Chapter 6
Chapter 6 - Sanctification and Ministry
Sanctified life and God’s call for ministry
Even though he was freed from the cares of this life, he had no job. There was none around him for preaching the gospel or for prayer. He wanted to know the will of God about his future. He could not find any person for giving him counsel in this regard. Then he came to know about a woman of God used of God, namely, Gnanamani Ammal. When he met her, she informed that for knowing the will of God, he needed sanctification in his heart. As he examined his life in the light of the word of God shown by her to him, he found that his heart was full of the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (I John 2:16). He found that many visible sins had dominion on his invisible spiritual life. One day, at about 11 a.m., he went to a church and began to pray for sanctification of his inward life. Then he felt a new spiritual experience of sanctification in his heart. Then it appeared that he started to commune with God in his heart. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Pro.4:23).
After 9 p.m. he used to go to the forest for prayers and communion with God. Throughout the night, he remained in communion with God and the following morning, he preached the gospel. The Holy Spirit revealed to him the importance of sanctification in his heart. His heart was revealed as the most holy place of God. Though he was surrounded by many people and by disturbing human voices, the incense of prayer was emanating from his heart and he was able to feel the presence of God in his heart. The pleasures of this world could not have dominion over his heart. He was seen as one who was mad after God.
The Lord also revealed to him the spiritual experience of leaving his body and living with Him in spirit. He felt as he was dead in his body. One day when he was conversing with the Lord at midnight in a forest, he saw his spirit stand before him and he did not feel that he was alive in his body. At that time, he heard the Lord speak to him, "My son, many people serve Me. But I abhor all their ministries. There are three ways in which they serve Me. People of one category do their ministries just to gratify their flesh. People of another category serve Me keeping only money in their mind. People of the third category serve Me glorifying their ministries and promoting their families. I have looked for those who would serve Me by glorifying Me and by doing My will. But I could find none for this type of ministry. I could not find any one who would abide with Me and would do My works sharing the burden on My heart. My son, do you serve Me like this? Your ministry is to hear Me and to do My work by preaching My words in different places. This is your full-time work. You are My servant." After hearing these words from the Lord, Sunderapandian cried out to Him, "I am not worthy to do this work" and then spent a lot of time praying under a tree. The duration of time spent by him was not known to him. He just crawled and cried. He only knew that when he knelt down, he had faced the north side but while rising up after prayers, he faced the south side. On that night, the Lord gave him a powerful anointing for preaching. Though he did not know the scriptures fully, the Holy Spirit used to give him His words a little by little. It was a great surprise to him when he opened his mouth to preach. The Holy Spirit taught him many things which he could not understand. The Holy Spirit gave him very simple messages that could be easily understood by the hearers.
Since then the Lord began to save souls through his ministry. The Lord asked him to spend long time in personal prayers. For three and a half years Sunderapandian ate food only once a day and waited in His presence. The Lord revealed to him the craftiness of the devil in misleading people away from God, the hindrances caused by men in the ministry, the lust of the world, the fate of the believers who backslide, the spiritual state of the ministers of God, etc. The Lord also warned him against deceptions and wanted him to be vigilant. He also revealed to him the importance of abiding in fellowship with Him as a high priest even in the busy schedule of the ministry.
In those days, the world looked very different and new to Sunderapandian. He could not recollect as to how he lived with Christ during this period of three and a half years. The only passion in him was to do His will. The Lord made it very clear to him that nobody should find fault with him if he did not do His will. The Lord also told him that he should work with his own hands. When he asked the Lord what he should do, the Lord told him that he should do business in rice. On the first day of his business, he bought one bag of rice and sold the same. The Lord led him in the business. Then he bought half a bag of rice and sold the same. Then he bought less than half a bag and sold the same. Day by day, the volume of business decreased. Afterwards, this business came to an end. Then the Lord told him that He would lead him to make a living even without any business. The Lord told him that if he would heed to His words and do his ministry without becoming a slave to any person or anything, He would make him an apostle. Sunderapandian replied that he would live and die for Christ.
Sunderapandian sought to do God's will only. Though he was hungry, he never sought to taste any special food to his liking. If he was hungry, he plucked the leaves of Neem tree and ate the same so that he might not feel the appetite. Those days, there was a great revival in Zion Nagar and many souls were saved through his ministry.
One day, the Lord spoke to him when he was on the way to his paddy field. Those days, Sunderpandian did not take medicines for getting a cure from his sicknesses. The Lord revealed to him, "I am the Lord that healeth thee". The Lord also told him that intake of medicines only removes the symptoms of diseases and that it was He who heals the sick. On that day, the Lord convinced him that it was not a sin if a sick person took medicines for cure and that a sick person gets healed either by taking medicine or by not taking medicine. A sick person is healed by the Lord only whether he takes medicine or not. After learning this truth, Sunderapandian began to teach on this subject.
......Ctd