0:00 Jesus lived on this earth and the purpose of for which he came. And we read this verse in Matthew 16 and verse 18. He said, "I will build my church 0:20 and the gates of hell will not overpower it." So, when Jesus spoke about building the church, he spoke about the possibility of conflict. 0:39 Satan trying to destroy what God is trying to build. We must never forget that. When you hear of conflict and strive in churches, I mean, not just nowadays, 0:56 even in the days of the apostles, the Remember, this is all Satan trying to destroy God's work. And so we must know clearly the authority that we have 1:14 over Satan if we are to build the church the Lord the way the Lord wants it to be built. There were two things that took place on the cross at least. One is that our sins were 1:33 blotted out and the other was Satan was destroyed. His power was destroyed on the cross. But, in most preaching, it's only the forgiveness of our sins that is spoken about. 1:51 And the fact that Satan's power has been taken away from him is not proclaimed sufficiently. Let me show you two passages of scripture. One is Colossians in chapter two. In Colossians chapter two 2:11 we read verse 14 that on the cross Jesus cancelled out the certificate of debt that was against us. And on the cross, verse 15, he disarmed 2:33 the rulers and authorities and made a public show display of them having triumphed over them through it. So, these both these things are mentioned here. One, the certificate of debt against us is removed on the cross. And the power of Satan 2:52 it doesn't say Satan was destroyed, but he was disarmed. He's got no power over us. And the other passage is 1 John chapter 3 where we are told the reason why the Son of God was the Son of God was appeared. 1 John 3:5, he appeared 3:12 to take away sin. And 1 John 3:8 the last part, he appeared to destroy the works of the devil. Throughout the Old Testament, we don't see Satan at all. 3:30 He appears in Genesis chapter 3 to deceive Adam and Eve. But after that, we don't see him anywhere confronting any any prophet or anyone right up to the 3:48 book of Malachi. All the battles in the Old Testament that God's people faced were with people. Never with Satan. But the moment Jesus came, immediately you see him 4:07 soon as he's enters his ministry, he's confronting Satan in the wilderness. And when Jesus spoke in the synagogue, as soon as he would speak in the synagogue, somebody would be demon-possessed person would get up and saying, "What have we got to do with 4:24 you?" Now, that demon-possessed person was sitting there for so many years. And all the Pharisees were speaking in the synagogue, it never disturbed him. But as soon as Jesus came, so we need to see that the coming of the 4:37 Son of God to Earth immediately brought open conflict with Satan. And it's important for us as Christians to know our authority over Satan. We must know this very clearly because the way Jesus lived on the Earth, Satan 4:55 couldn't touch him. At the beginning of his life, Satan tried so many things and temptations, but he didn't succeed. At the end of his life, Jesus says in John chapter 14 and verse 30, uh the prince, the ruler of this world 5:16 is coming and he's got nothing in me. He had tried for so many years to try and get a foothold in Jesus, but he could not get in. Now, if Jesus had walked on Earth as 5:33 God, Satan wouldn't have come anywhere near him. Because we read that he was cast out of the presence of God when he became proud and he rebelled against God. He was cast out. It was Jesus, the Father, who cast 5:53 him out. And Satan could not come anywhere near him. He was cast out from the third heaven down into what I think is the second heaven in the heavenlies, and he could not ever come into the third heaven again. Never. He 6:07 could not come into the presence of God. In the book of Job, when we read him about communing with God, he's down here in the second heaven and communing with God in the third heaven. And that's from there where God is asking, "Where have 6:20 you been, Satan?" So, if Jesus walked on Earth as God, Satan couldn't have come anywhere near him. God cannot be tempted. It's very clear in James chapter 1, God cannot be tempted. But there we see the voluntarily Jesus 6:38 had taken upon himself our humanity with all its weakness to such an extent so that he could be tempted like us. So that he could allow Satan to tempt him. To me, that is the clearest proof 6:58 that though he was God, he did not use his position or authority as God when he was on Earth. Now, this is a very simple thing. It appears very simple, but it has profound implications. For in my own life, 7:18 even though I knew that Jesus became a man, I mean, I believed that from childhood. I was born in a Christian family. And I even when I was born again, I I knew Jesus became a man. But at the back of my mind, I always felt 7:34 he wasn't exactly like me. He couldn't have been exactly like me. So, it was a little easier for him to overcome temptations. It was a little easier for him to fight with Satan. It's not so easy for me. And as long as I had 7:49 that in the back of my mind, I'll tell you my testimony, I could never never overcome sin. And um believe it or not, it's quite likely that the reason many of you who are defeated by sin, the reason could be in the back of your mind you do not 8:08 believe. You don't You're not absolutely convinced that Jesus became like you. And that's one of the truths of scripture that Satan has hidden from the minds of people. 8:27 Even though scripture says it very plainly. Let me show you Hebrews chapter 2. In Hebrews chapter 2 also, it says about the defeat of Satan. In Hebrews 2 verse 14, he's talking about the defeat of Satan 8:46 again on the cross. Since then, the children share in flesh and blood. Jesus himself took part of the same. Why? So that through death, he might render powerless 9:05 him who had the power of death, that is the devil. You see the connection there between Jesus flesh and blood and overcoming Satan. Because we were like that, he became like us so that he could defeat the devil not as God, 9:22 but as a man. And therefore, he had to become, verse 17, like his brothers, that's like you and me, in all things. I think most Christians don't believe Even though it's written there, they say the Bible is the word of God, but they 9:41 don't believe it. You go and ask the average Christian, "Do you believe that Jesus Christ was like you in all things?" He'll say, "Oh, no, not really." You ask him, "Do you believe the Bible is God's word?" Yes. "And you believe 9:51 what's written here?" He'll say, "Well, I never thought about it." I mean, that's probably what some of you sitting here may also say that. I've never thought about it. He had to be made like his brothers in all things. 10:05 He took part in flesh and blood so that he can render powerless him who had the power of death, that that is the devil. Why did he have to take part in flesh and blood? As almighty God, can't he just take away the devil's power from him? 10:22 The devil's not almighty. He was created as an angel and given certain gifts by God, and that's which God never took away. But, um, he's not almighty. The devil can destroy him in a moment. Uh, God can destroy the devil in a moment. 10:41 But, why didn't he do that without coming as flesh and blood? I mean, if Satan is the cause of all our problems, that is a mystery. But, it was in order for us to see 10:58 that a man can overcome Satan if he's filled with the Holy Spirit. And he came like that in flesh and blood and overcame Satan. Elijah could not do it. John the Baptist could not do it. Nobody could do it in the Old Testament because 11:14 the Holy Spirit didn't dwell in them. That's why, you know, the Bible says God does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability. And it was beyond the ability of every Old Testament saint, from Enoch all the way down to John the the 11:31 It's too much if they encountered Satan. It would have been too much for them. He'd have just knocked them down. He'd have knocked down the greatest prophet. And so God did not allow any Old Testament prophet to encounter Satan face-to-face. 11:48 Not one. Because they couldn't have handled it. We read about Job. All that Satan could do to Job was kill his children, rob him of his property, destroy his 12:08 property, give him sickness. But you never read about Satan coming and attacking Job in any way. It was He used his powers to take away these material things and all that. The first person with whom Satan came into direct conflict was Jesus Christ. 12:26 And that's the very first thing that you read about. His ministry started with a conflict with Satan. And we are to follow in his footsteps, and we cannot follow in his steps unless we know our authority over Satan. Very, very important. 12:46 And he would like to hide that from us. He would not like to us to know that his power was taken away, that he was disarmed. He would not like us to know that Jesus came like us and was made like us. And we read in Hebrews 4:15, 13:05 he was tempted like us in all things. That's another thing which most Christians cannot believe. Not that he was tempted, that we can understand, but he was tempted as we are. Hebrews 4:15. The way you are being 13:25 tempted every day, that is how Jesus was tempted. I believe that because I believe that in the Bible, but as I said, for many years in my Christian life, I though I read that, I couldn't really accept it. And when I sought to go forward in the 13:42 Christian life, it was like, you know, driving a car with your foot on the brakes. And the brakes were this, Jesus couldn't have been like me. Couldn't have been exactly like me. And that was hindering my progress till my got my foot off the brakes one day 13:59 and believed that he was like me, and my life changed. If you turn with me to 1 Timothy in chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3, and verse 16, 14:19 by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. The Living Bible paraphrase it uh like this, it's true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came in the flesh. 14:39 That means he came like us. The answer for living a godly life is in knowing this truth that Jesus came in the flesh. And he was declared pure by the spirit. No one from the time of Adam onwards 15:01 till Jesus had ever been able to live like that. Everyone had fallen. And then Jesus came. And it says in verse 15, the last part, the church of the living God must be the pillar 15:18 and support of this truth. Yeah, you know, the church is supposed to be the pillar and support of this truth that the secret of godliness is that Christ came in the flesh. Tempted like us and he did not sin. 15:38 That is how the gates of hell can never prevail against the church. Now, it's not a question of knowing this is a doctrine. There are people who believe this is a doctrine and who are just as defeated as anybody else. But when we see this reality in our 15:54 hearts and say, "Lord Jesus, I really want to walk in your footsteps. Now I know it is possible because you lived like me." When I When I discovered this truth, it was more than about 38 years ago or so. Two things happened in my life. 16:16 One, I could never again make an excuse for any sin. Till then, whenever I sinned, I would say, "Well, I'm in the flesh. As long as we're in the flesh, we'll keep on sinning. There's no way out." But once I saw that Jesus came in this 16:35 flesh and did not sin, I had no more excuse. There was at least one man who walked on this earth in the flesh and did not sin. I had no more excuse for it. I couldn't keep blaming the flesh saying the flesh is weak, the spirit is willing, but the 16:49 flesh is weak. That was my constant excuse. Yeah, my spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. That's not a word spoken after the day of Pentecost. That is a word spoken before the day of Pentecost in the Garden of Gethsemane. 17:03 Don't ever forget that. A lot of things changed after the day of Pentecost. But I would use those words to comfort myself in my defeat. Oh, I'm willing, but the flesh is weak. But Jesus came in that weak flesh and he overcame. 17:19 So what excuse do I have? And he never used any power other than the same Holy Spirit he gives us. Now if I don't have the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit then I agree. The flesh is weak and you cannot I cannot overcome. 17:37 But if I've really yielded every area of my life to the Holy Spirit to the best of my knowledge and allowed him to come into every known area of my life. It is impossible for the flesh to overcome me if I've opened it up to the Holy 17:54 Spirit because the Bible says the flesh fights against the spirit and the spirit fights against the flesh. That is the first thing. Secondly, the second thing that happened was I had faith. Hey, if one person could overcome Satan in 18:10 the flesh with um the same flesh as I have and overcome sin, then I can also overcome. So when I had no more excuse for sin and second I had faith that I could overcome which I never had till then because I always had this thing at the back of my 18:26 mind, he was not like me. He was not like me. So I realized in my own life that this is the secret of godliness, to see that he was like me, all my excuses for sin are gone and I have faith 18:45 that I can also overcome. I used to picture it something like this. I found that pictures and illustrations help me to understand something. See, supposing there was some island in the world somewhere where which has never been accessed by 19:05 civilization. Some island where all the people there did not believe that you could swim. You get into the water, you drown. And generation after generation they cuz it's true, you go into the water, you go down. 19:24 And generation after generation, nobody attempted swimming because you just couldn't do it. You'd go down. And then one day somebody from civilized part of the world comes there. And says, "Hey, here's a river. Let's just go in for a swim." They say, "Oh, 19:44 no, you can't go in there. You'll drown." Well, for generations we've uh nobody's ever swum. That's impossible. Everybody goes in there, drowns. And he says, "No, we can swim." And he goes in there and he swims up and down and they're absolutely amazed. 20:02 "How can that be?" And when he comes out of the water, they touch him and see to see if he's got the same body as theirs. And then he says, "You can do it, too. My body's exactly like yours. I know that all these centuries you 20:16 believed swimming was impossible. But see what I did. You and I are the same. Get in the water. I'll show you. Just follow me." And for the first time in their life in that island, somebody learns to swim. And then others begin to 20:35 have faith for that. They get into the water. This is the picture that came into my mind. Jesus came to earth. And if he was different from us, I mean, if he had like if this man who came to this island had a body that was 20:49 lighter than water, then there'd be nothing greater great about his swimming. But he was just the same. And that's what gave them faith. So, I couldn't have faith if Jesus was had a little easier than me or wasn't tempted like me or he had some resource 21:09 which I don't have access to, then how can I overcome? And that's what the devil always tries to put in your mind. He had access to some resources you don't have access to. Or he was not exactly like you. Now, you may not say that, 21:23 but I believe in the back of your mind you feel that way and that's why I find so many believers are afraid of the devil. They feel the devil can do this and the devil can do that and the devil can do the other thing. Jesus never felt like 21:35 that. He never felt oh, the devil's going to do me something for me here and the devil's devil can do nothing against him. And this amazing word that I quoted the other day in 1 John chapter 4, as Jesus is, so are we 21:53 in this world. And we don't understand the extent of God's love for us that when he sent to Jesus to this earth as an example, it was so that we might live and walk on this earth following in his footsteps. And that's why it says also in 1 John 22:11 2:6, that everyone who says he abides in Christ ought to walk. It doesn't say will automatically walk. There's nothing automatic in the Christian life. Nothing. Even forgiveness of sins you've got to ask for it. You've got to believe. 22:28 Otherwise, you don't even get forgiveness of sins. So, he's saying if you say you abide in Christ, you will not automatically walk as Christ walked. That's not true. We look around the world and how many people do you find are walking 22:40 by the same principles that Christ lived by? But he says you ought to walk as Jesus walked. Now, how in the world could you have a verse like that in scripture unless it was possible? So, when you read a verse like that, you 22:58 can either look at it as a heavy burden. Oh, dear. I have to walk as Jesus walked. Do you think Jesus' life was such a burden? It was the most wonderful life that any human being ever lived. He didn't have all the money that rich 23:16 people have. He didn't have all the fame that many people have. He was persecuted and misunderstood and criticized and falsely accused and finally killed. But falsely accused in court and killed. But it is 23:35 the most wonderful life that anybody lived. And if you really believe that, you know, like some young people have their huge pictures pictures of their heroes stuck up in their room, some rock musician or some football player or something. 23:55 That's their hero. They would love to play football like him or play some instrument like him. Imagine if Jesus became our hero. And I want to walk as he walked. If worldly people can have these 24:16 other people as their heroes, why can't we have one who deserves to be our hero and say, "I really want to be like him. I want to live like him on this earth. I want to accomplish all the will of God in my life and I want to be completely 24:30 100% free from the fear of Satan, knowing that Satan can have no power over me." I used to picture it like this, that wherever Jesus went, the demons were scared. They would pass the word around, "He's coming. He's coming. Be careful. He's 24:47 coming." And I said, "Lord, I wanted to be like that. I wanted it be like that. As Jesus is, so am I in this world that anywhere I go, the demons get all disturbed. And say, "He's coming. He's coming. You be careful." Don't you want to be like that? 25:07 That is how the church is built. The gates of hell will not be able to prevail against you. But today we have a church everywhere I go, I find "Oh, brother, the devil's coming to my home and he's gotten to my children and 25:19 he's created problems in my business and he's creating problems for me and he's coming between me and my wife." It looks as if the devil's everywhere. The gates of hell are overcoming the church and homes and everything. That's 25:31 not the way it's supposed to be. We must know that he was defeated on the cross and we must stand on that authority. He He doesn't like to hear it. There's one thing the devil doesn't like to hear. I've often mentioned this incident that happened 25:50 right in my home a few years ago of this demon-possessed woman who when I told her to tell the devil I didn't know she was demon-possessed. She came to to somebody brought her to receive Christ and I told her tell the devil he 26:05 was defeated on the cross. She turned around to me and changed her voice and said, "I was not defeated on the cross." This is the devil telling me to my face, "I was not defeated on the cross." So I told the devil which was living in 26:17 her that demon, I said, "You're a liar. You were defeated on the cross. Get out of her right now in Jesus' name." And once the demon left I said, "Now tell the devil." Just half a minute later, "Tell the devil you were defeated on the cross." 26:35 She was freed and she could tell the devil. I never forget that day. I'll never forget that incident. It was as if the Lord was trying to convince me there. The devil does not like to be told that he was defeated on the cross. 26:49 He doesn't like people to know that he was defeated on the cross. doesn't like people to know that his power is no longer there. He doesn't want believers to know that he cannot touch them. It's a wonderful thing to realize it. 27:08 Turn with me to the book of Job. You know, it's um beautiful story in the book of Job how the devil says to God, "You put a hedge around this man of yours." Now, this is before Calvary, 27:27 before Satan was defeated. Because Job was a God-fearing man, God had put a three-fold hedge around him. Uh Job 1:10, one around his person, the other around his family, his wife and children, and the third around all his 27:46 property and business and all that. Now, I believe that's true of my life. I don't know about you, but I believe that there's a hedge around me. God is a wall of fire round about me, and around my wife and children, because 28:02 I'm a righteous man. There's a hedge around my wife and children. They are blessed because they are my wife and children. Now, that applies to you as well. And there's another hedge around my bank account, and my house, and my property, and my 28:18 business. You may not believe it about your case, but I believe it 100% about myself. And the devil cannot enter any one of these circles without God's permission. That is what we read in the book of Job. If he was going to come through the 28:35 first circle and and destroy his business, God had to give him permission. If he had to come through the second circle and give sickness or death to his children, God had to give him permission. And if he had to come through the third 28:48 circle and give sickness to Job, he had to get God's permission. That is written in the first chapter that God ever wrote. You know, the first book of the Bible is Job. So, that's one of the things that God wants us to know, but the reality of it 29:04 became much more true after the day of uh after Calvary, and when the reality of that became true in the lives of believers on the day of Pentecost. Then we have an authority over Satan. God's given us that authority. See what Jesus said in Luke in chapter 29:25 10. It's an amazing verse. The devil has a lot of power. There's no doubt about it. He got it all from God. He can do a lot of harm to people. But Jesus said 29:43 to his disciples in Luke 10, verse 19, "I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, which are pictures of Satan, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing 30:00 shall injure you." What a wonderful thing. He cannot touch me. He cannot touch my family. He cannot touch my property. He cannot touch my bank account. I have power over Satan in all these 30:21 areas. I've got authority. Authority over his power. He's got power. The Lord doesn't deny that, the power of the enemy, but I've got authority over that power to restrain it. It's true that Satan has got more power than man, 30:38 but we've got authority over that power. And one of the best pictures I've seen of that and is an illustration is you know, a policeman holding up his hand in many parts of India. We don't have traffic lights 30:56 in the villages particularly. Many many villages have no traffic lights. At the junction of a road will be a policeman who stands on a pedestal. It's like the old days and stops the traffic and directs the traffic. This traffic can go and this 31:10 traffic can has to stop. He just holds up his hand. And there can be these huge massive trucks that come down the road with tremendous power. One of them is enough to crush him and 10 of these trucks are coming down and he just holds up his 31:25 hand. They all stop. He doesn't have more power than them. Oh, no. But he's got authority. When he says stop, they stop. Because he's got the entire authority of the government behind him when he lifts up his hand. That's 31:44 the authority we have in the name of Jesus Christ. And if we submit to God in our life and resist the devil, he has to flee from us. James in chapter 4 is very important to understand this. 32:04 James chapter 4. This is how Jesus lived. He never lived in the fear that the devil would do this and the devil would do that and the devil would not for one second. No. He wasn't afraid the devil would make his boat sink in the Sea of Galilee or 32:19 the devil make somebody kill him before his time. Impossible. James 4 verse 7. Submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you. What is the picture you have of Satan? 32:44 I'll tell you honestly, even after I was born again, I was a bit scared of the devil. I thought he could do this or that to me, that he could probably trouble me at night. And uh 33:01 till I saw this, that I had an authority over him. I remember hearing the story of a a fearless man of God who used to confront the devil and cast out demons and had the gift of healing. I heard the story that when he was 33:21 sleeping once in a bed, somehow God allowed the devil to come in some form and shake his bed. And he woke up and he saw the devil sitting on his bed. And he said, "Oh, it's only you." And he 33:40 turned over and slept. Do you think you could do that? I mean, let's say it's tonight. You feel the bed shaking and you wake up and see the devil sitting there. You say, "Oh, it's only you, is it? I thought it was an earthquake. If it was 33:55 an earthquake, I had to get out of bed and run. But if it's only you, I can turn over and sleep." I've never forgotten that. I say, "Lord, I want to live like that on earth. Zero fear of Satan because he's a defeated enemy. 34:15 I'm not telling you stories. I'm telling you what's written in the Bible. I give you authority over all the power of the enemy, things we don't believe. You know, there are many things like this Jesus said we don't believe. 34:27 He said the hairs on your head are numbered. How many Christians really believe that? The most insignificant thing that can happen in your life is one hair falling from your head. You get up in the morning and you find one hair on your pillow. 34:46 How anxious are you? I mean, even me with so little hair, I'm not bothered about one hair on my pillow. The most insignificant thing that can happen to you is one hair falling from your head on your pillow at night. 35:05 And Jesus said, "Your father knows that." He knows when it fell off. It's very difficult for us to understand because we don't have a concept of God. We think of how I mean, how can a man think of all the billions of people on earth 35:21 and all their problems and um all the hair on all these people's head. We We can't understand it. But it's true. By faith, we believe the things we cannot see. This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. And the people who lived by faith have 35:40 been the greatest overcomers this Christian world has ever seen. And one day, we will all discover that the people who walked by faith knew the reality. And the people who walked by sight and by their intelligence were 100% wrong. 36:01 So, if you believe the Bible, you will know the truth. And the truth will set you free. And that is that the devil will flee from us. He's not supposed to stand before me. He's not supposed to have any 36:19 power when I stand and if I humble myself and submit to God. If you don't humble yourself, I mean, for example, supposing there's somebody who hurt you somewhere years in the past or somewhere and you don't forgive that person 36:34 then you don't have power over Satan not at all see what Paul said in 2 Corinthians in chapter 2 and verse 10 for whom you forgive anything I also forgive and if I forgiven I forgiven anything 36:57 I do it in the presence of Christ for your sake in order that Satan does not get an advantage over me you see the connection between unforgiveness and Satan getting power over you I want to say to all of you if there's 37:16 anybody sitting here anyone even a child you have not forgiven somebody for something somebody did against you or your family members or against anything and it's such a terrible thing that 37:35 person did you don't forgive him I just want to tell you that Satan is going to have an advantage over you and your life and probably your family as long as you keep that attitude 37:53 what are you gaining by it he's just messing up your life just for a simple thing that you will you hold a grudge against somebody I decided years ago I'm not going to let Satan get any advantage over me I'm never in my life going to have an 38:12 unforgiving spirit or a grudge against a single human being for a single second and that's in my own interest I'm saying that because I don't want Satan to get an advantage over me. And I'll tell you, even from a common 38:27 sense point of view, you don't gain anything by keeping that grudge against that person. What are you gaining by keeping that grudge against somebody? You can't sleep peacefully at night. You're ruining yourself. You got to be very, very careful. 38:46 Don't give place to Satan. Make sure that you can say like Jesus, "The prince of the world comes, but he's got nothing in me." I mentioned earlier about the spirit of accusation. Make sure there's zero of that in your life. 39:06 There may be so many things you see in other people. Don't judge them. Don't accuse them. Don't have the mouth of a gossip, going around speaking evil about other people. Satan will get an advantage over you. And you don't gain anything. 39:25 You just gone around spreading stories about somebody, and that's exactly the devil the devil wants you to do. So that he gets an advantage over you. Just shut your mouth, and say, "I'm not going to do that." I I was tremendously challenged by 39:43 You know, Jesus had a disciple called Judas Iscariot, who was stealing his money every day. So many people were giving money to Jesus because they were blessed by his healing ministry. Judas Iscariot was the treasurer. 40:01 I don't think the disciples other disciples knew that Jesus that Judas was stealing, but Jesus knew it. And he never kept a grudge against Judas. And I saw that he never once gossiped 40:17 about Judas to the other 11 disciples. That's a amazing thing. Why do I say that? Because if he had done that, if he had gone to some of the disciples and say, you know, this guy Judas is a bit of a crook, at the last supper, 40:37 when Jesus said, "One of you betrayed me." Everybody would have looked at Judas. We know who it is. Why is it that none of them looked at Judas? Why is it they all said, "Is it me, Lord?" Because Jesus never spoke against Judas. 40:55 He waited for the Father in his own time to reveal the crookedness of Judas. And God did it. I've seen that many times. I said, "Let God reveal the crookedness of that person. I don't have to do it. There is a time for it. And God will do 41:14 it." It It's It's a very interesting principle because the most amazing thing is this. In John 13, they asked him, "Tell us." John 13:24, "Who are you 41:37 talking about who's going to betray me?" He had said in verse 21, "One of you is going to betray me." Verse 24, "Tell us who are you speaking about?" And John asked Jesus, "Who is it? Tell us directly." And Jesus said, "The one, verse 26, 41:57 whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him, he's the one who's going to betray me." And he gives it to Judas Iscariot, verse 26. Can it be any more clear than that? And then Jesus says to Judas, after giving him the morsel, "Okay, 42:16 what you want to do, do quickly." 27, verse 27. Would if you were sitting there, if you were one of the those 11 disciples, would you have any doubt left in your mind this guy is the betrayer? But when he went away, 42:34 you know what they thought? They thought that because verse 29, Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him to go quickly and buy something we need for the feast or give something to the poor. That's amazing. How in the world could they think like 42:53 that? They said, "It can't be. It can't be him. It can't be him." And I see there the tremendous faithfulness of Jesus who would not speak evil about people. So, let God reveal it. And one day in the Garden of Gethsemane, 43:13 they finally saw he was the crook. Walk that way, dear brothers and sisters. Let God in his own time reveal the crooks. You don't have to go around talking about them. Now, I'm not making this a rule. 43:33 There are situations in a local church where an elder needs to take action. But what I say is I see an example in Jesus here that he never gossiped about someone. The Bible says, "Don't judge anything until the right time." 1 John 1 43:53 Corinthians 4:5. The Lord will reveal it. You don't have to do anything. The Lord will reveal it. I've seen situations even in the churches I work with where I've been concerned about someone and I say, "Well, Lord, I'm just going 44:15 to wait till you make it manifest." And I'm always glad I waited. And it's like something comes up to a head and then it is revealed. I don't want to I want to live a life where I have 100% authority over Satan all the time and I'm not going to 44:33 fellowship with him and be an accuser of the brethren. I'm not going to be I'm not going to fellowship with him as a gossip. Satan is not only one who's an accuser of the brethren. One of the things that made him the devil was 44:52 he was discontent in heaven with the position and the blessing and the authority God had given him. He was the head of the angels. He had so much beauty, wisdom, but he was discontent. He wanted more. And I've learned something from that 45:12 that the Satan gets Satan is the one who gives people the spirit of discontentedness. And when you are discontent with something he's got fellowship with you. You could be discontent with what God has given you. 45:35 Maybe you are comparing your lot with somebody else's lot. You wish you had what he had. That's why the Lord said, "Don't covet your neighbor's house. Don't covet your neighbor's wife. Don't covet what God has not given you. 45:49 Be content with what you have. Don't wish, "Oh, I had I wish I had his job. I wish I had that type of house. I wish I had that type of car. I wish I had a wife like his." Oh, dear, you're just opening yourself up to the devil. 46:05 It's that spirit of discontent that made the highest angel into a devil in a moment. We can't have authority over Satan if we have the same spirit of discontent. We got to make sure that we are perfectly content in everything. Paul said, "I have learned." 46:24 It's something we have to learn. In Philippians 4, he says, "I have learned to be content in all circumstances." Philippians 4:11. "I have learned." Learned means it's a word related to education. He says, "I have learned to be perfectly 46:43 content in all circumstances. So, Satan got no power over me." I'm just telling you how you can overcome Satan. If you have a constant complaint against somebody, do you know the number of people I have met among believers 47:01 who have a constant complaint against their marriage partner? Husband to wife and wife to husband among believers. I get so many emails from people. My husband is like this. My wife's like this. What are you accomplishing by that 47:15 constant complaining? You're giving the devil more and more power in your home. That's exactly what he wants. His problem is not going to get solved. The problem's going to get worse. On the other hand, if you say, "Lord, 47:29 you will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability." That's a good confession to make. I don't care how evil my marriage partner is, you will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability. I do not 47:49 covet somebody else's husband or wife. I'm quite happy with the one you gave given me because that's It's one you chose and I accept it. Don't complain against your children or your circumstances. Get rid of this complaining spirit completely 48:07 because it's opening the door for Satan. Jesus lived on earth with the many, many struggles, but he never complained against anybody. Even when Judas Iscariot came to betray him, he called him friend and I can picture in the Garden of Gethsemane 48:25 as Judas kisses him, I believe Jesus puts his arm around him and says, "Friend." With the same look of compassion that he had when he looked at Peter when the crew, "Friend, 48:43 are you betraying me with a kiss after all that I did for you?" I'm surprised that that did not break Judas' heart and make him repent. So, I see that because Jesus was so free from that, 49:02 the devil was scared of him. As Jesus is, so are we in this world. Be content with what you have. The Bible says, "If you are discontent with the amount of money you have, it's a tremendous snare to be constantly 49:23 wanting more and more even though you already have plenty." Hebrews 13, verse five, "Let your character be free from the love of money. Let people who look at your life see 49:45 that you are free from the love of money. Very, very important testimony. We need enough to take care of our families. That's why we work and we must earn enough to take care of our wife and children. That's a responsibility. 50:00 1 Timothy 5:8 says, "If you don't take care of your family's needs, you're worse than an unbeliever." But let your character be free from the love of money because from Hebrews 13:5, you are content with what you have. I'll tell you, I think all of you 50:23 earn more than Jesus earned in Nazareth. He grew up in a home with four brothers and two sisters younger to him. There were seven children at least. We don't know how many sisters he had, minimum two according to Mark chapter 6. 50:41 And a father and mother and it was a small carpenter's house. And I've seen small village homes in India. All the children would have been just sleeping on the floor one next to each other in one room. That's how he grew up. 51:00 He didn't have a private bedroom and all like a lot of children have today. He was perfectly content. And those children would irritate him and trouble him. He was content. The devil could not get He says, "The prince of the world comes, but he's got 51:14 nothing in me." I say, "Lord, I want to walk in your footsteps." It doesn't matter if I don't have things that other people have. I'm not interested. I want to overcome Satan. What is your goal in life? Is it to have more and more and more and 51:32 more or not or you want to overcome Satan? It's it's it's a choice now. Let your character be free from the love of money because if you take that position of contentment, you know the promise of the Lord to you? If one of you will take that word 51:49 seriously, that I will be perfectly content with what I have, and I will never be I will not pursue after the love of money. Then here's the promise of the Lord for you, verse 5. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. 52:08 So that you can say, "The Lord is my helper." Verse 6. I will not be afraid of Satan or man or anybody. What can anybody do to me? Do you know that most Christians cannot make that confession? They cannot stand up and boldly say, 52:26 "What can anybody do to me?" The Lord is my helper. He stands by me. Because there's a discontent in some area in their life. There's some little complaint they have. Why is God allowed this in my life? Or why is God allowed that in my life? Why 52:44 didn't they heal my child or some complaint or the other. I've decided I'm never going to have that. Whatever may happen, there may be 101 things I cannot explain why God has allowed in my life. But I will not have a complaint. 53:01 I'll say I can't understand it. That's okay. But I will not have a complaint. Because the moment I have a complaint, I'm discontent about something. And the devil gets power over me. You know, we ourselves are opening ourselves to the devil and then saying, 53:18 "Oh, I'm defeated by sin." We can overcome sin. If we just follow these simple principles of God's word and the amazing promises God has made to those who wholeheartedly live for him. And that's the type of people we must 53:37 gather together in our churches and build a church with such people. And the gates of hell will never prevail against such a church. But if you gather a church full of complainers and grumblers and we feel sorry for them, oh, we feel so sorry for 53:54 you. That I remember once when somebody complained to me, a believer came and said, "Oh, brother, they are treating me like this in the office and this and that the other." I said, "Listen, have they crucified you yet?" 54:06 He said, "No." I said, "Then you got a long way to go, forget it." What are you complaining about? You're following Jesus and they haven't crucified you yet and you're still complaining? Look look what he went through. There's no place to complain, zero. 54:23 Paul called it the fellowship of his sufferings. Whenever he experienced something, "Oh, the joy of the fellowship of his sufferings. I'm getting a little taste of what Jesus went through." It's a wonderful honor and a privilege. 54:38 Satan will have no power over you. So, I just want to encourage all of you, dear brothers and sisters, that we have this faith and little by little we impart this faith to our children. And encourage them not to be afraid of 54:56 the devil. Because we have a generation of Christians who are afraid of Satan. There's tremendous authority we have in the name of Jesus Christ. Tremendous authority and you can exercise that in Jesus' name. You remember the 55:13 sons of Sceva to whom the devil said, "Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?" Don't let the devil ever say that to you. "Who are you? I know you're one of those discontented people. You haven't forgiven somebody. You're always 55:26 complaining about this and complaining about that. You're discontented here, discontented there. Who are you? You think you're going to have authority over me?" Let's make sure that the devil says, "Jesus I know and Paul I 55:39 know." And your name is also there. He know I know that person as well. We want to be in that list. Don't you want to be in that list? I've always wanted to be in that list. That the devil says, "Jesus I know and Paul I know 55:52 and this person also I know." What a thing. That's how Jesus lived on this earth. That's how Paul lived on this earth. The devil recognized him. Imagine. He puts Paul and Jesus in the same category. Jesus I know and Paul I know. 56:10 Wouldn't you like your name to be in that list? On the devil's list of people whom he's he recognizes as people who got authority over him. That's more important than making a lot of money and having a comfortable life. 56:24 Are you eager? Many of you from different areas that you come. In your area to build a church which the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against. That's the only worthwhile thing to live 56:42 for. All the money you accumulate with your job and your whatever else you do and the big house and car and all is it's worth worth nothing if you haven't done the one work that's going to last for eternity. I mean, if I were living in Noah's time 57:01 I'd sell everything and concentrate on building the ark. Cuz I know that's the only thing that's going to remain when the flood has come. And if you really understood God's word, you'd say the only thing that's going to 57:13 remain is the church of Jesus Christ. And I want to be 100% committed to build the true church of Jesus Christ in my locality. I carried that burden in my heart for 10 years. From 1965 when I was 57:30 what? 26 years old. Till 1975, I was 36 years old. Then I saw it. You won't see it if you don't have a burden. If you have a burden, Lord, I want to see a church in the place where I live. 57:49 A church against which the gates of hell will not prevail. A church that is a threat to Satan. Even if it's a small one. If you carry that burden and carry it and carry it and say, "Lord, I'll never rest till I see it." 58:05 I used to sometimes think I was like Simeon. You know. Uh Simeon had a tremendous burden. I don't want to die till I see Jesus. And he had such a burden that God said, "Okay. You'll see Jesus before you die." 58:24 And he saw the baby Jesus. And he said, "At last, now I'm ready to go." Do you have a burden like that to see the body of Jesus Christ in your locality? Or do you just want to attend some church and sing a few songs, listen to a 58:44 message, go to the internet and listen to Zac Poonen and say, "I'm okay." That's not enough, brothers. Just listening to good messages and being excited. God wants you to build the church of Jesus Christ. 59:02 It's like I heard during the war time, there were posters here with Uncle Sam pointing and saying, "You at the United States wants you." I think of saying the same thing, "Jesus wants you to build his church. To have a burden. 59:24 Lord, I want to build a church against which the gates of hell will never prevail. I I started having that burden when I was 26. I never saw it for 10 years. And I don't think I would have seen it if I didn't continue to have that 59:38 burden. But if you say, "Lord, I don't care how long it takes. I'm determined in my locality, you got me. Wherever you live, God's got you. You're somebody who's got a little understanding of truth, and maybe that's why God brought you here 59:55 to hear this message so that you'd go back with a burden not to make more money. You got enough. If you're starving, then go and look for a job to make more money. But if you're not starving, you got enough, brother, sister. 1:00:09 Say, "Lord, I want to build a church now. A church against which the gates of hell will not prevail. I want to live this one life in a worthwhile way before I leave this earth." Brothers and sisters, God needs sisters, children. 1:00:25 Say, "Lord, that's the way I want to live." Let's train our children. Like Noah had three sons. He trained all of them to build the ark. We got to train all our children to build the church. Let's pray. Let's bow before God. 1:00:48 Don't let the devil say it's not possible for you. Don't let the devil say, "Oh, you are too old, or you're too weak, or you don't know the scriptures." Don't let him fool you. Tell him to his face, "You were defeated on the cross, Satan. 1:01:03 You got no power over me. I may be weak, I may be helpless, but I'm determined to be out and out for Christ from today onwards." And we sold out for Jesus Christ to do the one thing he wants me to do, to build his church. 1:01:18 Wherever I am, however weak I am, God will help me. Thank you, Father. I believe you can take the weakest and the most stupid person here this evening and build an amazing church against which the gates of hell will not 1:01:31 prevail. I believe that. Because it's not by might, it's not by power, but by your spirit, where mountains can be brought low. Glorify your name in this land and every part of this land through all the places represented by 1:01:50 these brothers and sisters who come from different places. Don't let them ever be the same from today onwards, Lord. We pray there'll be a burden in their heart that will never subside till they see the birth of a living 1:02:04 church in their locality. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
