0:00 I began a series of three messages on the truth will set you free, which I thought was an appropriate subject for this July 4th weekend. When we think of freedom, it's much more than something outward. 0:18 We thank God that we're not living in a dictatorship. We're not slaves, but we are free. But there's a far greater freedom that Jesus spoke about in his word which I'm convinced that most believers do not know fully 0:36 about. The unbelievers know nothing about it. But even believers who've known the truth partially have not known it fully. Is the devil's aim to keep believers 0:53 ignorant so that he can continue to reign over them in areas of their life where they should be free. June the 19th was my wedding anniversary and I discovered recently that that is 1:13 celebrated in the United States every year. Not because it's my wedding anniversary, [laughter] but because something interesting happened in the United States on June 19th, 141 years ago. And that's why it's that day is known as 1:30 Junth for those who know about it because the Emancipation Proclamation was proclaimed by President Lincoln and took effect on the 1st of January 1863. It's good, isn't it, that Indian is 1:48 giving a lecture on American history? [laughter] [applause and cheering] Well, in effect, all slaves were free. 2:07 But how were the slaves to know about it when they didn't have television, radio, newspapers, nothing? And so the slave masters certainly didn't want their slaves to know about it. And they kept it from them. They kept this news from them. And for two 2:22 and a half years, many many slaves down in the deep south never knew about it till finally on June the 19th, two and a half years later, 1865, General Granger went down and proclaimed to all the slaves that they were free. 2:40 And even though the freedom had been proclaimed two and a half years earlier, they could experience it only when they heard about it. When they knew the truth, they were free. There was a far greater emancipation proclamation proclaimed on Calvar's Hill 2:59 nearly 2,000 years ago when Jesus said, "It is finished." Satan's rule over man was finished. He had no more authority over the human race. But you can be sure the slave master doesn't want his slaves to know about it. 3:16 >> Millions of people have not heard the good news. And even those who have heard have not heard it fully. Yesterday evening I was speaking about being free from the guilt of sin. That's where we got to begin. 3:36 Whenever I'm witnessing to a non-Christian, I don't talk about his religion versus my religion. I don't criticize his religion. That's no way to start. I start at the point where both of us have something in common. Whoever it is in the world, whichever 3:54 religion it is, a guilty conscience. I see that's what we all have. It's what animals don't have. And so guilt has to be removed first. And that's why Christ died on the cross and shed his blood. And many of us here are free from that guilt only because 4:14 sometime in the past you came to know the truth that Christ died for you. If you had not known the truth in the years before you knew the truth, you were not free from guilt. Then also I spoke about being free from the curse. 4:31 That's another thing people are afraid of. Jesus became a curse for us, the Bible says, so that there's no curse left for us. If you know that truth, you'll never be afraid of witchcraft or demons or anybody putting a curse on you 4:44 or any such thing. And then in the earlier service this morning, I spoke about being free from sin's power. It's one thing to be free from sin's guilt. It's quite another thing to be free from sin's power. Salvation has got three tenses like we 5:02 study in grammar. Past, present, future, past from the guilt of my past sin, present from the power of sin every day by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to experience that. And third, one day when Christ comes again from the 5:19 presence of sin itself where we'll never be tempted again. So we're living in the present now. We need to experience this freedom from the power of sin. And that's what I spoke about in the last session and I would encourage all 5:35 of you to get that tape and listen to it because I want to move on to something else which is equally important and that is freedom from fear. Fear is another weapon with which Satan 5:51 keeps a lot of people in bondage. They're slaves. Fear and anxiety which lead to stress and tension and sickness often. Now, psychologists have got ways of dealing with guilt and ways of dealing 6:11 with fear. I'm not a psychologist, thankfully, but I'm a preacher of the gospel. And that's a much better message that Christ has for us than any psychologist can give you. Jesus. I want to read these words to you that Jesus said in Matthew's Gospel, 6:29 chapter 28. [clears throat] The message of the gospel is good news. It's good news for those who are weighed down by the guilt of sin. It's good news for those who are weighed down and defeated by the power of sin. And it's 6:46 good news for all who are fearful and anxious. after his resurrection in Matthew 28, Jesus said in verse 10, "Do not be afraid or fear not." Or as the margin of my Bible says, "Stop being 7:05 afraid." Jesus spoke so many times, spoke these words so many times. Fear not. Fear not. Fear not. in the gospels. I've seen it at least seven times. Fear not. Fear not. Fear not. I would say 7:24 that is one of the most disobeyed commands of Christ. One of the most disobeyed commands of Christ. We think it's a suggestion. You know, God didn't give 10 suggestions to Moses on the mountain. 7:43 He gave ten commandments. When Jesus said, "Don't be afraid. Stop being afraid. Do not fear." It's the same God who said, "Don't commit adultery. Don't murder. Don't kill. Don't steal. 8:00 Don't bear false witness. Don't fear. Why don't we put that in the same category and give the same importance as we give to all the other commandments?" Now, we'd be horrified uh with if we heard somebody committed 8:18 adultery or murdered someone. But what about someone who was afraid? Somehow the devil has succeeded in making us put that into another category. That's a suggestion. No. So many times Jesus said, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid." He said, 8:35 "Don't be anxious." Now, I realize we need help in that. And that's why he's given us the Holy Spirit. I can do nothing without God's help. Some of us may be able to avoid alcohol without much help. But a drunkard would need help from God. 8:54 And there are people who are addicted to drugs who would need help from God to be free from it. Where most of us may not need much help in that area. In the same way, there are people who are addicted to fear and anxiety 9:09 at tension. And God is there to help them, deliver them just as much as he's there to help the drunkard and the adulterer and the person who has any other addiction. But we must see first of all very 9:27 clearly that it is the will of God for us to be free from fear. Fear brings slavery. It's very important to see that. I want to show you a verse in Hebrews and chapter 2. 9:43 In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14 and 15. You know when Christ died on the cross there were at least two things that happened. I could speak about many more things but primarily these two things. 10:01 And um one is he died for our sins and the other is that he died to take away the power of Satan from him. He did not destroy Satan. Satan is alive. God's 10:19 allowed him to be alive for a purpose. But he's taken away his power to harm us. It's very important for us to know this truth because it's when you don't know this truth that fear comes in. You shall know the truth and the truth will 10:38 set you free from sin's power and from Satan's power and the fear of the devil or fear of demons or fear of men or fear of sickness or fear of anything. Here it says, why did Jesus take flesh and blood like us? 10:56 Most Christians know only one part of this truth that he came to die for our sins. And look at the liberation that has brought into our life. Here is something more of the truth that you need to know which your slave master 11:09 does not want you to hear, but you're going to hear it today >> so that you can be free. That's my goal that every person sitting here, not just 90%. But everyone sitting here, my goal is this that everyone sitting here will 11:26 understand today that you can be free from fear and that you will ask God to help you by the power of his spirit to experience this freedom in the days to come. We're not talking theory. We're not talking about something that's going to fill our 11:44 head with some information. I'm not interested in circulating information. I'm interested in setting people free. Jesus was anointed to set the captives free. That's what the Bible says. And free from fear. Hebrews 2:14. 12:03 Since the children, that's we, share in flesh and blood, Jesus himself took part of the same. Why? So that through death, this is the second part of what he did on the cross. He rendered powerless the one who had the power of death, that 12:23 is the devil. You couldn't have it clearer than that. He has made the devil powerless. The de the Bible is exact. It doesn't say he killed the devil because the devil's not killed. But he it does say he has made the devil powerless. 12:44 He's not able to harm you even though he wants to. And through that, since the devil who had the power of death was made powerless, Jesus thus could deliver those who, see 13:02 that word fear comes in again, who through fear of death were all their life subject to slavery. Fear brings slavery. The greatest fear is the fear of death. 13:22 And Jesus came to deliver us from the fear of death which brings us slavery. There are many inferior fears, smaller fears. They also bring slavery to different degrees. But the top fear of all is the fear of death. And if he can deliver us from 13:41 that, that means he can deliver us from all the other peers. I don't have the time to show you this, but if you take time sometimes to read 1 Samuel chapter 17, it's the story of David and Goliath. 14:00 And you read something very interesting there that all the Israelites were living in fear because Goliath is a picture of the devil stood there and said who can come and fight with me and that's what the devil said throughout Old Testament 14:20 times. Do you have you noticed this that in the Old Testament you never find anybody casting out a demon or fighting with the devil? They only fought with human beings, Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites. But when it came to the devil, they couldn't 14:35 do anything. The devil stood there in Old Testament times from the time Adam sinned, looked at the human race and said, "Which of you can come and fight with me?" And everybody sat in fear till Jesus came, the son of David, 14:52 and took away his power. And now we can confront Satan without fear. And it says there in 1 Samuel 17 that when the when David killed Goliath and the Philistines saw that their 15:09 champion was dead, they all ran away. Once the strong man is bound, they all run away. So that means when the top fear is removed, all the other fears disappear. 15:26 So the secret is to see that Satan was defeated on the cross that he who had the power of death power to harm us in so many ways. His power has been taken away from him by Christ. This is one of the wonderful things that 15:42 happened on the cross. Perhaps you never knew it till today. Perhaps you only knew that he died for our sins on the cross. Sure the slave master doesn't know want you to know that the power has been taken away from him just like 141 15:54 years ago those slave masters didn't want to know didn't want their slaves to know that they were the emancipation proclamation had been issued it's exactly the same when Jesus said it's finished the power of the devil was 16:08 finished over all of us and we needed to know that and I praise God for the day in my life many many years after I was born Again, when the fear of the devil went away from my life completely, I knew he couldn't touch me anymore 16:25 and the tables are reversed. I say, "Lord Jesus, as the devil was scared of you, I want him to be scared of me >> because I come to him in the name of Jesus." And he can be scared of you too. Not 16:48 because you or I are somebody great, but because we come in the name of Jesus who conquered him on the cross. There is no other name that he's frightened of. You can't cast out a demon from anybody in any other name. No, it's not possible. 17:08 People can be delivered in the name of Jesus. We come across demons in many of our many situations. I've come across them in my ministry in India, even in the United States. But I'll tell you something. I have till today never never never come 17:25 across a demon that did not immediately respond to a command to get out in the name of Jesus. Not even one. There is no such demon. They were all defeated on the cross. Every single one of them. And I'll tell 17:43 you something. I don't have to tell them twice. And I'll tell you another thing. I've never had to yell or scream at them like some people. They've got good hearing. They know very well. And they and even if you don't know it, they know they 17:58 were defeated on the cross. I remember hearing the story of a man in China, godly man, pastor who was a Chinese man years ago who had this tremendous ministry of casting out demons and a lot of people would come to his house and demons would be set free. 18:16 And one day someone brought a demon-possessed person to his house and he wasn't there. But his little 12-year-old boy was there who had seen his dad casting out demons. And this little 12-year-old boy said, "In the name of Jesus, whom my father 18:33 preaches, get out of this country." What do you think the demon did? Left immediately. Are demons scared of 12-year-old boys? No. But they're scared of the name of Jesus. It's so important to know that there is 18:51 no need for fear in our life anymore. It's so important to know this because fear brings slavery. It brings tension. It produces ulcers. It produces allergies, sicknesses, so many things which we can be free from. There are 19:10 many sicknesses which have got other causes. I'm not talking about them. But there are many sicknesses any doctor will tell you that are caused by tensions, by anxiety, by bitterness, by fear, by jealousy. And those things we 19:23 can certainly be free from immediately. You can be free from it today if you ask Jesus to deliver you from this fear. And especially as we come to the last days, Jesus said in Luke's gospel and chapter 21, let me read these words 19:39 to you. Luke's Gospel chapter 21 speaking about the last days when Jerusalem will be surrounded in Luke 21:24. It says here Jerusalem will be ruled by the Gentiles until the times of Gentiles 19:58 be fulfilled. And then then it says there'll be signs in the sun, moon, and stars on the earth. Here's where Jesus spoke about tsunami waves coming and roaring. It's all written in scripture. Luke 21:25, 20:17 the roaring of the tsunamis and men when all this happens, men fainting from fear, wondering what's going to happen next. These are the times in which we're living. 20:37 And when these things begin to happen, verse 28, what should God's children do? They should not have fear. They should straighten up, lift up their heads because the coming of Christ is near. 20:55 Those are the days in which we are living. Jesus wants us to be free from fear when the rest of the world is fainting from fear. It's not only because Satan has been defeated. It's because on top of everything, we 21:13 have a loving father who cares for us all the time. You know when the children of Israel [clears throat] were taken captive to Babylon, you read in the Old Testament and then the rulers of Babylon and Meo Persia controlled them. They were slaves 21:32 there. And then that was the second deliverance from slavery that the Israelites had in the Old Testament. The first was from Egypt. The second was from Babylon. And then the Lord told them after 70 years of captivity to go 21:43 back and build the temple. And very few of them went back. And those who went back were a very small minority. And they were surrounded by enemies. [clears throat] Just like the way small groups of Christians today in many countries 22:01 including India, China are very often surrounded by unbelievers who hate this little group of Christians. That's exactly how it was. I mean here in your country, you have a lot more freedom. But in many countries in the world, 22:17 little groups of Christians are exactly like that little group of Jews who went back to build the temple. And here are little groups of Christians all over the world trying to build the church of Jesus Christ surrounded by enemies who 22:30 threaten them with persecution to try to burn down their houses, burn down their churches, and harm them in so many ways, kill some of them. Well, to this little group, God sent a prophet. We read, his name was Zechariah chapter 2. Zechariah 22:45 chapter 2. This is the word that the Lord spoke to that little persecuted group of his people who were trying to build his house. He said, Zechariah 2:5, "I 23:03 will be a wall of fire round about you." I love those words. It's often been a comfort to me. I prayed this, "Lord, be a wall of fire round about my home, my family. Be a wall of fire round about me according to your promise. I will be a 23:21 wall of fire round about her and I will be the glory in the midst of her. And he says here in verse 8, if anyone touches you, he's going to touch the apple of my eye. 23:40 Now God was saying that's how how I feel it when somebody tries to harm you. Do you know that this inner part of your eye, the center of your eye, which is called the apple of your eye, is the most sensitive part of your body. 23:55 There's no part of your body as sensitive as that. As soon as anyone just touches it, you react immediately. It it's it's so sensitive. And the Lord uses that example and says, "Anyone who touches you touches the apple of my eye. 24:14 I take that seriously. I feel it when somebody touches one of my children. We got to understand that. That's what Saul of Tarsus, who later became the Apostle Paul, realized when he was walking the road to Damascus and he was persecuting Christians left, 24:32 right, and center. As he was going to Damascus, a voice from heaven said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And Saul wondered, "Whom am I persecuting in heaven?" And Jesus said, "It's me." He realized 24:49 it was Jesus. That though Jesus head was there, his body was here on earth. I wonder whether you realize this. This is a wonderful truth that Jesus has two bodies. one physical one which he's up there in heaven with and another 25:06 spiritual one which is just as real a body as his physical body. And that's what the Holy Spirit has made us a part of. To me, it's a wonderful truth that I am a part of the body of Jesus Christ. And you, if you've given your life to 25:24 Christ, are a part of the body of Jesus Christ. And the head feels it when somebody touches a part of the body. And that's the day when the apostle Paul who in the book of Ephesians and other letters gave these wonderful revelations 25:40 to the church about the church being the body of Christ. You know where he saw it first? On the road to Damascus. He discovered that if he hurt somebody here, the head felt it up in heaven immediately. And he discovered that the 25:53 church was the body of Christ. We need to see that that anyone who touches you, if you're really giving yourself to the Lord, I tell you it's absolutely true. And that's why Jesus tried his best to convince his disciples 26:08 how much their father cared for them. For example, when they he told his disciples in Matthew chapter 6 in the sermon on the mount, look at the number of times he told them, "Don't be anxious. Don't be anxious. Don't be anxious." three times 26:25 from verses 25 to 34. Now, when a person says one thing three times in about half a minute, you can be pretty sure there's something important there. Don't be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you 26:41 shall wear, or we could say all the other things we're worried about today. And he said, I'll tell you why. Look at the birds. They don't sow. They don't reap. They don't have bank accounts. But your heavenly father feeds them. 26:58 How many dead birds do you see on the roads dead of starvation? Very rare to find one. And even if they died, it wouldn't be of starvation. I'll tell you that. And there are millions of birds. Where where do they get all that 27:12 food from? Jesus said, "Your heavenly father feeds them. and you are worth much more than them. One of the greatest truths that Jesus tried to instill into his disciples was that they had a dad up in heaven who 27:32 cared for them more than any earthly father. I believe that's the thing which so many people need to know today to bring security. A father like no earthly father has ever been. One who cares and who loves. And he said, "If God cares 27:49 for those birds, don't you think he'll care for you?" I remember reading a piece of poetry some time ago, which I've never forgotten. It's about two birds talking to each other. 28:05 said the robin to the sparrow. I would really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so said the sparrow to the robin. 28:21 Friend, I think it must be because they have no heavenly father such as cares for you and me. Is that true? Is that what the birds are saying about our life? and they see the way we rush and fear and are anxious. Oh well, perhaps they don't have a father 28:38 like we have. Maybe that's why they're so worried. I've often thought about that. What are the birds saying about me when they see watch my life? Do they see I have a father who cares for me more than the one who cares for them? 28:52 This is what Jesus was trying to instill into his disciples that God was a loving father who cared for them who would never let them down who cared for them as the apple of his eye and who would provide everything that they needed. He said the Gentiles they 29:09 are anxious about many things but you must not be. Why are the Gentiles anxious? Because they don't have God as their heavenly father. He's their creator and he's provided many things in the world but he doesn't have that personal 29:23 relationship. I mean this is one of the things the Bible says very clearly that God has got a personal relationship with some people on earth. He wants to have it with everybody. But God is a gentleman. He will not walk into 29:38 somebody's life if he doesn't want him. And that's why he says I stand at the door and knock. If you open the door I come in. If you don't open the door, I won't. And that's why so many people in the world don't have that personal 29:51 relationship with God. He won't have a personal relationship with any of us unless you want that. Unless you say, "Lord, I want you to come into my life. I want you to be Lord of my life." That's why he's not the father of 30:01 everyone. Even though he wants to be the father of all the six billion people on the world on the earth, he's a father of very very few. Is those who have invited him in because God is a gentleman. He will not walk in where he's not wanted. 30:17 He will not walk in where he's not invited. But whoever invites him, he comes into a special relationship with that person. That becomes his son, his daughter. The rest of the world, they are his creation. But among all of 30:32 creation, he has some who are his sons and daughters. That's the type of relationship God wants to have with you and me. And when he when we come into that type of relationship, we can live without fear. So there are two things we need to know 30:47 very clearly. One is Satan's defeat on the cross and the other is that God is our loving father in heaven. And that's why when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he said before you say a word, you 31:03 must learn how to address God. In the Old Testament, they always said, "Oh great and terrible, mighty God, greatly to be feared, etc." Jesus said, "Stop praying like that, start saying our father, 31:19 dad who art in heaven, who controls everything, who defeated Satan on the cross, who cares for me more than you care for the birds, who will clothe me better than you clothe all the flowers in the field. my father in heaven. If we don't start 31:37 with that understanding, we're not going to be able to pray right because we won't have faith. You know that many many prayers of Christians are not answered only for one reason. They don't believe God will answer them. 31:53 >> They ask God to heal them. They don't expect that he'll ever heal them. Most believers have more faith in medicines and doctors than in God. >> Well, you'll get what the medicines and the doctors can do for you. I'm not 32:10 against medicines and doctors. I believe God's provided that. And we must use surgery. We must use medicines. We must use the wisdom of doctors. But ultimately, any doctor will tell you only God can heal. >> I can only do the processes. But God is 32:25 the one who brings healing. Our trust must be in God in every area. The things that the people of the world worry about, we should not worry about. The Bible says we must take our problems to God. The Bible doesn't say we won't have 32:40 any problems. But the Bible says when it comes, take it to God. Cast your burden upon the Lord and he'll carry it for you. If he could carry our sins, don't you think he can carry our little burdens which are much less than the than our sins? He 33:00 certainly can. And that's very very important in the time in which we live to understand that. And therefore, Satan can have no power over us. The Bible also says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, a wonderful promise for 33:16 those who have invited the Lord into their lives, for those who are God's children. Listen to this. We know and not everybody knows that but we know that God listen to this wonderful promise to me it's one of the most wonderful promises of God's 33:32 sovereign power over everything that comes into our life and I know the tremendous comfort and power and freedom and liberty this has brought into my life. this single verse Romans 8:28, God Almighty, my father, 33:49 your father, causes all the things that happen in our life to work together for our good if we are among those who who love him and who are called according to his purpose. Now, it doesn't say here that 34:07 God makes everything work for good for everybody on earth. It doesn't say that because it's not true. A lot of things that happen to a lot of people on earth do not work for their good. They work for evil. There's no doubt about that. 34:23 But if if you have surrendered your life to Christ, if you have said, "Lord, all of my life is yours. I surrender to you." Just like when a girl gets married to a boy and she belongs to him. In the same way, if we have surrendered totally 34:43 to the Lord and said, "Lord, I'm yours. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to love you with all my heart. I want to fulfill your purpose for my life on earth. Here is a wonderful promise that will be true from 34:58 now till Jesus the day Jesus returns. every single thing big or small will work for your good and it's wonderful to believe that we have a you know the water in India is not very good if you drink it you can die if you drink the water from the tap 35:18 a lot of people do die that way unless you got used to it through living there for many years and so in many parts of India we have what's called a water filter it's a very important piece of equipment many parts of India because 35:31 that keeps us from getting sick. And these people who sell these filters will demonstrate it for you. Say you can put dirty water in here and here comes out clean water at the other end. It's an electric ultraviolet filter. 35:45 And I thought of that. What a wonderful thing this is. You put clean water in there, it comes out clean here. You put dirty water in there, it still comes out clean here. These filters are amazing. Well, Romans 8:28 is something like 35:56 that. >> Somebody does good to me, it turns out good for me. Somebody does evil to me still turns out good. What more do you want? 36:13 It doesn't matter what people do. >> And that's why now I'm not exaggerating. I'm not trying to be spectacular when I say this what I'm going to say. I believe it with all my heart. It's absolutely true. You know, I've been a 36:26 servant of the Lord for 40 years full-time in Christian work in India. I worked in villages mostly. And you can be pretty sure that anyone preaching the message like I preach, the devil's certainly got him in his sights. 36:42 And I've faced attacks from all types of people. But I'll tell you something. I'm 66 and a half years old now. No one has ever been able to do harm to me till today. It's true. Religious people have taken 37:07 me to court. People have written articles against me. They've spread stories about me. It's all worked for my good. It's made me more Christlike. I mean, how in the world could I love my enemies if I didn't have enemies? 37:24 How can I bless those who curse me if nobody curses me? How can I pray for those who persecute me if nobody persecutes me? You know those commands you can never fulfill in heaven. If you don't get an opportunity to fulfill on earth, there'll be no enemies 37:40 in heaven. Nobody to curse you in heaven. You better do it before you leave. Bless those who curse you now. every single thing. I'm not exaggerating. I'm not trying to be spectacular. I'm not just talking off the top of my head. I'm speaking from 37:55 experience. >> I have experienced Romans 8:28. Now, what about feelings of fear? I was greatly encouraged by what the Apostle Paul wrote. You know, by the way, the Apostle Paul had I'll tell you 38:14 some of the sufferings he went through. In 2 Corinthians 11, it says, "I've been on frequent journeys." Verse 26 of 2 Corinthians 11. I've been in dangers from rivers, dangers from countrymen. I've been imprisoned, stoned, so many 38:30 things. He went through, shipwrecked. Verse 25. A man who's gone through all this for the gospel's sake. One would think, did this guy really live without fear? Did he really live without anxiety when the ship got wrecked? And it says 38:43 in verse 25, he was out in the ocean for 24 hours without anybody rescuing him. Did he have any fear there that he would drown, that nobody would come to rescue him? What about when he was being beaten, did he have a fear that he'd be 38:54 killed? I'll tell you, one of the things I appreciate the Apostle Paul for is his absolute honesty. He doesn't pretend. Look what he says in 2 Corinthians and chapter 7 verse 5. This verse comforted me 39:14 tremendously. He says, "When we came to Macedonia, 2 Corinthians 7:5, our flesh had no rest. We were persecuted, afflicted on every side. We had conflicts all around us. 39:32 And what do you think we had within us? fears. He says, "I was scared." But God who comforts the depressed comforted us by the coming of Titus. He got strength from fellowship with other believers. I appreciate the honesty of 39:52 this man to say that he had fears. Now, how did he obey that command which says, "Fear not." I struggled with this. I've been through times when you know particularly when you come into a new situation and you have fears how how are you going 40:07 to handle that? I've been you know particularly something which you have never faced before. I remember the first time when religious people took me to court. I'd never been to court in all my life. I never knew what a lawyer was. 40:20 And then I find this new situation is like being thrown into the water and you don't know how to swim. But after some time you enjoy it. you know, it's just just a matter of time before you learn how to swim and then then it's great. 40:33 So, in the beginning, there's this period where you wonder what's going to happen. So, I learned something through that which I want to share with you. What the Lord told me, you may never in your life be free from feelings of fear. You got to learn to 40:49 ignore those feelings >> and speak the word of faith >> and trust in me despite your feeling and then gradually the feeling will go and be careful never to act on your feelings but always to act in faith. Now, that 41:08 was such a liberating word for me because I'll tell you this, as long as we live in this world, we will have feelings of fear, feelings of anxiety, feelings of discouragement, but we're not to live by those feelings. We got to 41:22 live by faith, not by feeling. It's like that little story which I I never forget of three people walking on a narrow wall. The person in front, his name was fact. Fact means God's word. Looking at him 41:40 and following him was faith. And looking at the two of them and following behind was feeling. Fact. Faith and feeling. Walking along this narrow wall. And they went along merrily until faith looked around to see if feeling was coming along all right or 41:58 not. And then he tumbled and fell. And of course, feeling tumbled and fell as well. So the lesson in that is don't look around to see if feeling is coming or not. Just leave him alone. You keep looking at fact and keep 42:17 following what God's word says and feeling will follow. Don't live by feelings. That's the way to tumble down. And that's how we often tumble down. I'm tempted to be discouraged even today. But I don't get discouraged. In fact, 42:34 it's been many years since I got discouraged. When I'm tempted to be discouraged, I look at God's word and I say with my mouth, "God is still on the throne. No matter what's happening around me, the devil was still defeated 42:45 on the cross 2,000 years ago. Despite all my circumstances, whatever people may say or do or not do, God is still on the throne." That hasn't changed, has it? The devil was still defeated 2,000 years ago. That hasn't changed. Christ is still on the throne. 43:03 I'm a child of God. All things work together for my good. The blood has cleansed me from all my sin. What did Jesus say to the devil? He spoke the word of God. That's how he drove him away. How are you going to drive out these demons of fear? Speak 43:18 the word of God. Tell them the truth that God's on the throne. Tell them that the devil's been defeated on the cross and they'll go. We don't have to be discouraged. We don't have to be anxious. There may be feelings and I know when these feelings 43:31 of discouragement and feelings of anxiety and feelings of fear come. I resist them by quoting God's word, speaking it out. You know, the devil can't hear our thoughts. I hope you know that. Don't just say things in your 43:43 mind. Speak it out to him. He hears words. Oh, we only know what's in our thoughts. But we got to speak the word to the devil and say, "You were defeated on Satan. You were defeated Satan by Jesus on the cross. You can't bring any fear 43:55 to me. I've got a dad in heaven who runs this universe. Try telling the devil that. Keep saying that till he leaves you alone and bothers somebody else. I'll tell you that. He He stopped bothering me quite some time ago because 44:09 I kept telling him this so often and he doesn't like to hear it. Tell him tell him God's word. God is on the throne. My sins have been forgiven. All my sins are blotted out by the blood of Jesus Christ. Christ is risen. 44:25 He's triumphant. My father in heaven cares for the birds. He'll care for me. I know things look a bit tight now. I don't know how he's going to provide for me next week. I don't know how he's going to solve the problem, but I've got 44:35 a dad up in heaven. You know, Jesus said we got to be like little children. Sometimes we find situations in India where some poor family is not able to pay the rent and the court issues an order and they are thrown out of the 44:55 house and they don't know where to go and sometimes we see them with all their stuff outside the house. Now, think of a family like that that doesn't have a any money in the bank, that's being given a vacation order by the court, and they got to 45:10 vacate the house the next morning, and the father and mother are biting their nails and wondering what to do. But you go to that house and you see a 2-year-old child, they're fast asleep, not bothered one bit about the court 45:23 order or the or whatever is going to happen. If you wake it up and say, "Hey, don't you know you got to be there's no breakfast tomorrow. You're going to be thrown out of the house." Oh, just leave me alone. He'll say, "Go and tell my dad 45:33 that. I'm not bothered." And that's what we need to say. I've got a dad. He takes care of it. I don't have to worry. You know, it's I'll tell you, it's wonderful to be a child of God. I wonder how so many people in the world exist 45:49 without being children of God. >> It's so wonderful to give our life to Christ. >> Our life becomes triumphant. It even becomes healthier. I tell you, it's become healthier. I'm 66 and a half years old today and I'm God's given me amazing health through 46:05 all these years because I decided I would never be bitter against anyone. I would forgive all my enemies. I'd love everyone. I'd do everything God tells me to do. Love them, bless them, pray for them, think no evil about anybody, keep 46:19 my mind pure by God's grace. Ask God to fill me with the Holy Spirit and say, "Lord, my body is yours." >> You know what happens when you say that? Let me show you this wonderful verse the Lord gave me many years ago. 1 46:32 Corinthians chapter 6. It's a beautiful verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 13. I'm not talking about healing in Jesus name. I'm talking about something better than healing. Health. 46:52 Health is better than healing. Prevention is better than cure. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, the body, the last part of that verse, the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Listen to this phrase. 47:10 If my body is for the Lord alone, the Lord is for my body. Amazing because he goes on to say here my body not just my spirit verse 15 is a member 47:28 of Jesus Christ. There are three things I learned in that verse about in that passage about my body. One my body is for the is the Lord is for my body. Second my body is a member of Christ. And third verse 19 this is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I 47:47 mean, you would not allow this building to be broken down with blotches on the wall and uh pillars collapsing, would you? You say, "No, we wouldn't let God's church building be like that." Well, this is the real church building. Do you 48:02 think the Holy Spirit who dwells here is going to leave this body uncared for? He doesn't say your spirit is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Read your Bible carefully. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The devil has deprived 48:15 us of so many blessings by keeping us ignorant. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. >> Free from many problems that plague believers because they don't believe that God is a loving father. They don't 48:31 understand the provision that God has made for them. They don't know what all Jesus purchased for them as an inheritance on Calvar's cross because they don't read their Bibles carefully. They watch television more than they 48:44 read the Bible. How in the world can they have faith? You can't I'll tell you something. You can't even get faith by listening to inspiring sermons. >> Because the Bible says in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by 48:59 the word of Christ. >> Not by listening to sermons, not by watching television, certainly not, but by the word of God. I see in this day and age, the devil has done a tremendous work, much more than even in the United 49:17 States 60, 70 years ago, people read the Bible in America much more 70 years ago than they do today. And you know, all the forms of entertainment, some of it may not be evil, but that which the devil has brought. You say, 49:32 "It's not evil. It's good. It allows me to relax." Whatever may be the reason, it has taken away your time from studying the scriptures. And when your time is lost in studying the scriptures, you're not going to know your 49:46 inheritance. You're not going to know the truth. And that's why people today are in much greater bondage to sin, fear, anxiety, sickness, so many things because the devil has got them occupied being busy with this and busy with that 50:03 and busy with the other thing and this that and the other. They have no time to read the scriptures. What a work the devil has done. I want to encourage all of you, my brothers and sisters, learn what your father has written down 50:18 in your inheritance in this book. Learn it. I mean, if your dad were a billionaire, if your dad were a billionaire and he wrote a will and he died, >> wouldn't you want to find out what he left for you? 50:36 >> I think you would. You wouldn't want some lawyer to cheat you of 99% of that and keep you living in a small little hut when your dad's left such a big inheritance for you. Why aren't we careful to find out in this will God's written his will for us to 50:52 find out what our inheritance is? I'll tell you this. He wants you to be free from fear. I want to conclude with a verse in Hebrews 13. Listen to this. The last part of verse 5, it says, God 51:10 himself has said, Hebrews 13:5, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. He forsook Jesus on the cross, but he says, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. That's God's promise. You and I 51:28 break our promises. God doesn't. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. And if you believe that, what can we boldly say? The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. 51:44 What can man do to me? >> If you believe that, I want you to say those words with me after me. The Lord is my helper. >> The Lord is my helper. >> I will not fear. >> I will not fear. >> What can man do to me? 52:04 We made one mistake. It says we got to say boldly. >> Once again, the Lord is my helper. >> The Lord is my helper. >> I will not fear. >> I will not fear. >> What can man do to me? >> What can man do to me? >> What can any demon do to me? 52:21 >> What can any demon do to me? >> Praise the Lord. Praise God.
