We're very glad to have Dr. Chally with us. He's a medical doctor. His father is a founder of great work in South India. I've been there on a number of occasions and rejoiced with him and the work that he's doing. He has founded a great college which is supplying real evangelical preachers across the whole of the continent. and on the other nations around India, God has blessed him and made him a blessing. And it is an honor to have his son with us, and his son is looking after the relief work that's taking place in South India after the earthquake, and he's going to tell us what he's doing with the money we're sending to him, and the encouragements that he has had. And then on Wednesday night, We're having another special meeting with him in our large room upstairs, and we hope to have a great crowd of people in for that meeting, and he will be explaining some of the details of the work and the needs that they have at this present time. My brother, you're more than welcome to this movement, as your father always is when he's visiting us, and we trust the Lord will be with you and him and your neighbors for Christ. Well, it's a privilege for me to be with you all this evening. I know I was a little bit nervous here with the stand in the pulpit of Dr. Paisley, a great man of God. And I know it's a long ways for me to catch up to him. But I thank God to give me the privilege to come and share God's word with you. And I just want to thank each one of you from the bottom of our hearts for what you have been doing for the ministry in the land of India and how you have provided for us through your giving and your prayers that God has continued to bless the ministry. Thank you for your prayers for my father, who has been ill, but by the people of God praying for him. Now he was supposed to have his two toes amputated, but God miraculously intervened there, and his toes are still hanging on his foot. And we want to praise God for that. When I looked at it, when I came back from India, I looked at it, I said, well, it's only the miracle of God that your toes are still there. And by God's grace, the ulcers have healed, and God has strengthened him. His congestive heart failure is in a stable position, stable situation now. and the doctors have given him the go-ahead to travel back to India. So he's excited to go back. He'll be leaving tomorrow from Chicago area to go back to India and then to carry on the ministry that we have for the graduation of the conference that will be up in March, the beginning of March. So do pray for us as we have the conference, the pastor's conference, and also the graduation. We'll be graduating about 220 students from the college who will be going out into the ministry in the land of India. Also, we want to thank you again for your gifts towards the tsunami relief, and what a blessing it is to see that the giving of God's people has helped us to get into some of these areas that we were not able to, and take some of the essentials that are needed, like drinking water and utensils and clothing and blankets and other things for the daily needs of these people. And I want to thank you for that. And I was sharing this morning in Sandown Free Presbyterian Church what my plans are with regards to the money that will be donated towards the tsunami efforts. My goal is to do is to take some of this money and help with some of the fishermen who have lost at his fishing village. who have lost everything, their boats as well as their nets, and some of them need some housing, and that's what we would like to do. And also there are a lot of young children who have lost their parents or are unable to take care of them. We would like to start an orphanage. We have an orphanage, and if we need to add more space, we'd build another orphanage for these young children. and also start a school with the money that is given, so we can use this to educate these young people in education, as well as give them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And also we'd like to do that, and I also have a desire as a medical physician, I'd like to do medical mission work in India, and these are great opportunities if we have a medical mobile clinic, to take the clinic to some of these devastated areas, to provide healthcare for the people and that's what we would want to plan on doing with some of the money that has been given. So this is a gist of what we plan on doing and we will update you on the progress that we are making with regards to these projects that we will be doing. Bill giving off the boats and the fishing nets and also the housing projects and also the orphanages and the mobile clinic and some training centers. for people who would like to be trained in sewing or in other activities for the women who are unable to earn a living. We can train them in sewing or other trades that can be useful for them to venture out and earn a living and also we'll be able to get the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ out to them. So that's what we plan on doing and if people have other suggestions later on, if you want to give us suggestions, we'll be happy to listen to them and see how well we can fit it and get the help that is needed for the people who have been affected with the tsunami. So pray for us as we carry out. It's a great opportunity, not only to meet the physical needs, but also the spiritual needs. I think that is the most important thing, that the people of India need Christ. We have over 1 billion people, over 80% is Hinduism, And then rest comes other religions. As you know, Christianity is very small. The Bible believes in Christianity is less than a half a percent of the people. So we have a great work cut out for us and a great field. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. And so this is what we'd like to do. And also I want you to pray for one of our great needs. That is one of my jobs in the United States and Australia and other places that I've been going out, is to raise money for a dining hall project. It's a great need. We don't have a dining hall for our students and a kitchen. We have makeshift facilities. So pray that we'll be able to get this dining hall and the kitchen and also room for some of our students. We don't have enough room. We have close to 700 students and we don't have facilities for these. And as I said, the harvest truly is plenteous. The need is great and we need to get more workers into the harvest field. And so we'd like to get and reach India for Christ. So pray for us. Pray with us that God will enable us. And next year we'll celebrate 50 years of the ministry of the Varian Baptist Bible College. And we want to thank all of you, God's people who have supported us throughout the years. Dr. Paisley has known my dad for over 40 years and has been a good friend. Dr. McElvain and others who have come, seen the work and have Encouraged, supported, and you are praying for this ministry in India. And I just want to thank you for what you have done and to see how God has prospered this work and blessed it so that we can be able to establish Bible-believing churches and also win people for Christ. And that is our goal. My goal, if people ask me, what do you plan on doing, is to win India for Christ. Take the gospel to every part of India. So that's what we plan on doing. As a medical doctor, I like to do medical mission work in India, which we are planning on doing, and it's a great opportunity to reach people for Christ through the medical mission work. We have avenues that we don't get on a regular basis. Many times people don't want to listen to the gospel, but when they come to see us, they're going to hear the gospel. In December of 2004, we had a great medical camp. And I went out to one of the villages through which we got contacted through our jail ministry. And what a blessing it was for me. Not only treating these over a hundred patients that day, we saw about a hundred patients in four hours. And what a blessing it was. And everyone that walked through those doors heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is a great avenue for us, and that's something that I would like to do. I also pray that I got a report from my brother that when they had gone and seen in the tsunami-affected areas of India that they preached one evening after giving out water and other essentials, daily living essentials, that they had a prayer meeting and prayer, and 40 people got saved that night. 40 people stood up to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And in this area we're planning on starting a Bible study which has already been started, and eventually we'd like to build a church in this neighborhood so that the people will have a place of worship. So pray that we get these things done. We'll be sending out a hundred Tamil Bibles for these people, and so pray that God will enable us to take His word to different parts of India. And that is what we are going to do. in India and pray for the ministry, which continues to grow. And what a privilege it is for me to be part of this ministry. And many a times I thought to myself, I will never want it. I never wanted to be in the ministry because I thought it's very difficult, very hard job. And as a physician, I just wanted to relax and settle myself in a life of ease. But the Lord did not have that. The Lord had spoke to my heart. It was in 1989, in 1990, when I really had to surrender my life to God. And it was on that night of June the 19th, as I was heading to, when I was in the medical school training, I was heading out to the hospital in the Chicago area. And that evening when I had to pick up my sister, I was driving to the hospital and as I came to a stop sign, I stopped and proceeded through the intersection, I heard something like a firecracker go out. And when I saw my passenger side window, it was all shattered. I felt like somebody hit me with a baseball bat or a sledgehammer on my right shoulder. And then later on, I realized the pain getting excruciating, the pain, burning sensation and warm blood coming out on my back. And then I realized that I was shot that night. And that was the night when I lay on the operating waiting for the operation the next day in the hospital bed. I decided I told the Lord, whatever, Lord, you want me to do. That's what I want to do. And that's why the Lord has led me back to Barium Baptist Bible College to serve him there and help my father in the ministry to carry on what God has been doing there. So pray for me. Pray for my family. that God will continue to use us and pray for the ministry and pray that God will continue to bless the ministry, that we'll be able to establish more churches and also start the medical work and get the tsunami relief work done for the people of India. So I would request your praise for that. If you have your Bibles this evening, I'd like to speak on running the Christian race. I know many people have spoken on this passage, but I'll keep it as simple as possible. I'm a physician, so my sermons are going to be very simple, down to earth. You know, I have to keep it simple. That's what my patients always say, Doctor, keep it simple. So I'll try to keep it simple. Okay? All right. I'll read from Hebrews chapter 12. I'll read the first two verses, that's all. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. I, Heavenly Father, would thank you that we have come before your throne of grace this evening. As we are in your house this evening, O God, may you speak to our hearts. O Lord, help us to take away all distractions from our minds, and may we, O God, set our hearts and minds upon the Saviour this evening. Speak to us from thy word. Fill us with thy power, O God, that when we go from this place, we can say, It was good to be in the house of God. So bless me now as I speak. Lord, be with me, hide me behind thy cross, and everything I say will bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So bless this time together, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. As I said, I want to speak to you on the subject of winning the Christian race. I mean, last year, if you had watched the Olympics, probably you had seen that when the last race of the marathon was, the last race of the Olympics was the marathon race. And as you would probably watch some of you, if you did, you'd see when the runners were coming, there was one man running on this long distance marathon and he's coming to the finish line. And as he's coming close, you see one of the men, one of the priests in the grid that jumps out and holds him back and stops him. But then afterwards, you see this marathon runner did not quit there. He just got himself again up and then ran to the finish line and he won the bronze medal. My friends, you knew that when I saw that and when I thought about it and people we talked about it, it tells me that when we begin to run the Christian race, there will be many obstacles that will come our way, many trials and testings, many catastrophes. And many things may come, but let's not be distracted, but let us finish the race that is set before us. And that's what Paul, the writer of Hebrews, is saying. Therefore, seeing we have so much to confess about with so great a witness, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. And that's what I want to speak to you. The first word in the alphabet of the race is R. R stands for reaching forward with persistence. We need to reach forward with persistence, not wavering and not going up and down a roller coaster ride, but to be persistent in looking forward to finishing the course that has been set for us. What a way to go. We see that we need to be reaching forth unto the things which are before us. One of the good examples of running the race in the New Testament is Paul the Apostle. My friends, if you notice how Paul was a persecutor of the church, but when God got hold of him that day on the road to Damascus, as he was walking there, he sees this light and the voice from heaven come, Saul, Saul, why persecute us thou? And that's the day that when Paul met the Savior, that he began to run the race. And the Lord told him, I have a work for you to do, and that you will be taking the gospel to the Gentiles, and you will be going to see many persecutions, many trials, and many difficulties. But I want you to take the gospel, and that is your race that is set for you. And there you notice Paul. There you get ready, and he gets ready for the race. And there you notice him, that he sets his eyes upon the Savior, and he's ready to begin that race. My friends, the moment we have trusted Christ, as when we were in our sinful condition, we have come to Him, we have been washed in His blood, and now we're the sons and daughters of God that we should be as we begin our race. Let's forget our past. Paul could have thought about all the wicked things he has done, but now that he's been washed and forgiven, he's looking forward. And that's what we need to be doing today, is to look forward, and to reach forth, and keep our eyes fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we say, some of us Christians, we live in the past, we live in spending time and dwelling on things that we cannot change. As a physician, I see many times people come to me and say, ''Doc, I'd like to go to therapy''. And I don't know if any of you have been to therapy, but once you go to the therapist, they keep you bringing back, don't they? And you talk to the psychologist, you talk to the social workers, you talk to the psychiatrist, they put you on a bench there on the seat and they want to know all about your past. My friends, what can they do about my past? Nothing! It's behind me! Tell me what I can do for the future and how can I reach my goal? That's what we need to be doing. And that's what the Christian race is all about, to forget the past and to reach forward for what is set before us. And that's why we hear all the things that have already passed, already have happened, there's nothing we can do. As Christians, we must emulate Paul and forget those things which are behind, and to press for the mark of the prize of the high calling of God. And I think that's what Paul did. His eyes were focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's always his goal, was looking unto the author and finisher of his faith and our faith. May we look forward, and we can win this Christian race as we begin to be persistent. in our walk with God, as we live a life day by day. As a physician, every year, every beginning of the year, I have people who come with resolutions. And one of the resolutions is to losing weight. I don't know. I didn't see too many heavy stuff people here. I better use the right terms. But United States, we have a very big problem of obesity. And we have a lot of people who want to go on diet. and they stop their diet, they'll come and tell me in the beginning of the year, doc, this is what I'm going to do to lose weight, and this is how much I'm going to do. And you ask them a month later, they'll come to see me again, and I'll say, how much weight have you lost? I said, how long have you kept your resolution, New Year's resolution? And they'll tell me, within two days they went back to their old habits. We need to spend time with our God, we need to walk with Him in close fellowship, not being on fire one day and being cold another day. But we need to have that flame of fire burning within us every day steadily and go stronger day by day so that the race that is set before us, that we can finish without any problems. And we be strong till the end. We can really do it by reaching forth unto those things which are before us and looking unto Jesus. As you keep your eyes fixed upon Him, you will accomplish that task. Oh, what a great example it is when the Lord Jesus Christ came walking upon the water in the middle of the night and Peter saw Him and he wanted to walk. on water. He said, Lord, bid me to come to you. And the Lord said, Come on, Peter. And as soon as Peter put his foot on the boat, he took one step and two steps. And all of a sudden he took his eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and was watching the waves and the wind. And he began to sing. My friends, if Peter had kept his eyes focused on the Lord Jesus Christ and kept his eyes upon the Lord, I think Peter would have walked towards Christ, wouldn't he? But as soon as he took his eyes of the Savior, he began to sing. And the same thing will happen in our lives today. The moment we take our eyes of the Savior, we are going to sing in our Christian race. But let us keep our eyes fixed upon the Savior. The next thing I want you to notice is the word race, age. We talked about reaching forth with art. Age stands to apply yourself with purpose. Apply yourself with purpose. You know, that's what Paul had. He had a purpose. If you turn into the book of Philippians, chapter 3, and it talks about the purpose Paul had. Paul had a purpose in his life. He said, brethren, I can't not myself, in chapter 3, verse 13, brethren, I can't not myself to have apprehended But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect and thus minded, and if anything otherwise be minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." Paul had one purpose, was to finish that race. God had a purpose that he wants to win the prize. Paul wanted to have that crown that the Lord will give him on that day. And to those who all finish this race, he will give. And then Paul wanted to take that crown and put it at the feet of Jesus. That's what he was looking for. And that's what we should do. Many of us Christians in this world lack a purpose. We simply drift along aimlessly. without any thought of advancing the kingdom of God. I see that a lot in the United States, where materialism has taken over in fundamental churches today, where people do not have time for God, do not have time to spend time with God. Even our church services have to be on time. There was a sad thing one time in our church. They had to write in our bulletin, please turn your phones off, the cell phones, or you call them mobiles here, mobile phones, we call them cell phones in the States. Why? Because exactly around 12 o'clock when the church has to be finished, we have the cell phones going off. As a disturbing, people are very busy. They don't have time for God. They're caught up in their own world. They're caught up in their own things that they want to do. My friends, we have a race to run. There's a world that is dying and going to a Christless eternity. What are we doing? Are we taking the gospel of Christ to them? Yes, we drift aimlessly without the thought of advancing the kingdom of God. We need to take the gospel that Christ died for sinners, that He rose again and He shed His blood, that whosoever will come to Him will have life eternal. You have it and you enjoy it. Why not others? Why don't we share? But how many times we lack that purpose in our lives. To win the Christian race, we must look to the future. making plans that will glorify God. We need to have a vision. The Bible says where there is no vision, the people perish. My friends, we need to have a vision of God. We need to have a vision for the world, how we can advance the kingdom of God. There should be a plan. Every runner knows that he has to have a plan. He has to have a vision, how he's going to train himself to finish that race. I don't know about you, but many of the marathon runners that we have met or people who are training for the marathon that come into our office, if you ask them, they'll tell you what all they can do, the diets they want to use, the way they can lose weight without affecting their stamina and things like that. They want to prepare. They have a purpose that they want to win that race. Likewise, we Christians have to have a purpose in our lives. Purpose to advance the kingdom of God. Purpose to set goals. We should take inventory of our spiritual life to see where there are weaknesses and set goals to overcome those weaknesses that we can be strengthened so that we can be used of God. We need to apply ourselves. We need to have a purpose, and many of us go aimlessly. Our purpose, you can notice, is in the Word of God. As we search the Scripture daily, God will reveal it to us, what he wants us to do. What he wants us to do and where he wants us to go, you will discover this purpose and identity through the relationship with Christ. As we have fellowship with Him, as we walk close to Him, as we meditate upon His Word and digest the Word of God, and as we spend time in prayer, God will reveal His will to our lives. He will reveal what we ought to be doing, and God will show us the plan that we need to fulfill. My friends, God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about Him. You look in Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5, it says, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto nations. God has a purpose in each one of our lives. And I hope you know that purpose and that you're fulfilling that purpose as you're running this Christian race. What a Savior we have. The purpose of your life fits the greater picture that God has designed for all in eternity. My friends, knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. My friends, if you know your purpose focuses your life and you can concentrate on the important things of life and not worry about the small nitty gritty things of life. Let's focus on the big picture of what God has for us to do. If you have a purpose in your life, it motivates your life. It gives you energy, it gives you passion, and gives you things to do. Many of us, we know, as we go through our lives, we know there are days when we go, we feel down and weak, and sometimes we feel so discouraged. But my friends, when we know the purpose of God and this purpose will motivate us and we'll get ourselves together and we can gird our loins up and go forth and run that race that God has set before us and not give in. When you know the purpose in life for God, it simplifies your life. Your life becomes very simple. Yes, we live in a society where we have lots of things going on. We have many places to go, many things to do. But when we know we have a purpose in God, it's so simple. All we have to do is to focus on Him, and He will make our life very simple. The third thing I want you to notice, evil's fourth why? C is to conquer evil with God's power. Conquer evil with God's power. And that's what we did. Romans 8.37 says, Nay, in all things we are mowed and conquerors through him that loved us. My friends, today the world is filled with sin and evil. Satan is constantly trying to defeat God's people. And how can we overcome this? Only through the Word of God. You notice the same tempter that tempted our Savior when He was there forty days in that wilderness, and there forty days. Out there, Satan came many a times and tempted the Lord Jesus Christ. And you notice what the Lord used? He used the Word of God. It is written. It is written. It is written. We can defend all the same tempted today by using the soul of the Lord. That is the weapon that God has given in our arsenal. So let us use it. He's given us an arsenal. Another weapon in our arsenal is the prayer. And it just thrills my heart to see how many days your church has time for prayer. We don't see that in the churches in the States much today. That's something that is lacking in some of the churches. We need to have that. Satan is constantly trying to defeat us, God's people. When our faith is tested, some of us Christians, we give up in despair. And they fail to make use of God's conquering power. Let's not fall to the devil. Let's not give in to the devil. But let us overcome the devil. Let us trust in God. Let us fight him and use the word of God and prayer to overcome his tempting tricks. And that's what we need to be doing. Next thing I want you to know is that we can win the race. with divine strength. We can conquer evil with divine strength. The strength that God has given to us. Isaiah 40, 31 says, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. My friends, yes, God will give us the strength to carry on. And God will give us the strength to run this race. Though we faint, He will give us the strength to finish it. Yes, they shall walk and not be weary. That's what our God promised. We shall not be weary when we trust God and we can conquer our fears, conquer evil through prayer and God's word and through the promises of God. Then we'll be more than conquerors. Nay, in all things we are more than conquerors. Let's not give in to the devil, but let us live a life that is victorious. Live a life that will bring glory and honor to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a Savior we have. We don't have to live a defeated life in this world. Yes, as humans, we may have our discouraging moments. We may have some days that we say are down, but every valley has a mountain top. And let's climb to the mountain, and let's live a life that is victorious, and let's not let the tempter take away that happiness, that joy that is ours in Christ Jesus. The last thing I want to talk to you about is E. E stands for Endure Hardness with Patience. Endure Hardness with Patience. My friends, in 2nd Timothy 2.3 says, Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Last year I was working at the army camp. The young people were getting trained and going into Iraq, and to Kosovo, and to Afghanistan, and to the Middle East, and some areas among the Sinai Peninsula. And these young soldiers were coming in there, and I was there for four or five months. taking care of these young soldiers. And every day I would see them coming to the office, some of them injured during their training. And there was one day as I went in the morning, I saw this young soldier sitting there and I looked at him and they asked me to take a look at him. I went in the room and there he was laying down. I asked him what was the matter. And he said, Doc, I've not slept for three days straight. I've been in the field training. to endure, to be prepared to go to Afghanistan to fight the war. But now I'm dehydrated, and I feel weak, and I'm here. Yes, my friends, if it takes that type of physical training to fight a war here, how much more we should be well equipped to fight the Christian warfare, to endure, to be strong. We have a great enemy. the Satan always trying to destroy us. And we need to be strong and rooted in the Word of God to fight against the wicked one and his adversaries and all the principalities and powers that be. We need to be strong in the Lord. We need to endure hardness. And some of us Christians, we want to go to heaven in a flowery bed of ease. We lack patience and we lack endurance, and that brings disappointment to us. But we need to have endurance. We need to be strong. If you're going to finish the ranks that you have started, you need to be enduring. You need to be training yourself to be a good soldier. A good soldier must endure hardships. He must press forward. Even when things are becoming difficult, when things are hard, Or sometimes I had a soldier come to me and I said, I don't think you can go to Afghanistan young man because it doesn't look like you'll be able to make it by the time your troop will be deployed. You know that soldier turned to me and said, Doc, don't stop me, whatever it takes, I'm going to, I'm going to fight this problem and I'm going to overcome it so that I can go and fight for my country. He was dedicated. He was ready to overcome his obstacles. Likewise, Christians, we should be ever ready to overcome our weaknesses or overcome our obstacles or whatever things that are in our way so that we can run the race and win the race for Christ. If the soldiers in the world are willing to go that route, how much more should we be willing to be prepared to endure for the cause of Christ? Yes, we need to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ. To win the Christian race, we need to be patient. We need to be patient. And that's all we say, to be patient and see how God works in us. Many times, as a physician, I like to do a lot of things very quickly. You know, we get the adrenal rush because we see something going bad, we want to get it fixed. But in the Christian work, I realize I can't be a physician that way. In God's work, I have to be patient. Sometimes I have to just let my hands off and say, Lord, You lead the way. You take control. of this situation. My friends, we need to be patient with our God. The Bible says, as the Lord Jesus Christ said in the Scriptures, my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts. And we just have to wait upon God to find His way, His will, His thoughts, so that we can conform to the image of our Savior. And that is how we're going to win the race. When we take our hands off and let God use us, mold us, we are just a clay in the potter's hands. And may He make us into a vessel that will be used for His glory. We must trust God and keep running the race. No matter what happens, let's not take our eyes off the finish line. Let's keep our eyes focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then when it's all said and done and we stand before our Savior, he'll say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. What a great commendation that will be. And I hope, my friends, as you run this race, that you don't give up, that you run it patiently, endure to the end. And then there is a crowd awaiting. for you and for me, and let us finish it happily to the end. Let's not give up. Let not the devil take away that fire that is in us, but let us keep that flame burning for the Savior, and we will accomplish, and we will be whole at last. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we pray, O God, that You speak to our hearts and help us to finish the race. We pray in Jesus' name.