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Message

It is Dangerous to Follow the Majority

In Numbers 13 we find that the Israelites came to Kadesh Barnea at the border of Canaan – the land that God had promised them. It was now two years since they left Egypt (Deut.2:14), and God told them to go in and posses the land. The Israelites sent twelve spies to survey the land. All twelve of them came back saying that the land was indeed a wonderful land. Ten of them, however, said, “But there are huge giants there and we cannot conquer them.” But two of them – Caleb and Joshua – replied saying, “The Lord will help us to conquer those big giants.” But the 600,000 Israelites listened to the majority.

What do we learn from this? First of all, that it is dangerous to follow the majority – because the majority is invariably wrong. “The way to life is narrow and very few find it,” Jesus said. The majority still go on the broad way to destruction. So if you follow the majority you will certainly be along with them on the broad way to destruction. Don’t ever imagine that a large church is a spiritual church. Jesus’ church had only 11 members in it.

When ten leaders say one thing and two say the exact opposite, whose side will you take? God was on the side of the two here – Joshua and Caleb. Unbelief and Satan were on the side of the other ten. But the Israelites foolishly followed the majority – and that was why they had to wander in the wilderness for the next 38 years. They did not have the discernment to see whose side God was on! God and one person are always a majority – and that is where I want to stand always. We see in Exodus 32 that God was on the side of just one man, Moses, when all the Israelites were worshipping the golden calf. But of all the twelve tribes, only the tribe of Levi could see that then. And now when God was with Joshua and Caleb, even the tribe of Levi could not recognise it!

All of this has lessons for us today. Christendom in general is full of compromise and worldliness. Here and there, God raises up a few who stand for the truth of God’s word without any compromise. If you have discernment you will recognise that God is with those few, and you will stand with them against the majority. You will enter the promised land with them.

How do you identify the man with whom God is standing? He speaks the language of faith. Joshua and Caleb spoke the language of faith : “We can overcome.” We can overcome the giants of anger, sexual lust, jealousy, murmuring etc., We can overcome Satan. God will crush him under our feet. That is the language of the man with whom God stands. The man who is not with God says: “We must not take the Bible so literally. After all, we are only human. We will be defeated until the end of our lives. You have to understand human psychology.” I tell you, I couldn’t care less for all this human psychology. I believe God’s Word.

Many Christians go astray exactly like those Israelites – through human reasoning. God has hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent and revealed them to babes. If you use your human reasoning and your cleverness and your intelligence to study the Bible, I can guarantee that you will go astray. You need the revelation of the Holy Spirit. That’s why Jesus picked fishermen to be His disciples, and not professors like Gamaliel and his students. He did pick one of the students later – Paul. But the Lord had to take him into the desert for three years to bring all his pride to nothing before Paul could get revelation.

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Message

Testimonies

And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11).

Our testimony is about what we have experienced – what we have seen and heard. A real Christian can talk about their experiences with God through Jesus Christ. We as Christians are called to a relationship of real communication with the Son of God. God comes to live inside of us. Things change. God deals with every person in a different way. The more Christians that come forward and talk about how God has intervened in their life, the more people will begin to realize that God is for real, miracles do happen, and prayer works.

This will inspire others to seek God and turn from their sins so that they too can know the peace and satisfaction that comes to a person who truly gives their life over to God. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” To be a witness to Jesus is to speak and communicate the things that you have seen and heard in your life that happened because of Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real to us, and makes Jesus real through us.

God’s plan is for people to hear the good news that Jesus Christ paid for their sins, and conquered death for us through rising from the dead. After believing, people should go on to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and then testify to others what God has done for them.

Our testimony does not have to be super dramatic or unusual to be effective. Not everyone can relate personally to a sensational testimony. If on the other hand your testimony is weak because you can’t point to a change in your life, could it be that you have not really consecrated your life to God properly?Are you trying to living with one foot in God’s Kingdom, and the other in Satan’s?

Is your heart still in love with this present age, this world system? If so, it would be a great time to decide to live for God and to get serious about it, because none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. Perhaps your testimony is weak because you have not given attention to the wonderful truths concerning the Holy Spirit and overcoming Satan that can be found in God’s Word. God wants our testimony to be strong, so we can live unashamed before God and men, and give honor and glory to God. He wants our life to show forth His power – what He can do. And God has done absolutely amazing things for people in all kinds of trouble, who were messed up and without natural hope. Some testimonies of how God helped such people heard last Friday. It was amazing to know the marvelous works of God reveled in our dear ones lives.Sister Shoba Charles, Bro Peter Ravela, Bro Sudeep, Bro Sudeer, Bro Ravi, Bro Prabhakar and Jonah’s son testified the greatness of our God in their lives, it was heart touching and surely challenged everyone to trust in God in all situations.

If God has worked powerfully in your life, please share it so others can benefit. It will remind you of how God has worked and it will encourage others to believe in God. It may be the means by which another precious person comes to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. So do it. Begin to write down your story and share it on every last Friday of the month at the fellowship.

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All Music

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet (Song)

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path

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All Inspiration Message

Real Faith: What It Is and What It’s Not

BIBLE MEDITATION:
Romans 5:1 – “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
It’s faith that enables us to live the Christian life. In order to know what faith is, let me tell you what faith is not. Faith is not a hunch. Nor is it positive thinking. Faith is not responding to emotions, feelings, or icicles up and down your spine or miracles, signs and wonders. Faith is not believing that God can do something. Faith is knowing that God will. Faith is taking God at His word. Real faith dies to doubt. It is dumb to discouragement. It is blind to impossibilities. Now this is the kind of faith we need.

ACTION POINT:
What kind of faith do you have? Do you have the faith that is small as a mustard seed, but can move a mountain? Ask God for it today.