Philadelphia, Brotherly Love!

And to the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write: These things says the Holy One, the true One, the One who has the key of David, the One who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens: Revelation 3:7

The Greek word means brotherly love, composed of phileo, to have affection for, and adelphos, a brother; hence, brotherly affection, a love of delight and pleasure. In godliness, the expression of God, this love needs to be supplied for the brotherhood (1 Pet. 2:17; 3:8; Gal. 6;10), for our testimony to the world (John 13:34-35) and for the blessing of fruit (John 15;16-17). (Life-study of 2 Peter, p. 49)

As the church in Gurgaon we have been delving into the depth of the word of God, and this week particularly, on the church in Philadelphia. The truth in this portion of the word are so nourishing and rich on brotherly love. As I personally am enjoying this truth the Lord sovereignly led me into the practical experience of it.

The truth of the Word is no doctrine, the objective truth must be subjectively experienced, else it degrades into a dead doctrine. This has befallen many believers in the history of the church. But I deeply pray that history may not be repeated in its negative aspect. Sure enough, the Lord knows what I personally have been going through and even my family. Therefore, we have been graced to experience this brotherly love; not too much of others loving us or showing love to us, but us showing to others in need, especially to some very needy brothers.

A brother has been in deep trouble because of his marital issues which directly is a result of his not listening to the loving fellowship of the brothers in the church in the past and not being in the normal church life. Nevertheless, even in such "lone wolf" case of mishap, still when he is in trouble and comes for help, we sure have to forgive him and receive him as our dear brother in the Lord. This brother happens to be in my "custody" and he has no one else to physically care for him nor spiritually, apart from the church brothers. All his friends and families have kept themselves aloof from him. Whatever the case may be, he is still a brother, as he was regenerated already and what he needs most at the moment is some "nourishing mothers" and "cherishing fathers." Though I am qualified or not, and not even a choice of like or dislike, I need to shepherd him. And I take this as a blessing in disguise, sovereignly arranged by the Lord, for me to experience the "brotherly love" the normal church should possess.

With all the extra burden amidst the ongoing financial crisis all over the country, and family dependents on the rise, I have valid reasons to excuse myself. But the Lord reminded me of the brotherly love I have been trumpeting about in a normal Christian life in the normal church life. So now is the time to live it out by taking care of this brother; supply him with food, shelter and spiritual supply. In fact, with our family, he participates in the family time with the Lord, read the Bible and pray besides enjoying all the meals together as family members. At least, this itself is worth for all the physical burden; an enjoyment of brotherly love. 

I just fellowshiped with my wife and the saints in the church to pray for this brother and encouraged all to exercise and enjoy the brotherly love the Lord has been teaching us these days, not just in words, but in deeds, with the love of God.

Lord, cause us to love You and love one another more with the brotherly love You so desired.

Vice and Virtue

And I looked, and there came a storm wind from the north, a great cloud and a fire flashing incessantly; and there was a brightness around it, and from the midst of it there was something like the sight of electrum, from the midst of the fire. Ezekiel 1:4   

These days as I have been pursuing the Life-study of Ezekiel, the Lord's speaking has been very strong. This one verse itself has four precious gems that can be explained in a book. Nevertheless, to summarize, here are the four main subjective points that I have been experiencing these days.

A storm wind from the North: The visitation of the Lord by a spiritual stormy wind has always been a blessing in disguise. Often times, such visitation is painful. At the very first experience, one tends to plead the Lord for mercy and remove the "storm." Well, if the Lord has to remove it He should not have sent it at the first place. Since he sent it, it must be with a purpose. Blessed are those who discerns the Lord's stormy winds and face it, and learn from it subjectively. Such wind did visit me these days. Thank God for it.

Incidents after incidents, I have been facing brothers, saints and seekers with all kinds of spiritual lessons. Given to my natural choice, "prevention would have been better than cure." But that dictum does not apply here. I must face it and I have been facing them till these days. And meanwhile, I have been experiencing the working of Christ within me, though gradually, and bit by bit. Especially with two brothers who have been in need of shepherding both physically and spiritually too. The experiences with these two brothers have hit me hard and exposed me of who I really am, as a brother. And helps me in answering important questions: Am I a proper shepherd caring for the sheep? Do I really love them with the love of Christ? Am I willing to spend and be spent for them? Do I bear the same burden as they do? Do I mean what I minister in word and work it our in deeds?

Besides, I am also being exposed so much in my natural vices and virtues. All have to be blown away 

A great Cloud: After the Lord's stormy wind visitation he did not leave us empty and pale, instead He covers us with Himself as grace, grants us His sweet presence. This has been my experience too. His grace and presence always follows His blowing stormy wind.

A Fire flashing incessantly: Besides being blown by the stormy wind there is also a need for the fire of God to burn all that is not Christ within our being. Sinful and worldly things are condemned, and much more, the good and ethical ones too which are not Christ nor of Christ. The fire of God must burn all that is not Christ in nature nor in constitution. All the minute and secrets of the heart must also be burned away. Such is the visitation of God by fire. In my experience these days, I am experiencing this burning too. O for the grace to be burned and burned until fully sanctified! 

     

The sight of Electrum: The issue of the Lord's visiting us as the stormy wind, the covering cloud and the burning fire is the glowing electrum, in which having been wrought with the holy and divine nature of God, one begins to express God! This is the goal of the Lord's visitation.

Basically everything of vices and virtues are to be blown away and dealt with. So that Christ and Christ alone would have the preeminence in our lives, and be the living expression and representation that God so desired.  

Truth Triumphs

This is a famous phrase worldwide to emphasis the triumph of truth, righteousness and justice. This is a universal dictum that needs no explanation even in the secular field. But my point here is on the objective truths of the Bible that triumphs over all.

Not to boast, but a declaration of the fact, the Lord has indeed blessed me with the ministry of the word in this age. And by His sheer mercy I have been studying, pursuing, experiencing and enjoying the ministry of the word. To me this is one of the great heritages of the Lord's recovery today. And I am definitely blessed to be a part of the ministry of the age, and even more blessed in the grace favored upon me to introduce, announce and propagate the ministry of the word to all Christian whomever the Lord led me to. To me this is what I love to do, speaking and ministering the truth of the Bible wherever the Lord leads and opens the door.

Since I first started enjoying the ministry of the word, I have been regularly pursuing the ministry literature, and even made it an official requirement for all serving ones to enter into the truth by pursuing some ministry books before beginning the daily official duty. Thank God, normally I am enjoying about seven messages in a week: Life-study messages, present HWMR, and two more during a home meetings or group meetings. Hallelujah, what a rich feast!

Whenever I travel for the ministry of the word distribution, I enjoy the "truthspeaking" to different people, mostly Christian leaders. And every time I ministered the truth, I enjoyed the Lord's bountiful anointing; I just sensed life flowing, word ministering and Christ dispensing. This is not only my experience but the listener, my audience, too.

In all the literature trip the Lord graced me to undertake thus far, the people I talked to or ministered the ministry to, were all very receptive. They simply listened and enjoyed the ministry. After the ministering, almost all of them responded in gratitude for the profundity of the truth and revelation of the word of God. Most of them ended up paying the price to buy the ministry literature as they wanted to delve into the truth more. And most of them also ended up in inviting me for further fellowship or to minister to their congregation. If time permits and situation allows, I did my best to go and minister the ministry of the word.

Even in meeting either skeptical ones, or those with the negative mindset of false allegation, after ministering the truths, they either changed their view or commended the orthodoxy of the truth of the Bible I dearly uphold. The truths per se, even in its objective form is always triumphal.

This is an experience of "truths triumphs."

Deeply in my inmost being I thank the Lord for brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee for recovering the ministry of the word and the ministry of the age. I am so blessed to be a part of the Lord's recovery. My prayer is that, I be preserved by His mercy in the ministry of the age all the days of my life; a pursuer and an enjoyer of the ministry of the word. Amen.

Truth indeed triumphs, even in the objective sense. 

Uttarkashi

Few months ago this town was fixed for our distribution, an utter North on the proximity of the Himalayan ranges. A couple of times I was considering to change the plan for at least few reasons: no known contact nor arrangement made, and none gave a positive response on inquiring about visiting this town. Nevertheless, as planned and prayed for we came to this town, with only one phone number. Even before we met this brother whose number we have, he met us on the market as we went out for lunch. Amazing!

Later he came to our hotel room to check us out. Initially, he was very skeptical about us as the Christians in Uttarkashi were on the guard against any indoctrination from heretic or cultic faith. Even he was very strong to not associate himself with any denomination and stated that all Christians meets in their homes and there is no building called "church." Besides, there is no full time workers as such but most of them are running schools, on teaching jobs, and serving the Lord. I was so happy to hear what he had to say, and interjected saying that "we are the same."

To clarify further on who we are, I explained the basic statement of faith we uphold, and expounded the truth concerning the Trinity with our Christian beliefs and practices. This I did to clarify his doubt about us as he was afraid that we might have been "cultic." To clarify further, I explained about the essential Trinity and also the economical Trinity which, I bet, he must have never heard of. And explained further the orthodoxy of the church, the universal and local aspects of the church. After all these "truthspeaking" he changed his view, opened up and offered help.

First, he introduced us to a Christian Principal with whose family we had a home meeting. We used the ministry literature to explain some basic truth of the Bible on the three parts of man, regeneration, and growth in life. They were so glad to receive our ministry, especially by the way we shepherded them with the truth. They invited us for dinner, ordered the ministry books, and sent us to lodge.

The next day, the former brother gave us few more contacts out of which we met two, both Principals of Christian schools. The first one gave us good feedback on the kind of Hindi translation we have produced and ordered all the books, both English and Hindi, and the other Principal was so glad to receive the riches of the truths we ministered to them on truth, life and the church. He even invited us for dinner and dropped us back to our lodge.

Overall, the Lord's leading and blessing was so marvelous. The experience we have been enjoying was like what we read of Abraham of the Old Testament, who simply followed God, not knowing. Though this is a small town comparatively, the response to the ministry of the word is amazing.

May the Lord recover His testimony in Uttarkashi!

Pauri Garhwal

Our first time, and not knowing anyone except a phone number given by a brother from Dehradun, we came to Pauri Garhwal. From one lead to another, the Lord brought us to this city and led us to meet the three main Christian groups and their Pastors. We spend few hours with each of them introducing the ministry books. They all were so impressed that they purchased the books and invited us to minister to their congregation on the following Lord's day.

On the Lord's day we ministered to three Christian groups. 

To a Methodist Church established in 1910, we introduced the ministry literature, and when we learned that it was a special "Women Sunday", the Lord led us to minister on the importance of the sisters' functions in the church life for the fulfillment of God's purpose on the earth, the "Six Marys." We exhorted the sisters to function in bringing forth Christ, listening to Christ, loving Christ, experiencing the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, praying in Christ, and labouring in Christ for the church.

To one Pentecostal church we ministered "God's Organic Salvation," and to another Pentecostal church filled with young people and sisters in an "upper room," the Lord burdened us to minister on "the Nazarite Vow" from the Old Testament and "the Priesthood" in the New Testament. The Lord blessed the ministering so much so that, the Pastor requested us to continue to minister even after we released our burden after an hour and half. They wanted more fellowship so the Pastor made an impromptu arrangement for another informal meeting over lunch at his house where his joint family members and friends came, out of which a teacher-couple opened up for fellowship and expressed their heart for the church life and even ordered the ministry books after we shared on "the Orthodoxy of the Church." 

Later, a host of believers came for yet another meeting when we ministered on "God's Eternal Plan", the creation of tripartite man and the processes the Triune God passed through, regeneration, and growth in life. They were so hungry for the word and so seeking that even two and half hour non-stop fellowship was not too long. We had to stop the meeting for time's sake. Such was the leading and blessing of the Lord in this city. 

May the Lord gain His testimony in Pauri Garhwal.

Blessed Children

Behold, children are the heritage of Jehovah,
The fruit of the womb a reward. Psa. 127:3 - 

This verse has been fulfilled in our family life right from the day God blessed us with our first daughter, thereby we named her Bliss. Then followed by Amana and Christy,  as a continuation of the Lord's blessing in truth, the high peak truth, the truth the ministry of the word has blessed us with, and the reality of the word,  who is Christ. That's how the names were derived.

Few days ago my wife sent me on WhatsApp a snapshot of Amana's scorecard in CONQUEST IQ Olympiad with grade A, the highest in the grading category, where he scored centum in almost all the subjects tested. The very sight of it humbled me as I deemed myself unworthy for it. I am not being proud as a father, but what impressed me deeply was the grace of God bestowed upon me and my wife and our family. I never considered that we deserve this much, but the Lord has been more than gracious. My innate reaction was, I prayed, thanking the Lord for His mercy and reconsecrated my life so that I, in no way be a stumbling block to our children but be a proper shepherd and guardian to the Lord’s children.

As the children grows they have been developing a sign of excellency in their academic career. The parent-teacher meeting called once in a month or two were mostly filled with the teachers' appreciation of our kids' performances at school. Not just once, but almost all the time. And I don't think they were just trying to please us, the parent, but I reckon it as genuine, as I know my wife has been keeping track of their studies on a daily basis. So whenever I witnessed the good news of our children's performance, I always complemented my wife for her labor besides acknowledging the Lord’s blessing. On top of that, we daily prayed for our children and also taught them to pray for the Lord's wisdom, knowledge, understanding and blessing. Perhaps, this is the Lord's answer to our daily prayer.

Later, in our night prayer, my wife and I thanked the Lord together for His blessing. We also prayed that we would represent God properly as God-man parent, shepherding the children He has blessed us with. I even personally prayed that none of my sins or failures or shortcomings be passed on to our children. But that the blood of Christ would cover me and grace us and bless our family for His testimony and purpose on this earth.

Children are indeed the heritage of Jehovah.

Thank you Lord, for the children.

An Experience at Doon

Despite Doon being within an easy reach from Delhi, the past decade of my stay in the capital region did not beckon me even once to pay a visit for whatever reason. One thing I follow in life is following the leading of the Lord. Thus far, the Lord had never led, but this time.

In Dehradun, we were lodged in a guest room of a small Christian "ashram" as they call it. On day one itself, we were invited to a meeting of some 40 Christian leaders where we introduced the ministry books. Many of them were very interested and received the free Rhema books, not just for themselves but also for their congregation, and some purchased the title books. 

There, in the meeting, one of the Christian leaders whom they addressed as "father" caught my attention and he too was keen to talk to me. Perhaps, we have this innate biological connection of being from the same state. The short while conversation was sufficient to be more brotherly-friendly as he and I agreed to meet up for more fellowship. Later he did attempt to meet me twice but in both cases I was busy. Somehow I was invited to attend an annual function in his campus where he is the "father" in charge, an official and religious position and responsibility. The following day he invited us for dinner and also for sharing the word of God with his Bible students, staffs and serving ones. As we visited his campus, he led us straight to the chapel and the Lord burdned me to share the word on loving the Lord with personal testimony. After dinner, I had more fellowship on the ground of oneness and the practice of the church life. Just before we left, I gifted him the New Testament Recovery Version.

Last Lord's day we were invited to minister the word of God at Masihi Mandli(Christian  Church), a pioneer church in the city since 1939 where we ministered on the Christian Life. In the evening we were invited to minister at Doon Bible College Chapel by the Principal where we, three brothers, shared our testimonies of salvation to the theological students and introduced and distributed the ministry books. Later, the Principal hosted a dinner for us.

We also visited all the leading Bible colleges and the main Christian groups and spent considerable time fellowshipping and introducing the ministry books to the Principals and Pastors. One significant experience was the time of fellowship with the Principal of New Theological College who paid heed to whatever we had to introduce. Besides, he showed interest in the ministry literature and said he would consult the librarian and place order later. Once I discovered that he is a PhD and is a  professor of Old Testament Bible, I took no time to introduce the Recovery Version using Exodus 31 on the builder of the Tabernacle with footnotes. He was impressed and nodded in agreement of the profound revelation in the notes. I gave a word to send him the Life-Study of Genesis and Exodus, and encouraged him to purchase and study the Life-Study of the Bible.

My main burden in visiting this city, Doon or Dehradun, is for nothing less than the spreading and ministering of the ministry of the word. My heart is burdened to find out seekers who would stand for the Lord's testimony in Dehradun.

May the Lord gain His testimony in Dehradun.