven not to do My Own will.” Why not, Lord?” Because it's not the same as My Father's will. I came to do not My Own will, but the will of My Father.” We can describe it like this: in a cross, my will crosses God's will, and that's where I have to die. If I die there, then I will do God's will.

Not everyone who simply says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord” is going to enter God's kingdom. There are lot of people who say to the Lord, “Lord, Lord” that are not going to enter God’s kingdom. The fact that he says, “Lord” proves that his doctrine is right. The fact that he says, “Lord, Lord” indicates that he's emotionally excited about the fact that Jesus is his Lord, but he doesn't realize that this Jesus is not really his Lord because in his daily life, he doesn't do the will of the Father. It's the one who does the will of God, which means the one who dies to his own will and does the will of God and is crucified with Christ, that is the one who is going to enter God's kingdom. Do you qualify according to this verse? Jesus says that many - not just one or two, “many” means thousands - are going to stand before God in the day of judgment and say, “Lord, Lord.” They are going to use the right words. “Didn't we prophesy in Your Name?” they’ll say. Prophecy is one of the greatest gifts of the Holy Spirit that we are encouraged to seek for. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, this gift is to proclaim God's Word as His mouthpiece; it's not just like a teacher who is teaching God's Word - those are the scribes, which are different from the prophets. Prophets are people who understand God's Word to proclaim it prophetically according to the need of people - it is a supernatural gift.

Attitude Towards Sin Is More Important Than Performing Miracles

The Lord says that “many people” will come to Him and say, “Lord, we prophesied in Your Name. We blessed people with the spirit of prophecy,” and many others will say, “In Your Name we cast out demons!” And a third group of people will say, “We performed not one or two miracles, but many miracles in Your Name!” These are genuine miracles, not like fake counterfeit miracles that a lot of people claim to be doing on television and on public platforms today. They perform genuine miracles, and all of these say, “We did it in Your Name.” Three times you find that expression, “coming in Jesus’ Name” (verse 22). And yet Jesus “will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, you who did miracles in My Name.’” I don't question that they really worked miracles - they wouldn’t dare tell lies to Christ if it didn't actually happen. Today somebody can fool you, saying he is doing a miracle. It may be a magician's trick or very often people boast about miracles that happen in other places (lot of preachers talk about miracles that happen in other places). Jesus never spoke about miracles He did in other places; He did a miracle right in front of people.

There are lot of deceivers today, and Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness (or you who live in sin).” The important issue is their attitude to sin - not how many demons they cast out, not how many miracles they did, and not how much they prophesied. Again, it’s their attitude to sin that is important. Do you believe that these are words of Jesus? Do you believe that it's going to be exactly like this in the day of judgment? Do you believe that many of these great healers whom you've seen on television, and whom you have seen on platforms preach so eloquently, and whom you admire so much because you think they are doing great miracles and casting out demons – do you believe that many of them will be cast into hell in the final day? I don't think many Christians do. I'm not surprised by these deceivers who get up and swindle people of their money with all their fake gifts and miracles. I'm more surprised that millions of people are so gullible and dumb and blind, spiritually, that they swallow all their gimmicks and imagine that these are men of God. Christians don't seem to look for the fruits of these deceivers. Is this man free from the love of money? Is he using my money to live in a luxurious lifestyle himself? Is he a humble man? Is he leading me to godliness? Is he living in sin? Is he divorced? Is he fooling around sexually? Hardly anybody seems to worry about these things. Jesus says to such people, “I never knew you. Depart from Me. I don't have anything to do with you.”

I believe these are the exact words of Jesus, and that it’s going to happen exactly like this when Christ comes again. Whether you believe it or not, it’s going to happen like this because the Word of God says that there will be many, which means thousands of people, who will come to Him - some of these great so-called “men of God” whom you think are great men of God, and you’ll discover on that day that they were swindlers and crooks and not men of God at all. What are they going to say to the Lord? “Lord, we preached on television for so many years. Millions listened to us, millions sent us their money for these programs and have enabled us to live in great style. We cast out demons in your name. We preached powerful messages in Your Name that held people spellbound for hours. We performed many (not one or two, but many) miracles in Your name!” - and He will turn around and say, “Get away from Me, all of you. I never knew you personally. I didn't have a personal relationship with you. You had certain doctrines that you proclaimed to know, like a chemistry teacher who gets up in a class and teaches chemistry because he studied chemistry.” These people can teach the Bible because they studied the Bible, but they didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If they did have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they would have imbibed the nature of Christ, which is one of humility, freedom from the love of money, never exploiting the poor, always seeking the good of people, and no showing off or drawing people to themselves. They would be drawing people to Christ.

It's a good question to ask ourselves, what is important in the final day? Why is He sending them away? He says, “All of these things that you did count for nothing.” Listen to this! All of these miracles, casting out of demons, ministry, and prophecy - God says, “As far as I’m concerned, it counts for zero if you're not free from sin in your life. The important thing is to be free from sin.” You who practice sin, sin is lawlessness, we read that in 1 John 3:5. So the important question in the final day is going to be: what is your attitude to sin? Not how many miracles you did, or how much you preached, or how many tracts you distributed, or how much evangelism you did, or whatever else - not your ministry, but your attitude to sin. Many people satisfy themselves today by doing some ministry for the Lord. That's not what's going to be primary in the final day. Your attitude to sin in your heart and in your personal life, that is the essence of the Sermon on the Mount. He is concluding the Sermon on the Mount, and there is nothing about ministry in the Sermon on the Mount. It is all about your personal life. Jesus says that that's the important thing, and that's the way to distinguish a true prophet from a false prophet. A true prophet will emphasize freedom from sin; he will emphasize holiness, not gifts. You will know true prophets by their fruits, and not by their gifts. What He said earlier, in verse 16-20 (about knowing people by their fruit), is in contrast to what He says here. Don't judge by their doctrine. They may say, “Lord, Lord” correctly, but look for their fruit, and don't be deceived by their gifts.

How Do False Prophets Have Gifts?

Many may say, “How do they exercise these gifts?” Well, we should ask ourselves, “How does Satan have supernatural gifts today?” Satan has such tremendous supernatural abilities; he even gives abilities to witch doctors, as we read in the Bible. The first person who brought fire down from heaven was not Elijah - it was the devil, in the book of Job. Job lived before Moses, who wrote Genesis, and Job is the first book of the Bible ever written. There we read, in chapter 1, of fire coming down from heaven. Who sent it? The devil did, and it descended on Job’s property. He has supernatural power to stir people to attack God’s servants, as we read in Job 1. He has power to give sickness to people, as we read in Job 2. Satan has tremendous supernatural power - you see that in the witch doctors of today, and in people who are in contact with black magic and such things - where did he get it from? He couldn't have created it, and a being cannot have supernatural power. He got it from God. Why did God give Satan all these supernatural abilities, and when did He give them? It's obvious that God would never give the devil any gifts after he became the devil. These were gifts that God had given him before he became Satan, and you read about that in Ezekiel 28. He had so many abilities then - he was full of wisdom and beauty - and he still has all the supernatural gifts that God gave him when he was a Holy Angel. He was called in Ezekiel 28:14, “The anointed cherub that covers,” and anointing always refers to supernatural gifts. But he's using those gifts for himself and for purposes to promote himself now, and not to promote God. The same is true for some of these people who are doing certain supernatural things today as Christians, preaching in Jesus’ Name.

Once upon a time, maybe they were sincere Christians who sought God and who received gifts, but then they began to use the gifts for themselves. It’s like the prodigal son, who came to his father, received the gifts, and then went away and used them for himself. That's a perfect picture of many preachers today. They come to God to receive gifts from Him, and then go out and use the gifts to promote themselves. This is the opposite of Jesus; Jesus wouldn't even use the gifts of God to make bread for Himself. He did make bread for the 5,000, but He wouldn't do it for Himself. That's the mark of a true servant of God. But these preachers have used God's gifts to promote themselves, and gradually, what happens to such people is that they drift away in sin. Jesus’ attitude to them is, “I never knew you. I forgave you once upon a time, but you drifted away from Me, and you have lost that forgiveness. You have lost your salvation, and you never came into a personal relationship with Me.”

Jesus Is Most Interested in a Bride-Bridegroom Relationship

Does God give gifts to people who don't know Him? “Knowing” is a word used in the Old Testament for husband and wife - Adam “knew” his wife. “I never knew you” means, “I never had a relationship with you as a bridegroom and a bride.” Did you know that God does not have that kind of relationship with any angel? It's only with man, redeemed by the blood of Christ. Christ is not the Bridegroom of any angel. He is the Bridegroom of the church, those who are redeemed by His blood. Satan, even when he was a holy angel, was not the bride, and he had no personal knowledge like that spoken of here, knowing like a husband knows his wife. He did, however, have gifts, and there are a lot of people like him today who have gifts, but who do not have an intimate relationship with Christ. Again, “I never knew you” means, “I never had a bridegroom-bride relationship with you.”

That is the important thing that will matter in the final day. Christ is coming for a bride, not for people who exercise gifts and who serve him in this ministry in that ministry. Ask yourself what is important to you in your life - are you like Martha, doing a lot of things for the Lord? Or are you like Mary, having that bridal attitude, sitting at Jesus’ feet and loving Him like a bride? A bride and a bridegroom love to be with each other. It's not what they do for each other that is important, but their attitude towards each other. They know each other, and that is going to be the most important thing in the final day.

Do you know the Lord? Do you know him intimately, as a bride knows a bridegroom, as wife knows her husband? That's what the Lord is telling these people. You can exercise so many gifts, you can do so much of work for Me, you can distribute thousands of tracts, raise so much money, travel here and there, preach, and do so many wonderful things, but if you don't have a bridal relationship with Me, I will say to you, “I never knew you.” He told Martha that one thing is needful: that bridal attitude that Mary had, who sat at His feet; not all the work you do for Him. He said that's a distraction. In Luke 10:42, He said, “Martha, you're distracted by your work for Me.” He did not even appreciate the fact that Martha was doing so many things unselfishly - just like false teachers have also blessed many people with their healing ministries, their demon casting-out ministries, and their preaching ministries - but Jesus didn't bother to mention it. Christ was not impressed with that. He said, “More than your work, I want you.” I wish we would recognize this, and realize what it is that the Lord wants from us, and what it is that going to matter in the final day.

That's why the Sermon on the Mount is so important. That's why it's very important to go through Matthew 5, 6, and 7 - to see whether you're obeying these things. That will prove whether the Lord knows you, whether you know the Lord, whether you have a bridal relationship with Him, and if so, then He will receive you. He will not say to you, “Oh, but you never cast out demons,” or, “Oh you never prophesied.” He is never going to say that. That's not important. If God gives you the gift, then you can do that. The important thing is the bridal relationship with Him.

Chapter 30

Building on the Rock

In the last paragraph of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them can be compared to a wise man who built his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24). This is referring to a Christian who goes to church and reads the Bible. He hears the words of Jesus, specifically the Sermon on the Mount, which begins in Matthew 5:3, and does them. He is like the man who built his house on a rock. “The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew against that house, but it did not fall.” But the one “who hears these words of Mine,” - which means, he reads the Sermon on the Mount, he believes it as the words of Jesus, he goes to church and listens to the preaching, and reads the Bible, but he does not do it; he just understands it and is excited about it - “but he doesn't do it, is a man who built his house upon sand. The rain descended the floods came the winds blew against that house and it fell - and great was its fall” (Matthew 7:25-27).

Obedience - Not Just Understanding and Excitement - Is Building upon the Rock

So what is the difference between these two? There is a children’s chorus called, “Build Your House on the Rock.” It goes, “The wise man built his house upon the rock, the foolish man built his house upon the sand,” and then it goes on to say, “so build a house in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Many people think, “If I have accepted Christ as my Saviour, I have already built my house on the rock”. There's a sense in which Christ is our foundation. He is the only foundation. But here, if you read carefully, what Jesus says is that the proof that a man has built his house on the rock is that he obeys - not that he just said, “Lord I'm a sinner please come into my heart and forgive my sins.”

There are multitudes of Christians who have said those words, and who imagine themselves to be born again, but who don't care one bit for the commands of Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. They don't seek to overcome anger, they don't seek to overcome sexual lust, they are not careful about speaking the truth, they don't love their enemies, etc. But they've said, “Lord Jesus come into my heart.” They are living in a world of deception. They are like a man who hears these words and does not do them. They may understand them and may even be excited about them.

In our previous study, we looked at a man who said, “Lord, Lord” (Matthew 7:21-22). When he says, “Lord,” it means his intellect is right and he has understood the truth. When he says, “Lord, Lord,” it means his emotions are right and he is excited about it. But his will is strong. Our human personality (our soul) consists of three parts: mind, emotions, and will. We may have understood the truth in our mind, and be excited in our emotions about it, but if we don't yield our will to do the will of God, we are deceiving ourselves.

The wise man is the man who penetrated all the way through the sand and hit rock. This becomes clear when you read the parallel passage in Luke 6. There it says, “The wise man is the one who dug deep and hit rock and there lays foundation on the rock” (Luke 6:48). In other words, they were both building in the same area, where the surface was sand. The foolish man built on the sand, while the wise man dug through the sand till he hit rock, blasted the rock, and laid his foundation there.

What is the sand? The sand is our intellectual understanding of God's Word. The sand is our emotional excitement about God's Word. You can intellectually understand everything. You can hear these words of Jesus, understand them, be excited about them, and call Him, “Lord, Lord,” but you are still on sand. It is when your will is blasted, when you yield your will and say, “Lord, I will not do my will but Your will” -- when your self-will is shattered, you die on that cross, say no to your will, and do God's will -- that is the moment you hit rock.

That is what Jesus is saying here. “One who hears these words and does them,” not just hears and is excited. In other words, it’s the yielding of the will that finally plants our house on the rock. It’s the yielding of the will that goes beyond saying, “Lord, Lord.”

The Veil of Self-Will

In the Old Testament tabernacle, the soul was represented by the Holy Place, the body was represented by the Outer Court, and the spirit of man is represented by the Most Holy Place. In between the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place there was a thick veil which was closed in the Old Testament times, but it was torn when Jesus died on the cross. What did that tearing of that veil symbolize when Jesus died on the cross? Hebrews 10:20 explains it to us: “Jesus inaugurated a new and living way into the Most Holy Place through the veil, and that symbolizes His flesh (and flesh means self-will).”

Jesus did not have sin in Him when He came to earth. He was born, as the angel Gabriel said, a Holy Thing, but He did have a self-will. Otherwise He couldn't be a man like us, which the Bible calls flesh. When it says Jesus came in the flesh, it means He came with a will of His own. He said that very clearly in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” He had a will of His own that had to be denied because it was contrary to His Father's will. That's what we see in Gethsemane, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” He didn't want to drink the cup, so He struggled for one hour and said, “Father, if You want Me to drink the cup, I'll do it.” He denied His Own will and did the Father's will. But that was not only true in Gethsemane; it was true all through His life. The essence of temptation is to do your own will and not to do the will of God. In Genesis 3, God's will was, “don’t eat from that tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Eve wanted to eat the fruit. It made her mouth water. The devil told her that it would make her wise, and she did her own will. That was the origin of sin - doing her will and denying God's will. Salvation came when Jesus did the opposite - He denied His will and did God's will. It's as simple as that.

True Worship

It’s the will that's important, not how much you understand God's word or how excited you are about it. You can feel so spiritual when you're emotionally thrilled, singing songs on Sunday morning in your church service, which you call praise and worship. That is not worship at all. That's only emotional praise or thanksgiving; it's not worship. Worship comes when we deny our own will.

The first time the word “worship” occurs in the Bible, it cost Abraham something - Isaac on the altar. When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar, giving up his own will, he said, “I am worshiping God,” (read Genesis 22). This is the meaning of worship. It is the denial of one’s will which opens the way into the Most Holy Place. So when the veil was rent, when Jesus died on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” What He was saying was, He faced the entire range of temptations that any human being can ever face (Hebrews 4:15) – not necessarily all the circumstances, but all the temptations - and He said no to His Own will in every one of those thousands or millions of instances in thirty-three and a half years. He never did His Own will, or in other words, He never sinned. He said no to His will, which is like the veil, and so the veil was rent. The veil being rent was symbolic of the fact that Jesus never did His own will in His entire life, and when He died on the cross, He opened what Hebrews calls “the new and living way.”

The New and Living “Way”

What is this new and living way? The veil is a “way,” not a door. The word, “way” means something that we have to walk on consistently. It is the way of denying our own will and doing the Father’s will so that we can live in the Father's presence forever - in Whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at Whose right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). Why do people seek the pleasures of the earth? It is because they haven't seen the eternal pleasures in the Father's presence. Why are people discouraged and gloomy and in bad moods? It is because they haven't enjoyed the fullness of joy there is in the Father's presence, because they do not deny their own wills. The devil has fooled even Christians by saying, “You will be happy when you do your own will.” It is a lie. You’re miserable when you do your own will. Jesus was constantly happy, always rejoicing, because He did His Father's will.

This is the point: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them…” If he doesn't do them, he is still on sand, regardless of how much he may have understood them, or how much he may be able to take a Bible study on the Sermon on the Mount, or how much he may be excited about it.

Review of Sermon on the Mount

Here is a quick look through what we have covered in our study of the Sermon on the Mount:

Nine Right Attitudes

Seeking for poverty of spirit - a constant sense of our own need

Mourning for our sins, that we are not more Christ-like

Being meek, so that we don't fight for our rights

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness, not for money or healing

Being merciful to others, no matter what wrong they've done to us, and forgiving them

Being pure in heart, wanting only God and not anything else (a good conscience means I'm free from sin; pure in heart means more than freedom from sin: it means I desire nothing but God)

Becoming peacemakers, always pursuing after peace with all people - believers and unbelievers

Being willing to stand up for righteousness, even if it means persecution suffering loss

Being unashamed to confess Christ, even if it brings loss and persecution

These are the nine right attitudes, by which we can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14) Then he goes on to speak about the nine wrong attitudes that we can have.

Nine Wrong Attitudes

Anger

Sexually sinful ways of thinking

(Lord I want to have a radical attitude towards sexual thoughts, towards pornography, etc. I want to cut it off completely. I want to be as radical as pulling out my eye and cutting off my hand I want to take sin as more serious than losing my hand. How many of you believe that sexual sin even in the thoughts is more serious than losing your right hand or losing your right eye? The wise man does that. If you don't have that attitude to sin, you're not a wise person. You are not building a house on the rock. Many people take this so casually).

Lying

Taking Revenge

Hatred

Seeking the honor of men (Matthew 6:1-18).

The wise man seeks to be completely free from seeking the honor of men, just like he seeks to love all his enemies. He wants to be completely free from the honor of men.

Love of money

The wise man doesn't just hear about it, he wants to be completely free from the love of money. It's not a question of whether you're wealthy or poor. Poor people love money and wealthy people love money. It's possible to be poor and free from the love of money and it’s possible to be wealthy and free from the love of money. 1 Timothy 6 says, “Charge those who are rich not to give up all their riches but to share what they have with others and to provide for the need of other poor believers.”

Anxiety

It's an evidence of a lack of faith in our loving Father when we're anxious. To say, “What's going to happen to us in the future?” shows that we can’t trust that God will provide all our need, even though He feeds the birds and cares for the flowers. Jesus said even the hairs on your head are numbered. You're of more value than many sparrows.

It's a great insult when a person believes that his Heavenly Father will not provide for him. When you go and ask people for money, like a lot of preachers do, you're saying, “I'm not content with what God has given me or God has let me down.” Can you imagine Jesus going to somebody in the days when He was preaching and saying, “Can you give Me some money because I'm a bit hard up? My Heavenly Father has let me down”? It's so ridiculous to even think of that. But that's how it is when many preachers and many people go begging for money. A lot of Christian preachers are just dignified beggars. What about your Heavenly Father? Isn't He the One Who rules the universe? Doesn’t He care for you? If the richest man in the world’s son came to you asking for money, what would you say to him? “Hey, aren’t you the son of the richest man in the world? Why are you asking me? Has your Father disinherited you? Is that why you're hard up?” When a Christian goes begging for money from other people, what he is saying is, “My Heavenly Father has disinherited me. I am no longer His child. He has given up on me and that is why I'm hard up. I'm like the prodigal son, far away from the Father's house, and I have to eat what the pigs are eating. I have to go around begging for money.” Every Christian who has to go around begging for money is like the prodigal son far from his Father's house. Can you imagine a son who is in his father's house having to beg for money? Completely out of the question! If you have to get into debt and beg and borrow, it is one indication that you are far away from the Father’s house.

And if you're anxious and worried about where your provision will come from, you're not in the Father's house. Anyone who's in the Father's house is not anxious. The prodigal son was anxious not when he was sitting at the Father’s table. He was anxious when he was far away. And so anxiety is a wrong attitude.

Judging others

The Bible says “There is only one judge. Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law” (James 4:11-12). The law says that you must love your brother as yourself, but he who speaks against his brother judges him. You're judging the law itself - the law of God. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge” (James 4:12). This is an important word because lawgiver and judge are put together here. When the Bible says, “Do not judge” (Matthew 7:1), it’s saying there is only One Lawgiver and Judge. Remember that. A judge has a right to lay down the law. You and I don't have any right to lay down a law.

When Christians make rules for other Christians - like Christian preachers who make rules for Christians which are not found in Scripture - they have become law givers. This is the mark of the legalist. A legalist lays down rules for other people which are not found in Scripture. To teach the principles that Jesus lived by and to explain to people how that principle applies in a particular situation is a different thing, but to lay down a law for other people in an area where the Bible doesn't lay down a law (but gives us a guideline) makes you a lawgiver. There are many areas where lawgivers also judge other people when the other people don't keep the laws which they have made. Are you a lawgiver? Then you are taking the throne of God. You are sitting like God on His throne. We have no right to make laws for other people except what is written in Scripture. And if somebody does not obey that law, we have no right to judge him. God is his Judge. The only exception is if God has appointed us as a sub-judge, as it were, in a sphere where God has given us responsibility, like a father over his children, or like an elder over his local church, or like an employer over his employee. Outside of that, we are not called to judge. This is so important.

The Hidden Life Is What Really Matters

A man who hears all these things and does not do them is like one who is building his house on sand. One day the flood will come and everything will collapse. His house may look like the wise man’s house on the surface. The superstructure may look alike. But the wise man is a man who paid a price which is invisible. The most important part of our house is its foundation, which teaches us that the most important part of your life is that part which other people cannot see. Every house has two parts, one which can be seen above the surface to the ground, and one which cannot be seen. The most important part is what is beneath the ground.

In all these areas - what we have considered in the Sermon on the Mount - if you hear these words and you do not do them, you are like a person who has no foundation underneath his house. You are not obeying the things that are written here, in your inner life, but your superstructure looks good because you are serving God, going to church, singing in the church meetings, and doing many things that Christians do. You look like a Christian in all your activities, but one day God is going to test, not the superstructure, but the foundation.

What did the flood test? The flood did not come and test what material the superstructure was made of, or how attractive the superstructure was. The point of this is, the flood came and tested the foundation. You will find in the final day, when Christ comes again, that what is going to be tested is not what other people thought about our lives - the outward part of our Christian life - but that which nobody could see (1 Corinthians 4:5). The hidden part - which is under the ground, the foundation - which nobody sees. Even your wife or your husband do not know what your inner life is like.

Pay the Price of Obedience to Build on the Foundation of Christ

The Sermon on the Mount ends by emphasizing that “the foundation is more important than the superstructure.” You must be willing to pay a price to go through the sand and blast the rock. The man who is not willing to pay a price for his inner hidden life is a foolish man. Many people don't want to pay a price to walk that inner walk with God. They are foolish. When Jesus finished these statements, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching because He was teaching them as One having authority. The great need today in the pulpits in Christendom is spiritual authority. Jesus had lived what He had preached. One paraphrase says, “it was obvious that He was living every word that He was preaching.” That is how we get spiritual authority. When preachers have lived every word that they are preaching, then they will have spiritual authority. That is the type of authority we need in our pulpits, and that is sadly lacking because people want to have a cheap and easy way to minister God's word. They go and study in some Bible School, get a degree, and preach. It costs far more than that to minister with authority. We have to pay a price - of yielding our will in our hidden life - to every one of these points that Jesus brings out in the Sermon on the Mount, and obey them. If we do that, great will be our reward and great will be the long-term permanent eternal results of our ministry.

Chapter 31

Humility, Compassion and Faith

We Are to Follow Jesus’ Life, as Well as His Word

Starting in Matthew 8, Jesus came down from the mountain, and great multitudes followed Him. A leper came to Him and bowed down to Him saying, “Lord, if You're willing, You can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing, be cleansed.” Immediately the man’s leprosy was cleansed. Jesus then said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded for a testimony to them” (Matthew 8:2-4).

When we think about all that Jesus taught, we need to see that Jesus taught not only by His words, but also by His actions - the way He related to people, and what He told them to do. It was by His life that He taught, in addition to His words. So when we consider studying “all that Jesus taught,” we need to look at His life and the way He conducted His ministry as well, if we are to follow Him in the same spirit.

For example, we see that Jesus healed the leper in Matthew 8. It is a fantastic thing when every sign of leprosy disappears from a man immediately! You may have seen lepers, how they are, with fingers eaten away, nose eaten away, and disfigurement on their face. For all of that to disappear in a moment is really a supernatural miracle! If that happened today, people would be so excited that they'd ask him to go and testify to everyone, and to make sure that he tells everyone who it was who prayed for him! This is how so many Christian preachers seek honor for themselves. You see that particularly in the so-called “Great healing campaigns.” As soon as someone has some type of minor healing (almost insignificant), the preacher gets up and stands in front of the microphone, and he proclaims that this person is healed so that the preacher himself gets honor.

Things were so different with Christ. All that Jesus taught was by His life. He was not excited at the power that went out from Him; He was excited that a poor suffering leper was healed. This is the Spirit of Christ - where we are concerned that somebody else is blessed, and not so much that he was blessed through me, or that people should know that I was the channel whom God used. There is, unfortunately, so much of that in Christian circles, in Christian preachers, in Christian organizations, churches, and missions everywhere. When God blesses someone, and we’re not excited that God has blessed them, but instead, we want everybody to know that we were the ones whom God used, that's not the spirit of Christ. Where we see something like that, we need to recognize that is a trace of the old Adam still in us, and if we don't cleanse ourselves from it, we will never be more Christ-like.

Jesus even told him, “Don’t tell anyone.” Have you ever heard that type of instruction from any person who has been instrumental in praying for somebody who was sick? This is the Spirit of Christ. The other thing we see in this exchange is that, since the old covenant was still in operation in Israel, and the new covenant had not been established, Jesus lived under the law, the Bible says, and so He told the one who was cleansed to do exactly what Moses had commanded in the law, (to go to the priest and show himself) because the priest had to declare him cleansed, exactly as Moses commanded.

There are many things in the Gospels that Jesus said to people because they were still under the law, which we mustn’t forget. For example, He told the Pharisees to pay their tithes (Matthew 23:23). He said that it's not enough to pay tithes of dill and cumin, etc. but also you also need to fulfil the weightier matters of law; you need to do both. Some people use that as an excuse to say, “Jesus commanded people to tithe.” Yes, He did, because they were under the law. But that's been abolished in the new covenant. The old covenant has disappeared, so the command to tithe is no longer here today. In the same way, there's no need to go and show yourself to a priest if you're healed today. It’s exactly the same thing, because the law is over. This is the main thing that we want to see from this passage.

The second thing we want to see is that the Lord always desires something good for us. When the leper said to Him, “If You are willing,” there was no lack of willingness on Jesus’ part. The Lord immediately said, “Of course I'm willing” (Matthew 8:3 paraphrase). How does that apply to us? It means that whenever we have a need in our life and we go to the Lord and say, “Lord, are You willing to meet this need?” the Lord says, “Yes, I'm willing.”

God Always Seeks the Greatest Good for Us in the New Covenant, Even If There Is Suffering

Under the new covenant, we see that there are times when the Lord allows us to suffer for some greater good. For example, not every sickness is necessarily healed. Even the Apostle Paul's thorn in the flesh was not healed (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), and Timothy's stomach infirmities were not healed (1 Timothy 5:23), because some greater good, which was more important than the healing, was what the Lord wanted to accomplish in their lives. That happens even today. It’s just like martyrdom under the old covenant. We read that when Daniel was thrown into a den of lions, the lions couldn't touch him throughout the night. But in the early days of Christianity (in the Roman amphitheaters) when Christians were thrown to the lions, the lions ate them up immediately. Daniel and three friends went through the fire untouched. But when Christians were persecuted in the early centuries and burned at the stake, the fire burnt them up. This is because in the new covenant, there is a greater glory that will come to God through Christians going faithfully through suffering and sickness. There are cases where even in the new covenant, the Apostle Peter, for example, was delivered from prison supernaturally. Paul was delivered from the Philippian prison supernaturally, but the same Paul later on, when he was in prison in Rome, was not delivered supernaturally - he had to spend several years in prison.

God's ways are not always the same. He's always seeking to accomplish His purpose for the greater good of us, and of those whom He wants to reach through us. For example, in the Philippian jail, the reason why Paul was delivered supernaturally was because the jailer had to be converted. In the Roman jail, he was not delivered supernaturally, because he had to be the witness to the Roman guards so that they would be converted. God's ways are always for His greater glory, and the greater good of humanity, and it's not always for our own comfort. We need to keep that in mind and not say, “Well, Jesus healed everybody who came to Him, therefore everybody will be healed today.” That's actually not true. Anyone who gives people that impression is not speaking the truth. That's often taken as an example, but we need to understand all that Jesus taught.

The Centurion’s Humility and Faith

Another case of healing is when Jesus entered Capernaum and a Centurion came to Him and said, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering great pain” (Matthew 8:5-6). Jesus told him that He would come and heal him. Something wonderful that we see about the Centurion is his humility. Remember, he was a Roman military man who was in charge of around one hundred (a Centurion has perhaps a hundred) soldiers under him. This was a man who was used to exercising authority, and yet we see his humility in being willing to travel all the way from wherever he was going to meet Jesus, just to tell him about his servant who was paralyzed and lying at home.

For a military captain to be interested in a slave working in his home (this was probably a Jewish slave) is an amazing thing! You see his humility. That's the first thing we need to see, and we see his humility further in verse 8, when he replies to Jesus saying, “I'm not worthy Lord that You should come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant would be healed.” Before you see his faith, I want you to see his humility.

If Jesus were to say to you or me, “I want to come to your house,” we would say, “Sure Lord, come!” But look what this Centurion says. He certainly would have loved for Christ to come to his house, but instead he says, “I'm not worthy. You're so holy, and I don't feel that I can really receive You, such a holy Person, into my house” (Matthew 8:8 paraphrase). The reason I mention that is because this demonstrates the great connection between humility and faith. Then you see his faith when he says, “Lord, you just stand here and speak the word and he'll be healed, because I'm also a man under authority, and when I tell a soldier under me to go, he goes immediately without any delay. Being under authority if somebody tells me to go, I go as well. That's the point. If I tell another soldier to come, he comes while I tell a slave to do this, he does it” (Matthew 8:8-9 paraphrase). There, he was recognizing two things, though he didn't understand it fully.

Military men usually can recognize other military men. There’s something about their bearing (the way a person walks and conducts himself) that indicates a military man. This Roman centurion couldn't understand it, but there was something about Jesus’ bearing that indicated that He was a Man subject to some authority. He didn't know what it was, and that's why he says, “I too.” What does that mean? He is saying, “Lord, like You, I'm also a man under authority” (Matthew 8:9). The authority Jesus was under, the Roman centurion couldn’t recognize. He didn't know anything about the Trinity, or the Father, or any such thing. But he recognized this is a Man Who didn’t seem to be doing whatever He felt like doing. He seemed to be a Man Who was guided by somebody else. It's amazing that he recognized that! That's why he said, “I also am a man under authority.”

The other thing he recognized was that when a man is under authority, he has authority over other things or people. He had obviously heard about Jesus healing the sick, and he recognized that it was because Christ was under authority that He had authority over sickness. He knew that with that type of supernatural authority from heaven, you don't have to be actually physically present near the sick person. The sick person could be many kilometers away, and you could just speak the word and the person will be healed. It is remarkable faith!

In many cases, people brought the sick child or man right up to Christ for Him to touch, but this is an amazing case where this man didn't bring his sick servant. He probably could have brought him in a chariot, but he didn't. He said, “You don’t have to come to my house, (maybe five kilometers away) but if You speak the word here, I know my servant will be healed.” He said, “Therefore, I ask you to do it.” When Jesus heard this, it says He marveled.

The Importance of Faith

There are only two places in Scripture where it says Jesus marveled. It is very interesting to see that. It says He marveled when he saw faith like this! Imagine doing something to make Jesus Christ Himself marvel!

The other example is in Mark, where we see that He marveled at the unbelief of those in His hometown (Mark 6:6). These are the only two places in Scripture where we read about Jesus being surprised, or wondering. One is a case where He saw amazing faith, and the other where He saw amazing unbelief. Faith meant so much to the Lord. He was always excited whenever He saw people who had faith, and terribly disappointed when He saw people with unbelief.

He marveled and said, “Truly, I say to you, I've not found such great faith with anyone in Israel” (Matthew 8:10). He's comparing a Roman military man, who never read the Bible, who doesn't know anything about Moses or the prophets or any such thing, with all of Israel. This was including the great scholars who had studied the Scriptures and regarding this man, He said, “I found more faith in this man, who hardly knows anything about Scripture, than all the rest of you who have read the Bible for so many years!”

The Danger of Being Cast Out

I wonder if that can be true even today. Does Jesus have to rebuke us, Christians who read the Bible so much, and study the Bible so much, that we don't have the faith that sometimes even a non-Christian may have in what God can do? In so many situations, even today, there are non-Christians who believe God will help them, and many Christians who get into a panic, and are anxious and fearful. I say to you, there is more faith in those people than you who know the Scriptures. And the Lord goes on to say, “I say to you, that many from the east and west will sit at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, and those sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness, the place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12).

We must take seriously what Jesus said, that the sons of the kingdom will be cast out (Matthew 8:12). There are some people who feel Christians (sons of the kingdom) can never be cast out. They will always be in the kingdom. But consider what Jesus said - that the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. Why are they cast out? In this context, it’s because they don't have faith, whereas the one who has faith (who is not one of the sons of the kingdom, who comes from east and west) is going to sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who are the sons of the kingdom) in the kingdom of heaven, while the others will be out where they will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. He is speaking about hell. It is very important to understand this. Very often we think that just because we know so much of the Bible and we understand so much truth intellectually, that Lord must be very happy with us, and accepts us without any reservation.

But that's not what He looks for. We see in the Roman centurion three very important characteristics that Jesus looks for and appreciates: first is humility, the second is faith, and the third is a concern for the poor. This military man had a concern for a poor slave, he was a humble person who did not feel that Christ was worthy to come under his roof, and he had faith to believe that Christ could do anything, even from a distance.

When we apply that to ourselves today, we can have the same qualities if we want. This is what Jesus appreciated. He appreciates it even today, whenever He sees people who have a concern for those who are the outcast of society, those who are on the fringes of the society, those who are poor and weak, like this military man had. Those who have the humility to recognize that they are nothing in His presence, those whose faces are in the dust before the Lord, and those who have the faith that it’s not only from five kilometers away, but from millions of kilometers up in heaven that Christ can speak the word today!

Jesus said to the Centurion, “Go your way, let it be done to you as you have believed” (Matthew 8:13), and the servant was healed that very hour. We see something else in this story, which we hardly ever find (almost never) in the Old Testament; we see it right from the beginning of the New Testament: how much Jesus appreciated faith. You see that right through His entire ministry. Wherever He saw faith, He appreciated it tremendously. Salvation is by faith. Everything we receive from God is on the basis of faith. The words that Jesus spoke to the Centurion “Let it be done as you have believed,” He spoke to more than just one person.

What did Jesus teach regarding this? Very often we have a wrong understanding. It’s not “as you have earnestly desired” that you receive, and it’s not “as God has earnestly desired for you.” Sometimes we think, “I earnestly desire this.” It could be anything. Well, you don't receive according to your desire. God earnestly desires many things for us, but we don't get them, because the law is “not according to your earnest desire,” or “according to God's earnest desire.” The principle is according to how much you have believed for. Let it be done for you as you have believed.

We receive according to the measure of our faith, and that is why we find that some people receive much, and some people receive very little. It's like if the rain is falling heavily outside, and one person puts a cup outside, another person puts a bucket, and a third person puts a huge tub. They're going to get different quantities of water. It’s not because God is partial to one; not at all. The same rain is falling everywhere, but the size of the vessel is different, and that determines how much each person gets. It's exactly the same in the Christian life: if you find a difference between one Christian and another, then it’s because there's a difference in their faith. According to their faith, they have received.

That being said, our faith (I want to mention this also) must be based on the word of Jesus. Jesus had spoken this word to Him, and the Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). It's not that I just try and work up faith in my heart for anything I want. This is the foolishness that is found in so many Christians. They desire and covet so many earthly things, and they try to imagine that their working up faith to believe God to get that thing. That's not correct. Romans 10:17 is clear: faith can only be based on hearing the Word of Christ. We must have a very definite promise to have confidence that we will receive what we have faith for.

Abraham did not have a son at the age of 100 simply because he worked up faith for it. God had specifically told him that he would have a son, and it was only then that he could have faith. Faith is always based on the word of God. Here also, it's the same principle. It’s according to what you believe, and that faith must be based on the Word of Christ.

This faith is coupled with humility. If we don't have humility, then it's very difficult to have faith. There is a close connection between the two. It’s not only here, but in a number of places we see this. You see this in the case of another woman, who was a Canaanite woman. Jesus tries to test her by saying, “We can’t give the children's bread to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26) and she willingly took that position. ”Ok Lord, I may be like a dog, but can’t I get the crumbs that fall from the table?” and she received according to her faith. It was humility again, to be willing to take the place of a dog at the foot of the table and say, “I don't deserve the bread, give me the crumbs.” Her faith was great. These examples of great faith and humility were two non-Jewish people. Jesus appreciated their faith. We can learn from the example of this Roman centurion practical principles that can help us in our daily Christian walk.

Chapter 32

How God Answers Prayers

In Matthew 8:14, Jesus goes to Peter’s home and finds his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touches her hand, the fever leaves her, and she rises to wait on Him. It is a beautiful picture of what should happen when the Lord touches us. Apply this to your own life. We are sick with sin, and Jesus comes by, touches us, and raises us up, delivering us from it.

And as soon as Peter’s mother-in-law got up, she didn’t wait; she immediately started serving Jesus. It’s a beautiful picture of how it should be whenever the Lord touches us and raises us up from our sin or our problems.

By the time evening came, news had gotten around that Jesus had come and had healed Peter’s mother-in-law as soon as He had arrived. Many were then brought to him who were demon possessed, and He cast out the spirits with a word. He healed all who were ill, in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases” (Matthew 8:16-17).

How Jesus Healed

We can learn much here about what Jesus taught, not only by His words, but by His life. It says that they brought many to Him. If you look at the parallel passage of this incident in Luke's Gospel and compare Scripture with Scripture, you learn something that is not mentioned in Matthew. We read in Luke 4:40 that He laid His hands on every single one of them. There were many people brought who were demon-possessed or sick, but we read that Jesus did not say a mass prayer to heal all of them at once. Instead, He laid hands on each one individually. He wanted each person to feel that God was interested in them personally, and so He gave each a personal touch.

We also notice that Jesus did not heal only 1% of those who came to Him, as we see so often today with those who claim to imitate His healing ministry. Instead, every single one was healed. He healed all of them; every single person who was sick was healed. This was the ministry that Jesus accomplished.

Be Honest About Your Measure of Faith and Gifts

Why is it that we don't see the same type of ministry today? It is because Jesus had total faith, and we do not. We must be humble enough to acknowledge the difference.

Once, there was a family who called me to come and pray for their daughter who was sick. I don't have a healing gift, but in James 5, we read that when someone is sick, they should call an elder to pray for them and anoint them with oil. The prayer of faith will save the sick. Therefore, I went, not as one who had a gift of healing, but as an elder obeying the command in James. When I went there, I saw this 16-year-old girl curled up in the bed, and they told me she had suffered a head injury at birth and had never walked, or talked, or done anything. For sixteen years, she had been curled up like that and had to be fed, clothed, and more because she could not do anything herself. Then I had to tell them—“I don't have the faith to make this girl get up and walk, I might as well be honest with you.” I told them that I could pray for God to give them grace to look after this child, but that I didn’t want to deceive them into thinking that as soon as I prayed for her, she would get up and walk for the first time in her sixteen years.

We must be honest and humble about the measure of our gift and the measure of our faith. I told them that if Jesus Himself had been there, He would have made her walk immediately. What is the difference? Jesus had complete faith that there was no sin in His life. So much of our problem is that our mind and heart are polluted by sin. There are so many things in us that make us unclean. It could be selfishness, it could be pride, it could be an attachment to this material world, which Jesus was so completely detached from. He walked on earth as One Who was totally heavenly, and as a result, His word had authority.

Distinguishing Between Jesus’ Life and His Ministry

We need to humble ourselves and acknowledge that we cannot do all that Jesus did. Yet, we can certainly live the way He taught us to live, because He gives us the provision for it. In other words, we can follow Him in His life, but not necessarily in His ministry. We need to distinguish between the two. When Jesus said that we should follow Him, He meant that we should follow the example He set in His personal life. In the same way, Paul wrote, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1), and “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us” (Philippians 3:17). He did not mean that we should seek to have his ministry, but to live like he did.

In this life, we are to walk as Jesus walked, but we cannot serve with all of the gifts that He had. He had all of the gifts, but today the Body of Christ is much larger than any one person. In Him, there was the complete body of Christ housed in one Person. Now, the gifts are distributed, and so, no one should feel condemned if he prays for someone and they are not healed.

Our aim is still to walk as Jesus walked, so we need to distinguish between His life and His ministry. It is clear that we cannot follow Jesus in His ministry. He died for the sins of the world—can we follow Him in that ministry? Obviously not! And we can’t follow Him in any other ministry either—not even in healing all the sick. We might as well acknowledge this limitation, because a lot of Christians are being deceived when they are told that we can do everything that Jesus did in His life. Yes, we can overcome sin as He did, but we can’t perform His ministry. That's the honest truth, and anyone who says otherwise is actually trying to deceive you.

Clarifying Isaiah’s Prophecy Concerning Christ’s Ministry

After Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and the crowds who were sick, we read in Matthew 8:17 that a prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.” It comes from Isaiah 53, and it is often misquoted and misused by preachers. They say that Jesus took away our infirmities and carried away our diseases on the cross. But He did no such thing. We read in Matthew that the prophecy from Isaiah was fulfilled when Jesus healed the sick in His earthly ministry, years before He went to Calvary.

There are a number of verses in Isaiah 53 that do relate to the cross, but there are also others that do not. Let us examine these verses carefully so that we can understand the truth and not fall into bondage by believing a false teaching—the truth will set us free.

In Isaiah 53:2, we read that Jesus grew up before Him like a tender shoot. That was not on the cross; that was in Nazareth. And in verse 3, He was despised and forsaken by men. That was throughout His life; it was not on the cross. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and throughout His life men hid their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah also prophesied that He was to be oppressed and afflicted, yet He would not open His mouth (v4). This did not occur on the cross, but when He was being tried in court. Therefore, all of Isaiah 53 does not relate to the cross. Some of it is relates to other periods of His life.

There is no verse that says that Christ took our sicknesses with Him on the cross, even though it’s a popular belief, particularly in Pentecostal and charismatic circles. Yet, if we look through Scripture, we can’t find it anywhere in the New Testament. It's amazing how many Christians believe things not written in Scripture, just because they've been brainwashed by some preacher. Let us be careful to read Scripture exactly.

Can we still pray for healing? Of course! We can pray for anything that will help us to serve God better. I myself pray for healing every time I'm sick, and I’ve found that many times God has healed me. We won’t always have perfect health. And when we’re seventy years-old, we can’t expect to have the health of a twenty-five-year-old, and we can certainly still ask God for healing.

Deliverance from Sin - Not Sickness - Is Jesus’ Promise

The point is this: I cannot ask God to take away every single sickness in the same way that I can ask Him to take away every single sin. Scripture clearly teaches that Christ died for our sins, but there is no verse that says Christ died for all our sicknesses. If there were such a verse, we would have every right to ask the Lord to take away every single sickness. That includes poor vision—so I wouldn’t be wearing glasses—and hair loss!

A lot of Christians don't love the truth, which is why God allows them to be deceived (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). I want you to know the truth in this area so that you won’t be fooled. It’s important because suppose you were to tell a non-Christian that Christ can take away all your sins and heal all your sicknesses. You have scriptural support for the first statement, but no scriptural support for the second, even though you've heard it preached. Let’s say that this non-Christian, who knows nothing about the Bible, believes you. He asks you what he should do, and you tell him that he should turn from his sin, ask Christ to forgive him, and receive Him as Savior. After he does all that, you tell him that on the basis of the God's Word, his sins are blotted out. And it’s true. We read in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Everything you have told him so far about the forgiveness of sins is grounded in Scripture.

But what if you go on to say, Christ has also died for your sicknesses? Perhaps he has some serious sickness, tuberculosis or cancer, and you tell him to pray for healing in the same way he prayed about forgiveness. Then, he prays and tells God that he has the same faith that God will take away his sickness as he has that Christ took away his sins. You had already told him that sin is a greater problem than sickness, and he thinks to himself that if Jesus could take care of the bigger problem, surely, He can take care of the smaller one.

He leaves believing you when you said his sins were forgiven and also believing you when you said that his sicknesses were healed. Yet, he might go to the doctor a week later and hear that his cancer is worse. What is he going to think about your gospel then? He's going to say, “This Christian fooled me! He said that Christ has taken away my sickness, but He hasn't!” Then the new believer might think that perhaps Jesus hasn't even taken away his sin, because He could not take away the smaller problem of sickness.

You can now see how this type of preaching, which mis-quotes Scripture, confuses people. It is this type of deception that I want to deliver you from, and you should spread this message to others. Don't try to have faith for something that Scripture has not promised. Look for God’s promises in Scripture, and when you find them, see if they apply to you. Is this something Jesus accomplished on the cross? In this case, the prophecy in Isaiah that He Himself took away all our infirmities and carried away our diseases, was fulfilled before the cross, when Jesus was physically on earth healing some people.

Why God Doesn’t Grant Some Requests

In Philippians 4:19, Paul writes, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” That’s a specific promise. He doesn’t say that God will give me all that I want; he says that his God will supply all that I need. There are many things that we think we need, but God knows otherwise. It’s just like how little children come to their father, telling him about their “needs,” when they’re really only asking for things they want.

A good father doesn’t give his children everything they ask. Only a foolish father would do that. Sometimes, we give our children painful experiences like an injection or surgery. It is extremely painful, but necessary for them. They don't want it, but they need it. That's how a good father is. The child might not understand why they need to go through the surgery or take the painful injection, but still the parent says that they need it.

God is like that. He's a loving Father, and we are His children. We don't always know what's good for us. Even so, God has promised to give us everything we need. If He sees that I need healing because it will further His purposes and is for my greater good, He will always heal me. However, where He sees it is not necessary, He may not.

I have discovered that God allows me to go through certain difficulties here on earth so that I can understand the difficulties that other people are going through. If by prayer we could escape every problem, every difficulty, every sickness, and every trial, it would be incredibly difficult for us to have compassion on those who must go through such things.

Some years ago, when I was just in my late twenties, I was in the middle of a conference, speaking to young people, and I had to go change my train ticket. It required that I go to the railway station, and I prayed, asking God to make sure the queue there was short so that I wouldn’t have to waste much time there. And when I arrived, the queue was so long it went outside the station. I ended up having to stand in the sun for quite a while before reaching the counter to change my ticket. When I came back, I asked the Lord why He hadn’t answered my prayer. And I got a word from Him that I've never forgotten. He told me that if He were to deliver me from all the problems that my fellow countrymen face, then I would never be able to empathize with them, I would never be able to understand what they go through. He said that there would be many prayers of mine that He would answer, but there would be some that He would not, because He wanted me to experience what others went through, so that in the midst of those sufferings or difficulties, I still know how to trust Him and thank Him.

It’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten. When I travel in crowded trains and face other difficulties common here in India I say, “Lord, thank You. I understand what other people are going through, and therefore I can sympathize with them.” Remember that if God hasn’t healed your sickness, or if He hasn’t solved some other physical problem, it's because He wants you to understand what other people in your country are going through, so that you can be more sympathetic in how you minister to them.

When it comes to sin, the word of God is clear, absolutely clear: every sin that you confess will be immediately forgiven; there's no delay. When you pray for a sickness, the Lord might take some time to heal you. However, when it comes to sin, forgiveness for past sins is immediate. And when it comes to overcoming sin, Romans 6:14 plainly tells us that sin will not rule over us, and we can claim that promise.

God Answers Every Prayer

When we pray, there are some requests that God will grant immediately, some that He might perform slowly, and some that He might not do at all. It can be confusing, and we might wonder whether God actually answers prayer. God answers every prayer, but not in the way we might expect. I find His answers to be similar to the traffic lights we see at a traffic intersection. Sometimes the light is red, and that’s God saying no. It is an answer, but the answer is “No.” Other times, the light is orange or yellow, and then God is saying, “Wait. Not yet. I'll give it to you when the time is right.” Then there are times when the light is green and God gives to us right away. God answers every prayer, and His traffic lights are always working. Don't think that He didn’t answer you when the answer is no. He did answer; it was just a “no.” If my little son came to me asking me for something, and I told him that I couldn’t give it to him, he wouldn’t be able to say that I didn’t give him an answer, because I did. The answer was “No.”

Remember this: God answers every prayer. Sometimes the answer is, “Yes.” Sometimes the answer is, “Wait.” And sometimes the answer is, “No.”

When it comes to sin, God’s answer is always, “Yes.” It’s always the same because Christ came to the world to save us from sin. I must emphasize the distinction between what Christ came for and what Christ does. He blesses us in many ways. Some of these blessings are promised to us, and some are a matter of His goodness, for God is a good God. He makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and He makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). God does many things for unbelievers and even might answer their prayers. For example, Cornelius was a totally unconverted military man, yet we read that God heard his prayers (Acts 10:31). God may grant many requests, but from Scripture we know without a doubt that when it comes to the forgiveness of sins or becoming a child of God, His answer is an immediate, “Yes!”

I want to make sure there is no confusion about any of this. If we equate sickness with sin, as many Christians do, we’ll be confused about why our prayers for healing are not always answered. It’s not to say that we shouldn’t pray for healing or material things. Many people pray for houses, land, cars—all types of things. And we can certainly ask for them.

I always say that you can ask God for anything, absolutely anything under the sun, provided that you conclude your prayer saying, “But Father, not as I will, but as Thou will.” If you can conclude your prayer with that sentence, then you can ask for anything. Some things are not God's will. What we think is good for us might not be. Freedom from sin and forgiveness of sin are always good for us. God will grant those requests 100% of the time. But oftentimes, what we think is good for us may not be what is best for us, and God will deny those requests in order to fulfill His best in our lives.

Chapter 33

Having the Right Word for Every Situation

When Jesus saw the crowd around Him in Matthew 8:18, He gave orders to depart to the other side, and a certain scribe (‘scribe’ refers to someone who is a scholar of Scripture, who spent years studying the Bible. There were many people like that in those days, like there are Bible college graduates today) came and said to him, “Teacher I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” He immediately told him the price he would have to pay if he was to follow Christ. Jesus never hid from people the price of physical inconvenience or physical loss that they would suffer if they were going to follow Him. A lot of people today try to hide that, but not Jesus.

Different Sicknesses Call for Different Treatment

Right at the outset, for example, He told a rich young ruler, “If you want to follow Me, you have to give up all your money.” He didn't say that to everybody, but in that rich young ruler’s case, his love of money was so deep-rooted, like a cancer where the whole organ has to be removed, that he needed such radical surgery. In the case of a man like Zacchaeus, the Lord accepted him when he said that he would give half of his goods to the poor. In the case Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, the Lord did not ask for anything. Spiritual cancer has progressed to different degrees in different people. So we find the Lord was willing to tell a person to give everything he had when He sensed some cancer in that person.

The Lord had such tremendous discernment, that He spoke to people exactly according to their needs. That's one thing that happens when we walk with God for many years. This is part of prophetic speaking. Prophetic ministry is not only in the pulpit. Prophetic ministry is in ordinary conversation as well, where you discern (by God-given discernment) a person's need, and God gives you exactly the right word which that person needs.

When the Lord said this, it was not a standard reply that He gave to everyone. He didn't tell this man to “Go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor.” That He said to another person. To this person, He says, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests.” Scribes tend to just quote standard Scriptures. They've been taught in seminary, “for this problem, quote this Scripture,” “for that problem, quote that Scripture,” and so their ministry to people is based on academic understanding of the Bible, just like some people are employed by computer companies to answer customers over the phone: the customer asks about a problem, and the employee looks up that particular problem on the computer. They enter that into the computer, get a reply on the computer, and then read that answer to the customer.

We Need Anointing to Have the Right Word

This is not how we're supposed to do ministry. Ministry is to be done by supernatural discernment. That's why we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to have exactly the right word, like the Old Testament prophets. When they were anointed by the Holy Spirit, they had exactly the right word for each person who came to them. Ministry is a very costly affair. It's not something you can do just by studying the Bible.

You have to walk with God. When you walk with God, that fellowship with God will give you the right word for each occasion, and that's why you find Jesus always said different things to different people. For example, when there were Pharisees who wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery, Jesus didn't give them a big lecture on legalism. He didn’t give them a big lecture on compassion. He sought the Father, He waited for a few moments (that's why He was scribbling on the sand, to be clear in His mind), and as soon as He heard from the Father, He just said one sentence: “He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” That’s all. And they went away one by one. It wasn't a sermon that solved the problem. It was one sentence.

This is an example of the way we can walk in our ministry as well, if we walk with God. But there's a price to be paid to have that kind of wisdom and authority. We have to keep a clear conscience, we have to walk in humility, we have to be free from the love of money, and we have to be totally committed - no area of our life must be free from surrender to the Lord. That’s how Jesus walked.

When the scribe came, Jesus discerned something in him, and so He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” He discerned that this man was a Bible-seminarian-scholar-scribe, and that he thought he could live comfortably while serving the Lord. Jesus said, “No, you may not even have a place to sleep.”

Beware Deceptive Teaching About Riches

This is an answer to many people who are teaching nowadays that Jesus was a very rich person. That type of teaching - which was introduced in the last 25 years or so - was never heard of before in Christendom. That's because we're now living in a day when a lot of preachers have become fantastically rich through receiving tithes and offerings from their followers. And how do they justify their millions and still say that they are following Jesus? The only way to do it is somehow find Scriptures from here and there to prove that Jesus was a rich Person.

For example, they say things like, “the Roman soldiers did not tear up His inner garment because it was a branded type of garment that Jesus was wearing.” It is ridiculous. Here is a clear proof of how He lived - “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” He didn't always find a place to sleep. He was not a wealthy man. He was not a person who could go and stay in some five-star inn in those days by spending the money that he collected from the people. He was a very simple Preacher.

Jesus Had No Complaints About His Material Circumstances

In John's Gospel, we read of the great sermon He preached in the temple. On the last day of the feast, He said, “If anyone is thirsty, come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37). There were many other words He preached. It was so impressive that the multitudes said in John 7:40, “This is certainly the Prophet.” When the Pharisees and others had sent some people to catch him, the officers came back empty-handed in verse 45, and they asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him?” Even those military officers who had gone to capture Jesus came back saying, “Never did a man speak the way this man spoke” (John 7:46). They were impressed by the tremendous sermons He preached at that particular occasion in the temple. We read at the end of that chapter, ‘After everything was over, everyone went to his own home” (John 7:53). Remember, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and His home is more than a hundred kilometers away, in Capernaum. “Everyone went to his own home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” (John 7:53 - 8:1).

These two sentences are actually one sentence even though it's been split by the chapter division there. Have we ever thought of that? A Preacher comes from another town and preaches these powerful messages that bless everybody, and at the end of the day, nobody asked Him, “Where are You staying tonight?” They just ignore Him and go home. Jesus didn't have a home in Jerusalem. So what does He do, when everybody's gone and nobody has invited Him to their home? He says, “Well, it's not raining. I can go to sleep under the trees on the Mount of Olives.” He goes to the Mount of Olives and sleeps there under the trees. The Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head.

Why didn't He spend some of that money which Judas Iscariot had in his bag at this time, and go and stay in an inn? He wouldn't do that because a lot of that money that came to Judas Iscariot came from poor widows who had put in their mites, and He would never think of using those poor widows’ mites to stay in some posh hotel. He would rather stick it out. It's that type of faithfulness that you see in Jesus. I'm not saying it’s wrong to stay in a hotel. There is a time and a place for that, where it’s needed, but in this particular case, He was led by the Father to think, “I shouldn't use that money. Let Me go and sleep under the trees.”

The next morning, in John 8:2, He came back again to the temple, the people came to Him, and He began to teach them again. The interesting thing I see here is, nobody asked Him, “Lord, where did You sleep last night, by the way?" No. It’s amazing, the callousness of people. We see that He just continued to teach. He did not have a complaint about it. Isn’t it wonderful to follow His example? That people could ignore you even though you are a great invited preacher, and you don’t have a complaint against anybody about anything? It's a wonderful way to live, and I encourage all of you who are preachers of God's Word - if you expect people to do so many things for you and expect so many things, and you're disappointed when they don't do it, or if you have a little complaint or a little grumble in your heart - follow Jesus. Be satisfied with what you have, and don't expect anything, and then you'll always rejoice in the Lord. You’ll never have a single murmur of grumbling or complaining in your heart EVER.

When Jesus said in Matthew 8:20, “the Son of Man has no place to lay His head,” it was literally true as we just saw in the Gospels (and probably many other times; we don't have a full record of His three and a half years of ministry). What He was telling this man is, “You want to follow Me wherever I go? Do you know what it is going to cost you? You won't be able to exploit poor people and take advantage of their money and live in great style yourself. No, if you want to follow Me, be willing to be inconvenienced, be willing to give up some of your comforts, be willing to deny yourself a good bed, deny yourself good food, and many other things like that” (Matthew 8:19).

Be Willing to Be Inconvenienced

Next, we read in Matthew 8:21, “Another of the disciples said to Him (this was a disciple, not a scribe; the first was a scribe) “Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.” I don't know exactly what was meant by that. It is very difficult to say, because I cannot imagine that, if his father had died and if it was just a matter of going for the funeral service, Jesus would be so hard-hearted to say, “You can't even go for the funeral service of your father if you want to follow Me.” I don't think it's exactly that. It is difficult to say. Perhaps (I'm only saying perhaps) it meant, “Let me wait until my dad dies and I bury him, then I’ll come and follow You. You know I’ve got certain obligations at home. My dad's old, and when he dies and I have buried him, I'll follow You.” And the Lord said, “Follow Me now. Allow the dead to bury their own dead.” Whatever the reason for that be, one thing is clear: there are times when the Lord speaks to us and says, “Following Me in My ministry is more important than a social obligation, like burying your father.”

Sometimes it happens like that. I remember I was in the middle of a conference when I heard that my mother was dying. She was in her last moments. She had been sick for a while, and then I heard she died. I sought the Lord about it that morning I said, “Lord, what shall I do? I'm sure that everybody in this conference will understand if I walk away from it, because I have to go for mother's funeral, and nobody will object to that.” But the Lord gave this word to me. So I wrote to my brothers, sister and my sons who were there, “I can’t come. You please take care of it,” and I continued with the conference. I'm not saying that's a rule. But there are times when God Himself tells you something, and if you're a disciple, you must be willing for anything. So I didn't go, and I don't have any regret. I'm going to see my mother in heaven. She was saved and she went to be with the Lord. For me, it’s just like traveling to another country. If I couldn't be there to send her off, that is fine.

Dear brothers and sisters, if you're going to be a radical disciple of Jesus Christ, if you want to walk as Jesus walked, if you want to accomplish what God has planned for you in your one earthly life, I want to tell you that you can’t live by certain social rules. Don't quote me and make this a law in your life now. I've not made it a law for anybody, but you must be willing to be inconvenienced, to sacrifice anything, if you want to follow the Lord. Jesus said, “If you love your father or mother more than Me, you're not worthy of Me.” This is radical teaching, but that is the type of discipleship that is so lacking in Christendom today. That's one of the reasons why there is such shallowness in the life of most Christians, and that's why there are so few Christians in the world today who can say to others, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” The world needs more Christians like that.

Seek the Anointing of the Holy Spirit, Not Rules

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their dead.” Then He got into His boat and the disciples followed Him. Very often Jesus would just say one word to someone. There is nothing more to be said, though Jesus may not have given that same answer to someone else who also wanted to go and attend his father's funeral. Jesus had an appropriate word for each person. We don't live under the law in the New Testament. In the Old Testament there were laws - in such a situation you do this, and in some other situation you do this - it was clear-cut; but in the New Covenant, we’re led by the Holy Spirit, and in one particular set of circumstances the Lord may tell us to do something, and in a similar set of circumstances, on another occasion, the Lord may tell us to do the exact opposite. This is the beauty of being led by the Holy Spirit. At one time, He may tell you to attend a funeral, another time He may tell you not to attend it.

Many Christians unfortunately still seek to live by rules. That's why, whenever they hear a preacher or a hear a sermon, they're looking for rules. I want to emphasize that I'm not teaching rules in this study. Jesus didn't. We can learn from this. What shall we learn from all that Jesus taught by His life? Basically, listen to the Holy Spirit. He will lead you moment-by-moment. The Bible says in Romans 8:14, (and it's a beautiful verse. You need to understand it properly). “Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” What about all the others? They are children of God, and there’s a difference between children and sons in the New Testament. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to be children of God.” As soon as you receive Christ, you become a child of God. You're born again, but if you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you thereafter day by day, then you're a mature son. Many Christians are still babies. That's why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to live under the anointing of the Holy Spirit every day. If there's one thing that we can learn from the way Jesus lived (all that He taught by His actions), it is to be led by the Holy Spirit moment-by-moment. Even in the one-sentence answers that He gives to people, which were exactly appropriate according to their needs. Do you believe that God can give you that type of anointing, where you have a word according to the need of everybody?

God Will Give You Utterance, If You Meet His Conditions

A verse that has been a great help to me in my own life is Luke 21:15. It's a promise I have claimed many times in my life. Not for public ministry alone, but even for private conversation with people who come to me asking questions. The Lord says, “I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your enemies will be able to resist or refute” (Luke 21:15). For me it's been a great promise in my life. If you don't believe that the Lord can do that for you, then you won’t experience it. Like taking a check to the bank, claim this promise saying, “I want to cash this, because it’s been signed by Jesus Christ!” Take it to the bank of heaven and say, “In Christ's Name, I claim this. This promise is for me, that I can have an utterance and wisdom for every situation which nobody will be able to resist or refute. They may hate me and they make call me all types of names (Beelzebul perhaps, like they called Jesus), but it doesn’t matter. I know that what I will say will be the wisdom of God.”

Dear brothers and sisters, long for this. The Bible says sisters can prophesy in the New Covenant, and that doesn't mean getting up in the pulpit and teaching; it means having a word according to people’s needs. That’s the prophetic word. So that's a great thing that we see in the way Jesus answered these two people with two different needs. The Spirit of God gave Him discernment.

Two things I want to say in conclusion. The Lord has spoken to me when I was seeking to know, “How can I have a word for every single occasion that I am to speak, whether it's individually to people, or in a TV program, or in a pulpit in a conference?”

And the Lord said, “First of all, your heart must be filled with My Word.” God's Word must fill your heart. Secondly, “Your heart must be filled with love for My people”. That's it. We must be anointed with the Holy Spirit (that's of course primary and you don't just rely on that), but we must also study God's word - fill our mind with God's Word - and let the Spirit of God fill our hearts with love for God's people. I can assure you that God will always give you a word according to the need of the people you speak to. I have experienced that for years, and God has no favorites. What He does for me, He will do for you. I believed many years ago that what God did for Jesus, He would also do for me. I want to encourage you to believe that, so that you can also walk on earth and serve the Father like Jesus did.

Chapter 34

Deliverance from Fear

In Matthew 8:24, there was a great storm, and the boat that Jesus and His disciples were in was covered with waves. But Jesus Himself was asleep (There is something wonderful to see here. Jesus was very human; He got tired. When He was tired, He would sleep. That is the right thing for us to do as well.) His disciples came to Him and woke Him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We are perishing!” Jesus said to them, “Why are you timid, you men of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea. Then it became perfectly calm.

Is there anything wrong in being concerned, worried, and anxious when your boat is about to sink? The fishing boat was covered with the waves, and it would sink soon. These were experienced fisherman, and even they were scared! They said words like, “We are perishing!” They thought they were going to drown in the sea. If experienced fishermen say they are going to drown in the sea, it must be pretty serious.

Jesus Came To Deliver Us From Fear Of Death

The Lord does not say, “Oh well, I understand your concern. It is natural to be anxious, but do not worry.” No, Jesus immediately says, “You timid people! You men of little faith! Why are you so timid? Why are you so afraid of perishing?” Jesus came to deliver us from the fear of death. These disciples are afraid of death, and it is natural for all human beings to be afraid of death, except for true disciples of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

These are very important verses. I want to connect them with the apostles saying, “Lord, we are perishing.” We all know that Jesus took part in flesh and blood in order to die for our sins. There was no other way that our sins could be forgiven and removed except for Jesus dying for our sins. But there is another great truth in the New Testament which is not sufficiently preached. According to Hebrews 2:14-15, one reason why Jesus took part in our flesh and blood was to make Satan powerless. We can be absolutely sure that our sins are forgiven when we have turned to the Lord in repentance and asked Him to forgive us. Similarly, we can be equally sure that all the power Satan had over our lives for so many years is gone. This happens the moment we surrender every area of our life to Christ. Satan will only have power in the areas of your life that you do not surrender to Christ. Remember that.

Hebrews 2:14-15 does not say the devil was destroyed. We know Satan is not destroyed. He is very much alive, and he still has a lot of power. He moves around the world. He rules the entertainment industries of the world. He works through witches and all types of evil people who persecute Christians. But his power is gone. One reason why Satan’s power was taken away from him was so that Jesus might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives (Hebrews 2:15). The fear of death brings us into slavery. If you are afraid of death, you are a slave. You are not necessarily a slave of the devil, but a slave to fear. Being a slave to fear is just as bad as being a slave to the devil.

The Lord does not want you to be a slave of fear. Hebrews 2:15 says the fear of death is slavery. Jesus died to deliver us not only from sin, but also from the slavery of the fear of death. It says that the race of Adam has been enslaved to the fear of death but now, we have been delivered if we accept death, because it has lost its sting. Even though Christ accomplished this for us on the cross, it never becomes ours until we receive it by faith. Christ died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2), but the whole world’s sins are not forgiven, even though He is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world.

We Must Receive the Deliverance Christ Purchased

The reason why the world’s sins are not forgiven is because the majority of people in the world have not accepted it for themselves. In the same way, Christ made Satan powerless so that all Christians can be freed from the fear of death. But are all Christians free from the fear of death? No. The majority of Christians are not free. They live in slavery to the fear of death. The fear of death is the highest of all fears. It is number one; every other fear is lower than that.

Any fear, anxiety, or tension due to any other cause is inferior to the fear of death. When the Lord delivers us from the fear of death, He delivers us from everything else as well. If the greatest fear is gone, then the other fears are gone too. When Goliath was killed, all the other Philistines ran away because their champion was killed (1 Samuel 17). When the fear of death is overcome, all other fears disappear. It is very important for every one of us to overcome this number one fear. Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Christ died to deliver us from that. I cannot free myself. It is not a matter of mentally convincing myself. You do not get freed from sin by mentally convincing yourself of anything. We do not teach psychology, but the Word of God. It is Christ who delivers us from sin. It is the same Christ who can deliver us completely from the fear of death so that we are not slaves to the fear of death anymore.

The disciples said, “Oh, save us, Lord! We are perishing!” We are not supposed to have that type of fear. Today, it may not be waves crashing into the boat. It may be cancer or something else that comes crashing into our lives. It looks as if our life is sinking, and we are finished. We do not have to get into a panic even if we say, “Oh, Lord. Please save us! We are perishing!” We can ask God to save us from sickness and even from death. But we should not ask in a panic. Instead, we should ask in faith. It is quite a different thing to ask in faith than it is to cry out in panic. The Lord said to them, “Why are you so timid, you men of little faith?” They had a little bit of faith. Jesus did not say that they had no faith. “Little faith” means they had enough faith to follow Him, but when it came to certain crises in life, they discovered that that is about as good as having no faith at all. A little faith was almost equal to no faith.

The Purpose of Storms

Jesus rose and rebuked the winds in the sea, and it became perfectly calm (Matthew 8:26). This is a beautiful picture of how the Lord wants to rebuke every storm that ever comes into your life. The Lord could have taken His disciples through seas that were calm, but they would never have learnt anything. It is because they went through stormy seas that they discovered that Christ had the power to still the storm.

This teaches us that one reason why God allows us to face stormy situations in our life is because He wants to show us that He has the power to still storms even today. So do not ever pray, “Lord, give me a safe calm passage through life.” You will never get to know the Lord. In fact, the more the Lord loves you, the more He wants to make you more like Him. He will take you through many stormy situations, difficulties, trials, and things that other human beings may never face. The purpose is to always to show you that He still has power to rebuke the storm. Whatever you are facing today, next week or next year, remember this passage: Jesus rose and rebuked the winds, and it became perfectly calm.

God’s Will: Reigning in Peace over Every Storm

God's will is that there is a perfect calmness at all times in our heart. This is not because we never face storms, but rather, peace in spite of the storms. In the middle of a storm, a person at rest in his heart is a greater testimony to God than a person who is at rest in his heart who is not facing any trials or storms. That is the thing we can learn here. The other thing we can learn here is that this is the way God wanted man to live. When God created Adam, He told him that He wanted Adam to have authority over all things on the earth and to subdue everything. Notice the exact words there in Genesis 1:26, “Let them rule.” Sometimes, we forget when God created man, God said, “Let us make man in Our image, and let them rule.” Adam and Eve were created to rule.

The opposite of ruling is to be a slave. God’s original purpose for man was that he might be a king, queen, or ruler - not a slave to anything. “Let them rule over the birds of the air, the cattle and creeping things” (Genesis 1:26). They were to rule over everything. God created man in His own image and gave him authority over everything. This is what we see in Genesis. When Jesus lived on earth, He was demonstrating on earth, "This is the way My Father and I wanted Adam to live when We created him. Now I am here on earth, showing you how he was supposed to live. He failed only because of sin. Now I have come to deliver you from sin so that you can live with supernatural authority on this earth. You can live in such a way that fears, anxieties, and storms of life do not disturb the calmness in your soul.”

Do you believe God’s will for you is to be perfectly calm and still in every storm? What a beautiful expression. I wish you would take this expression in Matthew 8:26 to heart. Say, “Lord, I want this in my life! I want You to always deliver me from storms! I do not want to escape every storm. I want to go through storms, but I want to be like You so that I can sleep through it without fear because You can still every storm.” People have never seen anything like this. Those disciples marveled saying, “What kind of a Man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Jesus answered that this is how God wanted all men to live: with God’s authority reigning in them.

Our Times Are in His Hand

Why are you timid? Why are you afraid that you will perish before God's time? When we live in the will of God, with all of our life totally surrendered to Him, we can be totally at rest, and sleep like Jesus did, even in the middle of a storm. Jesus could do that because He knew that He could never die until God’s time had come. Nobody could kill Him until God’s time had come. No storm in the sea could drown Him.

We read of another occasion in Luke 4 where people stopped Jesus in the middle of a sermon. They pulled Him out from the pulpit, took Him to the cliff, and wanted to throw Him down. Jesus just quietly walked out from there. Imagine two hundred people grabbing one man. Jesus quietly walks out. That is the authority that we can have. Jesus had no fear. He knew they could try their best. 200 people can grab Him and try to throw Him down from the cliff. It will not happen because God's time for Jesus had not come. Have you noticed the number of times in John 7 it says, “His hour had not come”? One time, it says they could not capture Him because His hour had not come, not because they were not strong enough. They had swords, spears and armor. There were hundreds of people, but when they came to capture Jesus, they could not capture Him because His hour had not yet come. That is why, if you have surrendered to Christ like Jesus was surrendered to His Father, you cannot die before your time comes, either. This promise does not apply to people whose aim in life is to make money, promote their own honor, or live comfortably. If your only aim in life is to glorify God and to do His will, then I can assure you in Jesus’ name that you cannot die before your time comes.

Like the saying goes, “I am immortal until my life's work is done.” No one can touch us. We can walk as Jesus walked on this earth with complete freedom from fear, anxiety, and death. May the Lord never have to say to us, “Why are you so afraid, men of little faith?” You will find that there are some situations in your life when the Lord speaks a word of rebuke like that to you. Listen to that word of rebuke and take it to heart. “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith? Can’t you trust Me?” God in heaven controls all our circumstances. He controls the people who try to harm us. He controls the devil, and He will not allow us to be tested or tried beyond our ability (1 Corinthians 10:13). You do not need to hear that every now and then, like a pep talk to stir you up. It is something that we must believe constantly. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is true all the time. God will never allow us to be tested beyond our ability. Romans 8:28 says “He will make everything work together for our good if we love Him.” We want to fulfill His purpose in our life; that is why we are not afraid of perishing.

God Has Determined the Exact Days of Our Lives

In Psalm 139, it says that the Lord knew us as an unformed body in our mother's womb. Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Before I was born, David says, the number of days I was supposed to live on earth in Your perfect will was already recorded. Before my first day on earth, it was already determined when I should die. Death is not an accidental thing for one who is totally surrendered to do God's will. There was an exact date on which Jesus was supposed to be born in God's perfect will. There was an exact date when He was supposed to die. It was already written in God’s book.

God loves us as He loved Jesus. I believe there is a book where my days are recorded. I know God determined the date when I should be born and where I should be born. He has also determined the exact date when I am supposed to leave this earth to go be with Him forever. That is why I do not live in fear that a road accident, cancer, or persecution may kill me before that time. That is impossible. I am not looking forward to death. I am looking forward to the coming of the Lord. Like Paul says, we will be alive until we are called to meet Him in the air when He returns. But if that is not the Lord’s will, and it is God’s will that I should die, then it will not happen before God's time. That is the assurance I have. I have no doubt about it at all. Jesus could not die before God’s time. It can be like that for you too.

There is no need to panic. There is no need to fear. There is no need to live with unbelief. It is an insult to God when a child of God thinks the devil is more powerful than Almighty God. That is what you are actually saying when you live in fear of circumstances, death, and sickness. You wonder whether Satan is more powerful than God. Satan is not more powerful than God. God is the only One Who is Almighty.

Jesus Delivers Us from the Storms Inside Us, Too

The Lord says to these disciples, “Why are you timid, oh ye of little faith?” Then they go to the other side in the country of the Gadarenes. They see two men who have a storm inside of them. Earlier, it was a storm out in the sea. Now, we find people with the storm inside them. The demons inside were kicking up a storm. Previously, the demons kicked up a storm outside on the lake, but here, the demons that kicked up a storm inside these people. They were hurting themselves. Scripture says they cut themselves with knives and stones, and they were exceedingly violent (Matthew 8:28). No one could pass by that road. What could they do? They cried out. It says in another place they were tied with chains, but they would break the chains and get free. Nobody could tie them down. They cried out saying, “What have we to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Demons recognize that there is a time coming when they are going to be tormented forever. They believe in eternal torment. A lot of human beings do not believe in eternal hell. A lot of Christians do not believe in eternal hell, but the demons know it is true. There is a time when God has allowed them to roam around until that time comes. The demons know that time is coming. That is why they asked Jesus, “Have You come here to torment us before our time?” We read about them saying, “Please do not cast us out. Do not send us to that torment now. Can You please send us into these swine? If You are going to cast us out, send us into the swine.” Jesus said, “Be gone.” The demon-possessed man was Legion. There were maybe hundreds or thousands of demons inside of him. It is amazing that with one word, all the demons inside this man left immediately.

Matthew 8:16 says, “Jesus cast out the spirits with a word.” We do not have to shout, scream, yell, and cry out for many hours for casting out a demon. That would be an indication of powerlessness. That would be an indication that we still have to fight the battle. No, the demons were defeated on the cross. Every single one of them was defeated on the cross. With one word, one who has faith, authority, and the anointing of the Spirit can cast it out. I have seen it happen numerous times in my life. With one word, in the name of Jesus, the demons go. You can have that authority if your life is clean. Surrender to the Lord and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has defeated Satan on the cross.

Chapter 35

Casting Out Demons and Faith

In the last chapter, we considered the two demon-possessed people in Gadarenes how even though no one could control them, yet Jesus cast out the demons with a word (Matthew 8:28). This is so important. Today we have many people doing many things to cast demons out: screaming, yelling, even pulling people’s hair in such a dishonorable way, and sometimes praying and fasting for days on end.

In Matthew 17 the disciples came to Jesus with a boy whom they could not cast a demon out of. Jesus just spoke one word and the demon came out (Mathew 17:18), so the disciples asked Him why they couldn’t cast it out (verse 19). Some people say it was because they didn’t fast and pray enough. But if you read carefully, you’ll see that Jesus said it was because their faith was little (Matthew 17:20). When your faith is little, you may cry, scream, pull people's hair, fast and pray, but nothing will happen. The disciples did not pray and fast (verse 21), indicating that there was something in their life they hadn’t sacrificed or they hadn’t given up.

Prayer is an expression of our helpless dependence upon God. Fasting is an expression of our willingness to deny ourselves of certain earthly comforts, legitimate comforts, for the sake of the gospel. Is this true in your life? Are you showing your helpless dependence upon God through prayer? Are you willing to give up legitimate comforts of earth for the sake of God's Kingdom? If you are willing to fast and pray, then you will have faith. With that faith, you will not have to speak to a demon twice. There isn’t single case in Scripture where Jesus had to speak to a demon twice before the demon left.

We read one case where Jesus prayed for a blind man in Mark 8:22-25. The man was healed only partially, so Jesus prayed again, and the man was healed fully. This was to teach us that when we are healed partially, we don't have to falsely confess that we are fully healed. After praying for him Jesus asked in Mark 8:23, “Can you see anything?” The man said, “I see men like trees” - he wasn't healed completely yet. Jesus had spat on his eyes, laid hands on him, and prayed for him, but he was not healed fully! That is amazing, there was never another case where Jesus touched somebody and he was not healed fully.

That incident was specifically planned for our times, in this 20th and 21st century where people are told to confess that they're healed when they are not. Thank God for this incident, where one person was prayed for and was not healed! The man didn’t lie; he was honest, and said he wasn’t healed properly - he still confused men and trees. Did the Lord say, “No, no, no, I already prayed for you. Now just keep confessing that you are fully healed until it happens”? He never said that. That would be telling a lie.

A lot of preachers are now going around telling people to say they were healed when they really weren’t. Instead of the preacher confessing his own unbelief, he tells the sick person to keep confessing he is healed! This is tragic. Jesus prayed for the man again. He said, “That’s fine, I’ll pray for you again.” That’s what we should do when a person is sick that we prayed for and they are not healed - we don’t tell him to say that he’s healed. Jesus never asks us to confess a lie. A person should be honest, and if they still have pain, say that they still have pain; if they’re still sick, they should be honest that they are still sick. Then Jesus prayed again, and the man was fully healed and could see everything clearly.

Resisting the Devil and Casting out Demons

Jesus always spoke a word whenever He cast out a demon, and that word was enough. Today Satan has been conquered, and every demon has been defeated on the cross. Is it possible that there is a single demon who does not tremble at the name of Jesus? Even Satan does! The Bible says “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

First submit to God – it says, “submit to God and resist the devil.” Many quote only the second half of James 4:7. Make sure your whole life is submitted to God, and then resist the devil. The promise is that the devil will not just walk away, or run away, but he will flee! “Flee” is a word which means to run at full speed. The devil will not be anywhere near you, he will disappear. This promise is true, and if it isn’t true for you, then it must either be because you didn't submit to God, you didn't resist the devil, or you resisted the devil without first submitting to God.

If you submitted to God, and then resisted the devil, it is impossible for the promise in James 4:7 not to be fulfilled. I'm speaking from more than fifty years of experience. Whenever I submit to God and resist the devil, the devil flees.

One word is enough to defeat a demon who has been conquered on Calvary's cross. There is no need to scream or yell. I remember once whispering under my breath because I didn't want to disturb the whole congregation, and a demon that possessed a person 30-40 feet away from me obeyed the command. I remember another time when a demon possessed person tried to scare me with a fierce face and I was taken back for a moment. I asked myself this question just to reaffirm my faith: “did is this demon escape at Calvary, or was he conquered on the cross?” I reminded myself, “He was conquered. Every single demon was conquered on Calvary” - so I spoke to the demon to get out, and he left. In every single case I believe the word of Jesus, that you don't need to speak to any demon possessed person more than once to cast out the demon - not because of what you are, but because of the authority there is in the name of Jesus Christ, and because you believe that every demon in hell, and Satan himself, were all defeated on the cross. You have authority over them if your life is clean and if you are anointed with the Holy Spirit. The devil has to listen to your word when you cast out a demon.

If that demon does not leave, then like the disciples, you need to pray and fast and seek God. The Lord will show you something in your life that needs to be set right. There is no need to continue praying for hours for the demon to be cast out and wasting people’s time. There is no need to spend hours struggling to cast the demon out. This is the type of crazy thing that is happening a lot in Christendom.

Let’s follow the example of Jesus. In one word He said “Begone” (Matthew 8:32). Again in Matthew 8:16, it says that He cast out the spirits with one word; that’s it.

Another question we can ask ourselves here is why God allowed these demons to go into 2000 pigs, which then all ran down the cliff and went into the sea. What delight did the Lord get out of seeing those pigs perishing in the waters? There was a reason: it was to convince these two men that the demons had actually gone out of them.

When you cast a demon out of someone, other people can say that they didn’t see the change in behavior in this person. But how are these people themselves to know the demon was really cast out? Is it by a certain calmness that came into their mind right then? They may have had occasional periods of calmness even before. I have seen demon possessed people who look perfectly normal sometimes, who only get worked up when a man with spiritual authority comes to them; otherwise they are calm. Think about all the demon possessed people who sat in the synagogues in Jesus’ time. They weren’t creating a ruckus and confusion there when the Pharisees were speaking. The Pharisees had been speaking there for years and these demon-possessed people sat comfortably in those synagogues. But the moment Jesus came there, the demons got worked up because Jesus had come. So calmness in a person does not always indicate that he is not demon possessed.

How then would these people know that the demons had gone out of them? They heard the demons from within them asking Jesus for permission, “Please allow us to go into the swine.” The Lord gave them that permission as if almost He answered the prayer of these demons for the sake of these two human beings, and the demons then went into the swine.

When the two human beings who were demon possessed saw all the pigs falling into the water, they said to themselves, “Wow! They have gone! I know they have gone because I saw them getting into those swine and saw the swine falling into the water!” It’s very interesting how we then read that the herdsmen ran away, and went into the city and reported what had happened (verse 33).

Now read carefully what the herdsmen reported. First they reported everything, and then, as if it were in brackets, it says they included the incident of the demoniacs. In other words, the main thing they reported, which they felt was the most important thing that happened that day, was that they lost the pigs! The less important postscript was that two demon possessed people were healed and are now sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him. Clearly, the loss of the pigs was most important thing in the mind of those herdsmen, and the other deliverance of the demoniacs was sort of a postscript added at the end of the message.

Is that how it is with us? Does loss of property mean more to us than people delivered from the power of Satan? If you examine your life, you will find that loss of your property disturbs you more than people who are in the grip of the devil himself. That is what the Lord wants us to have a priority for the deliverance of people. Jesus did not come to protect us from the loss of material things. He came to deliver people from the power of Satan. And it says that when the people in the city heard it, their mindset was exactly the same as the herdsmen: the pigs were more important than two people delivered from demons. Jesus showed that 2000 pigs were not as important as two human beings.

Jesus Left, He Does Not Force Himself on Anyone

Mathew 8:34 says, “The whole city came to meet Jesus and when they came, they entreated Him to depart from their region.” One would have thought they'd be excited and would have praised God! No, in their minds they thought, “2000 pigs have been lost, and this Man was the cause of it. Let’s drive Him out of here before we lose more material things.” They were not bothered about the demon possessed people. There could have been other demon possessed people in this town (that could have been brought to Jesus), but the townspeople were not bothered about them. What a commentary on the state of affairs with many who were Bible believing people there! Whenever people told Jesus they didn’t want Him, He always left. He didn’t force Himself on anyone. Matthew 9:1 tells us that Jesus got into a boat and crossed over and came to His own city, Capernaum.

It's a very sad thing that many people choose material blessing over spiritual blessing. Christians refuse spiritual blessing if something material needs to be sacrificed in order to get it. This is the message of this story. The people of the Gadarenes were more interested in their business than in the deliverance of human beings from the devil’s power. There are many Christians like this, for whom deliverance of people from Satan's power ranks very low in their order of priorities. Making money - having plenty of pigs - is more important to them. Are these people believers? Are they following Jesus, or they are following these blind people of the Gadarenes?

Jesus won’t force Himself. Revelation 3:20 says, “I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me”. If someone doesn't open the door, then Jesus won’t come in. This doesn’t only refer to receiving Christ into our hearts. It can also mean allowing Him to come into areas of our life where there is an influence of Satan in our life. Do you watch pornography? That’s not demon possession, but it is a tremendous demonic influence which is affecting your mind. This influence allows you to make choices when you go to the computer to look at scenes that you could never sit watching if Christ was sitting beside you. It is wrong to do; anything that you can’t do if Jesus were sitting next to you is wrong. However much you may justify yourself, there is something sinful about that. The things you do in your financial transactions, the books you read, the music you listen to, movies and DVD's you watch - can you have Jesus there with you while doing them? If not, then they are areas of your life that Satan has some control over. Even though you may not be demon possessed, he has some influence into your life through your flesh, through the dirty desires in your heart, he has influence in those areas.

Those areas of your life are the areas where you’ll have confusion, because the Lord will not enter into an area of your life in which you do not permit Him. When you say, “Lord I don't want You to interfere in what I'm watching on the computer. I don't want You to stop me from watching certain movies. I don't want you to stop me from reading certain books,” then the Lord will say, “Fine. I'm not going to stop you. Go and do what you like.” He will get into a boat and depart, because you don't want Him in that area of your life.

We Are Protected in the Areas Where We Are Submitted

This is the reason why Satan can create so much confusion in the lives of many believers. Take the example of an umbrella. If it is raining and you stand under a big umbrella, then no part of your body will get wet. But if you put only part of your body is under that umbrella, the part that is still outside will get wet. It’s like that when you give yourself to Christ. Jesus offers total protection for our whole being, but if I offer only part of myself to Him, then only that part will be protected. The other part gets affected by the devil, and he can bring sickness, confusion, and all types of problems into that area of my life. How safe it is to be completely under Christ!

Our Sin Is Our Biggest Problem

Matthew 9 tells of people who brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage My son, your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). What can we learn from this? What Jesus taught us through this is that if you can't have faith, somebody else's faith can help you. It doesn't say that the paralytic had faith. It was the faith of the people who brought him. The very action of bringing that paralytic to Jesus was an act of faith. Before Jesus healed him, Jesus forgave his sins and said, “Take courage My son, your sins are forgiven.”

There's a bigger problem with you than paralysis: your sin. You need to understand that even if you are physically paralyzed, the bigger problem is your sin. Jesus didn’t heal the paralytic first, He forgave him.

And some of those around were thinking, “This fellow blasphemes” because they thought, “How can a man forgive sins?” Jesus knew their thoughts (He had discernment). The Lord can also give you discernment to know what people are thinking. What God did for Jesus, He will do for you. Jesus knew their thoughts and said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?” When it comes to words, it may be easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Forgiveness of Our Sins is Far More Valuable Than Healing

But it cost far more for Christ to forgive our sins than to heal our sickness. He didn’t die on the cross to heal our sickness. God could speak a word from Heaven and heal everybody’s sickness. It is more difficult to have our sins forgiven, but the people didn't understand that. Jesus said it in order to prove that He had the authority on earth to forgive sin. Then He said to the paralytic, “Rise up, take up your bed and walk,” and the man rose up and went home.

Thus Jesus’ forgiveness of the man’s sin was attested to by God. Many of the miracles Jesus did where an attestation by God of His ministry and spoken Word. In the very first sermon that Peter preached he said, “Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst” (Acts 2:22). The miracles were attestation of Jesus’ ministry. That's why Jesus said, “So that you may know that this Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus made the person get up and walk, and he went away. The multitude saw this and were filled with awe. Mathew 9:8 says, “They glorified God Who had given such authority to men.”

Praise the Lord, there is something we can learn from every single action and word that Jesus spoke, which He taught by His life and by His words.

Chapter 36

Those Whom Jesus Called

“As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he got up and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9). Jesus did not call everybody. He lived by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He would always be listening to the Holy Spirit. His whole life, the antenna was up to receive messages from heaven. This is how we are supposed to walk, to be led by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus moved around, the Spirit of God would point out a certain person to be an apostle.

It’s amazing how the Lord can do that even today in His sovereignty. He leads us to individuals who are to be our coworkers in the ministry God has entrusted to us, so that we can pass on to them what God has taught us so that they can continue the work. It is God's will that we pass on, particularly to the next generation, all that God has entrusted to us, especially those of us administering the word. That has been my own burden for a long time, and I want to pass on to others all that God has taught me so that they can benefit from it.

Jesus selected His disciples in the same way. He saw Matthew and there was a prompting is His heart to call him. There were many people sitting there, collecting taxes; Matthew was not the only one. But Jesus went to Matthew and called him, just like He went to the shores of Galilee, where there were many fishermen, and He only called Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He called the four of them and let the others continue with their fishing.

Jesus saw Matthew sitting in the tax office and He said, “Follow me!” It is amazing that Matthew rose and followed Him. Can you picture this in your mind? Here is a man who was probably a chartered accountant (or whatever he was in those days), writing out his accounts in the tax office where they are always busy keeping their accounts up to date, and Jesus walks in and says, “Follow Me!” And he drops his pen, gets up, tells his boss, “Sir, I am resigning. I am following Jesus,” and walks out. He rose and followed Him. It’s quite amazing. I've often thought about this. When you read Scripture, meditate and put yourself in that situation and see what you can learn from there.

Wouldn't it have been better if Jesus went to Matthew’s house later in the evening when he had finished work and returned home? If Jesus went to Matthew’s home while he was just relaxing there and Jesus said, “Follow Me,” that would have sounded more reasonable. But a lot of things that sound reasonable to human reason are not God's ways. God's ways are as different from man's ways as the heaven is above the earth. God’s way are what we need to learn from the way that Jesus called Matthew.

Jesus Always Called Working People

Every single person whom Jesus called, He called from his place of work, whether it was James or John, or Peter or Matthew, or anyone. If it was written that He had called them at home, we would not know if they were unemployed people sitting idle at home. But every person He called to be a disciple was called from his place of work.

There is not even a single exception to that in the Gospels, teaching us one thing - that the Lord calls His disciples from their workplace. God calls working people to be His servants. He is not calling the lazy unemployed people who have nothing else to do to be His servants. People like Samuel in the Old Testament and Timothy in the New Testament are probably an exception. We don't know whether Timothy was working or not. But the general rule in the New Testament is crystal clear - it’s those who are working whom the Lord calls out to serve Him full time.

I'm not saying there are no exceptions because this is not a law written in Scripture. But I see this principle from the example of how Jesus called people. In a country like India, for example, there are many people who are in Christian work today, who never did one honest day’s work at a secular job. They were unemployed, so they went to some Bible School, and then they started serving the Lord. You see the shallow quality of their work.

When a person has been employed and he leaves his job in order to serve the Lord full-time, there's a sacrifice involved. He has to give up a comfortable and consistent source of earning. That would be a pretty good indication that perhaps God has called him. But if an unemployed person is willing to get a job in a Christian organization to be a preacher or to serve the Lord, how do you know whether God called him at all? He may be looking for a job. In a country like India, there are thousands of people like that who are ready to join any Christian organization under the sun to preach whatever doctrine you want them to preach, provided that you pay them a monthly income. There are thousands of young men and women in India who would be willing to join any Bible School, not because God has called them, but because they can perhaps have free boarding and get a degree as well. What more do they want? And then they’ll probably get a job as well in some Christian organization. That is one of the main reasons for the shallowness of a lot of Christian work in India today.

Why the Disciples Were Called at Work

The first reason Matthew was called from his place of work, just like every other disciple, is because that would test whether God has really called them. A person would not give up a well-paying job or sacrifice it just for nothing, just for an empty dream. But a person may be willing to take a risk to do that if he is unemployed since he has nothing to lose. “I am already earning nothing, I don't have a degree so I might as well try out this so-called Christian work.” And that is how it is with a lot of Christian workers in India today. That, as I said, is the reason for the shallowness of Christianity in India today.

Secondly, it is only a person who has been working in a secular job who can know the pressures of work. It is not easy to work in a secular situation with difficult bosses, trials, temptations, the pressure of having to get up and go to work and return late in the evening. A person who goes straight into full-time Christian work doesn't have that pressure of waking up at 6:30 in the morning like some working people, of getting ready quickly to catch a bus, and making sure he is never late on any day. He doesn't face the pressure of difficult bosses who yell and scream at him and ask him to do all types of difficult, and sometimes unrighteous, things. A pastor doesn't face that week after week. A lot of people in India work six days a week, but a lot of pastors only work one evening and one morning a week. That is a much easier job. Wake up when you like, prepare a few sermons and preach them twice a week. A lot of people would like to quit their secular jobs because a pastor’s job is much easier.

Jesus called people who were hardworking and faithful in their jobs because they would have the experience of struggling of earning a living. Even Jesus was a carpenter Who had to struggle to support His four younger brothers, two sisters and His mother (an eight-member family). He had to work to support them. God the Father allowed Him to be tested for a number of years in that way before He sent Him out to the ministry. That is one important reason why Jesus called people at their place of work.

Jesus Came to Call the Sick

As you know, Matthew wrote this gospel. He is talking about himself in the third person when he says, “A man called Matthew.” Matthew himself was writing this account. It says, “Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house” (Matthew 9:10). Matthew doesn't tell us whose house it was, but we know from one of the other gospels that it was Matthew’s own house. His other name was Levi, and that was his own house. But he was humble enough to not mention that. As Jesus was sitting at the table (they used to recline at the table in those days), there were a lot of tax gatherers and sinners who were dining with Jesus and His disciples. Matthew was a tax collector himself, and he had a great feast in his house for all of his friends, multitudes of tax collectors. He invited a lot of others who were all well-known sinners in the town. They were all dining with Jesus and His disciples. Matthew must have been a pretty rich man to invite so many guests for a meal.

“When the Pharisee saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11). Everybody knows that the tax collectors are crooks. They look for bribes, they try to harass people. It happens even today. But Jesus was friendly with such people. Jesus is friendly with sinners. “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). A healthy person doesn't need a doctor; it’s the sick who need a doctor. Jesus is saying, “These people whom you call sinners -- whom you call ‘cheating tax collectors,’ -- are sick and they need my help.”

Now what about the Pharisees and scribes? Weren’t they sick? They were sicker than anybody else. They had hypocrisy and pride, the worst sins of them all. But they were not aware of their need. So Jesus was being sarcastic. There is a place for sarcasm in preaching. Jesus has taught us to be sarcastic in order to emphasize a point. He calls these terribly sick Pharisees healthy people. He was saying to them, “Since you think you are healthy, then you don't need Me, right?” That is what He was saying when He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). He is implying, “You think you're healthy so I won’t waste My time coming to you. But you are not healthy. You are sicker than these other people, but you don't realize it. But fortunately for these sinners, they realize they're sick. It's more blessed to realize you’re sick than to be sick and not know it. These other people know that they're sick, and so they want a doctor. I'm glad to go and help them.”

The Lord then spoke to the Pharisees and scribes directly because they were passing judgment on the others. “Before you do all your prayers and sacrifices, go and learn what this verse from the Old Testament means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). This is a quotation from Hosea 6:6. God desires compassion more than sacrifice. It says, “I want you to learn that it is not sacrifice alone that I want from you. I want you to have compassion on people and not just judge them saying, ‘Oh, they are tax collectors and sinners. We're not sinners like them.’”

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,

And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

(Hosea 6:6)

Jesus Was a Friend of Sinners

Jesus is always taking the side of sinners against the Pharisees. Remember the story of the woman caught in adultery? The Pharisees on one side and the woman caught in adultery on the other. Whose side does Jesus take? Whom does He defend? He drives those Pharisees away and tells the woman, “I do not condemn you.” That does not mean He condones sin. Never! He told the woman, “Don't ever sin again.” He never condoned any sin, but He never condemned sinners, either.

And once again we see the scribes and Pharisees on one side and tax collectors and sinners on the other, and Jesus takes the side of the sinners, and defends them against the accusations of the Pharisees. It is a great example for us because we find very few preachers who identify like that and who are the friend of sinners. A lot of preachers are friends with rich people. Jesus was not the friend of rich people. Pastors are friendly with the rich people and put them on the boards of their churches because they know they will get money from them. Jesus was not interested in anybody's money, so He did not do that.

Why Disciples Fast

“Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” (Matthew 9:14). They were always coming up with a new question. I personally thank God they asked these questions, because the wonderful answers of Jesus are written in the Scriptures, and they instruct me today. “And Jesus said to them, ‘The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?’” (Matthew 9:15). Jesus is the Bridegroom and the Jewish people were the attendants of the Bridegroom. As the church today, we are the bride. We are not the attendants of the Bridegroom; we are the Bride of Christ. In those days, the church was not yet formed, so they were only the attendants of the Bridegroom.

Jesus says you can't fast when the bridegroom is with you. One day the bridegroom will go away, and then they will fast. We see that Jesus never commanded people to fast, like some preachers do, and neither should we. He just stated a fact that when the bridegroom is gone they will fast. In Matthew 6, He said, “When you fast, make sure other people don't know about it.” He did not command people. Neither did He say ‘if’ you fast, as if it was an optional thing. Even here it says, “They will fast.” It doesn't say, when the bridegroom is taken away, they may fast. That teaches us that one of the reasons for fasting is because our Bridegroom is absent. It is an expression of our longing for Someone Whom we love so much. So in that sense, fasting is an expression of love for an absent Bridegroom. That is what I learn from Matthew 9:15, “But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and they will fast.”

A New Patch on an Old Garment

But He goes on to say in the same context, “No one puts a patch of an unshrunk cloth on an old garment.” We all know that when cotton clothes are soaked in water, they tend to shrink. So if there's a tear in a cotton cloth, and you get a new piece of cotton which has not been soaked in water, and stitch it onto the cloth, that new patch will shrink and tear away the garment as soon as it is put in water.

So the point is that you can’t get in the New Covenant (which is the new garment) by taking a patch and putting it into the old garment (which is the Old Covenant). That is what some people are doing. It is a very interesting parable. A lot of Christians live under the law and are frightened when their preachers say that if they don't tithe, God will punish them, and all types of rubbish like that.

They live under laws, but then they hear a New Covenant message they say, “Hey, that's a good message. Let me take a patch from that and stitch it onto this life of legalism that I already have.” They hear some new truth like, ‘God is our Father’ or ‘we can overcome sin,’ and patch it on to the Old Covenant. They don't want to give up the Old Covenant, even though God has said the Old Covenant is abolished. They have not abolished it in their own minds. They have some place in their heart devoted to it, but they like “this new thing that Brother Zac is preaching,” so they take that and patch it on. Jesus says that won't work. It will tear the garment and the results won't be good. Ultimately it will be worse. It's far better to just stick with that old garment. What you need to do is throw away the whole garment completely.

In the Old Covenant there was a law for the Israelites to fast on certain days. There were no two ways about it. In the New Covenant there is no law that says you must fast. It just doesn't exist. It says, “When you fast,” or, “They will fast.” We need to know that distinction, because a lot of preachers today are forcing people to fast. Now fasting is a very good thing as a discipline. For example, it is a good discipline to miss all your meals one day in a week. If you can’t do that, at least start with one meal, then two meals, and then three meals. I think it’s a very good discipline. It frees us from the love of food, gives us time to concentrate on something, and gives us the opportunity to show God that we are really interested in what He has to give us.

The New Covenant Life Is Meant for the New Covenant Church

This passage is very relevant, but the point is it must not be done in the Old Covenant way - as a law. There is a difference between a discipline and a law. The other illustration He uses to answer the question about fasting is, “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins will burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17). This is a well-known example. When wine is put into anything, it expands, and if it is put in an old wineskin, it stretches the wineskin. Because the old wineskin is already stretched, it can’t stretch anymore, and so it bursts.

This is another picture of the Old Covenant versus New Covenant - trying to live this New Covenant life, the new wine, in the Old Covenant system (an approach of tithing and fasting and praying); the whole thing will explode. That is not the way we are supposed to live. Everything in the New Covenant life must be put into the New Covenant pattern. The New Covenant life must be in the New Covenant church. We can’t live the New Covenant life in an Old Covenant church. That is the mistake a lot of people are making. They like this life, and they try to add it onto their dead denominational church, which is an Old Covenant system. That is what Jesus is speaking of here, not only in relation to fasting, but in relation to praying and many other things. So let us take heed to these things.

Chapter 37

Being Led by the Holy Spirit

“While Jesus was saying these things (He was speaking about fasting, as we previously considered in verses 14-17), there came a synagogue official who bowed down before Him saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.’ Jesus rose and began to follow him, and so did his disciples. And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, ‘If I only touch his garment, I should get well.’ Jesus turned, and seeing her, said, ‘Daughter, take courage, your faith has made you well.’ At once, the woman was made well” (Matthew 9:18-22).

Jesus Made Room for Interruptions

One thing we see here by Jesus’ actions, and something we learn of what we are to do in our life as well, is that He was willing to have His program interrupted by people in need. We can often have such a rigid program that we have made out for ourselves (of course, it is good to have a program and to be disciplined so that we don't waste time in our life), but we must at times allow those programs of ours to be modified or changed depending on circumstances, situations, and people who come to us, who are in need. If I'm so rigid in my program that I'm unwilling to interrupt it with anything - if I won't even allow a person in need to interrupt me - then I'm more rigid than Jesus Himself.

Jesus didn't have a fixed program laid out in the beginning saying, “Nobody's going to disturb Me. I'm going to do this and if somebody needs something, they’ll have to wait.” Instead, He was talking to people and He was engaged in something, and someone interrupted Him, asking that He please lay His hand on a sick child. And it says in Matthew 9:19 that immediately, Jesus rose up and went. Then, on the way, a woman who was sick touched Him and, again, He stopped and turned to speak to her, comfort her, and encourage her.

This was His whole way of life. Nicodemus came and disturbed Him probably around midnight, we read in John 3, and Jesus opened the door to His house and said, “Come right in! Let's sit down and talk.” He was not bothered about how long Nicodemus would sit and speak, or how long He would be disturbed, or any such thing.

This is a very important principle in the Lord's work: anyone who is not willing to be inconvenienced like this and to change his program will not be able to serve the Lord.

We Need Wisdom to Discern God’s Will Amidst Interruptions

At the same time, we need the wisdom to know whether we should allow ourselves to be disturbed in some cases. That's where, once again, there's no law. Even what I've said just now is not a rule, but a principle that we see in Jesus’ life. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit because there are multitudes of Christians and others who would like to disturb us day and night, particularly if our ministry expands, and we need to be sensitive to see which of those we should respond to and which we should not. Those of you who are more well-known among others in the ministry might get a lot of invitations from here and there, and if you decide to respond to every single invitation, you will miss God’s will for your life. You need to know which of those you should accept and which you should not. Even Jesus rejected many invitations.

For example, we read in Luke 4:42 that early in the morning, Jesus departed and went to a lonely place and He was praying there, obviously seeking the Father’s will for the day. There had been a great revival the previous evening, and He was seeking Father, asking, “Do you want Me to stay here? It looks as though there's a great moving of the Spirit here…” And the multitudes searched for Him and they tried to keep Him from going away from them. What they told Him was, “Lord, we need You here. People experienced an unexpected revival here yesterday. Don't walk away from it! You’ve got to stay and build upon the foundation You laid yesterday!” But He said to them, “No. I'm not going to stay.” He refused their invitation saying, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities where I was sent for this purpose.” So He went on.

No Laws in the New Covenant

I mention this to show that Jesus didn't accept every single invitation. He knew which ones to accept and which ones to reject. So again, we come to that principle that I've been emphasizing, that there are no laws in the New Covenant. We live by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit leads us in each particular case. Those who want to live by a rule or a law will make even these principles that I'm teaching into laws and rules, and seek to live by them, and thereby go completely out of the will of God. There is one principle in the New Covenant: we must be led by the Holy Spirit. “Those who are being led by the Spirit are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). That's more difficult.

Man would rather live by a law than by the Spirit. When Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he chose the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is a picture of the law. The law teaches us what is good and what is evil, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but Scripture says that those who try to live under the law will die spiritually. The other tree in the Garden of Eden was the tree of life, which symbolizes living by the power of the Holy Spirit. Adam faced a choice between the two trees, and he moved towards law. The Israelites then spent fifteen hundred years under the law, and even though the law was abolished about two thousand years ago - the Lord showed us in the Sermon on the Mount a higher principle to live by and an inner witness - Christians still seem to go back to the law.

I'm not saying that the commandments are not important all. What I'm saying is that you can obey those commandments in the Spirit of the Old Covenant, that is, the Spirit of the law according to the letter, which kills. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says, “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life,” and even the letter of the New Testament can kill if you try to follow it according to the letter. Look at the number of denominations and cults that have come up by people concentrating on one verse in the New Testament or something like that.

There's only one principle we are called to live by, which we see in 1 John 2:6: “He who says he is a Christian must walk as Jesus walked” - he must live as Jesus lived. And Jesus lived not according to law, but He lived by the witness of the Spirit within Him. That is the most effective way to live.

Seek the Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit

I don’t want you to misunderstand and think that whenever a person calls us, we have to interrupt what we are doing and cancel our program just because somebody has called us to visit his home. Not at all. We should understand the principle, that we must be willing to be disturbed at any time, truly any time. I remember once in my own life when I was very busy writing a Christian article that I needed to finish because there was a fast-approaching deadline, I heard the doorbell ring. I opened the door and I found someone whom I had never met in my life, a total stranger. He said, “Brother Zac, I read a book of yours as a young man and I want to have just a chat with you.” I could have turned him away from the door saying, “Hey listen, I'm busy writing a Christian article, so can you come back later?” But he had come from out of town, so I said, “Okay, come in.” I thought he would sit for two or three minutes, but he sat for a long time, and as I listened to him, I saw that he was a person with need and that I could help him. He left my home an hour or two later. Here was a person who was in need, and when he eventually went away, really satisfied and blessed, the Lord spoke to me and said, “I have asked you to go into all the world and make disciples, and here I sent someone right to your door so that you don't have to go outside. He comes to you, and then you spend the whole time waiting for him to leave (because I had been getting impatient until I saw that he was in need).” I said, “Okay, I will sit with him as long as he wants.” I learnt something that day, and I said, “Lord, let that never happen again. Whenever I see a witness in my spirit, then I must spend time with this person. I must be willing to cancel my programs or postpone them.” So I went back to my writing, just sitting up a little later that night to complete my article.

The Lord will test us in things like this to see whether we have a spirit that's willing to serve others while following the witness of the Spirit. If you don't follow the witness of the Spirit, and you say, “I've got a law that I’m going to serve everybody who comes to me,” you'll have a nervous breakdown without any doubt. You’ll wear yourself out. The inner witness of the Spirit is the ultimate thing that we learn from all these examples that we're looking at in the life of Jesus.

Discouraging Words Are Not from God

As we continue in Matthew 19, we read that Jesus told the woman who had touched Him, “‘Daughter, take courage, your faith has made you well,’ and at once, the woman was made well.” Consider that word: take courage. Jesus was always encouraging people; never did He discourage people. “Take courage” means, “be encouraged.” “Be encouraged,” He would say, “Don't be afraid. Fear not, be encouraged.” Words that people speak to us that discourage us and put fear into our hearts are not from God.

God does not give us a spirit of fear or a spirit of condemnation. You have to be very careful when you listen to a message or a word that somebody gives you. If you find it brings fear and condemnation, reject it immediately. God is a God of encouragement, not a God who discourages us or puts fear into your heart. “Be encouraged, daughter, your faith has made you well.”

Notice in all of these examples that it is faith that Jesus looked for, it is faith that He was delighted to see, and which He emphasized in each of these cases (your faith or your lack of faith). There’s one thing we learn from all this: the Lord wants us to live by faith - in total trust in Him. Leaning upon Him, depending upon Him - this is the true Christian life. All of the Bible knowledge we have, and all of the wonderful doctrines we know, and all the wonderful things we can teach and preach, are worthless if we don't know how to live in total dependence upon God.

Jesus Did Not Raise and Heal Everyone

In Matthew 9:23, when Jesus came into the house of Jairus, the official, and saw the flute players and the crowd in noisy disorder because Jairus’ daughter had died, Jesus began to say, “Depart, for the girl has not died but is asleep,” and they began laughing at Him. There were many people who died in Israel during those three and a half years of Jesus’ ministry, and as far as we know, He raised only three of them from the dead. One was Lazarus, one was Jairus' daughter, and the other was the widow of Nain’s son. Surely those are not the only three people whom Jesus heard of who had died in those three and a half years of ministry; there must be many people who died, and people must have heard about Jesus raising somebody from the dead, and they may have gone to Him saying, “Please come! Somebody has died here!” Jesus did not spend three and a half years raising everybody who died from the dead in Israel - this is very important to understand.

What was the principle at work here? It was not that these three were special to God. It was not that these three people had some special faith. We don't find Jairus (or anybody else at his house) having any great faith, and we don't find the widow of Nain, Mary, or Martha having much faith either. But again, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. He was prompted by the Holy Spirit to go and raise a particular person from the dead.

There is another instance when Jesus heard that around a hundred people died, but He had no witness from the Spirit to go there. Again, we see the same principle consistently: it's not a uniform law like “Thou shall raise everyone from the dead.” No. Neither was it the opposite, like “Thou shall raise no one from the dead.” It was always the leading of the Holy Spirit: sometimes, “Do it,” sometimes, “Don't do it.”

Consider the time when Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. We read in John 5:3 that when He went there, a great multitude (multitude means a lot people, maybe 300 - 500, I don't know for sure) who were sick, blind, lame, and withered (means paralyzed) were waiting for the moving of the water. And a certain man was there who had been there for 38 years, and Jesus went up to him and asked, “Do you wish to get well?” That man also didn't seem to have such great faith, because he made excuses saying, “I wish I could jump into the pool before anybody else. Only one man is healed when the waters move, and I never seem to get to there in time to be the first person. Somebody else comes and steps in before me, and I miss it. I have missed it for 38 years.” Jesus could have rebuked him for making excuses. Instead, He just said to him, “Arise, take up your bed and walk” and then He went away.

What about the other 500 people who were sick? Why didn’t Jesus go to them and ask them if they wanted to get well? Again we see that Jesus didn't heal everybody. He left potentially hundreds of people there sick and healed only one person. Why? The principle is that He was led by the Holy Spirit. One day when God makes everything plain, we'll understand the broader reason for this. Today we see darkly, but for us, it's enough to know that if we live by the Spirit, we’ll never miss the will of God. There are things God wants us to do, and if we listen to the Spirit, we will do them. If we don't listen to the Spirit, we will not do them. There are also things God does not want us to do, and if we listen to the Spirit, we will avoid them. If we don't listen to the Spirit, we will go and do them, and probably mess up God's work. There are things which, if we do them, will hinder God’s work.

When Doing Good Hinders God’s Work

I will give you one example of that from the Acts of the Apostles. In Chapter 3, we read that Peter went to the beautiful gate of the temple and there he saw a man who had been lame from his mother's womb, who was being carried along (Acts 3:2). They used to sit him down at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, and in Acts chapter 4, it tells us that this man was over forty years old. I don't know how many years they had been bringing him to the temple - maybe they had been bringing him every day to the gate of the temple for 10 or 20 years. He stretched out his hand to Peter, asking for alms, and Peter said, “Look at me. I don't have any money, but I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” And he walked (Acts 3:4-6).

Surely this man must have been there during the last 3-4 years, when Jesus regularly came into that temple. If so, Jesus would walk past that gate called Beautiful and every day, He would see this lame man sitting there asking for alms. Did Jesus say what Peter said? No. Jesus would give him some money, or He would tell Judas to give him some money, and He would move on. And He would see him the next day. For the three and a half years He was there, Jesus never healed that man. And why? Because the Spirit said, “Don’t heal him.”

Consider now if Jesus had actually healed him, then what would have happened? The revival that took place because of this healing (in Acts 4) would never have taken place. We read in Acts 4:4 that, because of this man's healing, many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of them came to be 5,000. It was all because of this man's healing. As you read in the whole section there, 5,000 people believed it. I don't know how many actually converted that day, but maybe hundreds or perhaps thousands, and it was a result of this lame man not being healed by Jesus one or two years earlier, but instead, his being healed now by Peter. If Jesus had healed him, he wouldn’t have been at the Beautiful gate of the temple, and the people wouldn't have seen the miracle in Acts 4.

If Jesus had not listened to the Spirit, and just said, “Oh, I have compassion on this sick man, let Me just heal him whether the Spirit prompts Me or not. I have the gift of healing,” then He would have hindered the work of the Father. That's just one example of how many Christians hinder the work God by doing something, which their reason says is a good thing. What's wrong in helping someone needy? There's nothing wrong inherently. The question is whether or not the Spirit leads you to do it.

Another example is if a prodigal son is living next door to you and he is eating what the pigs are eating, you can, of course, help him; but if you keep on helping him with food, he’ll never go back to his father's house. There can be a soulish compassion, which prevents the prodigal son from ever going back to his father’s house. God was disciplining that young boy, and he needed to be disciplined so that he would go back to his father's house, but if some soulish Christian goes and helps him financially, with food, then the son misses out on going back to his father's house.

The Holy Spirit Will Lead Us as He Led Jesus

These are examples we see in Scripture of how doing things according to our own reason, and not by the leading of the Spirit, can cause a lot of problems. Jesus was always listening to the prompting of the Spirit, and this is the case with Jairus’ daughter as well. The crowd had been put out (Matthew 9:25), and Jesus entered and took her by the hands. There were only three people He took with him into the room - Peter, James and John. He drove out people who were just causing a problem there and said, “You don't believe anything, don't stand here.” He then gathered just a few, as He didn't want to show something fantastic. He didn’t think, “You know, I'm going to raise the dead and it's good that all these people see it,” for that would have been human reason-foolishness. He didn’t want anybody to see it. He went inside, He raised her from the dead, and He just moved on. He didn’t even stay there. Then this news went out into all that land.

This is what Jesus is teaching us by His life: we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in our ministry. We must respond where the Spirit prompts us. In my early years, I didn't understand this principle. I thought I had to meet the need everywhere - that because I have a gift and am able to teach, I must go here and there and preach. I’ve discovered that's not the way of God. The way of God is to live by the tree of life, which is by the promptings the Holy Spirit. Think of this lovely verse, Isaiah 30:21, which finds its fulfillment in the New Covenant: “Your ears will hear a word behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’ when you turn to the right or turn to the left.”

That’s how we're supposed to live every day, listening to and turning to the Spirit of God as He says, “Now go here, now go there,” or, “Don't go there.” The Lord is looking for people who will respond to His call and go where He tells them to go, and who do not go where He does not permit them to go.

That is the way we are to serve the Lord. The Spirit of God is faithful. This promise in Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your eyes will see your Teacher,” that is, Jesus. You see His example -- you will see Him in the particular situation -- and then you can walk as He walked. Your ears will hear a Voice saying, “Turn to the right, turn to the left, don't go there.” This is not only in relation to avoiding temptation; it’s also in relation to fulfilling God’s will. The Spirit of God is very faithful to steer us away from places where we will be unnecessarily tempted, and to steer us away from places where we’ll waste our time.

May God help us to walk this way.

Chapter 38

Praying Specifically with Faith

Be Specific in Your Prayer Requests

“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’” - Matthew 9:27-28

We see a similar incident in Luke 18:41 (and Mark 10:51), where he had asked Jesus to have mercy on him. But Jesus asked the blind man there, “What do you want me to do for you? The Lord wanted him to be specific: “What exactly do you want me to do for you?” That is very important. The Bible speaks about prayer and supplication. Here we see a general prayer, “Have mercy on me.” And then a specific prayer, “I want to regain my sight.”

“Have mercy on us” is a general prayer, but the Lord wants us to acknowledge our condition and be specific. We can say, “Lord, I am blind. Lord, I am a slave to internet pornography. Lord, I am a slave to hatred. Lord, I am a slave to jealousy and bitterness.” We like to be a little holy and say, “Lord, I would like to be free from all sin.” But the Lord asks us, “But which one? What do you want me to do for you?”

We can tell the Lord where we are constantly being defeated and be specific with the Lord. The Lord loves those who point out exactly what they are and where they are failing. That is the first principle. General prayers really take us nowhere.

Do You Believe Jesus Can Do It?

Once we have made our specific request known to God, we still do not get our request answered. There is one more step, and that is faith. Do you believe that He is able to do this? The question it is not, “Do you believe that you can do this?” The question is, “Do you believe that I can do this for you?” The blind men said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

What do we learn from this about Jesus? We learn the same principle of faith that we have been considering in all these passages. Jesus is always looking for faith. Jesus is amazed when He sees faith. He is disturbed and saddened when He sees unbelief. He is always encouraged whenever He sees faith. He encourages people by saying, “Your faith will save you. You were healed because of your faith.” Again, Jesus asks the blind men, “Do you trust in Me? Do you believe I can do this for you?”

There are many promises in Scripture you can look at and say are impossible. What about opening the eyes of a blind man? Impossible. These blind men have never heard of anyone opening the eyes of blind people in their entire life. They were trying to believe in something that everybody in Israel considered impossible, but they said, “Yes, Lord. We believe you have the power. We would not trust these Pharisees, but we trust You.” And they got what they wanted. Jesus said, “Be it done for you according to your faith.”

We Receive According to How Much We Believe, Not How Much We Want

It is not according to your desire, but according to your faith. You will receive from God not according to how much you want or how much God wants to give you, but according to how much you believe that God can do for you.

This is a principle of Christianity. No religion in the world except for Christianity teaches us that we receive from God not according to our desire or God’s desire, but according to our faith. Our desire may be huge. God's desire to bless us may be immense, but we do not get anything. For example, God wants to bless you with rivers of living water flowing through you. It is certainly His desire because we read that in John 7:38. If you only get a cup of water, that is because of the measure of your faith. You do not believe that the rivers will ever flow through you because you say, “I am so weak. I am so insignificant.” You keep looking inside. It is like blind men saying, “Lord, we struggled for so many years to see, but we have not succeeded.” Jesus said, “Do you believe I can do this for you?” He was not looking at their ability. He was asking them whether they trusted His ability. That is faith. Do you believe that the Lord can do this for you? He has promised it in Scripture.

One Eye Versus Two Eyes Opened

There are many areas where this principle – it shall be done to you according to your faith - can be applied. For example, what if one of those blind men had said, “Lord, I believe You can open one eye. But I am not so sure whether You have the power to open both. But I believe with all my heart that You can open one eye.” That blind man would have left with one eye open. If the other blind man had said, “Lord, I believe you can open both eyes,” then he would have left with two eyes open. This is what is happening in Christianity today. Some believe only one part. Some believe both parts. They separate into groups and become different denominations. The only difference is that one group believed that God could do exactly what He promised.

Rejoice in the Lord Always

For example, there is a command in Philippians 4:4 which says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” This means twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. In a sense, those who do not rejoice at all are like blind people and those who rejoice always are the ones with both eyes open. The Lord says to these blind people, “Do you believe I can do this in your life? Do you believe that I can bring you into a certain quality of life where you will rejoice always, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?” If you say, “Lord, I am not so sure. My temperament is so moody. I am melancholy. I do not think I can rejoice always.” Then the Lord’s answer will be, “According to your faith, be it done to you. You will rejoice most of the time.” Another person says, “Lord, I am more moody and more melancholy than that other guy, but I believe you can do this for me.” This man will rejoice always. He will come into a glorious life where he is never in a bad mood. He will never be discouraged, but always rejoicing. What is the difference between the two? The second man's temperament is worse, but he came into a higher life because he believed that God could do it.

There could be many similar things in your life which God has promised in His Word. But you have not experienced it because you do not believe God can do it for you. You are always looking at your own ability to see if you can achieve it. For example, God’s promise is that sin shall not have dominion over you. You can look at yourself and ask, “Can I overcome this?” But the question is not whether you can overcome this. The question is whether you believe God can do it for you. The fundamental principle is that it is not how much you can accomplish, but how much God can accomplish on the basis of faith.

From “You Shall” (Old Covenant) to “I Will” (New Covenant)

This is one of the big differences between law and grace. In Exodus 20:2-17, the law said, “I am the Lord your God. Thou shalt have no other gods, but Me. Thou shalt not worship idols. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Thou shalt keep the Sabbath day holy. Thou shalt honor thy father and mother. Thou shall not murder. Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” The Ten Commandments are full of “thou shall not’s.” Israel tried to obey it for 1,500 years, but they did not succeed. They could not keep all of it. They could keep some of them, but James 2:10 says that if you keep most of them and miss out on one of them, you are as guilty as those who disobeyed everything. It is like whether you have one hole in a vessel or ten holes in a vessel. The vessel is still useless. Whether you disobeyed one commandment or ten commandments, you are considered guilty.

In the New Covenant, it is entirely different. If you compare Exodus 20 with Hebrews 8, it says in Hebrews 8 that the Old Covenant has been abolished. The New Covenant has been established because the first was faulty, and the Old Covenant is obsolete (Hebrews 8:7). The Old Covenant is ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13), and the Lord will make a New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8). Look at the terms of this New Covenant. There is no “thou shall not.” The Ten Commandments was full of “thou shall not’s”. But the New Covenant is, “I will. I will. I will.” God says “I will” five times in Hebrews 8:8-12.

When this New Covenant is prophesied in the Old Testament in Ezekiel, notice how it is mentioned there. This is a prophecy about the New Covenant. Ezekiel 36:25 says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you. You will be clean.” This is speaking about cleansing from sin symbolically using water. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “I will give you a new heart. I will put a new Spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you. I will cause you to walk in my statutes and then you will be careful to keep my ordinances.”

The promises in Ezekiel 36:25-27 are fulfilled the New Covenant. God is saying, “I will.” That is the important point from I wanted you to see in the healing of the blind men (Matthew 9). It is not how much you can keep the commandments. It is not “you shall” and “you shall not”. People go to church meetings today and hear many commandments. , “This is how you must live. You must not do this and you must not do that.” This is all good.

Commandments Are like Gadgets

The New Testament has commandments as well, but the question is, “How are you supposed to keep them?” The commandments are all good. It is like having a whole lot of gadgets in your house. Suppose you have a refrigerator or a washing machine or some other electronic gadget. They are extremely useful. You might think you are better than another man who has none of these gadgets in his house. But are you? If you do not have electricity your home, it is just as bad as the other man who does not have these gadgets. Here is one person who has got so many wonderful laws like these gadgets, but he does not have the power of the Holy Spirit. Here is another person who is a non-Christian and does not have any laws or commandments. He is in the same condition as this man who has these commandments.

What is required is the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what was missing in the Old Covenant under the law. This is the main gift in the New Covenant. It is not just a new technique. It is the Holy Spirit. If we have not understood that, we have not understood the New Covenant at all.

Ministry of Holy Spirit Has Many Counterfeits Because It is Valuable

Therefore, it is not surprising that the devil has made the subject of the Holy Spirit the most controversial in Christendom. It is not surprising that there is maximum amount of counterfeit in the area of the ministry of the life and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. More than any area of Christianity, the area of the ministry of the Holy Spirit has the most counterfeit. Why has the devil made this the area of controversy? Why has he made the maximum number of counterfeits in this area? Because it is only the things that are valuable that are counterfeited. Nobody counterfeits brown paper or newspapers. People counterfeit diamonds and gold. If you find a lot of counterfeits of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you can be pretty sure that the original must be pretty valuable. But I am sorry to say that more than ninety percent of what you see today is counterfeit. You need to be very careful.

Fourfold Test to Discern Counterfeits

How do you distinguish the counterfeit from the real? In India, if you have a currency note and you do not know whether it is counterfeit or real, you take it to the Reserve Bank of India. The authority that issues the notes will tell you immediately whether it is real or counterfeit. Go to the source. In the same way, if you want to know whether some manifestation you see is of the Holy Spirit or not, go to the Scriptures. See whether Jesus did it, whether Jesus taught it, whether the apostles did it, or whether the apostle taught it. That is what I call the fourfold test. Did Jesus do it? Did He teach it? Did the apostles do it? Did the apostles teach it? If the answer is “no” on all four counts, forget it. It is questionable. What is of the Holy Spirit would have been done by Jesus or the apostles. What is of the Holy Spirit would have been taught by Jesus or the apostles. If you do not follow that rule, I can give you a written guarantee you will be deceived. The Word of God is our guideline. Please keep that in mind.

Jesus Did Not Want to Publicize His Healing

This is the principle - “Do you believe that I am able to do this for you?” (Matthew 9:28). The blind men said, “Yes.” Again, you find the simple principle of Jesus not wanting them to tell others about it. Jesus says in Matthew 9:30, “See that no one knows about this.” Earlier in this verse, it says that Jesus sternly warned them. Where in the world do you find a so-called healer today sternly warning people to not let other know that I prayed for you and you were healed? There is so little of the Spirit of Christ in the so-called healing ministries today. Almost all of it is counterfeit. The real healing ministries are being conducted today by people who are mostly unknown and unheard of. I believe Jesus heals the sick even today. But it is not through these well-known, so-called healers. The real healing is done by people who are unknown, who do not want their name to be known, just like Jesus.

Jesus Was Not Bothered by Men’s Opinion

“As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him.” Matthew 9:32

Here is another case of somebody who was in need. He was dumb, but after the demon was cast out again, he could speak. I believe Jesus cast out the demon with one command, “Be gone! Get out of him.” Today, we say “in the name of Jesus” because it is only His authority with which we can cast out a demon. The dumb man spoke and the multitudes marveled. There was nothing like this ever seen in Israel.

But the Pharisees were saying that Jesus casted out demons by the ruler of the demons. Jesus just ignored that and went on. We read in another passage that Jesus forgave the Pharisees. Jesus said in Matthew 12:32, “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him.” Have you spoken a word against Son of Man? You are forgiven. Jesus was not disturbed by people calling Him the ruler of demons or being in league with Satan. It did not disturb Him one bit.

I find so many Christians are disturbed if somebody accuses them of being in league with Satan. It disturbs them. But Jesus was not disturbed. Jesus lived before His Father. It did not bother Him what men thought about Him. Like I have often said, the opinions of men are fit for the trash can. Whether people speak highly of you or speak lowly about you, throw it into the trash can. It is not worth anything. The opinion of man is worth nothing, regardless of whether it is good or bad. That is another thing we can learn from the example of Jesus.

Our Kingdom Is Not of This World

“Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” Matthew 9:35

Jesus had an amazing healing ministry. John the Baptist came proclaiming that Jesus Christ would come to proclaim a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly kingdom. For fifteen hundred years, the earthly kingdom was what Moses has promised God would bless you with. The earthly kingdom promised that God would bless you with prosperity, healing, being lifted up above the nations, etc.

Jesus did not come to proclaim an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is where heavenly things become more important in your life. This is the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. The gospel of the kingdom of heaven is very rarely preached today. In fact, the opposite is being preached. In Deuteronomy 28, it says that if you pay your tithes and follow God’s law, He will bless you materially and heal your sicknesses. If you do not do it, you will sick and be poor. That is the old gospel which Jesus gave to Israel. This is the gospel of an earthly kingdom that speaks about property, and Israelites received property in Canaan. Today, false prophets tell you that God will bless you and give you property. They say God will give you money or promotion. That is not the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. The gospel of the kingdom of heaven is that you can have a heavenly life while you are here on earth. You can have a life of peace and joy. If you believe Him, He will do it for you.

Jesus Came to Save Us from Our Sins, Not to Make Us Rich

This is the gospel that Jesus preached. Jesus felt compassion for the people because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. It is exactly the same today. There are many people and even so-called Christians, who have heard about the forgiveness of sins. Some people even speak in tongues and remove their ornaments. They think they are very holy even though they have not overcome sin. Jesus did not come just to get us to remove our ornaments or make us wear white clothes. Jesus did not come here just to forgive our sins. The angel said in Matthew 1:21, “He will save His people from their sins.” That is the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom is not Jesus will make you prosperous and healthy. He will provide you all your earthly needs, but He will help you seek God's kingdom first and His righteousness.

Real Gospel of the Kingdom

That gospel is hardly heard today. Therefore, there are multitudes who are downcast and distressed. A lot of these people who have taken off ornaments, speak in tongues and make a lot of noise in their meetings are sometimes so discouraged. Husband and wife yell at each other at home. This is not true Christianity. This is not the gospel of the kingdom. They do not have the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom of heaven, people are not shouting and yelling at each other. What sort of home is it where the father and mother speak in tongues in the meeting on Sunday morning and shout at each other in their mother tongue on Sunday afternoon? That is a counterfeit.

Ninety percent of people who say they are filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues are living like this. The gospel of the kingdom includes tongues, prophecy, and healing. But it enables us to control our mother tongue and make us free from anger, depression, gloom, jealousy, and bitterness. Heaven is free from these things. It makes us pure and frees us from internet pornography. This is the gospel of the kingdom.

Pray that God Sends True Shepherds

Jesus looked at His disciples and said the harvest is plentiful. Look around the world today. Look at even the Christian world and see the number of people who are distressed, downcast, and like sheep without a shepherd. Most shepherds only want to fleece the sheep of their wool. They do not want to feed them in green pastures. They want to take their money because they are not shepherds. They are hirelings who are out to get whatever they can from the sheep. Hirelings are only interested in taking the sheep to the slaughter and making money out of them. A shepherd is interested in feeding the sheep.

The harvest is plentiful, but the true workers, who are like shepherds of these poor flock, are few in number. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send out workers to the harvest. Only He can send them out. We cannot send ourselves out. God has to send you. He has to equip you, bring you into the New Covenant yourself, and then send you out.

Chapter 39

Principles of Witnessing for the Lord

“These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:5-15).

Is this particular commission that the Lord gave to His disciples, only temporarily for the period before the New Covenant was established? Or is this a commission that is valid for us today?

This is a very, very important question to answer because a lot of people have read this passage and have sought to apply it to Gospel preaching today. But such people are selective. They pick up some verses and leave out other verses. For example, they will say that Jesus said we can heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons (Matthew 10:8). Therefore, they say that we should do those things. But Jesus also said do not acquire any gold (Matthew 10:9). They leave this instruction out, and go on collecting gold. Jesus said, “Freely you received, freely you give”. But they do not give freely; they collect tithes. Jesus also said, “Do not take a bag for your journey or two tunics,” and yet these preachers have multitudes of tunics, coats, and suits bought at the expense of poor believers.

Why do they pick out only certain parts of this commission? Jesus also said in Matthew 10:5, “Do not go to the Gentiles, only go to the Jews. Do not even go to the Samaritans. Go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” They ignore this part as well. Whenever you find Christians making this commission for today, there is something wrong. They should either take the whole thing, or dump the whole thing. Jesus also said that you should not take any sandals, staff or money (Matthew 10:9-10). But when you compare Scripture with Scripture, Jesus changed this at the Last Supper. It is very important to understand that. In Luke 22:35, Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper, “When I sent you out without purse, without a bag, without sandals (referring to Matthew 10), did you lack anything?” The disciples said, “No, nothing. The Lord provided for our needs all along.” But there is an important phrase in Luke 22:36. Now things are different. We are coming to the end of the Old Covenant. Jesus was about to die the next morning. In a few days, the New Covenant would be established when the Holy Spirit would be poured out. Jesus said, “But now, if you have a purse, take it along. If you have a bag, take it.” Not only that, but Jesus said some amazing words, “If you have no sword, sell your robe and buy a sword.”

Disciples Can Defend Themselves When Attacked

What does that mean? That means be prepared to defend yourself when you are attacked. When Peter took that sword, they said, “Lord, there are two swords here” (Luke 22:38). Jesus said, “Two swords is enough.” Jesus was saying that when you go in to the Garden of Gethsemane, the Roman soldiers might take out their swords to fight against you. If you lift up your hand in defense, your hand will get cut. If you lift up a sword and defend yourself, you can protect your face and your hands. Otherwise, they will slash your face. Jesus said that as a principle for ministry in this New Covenant age. We can defend ourselves if we are attacked. When Peter took out that sword and began to attack the Roman soldiers and cut off somebody's ear, Jesus said, “Put it back. He who takes the sword will perish with the sword.” But Peter could have turned to the Lord and said, “Lord, You are the one who told us to take a sword.” The Lord would have told him, “Yes, but I did not ask you to bring a sword to attack people. I asked you to bring a sword so that you could defend yourself when others attack you.”

We are not called as Christians to attack others. We are permitted to defend ourselves if we are attacked. This is something that many Christians do not understand. They point out verses like Matthew 5:39-40 which says, “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.” But they do not compare that Scripture with this Scripture in Luke 22:36, which says, “If you do not have a sword, sell your robe and buy a sword.” We need to put both Scriptures together to understand what Jesus is saying. Our attitude is one where we do not sue people, and we do not attack people. But if people do attack us, we defend ourselves. If people take us to court, then we seek to defend ourselves in court. But we do not desire any evil for others.

The Commission in Matthew 10 Was Temporary

Jesus modified the instructions He gave in Matthew 10 because that was only for the period when they were going to the nation of Israel. After the New Covenant was established, He was going to send them into the entire world, into lot of non-Christian nations. Previously, the disciples needed to proclaim, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7). That is not the message we are preaching today. Today, we preach that the Kingdom of Heaven has already come on the day of Pentecost. We can have a heavenly life now on this earth. Christ is risen, and He can lift us in our spirit into the heavenlies. That is a big difference. Do not go to Matthew 10 to get your commission for preaching the Gospel today. That is not for today. It was for that particular period. It is like some of the other things that Jesus spoke when He was on earth. For example, Jesus told the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. He also told the Pharisees to pay their tithes. That all changed after the day of Pentecost.

Satan quoted a verse of Scripture to Jesus and said, “It is written”. But Jesus responded by saying, “It is also written.” We need to understand this principle. The whole truth of God is not found in, “It is written,” but in, “It is written,” and “it is also written.” Two passages of Scripture related to one another need to be considered simultaneously to understand the truth. You must bear that in mind when studying the Bible.

Principles New Covenant Believers Can Draw from Matthew 10

Despite this passage being a specific instruction for a particular period, yet there are certain principles here that the Lord wants us to live by. For example, Jesus said the laborer is worthy of his support (Luke 10:7). That is something that is quoted later in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul. In 1 Corinthians 9:14, Paul says, “the Lord Himself has directed that those who preach Gospel are to be supported by the Gospel”. In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul speaks about the laborer being worthy of his support. Paul said that those who serve the Lord are entitled to be supported. This is not to get the highest salary possible, but they can receive gifts from people who want to support them.

We must compare Scripture with Scripture to understand the whole truth. For example, Jesus spoke about this principle of going to a house where there is peace. “If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace” (Matthew 10:13). How do you find out if a house is worthy? We can find out by comparing Scripture with Scripture. In Luke 10:6, Jesus gave similar instructions about going to a house. He said that if a man of peace is there, stay in that house. If it is a quarrelsome house, do not stay there. Jesus said further in Luke 10:7 to not keep moving from house to house, because you will hardly find any houses with peace like that. You would be lucky if you find one in the village.

That principle remains even today. Jesus Christ seeks for houses where there is peace. The responsibility for that peace is primarily upon the man of the house. In other words, the responsibility is primarily upon the husband or the father. This is almost the most important thing that a man should seek to have in his house. There should be peace. There should not be quarreling, fighting, murmuring, or grumbling. It is the responsibility of every head of the house to ensure that his house is a house of peace. That is where the servants of the Lord should stay. That is where the Lord Himself stays.

For people who reject those who bring God's Word, “it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:15). This is because those who preached to Sodom and Gomorrah were not as important as the Lord's servants who go out today. Who went to Sodom and Gomorrah and asked them to repent? Lot was a backslidden person who was living there. Two angels went there just to rescue him. God punished them, but today God sends His servants with the Gospel. If people reject the message from God’s servants, it is a very, very serious crime.

God Sends Us out as Sheep Who Are Shrewd as Serpents

In Matthew 10:16, Jesus continues to speak to His disciples about certain principles regarding how we are to go out. These principles remain today even though Jesus changed the exact details of not taking money and sandals. Jesus did not change what He meant when He said, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” That applies even today. Christians go out like sheep into a world that is full of wolves. Sheep are helpless. A sheep is a picture of an innocent, helpless person going into the midst of wolves. What is the reason for that? Why does God send His servants out like that? This is so that they will depend upon Him. Why did Israel have so many enemies surrounding them in the Old Testament period? This is so that they would not depend on themselves, but would depend on God. This is a fundamental principle that we can learn from the commission in Matthew 10.

God sends us out, but not as wolves going to the sheep. A Christian acts like a wolf when he tries to get money from others and lords it over others. Some preachers are like lions when they seek to collect money from others. They are not, however, lions, in the pulpit. The sheep does not seek to lord himself over anyone. Jesus says, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Babylonian Christianity is full of wolves. A true Christian is like a sheep in his innocence and helplessness, but he is not like a sheep in foolishness. Instead, he is shrewd as a serpent. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus says a person is like a sheep in his character when he is not seeking to fight with people. Sheep do not fight. A true Christian is shrewd as a serpent. He is not a foolish, dumb character. At the same time, he is as innocent as a dove. Notice the pictures the Lord uses from the animal kingdom. Jesus says we are to be as sheep in the midst of wolves, shrewd as serpents, but innocent as doves.

Jesus said to be careful of men. This is all that Jesus taught. This is how we must be. We must have the shrewdness of a serpent. There is no virtue in being gullible. There are a lot of deceivers in Christendom. There are a lot of deceptive reports about Christian work. These reports are distributed to wealthy countries so that Babylonian Christian workers can collect money from them. We must be shrewd as a serpent. Some of those reports may be true. But many of them may be false. We must be shrewd as a serpent in accepting what is true and rejecting what is false. We must be innocent as doves. However, we must beware of men because they will deliver you up into their courts and scourge you in their synagogues. The Lord did not promise that they will be protected from persecution. He warned them right at the beginning that they are going to be persecuted. Jesus said that “you shall even be brought before governors and kings for My sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.” Notice now He speaks about the Gentiles. Jesus has moved on from what He said earlier. In Matthew 10:5, Jesus said do not go to the Gentiles. In Matthew 10:16 and onwards, Jesus is talking about what is going to happen in the New Covenant age. Jesus said that you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to the Gentiles.

We Should Expect Persecution

When we go out in to the midst of the Gentiles, to the non-Jewish nations, we go out as sheep in the midst of wolves. We can expect persecution. Some of God’s servants in the Old Covenant were protected supernaturally. For example, when armies came to catch Elijah and Elisha, God protected them supernaturally. God protected Daniel and his three friends. God protected many others, but there were also many others whom He did not protect. For example, according to tradition, Isaiah was sawn in half. Jesus also spoke about how Zechariah was killed.

There is much more of that in the New Covenant. Through New Covenant history, true servants of God who stood up for the truth and never compromised were persecuted. They were brought before kings and governors. They were taken to court and were falsely accused. In all those situations, Jesus said in Matthew 10:19, “Do not be anxious about what you are going to speak or how you are going to speak because in that hour God, will give you words to speak.”

This is not referring to standing up in the pulpit. A lot of people misquote Scripture and do not think about what they will speak when they stand in the pulpit. There are a lot of people who do not prepare when they come to share God's Word in a pulpit. They get up and waste everybody's time. Unfortunately, a lot of preachers are like that today. You should not get up into a pulpit to preach God's Word if you are not well-prepared and live before God. The preparation is primarily living before God’s face, but also becoming familiar with His Word. When you are young, you probably need to do a lot of preparation before you get up to speak. Do not claim this verse out of its context. Do not think that in moment you stand in the pulpit, it will be given you what to speak. You will find nothing is given to you. But as you grow in the Lord and become more and more mature, you are able to discern the Lord's voice more clearly. Then you will find God speaking to you even as you get up to speak. But that is forty years after you have been a believer. It will probably not be before that.

Jesus is speaking about even a new believer who is persecuted and made to stand in a court for the sake of his faith. He does not have to prepare beforehand what he is going to say. When they ask him to give a testimony, at that moment the Holy Spirit will give him the right words to speak. That is what it is referring to here. Jesus says in Matthew 10:20 that it is not you who is going to be speaking, but the Spirit of the Father will speak in you.

The Difference Between Demon Possession and Spirit-Filling

Evil spirits can possess people. They control people and give them strength. They can even speak through them. The Holy Spirit can also dwell in us. There is one big difference, however, between the way the Holy Spirit speaks through us and the way evil spirits speak through demon-possessed people. When an evil spirit possesses a person, the person has no control over his tongue. He may want to say something, but the evil spirit overrules that and makes that person speak words that even that person may not know what they are saying. They cannot change it because the evil spirit is speaking. That is why it is called demon possession. It is a complete possession. But when the Holy Spirit comes into a person and controls him, the Holy Spirit does not possess him. He fills him. There is a lot of difference between demon possession and Spirit-filling. Demons do not fill people. They possess people. The Holy Spirit does not possess people. He fills them.

That means the Holy Spirit gives them freedom. He is not going to speak through your tongue in the same way that a demon speaks through the tongue of a demon possessed person. He will instruct you in your mind, but you use and control your tongue. This applies even for speaking in tongues. Nowhere in the Bible does it say the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues. In Acts 2:4, it says, “They - the disciples - spoke in tongues as the Spirit give them utterance.” That is the genuine speaking in tongues. The believers who spoke in tongues usually spoke to God. But the believer himself moved his tongue and spoke to God. The Holy Spirit gives the utterance. It is fundamentally different from a demon possessing a person, where the demon himself speaks. The demons can also make a person speak in tongues because they have supernatural power. There will be a world of difference. The difference is this: when a demon speaks through a person, whether in known language or unknown tongues, the person does not have any control over himself. But when the Holy Spirit gives utterance to a person to speak in an unknown tongue, he has complete control over himself because the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. When a person says, “Oh, I couldn't control myself. I just went on and on. I could not stop, that must have been a demon, because only demons control people's tongues like that. The Holy Spirit gives utterance. I have experienced speaking in tongues for 38 years. I found it is me who speaks to God - I am the one who moves my tongue, but the Spirit gives the utterance.

We need to understand this fundamental principle when the Lord says that “it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit who speaks in you. There is a difference between the way the Holy Spirit speaks and the way demons speak. Demons possess, but the Holy Spirit gives utterance and then we speak. That is a fundamental principle. Demons do not allow a person to have freedom. They completely possess people. For example, demons can control people through activities like automatic writing. There are so many things that the demons do. They completely possess the person. That is why demon possessed people can sometimes be so strong. Even if it is a woman, you need three or four men to hold them down. They have tremendous strength because demons have come and taken over. But when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in a person, He gives the power to the person, but He expects the person to use that power himself. He gives instruction us in our mind, but gives us freedom to obey Him or not obey Him. It is same when we speak in a pulpit. The Holy Spirit can mightily anoint a person. But it is the person himself who speaks. He is using his mind, but his mind is being renewed by the Holy Spirit. This is the principle by which the Holy Spirit works. It is so important to understand this in this day when there is so much deception. People do not understand the difference between being filled with the Holy Spirit and being possessed by demons.

No Virtue in Seeking Unnecessary Persecution

Jesus also says in relation to persecution, “brother will deliver a brother to death, and the father his child” (Matthew 10:21). There will be enmity within the same family. “You will be hated by all people on account of My Name. But it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). Say to the Lord, “Lord, I want to be faithful to You till the very end.” He also said there is no virtue in facing persecution and trying to be brave. Jesus said in Matthew 10:23, “If they persecute you in one city, flee to the next one. For truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.” Jesus says that there is no virtue in standing up and facing persecution unnecessarily. If it is unavoidable, praise the Lord. God will give you grace. But if you can avoid persecution, avoid it. Do not force yourself to be a martyr to get some honor or self-satisfaction. Whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to another.

Please remember these simple principles concerning our speaking or witnessing for the Lord and how we face up to persecution. We need to face the reality that people will hate us when we stand up for the true faith. The true Christian is not going to be a popular person.

Chapter 40

Do Not Fear

“A disciple is not above his teacher, and a slave is not above his master.” This is a simple principle. How can we be above the One Who's our Teacher and our Master? “Isn't it enough that the disciple becomes like his teacher, and the slave like his master?” (Matthew 10:24-25.). This principle applies throughout the Christian age: a disciple is not above his Teacher and the slave is not above his Master.

What is He leading onto? Verse 25 continues, “If they have called the Head of the house Beelzebul (prince of devils) how much more they will call the members of His household by worse names?” “How much more” means worse names than prince of devils. Think of that. Are you looking for honor and fame as a Christian? You will get it in false Christianity, in Babylon, but if you're a true Christian who proclaims the whole counsel of God, according to the teaching of Christ, you will be unpopular. You will be called a heretic and a false teacher, just like Jesus was called a false teacher by the Pharisees. They said He was preaching heresy. Many people called Paul a false teacher in his time, and it’s exactly the same today. People who don’t know the Lord or fear Him will call the true prophets of God false teachers and heretics.

Satan Has Turned the World Upside Down

This is the standard method by which the devil has turned people away from the truth. It's amazing that Christians are more afraid of what they consider to be false teaching than of sin. The end result is that when somebody preaches that you can overcome sin, this is called a false teaching! And when somebody else teaches the opposite - “of course you’ll always keep on sinning till the end of your life” - that's called true teaching. Can you believe how the devil has turned truth upside-down?

Let me repeat this. Those who preach that you can overcome sin - that sin will not have dominion over you, that you don't have to sin, and that Jesus can deliver you - are considered heretics. And those who say, ‘Well, we’ll keep on sinning. You’ll always be defeated, our nature is bad,’ they're called the true truth speakers. This is the way that the devil has turned truth upside-down. The Master Himself was called Beelzebul (prince of devils) when He did something good (like delivering people from demons), so when He says, ‘how much more’ (Matthew 10:25), that means that the way that I know that I'm a member of Christ’s family is by being called worse names than Beelzebul, prince of devils.

You may think that you are very faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, and that you are a member of His household. Can you tell me some of the bad names that people have called you, not for the stupid things you did, but because you stood up for Christ and for the truth of God's Word? That is the way to find out whether you're a member of His family, or whether you're a compromiser who wants the benefits of the kingdom but does not want to stand up for Christ in places where it's unpopular. So many Christians seek popularity and don't know what it means to stand up for the truth. I believe we need to hear this Word today.

You Have Nothing to Fear If You Fear God

Then He goes on to speak about fear. “Do not fear” is one of the favorite words of Jesus. ”Fear not! Do not fear what people can do to you.” There may be a lot of things people accuse you of, but it says in Matthew 10:26 that there's nothing covered that will not be revealed, there is nothing hidden that will not be known, and so you don't have to be afraid of anything.

God is going to bring everything into the light. Even the hidden motives of people when they attack you, God will bring into light. Don't worry about crooked people who try to accuse you falsely. God will bring them to light. Leave it to God; there's nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. The same thing applies to our own life. If you are a preacher and there's something crooked in your life, be sure that one day it will be revealed. That is why we must walk in the light all the time.

“If I have told you something in the darkness, speak it in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops’ (Matthew 10:27). That is a very interesting word -- “what I tell you in the darkness” means in the middle of the night, when it's dark, if you wake up like Samuel and say, “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening,” and God says something to you, you are to proclaim it. Have the habit of listening when you're in bed at night and you're awake. Say, ‘Lord, speak.’ It's one of the best times to hear because the whole world is still - everybody's asleep - and you can hear God speaking to you. Proclaim in the light what you hear whispered in the ear, the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit. Proclaim it on the housetops.

This verse teaches us that God speaks to us not with big trumpet sounds, but in a gentle voice -- softly, like a whisper, and in the darkness -- but we proclaim it publicly and don't fear. Again it is repeated, “Do not fear,” verse 26, 28). It is like when Jesus said three times not to be anxious at the end of Matthew 6. Here he says, “Don’t be afraid,” three times as well (verse 26, 28, 31).

“Don't be afraid of those who can kill your body.” Every Christian who wants to be a true disciple of Jesus must listen to this. “Don’t be afraid of people who call you Beelzebul (Matthew 10: 25, 26).” Don't be afraid of those who can kill your body because they can’t kill your soul. It is better to fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell” (Matthew 10:28). Isaiah 8:12-13 in the Living Bible says, “If you fear God, you need fear nothing else.” It's a great verse. I have had it in my sitting room for forty years, and it has encouraged me constantly. I want to encourage you to believe this verse -- you need fear nothing. Terrible things are going to happen on this earth in the days to come, but you need to fear nothing if you fear God.

God’s Care Is a Shield from All Fears

Jesus goes on to speak about our personal needs. “Aren’t two sparrows sold for a cent? Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father, but the very hairs of your head are numbered.” The Lord then says, “You're of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29,31), therefore do not fear because even the sparrow that falls to the ground, the Father is watching. It is so difficult for our mind to comprehend that of all the millions of insects and birds that are on earth, God sees even a sparrow fall to the ground! Here the Lord is teaching us of the tremendous ability the Father has. Even the hairs of your head are numbered (verse 30). Can you imagine the intense care God has over you throughout the night? A lot of people get dreadful dreams at night. If you are afraid at night, think of this verse. Even the hair that falls from your head to the pillow at night, God knew about it! This is the intensity of His care for us.

Being One Whom Jesus Is Pleased to Confess

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 10: 32-33). We need to see that there is a principle here - the Lord will deal with us in exactly the same way that we deal with Him. He’ll confess us before the Father in the measure in which we have unashamedly confessed Him before men. This whole section is talking about being a witness for Christ and the fear that people can have about being a witness because they think, “If I'm a witness, I will suffer some loss.” Some people are even afraid to witness for Christ in their offices, lest they lose a promotion. I've seen a lot of non-Christians in banks in other places hang a calendar near their table with picture of some Hindu idol, but have almost never seen a Christian hang out a calendar with a Christian verse on it. They’re ashamed to be known as Christians because, in a non-Christian world, they say, “I might lose opportunities for promotion; my manager won't be so happy with me if he sees that.” We’re ashamed to confess Christ, but when we have a need, of course we go to Him. That’s how it was in Israel, and the Lord said, “Why do you come to Me only when you have a problem? Why don't you go to the gods of Egypt that you've been worshipping?”

How do we deny Him? It is not by saying like Peter, “I don't know Christ.” I don’t think any of us would say that, but we deny Him very often by silence, by keeping quiet when we should be speaking, by hesitating, or by being unwilling to let people know that we are Christian. We deny Him when we are unwilling to let people know that we are Christians. If we deny Him, He will deny us. But if we confess Him before men, He will confess us before His Father in Heaven.

We need to think about this: there's a day coming when Christ will return in glory, and we will stand before Him. Who are the ones of whom He is going to be proud? Do you want the Lord to be proud of you when He comes back? Here's what Jesus taught: He will not confess before the Father those who are ashamed of Him on this earth. Remember this: that if you have not been bold enough to acknowledge that you are a disciple of Jesus and have kept quiet about your faith, then you can be sure that you have denied the Lord. You can be sure that when Christ comes back, He will deny you before the Father. You probably never heard preaching like this, but it is the truth. Whoever calls himself a Christian, and says that they are Spirit-filled, or can speak in tongues, or whatever else, if you deny Christ before men, He will deny you before the Father in Heaven (Matthew 10:33).

It’s like Jesus telling you on the final day, “I don't know you, because when you were on earth, you acted as though you didn't know Me”. It is a very serious thing. The Lord wants us to be His bold disciples. He doesn't want us to be secret disciples who hide our light under a bushel or put it under a bed where nobody can see it. He says to put the light upon the lamp stand, and if people reject you let them reject you. If they call you Beelzebul, let them call you Beelzebul. If they kill you, then be willing to be killed. Don’t be afraid of a man who can kill your body; be afraid of Him who can destroy your body and soul. If you fear God, you can be sure that nobody can touch you without His permission. And if you confess Him, if you boldly say, “Lord I am Your witness and I'm not ashamed to confess to others that I belong to Jesus Christ,” then think of the joy that’ll be yours one day when Christ returns and your turn comes up - your name is called - and Jesus says, ‘I want to confess this person boldly before You, Father, because he has been a bold witness for Me on the earth.” I hope we will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to hear them, and I don't care what loss I might have on the earth because I confess Christ. Of course we will lose many things -- maybe you lose a promotion, or maybe you lose financially, or socially in the sense that your relatives will think you're crazy and off your head. Whatever it is, be bold to confess Christ, and in the long run, you will be thankful.

Confessing Christ Will Bring Division on Earth

When we confess Christ like this, there is going to come a division, even in a family. Jesus says, “Don’t think I came to bring peace.” One way He came to bring peace was “peace on earth and goodwill towards men” -- that is what the angels sang. But this was peace in people’s hearts, and between the true disciples of Jesus. But everybody doesn't want peace. Most people want war, so “don't think I came to bring peace; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword that will bring a division between those who confess Christ and those who don't confess Him, and the result will be a man will be against his father, a daughter against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Matthew 10:35). This is not talking about the regular daughter-in-law mother-in-law fights which are universal among non-Christians everywhere; this is talking about one of them standing up for Christ, and therefore a division coming between that person and the other person who doesn't want to follow Christ all the way. We see this happening all the time.

Take for example, a son who is gripped by the truth of the Gospel, who wants to take baptism. He wants to really live for God, give up sinful ways, and wholeheartedly follow the Lord, but his father doesn't want that. What is the result? A division comes between the father and the son. That's where the sword comes in. You have to love Jesus more than you love your father or mother, and “a man's enemies will be the members of his own household” (Matthew 10:36). Throughout these two thousand years of Christianity, it has been true that the true disciples of Jesus love peace - they want peace - but their relatives (so-called believers) will turn against them. It’s religion that will make people turn against the true disciples of Jesus. History is full of examples of unconverted religious Christians who persecuted the true disciples of Jesus Christ -- very often much more than the heathen and the non-Christians. If a man loves his father or mother more than he loves Christ, the Lord says, “You're not worthy of Me”.

I don't want to ever hear Jesus say to me in the final day, “You're not worthy of Me; you loved your father or mother more than Me, and you wanted to please your father and mother more than you wanted to please Me..” Will the Lord have to say that to you? “Whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Do you compromise your Christian convictions in order to please your son or your daughter? Then you're not worthy of Jesus Christ. I don't want the Lord to say to me in the final day, “You're not worthy of Me.” I want to love Jesus more than I love my parents and more than I love my son or daughter. If they are wrong, I have to stand against them and say they're wrong. So many Christian parents are partial towards their children and don't stand up for the Lord against their children. The end result is that those children go away from the Lord and the parents go away from the Lord. But if the parents stood up for the Lord and loved the Lord more than they loved their children, their children would have become disciples of Jesus. Have you been soft towards your children, compromised, and lowered Christian standards? If you don’t stand up for the Lord when you see your daughter dressing in an immodest way and following the fashions of the world, then you love her more than you love the Lord and His testimony. That will determine whether the Lord will deny you in the final day.

Die to Your Self-Life to Find Your Life

In Matthew 10:38, Jesus says, “If you don't take up the cross and follow after Me, you’re not worthy of Me.” That's the message that we need to hear today. The main missing message in Christendom today is the message of the cross. “Take up your cross daily and follow Me,” Jesus said, “otherwise you cannot be My disciple.” That means you must die to yourself (your self-will) and do the will of God. Otherwise it is impossible to follow Him. If you imagine that you are following Jesus without denying your own will every day, and doing the will of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, then you are fooling yourself. You are not following the Lord. When Jesus speaks about finding our life in Matthew 10:39, He is speaking about this earthly soulish life, which includes our reputation, our honour, our dignity, etc. If we try to preserve our reputation, honor, and our dignity (this is what Jesus calls finding our life), we’ll lose it. But we should be willing to lose our reputation, dignity, and honor for the sake of standing up for Christ. That is what it means to lose our life. Then we will find it. So “losing your life for Jesus’ sake” means that you stand up for the Lord, and you “lose your life” because you are treated like garbage by the people of this world, and you are spoken evil of, and you are persecuted. Such people will find life.

Rewards of Receiving Godly People

Then Jesus says, “He who receives you receives Me” (Matthew 10:40). What an honor. Do you know that if you are a true devoted servant of Jesus Christ, and faithful to Him, anyone who receives you is receiving Christ, and anyone who rejects you is rejecting Christ? It's an amazing thing. Similarly, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward” (Matthew 10:41). If you honor a prophet of God because you recognize that this is a man who is speaking as the mouthpiece of God, and you honor him as that, you can get a reward just for that! If you receive a righteous man here - if you find a man who is standing up for holiness and purity, and standing against sin, and you receive him as a righteous man whom you respect because he is standing up for the Lord - you will receive his reward. These are amazing words.

And in verse 42, He includes an ordinary disciple and even a little child! Notice the order here: apostle, prophet, righteous man, and a little child. The easiest thing to do is to give a little child a cup of cold water, and even just this act will receive a reward. What the Lord is saying is, if you honor God’s servants, God will honor you. If you do something for His servants - help them in some way, even such a small thing like giving a cup of water - God will make sure that He repays you because God is not a debtor to any man. That's a wonderful truth that you can always be sure of, if you've done anything for the Lord or for His people or His servants, you can be absolutely sure that the Lord will repay you (I’m talking about the true servants of God, not the multitudes of fake preachers and crooks that go out in the name of Christ today, which constitute 90% of today's preachers. Steer clear of them. Don't believe every spirit but discern and honor the true servants of the Lord).

Chapter 41

John the Baptist

Introduction

“When Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in their cities” (Matthew 11:1). Here you see something of the tireless nature with which Jesus served during the three and a half years of His ministry. He never took a vacation. He was constantly on the go with a burden to complete the ministry the Father had given Him to complete on this earth, and every true servant of God will have that same passion. Jesus taught us by His life to be tireless in our service for God. It says that He went about teaching and preaching in all the cities.

John the Baptist’s Doubts

When John the Baptist was in prison and he heard about the works of Christ, he sent word through his disciples to Christ in Matthew 11:3, “Are you the expected one or shall we look for someone else?” This is interesting because Jesus later says that John the Baptist is the greatest man born of women and the greatest prophet ever up until that time. Yet this man who was the greatest prophet had doubts about Christ. He wondered whether Jesus was the Messiah even though he had seen those supernatural signs at Jesus’ baptism. He saw the dove coming down, he heard the voice from Heaven, and he had the sense in his own spirit that this was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

If that’s the case, then why did this doubt come into John's mind? First of all, remember that he was under the old covenant. We cannot compare ourselves with him because, in the new covenant, we have the Holy Spirit, and we have many privileges that people under the old covenant just didn't have. So we're not here to compare ourselves with him. But the reason John doubted is because when he was in prison, he expected Jesus to deliver him. He expected God to deliver him from prison because he had faithfully fulfilled his ministry. Why was God allowing him to be in prison now?

The Ability We Have in the New Covenant

Paul never had that type of question when he was in prison. Peter didn't have that type of question when he was in prison. This wasn’t because they were better than John the Baptist, but because they had the Holy Spirit. That's why we must never compare ourselves with Old Testament saints and prophets when we see the mistakes they made. Even when David committed adultery, he was under the old covenant. Many Christians don't understand the distinct difference between old covenant and new covenant. The privilege we have today, of being filled with the Holy Spirit from within, they never had in the Old Covenant. When it says that John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb, it means that the Spirit God was upon John; but He was not within him. Today, we have the Spirit within.

In the old covenant, there was a veil between the soul and the spirit, so the Holy Spirit could not penetrate through into man’s spirit and dwell within him. The Spirit could only be upon people, flow over them, and be a blessing - perhaps to thousands. In the new covenant, the Spirit comes within because the veil has been rent between the soul and spirit. Man can now have God dwelling right within his spirit, and from his innermost being rivers of living water flow. That's the difference.

Because the Spirit was not within him, John the Baptist had this doubt, and he wondered, “Why am I still in prison? I’m supposed be the forerunner for Christ and now I want to complete my ministry.” He didn't realize that he had already completed his ministry.

When he asked if Jesus was really the Messiah, Jesus doesn't say to him, “Don't you remember what you saw at the baptism?” No. He understands the struggle people under the old covenant had, and He says, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” That’s the greatest of all, in ascending order - the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised up, and then the greatest of all: the poor have the gospel preached to them.

The Lord was saying, “Here are other signs that prove that I am the Messiah.” All of the signs mentioned in verse 5 were not necessarily to be repeated throughout the Christian era for 2000 years. It’s not that Christians would go around giving all blind people sight, making all deaf people hear, cleansing all lepers, and raising all dead people. That's not the meaning. These were specific signs that were meant to endorse the fact that Jesus was the Messiah Himself, which is very clear because He was answering the question, “How do we know you're the Messiah?”

It’s important for us to understand what Jesus was teaching, so that we don't live under the false illusion that a lot of Christians live under today, that every single Christian who is sick must be healed. It doesn't work, and preachers who preach that are leading others into deception. These were emphasized as the signs that endorsed the fact that Jesus was the Messiah.

Jesus goes on to say in verse 6, “Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.” In other words, blessed is the one who doesn't get offended with something Jesus does or doesn’t do. It is very easy for Christians to be offended when they expect God to do something and He does not do it. For example, in John the Baptist’s case, he was expecting Christ to deliver him from prison. It didn't happen as he anticipated, so he was disappointed and offended perhaps. It's in this connection that the Lord is saying, “Blessed is he who never gets offended with Me.” This is something that Jesus taught that we need to practice in our own life. Whether God does not do what we expect Him to do or He does something that we don't expect Him to do, we shouldn’t get offended. We must believe that He is sovereign, and that He knows what is best for us. We may not know it ourselves, but He knows what is best, and He will do what is best for His children.

Beware of People-Pleasing Preachers and Churches

As Jesus and His disciples were going away, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes in verse 7 about John. He said to them, “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? Were you looking for a reed shaken by the wind?” Many preachers are unsteady people, bending whichever way the wind is blowing. The Lord was asking, “Is this the type of person you went out to see?” There are many preachers, He implies, who are moved by the wind of public opinion. If people are craving for something, this kind of preacher gives them what they want to hear.

Today we hear of seeker-friendly churches that say that they are fulfilling Christ’s ministry of being the friend of sinners. But you don't become the friend of sinners by compromising your convictions. Then you're not a friend of sinners at all, because you don't deliver them from their sin or their worldliness! Seeker-friendly churches and seeker-friendly attitudes result in the compromise of our convictions and we become like reeds that are swaying with the wind. If the wind blows to the left, we move to the left. If the wind blows to the right, we move to the right. We see so much of that today. For example, there has been a craze suddenly of people falling down on the ground and laughing uncontrollably. Other preachers have seen it and said, “Hey, if this is the way things are going, we better manipulate and produce that in our congregation as well.” Then, after a while, you see Western cultures laying hands on people and pushing them down. Then you find in many third world countries people begin to imitate that as a way to gain popularity. In other cases, someone hears someone elsewhere talking about the prosperity gospel or healing and they begin to preach that here. These are not prophets of God; these are people who preach to those who want their ears tickled.

Seeker-friendly messages are meant to please man. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “If I seek to please men, I cannot be the servant of Christ.” It is very, very important to remember that if I ever seek to please human beings, I can never be a servant of Jesus Christ. This is a fundamental principle. It's not that I can be an inferior servant; it means that I cannot be a servant at all! A man has to choose when he preaches God's Word whether he's going to be a servant of God or servant of the people. He should not be like a reed swayed by the wind or shaken by the wind. God wants people who are upright like firm trees rooted in the ground that even a storm will not shake.

So Jesus says, “Did you go out to see one of these regular preachers that you've seen in your synagogues when you went out to the wilderness? No, that’s not John. Then what have you gone out to see? Did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing? All those who wear soft clothing are in king's palaces.” In other words, He said, “Did you expect to go and see a preacher who is dressed in the latest style with branded suits and very expensive clothes made by the most expensive tailors? He says that these people are not true servants of God. They just collect tithes from the poor people and buy expensive clothes and cars and houses for themselves.” He says those are not true prophets. There are plenty of them today, and we need these warnings about what Jesus considered to be the marks of a true prophet. “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Well I'll tell you something, John is one who is more than a prophet.” It’s amazing that Jesus referred to John the Baptist as someone who was more than a prophet. In the Old Testament, the prophet was the greatest servant of God, who expressed God's mind.

What does it mean to be greater than a prophet? Jesus says, “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘I send My messenger before My face who will prepare your way before you.’” All the prophets prophesied about the coming of Christ, but John the Baptist was unique. He came to actually prepare the way just before the Messiah came. He was the last of the prophets of the old covenant and had the unique privilege of preparing the way for the arrival of the Messiah. He's the one who preached, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” None of the Old Testament prophets preached about the kingdom of heaven, they preached a kingdom of earth. They preached that if you honor God, God will give you the land of Canaan, He will deliver you from your earthly enemies, He will kill the giants in Canaan, He will give you rain from heaven, He will bless and prosper you, and He will heal you of your sicknesses.

These are the things the Old Testament prophets prophesied, but John the Baptist preached about the kingdom of heaven. He said, “You have to repent. You have to turn around from living for these earthly things. Something new is coming. The Messiah is now coming and He's not going to deliver you from the Romans; He’s going to deliver you from sin. He's not going to help you to have beautiful land, better than the land of Canaan. He's going to lead you to a heavenly life on this earth.” You are not going to get much of this earth with this new message, but you are going to get all of heaven.

For this reason, John the Baptist was the greatest prophet of all, and that's why Jesus said he was more than a prophet. He was one who prepared the way before Jesus. Jesus goes on to say in verse 11, “Truly I say to you, among those who are born of women there is no one greater than John the Baptist. But the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” That’s an amazing statement. We who belong to the kingdom of heaven are greater than John the Baptist. We have the potential to be greater than John the Baptist. It's an amazing statement.

Greater Than John the Baptist

John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, and we can be greater even than him! In what way? John the Baptist could only say, “Get ready, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” whereas we can say, “The Kingdom of Heaven has come. It is right here.” Now we can enter in. We can live this heavenly life right now, whereas John the Baptist could not lead people into heavenly life. He could only prepare the way. That is the way in which we have a greater ministry than even John the Baptist, because while he could only say, “Christ is coming now,” we can say, “Christ has come, risen, and ascended, and you can receive Him into your life. You can receive the Holy Spirit into your life and come into a glorious new life.” This is what we preach.

John the Baptist had the Spirit upon him, whereas we can have the Spirit within us. This is a very fundamental difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. If you're only interested in ministry, then you need the Spirit upon you. In the Old Testament, people had tremendous ministries with the Spirit upon them, but that didn't change their inner lives. Samson blessed Israel in many ways, but his inner life was full of lust. Even David delivered Israel from many of its enemies, but he was defeated within by sexual lust.

This is not to be true of any servant of God in the new covenant. When you hear of a preacher today falling into adultery or some other sin, he's living like an old testament person even if he has been a blessing to millions. There were a lot of people in the Old Testament who were blessings to many, many people, but the Spirit was not within them.

That is the sense in which we are greater than John the Baptist; but that doesn't mean that every Christian is more wholehearted than him. What it means is that there is greater potential. For example, we have access to computers today, so we can do calculations far better and quicker than great mathematicians who had lived a hundred years ago. But this doesn't mean that we are greater mathematicians than them. It means we have greater resources, and because we have greater resources, we can do some things that those great minds that lived a hundred years ago could not. If you compare yourself with Albert Einstein, who was one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century, we can do calculations faster than him, not because we're cleverer than him, but because we have access to certain gadgets like computers which he didn't have access to.

It's in this way that Jesus is saying that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. A little boy using a computer today can calculate things faster than the great scientist, Albert Einstein. In the same way, with the potential we have in the new covenant, we can rise higher than John the Baptist in our inner life. For example, in this particular matter of doubt, we can come to a life where we never doubt whether Jesus is our Savior or not (as John did while he was in prison), even if we are in prison for years. We know of great signs of God in many lands where Christians were persecuted for the faith, and they were imprisoned for many years, even ten, fifteen years, but they never lost their faith. They never asked the type of question that John the Baptist asked. It's not because they were greater or more wholehearted than John the Baptist; it’s because they had the Holy Spirit within them.

This is the meaning of Matthew 11:11. We must not misuse this verse. Also, we must not come short of what God's expectation is in the new covenant. He wants every one of us to rise higher than John the Baptist in our inner life. What a challenge that is! You cannot imagine John the Baptist running after women or running after money, so a Christian who claims to be under the new covenant should be way above that; when they're not, they are sinking below even old covenant saints. It's foolish to say that we're in the new covenant when we live at a lower standard than the people in the old covenant.

Jesus explains that when He says, “From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force, because all the prophets in the law prophesied until John” (verse 12). He was saying that John was the dividing line between old covenant and new covenant. The law and the prophets is the Old Testament (the old covenant), and was in effect right up to John - John marked that dividing line. From that time onwards it’s the kingdom of heaven that is preached, not the kingdom of earth.

If your mind is set on earthly things, and what you're preaching is an earthly message of prosperity and healing, I want to say that you are more than two thousand years outdated. That is an old covenant message from Deuteronomy 28. It is not the message of Ephesians 1:3, which says that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. It is not the message of Ephesians 2:6, which says that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. This is the message we're supposed to preach; the kingdom of heaven that is already come.

Violence in the Inner Life

One last thing we see here is that Jesus said the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and that violent men take it by force. In general, Christians are people of peace. We don't fight with human beings. We concentrate on fighting with the devil. The Old Testament saints fought with human beings, but not us. We fight with Satan. But in Matthew 11:12, we read that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. What does that mean? It’s inward violence against Satan and against the flesh (the lust in our flesh). We fight with them violently. This is the mark of those who are seeking the kingdom of heaven, and these are the ones who get the kingdom of heaven. Many people do not possess the riches of God's kingdom because inwardly they are not violent against the lust in their flesh and against satanic attempts to tempt them and make them fall.

This is speaking about whole-hearted people. The kingdom of heaven is possessed by men of violence and this may be the reason why you have not come into this heavenly life so far - you're not a person of violence in your inner life, against your own lust. You're not a person who is radical and has a violent attitude towards satanic temptations that come your way. Unfortunately, many Christians are more violent in their speech and behavior towards other people, very often to other Christians. These people are old covenant people, or probably not even converted. A new covenant person never is violent against human beings. A person who fights with his wife or husband is not a new covenant person at all. A new covenant person is one who does violence in his inner man, to the lusts in his flesh, and towards satanic temptation. Such people possess the kingdom. This is what the Lord is emphasizing here.

Chapter 42

The Spirit of Elijah

In Matthew 11:11, Jesus describes John the Baptist as the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets and then He goes on to say in verse 14, “if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” There is a prophecy in Malachi 4:5 -- almost the last words of the Old Testament -- where the Lord says, “Behold, I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” This is not referring to the first coming of Christ, because the first coming of Christ is not “the great and terrible day of the Lord”; it is the second coming of Christ, when He will come in judgment. “Before the great and terrible day of the Lord” means that just before the second coming of Christ, the Lord is going to send Elijah the prophet, and one of his main ministries will be within families to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. It also refers to the church, where the generational gap between spiritual fathers and spiritual children will be removed in the sense that they will both have fellowship with each other.

Elijah’s Ministry Restores Fellowship

Unfortunately in many churches, the older brothers don't have much fellowship with the younger brothers. Their hearts are distant from the younger brothers, and the younger brothers despise the older brothers as old-fashioned. However, it says that Elijah will come and remove that distance, and restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest “I come and smite the land with the curse,” the Lord says. In other words, it's a serious thing in God's eyes when, in a family, the parents are distant from the children. That is not a good testimony for any Christian family.

Parents and children must be very intimate with each other, and very often, distance comes because parents do not continue to keep the fellowship with their children from childhood. When a child is born, the parents hug and kiss them and talk to them frequently even before the child knows how to speak, but as the children grow up more, there is less and less communication between parents and children. By the time the children become teenagers, there is a distance, and when the children are in their twenties, they hardly ever talk to their parents. This is really sad. The Lord says that He is so sad as a result of this that the earth should be smitten with a curse for this type of thing. Yet many parents don't seem to see the seriousness of it, and they don't see how important it is to restore that relationship with their children. It must begin with the fathers - it’s not the children's responsibility - whose hearts have to be turned to his children, and then that will result in the children’s hearts turning to their fathers.

God Ministers Through the Body in the New Covenant

This is a very important ministry of the last days, and this is what the Lord is going to send Elijah to do. When it refers to Elijah, Jesus said about John the Baptist, “If you accept him (meaning if the Jewish nation Israel accepts John the Baptist), then it would be the fulfillment of that prophecy.” However, we know that they did not accept him. They rejected him, and finally Herod beheaded him. So there's going to be another Elijah who is going to come before the second coming of Christ, and that will not be one person. In the Old Testament, the Prophets were individuals - Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist; but as soon as Jesus came, He never sent out His disciples one by one, but always two by two. That is what is carried on in the Acts of the Apostles. The Lord sent out His first missionary teams always two by two - Paul and Barnabas, Peter and John, going to the temple. You read in Acts 3, after the day of Pentecost, it was always two by two, and that is because in the New Covenant, the Lord ministers through a body, not through an individual. This is never true in the Old Testament, as the Prophets all worked individually. The only exception could be just before the New Covenant began -- Haggai and Zechariah -- otherwise, all the Old Testament Prophets worked individually. In the New Covenant, however, it’s never individual; it's a body.

So the anointed body of Christ on earth, the new man, is going to be the Elijah. It's a church of living, powerful, anointed, Spirit-filled people that is going to be the Elijah in the last days, proclaiming, bringing together spiritual fathers with spiritual children and earthly fathers with earthly children and preparing the way again for the second coming of Christ. This is the important thing: that just like John the Baptist prepared Israel for the first coming of Christ, the church is going to prepare people for the second coming of Christ saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” And just like John the Baptist’s message was one of repentance, the main message that the church has to proclaim in this day and age just before the coming of the Lord is, “Repent.” There is a tremendous need for the Spirit of Elijah to be manifested in the proclamation of the gospel to Christians today.

The last messages of Jesus to the church in Revelation 2 and 3, to the five churches that were backslidden, was, “Repent.” Repentance is the last message that Christ gave to the church. When He was on earth, He was preaching repentance to sinners; in the Acts of the Apostles, they preached repentance to sinners; and in the book of Revelation, the same message is given to the church: the church needs to repent. This is also the message of John the Baptist, and the church, in the Spirit of Elijah, needs to proclaim it as well, just like Elijah just stood on Mount Carmel and said to the Israelites, “Choose whom you want to serve - Jehovah or Baal. You cannot serve both” (1 Kings 18:21).

No One Can Serve Two Gods

We think we understand this very clearly. As we read that, we say, “it’s obvious that people could not serve Jehovah or Baal. Today we don't pray to Jehovah; we pray to our Heavenly Father. We don't call God “Jehovah;” we call Him “Father.” What is Baal representing today? Baal represents money and material wealth, or what Jesus called “mammon,” which is everything connected with earthly wealth. Jesus said in Luke 16:13, “No man can serve two masters - or have two Gods,” just like Elijah said on Mount Carmel, “You cannot serve Jehovah and Baal.” Jesus saying, “You cannot serve God and mammon” is the exact equivalent of what Elijah preached on Mount Carmel. So when the church comes in the Spirit of Elijah in the last days, the prophetic message of the church, which hardly anybody is preaching today, is this: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear: you cannot serve God and mammon. If your heart is set on material wealth, forget about serving God, and if your heart is serving material wealth, just go ahead and serve that god like businessmen”. For example, in the world, they serve the god mammon so devotedly, that they dream about it, live for it, and work day and night for it. Where do we have Christians who work day and night to serve the true God and who are not at all interested in mammon? Most businessmen in the world are not interested in God; they're only interested in mammon and money. Why don't we have equally devoted servants of God who are not at all interested in mammon or money? Where do you find such preachers? This is the sad lack in Christendom. The Apostles were like that - they served God. You never find any collection being raised for the Apostles in the entire New Testament. All the money raised in the Acts of the Apostles and what you read about in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 was always for the poor.

Look to God to Meet Your Needs

The Apostles were servants of God, and they had to trust God for their needs, that God would move people to meet their needs. The Philippians, for example, sent gifts to Paul. He and the Apostles trusted God and didn't live by salaries nor served God and mammon. This is a tragedy in Christendom today, which has ruined God's work. We have multitudes of preachers today who are not trusting God for their needs. They trust some organization, or they are looking to U.S. for help. “Where shall my help come from? Shall I look up to the hills?” the Psalmist says, “No, my help comes from the Lord.” But today's preachers say, “Where shall my help come from? Yes, it comes from this organization; it comes from America; it comes from some western country.” It’s not from God. The tragedy is that they don't look to God, and that's because the church is not coming forth in the Spirit of Elijah saying, “You cannot serve God and money.”

This is such an important message, and the reason why I believe this is needed is because Jesus said to the Israelites, “If you accept him, this is the Elijah who is to come,” but they did not accept him. Therefore, this message needs to come forth in these last days, the message of repentance and the message of choosing today whom you will serve, God or money. Jesus says at the end of Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears, to hear let him hear.” What does he mean by that? What I've just explained above is not something that every Christian wants to hear. Perhaps as you hear it, you may think it is too radical a message, and not so important. If so, then you don't have an ear to hear it. The Lord says, “Forget about you, but there may be someone who is listening to this who does have an ear to hear.” It is only those whom the Lord is trying to reach; He ignores all the others. Even when He was on earth, so many people heard His message and they had physical ears to hear, but inwardly - spiritually - they had no ears to hear. What the Lord was saying to His people then is exactly the same today, and that's why He says, “He who has ears to hear let him hear.” He is speaking about inward ears.

Resist a Critical Attitude Towards God’s Servants

Then He goes on to say in Matthew 11:16, “To what shall I compare this generation?” Remember we are trying to understand all that Jesus taught and trying to study, in depth, what Jesus taught, verse by verse, so that we can practice it ourselves and then proclaim it to others. “What shall I compare this generation to? It’s like children sitting in the marketplace who call out to other children saying, ‘We played the flute and you did not dance, and we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.’” Imagine children saying, “Hey, listen, we're playing a game here. When we play the flute, you must dance, and then when we sing a dirge, you must mourn.” And then the other children don’t cooperate. Then the first children start playing and singing and saying, “Hey we we're over here playing a flute, you should be dancing, but you are not dancing! And we are playing a dirge and you're not mourning!” In the same way, the Lord says that John came neither eating nor drinking. He is comparing them to these children who, whatever you do, think that is wrong. John did not eat or drink - he was fasting and eating locusts and honey in the forest - and they still said he has a demon. Imagine a man resting in camels’ skin and eating all that type of stuff in the wilderness, he might seem like he's got a demon. Jesus comes exactly the opposite of that and verse 17, we see the comparison of two opposites: one is the dance and the other is a funeral song. He is comparing the two, John the Baptist who came fasting and living very simply, not even wearing regular clothes but camel skin etc. and the Son of Man who came wearing the same type of clothes as everybody else wears, eating and drinking and not emphasizing fasting or a simple lifestyle and all that. And the people said, “He is a gluttonous man and a drunkard.” And on top of that, John the Baptist was not a friend of sinners - he had nothing with to do with sinners - but Jesus was.

Christ is Our Example of a Perfect Preacher

Jesus is saying that whatever God's servants do, people can always find something to criticize. This is the attitude of many Christians. Their whole mind is a critical attitude, and whichever servant of God it is, they'll find something to fault him. You may find yourself like that my friend, that every preacher has something wrong with him, and you are the great expert for giving marks to the different preachers saying, “So-and-so gets 30% or 80% or 75%.” You're giving marks, criticizing everyone because it depends on what you want to hear. If you're comparing preachers with Jesus and the Scriptures, that's a very good thing to do. In fact, we should do that. I do it all the time. I seek to compare preachers with Christ. I see Christ as the example of a perfect preacher, Who really showed us how we should serve God, so I seek compare every preacher with Christ. I see whether that person is free from the love of money, like Christ, whether he is humble and approachable, and things like that. We can also compare a person's teaching with the Word of God and see whether it is according to Scripture.

But the attitude that Jesus is criticizing is different; the attitude of always trying to find fault. It says about the Pharisees that they would look carefully to see if there was some way in which they could catch Jesus in some word that He said or something that He did. They were watching carefully, and there are some Christians like that who’ve got shrewd eyes. They don't have ears to hear the truth; they're only watching and listening for something to criticize. Most of these are not even converted people; they only think they are Christians. They may say they are born again, but if they were really born again, they would be delivered from this destructive critical attitude. There is a constructive criticism which always seeks to go directly to the person and speaks in an encouraging constructive way, but there's a destructive criticism which usually speaks behind a person's back and it is only interested in tearing people down and tearing down the work of God. There is a big difference.

Jesus Came to Draw People to Repentance

The Lord says, “John the Baptist came like this and you found fault with him. I have come in a different manner, and you find fault with Me. Well, who is going to satisfy you? Nobody will satisfy you,” and those are the people who don't have ears to hear anybody. If Almighty God came down, they wouldn't listen to even Him, and so He says, “Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” It is a difficult verse to fully interpret. There could be a depth of meaning in that simple sentence, which is capable of more than one interpretation, that is, the wisdom of a person's life, we could say, will be manifested by the results of his life. Whether a man has wisdom is seen in his deeds, his actions, and in how he lives. The very fact that people who claim to have wisdom are so critical proves that they don't have any wisdom. Those who really have wisdom will behave like Christ and see things to appreciate. They will see what is godly in a person and accept it.

It goes on to say in verse 20 that “He began to reproach the cities in which most of His miracles were done because they did not repent.” It’s very important to understand that the purpose of the miracles, according to Matthew 11:20, was to lead people to repentance. It was not to show people what a great person He was, unlike a lot of so-called healers with fake miracles. They're more like magicians who stand upon a platform and do a magic show to impress people - “You see how cleverly I can fool all of you” - a lot of today's healing ministries are like that, fooling people. A lot of today's so-called supernatural ministries of pushing people down are like a magic show on a platform. We must not be deceived by that. Jesus did miracles in order to lead the people to repentance, and He didn't care what they thought about Him. If they repented, that was it and He wasn’t gathering crowds to demonstrate His healing powers. He was gathering people constantly to repent, and He reproached them because they had seen His miracles but had still not repented.

Jesus mentions the names Chorazin and Bethsaida saying, “Woe unto you! Woe unto you because if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon that had occurred near you, they would have repented.” Tyre and Sidon were non-Israeli cities outside the boundaries of Israel, and sometimes in the Old Testament the prophets denounced them for their sins. The Lord is saying that if these miracles had been done in Tyre and Sidon, those heathen nations, the cities would have repented. “You guys have seen these miracles, and you have heard these wonderful messages, so your responsibility is greater.”

To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected

The simple principle in Scripture is that to whom more is given, more is required. The more God has done for us and taught us, and the more we have received God's Word, the more we are answerable to Him for what we have heard. God is not going to judge all people equally. He is very clear in Luke 12 that “To whom more is given, more is required, and to whom less is given, less is required.” It's as simple as in a school, a 3rd standard student is expected to know less mathematics than a 10th standard student. Because the 10th standard student has been taught more, more is expected of him. Less is expected of the 3rd standard student because he's been taught less. This is a very elementary principle, which you understand in schools.

It’s the same thing in the Christian life. There are many Christians today who claim to belong to separate assemblies who know the Word of God better than other groups. They look down on other denominations of churches saying, “We know more than you.” That's probably true, but if you do know more than them, then your standard of life must be much higher than theirs. But is that true? Very often it's not true. There are people who look down on others saying, “I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and I speak in tongues.” If he does, fine for him, but I hope his standard of life is at least a hundred times better than another person whom he accuses of not being filled with the Holy Spirit. If the fullness of the Holy Spirit does not make your life at least 100 times better than the lives of other people who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, then I question what type of spirit you have received.

The Holy Spirit Makes Us Holy

That guy quarrels with this his wife, and you quarrel with your wife. That guy loves money, and you love money. So what has the so-called “fullness of the Spirit” done for you? What has the so-called “speaking in tongues” done for you? If it hasn’t delivered you from anger and from lusting after women, what has it done? It is one of the great deceptions of today, people thinking, ‘Oh, I got a little shaking, a little experience, and I blabbered something, so I'm filled with the Spirit.” Don't be deceived. The Holy Spirit makes us holy. Many people understand that an evil spirit makes people evil, an unclean spirit makes people unclean, and a deceiving spirit deceives. So what does the Holy Spirit do? He makes people holy, not just make a lot of noise. Unfortunately, that's what a lot of people think, that when the Holy Spirit comes, we make a lot of noise. You go to a church’s Sunday meeting where everybody is making a lot of noise, and you think, ‘Oh, they’ve got the Holy Spirit.’

I remember a man once came to our church in Bangalore and said to me, “You don't have the Holy Spirit here.” I said, “How do you know? Have you seen how I speak to my wife at home? Do you see how I handle money? Those are the ways we find out whether a man is filled with the Spirit or not. You don’t know any of those things, so how can you say that?” He said, “Well, you don't have enough noise in the meetings.” “Ha!” I said, “Your trinity is Father, Son and Noisy Spirit. My Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That's the big difference. You can follow your trinity if you like, but it’s a false trinity. The Holy Spirit does not make people noisy; He makes them holy.” We may or may not make noise - that depends a lot on our temperament, what we're used to in our life, and factors like that - but holiness is something which the Holy Spirit communicates to every single one whose life He fills. This is so important to understand.

The purpose of the miracles and this message is that we might come to repentance. Otherwise, the Lord says, “These heathen nations are better than you. And you, Capernaum, who have been exalted to heaven, you shall descend to Hades.” Capernaum is full of people who think they're holy, but they’ll go to hell. He says, “If the miracles done in you were done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have remained until today, but in the day of judgment, it'll be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.” I believe that's the word many Christians need to recognize, that it is going to be more tolerable for non-Christians in the day of judgment than for many Christians. How many Christians believe that in the day of judgment it's going to be more tolerable for non-Christians because they never knew the truth, and because they never understood these things? But we understand.

May God help us to take this seriously and really repent.

Chapter 43

Revelation from God

“At that time, Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Your sight’” (Matthew 11:25-26).

This is a fundamental principle for understanding Scripture - God has hidden His greatest truths from clever and intelligent people. In the world, you need to be clever and intelligent in order to understand many things and to work in any earthly occupation. But in spiritual matters, that is no advantage. It can be a handicap. I do not think most people realize this. Many people think that because they have a clever and intelligent mind, they can understand the Bible better. But it is exactly the opposite. The cleverest people in Israel were the Pharisees, and they could not understand Christ. They studied the Old Testament carefully and read the Scriptures every Sabbath (Acts 13:27), but when Jesus Christ (Whom the entire Old Testament spoke about) came into their midst, they thought He was the prince of devils. How much more wrong can anyone be than those people who considered the Son of God to be the prince of devils? Those are complete opposites!! On the other hand, the Roman centurion at the cross, who had never read the Bible in his life, said, “You are the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). So we see that clever and intelligent people in Jesus' lifetime missed the truth, while simple people received it.

When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15), Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Messiah.” How did he know that? Was he cleverer than the Pharisees who studied the Scriptures? The Pharisees studied the Scriptures much more than Peter. Peter was a fisherman. He was not a scribe or a scholar, but God revealed Jesus to him. Jesus said in Matthew 16:17, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father Who is in heaven.” In other words, “Your human cleverness and intelligence did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven revealed it to you.”

There is a great word in the New Testament called revelation. You do not find it so much in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the important thing was understanding. The Old Testament tabernacle had three parts: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. This corresponds exactly to man, who was created to be the tabernacle of God. The outer court was visible to everyone, symbolizing the body, which is visible to everyone. The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place were covered by a tent. This tent had two parts, not one. These two parts symbolize soul and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 makes this very clear: man is composed of spirit, soul and body. In that Old Testament tabernacle, there was a thick veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, which also symbolized a thick veil between the soul and the spirit.

This meant that man could not go into God's presence - into the Most Holy Place - and that God could not come and dwell in man’s spirit. This is because there was a big veil between the soul and spirit. This thick veil is what we call “self-will” or the “flesh” in the new covenant. In the New Testament, the word “flesh” symbolizes self-will. When the Bible says that Jesus came in the flesh, He did not have any sin in Him. There is no sin in Him at all, but He came with a will of His Own, which He had to deny. Jesus said in John 6:38, “I came from heaven not to do My Own will.” He never did His Own will. As far as He was concerned, the door to His Spirit was constantly open to the Father. Jesus was in perfect communication with the Father. The more self-will you have, the less communication you have with God. Also, pride is one of the big things that block the spirit from being open to God. Jesus had zero pride in Him. We can say that the veil was completely open and rent. The more pride we have, the less communication with God we will have in our own lives.

Why is God against clever and intelligent people? It is not because of their cleverness and intelligence. We have an example of the opposite of Peter, which is the Apostle Paul. Paul had a brilliant mind. He was one of the cleverest and most intelligent people in his generation. If he were living today, he would have been a top computer scientist or rocket scientist or some type of top businessman. He had such a brilliant mind, but he received revelation just like Peter. Paul writes in Galatians 1:16 that it pleased God to “reveal His Son inside me.” Paul got a revelation inside as to Whom Jesus was.

God is not against cleverness and intelligence, because that is something we are born with. You did not create your cleverness or intelligence. Neither did you acquire it by study. It is something you were born with, exactly like the color of your skin or your height. These are natural characteristics that are in us. Some are born with higher intelligence and some are born with less. So how in the world could God be against someone whom He Himself created with greater intelligence? He is not against intelligent people. Why then does Jesus say to God, “You have hidden these things from the clever and intelligent”? Please pay careful attention to this - it is because the more one has which others do not have, the greater the tendency there is for pride in him. If you are a student in a class and everybody is more intelligent than you, you will not be proud. You would be pretty humble. But if you go to another school where everybody in your class is less intelligent than you, you will be proud. Pride comes by comparison. But humility comes by comparison too. When a person is very clever and intelligent, and he compares himself with other people around him, he tends to be proud. It is pride that hinders him from getting revelation.

In another place, Jesus said that it is difficult for a rich person to enter God's kingdom (Matthew 19:23). Some people have inherited a lot of money. They did not chase after money. Maybe their father was a rich man. They inherited a lot of money and are rich. Many millionaires are born into rich families. What can they do? Is God against them because they were born into a million-rupee inheritance? No, but the more wealth a person has, the more he tends to look down on people who are poor. When Jesus speaks about riches, it could be riches of intelligence. It could be riches of money. It could be riches of beauty, personality, attractiveness, gifts or whatever it is that makes us rich compared to others. If it makes us proud, it is impossible to enter God's kingdom. This makes both riches and intelligence dangerous.

That is why God hides things from certain people. You see the truth of that in the rest of the statement – “You have revealed them to infants.” Notice that word, “revelation.” Revelation is a word used in the New Testament to mean God showing something to us that cannot be understood by mere academic study. You can read the Bible and become a scholar. You can get a PhD in biblical studies just like a person can get a PhD in chemistry or physics. It is just academic study. I remember in my younger days, I used to see a lot of Christian workers reading their Bible on their knees and spending hours studying the Bible. I thought they would be very holy people. But I would watch them during the day. They got angry and upset. They loved money. There was every evidence of carnality in everything in their life - competition, jealousy, etc.

I was in my twenties and I was confused. I said, “Lord, what is this? How is it that people who spend so much time with Your Word behave like this?” The same day, the Lord spoke something to my heart that really opened my eyes. The Lord said that even though they are on their knees, they are reading a book. It could be a chemistry book or a newspaper or the Bible. But they are not getting in touch with God reading the Bible like that, anymore than they get in touch with God when they read the newspaper. I discovered that just because you read the Bible on your knees or read it for one hour, it does not mean that you contact God. If you contacted God, your life would be changed! I have experienced times when I have spent 15 minutes listening to a really godly man. The effect of it sometimes lasted for years. 15 minutes with a godly man changed the direction of my life sometimes. Can you imagine what will happen if you spend 15 minutes with God Himself? Here are people spending half an hour reading the Bible, but their lives have not changed. They are not spending time with God. They are using their cleverness and intelligence to read the Bible. Perhaps you are reading the Bible like that. You have a lot of information, but you still fight and quarrel at home. You criticize, backbite, are jealous, and are in competition with others. You have not received revelation. You have a lot of understanding, but the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5, “Do not lean upon your own understanding.” Your own understanding will lead you astray. Trust in the Lord.

Characteristics of Those Who Receive Revelation

What we need is revelation. In Matthew 11:25, the Lord describes those to whom He gives revelation. Jesus taught that with your cleverness and intelligence, you cannot get revelation. What you need is the characteristic that babes have. The Father reveals His truth to babes. What do babes have which clever and intelligent people do not have? Is there any book that only babes can understand, but clever and intelligent people cannot understand? Can you think of any book on any subject that only babes or little children can understand, but clever and intelligent people do not understand? There is only one book like that in the whole world: the Bible. For every other book in the world, if a babe can understand it, any clever person can understand it too. But the Bible can only be understood by those who have this one characteristic of babes. Jesus emphasized that in Matthew 18:3. Jesus picked up a child and said to humble yourself like this little child if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven. The primary characteristic of a babe is humility. There are other characteristics too. For example, a babe has simple trust. A child simply trusts his mother or father. Whatever the mother or father teaches the child, the child believes because he or she trusts. Even if the child is given the wrong information, the child will still believe it. It is simple trust. We cannot trust human beings like that, but we can certainly trust God because God will never give us wrong information. A child has that simple, trustful attitude.

Another characteristic of a child is that he or she is constantly open to understanding truth that it does not know. A child does not think it knows it all. As people grow up, they think they know it all. There are many Christians I met who think they know it all. They will not get any more revelation. They can read the Bible and not get revelation. I have been reading the Bible for 53 years. I find I still get revelation on it when I read it now because I see a lot of truth here that I still do not know. Come to Scripture like a babe, with the recognition that there are a lot of things you do not know. That is how a little child learns. Come to the Scriptures with humility, a simple trust in God, and in openness.

God’s Humility

Jesus said in Matthew 11:26, “Yes, Father, for this was well pleasing in Your sight to do this.” The reason that God gives grace to the humble is because God is a humble Person. How do I know? It says in John 1:18 that Jesus explained the Father. Jesus also said in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Jesus is saying that if you want to know what the Father is like, just look at His life. You do not need to see the Father. When I look at Jesus’ life, the characteristic that that strikes me the most is humility. Jesus, the Son of God, had tremendous humility to wash the dirty feet of those poor fishermen. Jesus said that, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus said those words immediately after washing their feet (He washed their feet in John 13 and said those words in John 14). “Have you seen Me washing their feet just now? That is what the Father is like.” When you see God the Father in heaven one day, you will see that He is a very humble Person. He is not arrogant or dictatorial like so many Christian leaders are. No, these leaders give a false picture of Jesus Christ and God.

God Himself has that nature of humility. He fellowships with people who have that nature. God can give us His nature and we can partake of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). How do you know that you have partaken of the divine nature? It will make you tremendously humble. If your Christianity has not made you humble, you have not partaken of God's nature. You still have the old Adamic nature of arrogance, pride, and looking down on others. That is a characteristic of Adam. Most so-called born-again Christians that I have met do not know the slightest little thing about partaking of God’s nature. I have seen a lot of others who do not have so much understanding of Christianity or do not claim to be filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues, but they have humility. They partake in God's nature. That is more important than all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is the way to get revelation. Revelation is the most important thing in the New Testament.

It is through revelation that we get true salvation. It is through revelation that we partake of God's nature. It is through revelation that we build the church - the body of Christ. Very often, we find that churches are congregations and not functioning bodies. The reason is because they do not have revelation. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:17, “Blessed are you because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.” Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, after speaking of this revelation, “On this rock - the Christ revealed by the Father - I will build my church as the body of Christ”.

Why is it that we have churches where people fight and quarrel with each other? Your two hands have never fought with each other all your life because they are members in one body. When we recognize ourselves as members of one body, we do not fight with each other. As long as we are on this earth, we may not always agree with each other, but we love one another. We may not be able to work together with all believers for various reasons, but we love one another. Every part of this body loves the other part of the body. If you cannot love fellow Christians who disagree with you, I wonder whether you have partaken of God's nature at all. I would even question whether you are born again. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:10 that we know that we are the children of God in that we love our fellow believers.

That this view of life and our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ is the result of revelation. Revelation produces everything in the new covenant. There was no need for revelation in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, only the prophets had revelation. If you wanted to know God's will, you went to a prophet. Today, the Holy Spirit dwells in all believers. You do not have to go to any prophet. Through the Holy Spirit, you can even know God’s will for yourself if you have humility.

The Humility of Jesus

In Matthew 11:26 Jesus said, “All things have been have handed over to Me by My Father.” The Father has given everything into the hands of Christ. The Father has given the entire universe and all authority to Christ. Jesus said that before He went up to heaven as well. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.” Jesus did not say, “I have it.” He said it was given to Him. There is humility in Christ in saying that it was given to Him. It is so different from the attitude of many Christians and Christian preachers who act as though they have acquired this through a lot of study, fasting and prayer, and other stupid, foolish things that they boast about. Jesus never said that. He never said that He received it through many times of fasting and praying when He was Nazareth. There was no empty boasting in Christ. Everything He did was in secret before the Father. Jesus gave the glory to God by saying, “All authority in heaven has been given to Me, and all things have been handed over to Me by My Father.”

It is so wonderful to see this. Dear brothers and sisters, if you can see it and be gripped by it, it will change your life. It will make you a deeply humble person who is constantly grateful to God for everything that you have, even for physical health. We need more Christians like that in India who are thankful, humble, and grateful - who have this attitude, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”

Revelation of the Father

In Matthew 11:27, it says, “No one knows the Son except the Father.” Do you think you know Jesus Christ? If you really know the real Christ, that must have come through the revelation of the Father. I do not mean the external Christ. Hindus and Muslims also talk about the external Christ. Even in the Koran, they talk about Jesus being born of Mary and the miracles He did, etc. Many Hindus respect Jesus Christ. I do not mean knowing Christ in that way. A lot of Christians know Christ only in that way, as the external Christ. They have not received revelation like Peter, who received revelation that Christ is God Almighty Who became a Man so that I can become a son of God - One Whose nature I can partake of. They have not received that. They do not know Jesus that way.

No one knows the Son except the Father, but the Father revealed the Son to Peter. We see that in Matthew 16. What He did for Peter, He can do for you and me. He can reveal the Christ to us as well, and that is what we need. Further, Jesus says that no one knows the Father except the Son, and to anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. It is the other way too. A lot of Christians do not know the Father. They say, “God is our Father.” But how can you know whether you really know God as your Father? Do you get anxious about something? Do you get into a panic in different situations? Then I want to tell you that you do not know the Father. When you have a problem, do you turn to God first or you turn to man? If you turn to a man, you do not know the Father.

These are the practical ways we can discover whether we know the Father. If your own father was the prime minister of India and you had a serious problem with the government, would you go to the local inspector of police, or would you ring up your dad, the prime minister of India? You know that you would not go to some junior person. You would not even go to the director general of police, who is a junior person compared to the prime minister of India. You would say, “Why do I need to go to the director general of police? My dad is the prime minister!”

Do you believe that Almighty God is greater than all the rulers of earth and all the greatest dignitaries and powerful men in society? Is He really your dad? Do you know Him as “Dad”? The Bible says in Romans 8:16 that the Spirit within us cries out saying, “Abba!” “Abba” is a Hebrew word which means “Daddy” in English. The Holy Spirit comes within us crying out, looking up to God saying, “Daddy! You have become my Father! You have become my Dad!” It is not the formal title of father, but that intimate title of “Daddy!” The person whose heart cries “Daddy” is the person who knows the Father. The test is in the different circumstances of life. We can pray every day to “Our Father who art in heaven.” I prayed that for years before I knew God as my Father. I accepted Christ when I was 19 and a half, but I would say for sixteen or seventeen years after that, I really did not know God in a personal way. I did not know God as my Dad, to Whom I could go to anytime with any need. If I was sick, I could go to Him and ask Him to heal me. If I had a financial need, I could go to Him. If people were troubling me, I did not have to hate them. I would not have to go here and there. I go to my Dad because He is the most powerful Person in the universe. When you see Christians and Christian preachers begging others for money, is that not an insult to their heavenly Dad? Suppose your father was the richest person in the universe, would you go to some man for money? Never. These are some tests by which we know whether the Father has been revealed to us. Let us go to the Lord and say, “Lord, reveal the Father to me.”

Chapter 44

The Rest That Christ Gives

The Test of If We Know God as a Father

“No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27).

You may think you know the Father, but the tests of whether you really do are two-fold. First, it’s whether He’s the first one you go to whenever you are in need, and secondly, it’s whether you are free from anxiety and fear. When you are sick, do you go to a doctor first or do you go to your Dear Father? There is nothing wrong in going to a doctor. There is nothing wrong in taking medicines. There is nothing wrong in seeking human help. But we must develop the habit of going to our Father first. It is like a little child turning to his parents first when he is in need instead of first going to strangers or neighbors. That is the test of whether we really know the Father. Since no one knows the Father except for Jesus, we need to ask Jesus to reveal the Father to us.

This is the most important need among Christians. A lot of competition, jealousy, and strife exist because of insecurity in many Christians. I have observed that for more than fifty years. I was myself insecure for many years after I was born again. In those years when I was insecure, I wanted to impress people. I was jealous, competitive, afraid, anxious, and defeated in everything. But when I came to know that God is my Father intimately, that became the foundation of my life. Jesus has revealed the Father to me. When God filled me with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see my Abba - my Daddy in heaven - it changed my whole life. It became the foundation of my life. This is so important. Just like how the Father reveals the Son, the Son reveals the Father. That is connected to what Jesus says in the next verse. Sometimes many people take Matthew 11:28 all by itself. It is one of the bad habits that Christians have. They know individual verses. They memorize verses, which is a very good thing, but very often those memory verses become isolated verses completely out of context. If you meditate only on that verse without seeing the context, you may get some truth, but miss out on the whole truth.

Coming to Jesus for Rest

The Lord Jesus says there, “Here, come to Me. I want to reveal the Father to you, so come to Me. Come to Me, you who are weary, heavy laden with sin, defeated, and insecure with strife and problems in your life.” That is not a verse primarily for unbelievers. What does this verse say that Jesus will do? He will reveal the Father to you. The result of that is that you will get rest. Jesus will give you rest and that rest comes through knowing the Father. There is a connection between Matthew 11:27 and Matthew 11:28 that you will not understand if you just memorize Matthew 11:28 by itself. I myself did that for many years. Jesus wants to bring us to a life of rest.

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:20, “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’”

Unrest and turmoil in the heart is the identifying mark of an evil man. When we talk about evil people, we often think of only terrorists and murderers. But anyone who has insecurity, jealousy, and strife in his heart is to some degree evil. He may not be as evil as a terrorist, but the Bible says if a person’s heart is like the tossing sea, that person is wicked.

Do you find at any time that your heart is disturbed with somebody else? Are you disturbed with what somebody has said about you or did to you? Are you disturbed when you expected somebody to do something, and he did not do it for you? You become disturbed and your heart is like a sea in turmoil. You have seen pictures of roaring waves in a troubled sea. If your heart is like that, then according to Isaiah 57:20, there is some wickedness in it. I do not want to call you a wicked person, but it is wickedness that caused that kind of restlessness inside. God’s will for you is that you might be at rest. Compare that type of troubled sea with another sea described in Revelation 15 where the righteous, godly people are standing. Revelation 15 is a beautiful contrast. Here it describes those who overcame and came out victorious. Revelation 15:2-3 says, “I saw… those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on a sea of glass, holding the harps of God and singing.” This sea of glass is the exact opposite of Isaiah 57:20.

I remember the years when I was in the Navy. I was on ships where I have seen seas in great turmoil. The waves were ten feet high with the ship going up and down, making one seasick. I have also seen seas that are exactly like glass, without a ripple right up to the horizon. There is a great contrast between a troubled sea and a sea like glass. God's will is that we come out victorious from everything that is the opposite of Christ, which is symbolized by the beast. Our inner life will be like standing on a sea of glass, without a ripple, an anxiety, or a fear. You may say that such a life is impossible on this earth. In that case, according to your faith be it done to you. It will be impossible for you, but it will be possible for someone else who has ten times more problems than you and yet says, “No, if God says it is possible, then it is possible.” According to your faith be it done to you. You will have a life like a sea of glass. It does not depend on how serious your problems are. It depends on how much you believe.

Complete Rest is Possible Only for Those with Faith

Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” When the Lord says, “Come to Me, and I will give you rest like a sea of glass,” the next question He asks you is, “Do you believe I can do this for you?” In the story of the blind men in Matthew 9:27-30, Jesus asked them this question, “Do you believe that I can do this for you?” They said, “Yes.” Then Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done to you.” That is the law with God - according to your faith be it done to you. It has nothing to do with the number of problems you have or the difficulties or sicknesses you have. I am not saying you will get perfect healing from all your sickness, but I believe you can have perfect rest. Whatever your problems may be, Jesus has promised that He will give you rest.

There is no promise in the New Testament that Jesus will heal all our sicknesses. That does not work on earth (we need to face reality), but He has promised to give us rest - that is a clear promise. We can claim it just like a check signed by Jesus Christ. We can take it to the bank of heaven and say, “Lord Jesus, You said if I come to You, You will not only give me forgiveness of sins, but You will also give me rest. I want it. You said that You will reveal the Father to me. I want to know the Father.” How did you get forgiveness of sins? You came to Christ, and you believed that He would give it. Why is it so many other people in the world for whom Christ died have not received forgiveness of sins? It is because they do not believe; but you believed. It is according to your faith, not according to what we asked for. A lot of people ask and never get anything. If you ask and you do not believe, you will get nothing. We have to ask in faith.

“Come to Me, and I will give you rest.” There is no partiality with Christ. If you come to Him with all your heart and say, “Lord, I am so insecure in my life. I am backsliding. I am failing. I am insecure. I am jealous. I have not been saved,” and if you are honest and tell the Lord the whole thing and say, “Lord, I want to know the Father,” then He will reveal the Father to you. Your life will move to a much higher plane than you have ever known so far. Jesus says, “Come to Me.” Do not go to men. Do not go to preachers. Do not ask some preacher to lay his empty hands on your head. You will get nothing from him. Go to Jesus and ask Him to lay His nail pierced hands on your head. That is how I received the anointing. I did not ask any man to put his hands on my head. I asked Christ to lay His hands on my head.

There is Only One Way to the Father - Through One Mediator, Jesus

I am not saying that God does not use the laying on of hands. But if you do get laying on of hands, make sure it is a really godly man who lays his hands on your head. They are very rare on earth nowadays. A lot of people who lay hands on peoples’ heads only bring confusion into their lives. Come to Christ. Go directly to Christ. You do not need a second mediator. A lot of Christians do not go directly to Christ. Jesus says, “Come to Me.” Who do Christians go to? They go to their pastor. When Jesus says, “Come to Me,” they go to their pastor. No wonder you have problems! I am not saying we should not seek counsel from godly men. Do it by all means, but if you want rest, you have to come to Christ. Unconsciously, sometimes people have made their pastor a second mediator between them and God. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:4-5, “There is only one mediator between God and man. That is the Man, Jesus Christ.” He is the only mediator between God and man. I can go to God directly through Jesus Christ.

Our Roman Catholic friends say we have to go through Mary in order to come to Christ. This is a second mediator. You go to Mary, then go to Christ, and then go to God. A lot of Protestants despise that Roman Catholic teaching, but they are doing the same thing themselves. They go to a pastor who then goes to Christ. They go to some so-called prophet, which is usually a false prophet. They ask him, “Can you find out what God wants me to do?” They do not go directly to Jesus. They go through a prophet, and that person is very often only interested in your money and trying to fool you. If you have to go through a second mediator, I would suggest you go to Mary rather than that pastor, because Mary at least was a godly woman! (I am saying that sarcastically..) You do not need a second mediator. Go directly to Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me. I will give you rest. Take My yoke up on you and learn from Me. And you shall find rest for your soul.”

This rest is not something that comes automatically without us doing anything. The two mistakes that Christians make (particularly in this realm) are first, to believe that God will do everything, and I have to do nothing. Or second, they think that I have to do everything – “It all depends on me and not upon God. God has finished everything on the cross, but now I have to do everything from now on.” Both are completely wrong. The Christian life is a partnership. What Jesus did on the cross was a finished work. I do not get the benefit of that finished work until I take His yoke upon me. What does it mean to take His yoke upon me (Matthew 11:29)? Unfortunately, we who live in cities hardly ever see two oxen plowing a field. Farmers use tractors these days, but in Jesus’ day, and even today in the villages of India, oxen are used to plow the fields. A yoke is on the neck of the two oxen, and they plow the field together. If an ox dies and a junior ox takes the place of the dead ox, the senior ox has to teach the junior ox how to plow a straight furrow. The senior ox tells the junior ox, “Learn from me. You do not know how to plow a straight furrow, but if you take my yoke upon you, you can learn from me. I have enough experience here. I have done this for years. You are just coming in to learn. Learn from me. Take my yoke upon you, and make sure you do not rush ahead of me or lag behind. When I move forward, walk in the same pace with me step by step. Make sure you do not veer off into some other direction. Stick with the direction I am going. You will find perfect rest. You will be able to do a great job. You will not make a zigzag furrow through the field. It will be absolutely straight.”

His Yoke Is a Partnership, Where We Follow His Lead in Every Situation

That is the picture Jesus is using. He says, “Take My yoke upon you. Learn from Me how to walk straight and upright without any crookedness. Trust Me. I am a Partner with you.” Isn’t that wonderful? A lot of business people would be delighted if the top businessman in the country asked them to be partners with him. They would think, “Wow! The top businessman in the country wants me to be a partner with him?” That is unheard of. The top businessman would not come to some businessman who is just starting to do business and say, “Be a partner with me.” On top of that, the top businessman says, “In this partnership, I will do all the investing with my money. You have to put in nothing, but we will share the profits.” That is unheard of. How in the world can any businessman be willing to do that? But that is what Jesus said. He said, “Come to Me. Take My yoke upon you. Let us form a partnership. You do not have to invest anything, but simply be a partner with Me, 100%. Let us proceed doing God's work together.” This is the way to serve the Lord.

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart,” Matthew 11:29.

How do we come to this life of rest? It is not by study. It is by the character of our heart changing through our fellowship with Jesus Christ. Taking Christ’s yoke upon us is a picture of fellowship. We have to be very careful not to rush ahead or lag behind. Fellowship means walking with Him and not going off in some other direction. For example, one day you want to watch some television program or a movie. But you are absolutely sure in your heart that Christ would not be willing to sit and watch with you. If He were in the room, He would walk out. What are you doing then? You are letting Him go. You are going off in some other direction. You will not have rest in your soul. You may enjoy the movie. Your carnal self may enjoy the movie, but you lose your rest. That is just one example.

Or suppose that you come into a situation in the office where you are asked to do something unrighteous. Your conscience says no. But you can do it and think to yourself, “Well, I will get some benefit out of it. My boss has asked me to do it. I will get some profit out of the whole thing.” You know that Jesus would not do it. If Jesus were sitting there with you, you would not sign that paper. But you go ahead and sign it because of the benefit you can get. You have veered off into another direction. No wonder you get unrest!

There are many other instances like that. For example, you could be tempted to speak a rude word to somebody in your home or in your office or on the road when somebody violates the rules of the road. These are the occasions in life where we tend to veer off. “I want to go in my own direction. I want to say what I want to say. I want to let that person have a piece of my mind.” That is how we miss God's will. That is how we come into unrest.

Learning Two Things: Gentleness and Humility

This is a great verse: “Learn gentleness and humility from Me.” Jesus never told us to learn how to preach from Him. A lot of people spend hours trying to learn how to preach. They spend even more hours learning how to sing and how to play instruments. That is fine, but the one thing Jesus did tell us was to learn was gentleness and humility from Him. It is more important in your life to learn gentleness and humility than to learn to play a musical instrument or to learn to sing perfectly. All that is good, but the good can be the enemy of the best. The best is to learn gentleness and humility, because that will help you in your life. Singing and playing musical instruments will only help you to have a ministry and get some honor from men. Are you willing to come to Christ and say, “Lord, I want to learn two things fundamentally from you”? “I do not primarily want to learn all the details about prophecy and doctrines, but I want to learn about gentleness and humility”? Many other things will fall into place when you learn these two. These are the two primary things that Jesus said we must learn from Him. This is because what we have inherited from Adam is the exact opposite of these. The nature of Adam has made us hard and proud. We are very hard on people. We are not hard on people whom we are afraid of, but we are hard on people who are gentle and quiet. We take advantage of them.

That shows just how evil we are. We are hard on people. We are very proud of any little thing that we accomplish which makes us better than somebody else. This brings pride into our heart. God is the enemy of the proud. If God is your enemy, you will never have rest. Jesus said to learn from Him the two opposites of the nature of Adam: humility and gentleness. This is the fundamental difference. If you want to come into a life of rest, you better take this seriously. How do we learn from Jesus? Jesus is not here physically. It is not by sitting and waiting for some revelation from God to know what Jesus is like. We learn from Jesus by reading the Scriptures (especially the gospels), and by seeing how Jesus conducted Himself. See how Jesus spoke to others. See how Jesus related to people. See His attitude towards all types of people from Pharisees to prostitutes to evil people to money changers to lepers to sinful people. There I can see His gentleness and His humility. And if I am willing to learn from Him, I will come to a life of rest. That is God's will. It is God's will that we should come to a life of rest.

Hebrews 4:9 says, “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” This is not the rest that Joshua gave to the Israelites in Canaan (Hebrews 4:8). That is only a picture. If Joshua had given them that rest, then he would not be speaking again of a rest after that. In Psalms 95:7-8, it says “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” The rest that Joshua gave to the Israelites in Canaan was only a picture. There is another rest symbolized by the Sabbath. That is the rest that we can experience in our lives. This is the rest Jesus spoke of. The Old Testament Sabbath is a very important law, but like everything in the Old Testament, it is a picture of something we can experience today. We can experience this life of rest today.

This is what Jesus taught. He said to go into every nation and teach people what He has taught. This is one of His commands. “Come to Me and learn from Me,” are commands. Jesus said to go into all the world, make disciples, baptize them and teach them to do everything He has commanded. This means to teach them to come to Him. This means to teach them to learn humility and gentleness from Him. That is what we are going to do right now. And finally, Jesus said, “When I tell you to take my yoke upon you, it is not going to be like the yoke of the law. It will not be full of ’Thou shall, thou shall not, you shall, you shall not.’ It will not be with a heavy burden. My yoke is easy, and My load is light.”

The commandments of Jesus are not like the commandments of the Law in this sense. It is like the verse of a poem I read: The Law commands us to run, but Jesus commands us to fly much higher. The Law says do not commit adultery, but Jesus says do not even lust with your eyes. The Law commands us to run, but Jesus commands us to fly.

There's one big difference, however. The Law commands us to run, but it does not give us feet or hands. How can you run if you do not have feet or hands? Jesus commands us to fly, but He gives us wings. Which is easier? Is it easier to run without legs or to fly if you have wings? Definitely it is easier to fly with wings. The new covenant command is to fly. The Old Testament commandment is run. The New Testament command is to fly, but the difference is that the Law could not give us legs. Jesus gives us wings.

Chapter 45

True Sabbath Rest and Dealing with Legalists

Jesus tells us that we will find rest when we take His yoke upon us (Matthew 11:29-30). It’s a great word for us, and it is so applicable to the time in which we live. We are living in a time of tremendous turmoil, and there are many events around the world that can bring a lot of fear into our hearts. Jesus warned us that there would be much perplexity on earth and that men would faint from fear and expectation of what is to come upon the world (Luke 21:25-26). What a prophetic word for the times in which we live. There is fear of depression, financial recession, and other calamities. People are in perplexity, and they are afraid in such a time as this. This is just the word we need. The Lord says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

The Apostle John lived to be ninety-five or older, and it was around that age that he wrote the first letter of John. In that letter, he writes that God’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). He had probably been filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and now after sixty-five years of living with the Spirit and obeying God, He can still say that God’s commandments are not burdensome. John was able to say from first-hand experience, that Jesus’ yoke was easy, and His burden was light, because that was how it has been for him.

Do you find any commandment of God to be a burden? Have you read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and felt that some of them are incredibly difficult to obey? Is it difficult to live by God's standards? Many Christians say that it is. There are people who have come to my church in Bangalore and told me, “Brother Zac, your standards are too high!” I respond that we’re just preaching God's Word. We never go beyond His Word. If we go beyond God’s word, we will be legalistic. Instead, we preach exactly to the level of His Word. We're not going to lower the standard to please anyone, because if we were to lower it, we would no longer be the church that Jesus wants to build.

Where Do You Insist Upon High Standards?

We teach total freedom from sin. When people say that this church has too high a standard, I compare such complaints with refusing to go to a hospital because its standard for hygiene is too high. If the treatment were free, would you ever say that you would like to go to a hospital that is a little dirtier? Would you complain against a hospital because the standard is too high? Or, would you complain against a school, because its standard of education is too high? You wouldn’t go to the principal and say that you can’t admit your child there because the standard of education or the standard of discipline is too high, because you want your child to get a good education and to be well-disciplined.

Why is it that we always want the best standards for our schools and hospitals, but when it comes to the Christian faith, we're willing to take lower levels of spiritual hygiene, lower levels of spiritual education? It’s because we value health and education, but we don't value our spiritual lives. That’s the plain truth, and it’s why we might say such ridiculous things as, “I’d like to attend the same church my grandfather and great-grandfather always belonged to.” Really? Would you like to go to the same school that your great-grandfather attended? Would you put your child in the same hospital that your great-grandmother was admitted to when she was sick? No—you want to go to a better school and a better hospital today. It’s because you value health and you value education, but you don't look for a better church because you don't care for spirituality and you don't care for God. You might not have heard the plain truth before, but you can hear it today, because we seek to proclaim the whole truth that is in God's Word.

Two Powerful Prayers to Pray

I have told God that before I leave this earth I want to obey every single commandment He has given for Christians to obey. Not the ones He gave to Israel, such as killing lambs and paying tithes, but everything that He gave Christians to obey—to give cheerfully, to make inner sacrifices hidden from men, to never lust with my eyes, to never to tell lies, and to never be angry—I want to obey all these commands before I leave this earth. I don’t want to leave this earth with any of these commands unfulfilled in my life. I want to encourage you to pray that little prayer.

I've also prayed, “Lord, I want to claim every promise You have given for Christians on earth.” If you get ten checks in the mail, you don't go and cash just five of them. You go and deposit all ten of them. There are many promises in Scripture, and just like the checks, I want to cash all of them before I leave this earth, because each of them is meant for me. You also would do well to ask God to help you obey every commandment in the Bible before you leave this earth, and also to help you claim every promise for Christians before you leave this earth. His commandments are not burdensome. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Come to Him, and He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30).

True Sabbath Rest

In Matthew 12, Jesus contrasts this kind of rest with the false rest of the Pharisees, who were trying to keep their understanding of the Sabbath. In Him is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Sabbath. If you come to Him, you will stand on a sea of glass where there is no fear, anxiety, tension, bitterness, jealousy, nor turmoil inside your heart, but in their place, there is rest. The Pharisees didn't understand the real meaning of the Sabbath, and Jesus exposed them through two incidents that took place on the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:1-13) that came right after He invited the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him and to take His yoke upon them so that they would find rest for their souls.

In Matthew 12:1, Jesus walked through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples, becoming hungry, began to pick heads of grain and eat them. In the Old Testament, there was a law permitting you to pick food from another person's field to eat. You couldn't take a basket and collect food from their field to sell or take home, but you could pick something to eat then and there. It was a law God gave to teach people to be generous. Therefore, what the disciples were doing was perfectly lawful. The problem was they were doing it on the Sabbath day, and the Pharisees accused them of doing something unlawful, saying that you can’t pick the heads of the grain on a Sabbath day, even if you're hungry. Jesus defended His disciples, just as He always defended those being attacked by legalists (even sinners). When legalists wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery, Jesus quickly came to the side of the woman, saying, “He who is without sin can throw the first stone” (John 8:7). They all went away, beginning with the eldest, because they knew that if they picked up a stone, Jesus would have revealed all their sins.

Jesus always defends His people from legalists. His disciples were not perfect, but Jesus defended them. He is always against legalists—remember that. He would rather take the side of the sinner and try to save them, than be with the legalists, who try to condemn the sinner. On the Sabbath day in the grain fields, when the Pharisees accused His disciples, Jesus reminded them what the Bible had recorded about David. When he was being chased by Saul, he and his companions entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread (1 Samuel 21:6) because they were hungry. In those days, there was no temple, but David came to the tabernacle and asked the priest there for any food they might have. All that was available was the consecrated bread, and it was not lawful for any non-Levite priest to eat it. God Himself had given the law that permitted only Levites to eat the consecrated bread placed on the table in the Holy Place. Yet, David took and ate it, and God didn't kill him. Then, Jesus gave the Pharisees another example: He reminded them of how, on the Sabbath, the priests go into the temple and perform their service there without breaking the law. He finishes by telling them that something greater than the temple had come—the Son of God— so if the priests could do what they did for David in the Old Testament temple without violating the Sabbath, then surely His disciples could eat from the grain fields as they walked through them on the Sabbath.

God didn’t make man after He made the Sabbath. The Sabbath wasn’t created on the sixth day, and man on the seventh. God didn’t think to Himself, “We made a law, now we’ve got to make man so that there can be someone to obey that law.” It wasn't like that. Man was made on the sixth day, and the Sabbath was made subsequently, to bless man. It was created to be a day of rest for him, to have fellowship with God. But the Pharisees had made it into a rigid commandment, bringing bondage.

Do Not Judge by Appearance or Man-Made Rules

Jesus sees what they are doing and says to them, “If you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (Matthew 12:7). He is quoting Hosea 6:6 here. The same desire to condemn innocent people can be found among many Christians today. They look at someone, judge him, and condemn him. One of the commandments that Christians disobey most today is the commandment in John 7:24, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” Jesus didn't say that you can’t judge. He only said to judge righteously, and not just by what we see on the outside.

Often Christians will just look at someone and will have already passed judgment. They will consider external things, such as what a man is wearing. He might have on jewelry, which the one passing judgment chooses not to wear. Or, he might wear a t-shirt when he goes to church on Sunday morning, and the other man thinks that he must a wear a long-sleeved shirt to church, or some other stupid rule like that, not found anywhere in Scripture. You’ll only find one rule in Scripture about how to dress, and it’s not on how to dress on Sunday mornings, but about how women should always dress modestly, every hour of every day, and especially when they’re in public. Other than that, there's no law on how to dress.

Even so, Christians make all types of rules. They are religious legalists, and they pass judgment on others who might be ten times more spiritual than them in their private lives, just as we see in this incident with the Pharisees. To such Christians, I would say what Jesus said—Go and learn the meaning of “I desire compassion and not sacrifice.” Stop condemning innocent people for breaking religious laws that God has not made. You have taken God’s laws and made them into something much bigger than He intended.

That's what the Pharisees did. The Sabbath was one of God’s laws. God instructed man not to work on the Sabbath, because God wanted him to have at least one day of the week to spend in fellowship with Him. That was the purpose of the Sabbath, but the Pharisees didn’t bother about fellowship with God. If they had had fellowship with Him, they wouldn't have condemned the disciples. Instead, they made all sorts of nonsensical rules about what you could and couldn’t do on the Sabbath. For example, one of God’s laws concerning the Sabbath prohibited you from lifting a burden on the Sabbath day, meaning that on that day you should not be carrying around heavy items, such as suitcases. They began to nitpick the law and even set standards for how much your shoes could weigh, because if they weighed more, you’d be lifting a burden whenever you walked. Can you imagine a more stupid rule than that? And these Pharisees would sit down and try to decide whether you could eat the egg that a hen laid on the Sabbath, given that neither you nor a Gentile employed by you could work on the Sabbath. You see how stupid these people were, and you will find so many Christian legalists today, who examine others with all types of silly standards, while they themselves are committing much bigger crimes. They lack compassion, and they think that God cares primarily about our sacrifices. Yet, Jesus taught compassion (“I desire compassion and not sacrifice”), and we must pay attention to all that Jesus taught.

Jesus ends by saying, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). Jesus reminds them that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and as the One who gives of all the commandments, He is far greater than the commandments themselves.

Jesus Wants to Heal Lives Withered by Sin

Departing from the place, He enters their synagogue and finds a man there with a withered hand. To me, this man is a picture of many of the Christians sitting in churches today, whose lives are withered by sin. Their sins are forgiven. They are born-again Christians. But, they are perpetually defeated by sin, perpetually lusting with their eyes. They are slaves to internet pornography, slaves to anger, slaves to an unforgiving spirit. And they are withered exactly like this person here. This man’s hand was withered, but the whole soul and spirit of each of these Christians is withered, which is much worse. It is much better to have a withered hand than a withered soul and spirit.

Jesus wants to come and heal these born-again Christians, yet the religious leaders don't want that. They will not permit someone who preaches total deliverance from sin to come and preach to their churches, because it would expose how the religious leaders themselves are defeated. The preacher would get up in front of the church and ask the pastor— “What can you teach these people if you still shout at your wife?” The pastor sitting there would feel condemned because he shouts at his wife and doesn't preach victory over sins. That’s why he won’t let such a preacher come to his church. He will allow everybody in the church to remain in their withered lives, so long as they pay their tithes, and he continues to get receive his salary, in order to live comfortably. Instead, he’ll continue preaching the forgiveness of sins and reassure them that the rest that Jesus taught is not important.

Legalists Are Fault-Finders Who Broaden God’s Commands

That’s the condition of many churches today, and we see that it was the same with the legalists that Jesus interacted with The Pharisees knew that Jesus would heal the man with the withered hand, so they questioned Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” They wanted Him to say something so that they could accuse Him. We still have sharp-minded Pharisees in Christian churches today who want to find some fault with God’s servants. They look for some fault so that they can accuse. Their whole purpose is to accuse because they are in fellowship with Satan; because he accuses Christians day and night, they also accuse their brethren with him.

Jesus asked them a question. “If one of your sheep were to fall into a pit on the Sabbath, would you leave the sheep there for twenty-four hours? Would you say, ‘Today is the Sabbath day, I am not supposed to do any work, so I won’t pull him out today. I’ll wait till the Sabbath is over before I pull him out’? Wouldn’t you instead pull out the sheep immediately, without bothering about whether it was breaking the Sabbath or not? Don't you think a man who has fallen into a pit, as this man has, is of more value than a sheep? Is it wrong to pull this man up and make him healthy? Rather, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day”.

We may not have the same problem with the Sabbath, because most of us have nothing to do with it, but we can nitpick over other laws. We make these laws stricter than God has made them, and we condemn others when they don't obey them. It's very easy to slip into this sort of legalism. I am not encouraging you to disobey small laws, because Jesus said that if you keep the least of God’s commandments, you will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19). Yet, if you cancel even the least of His commandments, you will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. You won’t go to hell, but you will be called least in the kingdom. There are commandments that are small, and there are commandments that are great. Jesus Himself makes it clear. And if you ignore even the least of these commandments, you will lose your position in heaven.

I'm not encouraging you to disobey the small commandments, and I am also warning you not to make any commandment broader and stricter than God has made it. Leave it just as it is.

An Example of Broadening God’s Commands

There is a commandment given in 1 Corinthians 11 that a woman should veil her head when she prays or prophesies. It’s a very clear commandment, and Paul explains the meaning of it right there in the letter. A woman’s head covering is a symbol of her submission to her husband or to a man's authority in the Church. However, people can expand that commandment and say that women should have their hair covered all the time, even when they are not praying or prophesying. That’s ridiculous! Those are the Pharisees of today. I’ve met some of these people, and they ask me whether my wife veils her head all twenty-four hours of the day. I respond, saying that she covers her head when she prays or prophesies, and she covers it when she sings praises to God during a church service. Then they’ll say that the Bible tells us to be praying always. See how they misuse this other verse? I have to ask them, does your wife veil her head when she’s in bed or asleep? Once someone said, “Yes, my wife covers her head even then.” I said, “Amazing! Let me ask another question. Does she veil her head when she's taking a shower or bathing? Shouldn't she be praying even then?” I got no reply to that question.

This is how Jesus silenced legalists, and that’s how I've been able to silence them as well. We have to be very careful to not stretch God's commandments beyond what He says. That's what we can learn from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in the grain field and in the synagogue. Jesus instructed them to teach even the least of the commandments in their entirety, but not to make them bigger and stricter than God made them.

Legalists Seek to Destroy God’s True Servants

Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch out his hand, and when he did, it was restored. Imagine how excited you’d be if you saw someone with a withered hand healed. You’d be shouting, “Hallelujah!” And everybody else should be excited too. But the Pharisees went out, and they counseled together against Jesus, the One Who healed him, as to how they might destroy Him. What a strong word, “destroy.” Must they not have been inspired by the devil himself? Great Bible scholars can be inspired by the devil when they want to hurt others. Here, these scholars wanted to kill Jesus physically, and today many great Bible scholars may try to kill other servants of God with their words. The tongue is the weapon they use, rather than a dagger nor a spear. In their messages, books, and essays, they hit out against people proclaiming total freedom from sin, the healing of a withered life.

Don’t Take Unnecessary Risks

Jesus was aware of their intentions, and so He went away from there. He didn't stay to prove that He was a brave person. Jesus said that when you are persecuted in one city, go to another. If someone in a place wants to kill you, don't try to show your bravery by remaining there. And Jesus, knowing the Pharisees sought to kill Him, withdrew from the place and went somewhere else. In John 7:1, we read that Jesus was aware that the people in Judea wanted to kill Him, and so He stayed away from there. Why should He go there if they were going to try to kill Him? But later on in that same chapter, Jesus did go to Judea, when His Father told Him to. We learn from His example that we are not to take unnecessary risks. We must be willing to go anywhere the Lord tells us to go, knowing that He will protect us. However, we should not take unnecessary risks to show how brave we are or to show off our faith.

Chapter 46

Healing and Compassion

Jesus Healed All - as an Attestation

“Many followed Him, and He healed them all” (Matthew 12:14-15). This is one of those places in Scripture, similar to the passage in Matthew 8, where not a single person remained without being healed. Today, all those who claim to be healing people like Jesus are just deceiving you because in all their healing ministries, not even 1% of the sick people are healed. Even in the churches that proclaim Jesus as Healer, not even 1% of the sick people there are healed. That's not the healing ministry of Jesus. Don't be fooled. Jesus heals people and we can ask the Lord for healing. I have experienced healing myself and I've seen people healed. But this happens in 1%of the cases or less, I must be honest.

Sometimes God Chooses Not to Heal

There could be many reasons for this. Sometimes it could be the sin in someone’s life, or sometimes God may, as in Paul's case and Timothy’s stomach infirmities, allow it for a particular purpose. There could be many reasons that we don't know. But when Jesus healed in these incidents, He healed them all as an attestation of the fact that He was the Son of God. This is not something that He told us to imitate. In the history of Christianity, nobody has ever imitated it. Even the Apostle Paul could not heal the stomach aches of his co-worker, Timothy. A man like Paul, who raised Eutychus from the dead, could not heal a small thing like a stomach ache. Scripture also says in 2 Timothy 4:20 that Paul left his co-worker Trophimus sick in Miletus.

So we must not be confused by the attestation of Jesus’ ministry by total healing and imagine that we ought to do the same thing. Otherwise you will live in a world of delusion and fool other people into trying to live a type of Christianity that is not being lived by anybody. If you believe in such a lie, you can be led astray in many other areas as well. I mention that as a word of caution. Don't go to one extreme where you say every sick person will be healed and don't go to the other extreme where you say no sick person will be healed. Both are wrong - the narrow way lies between the two. God still heals, but He doesn't heal everyone, for reasons best known to Him.

Jesus Warned People Not to Speak of Healing

Then, “He warned them not to tell who He was” (Matthew 12:16). Jesus warned them whenever He healed people. What a strong word! He didn't just tell them, He “warned” them. It's like warning people against a danger. He warned them not to make this known. He never said that when people were telling others that He was the One Who forgives sins or that He was the Messiah. Philip went and found Nathanael and said, “We have found the Messiah.” Jesus didn’t say that was wrong. He never prevented anyone from saying that He can forgive sins. But He did warn them whenever He healed people. He said, “Don't tell anyone that I healed you.” Why was that? Because if He didn’t, then a lot of people would come to Him, not for something spiritual, but for something physical. That's the great tragedy. A lot of people today are being drawn with the message of, “God will bless you physically and materially.” It is the very thing Jesus said not to teach. He said, “I will heal you spiritually, I will give you rest, I will make you gentle and humble like Me, I will make you spiritual and holy; but don't advertise the other things too much.” Of course there were some people who disobeyed in Jesus’ time, and a lot of people disobey it today.

Look Carefully at Jesus

It says, "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 'Behold, My Servant Whom I have chosen; My Beloved in Whom My soul is well-pleased'” (Matthew 12:17-18). This is a quotation from Isaiah 42:1 – “Behold My Servant,” which means “Look carefully at My Servant.” It is a wonderful exhortation to look carefully at Jesus. All of us need to obey that exhortation. Look carefully at Jesus, “Whom I have chosen. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets” (Matthew 12:18-19). God says, “Look carefully at My Servant, Who never quarrels with anyone.”

My brothers and sisters, why do you quarrel with your husband, wife, other sisters or brothers, neighbors or coworkers in the office? It’s because you do not look carefully at Jesus. He says look carefully at My servant Who will never quarrel with people. He stood for the truth -- He drove out the money changers from the temple -- but He never quarreled with people when they spat on His face and called Him a devil. He was not going to fight with any of them. He did not fight with flesh and blood because He was leading us into the New Covenant. He is the mediator of a better covenant. The Old Covenant involved fighting with the Goliaths and Canaanites and Midianites etc., but in the New Covenant, we fight with Satan. He did not quarrel at all.

I want to encourage you that there is a great need for such Christians in our land, who look carefully at Jesus, to stop quarrelling, to finish with it in their lives permanently. It is possible, and I have found it true in my own life. It was not true for many years because I did not look carefully at Jesus. I looked at other Christians, and I found most of them quarrelling. I followed them in my blindness and stupidity, until I learned to look carefully at Jesus. He did not quarrel, He did not cry out, nor would anyone hear His voice in the streets. You don't have to shout and yell to impress people with the power of the Holy Spirit. It says here Jesus did not raise His voice and shout. If He was preaching inside a house, they wouldn't hear Him on the streets. Isn’t it wonderful that His preaching was not with the yelling and shouting and frequent “Hallelujahs”?

Many people think that if a person yells and shouts and bangs the table and says ’Hallelujah’ every two minutes, then he is a mighty servant of God. This is absolute rubbish. Jesus was not like that. In all of His sermons, He never said a single Hallelujah, nor did He raise His voice. There may be a place where you raise your voice for emphasis, but to think that this is the time when you are really filled with the Holy Spirit is wrong. There are a lot of churches where they think if the noise level during a time of singing raises up to a very high level and the emotional pitch becomes very high, that the Holy Spirit is come. This is a deception. The Holy Spirit's presence is not recognized by the decibel level of the sound or the emotional high that people are having. It is by purity and by a Spirit of praise, genuine praise, which makes people fall on their faces and worship God, and recognize the holy presence of the Son of God in the midst of the meeting. That is the mark of the Holy Spirit. It is very important to understand what Jesus would and would not do. These are some of the things He did not do; but what did He do?

Jesus Has Not Given Up on You

“A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory” (Matthew 12:20). That means, He would take a battered reed and make it holy, and He would blow a smoldering wick to a flame. What are a battered reed and a smoldering wick? People who are discouraged and failures, who have made a mess of their lives like many Christians, constantly defeated and without hope. I've had numerous letters from people on the verge of suicide; they are the battered reeds. They have been battered by preachers who condemn them. Once upon a time they were smoldering wicks where the flame was burning, but it died out due to circumstances, difficulties, problems in marriage etc. But the Lord says, “Don't give up! Don't get discouraged! I can help you.” He can take the most battered or broken reed and fix it. Most people would just throw it away and pick another reed, but the Lord says, “No! I will fix that broken reed and blow a smoldering wick to a flame.”

I want to say to you who are discouraged and defeated, and feel that your life is a total failure, that you may have done so many wrong things in your life (you may have tried to get victory for a long time and you never obtained it, you may have heard messages of victory and their effects seem to only last for a very short time), but Jesus has not given up on you. I don't care how battered you are as a reed. I don't care if the flame is gone out from your life and you're just a smoking wick now (which is worse than a wick that is not smoking - a wick that was never lit - because smoke is very uncomfortable).

The Lord says, “Even if you're like that, I will blow you to a flame. I can put the fire of God back into your life.” I hope you will hear this word from the Lord to you, that He will repair that broken reed. He will blow that wick back to a flame. The Lord can do it! I would ask you the same question that He asked the blind people, “Do you believe that I can do this for you?” Do you believe that even though your life is so utterly defeated and a failure in the eyes of men, and probably a bigger failure in your own eyes - because you know all the secret sins in your life – even still, do you believe that the Lord says, “I can lead you to a glorious, holy life”? That was my experience forty years ago. Even as a Christian, I was thoroughly defeated. I had no fellowship and I was not part of a living Church. I did not have a spiritual father or a godly example that I could follow, and I never had anyone explain the New Covenant to me and tell me that I could have a life of victory. I was defeated and utterly backslidden as a born-again Christian. But at the depth of my defeat, when I was at rock bottom, this is what the Lord did:

The only righteous thing that God could have done to me when I was at rock-bottom as a hypocrite, preaching things that were not true in my life, was to have sent me to hell. But He didn't do that. If He had only forgiven me completely, that itself would have been more than enough. But He did more than just that. He not only forgave me completely, He also filled me with the Holy Spirit, teaching me that God does not give the fullness of the Holy Spirit to those who deserve it or those who earn it through years of fasting and prayer. He gives it to those who desperately need it. I certainly did not deserve it and I certainly did not spend years in fasting and prayer, but I desperately needed the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh yes, I certainly needed the power of the Holy Spirit. I learnt through this that God meets people at the place of their need - when they are not looking at others and judging them, when they are not trying to earn the fullness of the Spirit, but saying, “Lord I need it, because if there is anyone on earth who needs it, it's me. I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Here is an illustration: Suppose you are working at a company and you’ve done a lot of wrong things - you’ve broken some of their machines and ruined them. They had to spend a lot of money, maybe hundreds of thousands of rupees, fixing all those machines because you ruined some of them. But they still have not fired you from your job. So you should be thankful for that. Then one day you carelessly do something, and ruin one of their most expensive machines that cost millions of rupees. Now you're sure they will sack you because you messed up so badly. Then you get a call from the managing director and he says, “I want you to come and see me.” You know what he is going to say. Not only are you going to be sacked, but you are going to pay huge fines etc. or you’re probably going to jail if you can’t pay the fines. But you go there and you get the surprise of your life when he says, “That’s okay, I have forgiven you for what you did, and not only that, I want to make you the deputy managing director of this company.” You would think he's joking. But he says, “No, I'm not joking. I'm giving you a big raise in your salary.” There is no company in the world that will do that. But this is exactly what God did to me, and this is exactly what God has done to many people around the world. He can do the same for you too.

Encouragement for Battered Reeds

I write this as an encouragement to you who are battered reeds and smoking wicks. I was more battered than all of you and the fire had gone out from my life long before. I was a thoroughly backslidden, defeated Christian. More than forty years ago, God met with me, filled me with the Holy Spirit, and turned my life around. He can do that for you as well. It has never been the same. Once God touches you and fills you with the Spirit and you realize that you received what you don't deserve, you will never look down on another battered reed again. I have seen a lot of battered reeds in the last thirty-seven years, as I have planted churches in different places, but God is my witness: I've never despised or looked down on any of them, as though they are inferior to me. I've seen smoking wicks in whom the fire has gone out years ago. I don't despise them because I know what a smoking wick and battered reed I was, and yet God never despised me. I have hope for every backslidden Christian in the world. I have hope for the worst sinner in the world because I know what God did for me. I can understand a little bit of what Paul said when he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). That is the message of the gospel. It says, He will not give up or be discouraged “until He leads us to victory, and in His name the gentiles will hope” (Matthew 12:20-21). I hope you trust in this Savior Who can lead you to this wonderful life. This is what Jesus taught, and this is what we need to experience and proclaim wherever we go.

Pharisees Were Jealous

In the next verse, “a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus” (Matthew 12:22). It's amazing that there are cases where a demon possesses a person and the person becomes blind and also mute. It is very rare to meet a person who is both blind and mute. I have never seen someone who was both blind and mute. I've seen people that are blind and people that are mute, but a person who is blind and mute is such a rarity. But here was a man who was blind and mute because he was demon-possessed, and Jesus healed the man. He cast out the demon with a word, the man's eyes were opened, and he could see. “All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, 'This Man cannot be the Son of David, can He?'” (Matthew 12:23). But the Pharisees were jealous.

There are a lot of preachers who want all the admiration of people for themselves but they cannot bear to see somebody else drawing people to a better gospel and turning away from the inferior gospel that they presented. So they become jealous and their jealousy makes them judge others. Don't be disturbed if you are the object of jealousy by others or if they call you bad names. Has anybody called you “the prince of devils?” They called Jesus by that name. It says here that when Jesus did this good thing that so many people appreciated, the religious leaders said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 12:24). They were saying that Jesus performed the healing by the power of the devil, that He is just in league with the ruler of demons. They said, essentially, “He is hand in hand with Satan, and that is how He does this.” But Jesus didn't get upset with that. He knew they were blind. How can you get angry with a blind man if you have sight and another person is blind? You say this wall is white and that man says it’s black, because he is blind. How can you argue with him? How can you convince a blind man that the wall is white? You would be stupid if you get angry with him and call him crazy. He is not crazy; he is blind. That is why Jesus wasn't upset with them when they called Him the prince of devils -- because they were blind. He was the Son of God, pure and clean, but they called Him dirty.

Jesus wasn't upset with them, teaching us that it is foolish to be upset with somebody who insults you. Jesus replied in a very rational and calm way, and said, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?" (Matthew 12:25-26). Jesus was saying that Satan is not so foolish.

One Thing We Can Learn from Demons

Christians fight with each other, but the demons don’t. That is something you can learn from the demons. Don't fight with one another when you are fighting for the same cause. The demons are fighting for one cause - for the glory of Satan - and they are united. Christians are supposed to be fighting for the glory of God, but they fight with each other. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand; a house divided against itself will fall. Husbands and wives who quarrel with each other need to hear this word, “A house divided against itself will not stand.” That means your children will suffer. Don't be foolish; learn from the demons to not fight with each other nor to cast each other out.

God Writes His Law on Our Hearts

He went on to say, “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges” (Matthew 12:27). I don't know the exact details of what was happening there so I can’t talk about the things that are not written in Scripture. I don't have an explanation. But He said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). In the gospel of Luke, in the similar passage, He said, “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). When you put these two verses together, you find that the “finger of God” is the Spirit of God. Just as God wrote the Ten Commandments with His finger on tablets of stone and gave it to Moses, today, in the New Covenant, He writes His laws with His finger (the Spirit of God) on our hearts. It is wonderful to compare Scripture with Scripture and see that the finger of God is the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the Person through Whom God writes His laws in our hearts, so that we can obey them.

Then Jesus said, “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (Matthew 12:29). If Satan has not been defeated, how can you take possession of what he has taken or robbed from your life? Suppose the devil robbed you of many things in your life (and he has robbed all Christians). How can you go and take it all back, if Satan himself is not bound? That is why people could not overcome Satan in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, we know that Satan was defeated on the cross, and therefore we can take back everything that he has taken away from us. Satan has no authority over us anymore; he has been defeated on the cross.

He then spoke about their sin, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:30-32). What I want you to see is that when they cursed Him -- called Him the prince of devils -- He forgave them. That's the difference between Jesus and the Old Testament prophets. When Miriam cursed Moses, Miriam got leprosy; when somebody cursed Elisha, he was eaten by bears; but Jesus gave forgiveness. That's how a New Covenant servant lives.

Chapter 47

Wholehearted Disciples

Who Is for Jesus and Against Him

In the verses leading up to Matthew 12:30, the Pharisees have accused Jesus of casting out demons through the power of the prince of demons, Satan. When Jesus said that a house divided itself cannot stand (verse 25), He taught an important principle, of who is with Jesus and who is not with Him. In Matthew 12:30, He says, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” On the surface, this appears to contradict what Jesus said in Luke 9:50, when his disciples were concerned about someone who was not following them, and Jesus said something which appears to be very different. When He heard of certain people who were casting out demons but not following Him, Jesus said, “Don't forbid him.” Paraphrasing Jesus’ words, He said, “Don't follow him, don't forbid him, because it doesn't matter if he doesn't preach discipleship, he is casting out demons. That's fine because he who is not against us, is for us.”

That appears to contradict what it says here, “He who is not with Me, is against Me.” but when we see two apparently contradictory verses in Scripture, we must remember that both are true in the context in which Jesus says each. In Luke 9:50, He was replying to the disciples, who said in the previous verse, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons and we tried to hinder him. We wanted to stop him because he doesn't follow along with us.” In other words, if I were to paraphrase it, this man’s ministry seemed to be casting out demons, and he didn’t seem to be emphasizing discipleship. So what do we do when we find someone like that today? They just go around casting out demons, and they're not teaching people to follow Jesus and to be disciples. The word of the Lord to such is, “Don't hinder him, because he who is not against you is for you.”

In other words, He was telling the disciples that this man is not against you - he's not speaking against you. He's doing a certain ministry (casting out demons), so leave him alone. The principle is - don't hinder him, and don't join him. That's important to remember. He didn’t say, “Okay you fellows, go and join him and do the same thing.” No, leave him alone. Let him do his work, but you do what you are called to do, which is make disciples. It doesn't mean that we have to work together with people who have a different vision, because if we did that, then the work would get diluted. If God has called you to make disciples, you must stick to that. But we don't hinder or speak against others who are casting out demons. We believe that ultimately the Lord wants to make disciples. That was the commission that He finally gave to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, but remember this instance took place long before the final commission, long before the day of Pentecost. There was no commission at that time to go and make disciples. So if people were casting out demons, that was fine. If they didn't join up with Jesus and become His disciples then, that was okay. But today, the situation is different. We still follow the principle that we don't hinder someone who is doing another ministry, but we can’t say that that person is fulfilling God’s full purpose.

The full purpose of God is: cast out a man’s demons, bring him to Christ, make him a disciple, baptize him, and make him a disciple. If that's not done by someone else in their ministry, we don't hinder him, but we will make it clear that that's not the calling of the church. And we have to make this distinction clear to people who may be deceived by such a ministry also.

We must remember when we’re reading the Gospels that certain things are permitted at that time. Jesus permitted for example, the payment of tithes, and for lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. There was even an instance in Mark 10 when one rich young ruler came to him and said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus told Him to keep the commandments. What would you answer someone who asked you today, “How can I have eternal life?” Would you tell him to keep the commandments? No, but that's what Jesus said to him. That's one of the many examples that show that the new covenant age had not yet started. It started only on the day of Pentecost. So until then, Jesus’ attitude was; if somebody spends his time casting out demons and is not interest in discipleship, don’t hinder him - let him do that.

The Great Commission - Discipleship

Now we have to urge everyone to make disciples, because that's the Great Commission. So it is in that connection that Jesus says in Matthew 12:30, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” It is in regards to following Jesus in building His church that if you're not wholeheartedly with Him, you’re in a limited way against Him. The non-Christian is obviously against the Lord. He is not even claiming to have anything to do with the Lord. But when a Christian claims to belong to the Lord and claims to be doing the Lord's work, and yet he's not gathering together, he can actually be a hindrance.

Consider the example of a building site. Suppose you’ve got twenty workers there, and 10 of them are working hard, and 10 of them are sitting around and doing nothing but talking, wasting people's time, and getting in the way of other people doing their work. Would you say, “They’re doing no harm”? They’re doing a tremendous amount of harm! They are against the building of that building because they are hindering the ones who are working. They're wasting their time talking about lot of things. If they had gone away from that site, the remaining ten people could have done a better job. That is an example of “He who is not with Me, is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” If you're gathering from the fields (the harvest), and there are lot of people hanging around in the fields not doing anything, just standing in your way, they are hindering the work. They are going to stumble others and hinder them, and whatever they gather will slip out of their hand and scatter.

Examples like this indicate that if you are not a wholehearted disciple of Jesus, just forget about being a Christian. We must have no interest in going around gathering people whose only aim is to go to heaven. I personally said that openly to the Lord: “I’ve no interest at all in gathering together people who just want to go to heaven when they die”. Is there any human being in the world, out of seven billion people, who doesn’t want to go to heaven when they die? Every single person wants to go to heaven! Nobody wants to go to hell. If that is the only reason for which people are coming, then I'm not interested because Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.”

Therefore, we're not really interested in people who just come along because they want to go to heaven when they die. That's not the gospel we preach, but unfortunately that is the gospel being preached by lot of people today. The Great Commission is, “Go and make disciples, and teach them to do every single thing that I have commanded.” Very few people are doing that today, but those are the people who are really doing God's work. You may not realize it because the work is small. Obviously, it’s small because they're concentrating on quality and not on quantity. The world emphasizes quantity. Every company examines its progress by what the balance sheets show, and how much their profit is. When a Christian church goes that way – keeping balance sheets of converts - it has gone the way of the world. Jesus made disciples. It's not quantity, but quality that He looked for. Whenever He saw huge numbers, He turned around and said to them some of the hardest words that He ever said. Luke 14:25-26 is an example of this: great multitudes followed Him and He turned around and said, “You can’t follow me if you don’t hate your father, mother, brother, sister, wife and children” (paraphrased). Is that the type of sermon any preacher would preach to great multitude following him? No! Jesus was not interested in quantity; He was interested in quality.

I heard a little story of a mother rabbit talking to a lioness, saying, “I had 20 little rabbits last year, you know rabbits multiply very fast. How many did you have?” The lioness said, “I had only one last year, but that one was a lion.” Do you see that's the difference? Are we gathering a lot of rabbits, or do we have some lions? Are we making disciples, or a great crowd of people sitting in our Churches whose only aim is to go to heaven when they die? They want preachers who will tell them how to go to heaven when they die, and I want to say this also, that most of them are not going to go to heaven when they die, because their preachers have deceived them. Is it enough to believe in Jesus? Even the demons believe (James 2:19). That type of belief is not going to take anyone into God's kingdom. The safest thing is to be a disciple and to make disciples. Then, you are sure of where you're going. So, “He who does not gather with Me, scatters.” A person is hindering God's work if he's not gathering wholehearted disciples.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

“Any sin can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31). There is only one sin that Jesus said will never be forgiven, and what is it? From the context, what we see here is an attitude towards the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is working, and you stand against it. The Holy Spirit is trying to say something to you and you resist it.

There are two types of sin: sins of action, and sins of attitudes. For example, telling a lie is a sin of action. Or slapping somebody, that’s a sin of action. Adultery is a sin of action. But there are other sins that are sins of attitudes, such as hatred, bitterness, jealousy, an unforgiving spirit, pride, and selfishness. These are sins of attitude.

Is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit a sin of action, or a sin of an attitude? I believe it's a sin of an attitude because that's what these Pharisees were demonstrating - an attitude against the Holy Spirit. It need not be just in the way they spoke to Jesus. Today it could be in an attitude where you resist the pleadings of the Holy Spirit until you cross a line and the Holy Spirit stops pleading with you. That can happen. Now the important thing is not to define what the sin against the Holy Spirit is. What is more important is to know whether you've committed it or not. It doesn't matter the definition, definition is not important. For example, the definition of humility is not the main thing, the important thing is to be humble. So in the same way, in this area, the important thing is not a definition (which is all that a lot of people seek). What is the sin against the Holy Spirit? That's not important to know, because it's not very clear what exactly it is, and we don't want to be wrong here.

But one thing we can be sure of, we can know definitely whether we have committed it, and that's enough. How do we know whether we've committed the sin against the Holy Spirit or not? It is the Holy Spirit who brings us to repentance. Look at this verse for example in Acts 11:18, (the last part). “God has granted to the Gentiles repentance that leads to life” (that is - through the Holy Spirit’s working). All the working of the God today in the world in people's lives is through the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit led people to repentance.

So if you find in your heart a desire to turn from sin, to repent, then you can be absolutely sure that you've not committed the sin against the Holy Spirit. No matter what you have spoken against the Holy Spirit, or what you have done in your life (however great of a crime you have committed), you have not sinned against the Holy Spirit if there is the slightest desire in you to turn around and come back to the Lord. That is the test. Because in a person who has committed that sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will stop pleading with that person and he will never have a desire to repent. He will be hard, and he can sin and he’ll have no desire to repent, and he will make a joke of sin.

I think in my whole life I can think of only one person whom I've ever met like that who could sin and make a joke of the whole thing. I was amazed he could go and commit adultery and make a joke of the whole thing, and he was supposed to be a Christian. In that case, I would say it's possible that he had committed a sin against the Holy Spirit, that he resisted the Holy Spirit so long that his conscience is hardened and he had no desire to turn.

But we're not here to judge who has committed that sin or not. The important thing is that we can definitely know about ourselves. You may not be able to know about another person, but you can definitely know about yourself, whether you have committed that sin. I say this so that you don't let the devil bring you under unnecessary condemnation, making you feel, “Oh I committed that sin, now there's no hope for me!” I've had a number of people in my life ask me, “Do you think I have sinned against the Holy Spirit?” I ask them one simple question: “Do you have a desire to turn from sin and trust in Jesus now?” If they say “yes,” then I say, “Well, I can assure you that you've not sinned against the Holy Spirit.”

In Matthew 12:32, Jesus says, “Whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven, in this age, or age to come.” Again, I think that speaking against the Holy Spirit is a deliberate knowing, standing against the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes there are these fake preachers who do all types of crazy things like pushing people down with their hand and saying, “This is the work of the Holy Spirit!” They say, “Don't you dare speak against the Holy Spirit (referring to their false works), because you'll never be forgiven!” It's a verse which many preachers use to scare people, and so people get scared and say, “Okay, I will not speak against it.” I've spoken against that type of garbage all my life, and when people try to scare me with these words, I say, “You know, there's another verse in 1 John 4:1.”

The devil also quoted verses to Jesus saying, “It is written,” and Jesus replied saying, “It is also written.” So when people speak to me and say, “Don't speak against these things, because it is written that if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you won't be forgiven!” I say to them, “It's also written in 1 John 4:1, ‘Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,’ and that's what I'm doing - I want to test every action. Is that from the Holy Spirit”? For me, this is a four-fold test to see whether it’s something from the Holy Spirit: Did Jesus do it? Did Jesus teach it? Did the apostles do it? Did the apostles teach it? And if it's “no” on all four counts, then I say “I reject it. That's not from the Holy Spirit, because if it is from the Spirit, I'll see it in one of these four areas”. We should not be afraid to test the spirits. If you don't, you're disobeying 1 John 4:1, and you deserve to be deceived because you are not obeying God's Word. That’s how so many people are deceived, because they're scared by this verse. Don't allow anybody to scare you by quoting Scripture to you. Remember that there's another Scripture that tells you to test every single spirit, and every single manifestation, because there's a lot of deception going on in Christendom right now, just like the Bible says. Deceiving spirits will flood Christendom in the last days.

Jesus’ Attitude of Forgiveness

Jesus also said, “Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven.” That is an amazing verse! He's not just telling the Pharisees that they are forgiven for speaking against him at that time, and calling him the ruler of demons, or working with the ruler of demons. He is saying that whoever (for the next 2,000, or 10,000 years) speaks a word against the Son of Man is forgiven! Jesus is offering forgiveness to every single person who speaks against Him. What an attitude to have! Every Christian says they want to be like Jesus. What does that mean, practically? Here's one area where we can be like Him that we should decide right at the outset. We must have this attitude: whoever ever speaks against or harms me in any way, right now I say, “He is forgiven.” I have nothing against him. I'm not going to hold anything against him. I will not keep a grudge against him for a single moment, leave alone for a single day!

This is the attitude we must have - this person who harmed us is forgiven. He is forgiven because he doesn't know what he's doing, and does not know what a serious crime it is to speak against the child of God. He doesn’t know it. If he knew it, he wouldn't dare to do it, but he is so blind. He is so lacking in spiritual intelligence, that he speaks against God's children. Forgive him! He's a spiritual idiot! What do you do with an idiot who comes and says some foolish things to you on the road? You don't pick a fight with him. In the same way, that’s how to deal with spiritual idiots who keep on criticizing God's people and criticizing God’s servants and finding fault with them: leave them alone. Just treat them like the dumb idiots you meet on the road perhaps, and ignore them. Forgive them, and don't take seriously what they say, because there is spiritual idiocy, just like there is normal idiocy.

Cleansing the Inner Life

In the next verse (Matthew 12:33), He continues to speak on the same subject. He says it’s not just a question of slightly changing your external life - your words and your behavior. For example, a person when recognizing their sin may simply say, “Okay, in the future I won't do this particular thing.” That doesn't solve the problem though, because that is only external refinement. Management seminars are often conducted by companies for management. Executives teach people there to refine their external behavior so that sales can improve, and working together in a company can improve their sales. They're all seeking their own gain, benefit, and profit. But here Jesus says that this is not going to solve the problem as far as Christianity is concerned. “You have to make the total tree good, and then its fruit will be good. Or make the tree bad, and the fruit will be bad. The tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).

For example, if you have a tree in your garden that's producing bad mangoes. As soon as fruit comes out, it's rotten. You can see that it’s rotten. It’s very, very bad, and you can do nothing about it. You can keep cutting off the fruit, and go and buy some really good mangoes in the market and tie your tree up here and there in the branches, and fool everybody who passes by your house that you have a fantastically rich mango tree. You can make them think it produces so much fruit, and such luscious fruit, but it is a deception. The real tree is producing a lot of corrupt mangoes, but you're not letting anybody see it because as soon as fruit comes up, you cut it off. You are buying some good mangoes from the market, and tying your tree up here and there carefully in the branches, and people are thinking that's the fruit of the tree.

This is a perfect picture of many, many Christians. They cover up all the wrong things that they do in secret and darkness, and in their homes and many other places, but they put on all these good fruits in the presence of the others to fool passers-by. They want to fool others who know them, and make them think that they are godly people. And Jesus said that that's not the answer. You need to make the whole tree good. That's why John the Baptist said, “The axe is laid to the root of the tree” (Matthew 3:10). We can say that in the old covenant under the law, God gave Israel a pair of scissors to cut off bad fruits as soon as they came. So, when the Israelites obeyed God, you found hardly any murder, adultery, theft, etc. because of the commandments that they obeyed. That is like scissors that cut off the bad fruit immediately. Meanwhile, the other nations around Israel, who didn’t have these commandments, kept living with these terrible sins. So Israel was just as bad as the other nations on the inside, but they had a pair of scissors to cut off the bad fruit so that it didn't continue to grow and develop. So while that gave the nation of Israel a good testimony externally, it did not make the tree good.

In the new covenant, God has taken away the pair of scissors. Jesus came with an axe (as you read in Matthew 3) and laid it to the root of the tree, to cut it from its root. Once the bad tree is cut from the root, it can’t produce any bad fruit. And now, Jesus has planted a good tree - a tree that produces good fruit. Now you don't have to go to the market to buy good mangoes to fool people, and you're not interested in fooling people now anyways. You’re interested in having a really good tree. That's the point here. Make the tree good, and then its fruit will be good. But if the tree is bad, you know the fruit will be bad. The tree is known by its fruit.

We cannot examine another person's inner life, or his heart. God alone knows the heart. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. We can’t see people. That heart means the root of a tree. We don't know anything about the roots of the tree. Whenever you see a tree, you don't see its roots, but we look at the fruit. By the fruit you can gauge what the tree is like. So in a sense, you don't have to look inside a person's heart. The fruit that comes out of that tree is an indication. Jes