Filled With the Spirit and Overcoming Satan

In CFC, we talk a lot about the New Covenant, but you know one thing about the Pharisees, I don't know whether you know this, that Jesus, though he condemned them for many things, there was one area where he gave them a good certificate. I don't know whether you know that, actually two areas, let me show them to you. In Matthew 23, which is a list, I mean it's one chapter where he's condemning the Pharisees for all types of hypocrisy in their midst, and yet in the midst of that, he says there are two good things about the Pharisees. Number one, he told his disciples in verse two, all that the Pharisees tell you to do, do. Just don't follow their life, but everything they tell you to do, do. Do you think Jesus would say that about the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Roman Catholics or some cult group or some other religion, everything they tell you to do, do? No. He would only say that about a group whose doctrines are right. Their life may be wrong, but doctrines are right. So one good thing that the Pharisees had was that doctrines were all correct. The only thing they never lived according to it. They didn't do what they taught. That's number one. The second thing, which is a good certificate that Jesus gave to the Pharisees, was in verse 25 of the same chapter, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup, because the inside is full of rubbish, but you do clean the outside of the cup, which means their external life was good before people. Their private life, their inner life was corrupt. That's what Jesus said further, first clean the inside of the cup, and then the outside will be automatically clean. But he did tell them that the outside was good. So there were people to whom he finally said, verse 33, you serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Okay, now let us examine ourselves. Are your doctrines all correct? Because you listen carefully to everything that's taught in RLCF and CHC churches, you read the books and your doctrines are correct down to every jot and tittle. And is your external testimony good? Before people in the church, and before others, very good. But you still have not qualified to go beyond the level of the Pharisees. You could still be a Pharisee, because they had these two qualities, which I just mentioned. And to you also, Jesus could say, how will you escape the sentence of hell, verse 33. People who had all their doctrines right, and who had a good external life, were on their way to hell, and did not know it, they were serpents. Now how many people do you think there are in the world, Christians I'm talking about, who got all their doctrines right, who got a good external life, who think they're on their way to hell? Have you ever thought of that yourself, that that could be a possibility? How shall we escape that? Well, by the second thing that Jesus said in these two verses that I read, verse three first of all, their doctrines are right, but their life is all wrong. They don't do according to what they teach. In other words, if you believe certain doctrines, but you don't do according to them, then you're in danger. If you hear all the truths in the church, and you say you believe them, and you agree with them, but you don't do them, you're in danger. Let me give you one example. The Bible says that we have to work out what God works in. You see, God has not made us robots, that when he comes into our heart, we automatically do everything good. It's not true. There are a lot of people who received Christ into their life who are today in hell, because it was only a nominal acceptance, and they rejected him later on in life. Jesus said, take my yoke upon you, and learn from me in Matthew 11, 29, and in the days when Jesus was there, like in India, the villages of India today, plowing the field is not done with tractors. There were no machines those days, they did it with oxen. Two oxen had a yoke upon their neck, and they plowed the field together. So when Jesus said, take my yoke upon you, he was referring to two oxen. He's one and I'm the other. He's the senior one, and I or you are the junior one, and there's a yoke upon our neck, and we are to walk along with him, he's the leader, at the same pace, not running ahead, not lagging behind, not turning to the left or right. That's what it means to take his yoke upon us, to see how he's walking, and to seek to walk like him. The junior bullock is keeping the pace of the senior bullock, and going in the direction of the senior bullock. So there is a word in Philippians chapter two, where it says in verse 13, God is at work in us, and it says in verse 12, that we have to work out our salvation, the salvation which God is already working in us. You see the balance there. That's the yoke upon the two bullocks. We can't live this life, but God is working in us through the Holy Spirit, Philippians two 13, and we have to work it out with fear and trembling. That's the balance. It's not just sitting back and say, okay, Lord, you work it all in me. I have to work out what God works in, and I've got to work it out with fear and trembling, because we can be so careless, and we can despise what God is saying to us, and ignore what he says. Okay, having said that, he says, let me give a sample of what God is working in us, which you have to work out in the very next verse. Prove yourself to be a child of God by verse 14, doing everything without grumbling or complaining. That's the first thing mentioned after he says in Philippians two 12 and 13, work out what God works in. And you say, what is God working in? Well, he's working in me, verse 14, to completely eliminate grumbling and complaining from my life. But we're not robots. It will never be eliminated from your life until you work out what he's working. I know as a Christian, born again Christian for many years, I grumbled and complained about a lot of things. But when I took that word seriously, I said, Lord, you're working something in me, and I want to work it out. And I want to eliminate grumbling and complaining from my life 100%. I will not be satisfied with 99%. It doesn't happen overnight. But if you work it out, it will happen in your life. And by the grace of God, I see such a tremendous progress in my life from where it was years ago when I never took these words seriously. So what is the use boasting that we understand the new covenant in CFC? We can explain it even to other people how good it is, and secretly glory that we are better than others, when perhaps in your home life, there is still grumbling and complaining about something or the other. It goes on to say here, how do you prove yourself to be a child of God in this wicked generation? You say, by going to church, no. You say, by reading the Bible, no. By going to a CFC church, by going to RLCF, no. It says here, you prove yourself, verse 415, to be a blameless and innocent child of God in a wicked generation by, verse 14, eliminating all grumbling and complaining. So let me read that all together now. Dear brothers and sisters, my beloved, verse 12, please work out, verse 12, what God is working in you, verse 13, which is trying to eliminate all grumbling and complaining from your life, verse 14, because that's how you can prove yourself to be a child of God, not otherwise. I find a lot of people who, because they understand the doctrine well and can explain it to others and attend a good CFC church, they think we're okay. You're not okay. You're not proving yourself to be a blameless and innocent child of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Okay, let's understand this in its context. Why is this generation crooked and perverse? Because verse 14, they grumble and complain. But you, by not grumbling and complaining in the midst of a generation that is grumbling and complaining, prove that you're different. They're in the darkness and you prove yourself, like it says here in verse 14, to be a light in this dark world. Verse 15, the last part. The darkness is, in the context of this verse, the darkness is people who grumble and complain. The light is those who have eliminated that from their lives. You know, if you read the Bible fast, you'll never come across these things, which are very simple. I used to read the Bible very fast, try to cover a chapter in a day. Nowadays, I try to cover one verse and obey it. In the olden days, I covered the whole Bible in six months, but I never obeyed it. And I fear that many people are easing their conscience if they read the Bible. The Pharisees read it more than anybody else. You know, if there was a Bible quiz competition, every Pharisee would have beaten Peter, James, John, and all the disciples. Bible quiz, Pharisees would win the first prize and the disciples would come last. They were not scholars of the Bible. But when it came to following Jesus, those 12 disciples turned the world upside down and started something which has lasted 2,000 years, changed lives, because they walked with Jesus and determined that they would work out what God works in now. This is not all there is. I mean, this is just a sample of what God wants to work in us. There are many, many other things that God wants to do, but here is something that's mentioned as a beginning. Look, what I call it the kindergarten lesson, when you get into school, maybe you want to get a PhD. A PhD is to become totally like Christ. That's a long way off. But you start in the kindergarten with A, B, C, and two plus two is four. So in the kindergarten lesson of the Christian life, where A, B, C is, get rid of grumbling and complaining. If you don't learn A, B, C, how are you going to learn all the other subjects in the higher classes? And yet, I'm sure many of you have read Philippians many, many times. How is it you have ignored these verses, verses 12 to 15, that you have to work out what God works in? And beginning with grumbling and complaining, and that is the only way you can prove it to start with, that you're a child of God in the midst of a crooked generation. Whereas today, if you ask the average believer, how do you know you're a child of God? He said, well, in such and such a date, I asked Jesus to come into my heart. And I asked him, have you eliminated grumbling and complaining from your life? No. But I asked Jesus to come to my heart. I've written it down in my diary, and so and so date, I accepted Christ into my heart. That's not what Paul is saying here. He's saying, prove yourselves, verse 15. Don't just give a testimony about some date in the ancient past. Prove yourselves, verse 15, to be a child of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation by eliminating grumbling and complaining from your life. I want to encourage you, my brothers and sisters, to take this very seriously. We're having a family meeting. Think of the family life. A lot of the problems in family life come through someone or the other grumbling and complaining. Okay, children grumbling and complaining, it is understandable. They are small. They're not grown up. They don't understand everything. Perhaps they're not even born again, and we can be merciful to them. And perhaps they're learning bad habits from their parents. You can't blame them. But in the home, the work must begin with the father and mother. You can't expect the children to stop grumbling and complaining about anything until the father and mother stop grumbling and complaining. So many mothers and fathers will tell their children, stop grumbling. Fine. God's telling you, brother, stop grumbling yourself. You hear it? God's telling you, sister, you stop grumbling first. Try to lead your children by example, not by commands. The Pharisees went around teaching so many things. It says, there's a word written about the Pharisees, about the sacrifices they make. Not only they knew the Bible, here's another thing that the Bible says they make. Jesus said in Matthew 23, in verse 15, you travel land and sea to make one convert. That's missionary work. Who are the people who travel land and sea today to make a convert? Missionaries. And who were the missionaries those days? Pharisees. They went here, crossed land and sea means they went to other countries. They spent money, took a ship, went to another country, and you say, what for? To teach people of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to talk about the God of the heavens. And Jesus says, when you're finished preaching to them and you convert them, you have made them double a son of hell as you are yourselves. Boy. Can you imagine missionary work that goes and produces more? I mean, they're already children of hell before the missionaries went there. And then after preaching to them, they become double the children of hell. Why are they double the children of hell? Because until now we could say, oh, they are ignorant and they were blind because they don't know the truth. But once they know the truth and their lives are not changed, they are double the children of hell. Why are they double the children of hell? Because what they've learned from the Pharisees by looking at their lives is it doesn't matter if you grumble and complain and do so many wrong things, you just believe the right doctrine. And my dear brothers and sisters, I fear, I have a great fear that for many, many people in our CFC churches, that's the danger they are facing right now. They believe the right doctrine and they check, do you know the doctrine, is it right? And if you're converting other people to a doctrine, you're just making them twofold the child of hell. It's the light. See, light is something that needs power to burn. And then it comes on immediately. It doesn't matter if you have a huge big bulb in your room, a small teeny-weeny bulb in a corner. When power goes in, it lights up the whole room. Isn't it interesting that Jesus spoke in those days, it was not a bulb, but a lamp. A lamp was a very small thing kept in a room, but it gave light to the whole room. So it's not by the noise it makes. In fact, if a bulb makes noise, you've got to change it, something's wrong with it. A good bulb, the light is something that shines and lights up the whole room. Jesus said, you're the light of the world. And he also said, you're the salt of the earth. So what are two things that are common about salt and light? Both of them don't make any sound. Salt does not make any sound in your food. But you put one spoon into your mouth and you know immediately whether there's salt in the food or not. It makes its presence known immediately without making any sound. What about light, a bulb that's burning or not burning? As soon as you enter a room, a dark room, or you don't know whether it's dark or light, you open the door and enter in. As soon as you enter, you know whether there's light in the room or not. Light makes its presence felt immediately without shouting or yelling or making any sound. Salt makes its presence felt in the food as soon as you put it in your mouth. And these are the two illustrations that Jesus used, pictures Jesus used about a true Christian. Wherever we go, our presence must be felt even if you don't preach. I remember when I was in the Navy, I was on a ship with 200 soldiers and officers. And I was not allowed to preach the gospel on the ship. No, we got to keep our religious convictions to ourselves. You could go outside and preach in the streets or in some church building, but not in the ship. You're not permitted to do it. But everybody in that ship within a few months knew that I was different, knew that I was a Christian. My little, little things, I mean, they saw that I wouldn't get angry with them like a lot of other officers. I was compassionate towards them when they were in need. And very upright in all my dealings and forgiving if they made a mistake. And they would see me take a Bible and go out in the evening somewhere. There was a witness, which is not with a lot of noise. I was not allowed to make a lot of noise about Christianity on that ship. It's against the law. But people knew and people will know you if you're in an office by your uprightness and by your compassion to those in need. Your light will shine. People will know this person is different. It should be like that. And then it's when that thing is like that, that people see it. That's when somebody may come up to you. And that's how somebody came up to me in some of those places. Hey, I'd like to know more about this. And that's how some people came to Christ through. When they came up to me, I could tell them more about the gospel. But it started with their seeing something in my life first. So, dear brothers and sisters, I'm not trying to condemn anybody. I'm going to challenge you. I always say my message is not one of condemnation. Not at all. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. But the Bible says, exhort one another. That means challenge one another. That's the meaning of exhort one another. And it says also, comfort one another. Yeah, I seek to comfort people also when they are in distress or in trouble. Definitely. But I also seek to challenge. And that's of great importance that our life challenges others by the way we live and the standards we live by. So, I say my calling in my ministry is something like the Lord said to John in Revelation 4.1. That's the verse that comes to my mind. In Revelation 4.1, the Lord had to say some very strong things to John and through John. And so, he told him, first of all, come up here. The Lord was up there in heaven and John was down in the Isle of Patmos on earth. And the Lord said, come up here and let me show you something from this heaven's viewpoint. Come up here, Revelation 4.1, and let me show you things from heaven's viewpoint. That's how I seek to make my preaching. My calling through my preaching is, brother, sister, come up higher. Come up higher. Christ wants you to be seated in the heavenly places with him and to see everything from his heavenly standpoint or viewpoint. That's why I say it. And if you really desire and have seen what the word of God challenges us to, you will respond with a great longing and an open heart saying, yes, I'm glad to hear one more challenge to come up higher and to view things from heaven's standpoint. You see, in the old, let me tell you one more thing. The Bible says there are three heavens. Because Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, that I was caught up to the third heaven. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 2, he says, I was caught up, the last part of verse 2, to the third heaven. So we know there are three heavens. And he also calls that verse for paradise. And we know paradise is where the thief went, who died with Jesus on the cross. And Jesus is in paradise today with all the saints. But that is today in the third heaven. Before his resurrection, it was in the heart of the earth. But today it's in the third heaven. The Lord took it all up to the third heaven and all the saints there. So the first heaven is what we see around us. The universe, not just the solar system, but all that is beyond the solar system, the Milky Way and all the stars and the other many, many stars and whatever they call it all across the entire universe is the first heaven. Beyond that is a second heaven. And beyond that is the third heaven where God's throne is. So in between the first heaven and the third heaven is the second heaven. And that's where the devil and his angels are, his demons. They were in the third heaven once, as you read in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. They were there in the immediate presence of God. And when they were cast out, they were not cast out to the earth. They were not cast out to hell or to the lake of fire. That is, as we read in the future, Revelation 20, the devil and his demons will be cast into the lake of fire. That happens only after Christ comes again in a thousand-year reign, as said, before eternity begins. It's a long way out. But right now, Satan is not in hell. His headquarters is not in hell. His headquarters is not in the lake of fire. His headquarters is in the second heaven, what the Bible calls the heavenlies. If you turn with me to Ephesians in chapter 6, so that you know I'm not spinning some theory, it's all from Scripture. Ephesians chapter 6, he says in verse 11, put on the full armor of God so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. And he says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness who are found in the heavenlies. Not in the third heaven, in the second heaven. And that is why when we try to pray to God in the third heaven, we find so much of the obstruction. That's why you feel sleepy when you want to pray. Everything in the second heaven is trying to hinder you from getting through. We have to wrestle, it says here, struggle against principalities and powers, evil forces. You know, there are different levels of rulership. There's a devil himself who's the top ruler of the demons. And then there are different levels. And these are called the principalities and powers who all rule in the heavenly places. And we have to, our struggle is against them. You're not fighting human beings. You should never fight a human being. Many, many years ago, you know, in the early days of my Christianity, I would fight with other believers and fight with human beings and argue with them and all that, and feel happy when I won an argument. But the Lord told me when God filled me with the spirit 46 years ago, and my direction of my life changed, said from Ephesians 6, 12, if you want to overcome Satan, you have to see, follow what it says in the first part of Ephesians 6, 12, never fight with flesh and blood. That means never fight with human beings about anything, not even about doctrine. I don't argue with people about doctrine. I explain to anybody who wants to hear, but if I find in a person an argumentative spirit, I say, I'm sorry, I do not plan to discuss this any further with you. You can believe whatever you like, because I see you'll not come for instruction. You'll come for argument. I don't believe in argument. I don't believe in fighting with flesh and blood about anything. I don't believe in fighting with flesh and blood about anything in this world. And that is the time when I began to have power over Satan. That's how God gave me authority to cast out demons. When I stopped fighting with flesh and blood, so many believers have no power over Satan because they are struggling with flesh and blood. They're fighting with their wives. They're fighting with their husbands. They're arguing at home with their husbands and wives and arguing with people on the roads and with other drivers and the people in that place of work and all over the place. You think such believers can have power over Satan, even if they say they belong to a new covenant church? Not in a hundred years. No, you have to stop fighting with flesh and blood. And I remember the day in my life when I made a decision, just like I made a decision for Christ one day. And I sought God to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In the same way, I made a decision when God gave me light on this. I will never again fight or argue with flesh and blood. Sorry, people come to argue with me. I say, sorry, I'm not interested. You can believe I'm wrong. You can believe I'm the devil. You can believe whatever you like. I will never try to prove myself to you. I have no interest. I live before God's face. If I fight with you, I won't have power over Satan. I'm more interested in conquering Satan than in convincing you. Ask yourself, do you fight with flesh and blood? Do you argue with people when you can keep quiet about it? What do you gain by winning an argument? Look at the number of Christians today who are fighting for some political party. The fervency with which they fight for some political party or some political leader, that's absolutely amazing. And they call themselves Christians. No wonder they don't have any power over Satan. No wonder they do so many unrighteous things. Because Satan prompts them and they think they're very spiritual because sometimes they accepted Christ in their life. They're not Christians. They're not the salt of the earth and the light of the world. They've become corrupt like the rest of the earth, fighting for earthly things, struggling with flesh and blood. So here is these demonic forces in the heavenlies. And it's very interesting that in the Old Testament, we're talking about new covenant Christians, in the entire Old Testament, nobody ever fought with principalities and powers. Right from Adam, right up to the time of Christ, the entire old covenant period, there was no fighting with Satan or his demons. You read about Satan coming up in Genesis 3. Nobody fought with him. He just deceived Adam and Eve and went away. Then you read about him in the book of Job. Job did not fight with Satan. He didn't even encounter Satan. Satan was in the heavenlies and from the heavenlies, he was causing problems with Job's children and his property and instigating his wife and instigating all those people who said they were Job's friends to irritate Job. Yeah, that's what the devil was doing. But Job himself never had any conflict with Satan. Nobody in the Old Testament could confront or fight with Satan. You never read about Satan in the Old Testament. Indirectly, you read once he prompted, tempted David to sin, or in a parable, you read in Zechariah 3 about Satan as an accuser. But otherwise, you don't read about Satan at all. You find the evil spirits fighting in the heavenlies and then he's after one of those chapters with the other evil forces in the heavenlies. But Daniel himself does not fight with him. There's not a single Old Testament saint who ever fought with Satan. God did not permit it. Because God does not permit us to be tested above our ability. And it was beyond their ability, Old Testament saints, to fight with Satan. They would have been crushed. But once Satan was defeated on the cross, then we can fight with Satan now. So the first person in the Bible who came face to face with Satan was Jesus Christ himself. You read that in the temptation and throughout his life, he was confronting Satan all the time. And finally, when he was defeated on the cross, you read that through death, Hebrews 2, 14, he destroyed him. He took away the power of the one who had the power of death. We read in Colossians 2, verse 14 and 15, that God made a show of those principalities and powers on the cross by defeating them. Once they were defeated, then God allows his children now to confront Satan. So part of new covenant Christianity is this unique thing that we do not fight with flesh and blood, but we do fight with Satan. And because he's a defeated foe, we are given the privilege to do something which no Old Testament saint could ever do. The greatest Old Testament saint was John the Baptist. Jesus himself said that. And even he was not allowed to confront Satan. He'd have been defeated. Jesus was the first person in a face-to-face encounter with Satan who overcame Satan. And now that Satan's been defeated on the cross, you read in the Acts of the Apostles, how Paul went around casting out demons and he writes here in Ephesians about fighting against Satan and overcoming him. And interestingly, Ephesians 5, verse 18, is the only place in the Epistles where we have a command to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We have the historical record of the disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles. Number of times, Peter himself was filled with the Holy Spirit at least three times, Acts chapter two and twice in Acts chapter four. So it was a continuous experience and they had power. But the only place in the Epistles where there's a clear command to be filled with the Holy Spirit is in Ephesians 5, verse 18. And this is written to people who had already received the Holy Spirit, who were born again. You read in Acts chapter 19, Paul went to Ephesus and there were people who received the Holy Spirit there. And he says in Ephesians chapter one, that you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. So they were born again. And to born again people, he says, and in the Greek, it doesn't come out very clearly in the English, but there's a present continuous tense. In grammar, there's a present continuous tense. And this word should correctly be translated Ephesians 5, verse 18 as be being filled with the Spirit. Be being filled. In other words, be continuously filled with the Spirit. That's what Paul is telling the Ephesian Christians and through this letter to all Christians. We must be continually filled with the Spirit, not refer to a testimony that happened 20 years ago or even that happened yesterday. Today, be filled with the Spirit and tomorrow make sure you're filled with the Spirit because you can lose it. Yes, the Spirit can, if you sin in your thoughts or words or deeds and you don't confess it, or you have a wrong attitude towards someone and you don't confess it and say it right, this uncleansed sin in your conscience, the Spirit is not there. You can't be filled with the Holy Spirit. But once you're filled with the Holy Spirit, then we can confront the evil forces. So it's very interesting that the only letter which speaks about confrontation with Satan, Ephesians 6 is also the only letter which speaks about being filled with the Holy Spirit. So one leads on to the other. Be filled with the Spirit and stand against these evil forces and don't struggle with flesh and blood. A truly spiritual person will not struggle with flesh and blood. And you cannot really have authority over demons until you're filled with the Holy Spirit. I know in my life, though I was a Christian for 16 years, if I confronted somebody, a demon-possessed person, I would not know what to do. I heard of one preacher who did not have authority of casting out demons, but he was born again. And while he was preaching, one demon-possessed person came in there and started yelling. And you know what he did? He called the ushers and said, listen, I can't cast out the demon, but I can cast you out of the hall. And when you're out of the hall, the demon will also go. Now, that's not the way Jesus cast out demons. But when you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you can command that demon in a person to get out. In Jesus' name. One sentence. There are numerous demons like that, that after I was filled with the Spirit, I didn't go looking for them, but they came across my path, I cast them out in Jesus' name. That's not a great thing. Any person filled with the Holy Spirit and who believes that Jesus defeated Satan can cast out a demon. Just with a single word. You don't need to yell and scream. So there's a connection between being filled with the Spirit, then only you can really struggle against these forces and remain filled with the Spirit. If you want to overcome Satan, if you want to overcome Satan in your home, overcome Satan in your place of work or your business or anything. Satan tries to ruin everything. What did he do in Job's case? He destroyed his family, he destroyed his business, he destroyed everything. So we have to seek continuously to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And there's one more thing I want to point out to you. Between these two passages of Scripture, Ephesians 5, 18, where it says be filled with the Holy Spirit and Ephesians 6, 12, where it says we struggle against these evil principalities and powers. You have a whole section of about 21 verses. A whole section from Ephesians 5, verse 21, all the way to Ephesians 6, verse 9. And what is that passage dealing with? The home. The relationship between husbands and wives, parents and children, and servants and masters. In those days, servants were very common in every home. Just like in India, many homes have servants. So those are the three relationships in a home. Husband, wife, parents, children, servants and masters. And this section of the Christian home is sandwiched between, on one side, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and on the other side, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against evil spirits. And so we see that the home is the place where Satan attacks. And that's why immediately after the section on the home, you're told to stand against the wiles of Satan. Be strong after the section on the Christian home. Let me read it like this now. Skim through. Let me read a skim through Ephesians 5, 22 onwards. Starting with verse 21. In the home, be subject to one another. Husband, be subject to your wife. Wife, be subject to your husband. Begin there. Some husbands begin at verse 22. Wives, be subject to your husbands. That's not where it begins. Dear brother, sister. Verse 21 says, all of you be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. That's wife to the husband and husband to the wife. You understand that spirit? And then it says, wives must be subject to their own husbands as to the Lord, because he's the head of the home. And husband must love your wives. How can a wife be subject to her husband as to the Lord? By being filled with the spirit. Ephesians 5, 18. By being continuously filled with the spirit. How can a husband love his wife? Verse 25. Ephesians 5, 25. As Christ loved the church, by being filled with the spirit continuously. How can children obey their parents? In chapter 6, verse 1. By being taught by parents, who are fathers who are filled with the Holy Spirit. How can masters treat their slaves, servants, kindly in the office or in the home? By being filled with the Holy Spirit. In every relationship in life, in the home or in the office, you can apply Ephesians 6, verse 5 to 9 to the office, where there's a boss and people who work under him. Got to be filled with the spirit. The boss must be filled with the spirit. The workers must be filled with the spirit if they are Christians. And we have to stand against the wiles of Satan and the schemes of Satan in the home and in our place of work everywhere. Now this was not there in the old covenant. So when we talk about new covenant Christianity, here are some of the things which constitute new covenant Christianity. Being filled with the Holy Spirit all the time, continuously. Standing against the schemes of the devil all the time. I already told you when he prompts you to murmur and complain, to stand against him and say, I'm not going to murmur or complain. I'm going to praise the Lord and rejoice in him always. And to maintain the testimony of the home of a husband and wife who are in a loving, mutually submissive relationship to each other of respect and love through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's a Christian home. That's how we overcome Satan. And where we bring up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, like it says in Ephesians 6, 4. You got to be filled with the Holy Spirit to bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Not with some psychology techniques. And where a person is really filled with the Holy Spirit and he does not fight with flesh and blood, and he seeks to have a good relationship with his wife as a husband, he will also be a very good father to bring up his children also in the fear of the Lord. Notice, it is the father who has to teach the Bible to the children. If your children don't know the scriptures and you're a father, you should hang your head in shame before God and say, Lord, I'm ashamed. My children do not know the scriptures, because even though you told me to give them the instruction of the Lord, I did not give it. What's he is calling yourself, my brother, a new government Christian, if you don't follow what it says here? Have you instructed your children with the instruction of the Lord? Oh, you say, well, when they were small, I was not born again. Okay, there are many cases like that. What about now? Oh, my children are grown up. They are grown up, but are they your children? Yes, then give them God's word. Pray that God will give you an opportunity to give them the word. Don't say, well, I was not converted when they were little children, and so they are drifted into the world. Do you want your children to go to hell? I don't want any of my children or even grandchildren ever to go to hell. Therefore, we must instruct them in the Lord. That's the responsibility of parents. And if your husband is a total failure, then the wife must do that. It's like if a husband is paralyzed, the wife has to go to work. But otherwise, the husband is the breadwinner. In the same way, the husband is the one who has to instruct the children in the ways of the Lord and in the scriptures. But if he's a dead loss and he doesn't do it, then the wife has to take on that responsibility because your husband is like a paralyzed man. But you should not be like a paralyzed man, dear brother. You have to take the lead in your home to instruct your children. And I don't mean by that, just going through a formal family prayer. By seriously taking pains to urge your children to study the scriptures. Get them a picture story Bible. And as they grow up, get them a Bible for themselves and tell them to read it and ask them questions now and then. You know, at least you can do it on a Saturday and Sunday when there's more time when they're at home, maybe around the dining table. Ask them a few questions about scripture if you don't get any other time. But we must, I tell you, we're growing up in a generation of tremendous ignorance of scripture. I remember when my children were growing up at home, they all left home to study in college at the age of 18. I had them at home only for 18 years old, four of them. And I said, Lord, before they leave my home, they must be born again, number one. They must have taken baptism and they must know the scriptures so that no one can fool them. I don't mean that they should be Bible scholars or Bible teachers. That's not what I meant. But they should know the truths of the New Testament. That no one can deceive them or fool them because the world is full of deceivers. And you must have a goal like that. You will never reach a goal if you don't plan for it. You know, you go to a football field and kick the ball anywhere you like. You're not going to score a goal. When people are playing soccer, they got a direction in which they are kicking the ball. It's the same way. We must have a direction in which we teach our children. I want them to know the scriptures. I want them to know the Lord. In the old government, this was not important. Moses' children, we don't even know anything about them. All we know is he did not obey to circumcise them and his wife had a big fight with him. The only thing we read about Moses' family life is a place in Exodus 4 where it says he and his wife had a fight over their children. What about Samuel, the great man of God? His children grew up to take bribes. He had only two sons and they grew up to take bribes. He did a bit of nepotism by appointing them as judges and all the people came to Samuel and said, Samuel, we are fed up with your sons. They're corrupt. They're not like you. These are some of the great men of the Old Testament. Levi, high priest, his children were wayward. God had to kill them. But in the new covenant, it's not to be like that. In the new covenant, it says if a man does not know how to bring up his children, 1 Timothy chapter 3, if a man does not know how to bring up his children in a proper way, knowing the Lord, 1 Timothy 3, verse 4, he is not fit to be any type of leader in God's church. Not at all. And when Paul writes to Titus, he says, when you appoint an elder, make sure that he has children who are not rebellious, Titus chapter 1, verse 6, but they are believers. Only look for such people to make them elders. Do you find these standards being followed in Christendom today? No. It says an elder must be the husband of one wife, 1 Timothy 3, verse 2. But look at the number of divorcees who are pastors today, even in so-called charismatic Pentecostal churches, claiming to be filled with the Holy Spirit and divorcing their wives. It's deception, deception, deception. Outright. And in the midst of it, God has raised up a few new covenant churches to make the light shine. We're not here to judge them, but we want to make the light shine and say this is what God's standards are. And dear brothers and sisters, if you're a part of this local church, you have a big responsibility before God to uphold that standard in your personal life, in your professional life, in your office, and in your home. And your unconverted relatives should be able to see that in your home, the difference. And as your children grow up, they should be able to see it in your children. That is new covenant Christianity. They didn't have that in the old covenant. I told you in the old covenant, they didn't have any battle with Satan, but in the new covenant, we can fight him because he's overcome. Satan cannot enter your home because he was defeated on the cross. He cannot. You've got to stand against him and say, Satan, you were defeated on the cross. He does not like to hear it. I remember years ago, one sister brought some other lady to our house saying, can you pray for this lady? She has some problem. I said, okay. My wife and I were sitting there, and this lady sat down with another sister. And I said, will you ask Christ to come into your heart? And I said, now tell the devil you were defeated on the cross. And she turned around to me, this lady, and twisted her face and said, I was not defeated on the cross. Oh, wow. I didn't realize there was a demon inside her. When I said, Satan, you were defeated on the cross, I told her to say that. She turns around and tells me the demon spoke through her. Oh, well, if the demon speaks to me, then I stop speaking to the woman. I speak to the demon. So I told that demon, you're a liar. You were defeated on the cross. Get out of her right now in Jesus name. She was free. One sentence, and she was free. Then I told her, now tell Satan you were defeated on the cross. And she could say it easily. Satan, you were defeated on the cross. You can do that. If you walk with the Lord, and if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and you stop fighting with human beings, stop fighting with your wife and husband, God can make you a powerful witness for his name on the earth. Not afraid of Satan at all. I remember the Lord telling me once, as you were afraid of Satan once, from now on, Satan will be afraid of you. That's not just me. I'll tell you where that authority comes from. I'm not anybody special. I'm a child of God. That's all. I'm born again, child of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ. God gives me a promise in 1 John, chapter 3. It says here, 1 John, chapter 3, and verse 17, the last part. Great verse. Tremendous help to me. 1 John 3, 17. As Jesus is, so also are we, John says, including him, me also. So also am I in this world. How am I in this world? As Jesus is. Is Jesus scared of Satan? No, neither am I, according to 1 John 3, 17. Is the devil scared of Jesus? Yes. Well, the devil's scared of me then, 1 John 3, 17. And if you have faith for that, what the Lord said to me, he says to you as well. We've got to believe in, the Bible says in Romans chapter 10. If you believe in your heart, Romans 10 and verse, Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10. And it says here, if you confess with your mouth, verse 9, Romans 10, 9. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord. That he's raised from the dead. That means he conquered Satan, defeated Satan. That's the meaning of raised from the dead. If you believe that in your heart, I know all of you believe that. Do you confess it with your mouth? You tell the devil, Satan, you were defeated on the cross. You've got no power over me. I have authority over you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. It's very important. It's like the two electric wires that touch and the light comes on. You know, in your switch, when you put on a switch, all that happens behind that switch is two electric wires touch each other. But until they touch, there's no light. So here it is, two wires. Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth. The light comes on and the devil is gone. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. Satan was defeated on the cross. My Lord is the victor. He's risen from the dead. He's Lord of heaven and earth. He's got all authority, not only in heaven, but on earth right now. That's why we go out and preach the gospel, because Jesus Christ has got all authority in heaven and earth. My brothers and sisters, I pray that all of you who belong to this church will grow up with that spiritual authority and strengthen the church by you doing your part to make this church a church full of people who have spiritual authority. That's God's will. That's not something special. That's what every single child of God should have, who believes God's word and confesses with his mouth. Let us pray. Let's bow our heads in prayer. And if the Lord has spoken something to you, please acknowledge it before God. If he has convicted you of something, confess it. Ask the Lord to cleanse you in his blood. It will be cleansed immediately. If you repent, if you take the blame and say, Lord, that is my sin. I take the blame and I want to turn from it. I don't want to do that again. I don't have the strength. Give me the power of the Holy Spirit. Tell me the Holy Spirit that I don't walk that way again. I don't want to have a wrong attitude towards anybody. I want to forgive everybody who has hurt me. I want to ask forgiveness from anybody I've hurt. I want to be a new type of person from now on. I will not struggle with flesh and blood from today. I'm finished with it. I want to fight with Satan. I want to be a true new covenant Christian and strengthen my local church. Thank you, Father, for these dear brothers and sisters. I pray that every one of them will open their hearts completely to you. Lay everything on the altar and allow the fire of heaven to fall upon them. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.