12 New Wine in New Wineskins - the Beginnings in Bangalore — Zac Poonen

So, in these days we have had the opportunity to hear some

younger elders and I hope you have been blessed by what you have heard from them.

And now in this session we want to hear two of the

oldest.

Brother Ian has been from the beginning.

In fact, the whole work here in Bangalore started when he and I,

together, were seeking God in our own

desperate, defeated state for the baptism in the Holy

Spirit.

We used to come together and pray together.

We were just two needy people and if you are a needy person, it is wonderful

if you can find another needy person with whom you can pray.

That is what we did and we didn't know, I at least didn't know,

I was pretty fed up with my own defeated life.

But in January 1975, God amazingly met with both of us separately

and I am glad He met with us separately, with me on one day in one place, with Him on another day in another place the next day.

And that was because God did not want it to be a joint experience.

I am always afraid of these joint experiences.

Our relationship with God is personal, individual, and God met with Him and met with me

and that turned our life around.

We were baptized afresh.

We had experienced something earlier, but we had backslidden.

We were baptized afresh in the Holy Spirit and then, of course, we began to

share it in our local church and we were turned out in about six months, literally kicked out

with no warning.

I mean, I was told one Wednesday, we don't want to hear you anymore.

Fine.

I said, God bless you.

Can I speak one last Sunday, next Sunday?

They said, no.

I said, all right, I will go.

I said, I will not cause any problems.

I am a man of peace.

But then they finally felt bad that I had ministered so long.

You know, I had ministered without taking any salary, without taking a title for one year, and they felt

bad about that.

So they said, okay, we will let you speak next Sunday.

And then I spoke and I said, this is your opportunity.

You have come to the borders of Canaan.

You have to decide whether you want to go in or turn back into the wilderness.

And I left.

And they did not want Ian to leave because he was still ministering there.

But then he got up and said, when Zach is leaving, I am leaving too.

And we didn't know what to do that evening and we met together in our home, not knowing where to go.

It was really like Abraham left, not knowing where he was going.

We had absolutely no clue.

We had no intention of starting a church, definitely not.

We said, okay, let's pray together.

One or two others also left and joined us.

And we would just pray together and meet, go day by day, step by step.

And that's how the church began.

And it's been 36 wonderful years working with this dear man of God

who has been in the background, not known by many, but

has been the strength and support of this church that has enabled me to travel.

And you will see that at the judgment seat of Christ.

I don't want to rob him of that reward by talking about it now.

And then after that, we will hear Brother Prabhakar.

He is one of the first brothers, probably the first from Tamil Nadu, whom God brought and he will tell you his

story.

But I wanted these older brothers to share so that those of you who are younger, who are starting now,

can see what God has done in their lives and through their ministry through the years to encourage you.

Brother Ian, deeply touched by

God for the privilege to

meet this church.

I know it is the grace of God and His

mercy.

I could have been languishing in that Baptist church,

lost my children, and probably lost my salvation also.

But I thank God that God sent a man like Brother Zach

across my path, not just once, but thrice, which means that God had

something for me and for us.

And I really thank God, I am deeply, I

am really humbled to be part of such a glorious family, to

be part of the body of Christ.

This is not a fairy tale.

This is not pie in the sky.

This is real.

It is real for me.

This is my family.

It has been my family for thirty -six and a half years and it is going to

be my family for all eternity.

I praise God with all my heart.

I said it, I am not ashamed to say it, that it is not my flesh and blood relatives

who are my family.

If they come in the body of Christ, praise God for that.

But my dear brothers and sisters, and I thank God for every one of you and for those

in our local church here who have blessed me through the years, for Brother Zach and Sister Annie,

their family, their boys that have been a blessing and encouragement to our children.

I thank God with all my heart.

I don't want to just relate facts.

Something that has been impressed on my heart,

like road signs along the way, that's what I want to draw your

attention to, because I believe that's how God leads us.

God leads us through His Holy Spirit.

Like Brother Zach just said, it was His Holy Spirit that changed the direction of our lives, began to change

the direction that God wanted to lead the church, but unfortunately they chose not to be part of it.

And it was the Holy Spirit who led us, and the prophetic word that God gave

us at different times through the years.

I believe that this is so important that we have the Holy Spirit to lead us, just

like it was in the beginning, and we have the prophetic word.

They are like road signs so that we don't get lost.

And even if we take a deviation, which we did at one time,

God brought us back again.

So, I just want to call your attention, first of all, to 2 Peter 1,

verses 19 and 20 as I go on.

2 Peter 1, it says here, in verse 16, I like to read

from verse 16, verse 19 is the word down my heart, but verse 16, it says

we did not follow cleverly devised tales when

we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he received honor and glory from God the Father,

such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved

son with whom I am well pleased.

And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy

mountain.

So, we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well

to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day

dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation.

For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit

spoke from God.

And this was so blessed as I thought of this word and it says

there that the prophetic word is a lamp shining in a dark place.

Some of you may have seen the souvenir that we brought up for Brother Zach's 70th birthday, the man

holding a lamp.

In the olden days when there were no lighthouses, that's how it was, that in the darkness there was

this lantern that this man held to guide the ships.

And you know the word there is the same thing, it's a portable lamp.

In the old covenant it was, they needed somebody to go to God, to go,

they needed someone to go to the lighthouse or somebody to go to God.

In the new covenant, I'd really bless my heart, we are portable lamps.

We can have the prophetic word on our lips, we can have the prophetic word in the church.

And interestingly it says until the morning star rises in your hearts

and that word very blessedly is the word phosphorous,

phosphorous, you know that chemical that glows.

You see these fireflies at night that have that little lamp in its

body and there are some creatures in the sea that have that little

glow that glows in the night.

It comes from within and that blessed my heart that that's what the prophetic word in

the church should do.

We have the prophetic word made sure it says and we are to focus.

I want to read that to you from the message Bible.

It says we couldn't be more sure what we saw and heard, God's glory,

God's voice.

The prophetic word was confirmed to us, you'll do well to keep focusing on it,

it's the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of

the morning star in your hearts.

The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of private opinion

and why?

Because it's not something concocted in the human heart.

Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God's word and that's what I

want to emphasize on my brothers and sisters as we think of how God has led us.

It was the prophetic word, it was this lamp that shone in a dark place

and that continued to shine and in different points the lamp shone and gave us

direction and like I said there was a little time when we went astray, God brought us back.

But that's how it is, until the morning star rises in our hearts, until we partake

of divine nature, until we have the life of Jesus within us, the light

comes from within, the light emits, that's the word there, the morning star, it's a

light emitting, it's from within.

That's what the word should do, we come to conferences, we come here and

hear the word, we have to focus our attention on what God is saying, what is God saying to me, what

is the spirit we heard many times, let him who has ears hear what the spirit is saying, let him

who has ears to hear and to give heed to this word.

And why I say that, because that's what, it was not Brother Zach's bright idea.

I know in all the time we were in that Baptist church, never once did

he ever speak of wanting to, you know, we start another church, we start another group,

never once, we really felt that God would take the church along with what he was

trying to do.

And just like I said at the beginning of creation when everything was, when there was chaos and

darkness and emptiness, the spirit of God moved, it says, upon the waters and then God

spoke, let there be light and there was light.

And I believe that's how it is, that's how the church came

into being.

It happened as God spoke, as God guided us and led us after he baptized us

and afresh in the Holy Spirit and fire.

And so the prophetic word was shining through the darkness and that has got brighter through the years.

In 36 and a half years, we thank and praise God, the light has not got dimmer.

We praise God that there's a generation growing up, at least in CFC Bangalore, who are gripped, some of them

who are gripped, who have this, who are now the morning stars beginning to rise in their hearts.

They are now light emitting, they are phosphorous, they glow in the

darkness.

And that's what I want to be and that's what I want to encourage all of us, our young people especially,

you need to focus on the prophetic word, let it work in you till you, till there's

phosphorous, till there's a light in you that will come forth, that will give

light to others.

And that is how God led us.

It was one Sunday morning in this Baptist church that Brother Zach just spoke a little

about.

And I remember that Sunday morning when the air was, as it was

electrically charged, everything, you know, things, even though the whole church was not

in that decision, they would rather have had us continue, but they knew that

something was happening.

And the word that rang out loud and clear that Sunday morning, I'll never forget it, we still have the

message on CD, it's from

Luke chapter 19, if you like you can look at it, in verses 41.

This was the word that after they agreed to let Brother Zach speak, I believe that was of God,

they couldn't stop it.

There was a word the church needed to hear at that time, a prophetic word.

And before that, before that there was a man of God, there were two men of God that God brought across

our path.

One was an Anglican pastor who helped us, who helped us to understand, who led us

into an assurance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Brother Zach one day and me the next day.

And then following that a few months later, some other brothers and sisters in the church,

about six families.

And there was this Presbyterian pastor, there were others who came and, you know, we gave them

freedom to speak and try to get people to speak in tongues and leave your tongue loose and all this kind of thing.

But these two men stand out, we thank God for them and I think both of them

have gone into glory.

And just one brother, Harold Bredson, very recently, and he had said this word,

I'll remember that, he was sick that morning, he was lying down in the vestry and

he was only able to get up to come and speak that word.

And he gave a word, it was a very powerful word that day, and at the end of that word he said, he says, God

will fulfill His purpose through His servant

either with you or without you.

And that's the word he left with the church.

This was months earlier before they literally asked Brother Zach to leave.

He was not supported by the church, I was.

And when they said that I should continue and I would work under the board, I said, I'm sorry, I

have the same convictions, I believe what Brother Zach believes, I believe what the Bible says.

I believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, if he leaves, I leave also.

And so we left after the message that

Sunday morning, and that word in Luke 19, 41 to 44, Jesus said, if

you had known, even you, the things which make for peace, it's good my brothers and sisters,

we don't just think back, I don't want to think back 36 and a half years, I want to think of now.

I want to take this word for now, and Jesus said, if you had known, even you, the things which make for peace, but

now they have been hidden from your eyes.

That's a sad thing, that the things which make for peace get hidden from our eyes.

And he spoke further there in Luke chapter 19, it

says there before earlier that when he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it.

And I know the times we had when we used to meet together with some of those who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we would seek

God, we would really seek him, and many times with fasting, and times

weeping, praying that God would lead the church along.

And Jesus said there, he spoke, he said, the days will come upon you, verse 43, when your enemies will throw up a

barricade against you.

And so they level you to the ground, and it says, you will not leave in you one stone

upon another, and listen to this word, this was the word, because you did not recognize the time of your

visitation.

That was the word that came that morning to the church, because you did not recognize

the time of your visitation.

And speaking in Luke chapter 13, you can turn to that word also, because that was a word also that

Razak had shared, together with Luke 19, and Jesus speaking of Jerusalem

there, he says, who killed the true prophets, this is a word that you spoke to Jerusalem, they killed the true

prophets, he says, how often, Luke 13, verse 34, how often I wanted to gather your children together,

just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it.

That was the word that came that Sunday morning.

There were many, many in tears, sad that we were leaving,

and the ones who were baptized in the Holy Spirit, when they came and said, now what do we do,

we said, no, you go back, you don't need to leave with us.

They said, no, but if we go back, they're going to tear down all that we have believed.

So we didn't know what we were going to do, like Brother Razak just shared, the title of that

message which we have, you can always ask for it, order it, it's a moment of crucial decision,

and I just don't think of 36 and a half years as I sing, I think today.

I want to recognize the time when God comes near me, and we as churches, my brothers and

sisters, it's good that we recognize the day of our visitation, it's good that we recognize the things that make

for peace, in working together with one another, lest they get hidden from our eyes,

it's good we recognize that Jesus wants to gather us together, and if we don't gather with

him, we are scattered, it's good we give heed to that, we focus on this prophetic

word, it's a lamp that shines in a dark place, and like we

just read in the message Bible, in this time of darkness, we have the prophetic word,

thank God for that, and thank God that the light gets brighter.

And so, we left the church that day, and the

denominational church, we met that evening, and we had a powerful

prayer meeting, before that, many people came and tried to persuade me to leave, and said don't join Zach, he's a

loner, and he's always been a loner, my own dad told me, I hope you have your

eyes open, I said to him, dad, my eyes were never more open

than today, and ironically,

I would say thank God, it was brother Zach who led my dad to the Lord, who brought him into the kingdom of God, just two weeks before he

passed away.

So God has, God works in mysterious ways, and

we left, I had two children, my eldest was three and a half, and

our youngest was about one year, and we felt free

when we gathered together, we didn't come out with a heavy heart, sad, we felt free, we were sad

of course that the church did not go along with what God was doing, so together with these six

families we met in the home of brother Zach and sister Annie, 16 Dacosta Square, we had no plans

to start a church as we just said, and I think of Acts chapter 4 verse 25,

I was thinking of that word when I was thinking of these things, I read that from the message Bible, it says there,

Acts 4 verse 25, why the big noise, why the mean plots, peoples,

earth's leaders push to position, that's how it was, there were

people on the board there who wanted to become the next pastor, earth's leaders

push for position, potentates meet for summit talks, they had secret board meetings, they had a secret board

meeting without the chairman, decided that they were going to push him out of the church,

but God had his plan and purpose and everything, and it says there, the God deniers, the

Messiah defiers, that's how the message paraphrases Acts 4 verse 25,

so as we prayed that evening there was another word that God gave us, that

was a prophetic word that gave us direction, and that's in Revelation and chapter 3, I've

gone back to this word many times, Revelation and chapter 3, we heard it's good to,

together with the epistles of Timothy and Titus to read the first three chapters of Revelation because they

are through the churches that Jesus wrote to John, so Revelation and chapter 3,

you know, and this was a word that came to us that day, it says in verse

7, the middle of that verse, he who is holy, who is true, who has the

key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, while

we were in that Baptist church, we had got light with some brothers that got brought across

our path, that Jesus came in our flesh, and

that was the key of David, and we got light that we can, that Jesus became like us in

all points, tempted in all points, and that we could live a godly

life, so that was the word that came, and it says, I know your deeds, verse 8, behold I have put

before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power and have

kept my word and have not denied my name, and it goes on many other things

there, and of course those of the synagogue of Satan will say that they are Jews, and not but

lie and make them to come and bow down at your feet, we're not looking for that,

when Jesus said because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of

testing, the hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth, I'm

coming quickly, hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown,

so that was a word that God gave, encouraged our hearts that evening, we had a powerful prayer

meeting, the Holy Spirit came upon us, and we just gave thanks and praise to God, it

was like on that day of Pentecost, it says there that when they spoke in tongues, when they

praised God, it says they spoke of the mighty deeds of God, and that's what it was, that was such a powerful

prayer meeting, that we praise God, God gave, encouraged us, I put before you an open door that

no man can shut, he closed one door, he opened another, and he said no man could shut, that

encouraged us tremendously and gave us direction for the coming days, and we didn't know

how God would lead us, I think back and like I was saying, I thank God that God allowed

our hearts to prosper, it was 40 years ago, not just

36 and a half years ago, 40 years ago that a young powerful preacher and a Bible

teacher, who was about 31 at that time, visited the little home of a

newly married couple, you know who were married for about six months, and for the first time

drank chocolate tea, which the wife had made, and that young preacher was none other

than Brother Zach, and that couple was my wife and me, we had not yet had our first child, but that's

the first time that we met, when he came to Secunderabad, where I was living,

where we were living, and we had the Brethren Cumbaptist

Church that I was going to, had deeper life meetings, and Brother Zach took some

Bible studies there, which really blessed us and challenged us, it was the first time, so I'm so thankful for

that God, 40 years ago, that I never thought of it then, I was a full -time

worker, and working with Youth for Christ, and they never

wanted to invite Brother Zach for any of, it was said to us, don't ever invite Zach Ponen

for your YFC rallies and all, he will drive the people away, and the

offerings will go down, we will not get a good offering, that's how that's how it was then, so he was never invited for

any Youth for Christ program, and I was working at that time

with this organization, so and then when I

think back to that time, the second time, when disillusioned after the first meeting we

had, and that we didn't have any contact with each other, and disillusioned with full -time Christian

work, my wife and I were newly married, we had our first child, we said no, we need to take a break, we need to

go to some place where we can study God's Word, and give our time to

understand God's Word, and see what God's purpose was for us, so that's how we came to Bangalore, a

couple of years later, and that was the second time we met him, when we joined, it was more a

discipleship training center, and Brother Zach again was taking some Bible

studies there, we used to look forward to his, to his sessions, more than all the other boring sessions that we

had, and the third time of course, so I just, I say all this to see that,

you know, we don't think that God plans everything so perfectly, and the third time when

God brought us together in the Baptist Church, and let me see now God's purpose

in bringing us together, and it was there as we shared that

we received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and we experienced the gifts of the Spirit,

we apart from speaking in tongues, apart from the gift of tongues, and apart

from the gift of prophecy, and apart from seeing demons cast

out, we saw many people delivered, some people who came to our meetings, and

miraculous healings, and in a situation a word of wisdom that exposed a man's

heart, who pretended that he wanted to become a believer, so many things like this, and discerning

of spirits, God gave us the gifts of the church, but God added, we see to the church, those who

had a longing, those who were to be saved, and I could say like, it says in Mark chapter 2

verse 1, it was heard that Jesus was in the home.

Those six years that we met together in Brother Zach and Sister Annie's home, if we could say, and many

young people, you know, this word, it was heard that Jesus was in the home, that's how it was,

and in that time we decided to

work and support ourselves, we said that we would not take any support from the church,

excuse me, and we never lacked, we never took an offering, right from day

one, we had the offering box at the back, we would not even remind people that there was

an offering box, we never asked for money, and even when we bought up that piece of land,

today we have the meeting hall there, when we built the ground floor, we never asked for money, we never sent

out requests for money, we never sent out letters or reports of our work,

and because of the stand that we took, Brother Zach ceased to get invitations

to preach, before that he spoke at Keswick conventions and different other meetings, even

in that big meeting in Kerala at one time, and but after that, you know, all the

invitations ceased, so we became unpopular, people called us heretics and

all kinds of things, they wrote about us in Christian magazines, and there was a reproach, people were warned,

don't go to 16 Dacosta Square, don't go to Zach Ponen's church, and

you heard Brother Vincent share, and just how that helped

him, so we continued to meet there and God added to our number, we,

you know, the drawing room was full, the bed, and the adjoining rooms, and the veranda, and we were just bursting

at the seams, but like I said, we never asked for money, and God enabled us to

build the hall that we have, and I want to say one thing,

that having experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, being immersed with the Holy Spirit, and being filled with

the Holy Spirit, we came to a place as, you know, we're now Lord, you know, we

had the faith to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, but we seemed to reach a roadblock, we

were not satisfied, we believed that there was more, and so we prayed and sought

the Lord, and just like it says in John chapter 16, verse 15, Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit says,

he will glorify me, for he will take of mine, and disclose it to you.

That word, many times I have read that, and I've

claimed that, I've asked, Lord, you promised that the Holy Spirit will take the things of you, and reveal them to us, and

that's what he has done, that's what he has done for us through the years, at that time we were like a

locomotive full of power, but no tracks to run on, and

the Spirit of God led us to see the new and living way that Jesus made for us, through the flesh,

he led us to see that it's, it's the way of the cross, like we heard this so powerfully from Santosh

this morning, that makes us one.

We have this, this vertical connection, this vertical beam, a connection with the Lord,

and a horizontal beam in our connection with each other, and we thank God for that, because then we

began to experience, the Holy Spirit began to make us one.

We were not large in number, and not everybody became part of this

call, but we thank God for those brothers, and some of them are with us, some of them

have fallen away, and along that path, there were some who thought they would be

made elders, they were not given enough recognition, they left us, and I think there's only one family

today, and that's Brother Danny, Brother Sundarsingh, his father has passed away, but all the others

just fell away, but those who had a hunger after God, who did not want to be an elder, who did not

want recognition, they did not want to, you know, have some big part in the church, they just wanted

to be disciples, God made us one, and I want to say that that's what God has done

with Brother Zach and myself, and then Brother Newton, even though there's a 15 years

difference between, I mean, his age and ours, we never felt that way, we have worked together in

such unity, Newton is not a yes man, he's never been one, and whether it's Brother Zach or whether it's me,

we have worked together in a spirit of unity and fellowship, and that's the thing, we may not have the opportunity

to visit one another so often, Brother Zach travels, Newton has a job, I had my business,

but there was a fellowship, there was something that fused us together, it was the Holy Spirit,

and like I said, what happened on the 17th of August 1975, that was the

church was born, I always say that, you know, it was not a bright idea, Brother Zach, it was planted by

God, it was not planted by man, it was planted by God, the church was born that

day, my brothers and sisters, and we look back to that and we thank God, it was the Holy Spirit,

the church was born of the Spirit, and God had immersed us in the Holy Spirit and

showed us the way that Jesus made for us, the new and living way through the flesh that we can have

confidence to walk that way through the blood of Jesus, and that we can become one

as we take up the cross like we heard and deny ourselves, it's not been easy,

we are both different personalities, Newton and myself, we are different personalities, but we have

worked together in fellowship, we have had our, we have heard that often, we have had our disagreements, sharp

disagreements, but never once a smell of strife, I can testify that before God,

never once did I get offended, things that Brother Zach would have to tell me, where I

needed some correction, where I needed something, where I needed to put something right,

and whatever it was, whether it was something personal, whether it was concerning my family, concerning, we worked together,

and I never got offended, there's never been a smell of strife between us,

and we thank God for that, and I believe it's only the Holy Spirit, it's only the way that we decided to walk

the new and the living way, that we deny ourselves, take up the cross daily, and follow after Jesus,

and that's how it's been, but like I said, God gave us

these directions, words along the way, the prophetic word that we looked at in

the beginning, that was made more sure, we focused on it, God gave direction and continued to lead us,

and as we did that, we became one, as we continue to walk that way,

like I said, we became phosphorus, the day star, the morning star, rose in our hearts,

and the fellowship between us became more glorious, and so,

at one point we did stray, in our pursuit after

holiness, and we don't blame anybody,

but we went into a phase of legalism,

and yeah, we, I always think that who suffered most were our

children at that time, but I believe it was God's purpose in taking us through that

phase of legalism, because today we could help others, that today we could help

others to become servants of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit, the

letter kills, like it says in 2nd Corinthians and chapter 3, the letter kills, but the

spirit gives life, and that's why God allowed us, but I want to say one thing, and there was another

word that God gave us at that time, a prophetic word, and I remember so very clearly, I got

light on that, you know, we were focusing on 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16,

depends, you know, we have been hearing about reading the scripture slowly, and to read it exactly

and slowly as it is written, and it says there in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, by

common confession, great is the mystery of godliness, we have heard about that

in this conference, that Christ manifest in the flesh,

and we were taken up with the doctrine, and we thought the secret

of godliness was a doctrine, Christ manifest in the flesh, that's what led us into legalism,

that's what made us legalistic, but I remember we got light, I got light, and you

know, we never despise the paraphrases like the living Bible and the message Bible, sometimes we get light, and

in the living Bible, it said it is quite true, listen to it, it is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not

an easy matter, but the answer lies in Christ,

that was a liberating word, the answer lies in Christ, not Christ manifest in the flesh,

that liberated me, I can testify to that before God,

that freed me from legalism, I had to repent of it, I know brother

Zach has even publicly in conferences apologized for taking the church through legalism,

but God allowed us to go through that path, so that we can warn one

another, that we can be alert, and I believe that the danger we face my brothers

and sisters as we continue to pursue holiness, and all holiness movements,

as we continue to pursue a godly life, as we continue to live a

godly life and live a victorious life, the danger is not worldliness, because that can be

recognized very quickly, the danger is legalism, the legalism can come in

among us, it is not that we don't keep the commandments of God, we have

heard about teaching even obeying the least of the commandments, like

women covering, wailing their heads, I will come to that in a moment, and

it's not that we say no, we don't need to obey all that, but we can obey in the letter,

and if we don't have time to look at it, but in 2nd Corinthians, and maybe we

can, I think it's a good word, I shared this last week in CFC,

in 2nd Corinthians and

chapter 2, I was sharing about being, that we are called to be a fragrance,

an exquisite perfume of Christ, and Paul says there in

2nd Corinthians in chapter 2, he says there, Thanks be to God, who

always leads us in triumph in Christ, I was saying that that word actually is that Jesus

triumphing over us, and the picture that Paul had there was this Roman general with all

his captives that he had taken into captivity, and then marching through the streets of

Rome in chains, these were all his trophies, and the crowds would cheer him, and the picture

that Paul had there that Jesus has triumphed over us, you and me, my brothers and sisters, we are captives,

not in chains, we are free, our chains fell off, we have been taken captive, we don't have

the smell of the prison like I was saying, we have a fragrance, that's what it says there, we are a fragrance

of Christ, verse 13, to God, among those who are being saved and among

those who are perishing, to the one in a Roma from death to death, to the other in a Roma from life to life, and

who is adequate for these things, that's the question Paul asks, and

chapter 3, verse 5, he answers that question, not that we are adequate

in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy, that is our

competency, our sufficiency, whatever you like to call it, is from God, who also

made us adequate or competent as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the

spirit, for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

And we praise God for that, like I said, you know, we read the scripture

slowly, that we can get light, and that's how God liberated us, and we

thank God that Brzezak helped us, we were led into a life of legalism, but we thank God we were

led out of it, and the answer lies in Christ, not Christ manifest in the flesh, not in a

doctrine, my brothers and sisters, you can believe in a doctrine of Christ manifest in the flesh, and go to

hell and lose your salvation, but the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was

proved spotless and pure in his spirit, that's a living Bible paraphrase, the

answer lies in Christ.

I praise God for that, Jesus said, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,

so that's how it has been, and so we came out of that, and like everything, everything, you know,

people can think, oh, now we are free, now we can do, now we can wear jewelry, you know, we can dress, we can go to movies, we

can do this, we can do that, you know, some people take advantage and use their, like Paul says, they

turn their freedom into licentiousness, but thank God, the freedom that God gives us is that

we can serve Christ, that we can be servants of the new covenant, that we can serve one another in

love, that's the other thing I want to emphasize, that it was the love of

God in us and through us, and I can thank God that God

gave us a love for, not only for each other, but God gave us a love for people, you know, Jesus said

in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 13, a word that I have gone to many times, He said, go and learn

what this means, I desire compassion and not sacrifice,

and you can put, substitute that word, sacrifice for many things, I desire

compassion, not our offerings, not our service, and He says, I did not come to call the

righteous but sinners, and again in Matthew chapter 12, in case, you know, in verse 7, He said, but

if you had known, you know, in chapter 9 and verse 13, He says, go and learn what this

means, when they were finding fault with the disciples, that they were plucking the grain on the Sabbath day,

and here in another instance, when they were watching to see whether He is going to heal this man with the withered hand,

and He says, He was angry at the hardness of heart, and He said, if you had known, I told you

earlier, go and learn what this means, if you had known what this means, I desire compassion and not a

sacrifice, you will not condemn the innocent, and that's something that has challenged my heart, my brothers and

sisters, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not just speaking in tongues and not receiving

all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we thank God for that, but the love of God poured into your heart and mine,

and flowing through us, that we can have a love for people, Jesus was moved with compassion,

I believe I cannot be a shepherd in the church if I don't have a compassion for people, if I don't love people, it says

in one of the Psalms, indeed the Lord loves His people, and if I am a shepherd after His heart,

it should be said of me, indeed, He loves God's people, then I am qualified, then I am

fit to be a shepherd, if I don't have compassion, if I am not merciful, I don't mean

that we compromise, sometimes we have to speak firmly, sometimes we have to correct and rebuke, that's part of

our responsibility as shepherds, because we have to give an account for the flock, and I take that seriously also, so

we have to warn, we have to rebuke and correct, but to have compassion, that whatever we do, we do it with compassion,

we do it with mercy, and that's how it's been, that

as the church has grown, we have always, even now recently, we have asked people to recommit,

we are not interested in numbers growing, from just about 15 people and today

we are nearly 400 people, we take it seriously, we are not excited, if the

disciples increase, we are excited, if numbers increase, it makes us fear and

tremble, because we can be infiltrated, and that's what we have to

watch, and that we continue to get light like we heard,

that Jesus, that we get revelation, I like that word in Luke chapter 2 verse 32, when Simeon

prophesied that Jesus was a light of revelation to the Gentiles, to us,

a light of revelation, we get light upon Jesus, we get light upon His word, we

get light on ourselves, that will keep us humble, keep us united,

keep us free from strife and competition and exalting ourselves, and like

we heard, that it's no burden to consider my brother or my sister more

important than myself, and that's how it is, that's how it was with Jesus, to be

under authority, I'm just saying these are the things that have kept us together,

I'm not preaching a sermon, I'm just sharing with you realities, I've never felt a

burden to be under authority, I know that God has put me under the authority of

Brother Zach, I thank God for him, I could say, I too am a man under authority, can we say that,

we brothers who are shepherds, I too am a man under authority, or am I my own authority,

I want to do my own thing, I never want to, I'm scared of that, I want to be a man under authority,

I'm not a yes man, I've never been one, I've never told the line, if I have a different

opinion, I voice it, but we have had glorious fellowship together, with Brother Newton and myself now, Brother

Zach is no longer the elder, and we have other brothers, not just Brother Newton and me, but we have some glorious brothers in

CFC, we've got 8 brothers to support us and help us, we've got some young brothers,

wonderful brothers and ancestors, they're not all yes people,

they don't just tell the line, they're themselves, always encourage, be yourself, don't try to be

somebody else, I remember once, one young brother, when we had the Wednesday meetings, was

kind of hitting out, and I saw, you know, he was trying to imitate Brother Zach, and I talked with him

after the meeting, I said, you'll destroy yourself, God has not given you that grace, be yourself, God has

given you a measure of grace, and a proportion of faith, live within that, and you will

blossom, I'm so glad he took it, he took that correction, and I saw a

complete difference in his life and in his ministry, so, and there have

been others also like that, and so I thank God for many such ones,

to be able to say, I too am a man, or I too am a woman under authority, I just want to say a word

about that, you know, this controversy about sisters veiling their heads, I want to give a testimony here,

I want to tell you, I've never had a problem with 1 Corinthians 11, even before CFC

came into being, never had a problem, my parents went to CSI

church, and though I know their covering is a cap on their head or

something, but my mother got my sister to, when she went to church,

the CSI church, to cover her head, the Roman Catholics, and the Hindus,

and the Muslims, must put us to shame, if within our churches we have a problem

about sisters veiling their heads, I've never had a problem, in

fact even before CFC came into being, when I was in Secunderabad, and when there

were some clever people who say that the hair is the covering for the sister, I said no, why would it say that

a sister should shave her head if she doesn't want to cover it, how come the

hair becomes a covering, so many things, so I just say this to

say that I didn't get this from CFC, that a woman, and my wife has had no problem

there, that a woman should veil her head, I want you to see one thing sisters, and I pointed that out

to my daughters, and I said to the last daughter who got married, I

said you're going to Australia, you're probably going to go there and you'll find that women don't cover their heads there,

I said don't follow their example, if you're the only one, cover

your head, I see in the meetings that sister Annie, in the meetings we see them

on YouTube and on the recordings, that she'd be the only sister with her head covering,

so I told my daughter, I said don't compromise there, I said follow the scripture, not what

CFC has taught, but what is in God's word, that's what I want to say to our sisters, see it in God's word,

not that brother Zach preaches it, and that CFC teaches it, brother Zach preaches what is God's word,

everything that he has preached through the 36 and a half years have gone back to God's word, if it's there, I obey it,

and I want to encourage all of us to do that, and I was just pointing this out, I'll stop with that,

it says in 1 Corinthians 11, 10, that the women ought to have a symbol of authority

on her head, because of the angels, a woman should have a symbol

of authority on her head because of the angels, I thought of that, you know that

many young women, many girls who get married, many sisters who get married, and brothers want

their bride or their wife to wear a symbol of their marriage on their

ring finger, they want the wedding ring so that no other man would look at her

and think that she's not married and try and fool around, we're so careful about that,

wouldn't we want the angels to see that that woman, that sister is under

authority, so we need a symbol of authority as much like we

want a symbol of marriage, it's good to have a symbol of authority, sisters,

I hope that helps you, and like I said, I thank God

for the church, I thank God that I've had the privilege to be part of this family, and

I know God has blessed us through the years, God has blessed my children, and I want to do the

three things that Zach reminded us last year, keep my face in the dust, be

an ordinary brother, and know that I'm a disciple that Jesus loves, not so

much that how much I love him, but that he loves me, amen.