Lecture 1: Three perilous forces faced by a spiritual man

(GB Message)

We use the word ‘spiritual’ to distinguish those things that are not earthly but pertain to divine matters. For us, these terms are special terms used exclusively in connection with God. To be spiritual minded is not an ability that can be acquired by human beings on their own. Rather the ability is only imparted by God through the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him (simply because they are beyond the capacity of the earthly mind); nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual (having the help of the Holy Spirit) judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one”, 1 Cor 2: 14, 15.

Such a mental attitude as referred to in the quotation cited above cannot be attained unless God grants it. To begin with, the person must have been born of water and the Spirit. The other two qualifications are (a) being a healthy member of an anointed church (b) being one who walks seriously in the path of sanctification observing all the discipline found therein. Thereafter, knowledge improves as his experience in the path of sanctification progresses.

Tragedy of “. . . but few are chosen”

(GB Message)

When those originally invited by the king refused to come to the wedding feast, the king’s servants went into the streets and invited all the people they could find to come to the wedding feast. Many of this second group of invitees came, but even in that group, we are told about one man who did not come appropriately. Jesus concludes this parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:14). We know that we have been invited to the kingdom of heaven. But are we among the few who are chosen?

We see the earliest group of godless people in the book of Genesis, at the time of Noah.

• 6:3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
• 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
• 7:4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”

Nature of the path of sanctification

(GB Message)

Satan constantly attempts to prevent believers from reaching the heavenly kingdom offered by Lord Jesus Christ. The magnitude of his venomous mischief in this matter is unimaginable. That is why the word of God has warned believers time again about this danger. The enemy’s various attributes described in scripture such as “murderer” (Jn 8: 44), “liar” (Jn 8: 44), “enemy” (Mt 13: 25, 39), “devourer” and “adversary of the believer” (1 Pet 5: 8), an “accuser” (Rev 12: 1o), and many more are sufficient evidence to understand how venomous he is.

Reality of heaven and the hazardous path to it Part 15

(GB message)

Click for Tamil translation

In the previous study we learned about New Jerusalem. The old earthly Jerusalem is going to be the capital city of the earthly millennial kingdom of Lord Jesus, This was the place where Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world was crucified. This was the place where King Solomon built the magnificent Temple of God. This was also the place where Abraham, the father of living faith was ready to sacrifice his son in implicit obedience to God’s command, and where our loving God spared him of the agony of killing his son. Even as I mention this incident, I remember also that this same God did not spare His only begotten Son from death and that too death on a cruel Roman cross. That is the love with which He loved the world.

Poignant situations

(GB Message)

Introspection

When I look back, I realize that I have lived a life so rich, so varied, and so pleasant, of course with occasional unpleasantness. I am filled with gratitude for the abundant mercy of God and praise Him. I am now quite busy giving the final touches to my various teachings, which I must do prior to meeting the Lord, who will also, I am sure, be equally eager to meet me because this has been a life given by Him to me.

Strangely, I understand that I am old only when I look at my face in the mirror.

Advice for B’lore church

(GB Message)

Venomous schemes of Satan against members of the church

Thirty years ago, I witnessed a scene that is vivid to me even today. I was in Calcutta, and the institute where I was employed (IIM) was at that time situated on the Barackpore Trunk Road. Being a highway in the city of Calcutta, it was a road with very heavy but fast-moving traffic at speeds up to 80 kmph. I did not usually need to cross this road because I used the institute bus. Once I happened to cross that road myself. It was a double road. I crossed the first road, stood on the traffic median till the traffic from the opposite direction thinned and then ran across to the opposite pavement. There was no problem except that I had to wait for a long time on the traffic median between very fast-moving vehicles on both sides.

As I was returning to the institute by the same process, I saw a good-looking dog with four or five puppies trying to cross that road.

Counterfeit churches Bending Circumstances

(GB Message)

Glad to note that you have two visitors in your congregation today. I am quite aware of the fact that my sermons are often hard and cutting as against encouraging sermons based on texts like, “If God be with us, who can be against us?” Honestly I feel that only a hireling or an agent of the devil can keep preaching comforting sermons like that.

I enjoy fairly good health. This is because medical specialists constantly take particular care of the areas of my body that are sick, giving me timely medicines; I too have to meet them periodically for routine medical checkups. I prefer to have a physician care for my physical well being than people who may want to encourage me by commenting on how well I look, how strong my limbs are, and how well I digest my food.

True and counterfeit churches

(GB Message)

We learned how Satan has already devoured many churches. He is like a man-eater having tasted the blood of members of dead churches and so he is keen to capture many more. With the experience that he has gained, he runs pseudo churches parallel to genuine churches. One thing is certain, Satan has no power whatsoever over living churches.

We may wonder what is a live church and how they may be identified.

Born of Water and Spirit Part 2

(GB Message)

A compendium for the guidance of those who have the anointing for the preaching of the Gospel of Lord Jesus

Post-baptism teaching

As far as this church is concerned, the word “Baptism” should convey the following meanings.

• The ritual in which the person is immersed in water in the name of Lord Jesus.
• The theological or doctrinal meaning of the word
• The word when used as a code for the entire doctrinal teaching concerning salvation or until the “born-again” stage (recently we had several sessions on this subject that totalled 12 hours of teaching)

By ‘post-baptism’ teaching, I refer to teaching that the believer requires after he is born again.

Reality of heaven and the hazardous path to it Part 1

(GB Message)

Before commencing the series of lectures on this subject, I would like to advise you to honestly introspect and see how prepared you are to enter into God’s heavenly kingdom. This self-examination is essential in order to understand these lectures and derive maximum benefit.

The first step is to see how controlled are your earthbound affections.

The next important step is to carefully examine and see how you are affected or influenced by the following:

The terror of death: People from denominational church backgrounds have developed in them dreadful thoughts about heaven due to association of thoughts with funeral houses. In such churches, only during funeral times they talk about heaven. When I went to visit my dying sister, my daughter or son-in-law suggested that we sing a song about heaven. A Pentecostal pastor who was also present, felt that it was too soon to sing such a song, and suggested another song to sing. We, in this church have overcome such a feeling considerably. Nevertheless that association of thought is not that easy to erase from the mind of many. I hope this series of talks will help many to overcome such gloomy thoughts altogether.