How To Conquer Satan And Win

Questioner 2 – Dear friends, in this last section, especially those of us who have newly joined us, outside… the purpose of this DVD, today outside the Tiruchyapai, there are many people who have newly joined us, with many questions, there are people in the old Tiruchyapai. For such newly joining people, for all the questions they ask, for all the doubts they raise, on this day, our beloved brother and sister, from the repentance of Jesus Christ, his second coming… Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 9, where we read a clear meaning of repentance. It says there, you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God. God created us to have the first place in our heart. If you give anything or anyone else that first place in your heart, you are worshipping an idol. Christians think of idols as only external objects of wood and stone or brass. The biggest idols are the one we worship in our heart. Some sinful pleasure that you keep on indulging in, is an idol. If you only live to make money, that's an idol. If you fall in love with somebody and God does not want you to marry that person because he is a non-Christian, that person is an idol. So repentance is to turn around and get rid of every idol in our heart. So repentance is to turn around and get rid of every idol in our heart. Lord Jesus, you are going to be God and Lord and have first place in my life. You don't have to say, I will give it up. You must say, I want to give it up. Because some bad habits, you may not be able to give it up immediately. Repentance does not mean, from today I am going to give it up. It means, I have turned away from it and I want to give up everything that is taking the place of God in my life. It can be your job, your business or anything. So that is repentance. Next, restitution. Restitution means to give back to others what we have taken wrongfully from them. It may be that I have cheated people of money in the past. We read of one such person in Luke's Gospel chapter 19. He was a cheating tax collector. His name was Zacchaeus. In Luke 19 verse 8 he said, Lord, I will give back four times to all the people whom I cheated. That means he gave back with interest what he took from them. And then Jesus said, today salvation has come to this house. He didn't tell Zacchaeus, if it will take ten years to do that, then you will be saved after ten years. No, he said, you have taken a decision today, I believe it, salvation has come. It may have taken ten years for Zacchaeus to repay all that money. But salvation came the day he decided. Now, sometimes what we owe another person is not money but an apology for the wrong we did to him. Then we must ask forgiveness by letter or by word. Again, it is the willingness that God sees, not whether we finally finish doing it. But I must not have with me anything that does not rightfully belong to me. Sometimes it is very difficult to set right what we did in the past. But God understands that. And then we don't have to condemn ourselves, if it is so difficult, there is no way to return it. Supposing you have committed adultery with somebody, it may not always be wise to go and ask forgiveness from that person. Because that person may be married to somebody and you will complicate the situation if you go and ask forgiveness. So, we must be wise in this restitution. But wherever possible we must ask forgiveness and set things right. That is the proof to God that I am mean to get rid of all idols from my life. The Bible speaks a lot about justification in Romans chapter 4. And it also says in Romans 5.9 that we are justified by the blood of Christ. And that means, Romans 5.9, that we are not only forgiven by the blood, but justified by the blood. Romans 5.9, that we are not only forgiven by the blood, but justified by the blood. Then I stand before Christ, with Christ's righteousness and I am accepted. So, to use an illustration, to show you that justification is much better than just forgiveness. When we are sinners, we are like a person who owes a debt of one crore or hundreds of crores of rupees. Hundreds of crores of rupees which we can never repay. And if our creditor says it's all forgiven, then that debt is wiped out. So, that's what God says, the blood of Christ has wiped out your sin. That itself is very good news. But on top of that, God says, now I put hundreds of crores of rupees into your bank account. So, from minus hundreds of crores to come to zero itself is a great thing. And from there, to suddenly get hundreds of crores of rupees makes me so rich. That is justification. It's greater than forgiveness, which is merely the clearing of my debt. Because the devil doesn't want you to know all this, because he doesn't want you to be happy that you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. You are spiritually a rich man. But when you know the truth, the truth will set you free from all discouragement. Baptism is only a symbol. And Romans 6 says, we thereby are showing that the old man, that is the mind that wanted to sin, is dead and buried. Romans 6 says, we thereby are showing that the old man, that is the mind that wanted to sin, is dead and buried. When I come out of the water, I come out as a new man, a new attitude towards sin. I'm not saying I'm perfect, I'm just saying I've got a new attitude towards sin. I'm not saying I'm perfect, I'm just saying I've got a new attitude towards sin. Even though baptism is not necessary for salvation, Because it's a testimony of salvation already experienced. It's like a birth certificate for a baby after the birth of a baby. Or like a marriage certificate when a person is married. And so you can get a birth certificate only after the baby is born. You can get the marriage certificate only after the marriage. When we are united to Christ, it is like a new birth or like a marriage to Christ. Baptism is a testimony to that reality of that fact. So you can't get baptized before the thing has actually happened. And even though it's a simple act as a symbol, it's still important. Because it's a public testimony not only to people but also to the devil and demons that I don't belong to you anymore. Because it's a public testimony not only to people but also to the devil and demons that I don't belong to you anymore. And since Jesus has commanded it, we cannot say anything Jesus commanded is an unimportant commandment. The question is not whether it's a small thing, the question is who commanded it, a big God commanded it. The question is not whether it's a small thing, the question is who commanded it, a big God commanded it. Next, a feeling of Holy Spirit, laying hands. When we are baptized, Jesus told us to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we are baptized, Jesus told us to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some people ask why we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. That is to identify the Son as Jesus Christ. So when I baptize people, I say I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. So when I baptize people, I say I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Not three names, one name. We must go exactly according to scripture. But we identify the Son as the Lord Jesus Christ. So many people baptize carelessly because they don't read the scripture properly. So I can say I baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I also baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the Holy Spirit coming inside, it happens when we are born again. But we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can look at it like this. Our heart is like a house with many rooms. All dark. And the one room which we really want to get rid of the darkness is the room called guilt. Guilt of our sin. So we first ask the Lord Jesus to come into that room. In the Acts of the Apostles, they never ask people to receive Jesus Christ. They said believe in Jesus Christ and receive the Spirit. Which Spirit? There are so many Spirits in the world. The Spirit of Christ. So believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive His Spirit. Now we combine that today and say receive the Lord Jesus Christ. It means the same thing. You can't receive Christ unless you believe in Him. So you repent and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as having died for your sins. And that He rose again. And when you say Lord Jesus come into my heart. Jesus is in heaven. He has got a body there. He is there. Physically He is not on the earth. He is the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit that is on earth. Now the Trinity is a big mystery. We can't explain it easily with our mind. No need to try and explain it. Just like a dog cannot understand a man because man is above a dog. In the same way we cannot understand God because God is much more above us. So if God was somebody you could explain then He must be like you only. But the fact that God is a Trinity whom my mind cannot understand proves that is the truth. There is only one God. But in three persons. And the Holy Spirit is the third person of God who is on earth today. The Father and Jesus Christ are in heaven. So when I say Christ come into my heart. It is the Holy Spirit who comes into my heart. But He has come only into one room. There are many other rooms. And He knocks and says if you open I will come in. Then He asks you. Can I come into your television room to see what all you are watching? And if you say no no no I don't want you to come and control what I watch on television. Or He says can I come and check what all books you are reading? If you say don't come there because I don't want you to see all that. So like that we shut some doors to Christ. Or the Lord says can I come and see how you are handling your money? Is it all righteous? How are you doing your business? We shut that door we don't want him to come there. What about your plans and ambitions for the future? Can I come and check that room? You say no. What about whom you are going to marry? Can I come and tell you whom to marry? You say no Lord leave that to me and my parents will tell me. So we shut so many rooms to Christ. The spirit has come in. But he has not filled you. And you can pray for a hundred years he will never fill you till you open all these rooms. Many people are praying and praying and praying oh God fill me with the Holy Spirit but they kept all these doors shut. You don't even have to pray for one day to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But you have to surrender every area of your life and your future and your plans and every other area of your life to Christ. And to the best of your knowledge if you open everything and say Lord I only want your will in every area of my life. And I cannot live this life without the power of your spirit. Please come and fill me. And I trust you that you will answer my prayer. What you need is faith. Let me give you a definition of faith. Faith is to believe that God is more eager to give you his promises than you are to receive them. If you think you are more eager to be filled with the spirit than God is to fill you with the spirit that is unbelief. Most people pray like that. Oh I am eager to be filled with the spirit. But God doesn't seem to be eager so eager to fill me. That itself is unbelief you will never be filled with the Holy Spirit. The day you come to faith. Faith means God is more eager to fill me with the spirit than I am to be filled with the spirit. That's faith. And if you have opened every area of your life. You don't have to wait one minute to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You can do that today. And you don't need anybody to lay hands on you. The Lord did give that supernatural power to some apostles in those days. But in my entire life I have never met a single person in the world who can lay hands and transmit the Holy Spirit to everybody. So many people lay hands and think they are giving the Holy Spirit. They are fooling themselves and fooling other people. Jesus is the baptizer. John the Baptist said I can baptize you in water you go to Jesus to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And ask God to give you an assurance that you are filled with the spirit just like he gave you an assurance that your sins are forgiven. And God will give you an assurance. Just like he assured you your sins are forgiven. The importance of Bible reading and prayer, fasting and revelation. Now it's very important to read the Bible because this is the only book in the world that God has written. But more important than reading the Bible is obeying the Bible. There are more than 31,000 verses in the Bible. But it's better to obey one verse than just to read 31,000 verses. And it is better to claim one promise in the Bible than just to read it. The Bible has got like two legs like we stand on, commandments and promises. The Bible has got like two legs like we stand on, commandments and promises. Many commandments were for Israelites in the Old Testament. We don't have to obey them because they are not for us. They are written there for our instruction how God dealt with Israel. God gave them a land called Israel. Those are not for us. There are promises for Christians. There are commandments for Christians. Those we must obey and claim completely. So you must not satisfy yourself every day saying I have read the Bible. So you must not satisfy yourself every day saying I have read the Bible. It is better to read the Bible for one minute and obey it for 24 hours. It is better to read the Bible for one minute and obey it for 24 hours. Many people are disturbed saying I have not read the Bible for 15 minutes. Many people are disturbed saying I have not read the Bible for 15 minutes. What is the purpose of reading the Bible? To know what God wants me to do. To know the promises he has given me to help me to do those things. So that is the purpose of Bible reading. To know the Bible which I cannot understand just with my intelligence. See Peter was not the greatest Bible scholar in Israel. There were other people who knew the Bible better than Peter. But how did Peter know that Jesus is the Messiah? It came by revelation of the Holy Spirit. It came by revelation of the Holy Spirit. So your own intelligence cannot explain certain things in the Bible. So when you become humble, the Bible will explain the things that the wise cannot explain. Prayer and fasting. Prayer is basically talking to the Lord. Thanking Him. I prefer to call it talking to the Lord. You know like a telephone call. When I make a telephone call, I talk to someone and he talks to me. That is the best way to pray. Whether I am walking or standing or kneeling down, anywhere. Like a telephone call. I talk and I listen. Now if you only talk, talk, talk, talk, that is not really communication with God. Think of a phone, telephone. When you speak to somebody, you also listen to what that person is saying. So when you pray, don't just talk, talk, talk, talk. Pause a little and let the Lord speak to you. And then the question may come, how can I recognize the voice of God in my heart? See, in the beginning it will be difficult. How can you recognize your mother's voice even if she is on the other side of the wall in the midst of 10 hours? And there are other women talking there. Because you heard it so often. I have not heard your mother's voice, so I cannot recognize it. But you can recognize the voice that you heard many times. So if you read the Bible regularly, you begin to recognize the voice of God in the Bible. And then you gradually recognize his voice in your heart also. Fasting is not a commandment of God saying you must fast. But Jesus did it, the apostles did it. And Jesus also said, when you fast, don't let other people know about it. See, fasting speaks of intensity of desire. When a child is seriously sick in the hospital and the doctors have given up all hope. Why is it the mother doesn't even feel like eating food? Why is she fasting? Because there is an intensity of desire in her that my child must be healed. She is not going through a religious ritual. She has such intense desire that she forgets about food. That is real fasting. What most people call fasting is all just religious exercise. But there is a place for fasting as a discipline also. Once a week you can miss your meals for 3 minutes. So, once a week you can skip your meals and fast properly. That has got some practical advantages that will keep you healthier. It will give you greater compassion for people who are hungry as to how they feel. But don't make it a religious ritual and boast about it. Next, discipleship. Jesus told us not only to go into the world and convert people, but to make them disciples. If you only convert people, it is like a job half done. See, Jesus was a carpenter. Somebody asked him to make a table. He won't just take 4 legs to that person and say, here is a table. No, 4 legs are necessary for a table. There must be a top put to it, then the table is complete. So, going and preaching and converting a person to faith in Christ for forgiveness of sins is like saying, making the legs. And then, if you make them disciples, then only the job is complete. So, let's take putting the top on top of the table, then you got one full table. Then you put the top on top of the 4 legs, then you have a complete table. So, the tragedy today is, there are so many tables in the world. So many converts, but very few disciples. To use an illustration, supposing Jesus got an order in Nazareth to make 100 tables. And he hires 10 carpenters. And all of them are only making the legs. Legs, legs, legs, legs, legs. And so many days are going by, they are only making legs. Then another carpenter comes. He does not make any legs. He makes tops. And all the other 10, the other 10 get upset with him. Why aren't you making legs like we are making? He says, you people are not completing the job. After so many weeks, there is not even one table here. How many days have you been working? Not even one table has been completed. After I came, at least 2-3 tables have been completed. This is discipleship. So, when many people repent, God calls some people to be His disciples, to complete the job. But when we make disciples, the evangelists say, what are you against evangelism? I say, no. Thank God for what you are doing. We are trying to complete the job. So, the conditions of discipleship are mentioned in Luke chapter 14. It is in Matthew 28 and verse 19 We read in Matthew 28 and 19 You go and make all the castes disciples. They knew what that meant. In Luke 14, He said, the three conditions of discipleship were 25 to 33. In very simple words, 1. Love Jesus more than any human being. Father, mother, wife, children, everybody. 2. You must die to yourself and your personal choices every day. That is taking up the cross. 3. Love Jesus more than all material things. So, can you say that every so called believer that you have met has fulfilled these three conditions? Most of them have not even fulfilled one of those three conditions. So, Christian world is filled with converts, very few disciples. There are thousands of legs of tables and one or two tables. You must become a disciple. Next, confession of faith. The Bible says in Romans chapter 10 that it is not enough to believe in our heart, we must confess with our mouth. Romans 10, 9 is very clear. You confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord. And believe in your heart God has raised him from the dead. You will be saved. It is like the two wires, electric wires touch at a switch and the light comes on. There need to be two wires. Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth. Because it says in verse 10 when you believe in your heart it brings righteousness. When you confess with your mouth it brings salvation. So, it is important to confess with our mouth. Not to give a big long lecture. But to confess with my mouth that I was a sinner but Jesus Christ is now my Lord. God has become my saviour. Whether in a church meeting or in a small prayer group you do it like that. Jewelry and festivals and Christian festivals are important. There are certain things in the Bible which are very important. Others are not so important. Turning away from sin is very important. To love your enemies is very important. To be free from sexual sin is very important. To give up anger is very important. To give up bitterness and complaining Give up hypocrisy and pride These are all very important. Then there are things which are not so important but we can't neglect them. For example, unnecessary expenditure of money in things which are useless or to display ourselves before others in some way. So, when a woman wears jewelry the question she needs to ask is what is the reason for it? So, like one sister who was wearing jewelry once said like this Doesn't it say God looks at the heart man looks on the outside? I said right. We only see the jewelry and we don't say anything. We don't criticize you for that. But God looks at your heart as to why you are wearing the jewelry. Can you give an answer to God that I am doing this to glorify Christ? Or is the reason I want to show people? Let me ask you. If everybody in the world was blind would you be wearing jewelry? I don't think. It shows why you wear it. It is not to show God. It is to show people. I am not saying it is a sin. You ask yourself why you are wearing it. And then festivals. In the Old Testament there were a lot of festivals. In the New Testament the only thing Jesus said is breaking bread symbolizing his death. We don't know when Jesus was born so some people have made Christmas and made it a festival. I don't make an issue of it. I don't celebrate Christmas because I don't see it mentioned in the Bible. I don't see anybody celebrating the birthday of Christ in the Bible. Nobody knows when he was born. It was definitely not December because it is so cold and rainy in Israel that the shepherds could not have been outside in December. But some people blindly follow it. I don't judge them because they may not have light. These are unimportant things. Hold on to your conviction. As it says in Romans 14 and forgive others if they don't have light. Don't force people to remove their jewelry. Don't force people to celebrate Christmas. And don't force people to give up Christmas also. And don't force people to put on jewelry also. Give each person freedom. It's not only enough to be forgiven. We also have another problem that we must overcome this sinful nature. We must overcome this sinful nature. I have heard a story once. There was a mad man who was suffering from a mental illness. They used to try if the mad man had come to his senses. How to find out if the mad man has come to his senses? They put him in a room where a tap is open and the water is flowing. And they give him a mop and a bucket to make the floor dry. Now if he tries to mop the floor without closing the tap then you know he has not come to his senses yet. Because the sensible person will know if I want to dry this floor I must first close the tap. Now we have a wet floor which is full of sin. And we have a tap that is open. Now does God have enough sense only to mop the floor or also to close the tap? Even if man doesn't have sense God has got enough sense. He will not only give us a mop the blood of Christ to cleanse the sin. He will also give us power to close the tap. That is why he has given us the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It's very simple. Man has made it all complicated. The Holy Spirit gives us grace which is God's power. And that helps us to overcome sin. That's why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with the word of God that we read. Temptation There is a difference between temptation and sin. In the garden of Eden the Lord did not say you must not be attracted to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He said don't eat it. So supposing they went near that tree and Eve told Adam I am really attracted to this tree. It makes my mouth water and I feel drawn towards it. But I will not eat it and walk away. Tell me was she tempted? Yes, very strongly. Did she sin? No. Sin comes when you yield to the temptation. So, if you find some particular thing in the world very attractive and pulling you you are tempted to go to that pornographic site on the computer. You are tempted to speak angrily to that person who spoke angrily to you. That is temptation. When you yield to it you sin. For example when you look at a pretty woman there is a temptation. Like somebody has said the first look is temptation the second look is sin. Because the Holy Spirit will say don't look there. You will be tempted more. Now I am not saying the second look is sin but if you lust then you sin. And if you look too long at tempting matter you will fall into sin also. So we must be careful. Let me ask you a question. Who is stronger the devil or a woman? I will give you an answer from the Bible. The Bible says in James 4 verse 7 resist the devil and he will run away from you. But in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 18 you must run away from a woman who is tempting you. So who is stronger? You resist the devil and he runs away from you. When a woman is tempting you you better run away from there. If you obey these simple instructions you will be safe. This is all in the Bible. Ok. Next. What is grace? Now many people use many definitions of grace. They say it's the unmerited favor of God. But unmerited favor of God everybody in the world receives. Grace is a power that helps us to overcome sin and to face any trial on earth and be an overcomer. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9 The Lord said to Paul my grace is sufficient for you because my power is made perfect in your weakness. So there you see grace is God's power that comes through the Holy Spirit and helps me not only to overcome sin but to face any trial in the world and to come up as a victor. That's why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Grace in Hebrews 10.29 Next. Hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the one sin Jesus condemned more than anything else. The Lord never told adulterers you will go to hell. He was very compassionate to adulterers. Even the thief on the cross he forgave and took to paradise. But in Matthew 23 he told the Pharisees you hypocrites how will you escape hell? Murder adultery are all sins. But the Lord never told his disciples beware of committing murder beware of committing adultery. But he said beware of hypocrisy because hypocrisy is like an unseen cancer which you can't even see is a sin. Murder and adultery are like things on your hand which you can see sickness on your body. But hypocrisy is like unseen sins. The solution to hypocrisy is to be absolutely honest with God and with men. Don't pretend to be more spiritual than you really are. If you ask a little boy what class are you? If he is in second standard he will not say sixth standard. Only believers are like that. They may be second standard spiritually but they talk as if they are in tenth standard. Just be honest. Hypocrisy is a very serious sin. Next, finding God's will and His voice. There is a book of mine called Finding God's Will which you can read in English and Tamil. But basically four things. Before that let me say that you cannot find God's will if your whole life is not surrendered to Him. But once you surrendered your life to Him, there are four ways by which God shows us His will. One, by God's word. So ask yourself what does God's word say? And second, seek the advice of godly believers Third, see the circumstances. Is God opening a door or closing a door? You try for a job, you didn't get it, then it's not God's will. You wanted to marry a girl, she said no, that's the end of it. That's not God's will. And some of the door God opens, that is circumstances. And number four finally, is the witness of the Holy Spirit in your heart. If you have peace in your heart, you know that's God's will. Marks of a godly man. These are some of the things I look for to recognize the real man of God. Number one, is he a humble person? That's the primary mark of a godly man. He will make you feel important and equal to him. That is how Jesus even spoke to adulterers and bad people. Secondly, what is his attitude to money? Any preacher who is even slightly interested in your money is not a godly man. Any church that is interested in collecting your money most important, is not a godly church. And I would ask also, does he preach holiness and live in holiness? And if he is married, I would ask, how does he live with his wife? Are his children God fearing? Why do I say that? Because our children know us better than everybody in the church. So if a man's children are not following the Lord, it's probably because they have not seen the Father following the Lord in the house. So those are the marks of a really godly man. And I don't care whether he has got preaching gifts or other gifts, those are secondary. Because there are so many godly people who cannot preach well. But they live well. So these are some of the primary marks. I would also say that he is a man who really can love people. He can love his enemies, he can love brothers. Even though he may not agree with people in other churches, he loves believers in other churches also. That is a really godly man. Those are the type of people I would like to fellowship with. What's the meaning of in Christ? Now in the book of Ephesians, you find this word in Christ many times. And God placed us in Christ before the worlds were created because he knew looking into the future that we would accept Christ one day. And in Colossians, it says in Colossians chapter 1, Christ is in you. Christ is in you and I am in Christ. How could I be crucified with Christ 2000 years ago on the cross? Because before I was born, God placed me in his mind in Christ before he created the world. And in God's mind because he knew I would accept Christ in the 1900s, he knew that before the worlds were created, he put me in Christ then. So when Christ came to earth and died, I died in him. When he rose up, I rose up in him. And now I am seated in the heavenly places in him. But I am living on earth. But the Holy Spirit brings the reality of heaven into my life. That will be true in my life only if I die to myself every day and make that choice every day. It is not just sitting back and saying I am in Christ and living like a worldly person. That is a false teaching. That I am in Christ and now I do everything and he is everything. In many places in the Bible it says we must pray, we must wrestle. You have to fight the good fight. Paul said he fought the good fight till the end of his life. He was just not saying I am in Christ and I sit back. So a lot of false teaching comes when people don't take one truth along with the other truth. And the devil in the temptation told Jesus it is written. Jesus said it is also written. Curse, witchcraft and demon possession. Galatians 3.13 says that Christ became a curse for us so there is no curse for us anymore. So there is no curse for us anymore. A true child of God can never be cursed. If the whole world tries to curse me it won't touch me. No witchcraft can touch me unless I myself go and open myself to the devil and to darkness. But if I keep my conscience clear, no witchcraft, no curse can ever touch me. It cannot touch my family. It cannot touch my house. It cannot touch my property. Because there are fences around me and my family and my house. I must believe that. But the devil fools us. He says no, no, no I can attack you. You got to say to Satan you are a liar. If any of you are being oppressed by Satan like that, here is what you should do. Tell the devil, Satan you were defeated on the cross by my Lord Jesus Christ. You got to speak it with your mouth. The devil cannot hear your thoughts. You know Jesus could not cast out the devil by thinking in his mind. He had to speak then only the demon left. So if you think in your thoughts, the devil cannot hear you. Speak to him and say in Jesus' name I resist you. You were defeated on the cross by my Lord Jesus Christ. Christ lives in me and I can overcome you. Because Christ lives in me. The one who lives in me is greater than you. Just like we can speak to God, we can speak to Satan. And the more you speak to Satan, the more bold you will be against Satan. So you must learn to speak back to Satan when he tries to make you discouraged and fearful. Some of you have never spoken to Satan in your life. Revelation 12, 11 says we overcome by the word of our testimony to Satan. We must give our testimony to Satan. That means, Satan, you are defeated on the cross and I belong to Jesus Christ. There are many people in the world who are possessed by demons. There are many people possessed by demons. That is different from mental madness. Mental madness is a sickness. That can be cured with tablets. But demon possession, the demon must be cast out in the name of Jesus Christ. And if your life is clean and you have faith, you can cast out demons. But if you are not sure about it, don't do it. Ask somebody who has faith for it. Next, about evangelism. Yeah, evangelism is very important. But like I said, evangelism without discipleship is useless. There are many ways to do evangelism. Some people say, why don't you go and preach in the streets? I have found in my personal experience, that by preaching in the streets, we don't bring many people to Christ. When I was in the Navy, in two years, I preached in every street in Cochin. But I never found one person converted. But with personal evangelism, I found many people converted. By witnessing to people personally. In our CFC churches, it has been like that. We haven't done much public evangelism. But when we started 38 years ago, we were just 7 or 8 people. Or maybe 10 people, I don't remember exactly. But now, there are 4,000 or 5,000 believers in many, many churches. Not with open air preaching and public evangelism. But personal evangelism. Somebody witnesses to his friend. Somebody brings his friend to the church. Or puts us in touch with some relative of his in some other place and we go and have a meeting there. Like that, little, little concentric circles become bigger and bigger and bigger and we reach many people. And all our growth in Bangalore church has been through personal evangelism. So, that is the type of evangelism we do. Some people think only big crusades, that is the only way to do evangelism. But where are those people who are converted in these big public meetings? You ask some of these evangelists who conduct big meetings with thousands of people. Where are your converts? He will say, I don't know. Maybe in some church. But if you ask me, where are your converts in different places, I will show you where they are. They are meeting in this church. If you ask Paul, where are the converts you got in Thessalonica or Philippi, he will say, come I will show you. These big public meeting evangelists, they cannot show you where their converts are. That is not the way Paul did evangelism. Next question. About marriage, It is very important when we consider marriage to think about certain things. So, when you are considering somebody for marriage, and you want to give out of hundred, how many marks can I give this person? I will tell you how to give marks. First question, 50 marks. Spiritual qualities. Is the person spiritually minded? How wholehearted is he or she? How many marks can you give out of 50 for that? Next question, 30 marks. That is, are we on the same intellectual level? Can we speak the same language? Even if you speak the same language, someone who is educated as a PhD may not be able to communicate with the villager at the same level. There must be a certain amount of equality in communicating ability. And then, social level. Somebody who has lived in a very rich home will find it very difficult to be married to someone who has lived in a slum. You know, some people ask, why do people look at caste when they consider marriage? I personally don't believe in caste. I don't believe it's important at all. Zero marks for caste. Social level, yes, we must consider that. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to adjust. The economic, financial level at which the two people have grown up, you've got to consider that. It will be very difficult for a girl who has lived at a very high standard to suddenly live at the level of drawing water from a well. So, we must think of these practical things. And that's why education is something we must consider. An educated person will find it very difficult to live with an uneducated person. Then next is twenty marks for looks. Physical features. Physical features means looks, height, age, all these things. you may say this is all unimportant. But a five foot high man may find it difficult to live with a six foot high girl. A six foot man can live with a five foot girl. The other way around may be difficult. Same way, if you are a twenty five years old young man and you find a wholehearted fifty year old sister, you may find it difficult to live with her. So, you're considering age. So, you give twenty marks for these physical features also. Be sensible and don't say hundred marks only for spirituality. You must be practical. When you get to heaven, give hundred marks for spirituality, but here you can give only fifty marks. Like I told you, fifty, thirty, twenty. I don't have a verse for that. But, I think I'm sharing the principles of scripture. If you follow that, you'll have a happy marriage. But, you still have to die to yourself everyday. That's important. You still have to die to yourself everyday. Can you marry your old lover who's unconverted? No. There's no need for anything more than one word. No. You cannot marry an unbeliever. Yeah. You must not take part in any religious activity which is contrary to the word of God. Whether it's Hindu or Roman Catholic or anything, you can participate in the reception and share in the joy of your unconverted relatives getting married. Now, the most important thing in the Christian life is fruit. God does give supernatural experiences to his people. Prophecy in the Old Testament was predicting the future. Prophecy in the New Testament is speaking the word of God. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 3. And that is a gift that we must all seek. Some may be able to speak for one minute, some may be able to speak for one hour. It's a supernatural gift. And I believe God has given it to me. He may not give it to you. But you can have the same fruit of the spirit that I have. In the same way, God may give visions to people and dreams. But that doesn't mean they are spiritual. Some people say, God gave me a dream. I tell them, God tried to speak to you during the day, you would not listen, so then he had to speak to you at night when you were asleep. So it's not a great thing that God spoke to you at night. The whole day he tried to speak to you, you would not listen to him, so he had to speak to you at night. But some people boast as if dreams is a great thing. Obey the word of God. And don't boast about visions and dreams. Next question. Next about breaking of bread. Breaking of bread is a symbol just like baptism that Jesus told us to practice. Symbolizes two things, my participation in the, Christ died for me and I have died with Christ. That's why I don't admire the bread but I eat the bread. And the other is, when we eat one bread we are saying we are one body. It's an external testimony to this reality of the death of Christ and that we are one body. That's 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Corinthians 11. Next about tithing and giving. There is no command to give tithe in the New Testament. Jesus told the Pharisees to tithe, Matthew 23. Because they were under the law. The last commandment to tithe is in Malachi which is in the Old Testament. In the New Testament the Bible says give not tithe. How much should we give? 2 Corinthians 9, 7 says as much as you can give cheerfully. And Matthew 6 says you must give secretly. So you must give secretly and you must give cheerfully. And 1 Corinthians 16 verse 2 says you must give according to your ability. So we give secretly, cheerfully, according to our ability. That is why in our churches we never take a collection with a bag. Then they cannot give secretly. So we keep a box and say if you want to give, give. Give secretly, cheerfully and according to your ability. The renewal of our mind. Romans 12, 2 says our mind must be renewed and it says there it's by the renewing of my mind that I become more and more like Christ. And the Holy Spirit shows me how Jesus did things in the Bible and makes me like that. See our original thinking is like all the people in the world. But the renewing of my mind means gradually I begin to think like Jesus Christ. See for example in the area of money. There are so many organizations that send requests for money for their ministry. That is a worldly way. All the non-Christian charities go around asking for money like that. Organizations. But we never see Jesus going around making requests for money. We never see the apostles saying I'm doing this work can you please send some money. But 99% of Christians don't follow that. They follow the world. When your mind is renewed you will do the way Jesus and the apostles did it. They received money from people who gave but they never asked for money. And they never advertised about their work to anyone. In order to get money. That is why in our church and our website and all we mention nothing about our work. Why? Because we want to do it the way Jesus and the apostles did it. And there is hardly any church in India that does like that. They all beg for money, collect money and send reports to get money. When our mind is renewed we do it the way Jesus did it. It's about finding the true church of God. If you want to find the true church of God you must see in the bible what are the marks of a true church. For example Luke 16.13 Jesus said there are only two masters. God and money. Here is one test. You go to a church. You go there a few weeks and you find the main emphasis is on money. That's not the church for you. You go to another church. They have emphasis on money and God. That is like mixing oil and water. That's also not for you. You go to a church where the emphasis is only on God. That's the church for you. Where people are interested in your becoming godly and not interested in your money. And where the preacher has got the qualities of a godly man that I said earlier. Criticizing others is the thing. The devil is called the accuser of the brethren in Revelation 12.9. So if you accuse people you are holding hands with Satan. Jesus said if you think a brother has sinned go to him and tell him. I speak to brothers straight. I speak very strongly. But I speak straight to him. And then if he doesn't obey then I tell others also. Jesus said if he doesn't listen then tell others also. Take one more person and tell him. If he doesn't listen then tell everybody. So that is God's way. Correct the person. But without speaking to the person just to go around speaking behind his back that is the spirit of Satan. So let's do it God's way. Last question about rapture and Christ's return. Now most Christians believe that Jesus will come anytime and take us up and then seven years of tribulation will start on the earth. But if you read in the Bible with an open mind it's not easy. You know for five thousand years people believed that the sun goes around the earth. But then one day somebody checked up is it right or wrong? And he found it was wrong. That the earth is rotating around his axis not the sun going around the earth. So in the same way many things that you have heard from many people in the Bible could be wrong. Just because hundreds of people or thousands of people believe it doesn't mean it's right. Six hundred thousand people said we cannot conquer Canaan. Two people said we can. Those two people Joshua and Caleb were right. In Noah's time he and his family said the earth will be drowned with a flood. Everybody did not agree with him. So throughout the Bible you find it's a small majority that is right. Out of hundreds of thousands of people in Israel only 120 waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So here is the truth which very few people believe. 1 Thessalonians 4 Christ will come back from heaven. Verse 16 The voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God The Lord will come in the clouds and we will be taken up. So think of these things. Think about these things. The Lord coming in the clouds angels trumpets and we being taken up. Now you see exactly the same things in Matthew 24. When people ask when they ask Jesus Matthew 24 in verse 3 Tell us about your second coming. And Jesus said here verse 30 The son of man will come in the sky in the clouds. 30 In the clouds And 31 the angels and the trumpet and then we will all be taken up to meet with him. This is exactly what we read in 1 Thessalonians 4 about the rapture. 1 Thessalonians doesn't tell us when it will happen. Here Jesus tells us verse 29 It will be immediately after the tribulation. So there will be a period of tribulation on the earth and then Christ will come. So let nobody deceive you with wrong teaching. 2 Thessalonians 2 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our rapture our gathering together to him. Don't be quickly shaken. Let no one deceive you verse 3. Listen to this. That day will not come unless first there is a falling away and the man of sin the antichrist is revealed. So this may surprise you that Jesus won't come tonight. He is not going to come any day. He said you will know when it is near but you won't know the exact day or the hour. There will be a period of tribulation when Christians will be intensely persecuted and we must be prepared for that. If you are not prepared for that you will get a big surprise when it comes. The devil is deceiving you by saying that will not happen you will just be taken up. But people say it's only if you tell people Christ may come any moment that people will live holy lives. Supposing your husband has gone away somewhere. Is it only because you don't know when he is coming that you don't fool around with other men? Supposing you know your husband is not going to come back for seven years. What will you do? Fool around with other men till he comes? And when you get a telephone call he is coming then you will live a holy life? Then you are not a pure wife you are a harlot. So if you are living a holy life only because you say Christ may come any time I tell you you are a harlot. If the Lord tells me I am coming after 25 years I will be faithful to him for the next 25 years because I am a bride. So all these people who try to frighten people he may come any moment so live holy they are producing harlots. I am telling you Christ may take a long time to come but be faithful everyday till he comes. But you may say then people say oh then we have to look forward to trouble. No we look forward to the coming of Christ. Jesus said his coming is like the birth of something new. Like a woman looks forward to the birth of a baby. Every woman knows that before the birth of the baby there is going to be a terrific period of pain before the delivery. So you ask a pregnant mother what are you looking forward to? She doesn't say I am looking forward to a tremendous time of pain. No. She says I am looking forward to a baby. I have discovered that it is a girl or a boy. She knows there will be a pain but that is not what she is looking forward to. She says I am looking forward to what is going to come at the end of the pain, a baby boy. I am not looking forward to the tribulation, I am looking forward to the coming of Jesus. I know there will be a time of pain before that, that is ok but at the end of it I will see Jesus. So now all your questions are answered, you can live a very holy life from today onwards. I want to share a few words in conclusion before we end this conference. In Ephesians chapter 6, In Ephesians chapter 6 we read like this. It is a good decision to make before we go home. Ephesians 6 verse 10 to 12. Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Don't try to be strong in your own strength. Seek everyday for the power of the Holy Spirit. To be strong with His power. That is very important. Put on the armor of God so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. There are many things mentioned there. But the main thing is to stand against the schemes of the devil. Because in verse 12 we don't struggle with flesh and blood but against all these evil rulers of darkness. In the Old Testament they fought with human beings. In the whole Old Testament you never find any Israelite fighting the devil. They fight Philistines, Canaanites, Amorites, Egyptians, Syrians but never the devil. Always human beings, human beings, human beings. Jesus was the first person who fought the devil. And He never fought with human beings. If they slapped Him, spat on Him, He forgave them. Even when they killed Him, He forgave them. So He only fought with the devil. Now if you are an Israelite, then you must fight with human beings. If you are a Christian, you fight with the devil. If you fight with a wife, you are an Israelite, you are not a Christian. If you fight with your husband, you are an Old Testament Israelite, not a Christian. If you fight with people in the office and with your neighbors, you are an Israelite, not a Christian. This is the only church where you will hear this message. Most people don't tell you, we do not wrestle with human beings. Why is it you are not strong to fight the devil? Because you fight with human beings so much. You women fight with other women. No wonder you cannot fight with the devil. You fight with your husband. You men fight with other men and with your wives. From today, you take a decision, you are finished with fighting with human beings. And say, I am going to fight the devil from today onwards. That will bless your home, you will be able to protect your children from the devil. Determine from today, I am only going to fight with Satan. Even when people come to argue with me about doctrine, if you want explanation of doctrine, I will give you. If you want to argue and prove that you are right, I am not going to argue. You can believe that you are right if you want to believe that. But I do not believe in struggling with flesh and blood. My fight is only with the devil. You will be very strong against the devil if you decide to stop fighting with human beings. The Bible, verse 13, it says, in the evil day, you will be able to stand. You won't collapse in discouragement and defeat. I find so many Christians just falling down in discouragement and defeat. I want all of you to make a decision today. Will you pray, Lord, please help me never to fight with human beings again. Not in my church, not in my home, not with my neighbors. I want to pursue peace. If they want to fight, let them fight, but I am not going to fight. If they cheat me, it's okay, I will forgive them. And Lord, I want to believe that you defeated Satan on the cross. You must tell the devil, Satan, you were defeated on the cross. You have no power over me. I belong to Jesus Christ. You know, many of you must say that to the devil. I always tell people to say that to Satan. Satan, you cannot touch me. You were defeated by Jesus on the cross. And Jesus Christ is my Lord. My sins are forgiven. You cannot accuse me of my past sins. They are all forgiven through the blood of I am not perfect, but I am clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And I have a Father in heaven. And He is on my side against you. So, Satan, you cannot touch me. You be like that from today onwards. Teach your children to be like that. We may go through many trials in the world. We may face sickness, poverty or death. But we will overcome Satan. That's the way every one of us must live. So, don't be afraid of the devil from today onwards. He will never forsake you. Verse 6, So that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid what shall man do to me. Now, please listen. I want all of you to repeat with brother Vincent the words in the 6th verse. Where it says, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid what shall man do to me. No, you didn't do it right. What does it say in the beginning? You must say it boldly, confidently. Now, let's hear you say it boldly and confidently. Yeah. Wonderful. One more sentence. What can the devil do to me? Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Let's stand up.