Beware Of A Fake Gospel, A Fake Jesus And A Fake Spirit: Zac Poonen (Transcript)

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That’s all good, but to me, that is all secondary. And if those things are primary in your life, you will never press towards the goal.

To me, freedom from sickness, freedom from trial, and freedom from sorrows, and pain, and all that, to me, I’ll tell you honestly, it’s absolutely unimportant. But I will be free from sin, from all sin, from everything that is un-Christ-like in my outer life, inner life, every area, I’ll be totally like Jesus Christ. That is what I am looking forward to. That is my hope, and that should be the hope of every one of us as we reach for greater heights spiritually, as we have thought of as our motto for this celebration.

Spiritual Growth and Temptation

So keep that in mind. And God has, in His great wisdom, I say in His great wisdom, permitted Satan to tempt us. Why does God permit Satan to tempt us? It’s like a man who wants to go to the gym to build up his muscles, and all the equipment in a gymnasium is meant to put some muscle of ours to some strain, whether it’s the arm or the leg or the stomach, every equipment there is to subject the different muscles in the body to some strain.

And as you use those, that equipment in the gymnasium, the muscles are subjected to strain and they become strong. It’s the same principle in the spiritual life. The person who goes to the gym, he builds his muscles and that leads to better health. And the person who does not do that, he just becomes more and more fat and sick.

So spiritually also it’s like that. God is not going to oppose us. So He allows Satan to exist to tempt us, to oppose us, that’s like a gymnasium, subjecting us to a strain. And if you resist him, your spiritual muscles are built up. If you don’t resist him, you just yield to it, that’s like never going to the gym. You collapse and he takes over your life. So we must remember that God could have eliminated Satan with one word, but He doesn’t do it.

And one of the first things we read in the Bible is as soon as God created Adam and Eve, the very first day He spent with them, which is called the seventh day, the whole day Adam and Eve spent with God, that was the preparation for what they were going to face on the next day, the eighth day.

Choice and Freedom

So they spent the whole of the seventh day with God and the eighth day they faced the devil. God allowed that. God could have stopped the devil from coming into the Garden of Eden, but He didn’t stop it. He wanted man to choose and become strong. You cannot be a child of God without your personal choice.

If God had just decided without choice He’ll make us all His children, we will be like robots, you know, programmed like a computer inside a robot that will automatically do what is right. And you don’t want a little robot at home, you want a child at home. The danger of having a child is a child can be disobedient. The robot will not be disobedient, but still you prefer to have a child.

You prefer to have a little three-year-old coming to the door as when you come back from work and say, “Daddy, I’m so happy to meet you,” instead of a programmed robot that walks up — a machine that comes in and says, “Oh, Daddy, I’m happy to meet you.” You don’t care for that. It’s a God is like that. He wants children who have the freedom to disobey and will not disobey and come to Him and say, “Lord, I love You.” That’s why He’s given us free will. That’s why He allows Satan to tempt us so that we can become strong.

I’ve said these things many times, but it’s important for every one of you to understand that always new people coming in. There are always young children who have grown up to be young men and women. They need to hear these things again and again and again. That’s why we repeat the messages again and again and again. Because some of these messages we preached 10 years ago, those little children were four years old. They didn’t understand it. Now they are 14. Now they can understand. So the same message they need to hear again.

Continual Learning and Growth

And there’s a growing group of people who need to hear it year after year after year. Then there are new people coming in. That’s why we need to preach the same message year after year after year.

So in 2nd Corinthians, I want you to turn with me to 2nd Corinthians, chapter 11, 2nd Corinthians in chapter 11, verse 2, Paul says, “I’m jealous for you with a godly jealousy because I have betrothed you to one husband that is Christ.” Here the church is called the bride and Paul is presenting the bride to Christ as an apostle. And he says, “My burden is that when I present you to Christ, you should be a pure virgin.” That means spiritually, you should not be corrupted by sin and the devil and the world. Those are the things that are going to corrupt you and make you like a spiritual prostitute, a harlot, the Bible says.

God wants a pure bride for Jesus Christ. And that is what we’ve stressed from the beginning of CFC. We want to build the brothers and sisters in CFC, like it says here, as a pure virgin spiritually to present as a bride to Jesus Christ when He comes. And he goes on to say, “But 2nd Corinthians 11 verse 3, I’m afraid that the serpent, that is the devil who deceived Eve by his craftiness will also lead you astray from that simplicity and purity that is in Christ.”

The Deception of Falsehoods

And how does he do that? How does the devil, Eve he deceived, we know how it is. But today the devil deceives, it says here in verse 4, 2nd Corinthians 11 and verse 4. He’s going to deceive you by presenting another Jesus and encouraging you to receive another spirit and to listen to a different gospel. Another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. That is how he has been deceiving Christians for hundreds of years, all these 2,000 years from the time of the apostles, when Paul wrote it, it was just about 20 years after the day of Pentecost already, 20 years after the day of Pentecost.

The day of Pentecost, the church was a pure church for 120 people. But 20 years later, Paul says to the Corinthians already, there are people preaching another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. And that is happening today. And my dear brothers and sisters, I have a burden as a servant of the Lord, responsible for you. God has given me that charge to prevent you as far as possible from being deceived by another gospel, another Jesus, another Holy Spirit.

So let me just explain that a little bit. What is the other gospel that is being preached today? The true gospel you can receive only by repentance and faith. Remember these two things. I want to turn with me to Acts chapter 20, see what the apostles preached.

Repentance and Faith

Paul says in Acts chapter 20 that everywhere he’s gone, verse 21, Acts chapter 20 and verse 21, he says to the whole world, whether it’s to the Jews or the non-Jews, the rest of the world, he has only one message. Repentance and faith. Repentance means a 180 degree turnaround. You’re facing sin and the world, and you turn around 180 degrees. Turn your back to sin and your back to the devil and your back to the attractions of the world. That is repentance.

Or like in the military, they say, about turn. About turn means you’re turning right around and you’re facing in the opposite direction. That is one of the best definitions of repentance. And I want to ask all of you, first of all, let’s stop there. It says here in verse 21, there were two things he preached, repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus. Acts 20, verse 21.

These are like two things. And when God is joined together, the Bible says, don’t let any man, like they say in a wedding, husband and wife, God is joined together, let no one separate. I say repentance and faith, God is joined together. Let nobody separate that in the preaching of the gospel. So what is the other gospel that is being preached now? Faith. Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. Repentance is missing. That’s not a small error. It’s not just like one leg being cut off. You can still walk with one leg.

No, it is much more serious. It’s death because it’s like half your body being cut off. Repentance, one side, faith, one side. You cut off one side, what’s left? A dead corpse. That is the other gospel. I want to ask all of you, when you heard the gospel, did you hear that? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, receive Him and you will go to heaven.” That’s half a gospel.

The Essence of True Repentance

That is true only after you’ve taken the first step of turning about because we’re all facing in the wrong direction when we are born. When we are born, we are facing the world, sin, and the devil. We grow up like that for many years and then we hear that Jesus died for our sins, rose again, and wants to come into our heart, but we are facing in the wrong direction. How can we receive Christ facing that direction? About turn.

How many of you have done a perfect about turn from sin in your life? I’m not asking you whether you’ve overcome sin. That may take a little time. Have you turned away from it? Do you have a desire to give up all sin? The Lord does not say, “Give up all sin and come to Me,” no. But the Lord does say you must have a desire to give up every sin in your life if you want to be saved. That’s what we preach in CFC.

You cannot be saved if you don’t have a desire to give up everything that you know to be sinful in your life. Not 50%, not 80%, 100%. Let me repeat. Not that you give up all those things, but that you have a real desire to give up all those things. The desire, you have a great longing, “I want to give up everything that displeases God in my life.” That is repentance. Turning around.

Otherwise, we are running in the wrong direction. The marathon race is in this direction, and we have been running in the other direction. If you keep running in that direction and say, “I believe in Jesus,” you’re not going to reach God’s destination for you. The marathon race is in this direction. So the first thing you need to do is turn around. Without turning around, you’re running in the wrong direction. That is repentance. So another gospel, which is being preached plenty today, is “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Sounds very nice. But it’s not the full gospel. It’s half a gospel. And many are deceived by it. In CFC we preach the full gospel. Repent and believe. There is no way of salvation other than through the death of Christ. We believe in His resurrection. The living Christ comes to live in us. Many people have said, “Lord Jesus, come into their heart” without turning around, without saying, “Lord, I want to give up all sin in my life.” And I don’t believe Christ has come into their life at all. Many people sitting in CFC are not really born again.

A Call for Genuine Repentance

They’re going to get a big shock when Christ comes again. Does anybody sitting like that here today? I want to tell you, if you have never said to the Lord Jesus, “Lord, I want to give up things that dishonors You in my life,” if you have never sincerely said that to the Lord, I want to tell you in Jesus’ name, you are not born again. Don’t deceive yourself.

And in the day of judgment, you’ll find that what I said is true. But I don’t want that to happen to you. I want you to be in God’s kingdom in eternity. So I plead with you in Jesus’ name. If you have never done it today, you say to the Lord, “Everything in my life that’s dishonoring You, that’s displeasing to You, I want to give up.”

You young people, say that today. Make this a new beginning in your life, this anniversary of CFC. “Lord, everything that is displeasing to You, I want to give up in my life. Please help me from today onwards to turn around.” Then say, “Lord Jesus, I believe that You died for all my sins on the cross, that You defeated Satan on the cross, that Satan cannot touch me anymore.” You must believe that.

Not only your sins were taken on the cross, but Satan was defeated on the cross as well. That’s very important for us to recognize that. “Satan has got no hold on me anymore. He can’t touch you. You can resist Satan, and he will flee from you. You can say in Jesus’ name, ‘I resist you, Satan.’ He will flee from you. So that is the full gospel.

The Gospel of the Kingdom

So another gospel, that is what many people are listening to today. And that’s why they don’t have any joy or peace in their life. The real gospel, we read in Matthew chapter 24. Turn with me to Matthew 24. We read there in the last days, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached everywhere. Matthew 24 verse 14: “The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world.”

What is the gospel of the kingdom? Well, the Bible tells us in Romans 14 and verse 17, what the kingdom of God is. The kingdom of God is not heaven. Romans 14 and verse 17 says, listen carefully: “The kingdom of God is righteousness, upright living, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” So what is the kingdom of God again? The Holy Spirit coming into our life when we are born again. Giving us righteousness, that is freedom from sin. Peace, the peace of God. Freedom from anxiety, fear, and unrest. And joy. Freedom from complaining and grumbling. And being miserable and making other people miserable. This is the gospel. The gospel of the kingdom. “Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” That is what we preach in CFC.

Exposing False Gospels

And that is not being preached in many places. The only gospel they preach is, your sins are forgiven, you’re on your way to heaven. But you live a defeated life, you’ll be yelling and screaming as husband and wife with each other forever and ever. Till one day Jesus comes and sets you free. That is a deception. No.

Now the Holy Spirit comes to make us righteous. He can bring peace into your life and peace into your home. He’ll bring joy into your life and joy into your home. The kingdom of God. What did you read there, Romans 14:17? Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And we read in Matthew 24, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached all over the world before the end. God has called CFC to preach that gospel. So when you read the devil preaching another gospel.

What is that? “Telling you that you’re on your way to heaven, don’t worry, you’ll always be defeated by sin. You’ll always be miserable and complaining and quarreling and fighting. And you’ll always be anxious and worried and you’ll always be bitter.” That’s not a gospel. That’s a deception. And if you’ve accepted it, expose the devil in your life today and say, ‘Satan, I’m not going to listen to you anymore.’ Ask the Holy Spirit to change your life today.

Following the Real Jesus

That is another gospel. What’s the other thing it says here? In 2 Corinthians 11, going back to 2 Corinthians 11. It says another Jesus. Another Jesus. Not the Jesus described in the Bible. The Jesus described in the Bible came, God became man to be an example for us. He didn’t say just believe in Me. If you read the gospels, how many times did He say believe in Me? Most of the time He said “follow Me, follow Me, follow Me. Take up your cross and believe in Me.’ No, ‘take up your cross and follow Me.’

The real Jesus tells us not just to believe in Him but to follow Him. If you have a Jesus you only believed in, that’s not the real Jesus. Because the real Jesus calls you to follow Him. He called everyone to follow Him. That’s the question I have to ask you today. Are you following Jesus in your daily life? I don’t blame you if you haven’t heard it. This church we preach it. Other churches don’t preach it. They are preaching “another Jesus who you don’t have to follow, who allows you to live as you like and will take you to heaven when you die.” That’s the deception of Satan. Another Jesus.

The Jesus we preach in the Bible is one who tells us to follow Him. The Bible says in 1 John 2. I want you to turn to the first episode of John. It’s towards the end of your Bible. And chapter 2. And it says here, “if you say you are in Christ.” Listen, 1 John 2 verse 6. “If you say you are in Christ, you must walk as He walked.” To walk as Jesus walked on earth or to live as Jesus lived on this earth. Is that possible? It is possible more and more and more and more and more. See I told you it’s a marathon race. We don’t become perfect overnight. But we should have progressed somewhat from the day we were first born again.

The Journey of Spiritual Growth

Use another example. The Christian life is like going in a school. All the way from kindergarten. All the way to the 12th standard. And then on to college and postgraduate. It’s a continuous education the Christian life. And just like you want your children every year to be promoted to a next class, God wants you every year to become a little more like Jesus Christ. Next year a little more. Next year a little more.

So those of you who have been in CFC from the beginning for 48 years. We should have had at least 48 promotions in our life. As many years as you have been in this church. You have heard the gospel. You should have had that many promotions. If a child has been in a school, joined in first standard, 12 years later. He should have finished 12th standard. Not be still sitting in the first or second standard. Every year you want your children promoted. God wants you to be promoted to become a little more Christ-like every year.

The Deception of Another Jesus

Another Jesus is one who doesn’t tell you to follow him. No, no, no. You can’t do this. That Jesus says you cannot follow me because I’m so holy. You can never follow me. Just believe in me. I’ll take you to heaven. That is a deception. Here it says, “if you say that you abide in Christ, you must walk as He walked. You must walk in His footsteps.” God gives you the power of the Holy Spirit to do that. So this is the other Jesus.

And in order to follow Him, I want to show you another verse. In Luke chapter 9 and verse 23. This is a message which is not preached almost in any church in the world. “Take up your cross every day if you want to follow Me,” Jesus said in Luke 9:23. Luke chapter 9 and verse 23. “If anyone wants to come after Me, if anyone, you’re all sitting here, listen. If any of you want to come after Jesus, first you have to take up your cross.” Not the cross on which Jesus died. There’s another cross in your life daily. You know what that cross is in your life daily? To put yourself to death.

The Throne of Self

In your heart there is a throne. In that throne, yourself sits there. As the king. As the ruler. You see that even in a two-year-old child. Inside that two-year-old child’s heart, he is the king. He will defy his father and mother. “No, I won’t do that.” Who is making him say that? His self-life. He’s an important person. And he grows up with still that defiant attitude. Disobedient to parents. He makes himself a nuisance in the school. Fighting with the teachers and fighting the other children. Self is strong.

And Jesus says, “if you want to follow Me, I will give you the power of the Spirit to put this self to death.” But another Jesus. Is it Jesus who says, “no, no, no, no, no. You don’t have to put self to death. Just believe in me. I’ll take you to heaven.”

Which Jesus are you believing in? Is it the one who said, “if you want to follow me, you have to deny yourself. How often? Every day. Did you deny yourself yesterday? Good. You got to deny yourself today again.” Every day till you followed. To follow Jesus. And you say, “oh, boy, what a burden this Christian life is.” Not at all. See. If you have been working in.

The Cleansing Power of the Cross

Some type of work that made you perspire. And you’re soaked with filth and dirt. You’re working somewhere. Don’t you feel happy to have a bath? To take a shower? And cleanse yourself? That’s what taking up the cross means. Get rid of this self. Put it to death. I mean, put away that self. Take a heavenly shower. And be clean. And. That’s what Jesus is inviting us. Is that a burden? To be clean. Is it a burden?

How many of us like to be filthy? How many of us like to be filthy from head to foot? After working the whole day. We like to be clean. That’s what taking up the cross does. We get rid of this filthy self. And allow the life of Jesus to be manifest in us. You see. Because God wants you to make a choice. You want to follow Jesus. You have to make that choice. Every day. What does it say here? Daily.

It’s no use saying 25 years ago and ask Jesus to come into my heart. What have you been doing all these 25 years? You see. You ask a 16-year-old boy. “What are you doing in school? I’m in the first standard. I joined school 10 years ago. Uh-huh.”

The Stagnation of Many Christians

What have you been doing in 10 years? “I’ve been in school every day.” Which class are you? “I’m still in first standard.” Would you be happy if that was your child? But that’s how a lot of Christians are. “Brother, are you still defeated by the same old sins in your home that you were defeated by 10 years ago?” “Yes, brother, 10 years ago I used to lose my temper at my wife. I’m still losing my temper at my wife.” Which class are you in? You’re sitting in first standard for 10 years.

When are you going to at least go to the second standard? Another Jesus who does not ask you to follow him but just says, “I’ll take you to heaven when I die.” That’s a false gospel. It is another Jesus. The real Jesus is one who has run a race ahead of us. In Hebrews chapter 12 it says let us look. This is the real Jesus. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus to run this race verse 1 and 2 who for the joy that sat before Him endured the cross.”

Jesus as Our Example

Jesus endured the cross. He took up the cross every day. How can He say to you, “take up the cross and follow Me,” if He did not do it Himself? Even as a little boy. You know what, let me make it practical.

When Jesus was a little boy and His mother told Him to do something and He was very busy doing something else, what does your son do when you tell him, “son, come and do this?” He’s very busy doing something very important. How many of you got a son or a daughter who say, “sure mummy, I’ll come and do it immediately.” You’re lucky if you got a child like that.

Because there’s something in the child, in all our children that says, “wait, wait, wait, I’ve got something, I’ll come after half an hour.” Mum says come now. “No, no wait mum, I’ve got something very important to do.” Isn’t that how every child is? That is a stubborn self and that’s what grown up people tell God also. “No, no I can’t do that now.” But Jesus was not like that.

The Essence of Taking Up the Cross

Turn with me to John chapter 6 and verse 38. If you want to know what it means to take up the cross here is the best definition of it. The best definition of taking up the cross. John chapter 6 and verse 38. Jesus said, ‘I came from heaven, listen to this, not to do My will but the will of Him that sent Me.’ Taking up the cross means there, in one sentence, not doing my will. That is taking up the cross. So when the Lord said, “take up the cross everyday,” He’s saying, “don’t do your will but do the will of the Father.” Do what pleases God.

The Consequences of Self-Will

When you’re tempted to tell a lie, you’ll gain some money, you’ll gain some benefit by telling a lie, the Lord says, “don’t do it.” You will get that benefit, maybe you’ll get a promotion, maybe you’ll make some more money by telling a lie but you will destroy your spiritual life. You’ll go backward from first standard to kindergarten and you keep doing that, you’ll be out of the school. That’s what’s happening to many Christians.

Instead of going on up to the 12th standard and into college, they’ve been going backwards to kindergarten and out of the school finally. Because when they are tempted, they do their own will. “I’ll get some benefit if I sign this false statement, I’ll get some benefit.” Deny your own will. I tell you, God will honor you.

I’m telling you from my experience. I spent many years in the Indian Navy working there, and many times I was tempted to do wrong things, to get a promotion, to make money by just signing something wrong. I said no. I had to tell my senior officers, “I’m sorry sir, I cannot do that, I’m a Christian.” Have any of you had to tell your senior bosses in your work, “I’m sorry sir, I cannot do that, I’m a Christian”?

I said that more than once to senior officers in the military, and they got angry with me, okay, but the Lord was pleased with me. Once, I got transferred — in half an hour; they transferred me from my job because I would not do what went against my conscience, that’s all.

Standing Firm in Faith

They could not punish me because they knew they were telling me to do something wrong, and they knew that what I was standing for was right. But they could do something else; they could trouble me by transferring me, make my life a little miserable, but it made me strong. I was only 23 years old, but it made me strong.

See, many of you are weak Christians because, in such times of testing and temptation, you yield and do what is wrong. Now, from now on, reach greater heights. Say, “I’m going to do what is right. I will not do my own will but the will of my Father.” John 6:38, please remember this; this is the definition of the cross.

Jesus: Our Model for Obedience

When Jesus’ mother told him to go and get some water from the well, 12-year-old Jesus, he says, “Sure, mommy.” He’s doing something very important, maybe he’s playing a game. He drops the bat and comes to pick the bucket and go and get water for his mother. And like that, little things, when he had four younger brothers at home, they fought with him, he would not fight back. That is — he did not do his own will; his own will is to fight back. He said, “I will not do my own will. I’ll do what pleases my Father.”

Teach your children from a young age to follow Jesus. You’ll have wonderful children growing up to serve the Lord when they grow up.

Overcoming Temptation

Another Jesus who we cannot follow, they say He’s God; we cannot follow Him. Yes, He’s God, but He came to earth as a man, and He lived as a man, He was tempted as a man, and He overcame as a man. See Hebrews in Chapter 4, Hebrews 4 and verse 15, it says we don’t have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us but one who was tempted like us in every point. He was tempted like us in everything but He did not sin.

And now, He gives us verse 16 the same grace. We can also overcome. So, we preach of Jesus who became like us and did not sin. That’s the thing that helped me when I understood it first, about 48 years ago, about the time CFC started. One of the great truths I discovered that Jesus came to earth just like me. He was tempted, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, He overcame.

The Real Holy Spirit

So that’s what leads me on to the third point, and this is another Spirit. The world is preaching another gospel, another Jesus, and another Spirit. Why another Spirit? A spirit who cannot make you holy. If you ask people, what does an evil spirit do to a man? Make him evil. What does an unclean spirit do to a man? Make him unclean. And you go to some Christians and say, what does a Holy Spirit do to a man? They say make him speak in tongues. That’s not what the Holy Spirit does primarily.

He may give that gift of tongues to some people, but use your logic, man, sister. The evil spirit makes a person evil, an unclean spirit makes a person unclean. Tell me, then, what will the Holy Spirit make a person? A 10-year-old can answer that: holy. But another Spirit is being preached in the world today, a spirit who cannot make you holy, just gives you excitement and tickles you and makes you praise but leads you to live an unholy life.

Avoiding Deception

That is another Spirit. There are churches where they go, and they speak in tongues loudly in the Sunday morning, and they think they are praising God. All deception. And they go home and shout at their wives in their mother tongue. That’s a deception. Another spirit, and Christendom is full of another spirit. And we preach the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness.

Jesus said, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power.” Power to live a holy life. I cannot live a holy life without the power of the Holy Spirit, and you cannot live the holy life without the power of the Holy Spirit. I tell you, in Jesus’ name, what you need is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Seeking the True Spirit

And don’t be deceived by some experiences that just tickle your body and give you emotional experiences. No, if you have received the fullness of the Holy Spirit, gradually, He’ll make you more and more holy. That’s the most important thing. And don’t be satisfied until the Holy Spirit is making you holy in area after area after area of your life.

Like I said, not all of a sudden, you go from 1st standard to 2nd standard to 3rd standard, 4th standard, you’re learning more and more and more. You’re becoming more and more holy. That is what the Holy Spirit does.

Unity Through the Spirit

And the other wonderful thing that the Holy Spirit does is the Holy Spirit has, you know, there were 120 people on the day of Pentecost waiting on the Lord for the Holy Spirit to come. You can look at them as like 120 pieces of iron, 120 strong disciples. They clashed with each other and all that, but when the Holy Spirit came like a fire, all those 120 pieces of iron were put in the fire and they came out in one piece. You know how you put iron in the fire, it just melts, melts, and becomes one.

Those 120 pieces became one through the fire of the Holy Spirit. And that is what the Holy Spirit does. But the Holy Spirit tells us it makes two people who are strong in themselves; He makes them one. That’s what I’ve experienced with so many brothers in CFC in the last 48 years. Oneness, even though we are different, we have become one. We have learned to deny ourselves and care for the other person, and encourage the other person, and he encourages me, and I encourage him, and we lift up one another.

The Call to Holiness

And we are not secretly fighting with each other. We learn to live at peace in our home. That is the real Holy Spirit, but there is another spirit being preached today that only gives you excitement and tickles you and does not make you holy.

So remember these three things: the devil is deceiving people today with another gospel, another Jesus, another spirit. And we are preaching the real gospel by repentance and faith. We are preaching the real Jesus who came as a man like us, and was tempted like us, overcame like us, did not do His own will, and says, “follow Me every day.” And in order to do that, He gives us the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it without it. The Holy Spirit is like electricity.

See, if I want a lamp to burn, I can’t make it burn, but when we plug in the electricity, immediately it burns. The light has got the ability to burn, but it needs power. That’s how this light is burning right now. And the Lord says, “you don’t have the power to overcome sin, My child, seek Me. I’ll give you the power of the Holy Spirit.” Seek Him. I seek for the power of the Holy Spirit every day. God is my witness. I say, “Lord Jesus, fill me with the Holy Spirit.” He filled me with the Holy Spirit 48 years ago, and He’s filling me with the Holy Spirit now, every day.

I want to urge all of you, ask God to fill you with the H-O-L-Y Holy Spirit. He’ll make you holy. I pray that God will bless all of you, to lead you to greater heights in the years to come. But by the time we come to the next anniversary of CFC next August, you would have got a promotion to a higher class. Let’s bow our heads for a moment. Please bow your heads and close your eyes.

Heavenly Father, we pray that You will help us to be gripped by the truths that we have heard, and we pray that You will lead us to greater heights in the days to come as we follow the real Gospel and follow the real Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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