How to Overcome Satan (Video)

Our subject is how to overcome Satan. Now if you read through the Bible from the beginning, or if you look up a concordance, you'll find that Satan is hardly mentioned in the Old Testament at all, except at the beginning, the first two books of the Bible are Job and Genesis, and there we do read about Satan, but very briefly at the beginning, not right through those books, but then throughout the Old Testament, we don't find him coming face to face with anyone. There's a brief mention of his tempting David and a brief description of his accusing Joshua and Zachariah. But other than that, personal confrontation with Satan is zero, not even in the book of Job. Zero. The only personal encounter that we read of Satan with a human being is in Genesis three with Eve, and then there was nothing more. The next time we read of it is in the New Testament, where Jesus confronts Satan face to face. Now, why is that? Because God does not allow us to be tested or tempted beyond our ability. And in Old Testament times, when Satan had not been defeated, it would have been terrible if man had to confront Satan. So they only fought with human enemies and God helped them in Israel with their battle with human enemies. There was never any direct confrontation with Satan. But when Jesus came, he had come to open a way for us to overcome sin, to overcome Satan, to overcome the world, the flesh, everything. And so he is our forerunner, the one who has gone ahead of us, showing us how to live as God intended man to live. Please remember this always. When God made Adam, he made him in his image. No angel, all the millions of angels were not made in God's image. No angel can partake of God's nature. It's a tremendous privilege that God has given to man when he made him in his own image, so that man could partake of God's own nature. I wonder whether we Christians have realized the awesome privilege of that. Imagine to partake of God's own nature. It would be like telling a worm that he could, that worm could partake of a human nature and communicate with us as a human being, even though that worm is so small. It's absolutely amazing. Even dogs who are pets in the house, we would wish they could partake of our nature. They cannot, despite their love for their masters. I don't think Christians have understood what a tremendous honor and privilege it is that we can partake of God's own nature. That is why Jesus came. That's why he sent the Holy Spirit. And that is why when Christ came to earth, a lot of people think of his coming to earth only to die for the sins of the world. That was one part of his ministry, a very major part of his ministry. That was to clear the ground, to get rid of the old. But there was something he was going to build on that. Removing our sins is only removing all the garbage and rubbish. So after you remove the garbage and rubbish from a site, then you have to build the building. And that a lot of people have not understood. To most Christians in the world that I've met, they're only occupied with clearing the garbage. More garbage comes in, they clear it out. Every day they accumulate garbage and ask Jesus to clear it out. But is that all there is in the Christian life? Lots more than that. And I want to encourage you today to open your heart to hear and receive what the Holy Spirit has to say to you in this area. And Jesus has shown us the example. Turn with me to Matthew and we read in chapter 3, verse 15 to 17, that Jesus was baptized. Matthew 3, 15 to 17, Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan and he had lived for 30 years in a way pleasing to the Father. The Father gave a certificate of approval in Matthew 3, 17, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Okay. What does the Holy Spirit now do with, lead this beloved son, how does the Holy Spirit lead this beloved son with whom the Father is well pleased? Very next verse, immediately after he was anointed with the Spirit and the Father's voice of approval has come upon him, the very next sentence is Matthew 4, 1, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Is being tempted something to be avoided? Is being tempted something where the Holy Spirit is not leading us? It says here clearly the Holy Spirit led Jesus where to? Into the wilderness. What for? With one purpose, to be tempted by the devil. Why does Jesus have to be tempted by the devil? He is almighty God in human form, but he had given up the privileges of being God. He didn't cease being God. God can never cease to be God. Jesus was God in heaven for all eternity. When he came to earth as a baby, he was God. When he went into the wilderness here, he was God. But he chose not to use the privileges of being God. A man can be a billionaire and he can go and live in a slum in some poor country and tell everybody there, I want to teach you how to live here, working like you work, living like you live, to show you how with a limited income you can live a clean life. And I promise you, I will not use my credit card or my debit card where I have billions in the bank. That's how Jesus came. He did not use his credit card as God. He lived as a man with all the limitations that we have, tempted exactly like we are, otherwise he cannot be an example for us. So Christ came to earth, not only to die for our sins, that was just to clear the ground, but then to show us how God wants man to live. And this is what Christendom has missed. The Bible says in 1 John 2, 6, if you say you abide in Christ, you must walk as Jesus walked. And I want to say that I've been preaching it for 46 years. Every Christian must hear that. Do you say that you are a Christian? What are you supposed to do? Be ready for heaven? No! Walk as Jesus walked here on earth. And if you're not even attempting to do that, if you're not even repenting that you're not doing that, my dear brother and sister, let me tell you very lovingly, you are disobedient to God, displeasing to the Father. God does not want you to live constantly defeated by Satan, constantly defeated by sin. In fact, he doesn't want you to be defeated by sin even once. He doesn't want you to be defeated by Satan even once. He wants you to overcome Satan all the time. I'm so sad that my life, when I was born again 62 years ago, the people who taught me, I was in a good fellowship of Christians, born again Christians, but they never, never taught me that God wanted me to be an overcomer. They never taught me what it says in Revelation 3.21, he who overcomes will inherit all things. He who overcomes even as I overcame, Revelation 3.21, will sit with me on my throne. So the book of Revelation mentions overcoming a number of times. God wants us to be overcomers and I want to say that to each one of you who's listening. God wants you as a Christian, if you're not born again, then first of all, repent of your sins and receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, and then say, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was filled with the Spirit and then encountered the devil. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Very important. If Jesus himself needed that, where are you and I? Don't devalue that. We need to be filled with the Spirit every single day. I seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit every single day. And unfortunately, when I was first converted, my sins were forgiven. Jesus had forgiven me, but I was not filled with the Spirit for a number of years until I was so fed up with my defeated Christian life that I began to seek God and I was frustrated, defeated in my thoughts, defeated with anger as a born again Christian. And I was a preacher. I got so fed up that I said, Lord, I'm going to stop preaching because I'm a hypocrite. I'm not an overcoming. And when I hit rock bottom of failure, the Lord met with me and filled me with the Holy Spirit. That was 46 years ago, changed, completely changed the direction of my life. And after that, I began my real ministries. After that, the churches started in India and elsewhere. So I see the importance of that. And I want to tell you some other thing. It is only after that, that I began to understand what it means to overcome Satan. I've never cast out a demon in all those 16 years after I was born again. But when I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I began to encounter people with demons. And I could cast them out with one word, just like Jesus, in the name of Jesus, get out and the demon would go. I understood the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now not everyone is called to cast out demons, but everyone is called to overcome Satan. And here is Jesus as our example. He was tempted and you will be tempted. We are tempted through the lusts in our own flesh. As we read in James chapter one, we are also tempted by Satan from the outside, from within and from without. And we are to be overcomers. So let me turn you now to Ephesians in chapter one, the book of Ephesians. Let me tell you two things about Romans and Ephesians. Romans is the one book that explains the gospel of salvation all the way from ground zero in Romans one, all the way up to chapter 16. And it goes step by step by step by step, how we are justified, our sins are cleansed in the blood of Christ, justified, how we can overcome, saying Romans six, how we are freed from the law, Romans seven, life in the spirit, Romans eight, and in building the body of Christ, Romans 12. And finally, if the gospel ends in Romans 16, verse 20 saying, Satan will be crushed under your feet. That's the ultimate end of the gospel, Romans 16, 20. Now in Ephesians, also Ephesians is a wonderful book that explains some more practical things of life on this earth as a Christian. And there are three things mentioned in Ephesians basically. One is our personal walk with God. Ephesians one, I pray Paul says that you may be, that the eyes of your heart, Ephesians one, 18, may be enlightened and that you be strengthened with the strength of his might, verse 19, that you see Christ who has been raised from the dead, verse 20, Ephesians one, 20, far above all rule and authority and how he has put verse 22, Ephesians one, two, everything under his feet. That's understood. Everything's under Christ's feet. Now here's the amazing thing. And he has given him to be the head, Ephesians one, 22, 23, of his body, the church. Where are your feet? Not in your head. It's in your body. And it says here, we are the body of Christ. Connect that with verse 22, everything is to be under his feet. That means, and we are his body, it's to be under our feet, Satan especially. From there, it goes on a little more to speak about our personal walk with God, Ephesians three, 17, to be filled, first of all, Ephesians two, six, he has raised us up with him and made us sit in the heavenly places in Christ. No one in the old covenant could experience this. We are united with Christ on the cross, crucified, buried, raised up, 2,000 years ago, I died with Christ on the cross. You say, how can that be? Because, as it says in Ephesians one, four, I was in God's mind before the foundation of the world. Zach Boonin was in God's mind, and you, if you're a born-again Christian, you were in God's mind before he created the world, Genesis one, one. Ephesians one, four teaches that, and therefore, he could put you and me into Christ when Christ was crucified on the cross, and therefore, we are crucified with Christ, and when Christ was raised up from the dead, we were raised up with him, and it says here, when he went up into the heavenly places, where's Ephesians two, six, we were raised up with him, and we are seated with him in the heavenly places. Now, remember, we are working towards understanding how to overcome Satan, but you've got to understand all this foundational truth of your position in Christ. If we do not understand our position in Christ, forget about overcoming Satan. We have no power in ourselves to overcome Satan, completely out of the question. We're too weak, but when we are in Christ, believe it or not, Satan is scared of us. I remember once the Lord spoke this to my heart. For so many years, I was afraid of Satan. One day, the Lord spoke this to my heart on the basis of scripture, as you are afraid of Satan, from now on, Satan will be afraid of you. Wow! I said, thank you, Lord, not because of who I am. I am still made of dust, but Christ has come into me, filled me with the Holy Spirit, made me his child, given me authority, put all things under my feet, under his feet, and I am part of that body, and he wants Satan to be crushed under my feet, Romans 16, 20. And therefore, I see myself, Ephesians 2, succeeded with Christ in the heavenly places. And that's why it says in Colossians, if you are—let me turn there for a moment before I come back to Ephesians—Colossians 3, 1, if you are risen with Christ, if—and it is true, what it means is in Colossians 3, 1—if you recognize that you are risen with Christ, then set your mind, verse 2, on things above. The mind is a very, very important part of our being. And if you want to be an overcomer, allow the Holy Spirit to control your thinking. That's why we have to really battle in our minds. Ask the Holy Spirit to control your thinking. Make sure there is no unforgiveness towards somebody there. Satan will get power over you if you haven't forgiven somebody. Yes, set your mind on things above. Be as God is, who forgives everyone as soon as they turn around. And as Jesus was on the cross, even when people did not repent, the people who killed him did not repent. He said, Father, forgive me. Can you say that to people who have not repented of the evil they did to you? Say that. Right now, say, Lord, I want to forgive every single person who has done harm to me in my entire life. I'll tell you honestly, I live like that. A lot of people have done harm to me through my life, mostly because I'm a servant of the Lord and the devil instigates them to trouble me in so many ways, many, many evil things. But I say before God, I have forgiven every single one of them. The memory of what they did is in my mind. I'm not bothered about that. Even Jesus remembers all the evil that people did to him, but he forgave all of them. You may remember what people did to you, but is your attitude one, Lord, I forgive them. I do not wish evil to them. I wish good for them. I wish they'll be born again. Very, very important. Set your mind on things above. And if we are like that, then we can overcome. Turn back for a moment to Ephesians chapter 4. Now, before we get to Ephesians, I want to show you a verse in 2nd Corinthians, in chapter 2. I was speaking to you about forgiveness. Listen to this. They're talking about overcoming Satan. The importance of forgiving everybody. 2nd Corinthians 2, verse 10, if you forgive anything, and there was someone who had done some harm to the church in Corinth, I also forgive. 2nd Corinthians 2, 10. And what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sake in the presence of Christ. That means I'm not playing the fool when I say I've forgiven somebody. In the presence of Jesus, I say, I have forgiven that person. And he says, if you don't do that, listen to this, if you don't do that, verse 11, Satan will take advantage of you. Forgive so that Satan cannot take any advantage of you. Because he says, we are not ignorant of his schemes. What are his schemes in the context of this verse? His scheme is to get authority over you. He will keep an unforgiving spirit in your heart towards someone. It may be one person. That's enough. You know, you need only one hole in a vessel for everything in the vessel to leak out. Everything in your life will leak out through one single hole. You don't forgive somebody. One human being, you have not forgiven. That's enough. You'll never be able to remain filled with the spirit. Everything will leak out. We are not ignorant of his schemes and devices. And therefore, we don't want him to take any advantage over us. We don't want Satan to take any advantage over us. Therefore, I forgive. And if Paul needed to say that, you and I need to say that too. My dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you in Jesus' name, in your interest certainly, but much more interest so that Christ can be glorified through your life. Forgive everyone. You know, every one of us as human beings, somebody or the other has done us harm in the service. If you're more than five years old, you've faced harm from somebody or the other in the world. We have to forgive. You may remember, let me repeat, but make sure there's no bitterness in your heart against that person. Say in the presence of Jesus, Lord, I forgive that person. I'm not going to hold anything against him from now on. I will not allow Satan to get any advantage over me. Maybe this is the reason why you've had so many problems in your life, why Satan being able to trouble you so much in your life, because you wouldn't forgive someone. Very, very important. It's only through sin that Satan gets power over anyone. Okay. Let's turn back to Ephesians. I was saying that in Ephesians, you're seated with Christ in the heavenly places in Ephesians 2.6. And then he goes on. He's talking about a personal life. Now, all this is chapters 1 to 3 is about our personal life in Ephesians. Then he goes on to say about, I pray. He says that you'll be strengthened, verse 3.16, that you'll be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, Ephesians 3.16. That Christ will be rooted, dwell in your heart, and thus you will be rooted and grounded in love. This is the next thing I want to say. What does it mean to be grounded in love through the power of the Holy Spirit? I can't do it without that. It doesn't mean I have to help every human being I know. That is impossible. There's a very limited number of people whom we can help. And the degree of help will also be more according to the circle they are in. For example, my immediate family, my wife and children, those are the ones I will help the most. And then outside that will be brothers and sisters in the church and then other human beings. So there are circles. And I will not be able to help the brothers and the sisters in the church as much as my own family first. God has made it that way. And I don't have to feel guilty about it. And I won't be able to help other human beings as much as I help people in the church. That's also okay. I don't feel guilty. But it says here that I must be rooted and grounded in love. Grounded in love means, grounded is a picture of a house, strongly grounded in a particular place. And like all of us, I've got a mailing address. You've got a mailing address. If somebody wants to write a letter to you or an email to you, there's an email address you have or a mailing address. Your email address must be love. You'll always be found there, always. Your mailing address must be love, the love of Christ in my heart. You'll always find me there, brothers, sisters, always, no matter what happens in the world around me, no matter how other people treat me, no matter what other people say about me, no matter what I've heard, evil that other people have said or done to me, my house is grounded on love. God loves me and that love is in my heart towards every human being. Very important. Grounded in love. This is God's will for us. It was impossible before the Holy Spirit came. Now, Peter could not love Jesus, even on the night of his crucifixion, he was ashamed to acknowledge it. But boy, when he was filled with the Holy Spirit, what a different person he became. Just six weeks later, that's what happens when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. Great verse in Romans 5, 5, many people ask me, what is the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Now, there are many dear friends of ours in Pentecostal charismatic circles who would say speaking in tongues. I don't agree with that. One Corinthians 12 says very clearly towards the end of that chapter, all do not speak with tongues. But I'll tell you what the Holy Spirit does. Romans 5, 5 is my answer. When the Holy Spirit fills us, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. If that has not happened, you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm not against the gift of tongues. I've spoken in tongues for 46 years, but that's not the primary thing and I do not use in public. Like Paul said, I'd rather speak five words in English rather than 10,000 words in a tongue in a church. But that's in private. Paul says I speak in tongues more than all of you, but that's not the main thing. The Holy Spirit fills us, He fills us with love, fervent love for Christ, willingness to do anything that He wants us to do. And as far as our capacity is, our capacity is different, it grows as we walk with the Lord, love for others. I believe by the grace of God, I love other people more today than I did when I was first filled with the Spirit, because our capacity grows and it must be like that with you. Don't be disturbed if you can't love everybody. The ones whom God has given you in the little circle, love them and don't remain there. Let that grow. Let that grow. Let that, your capacity grow just like you want a child to grow. God wants you to grow in love. Won't you be concerned if your child is not growing in understanding and in physical growth and intelligence? Well, in the same way, God wants you to grow in love. Romans 5, 5, the love of God is shed upon our hearts, and that is what we must concentrate on. So remember these two things I mentioned to you, forgiving everyone, very, very important, and asking God to fill our hearts with love for everyone to a different degree according to the circle in which we know them. So, that is our personal life. Then the next thing that Ephesians speaks about is our family life, and that is in Ephesians 5, 22 to 33, not to 33, sorry, up to chapter 6, verse 9. In the family in those days, there was husband and wife, parents and children, and in those days, they even had servants in the home. Like many, many homes today in many countries, even like India, there are servants who are in the home. And so, that is the whole family, and there we have to manifest Christ. First of all, we saw Ephesians 1 to 3, our personal life, then our family life. The Holy Spirit fills us in order to build up our family life. Now why am I saying all this? I'll tell you in a moment, because at the end of this description, okay, let me come to that later, personal life, family life, that is wives, husbands, how you should relate to each other, Ephesians 5, verse 22, wives, subject to your husbands, verse 25, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church. Chapter 6, parents, fathers, bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and if you're a master, treat your servants graciously, nicely, don't threaten them, Ephesians 6, 9. The other thing the book of Ephesians, the letter to Ephesians talks about is building the church. Three things, our personal life, we saw that in chapters 1 to 3, our family life, we saw that in chapter 5 and the early part of chapter 6, and the body of Christ, in Ephesians 4 and 5, he speaks in Ephesians 4, 16, about the last part of the growth of the body, of building up of itself in love, to build the body, he has given Ephesians 4, 11, some apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, to equip the saints, verse 12, for the building up of the body of Christ. So there are three things mentioned in Ephesians, right up to chapter 6, verse 9. What are those three? Firstly, our personal walk with God, filled with the Holy Spirit, secondly, our family life, and thirdly, building the body of Christ, through apostles, prophets, evangelists, and through each joint, fulfilling its function, that's what we read in Ephesians 4, 16. The body is built by what every joint supplies, a joint is your relationship with one other believer, your relationship with your wife, your relationship with your husband, with your children, with your fellow believers and your children, those joints, there must always be a supply of life, that's the body is built. So every weakest brother or sister in the church has a part to fulfill. Now once these things are emphasized, then he says, I'll tell you why, because our battle is against Satan. And that's how Ephesians 6 ends, Ephesians 6, finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord, Ephesians 6, 10, put on the armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. Now you see what I've built this up for, our foundation is that God loves us perfectly, the first story is our personal walk with God, cleansed from all sin and seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The second story is our family life, the third story is we build the church, then we can stand against Satan. The ultimate purpose is that we overcome Satan in our personal life, in our family life and in our church life, in all three areas, the three areas mentioned in Ephesians 1 to 5. So all this is leading up to standing against Satan with the full armor of God and having done everything, Ephesians 6, 13, in the evil day resisting and standing firm. So you must be assured that God wants you to overcome Satan and for that you must be careful about your personal life, your family life and your relationship in the church. You cannot overcome Satan if you're a lone believer who is not bothered about fellowship with any church. Let me say that to you. If you're a lone wanderer saying, I've accepted Christ, well, the measure in which you may overcome sin, but you will not be able to overcome Satan and accomplish God's purposes on earth. I'll tell you why. Turn with me to Matthew 16 and verse 18, please turn to Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18. This is the first time that Jesus ever spoke about the church in the New Testament. And the very first time that Jesus speaks about the church, by church I don't mean a building, I don't mean a denomination, I mean the members of the body of Christ who are under the headship of Christ, that's the church, around the world or in your locality. And the first time that Jesus spoke about the church, he spoke about the church's conflict with Satan. Isn't that interesting? He didn't speak about the church in relation to preaching the gospel first, that comes later in Matthew 28, but the first thing he said was, the church that I build will overcome Satan. And it says the gates of Hades, it's speaking about the powers of spiritual darkness. And the church is going to attack the gates of Satan. When you think about, you know, many people think that Ephesians, sorry, Matthew 16, 18 is referring to Satan attacking the church and the church is sort of holding on inside the fort and saying, oh, help me Lord. Like there's a song that says, hold the fort for I'm coming. And we are inside the fort being attacked by Satan all around, we're scared, and we're saying, oh Lord, please come and deliver us. That is not the picture. That is a false picture of the church. Read carefully. Many, a lot of our problems are because we don't read the scripture carefully. It's not the church sitting in a fort, crying out to the Lord to help us. And as if the Lord is saying, hold the fort for I'm coming and the devil's attacking us all around. I repeat that, I repeat that because we need to understand that a lot of people have got that idea. Satan is attacking all around and I'm trying to survive somehow or the other. No! We are to attack him. See what it says, the gates of hell. Can gates come and attack you? When you think of the Old Testament, the city used to be surrounded by a fort and there'd be a gates. The gates have no power to attack. The enemy forces are coming and attacking and breaking through the gates and occupying that city. Picture that in your mind. A city with strong gates and the army is coming and attacking the gates and the gates are not able to stand. So when it says the gates of hell will not be able to overpower it, who's attacking who? Is the church attacking the gates of Hades, the gates of hell? We are to resist Satan. Satan will come and tempt us, but we stand against him. We stand against Satan in our life. We stand against Satan in our home life. We stand against Satan in the church and Satan will not be able to overcome. Now if you're not convinced about this, it's no use proceeding, don't even try it. If you're not convinced about this. So remember this, I cannot overcome Satan if I'm a lone individual. Jesus was a lone individual, but he was the full body of Christ. Don't forget that. He was the body of Christ in Jesus. He was the full body of Christ. He defeated Satan. Today the body of Christ is not you and me, but the church, the brothers and sisters. I have to be in fellowship with the church in order to overcome. Turn with me now to Matthew's Gospel, the second time Jesus spoke about the church. First we saw in chapter 16, the second is chapter 18, and again the emphasis is on conflict with Satan. You know he says about it, if a brother sins, that means he's been overpowered by Satan in some way. This is the idea of Matthew 18, verse 15. You have to try and bring him back through repentance and convict him. And if he doesn't listen to you, Matthew 18, 17, tell it to the church. This is the second time he spoke about the church, about disciplining a brother who's gone wrong and he doesn't listen to you, tell it to the church. And then in relation to the church, listen to this what he says, as a church, Matthew 18, verse 19, what you bind on earth will be bound in the heavenlies. The heavenlies means, you know, Ephesians 6 speaks about the powers of evil in the heavenlies. Satan was cast out of the third heaven many years ago and into the second heaven, and that's where he is now, and that's where he bind his power. And if I bind Satan's power in the heavenlies, he will not be able to be active around me on earth. So that's, again, in relation to the church. And the church is described in verse 20 as two or three gathered together in my name. This is one of the clearest definitions of the church. Not 200,000 and 300,000, don't think a megachurch is the place where Christ is. Christ is where two or three, even two, even a husband and a wife, gathered, not they gathered themselves. Read Scripture carefully. It's not where two or three gathered themselves together in my name. That's how people misunderstand because they don't read the Scripture carefully. Two or three are gathered by the Holy Spirit, gathered by someone else. Where two or three, a husband and wife, brought together by the Holy Spirit, a husband and wife who are walking with a clear fellowship relationship with each other, very, very important. Coming together without anything between them. Very important. If you're a married man or woman, I say to you in Jesus' name, make sure at all times that there's nothing unsettled between you and your partner, otherwise you will not have any power over Satan. Two must be agreed. Two or three gathered by the Holy Spirit in my name, Jesus is in the midst, that's a body. And then if these two, verse 19, agree, that means they are in fellowship, the word agree is from a Greek word, symphonio, from which we get the musical word symphony. If these two people, or three people, or 300 people, or whatever it is, are in symphony, that means there's no discord there. You don't need 300, even two or three are enough. Even two are enough. But they must be in symphony. The unity is more important than the number. Unfortunately in Christendom, most people emphasize the number. How many people in your church, brother? I say, I'm not bothered. I want to know, is your church united? Is there conflict in your church? It doesn't matter if your church has got only 10 people. Your church can accomplish God's purpose in your city and overcome Satan, if you're united. But you can be 30,000 people and you're not united, Satan will have power over you. Two of you agree. Are you 200? You must agree. Are you 20,000? You must agree. If not, two or three are enough. A husband and wife are enough. Let me give you a personal testimony. All children, when they grow up, face many problems, physical problems, sickness. When they go to school, they can have conflict with others who trouble them, with teachers who are mean to them, et cetera. And our children faced all of those things when they were small. What did we do? We don't go fight with the teachers. We don't go fight with those other children. We prayed. And we claimed this promise. My wife and I, Lord, we are agreed. Our children must grow up to follow you, protect them from all the evils of the world and help them to stand for you. And they can ask for anything. It will be done. Do you, husband and wife, do that? Why are you not able to do it for your children? Why do your children go astray? Why does the devil get a hold of them? Why does the devil separate your children from you? They should be in fellowship with you until the day Jesus comes. Why not? I'm not trying to condemn you. Please, my brothers and sisters, God has not given us a ministry of condemnation. I'm trying to challenge you so that you repent and come to a place of overcoming where Satan is overcoming your home, your life. Go before God and say, Lord, we have failed you. Say that. Don't hesitate. Don't stand on your dignity. There's nothing wrong in going to Jesus and saying, Lord, we failed. Please have mercy on us. But we want to rectify it now as husband and wife. We want to be united. We want to settle everything. We want to make sure at least from now on there will never be anything between us. If anything crops up, and it will crop up, it will be immediately settled. Just like if you clean up the dirt in your house, sweep the floor every day. Sweep the floor between you and your partner every day. Make sure it's absolutely clean. Just like you take a shower to clean away the dirt from your body. Clean away all the dirt in your relationship. So that what? So that when you agree together, Matthew 18, 19, whatever you ask will be done. And it's in relation to binding Satan. Verse 18. Matthew 18, 18. What you bind on earth. In Jesus' name we bind the activity of Satan in this situation. In the heavenlies, those demonic powers will be bound. And if we lose somebody, Lord, we release this child of mine who's under the bondage of Satan. In Jesus' name, they'll be released. If you and your husband, you and your wife walk with the Lord in unity. Very, very important. Why is the mention of Satan the one place where there's a description given of our battle with Satan in Ephesians 6, verse 10. Onwards. Ephesians 6, verse 10 to 18. It speaks about our battle with Satan. Putting on the armor of God. Why is that mentioned immediately after family life? Have you noticed that? See, family life mentioned in Ephesians 5, 22 up to chapter 6, verse 9. Husband, wife, parents, children, masters, servants. This was the home in those days. It is the home even today in many places. This section on family life, Ephesians 5, 22 to 6, 9 is sort of bracketed on one side with this verse. Ephesians 5, 18. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's the one bracket. It's the only place in the New Testament where it says be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's in relation to family life. Verse 22 onwards. On the other side, it's bracketed with overcoming Satan. Ephesians 6, 10 to 18. Here are two very important subjects of the New Testament. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5, 18. Overcome Satan. Ephesians 6, 10 to 18. And in between, all about family life. Teaching us what? That if you're filled with the Spirit, the most important area where that will be manifested is in your family life. In the way you relate to your husband or wife, the way you bring up your children, the way you treat your servants at home. And this area, family life, is going to be the one that Satan attacks the most. And that's why the overcoming Satan is mentioned immediately after that. So it's very, very important, family life. I'm sorry to say that in many, many churches, family life is not stressed. We have so many pastors in Western countries, divorced and broken up, and they still continue as pastors and marry again. It's pathetic. Can you imagine how the devil is laughing at today's Christendom? And in the midst of this, God is seeking to raise up a pure testimony. Lord of Christendom has backslidden. It has become Babylonian. But here and there throughout the world, God is raising up a pure testimony for His name. God wants you, my brother, sister, to be part of that pure testimony. Pray that God will raise up a pure testimony for Christ in your name, in your city, or town, or village, where you have godly men, women, godly families, and a godly church, even if it's only three or four or ten people, but something that has power which Satan is afraid of. So, continuing, let me say, one of the things the Lord told me years ago after I was filled with the Holy Spirit in relation to Satan was this. Ephesians 6.12 Very important verse. It opened my eyes years ago, and I've sought to follow it ever since then. Ephesians 6.12 We're talking about overcoming Satan. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, not against human beings, but against the evil rulers and evil powers and the world forces of darkness against the evil spiritual forces of wickedness in the second heavens, where Satan is being cast down to. So, what the Lord said to me from that verse, and please, all of you, please take this seriously. The Lord told me, according to Ephesians 6.12 Never in your life should you fight with human beings. Because if you do that, you will have no power against Satan. And I decided that long ago, and I've tried to follow that all these years. Many people have tried to fight with me. I refuse to fight with them. People come to argue with me about the biblical doctrines that I stand for. I said, Dear Brother, if you want to understand what I teach, I will take any length of time, two, three hours, to sit and explain to you. But if you have come to argue with me, I will not argue with you. Let's talk about something else on which we both agree. Okay? But I will not discuss something in order to have a fight with you, even over doctrine. I stand up for the doctrines I believe. I've stood up for 46 years for the doctrines I believe. And I've faced a lot of conflict for that. People have, theological conflict I've stood for. People have hated me. They've called me the devil, and they've even taken me to court. But I'm not afraid of all of those things. I believe that the Lord stands by me, because He's always stood by me, because of one or two things. One, my permanent address is love. I refuse to hate anyone. I will always keep my relationship clear with my marriage partner. I will immediately confess sin to God as soon as it comes into my mind. I will immediately ask forgiveness from anyone whom I hurt accidentally. And I will immediately forgive anybody who hurt me. And I will not fight with human beings. If somebody has stolen my money, I say, okay, I'm not going to fight with you. Do what you like. I'm not going to fight with human beings even about any doctrine or any such thing, because the Lord says if you struggle with flesh and blood, Ephesians 6 and 12, Ephesians 6 and 12, you will have no power over Satan. And I say, Lord, I want to have power over Satan in my life. Let people take advantage of me physically, it's okay. Financially, okay. I don't want to be foolish. I'm firm. When Judas Iscariot stole Jesus' money, he didn't go fighting with him. The devil was in Judas Iscariot. But Jesus did not fight with him. He refused to. And I follow Jesus. I will not fight with flesh and blood. Determine that, my brother and sister. I tell you, your life will change. You'll have authority over Satan. Not to show off. Don't seek to say, oh, now I can cast out demons. No, no, no, no. Why do we cast out demons? This is something that I'm very sorry to see imprisonment today. They take videos of demons being cast out. Terrible sin. Can you imagine Jesus allowing somebody to take a video of a demon being cast out? It's absolutely evil. They do it on YouTube. I would never in my life, and I have never allowed anyone to take a video of me casting out a demon. Because I'll tell you why. Supposing that demon possessed person was your son or daughter. Would you want that to be a permanent record of your son or daughter behaving as a demon possessed person? No! We love people and we don't want that permanent record of that person being demon possessed. We don't want a record of that. So I would never allow it. I'm sorry to say there are Christians who allow casting out demons to be videotaped. Terrible! It shows how ignorant so many preachers are about God's ways. There's so much of this videotaping which brings honor to man. It's a terrible sin whenever it brings honor to a man. It aims to glorify Christ. So we have to be very careful that our overcoming Satan is something in the hidden, in the spirit world. There's no need for other people to see it, but if I walk with the Lord, I believe that if you walk with the Lord, you can overcome Satan and you will be an overcomer and you'll be able to build a church in your locality. Please remember it is God's will that you are an overcomer. Let me say a few more things. Whenever we battle the enemy, even in the physical battle in the world, any country will like to know what are the weak points of the enemy so that I can attack there. All countries send spies to find out what are the weak points in my enemy. So let's discover how to overcome Satan. What are his characteristics so that we can know how to overcome him. You got to make sure that you don't have those characteristics in your life. I don't have time to show you everything, but there are a few things that Jesus said. Let me show you a verse in John chapter 8, overcoming Satan. John chapter 8 verse 44. The devil said to them, to these people, your father is the devil. You want to do the desires of your father, the devil. He was talking to the Pharisees. He was a murderer. He wanted to harm others. All those who want to harm other people are being instigated by Satan. You can harm people verbally, with words. You can harm people with actions. If you seek to harm people you are in league with Satan. Next. When he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature, John 8, verse 44 because he's a liar. If you tell a lie you're holding hands with Satan. You got it? If you're trying to harm others with words or actions you're holding hands with Satan. Then you'll have no power over Satan. If you tell a lie you're in league with Satan because he's a liar. And he's the one prompting you to deceive people. Telling a lie is to deceive somebody. There may be some areas where you don't want to tell somebody anything. You can say, I'm sorry, I will not answer that question. But don't tell a lie. I can say, I refuse to answer that. I don't want to answer that question. That's okay. But I will not tell a lie. Because a lie means I'm holding hands with the devil. Jesus said in Matthew 5, your yes must be yes. Your no must be no. Anything more than that is evil. I'm sorry to say there's a lot of lying in Christendom. And one way you can lie is by being a hypocrite. Ananias and Sapphira you read in Acts Chapter 5. Ananias brought some money when everybody was giving 100% of their money to God. There's no law which says you got to give 100%. There's no law in the New Testament which says even you got to give 10%. The only principle in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 8 is give cheerfully. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 teaches about giving. Give cheerfully. So Ananias brought a certain amount of money from the sale of his property but he pretended that he was giving everything. That was a lie. He didn't say a word but Peter told him why has Satan filled your heart to tell a lie? How did he tell a lie? Just by his action without opening his mouth. You know when you act in a certain way as to give other people a wrong impression, we call it hypocrisy. Peter called it lying. When you give people a wrong impression about your spirituality, you're a liar. When you pretend to be more spiritual than you really are that's what Ananias was doing without opening his mouth he was a liar. That's why hypocrisy is a terrible sin. And I want to say to every one of you, if you're consciously a hypocrite, you will not have power over Satan because you're a liar. Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? Acts 5.3 Ananias would have said but Peter I didn't open my mouth. I know you didn't open your mouth but you were giving a certain impression here that you were wholehearted when you were not. That's it. How did Ananias lie? By giving an impression to everybody that he was wholehearted when he was not. Do you give that impression in your church? Then if Peter were here he would tell you. I wish there were more people like Peter today who would tell people directly, brother you're telling a lie to the Holy Spirit. You're giving an impression which is not true. We're not here to judge others unless you're some prophet like Peter. But we are here to judge ourselves. Say Lord, show me if there's any lying in my life. I want to get rid of it. Then we'll have authority over Satan. Because that's his nature. The other thing we see about Satan I don't have time to show you. Read in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. He was proud. He wanted to be higher and higher. He was already the head of the angels but he wanted to exalt himself and go higher. And God pushed him down. Whenever you want to exalt yourself over others you have the spirit of Satan in you. Whenever you pretend to be more spiritual, you're a hypocrite. When you want to exalt yourself over others that is how the highest angel became the devil. You've got to understand the weak points in the enemy don't let that come in your life. Like you want to see the weak points in the enemy army. What is it in Satan? Don't let me have any part in it. Lying. Pride. Any type of pride. Pride that you know the Bible. Pride that you can preach so well. Pride that you cast out demons. Pride that you've built a church. Proud that you've got a good family life or your children are growing up well or any stupid thing like that where you don't give glory to God and take the credit to yourself. Pride. You're in league with the devil. Exalting yourself. Very important. To avoid it. Admiring your beauty. Admiring yourself for the abilities you have. Be very careful. These are the ways in which Satan robs you of authority over him. One more thing. Revelation Chapter 12 Satan is called here the accuser of the brothers. Verse 10 The accuser of our brethren has been thrown down who accuses them day and night and the wholehearted believers overcame Satan. Verse 11 By the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives unto death. They put their self life to death. That's the way they overcome Satan. But notice one thing here. Another characteristic of Satan. I told you he's a liar. He's a murderer. We saw one who's always trying to harm other people. And he was proud seeking to exalt himself. He's also an accuser. An accuser is one who you know it says he accuses them before God. I cannot imagine them telling lies to God. When he accuses you to God, he's telling the truth. God this child of yours is behaving like this. He's not telling a lie. You did behave like that. The devil will not tell a lie to God. He may tell lies to you and me. But he won't dare to tell a lie to God. When the devil accuses you to God he's speaking the truth. And when you accuse another believer to somebody else, you may speak the truth. But you're holding hands with Satan. Every time you accuse somebody to someone else you're holding hands with Satan. Now that doesn't mean that we don't when you see a brother doing something wrong the thing you have to do is not accuse him to somebody else. That's called gossip. He's holding hands with Satan. Then you'll have no power over Satan. The reason many, many this is the area where many believers fail. They don't have power over Satan because they're holding hands with him, accusing somebody else. What should you do when you see a believer doing something wrong? You read in Matthew 18 verse 18. Go and tell him. Matthew 18, sorry, verse 14 onwards. Go and tell him. If he doesn't hear, take another brother and go and tell him. In other words, tell the elders. Don't go around gossiping and backbiting against him. Should you be concerned about a believer doing something wrong or going astray? Yes. If you see a believer having a bad habit like getting drunk or smoking or something like that, don't gossip about it. Go and tell the elders and ask them to help him if you can't help him yourself. But don't be an accuser because then you will lose your power over Satan. We must do something about it. If you love your brother, you want to help him. But the way to help him is not by gossiping and accusing him all over the place. No. It's by going and speaking to him directly or by speaking to his elders or his parents if he's a young boy. Not speaking evil or wishing evil. No. Christ did not come to accuse anyone. Remember the woman caught in adultery who was accused by the Pharisees? And Jesus said he who is without sin cast the first stone and they all went away. Who was left? That woman caught in adultery and Jesus said, I don't commend you. What do we learn from that one incident in John 8? Listen carefully. A legalistic accusing attitude is worse than adultery. Do you get it? The Pharisees came towards the woman with a legalistic accusing attitude. Yeah, what she did was wrong. But their spirit was much more wrong to be legalistic and to hold hands with Satan and accusing him. They should have been interested in delivering him not accusing him. And finally, Jesus is left with that woman and she is forgiven. The Pharisees, they were not forgiven. They were legalistic and having an accusing spirit they were cast out. The woman was forgiven. What do we learn from that story? Let me repeat. Legalism and an accusing spirit is worse than adultery. So next time you have a legalistic attitude towards somebody or next time you go around accusing somebody, remember you are committing something worse than adultery. It is worse than adultery. Remember John chapter 8. If you take these things seriously I've spoken very strongly about certain things today because I love you brothers and sisters even though I don't know most of you. I want you to be an overcomer in your life, in your personal life, in your family life and to build a church that overcomes Satan. I've looked at it like this. Lord, any church that is overcome with conflict and strife that's not the church you're building. The church you're building will always overcome Satan. You said that very clearly in Matthew 16 18. I want to be a co-worker with you in a church that overcomes Satan. I want to help people be overcomers of Satan in their personal life, in their family life, in their church life. I want to spend my life on earth doing that. That's the only worthwhile way of spending your life and I want to endure till the end until the Lord comes. I want to endure till the end being an overcomer in my life, overcoming my personal life and encouraging others to be overcomers and to build churches that overcome Satan. And dear brothers and sisters there are plenty, millions and millions of people serving the devil on this earth. Please be one of those who will serve the Lord Jesus wholeheartedly in the days to come. Say, Lord, I want to be an overcomer. As you overcame Satan, I want to overcome too. See yourself as a part of the body of Christ and the feet. God has put the devil under the feet and the body. We saw that in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 22 and 23. God has put everything under the feet of Christ and we are the body and the feet are in the body. And Romans 16 20 says that God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. Don't be afraid of Satan. Don't be afraid of speaking. I'm not afraid to speak all these things straight out. I know the devil's mad at me. I want him to be mad at me. If the devil's happy with me, I'll be ashamed. There was a time in my life when the devil was happy with me. When I was accusing people, when I was a hypocrite, the devil was very happy with me. But no longer. I don't want him ever to be happy with me. I pray he'll be mad at me because I stand against him and fight with him. He cannot touch me. I'm surrounded by a wall of fire. My Lord, I'm under the headship of Christ. Do you think the devil could touch Jesus? Do you think the devil could kill him before his time? No! Some of us are afraid the devil may kill us. Let me comfort you with a word from Luke's Gospel chapter 4. Fear. Fear is one of the major weapons by which the devil grabs people. Luke chapter 4. Jesus was preaching in a synagogue in Nazareth and before he finished his sermon they were so angry with him. It says in Luke 4 verse 14 to 27 he was preaching and then Luke 4 28 it says the people in the synagogue were filled with anger. I don't know how many people were in that synagogue in Nazareth. Let's say 200 people. 200 people filled with anger against this preacher. And what did they do? They stopped the service and imagine the church service going on and you're mad at the preacher and all the 200 people get up and tell the preacher to stop and they pull him down from the pulpit and lead him, verse 29, out of the city all the 200 people and they wanted to take him to the brow of the hill on which the city of Nazareth was built and to throw him down the cliff. Imagine 200 people gathering together and Jesus had just begun his ministry. He has not yet died for the sins of the world and they were going to kill him. Could they kill him? 200 people ganging up against him? Would you be scared if 200 people gang up against you? Grab you and take you to throw you down a cliff? Look what it says. He quietly, verse 30, passed through their midst and went his way. How did that happen? In Acts the apostles read the Holy Spirit lifted up Philip and took him away somewhere else. That's not what the Holy Spirit did here. He walked. How can you walk through 200 people who are trying to kill you? Whenever I read scripture, I don't just read it I meditate on it. And I meditate on how could that have happened? And this is my conclusion. I think those 200 people, a large number of people, they never agree. They always have disagreements. And I think they would have had a discussion. Okay, we got to throw him over the cliff. One man says, let's throw him over the cliff on the east side. Another man says, no, no, no, let's throw him over the cliff on the west side. Another man says, no, no, no, the south side is better, the steeper over there. And they get into a big argument, all these 200 people, as to which cliff to throw Jesus down over. And while this discussion is going on, Jesus quietly walks away. And finally they have decided, okay, we'll throw him over the cliff, this cliff. And when they agree, they look around, Jesus is not there. God doesn't have to deliver us always by supernatural means. He has delivered me in many situations by very natural means. Yeah, people have tried to kill me also. Actually, God's protected me. I'm not afraid. I don't believe. Like one saint of God said, I am immortal until my life's work is done. I am immortal until my life's work is done, because I have no ambition on earth except to do the will of God. I have no ambition to make money or get honor or fame or anything, only to complete the work God sent me on earth to do. And my brother that applies to you also, sister, you also, if you have no ambition on earth but to complete God's work which he sent you on earth to do, you also are immortal until your life's work is done. That's why we are not afraid. Let there be a storm in the lake. We will not drown. Christ is there with us and he will see us through one way or the other. He has protected you from, I know he's protected me from so many accidents on the road. I rode a scooter in India for 42 years because that's the only thing I could afford. But I've had tosses from that scooter but I never died I never even got seriously injured. Amazing. God has kept you also from many accidents. He has a purpose for your life. Humble yourself and say, Lord, I want to walk in humility with you. I want to walk like Jesus. I want to walk in Jesus' footsteps. I want to be an overcomer. I want to be part of your overcomer band in the last days. In conclusion, let's turn to Revelation. To all the seven churches in chapter 2 and 3 he speaks about overcoming, overcoming, overcoming. What do we have to overcome? Revelation 12, 10, and 11 they overcame Satan. In the book of Revelation, it speaks about overcoming, overcoming, overcoming in chapter 2 and 3. In chapter 12, verse 11, it says these people overcame Satan. It says here in Revelation 3, 21 If you overcome like that, one day I will grant you to sit with me on my throne even as I also overcame. What do we see there? Jesus has set an example for us in overcoming. He overcame every temptation to sin. He overcame the attractions of the world. The devil offered it to him. He said no. And he overcame Satan. And Satan has been defeated on the cross. That's why we overcome him. In Hebrews chapter 2 it says, verse 14 Hebrews 2, 14 Why did Jesus take part in flesh and blood? Not only to die for our sins. Hebrews 2, 14 is not so well known. He took part in our flesh and blood so that through death he may forgive our sins Yeah, that's one thing. That he might make the devil powerless. Not destroy the devil. The devil is not destroyed but he's made powerless. It's like a snake. It's not being killed but paralyzed as far as I'm concerned. The devil may be hale and hearty and alive as far as other believers are concerned but as far as I'm concerned he's paralyzed. Alive but powerless. It's like a terrorist from whom all the weapons are taken away. And I've got the weapons now. I'm not afraid of him. And why is he made powerless? So that he might deliver us who lived in fear of him all our lives. Fear of death and fear of the devil. Remember Hebrews 2, 14 and 15. Why did Christ die on the cross? To take away the power of Satan so that we might be free from all fear all our lives. That's to be an overcomer. And that's what we read in the book of Revelation. Right up until the end it speaks about being an overcomer, being an overcomer, being an overcomer. Revelation chapter 2, Revelation chapter 3. Be an overcomer, be an overcomer. And right up until the end it says we are to be overcomers. So let me now go to Revelation chapter 22. Revelation 22 and verse 12. Behold I am coming quickly the Lord says. My reward is with me to give to every man according as his work shall be. And let me conclude with the last word about overcoming in Revelation. Revelation 21 verse 7. Listen to this. He who overcomes Satan, overcomes Satan will inherit all these things in heaven and I will be his God and he will be my son. Isn't it wonderful? God wants you, my brother, sister, to be an overcomer. Overcomer it says over everything so that we can be a testimony for Christ on this earth. Now I've spoken about a lot of things today if you have the opportunity to listen to this message again but deal particularly with those things that God spoke to you. Forgive everyone. If you have hurt somebody, go and ask that person for forgiveness. Stop accusing. Stop being a hypocrite and don't try to exalt yourself. Always go down. Jesus went down, down, down, to the feet of his disciples to wash their feet. Be a feet washer. Let your great longing be to wash the feet of the disciples and not to be a lord over the disciples. Then you'll be an overcomer. May God bless you. Let's bow our heads in prayer. While our heads are bowed in prayer, I want to ask you, my dear brothers and sisters, think about one thing that the Lord spoke to you and maybe 25 things but think of one particular thing now, the most important. Say, Lord, I want to confess that. I want to settle that matter. I want to finish with it today. I want to forgive everyone today. I want to ask forgiveness from whoever possible today. I want to believe your word today and be free from fear. Help me to get rid of all this accusing, gossiping attitude I have. Help me to live in a good relationship with my wife at home, my husband at home. Always forgive and be merciful so that Satan has no power over me. Heavenly Father, we believe it is your will that all of us should be overcomers. We believe it is your will that we should stand against Satan and be victorious. Help us, we pray. Everyone, in Jesus' name, Amen.