Jesus Overcoming Sin and Building the Church

I'd like to turn to Matthew in chapter 16. As Christians we use the word church very often, but you know Jesus spoke about the word church only twice, and it's interesting to see what were the two times he used that word in. In Matthew chapter 16 was the first time the word church comes in the Bible, and Jesus used it there.

You see the context of it. Jesus asked people in verse 13, who do people say the Son of Man is? They said some said John the Baptist, some Elijah, etc. Then he asked this important question, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus said, blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Now there's another word that Jesus used there, which comes for the first time in the New Testament. I mean it's not even used in the Old Testament.

It's the word revelation. Nobody taught you this. You got it by revelation.

My Father in heaven revealed this to you. See that is what makes the difference between the millions of Christians in the world who know that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and he came from heaven to earth, and somebody's life being transformed by Christ coming into him. That is a result of revelation.

Now revelation is different from understanding. You can instruct a person about how Jesus came into the world and all these things, and it won't change him at all. But when the Holy Spirit gives him revelation in his heart, it changes completely.

So it's very important that all of us have seen Christ by revelation, and that means it's not an intellectual thing. If I know Christ in my mind, there's a lot of difference between knowing him in our heart. In the Old Testament, the emphasis was on the mind.

The law was all about the mind. There were scribes and scholars who studied. But in the New Testament, the Bible says that God gives revelation to those who are like babes.

And what do babes have which clever people don't have? They have an innocence. They don't judge others. Their mind is very tender.

And so they're able to see things, and if we have that type of spirit, we get a revelation of Christ which changes our life. So before I proceed further, I want to just speak about that word in Ephesians 1. It speaks about revelation again. It's very important because building the church depends on that.

Ephesians 1, he says, I am praying at 118, sorry, verse 16, I never stop praying for you. And what am I praying? What is the first thing he's praying for these wonderful Ephesian Christians, which is one of the best churches. Paul had been there for three years and taught them.

We read in Acts 20 that Paul used to preach day and night for three years, which means they heard, how much is three years, day and night? Day and night in one year is 700 sermons. In three years, it's 2,000 sermons. Here's a church that heard 2,000 sermons from the apostle Paul and knew everything that he taught us here.

They knew, but he prays for something else for them. He says, I'm praying that God will give you, the father of glory will give you, verse 17, a spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Christ. I have met lots of believers who don't have revelation on Christ.

They have an intellectual knowledge. Jesus is the son of God, and he came to earth. Revelation, how do you distinguish between information and revelation? Revelation changes our life.

Information is just, you can argue and prove to somebody that Christ died on the cross, and the whole intellectual explanation of Christ dying on the cross and saving us from hell and all that. But if Paul prays, he says, I'm praying that you'll get revelation in the knowledge of Christ. Now, turn back to Matthew 16.

So, Jesus used that word revelation there in verse 17. Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood, that means your human intelligence. You did not understand this by human intelligence, but you got revelation from my father.

I want to ask all of you, brothers and sisters, have you got revelation on Christ coming to earth in our flesh? Or is it something you just grew up and believed all along? I know in my life, when I got revelation that Jesus came like me, that's the first time I believed that I could overcome sin. And then I experienced overcoming sin. I was defeated by anger, defeated by the sins.

But when I got a revelation that Christ came in a flesh like mine, I mean, you hear me now and you can believe it, but that may not be revelation. If it's a revelation, it'll change your life. Flesh and blood has revealed this to you.

I'll come to that in a moment. And then he says, you are Peter, verse 18, and upon this rock, now, this is what the Roman Catholics say, Peter is the rock. No, there are two different words in the original Greek.

One is you're a small petros, a small stone. Upon this petra, which is a big rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not be able to overpower this church. What is this rock? Have you ever thought about it? Upon this rock, it is a revelation of Christ.

Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. My Father has revealed me to you. On this revelation, I will build my church.

Now, a lot of people do not build the church. They feel the main calling in life is to save people from hell, give people the gospel and save them from going to hell. They haven't got revelation on the church because he said, on this rock, I'll build my church.

And the church is not just saving people from hell. Because if all that Jesus was interested in was saving people from hell, he said, forget about church. Just go around and witness to people, save them from hell, and then move on to the next person.

But here he speaks about building something. And as I've looked around Christendom, I find there are very few people who are building the church. They're coming to what they call a church to attend a meeting, to get more information about how to live a good life.

There are many places which are not Christian also, which teach people how to live a decent life. But that's not building the church. Building the church is where people are built together and begin to function like a body.

Are we a church? I don't know. It takes time. I'll tell you after 50 years of experience in different places, it takes time to build a church.

But it requires people who work together. See, like the human body, the church is called the body of Christ. And the main thing about this body is that every part can work together with the other part of this body without competition, without strife.

That is the church of Jesus Christ. Why is it we see so little of that in the world today? I'll tell you. Because they don't have revelation on Christ who came in the flesh.

It's only on that revelation, on this rock of revelation which God gave to Peter, and he can give to us also, and which Paul prayed for the Ephesians. Imagine Paul preaching 2000 sermons to the Ephesians and say, you got such a lot of knowledge, but I'm still praying that you will get revelation. So the Apostle Paul had been in this church and preached 2000 sermons.

Imagine that. And then he says to you, they've accepted Christ, they're born again, and they are baptized in the Holy Spirit also. But he says, I'm praying that you guys will get revelation because that will change your life.

So I'll tell you the revelation that changed my life in the matter of victory over sin. It was one day when I got light on Hebrews chapter 4, and it was only after that that we could build the first CFC church in Bangalore. It was based on this revelation.

So exactly like, it's not something somebody explained to me. The Father gave me a revelation, and the Lord said, I will build my church on this revelation. And it was built, and subsequently many other churches.

Hebrews chapter 4, see this, read carefully because I want to tell you that 90% of believers, not Christians, believers do not believe this really. They're not gripped by it. Hebrews 4.15, we don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin.

So when he talks about weakness here, it's not talking about physical weakness. It's not talking about intellectual weakness. It's speaking about the fact that we are so weak that we fall into sin again and again and again.

That's the weakness he's talking about. I decide I'm never going to get angry again. And lo and behold, in 24 hours, I'm angry again.

Some man decides, I decide I'm fed up with lusting. I'm not going to lust again. And in 24 hours, he's lusting again.

That is called weakness. And we can keep on living with that weakness and keep on living in an endless cycle of, but I've got one John 1.9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can live on that verse forever and ever.

And like children go in a merry-go-round, I confess and I'm forgiven. Tomorrow, I confess again and I'm forgiven. And 25 years later, I'm committing the same sins, but I confess and I'm forgiven.

I confess and I'm forgiven. And 25 years later, you're still fighting with your wife and still fighting with your husband, but you confess and you're forgiven, confess and you're forgiven. My brother, sister, that is not God's will for you.

It's not God. Jesus didn't come here to put us on a merry-go-round where we just confess and are forgiven and confess and are forgiven. No.

We have verses in the Bible that says we are more than conquerors in Christ. What does that mean? Conquering what? In the Old Testament, they had to conquer the giants of Canaan. Every giant of Canaan symbolizes some sin in our life.

And the land of Canaan is our human body. The land of Israel is almost the same shape as our human body. It's long.

In that land, there are many, many giants. And those are the giants that the Lord said, I want you to conquer. And those Israelites came out of Egypt, were baptized in the Red Sea, but never entered Canaan.

They were wandering around in the wilderness. They had experiences. What a testimony they had.

I get bread from heaven and when I was snake-bitten, I looked at the snake on the cross and I was healed and got water from a rock and tremendous testimonies. And we can have testimonies too. But they never defeated the Canaanites.

And lots of believers are like that, where they're defeated by sin in their life, particularly in inner thoughts and attitudes towards people, etc. And they live in one John, one line. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and forgive us.

And imagine living 50 years in one John, one line, this endless cycle of sinning and being forgiven and sinning and being forgiven, and never experiencing actually what we have taught so often in Romans 6.14 in this church, sin will not rule over you. Where are the believers who can say sin has stopped ruling over me? Is there such a promise? In Romans 6.14, there is. If you're under grace, sin cannot rule over you.

So when I read that, I said, I have to admit, Lord, that I'm not fully under grace. I've received the grace of forgiveness of sins. But the grace mentioned in Romans 6.14, I've not experienced because I'm defeated.

Now, if you're satisfied with that condition, that's where you'll be. The Israelites were satisfied with being in the wilderness. And so they wandered for 40 years.

And there are lots of believers today wandering for 40 years. When God says, I want you to go into Canaan, it says God was angry with them for not entering into the land of Canaan. I want to tell every one of you, my brothers and sisters, God wants every one of you to come into a life of victory where the giants in their flesh are defeated.

They come under your feet. So here, this is how it, this is the word that helped me. When I discovered Hebrews 4.15, that Jesus Christ was tempted exactly like me in everything.

Think of that word, all things. Was Jesus tempted to get angry? Yes. Was Jesus tempted to get lust? Yes.

Was Jesus tempted to be anxious? Yes. Was Jesus tempted to be upset with people? Yes. Was Jesus tempted when things went wrong, not according to his plan? Yes.

You name it. Was he tempted to be anxious and worried? Was he tempted to be impatient with people? Yes. But he never sinned.

So in other words, when it says, the Bible says, we run the race looking unto Jesus. Many of us have looked unto a Jesus who died on the cross to forgive our sin. At least it's like that for 15 years of my Christian life.

That's what I saw. Till one day God opened my eyes to see not only he died for my sin, he was tempted exactly like me. So when I'm tempted, I go to the Lord and say, Lord, were you tempted like this? And the answer is yes.

But he never sinned. And that is given to me as an example. Now you can hear this today and you say you understood it.

Maybe you understood it so well that you can even go and teach it to somebody else. But you know you got revelation when you actually get victory over sin. When you realize in a temptation, Lord, you were tempted.

For example, so what happened to me was I began to say the next time I was tempted, say with dirty thoughts or anger, I said, Lord, you were tempted exactly like this. As a young man, when you were 18, 19 years old, you were tempted with lust and you did not sin, not even a moment of thought. That is my example.

He became like me, not just to die for my sins, but it says here, therefore. So now the question is, if Jesus was tempted like that, what is the result of it? Therefore, not just that we understand it and talk about it. Therefore, verse 16, let us come to the same throne of grace when we can receive the same grace that helped him.

Now we need mercy also first. Jesus did not need mercy. Mercy refers to forgiveness of sins.

We need mercy plus grace. Mercy is an Old Testament word, forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. That's mercy.

And Jesus did not need it even for a moment because he never sinned. But grace is not forgiveness. Grace is to overcome sin.

So we come to the throne of grace and we need mercy first because we've sinned such a lot. That is one line. We confess and we are forgiven.

But more than that, we can find grace. And therefore means because, now let me read it like this. Verse 16, just the word therefore.

Therefore relates to the previous verse. Because Jesus was tempted exactly like you and me. Therefore, that is the reason why I can today go to the throne of grace and ask God to give me grace in my time of need.

In the context, the time of need is being tempted. Lord, I'm being tempted now. I've got to get grace just like Jesus got.

And I will not sin. I will not lose my temper here. I will not get upset.

I will not be anxious. I'll not be worried. I will not be unrighteous.

I will not lust. I will not sin. Little by little by little, I've come into a life of overcoming sin.

Now, we've spoken about victory over sin and overcoming sin in this church for years. But yet, I think it is true that many people, probably most of us, have never actually come into a life of victory over sin. We don't expect that we can have a home where husband and wife never argue or get angry with each other.

Do you believe such a life is possible? Most Christians say impossible. Well, according to your faith, be it unto you. It will be impossible for you because you say it's impossible.

I don't believe it honors God. If we are getting angry with each other and upset with each other and backbiting and all the type of things that Christians do, that doesn't glorify God at all. But if you say that's normal, okay, according to your faith, be it unto you, you'll live perpetually in this merry-go-round going round and round and round and round and round.

And when Christ comes again, let me tell you this straight to your face. When Christ comes again, you'll be terribly disappointed when you see what God wanted to you to do through you on this earth, which you never did because you would not believe His word. You are satisfied with your defeated condition.

Now, I remember I was so fed up with my defeated life that I prayed and fasted for months on end till I got revelation on this. If you're serious about it, God will give you revelation. You won't get it today just because by hearing me.

No, I'll tell you honestly, you won't get it because the law of God is Hebrews 11 6. He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. You shall seek me and find me, the Lord says, when you search for me with all your heart. So this grace that it says here in verse 16 to help me in my time of need is what helped Jesus in his time of need, right from the time he was a young child.

See, for example, in Luke chapter 2. If I were to ask you this question, who is the first person in the Bible who received grace? First person. Luke chapter 2 verse 40 is Jesus. When he was a little child, it says in Luke 2 and verse 40, the child Jesus continued to grow and become strong and he increased in wisdom, which our children also as they grow up, they grow in knowledge and wisdom means they know how to live on earth and how to handle a knife or how not to get dirty.

But the grace of God was upon him. Have you read that? It's the first person in the Bible about whom it says he was under grace. What does it say in Romans 6.14? When you are under grace, sin cannot rule over you.

Why is it sin could not, Jesus could not be defeated by sin? He was under grace all the time. And that is what he read in Hebrews 4.16. Let us therefore go to the same throne of grace that Jesus went to, to receive grace to help us in our time of need, which is temptation. Now, dear brothers and sisters, this may sound very simple, but if it's not working in your life, you have not understood it.

If sin rules over you, you are not under grace. I'll tell you that you receive grace for forgiveness. But if there's any sin that's ruling you, you are not under grace.

I used to keep saying that to myself, Lord, I slipped up here. I'm not under grace. There's something I need to get revelation here on.

And God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So this is not something I can explain to you. I'll tell you that straight.

But if you seek with all your heart, say, Lord, you came to earth to save me from sin, not to take me to heaven. I got rid of this concept of going to heaven. I said, Lord, I'm not interested in going to heaven.

I actually said that to the Lord, Lord, I'm not interested in going to heaven. I'm interested in being saved from sin. You go to God and say, Lord, I'm not interested in going to heaven.

I want to be saved from sin right now. I'm not interested where I go after I die. And the result is today, I have lost all interest in going to heaven.

I have a tremendous interest to be with Jesus. My heaven is being with Jesus, and I don't care where he is. I told the Lord once, Lord, if you're in hell, I'd be happy to be there because I want to be with you.

I'm not interested in the mansions and the golden streets and all that. That's all language. It's just to help us to understand that it's a wonderful place to be in.

But the thing that makes it wonderful is the presence of Jesus. Imagine going to heaven and Jesus is not there. I will not be happy there at all.

It's the presence of Jesus. And the wonderful thing is through the Holy Spirit, we can begin to taste that now, the presence of Jesus. From the time we wake up in the morning, we can experience the presence of Jesus with us.

This is the Christianity that Jesus came to give us, and the devil has robbed most Christians of it. They are satisfied with something far substandard, much less than what God has provided for them. I think of an illustration.

It's like, supposing there's a father who's a millionaire, and he's got one son, and he's left his entire millions, many, many millions, maybe he's a billionaire, and he's left all his billions to this one son. And some crooked lawyer comes and cheats the son of his inheritance, and the poor boy is living in some homeless shelter. A billionaire's son is living in a homeless shelter.

That's the picture I get of lots of Christians. The inheritance that our Heavenly Father has got for them, they're not getting. They're defeated by sin.

They're defeated in their home. They're defeated in their personal life. They're like these billionaire children living in a homeless shelter, cheated by the devil of their inheritance.

The grace of God is upon him. Sin shall not have dominion over you when you're under grace. So once I understood that, whenever I was tempted, I said, Lord, you were tempted like this.

Right now, I'm being tremendously tempted to get angry, but you were tempted, Lord. In some situation, you were also tempted, and you did not get angry. I want to be under grace now.

And the Lord says, humble yourself, because I give grace only to the humble. So that's where I discovered that every situation, the only reason I'm defeated is I don't humble myself there. I want to assert myself.

You know how Christians can assert themselves? We're so clever, and we think, and we assert ourselves for the most stupid things. We assert ourselves at home, in different situations, and it leads to a defeated life. So I want to encourage you to come to this place where, and as I said, I mean, I can't give you a revelation.

I can only tell you the way. Go to God and ask him to give you a revelation on Jesus came like you, where he felt that pull of temptation that you feel, the pull to open your mouth and let a person hear what you think of him in anger, maybe even your wife or husband, and it's not going to happen. Can you believe that God can so set you free that it'll never happen again in your life? What a deliverance that you will never tell another lie in your life, even to save your life.

Why? Because Jesus said in John chapter 8, John's gospel chapter 8. Do you know that Jesus can says this to many Christians? This verse to Christians, John 8 44, you are of your father, the devil, because the last part of verse 44, when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature. He's a liar, and he's the father of all lies. Have you told a lie after you were born again? We always tell a lie only to get some benefit for ourselves.

Nobody tells a lie without a reason. I tell a lie so that I can escape in some situation. Children tell lies for the same reason.

I don't want to get punished. And grown up people also tell lies in the office and tell for some personal gain. Do you know who was the father of that lie, which you spoke at home or in the office or to somebody else? The devil.

Did the devil get hold of you at that time to become, to father something through you? It's like, you know what a father and mother are. The mother is the one who produces the child and the father produces it through the mother. And you offered yourself to the devil at that time.

Okay, Satan, I'll be the mother. I'll tell the lie. You please be the father and produce.

The devil is the father of all lies. Am I teaching something strange here? It was written in your Bible. You have read, some of you have read the Bible 30, 40 years.

Didn't you see this? He is the father of lies. But this is what I say, the importance of revelation. The Holy Spirit takes the scripture sometimes and hits you with it and you open your eyes and say, boy, I never saw that till now.

I've had experiences like that in scripture. I said, imagine, I've read it for so many years and I see that only now. Jesus was tempted.

Jesus was tempted to tell lies and he never did it. You name it. It says in Hebrews 4, 15, he was tempted in all points as we are.

He was tempted to commit suicide. That's what the devil told him on the roof of the temple, jump off. He didn't do it.

Here's the most serious thing of all. He was tempted to worship the devil. Can you imagine being tempted to worship the devil? That's the most extreme temptation you can think of.

It's in the Bible. Hebrews 4, verse 10. I'll begin with verse 1 so that you understand it.

Jesus was led by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit to be tempted. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan. If you follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit will lead you to be tempted by Satan so that you can overcome.

One after the other. What was the last temptation mentioned here? He was tempted to worship Satan. Verse 10, verse 9. Fall down and worship me.

He didn't do it. Temptation is not sin. This is the worst possible thing you can do to worship Satan.

Jesus was tempted and he didn't do it. The fact that you're tempted doesn't mean you're dirty. You can be absolutely pure and be tempted to do the worst possible thing, but you overcome it.

I see very clearly that there's absolutely no excuse for me to be defeated by any sin. To have a bitterness against somebody, to have an unforgiving attitude towards someone, all these things which so many believers live with. I want to tell you in Jesus' name, it is not God's will that you should have an unforgiving attitude towards a single human being in the whole world.

It's not God's will that you should be bitter towards anyone in the whole world. Never. It's not God's will.

Let me tell you some more difficult things. It's not God's will for you to be anxious and worried at any time. Now, you don't get to all these things all of a sudden.

It's like climbing a mountain and it's like telling a kid in the kindergarten, you can get a PhD one day. Can't that kid in the kindergarten get a PhD one day? Sure, but it'll take a little time. But he can get it.

Why not? If he's persistent and he's hard, and I want to tell you in Jesus' name, you can come to a life where you're free from anxiety. You can come to a life where you will never grumble or complain about anything. It'll take time, but you can get your PhD.

But only if you're very sensitive to the other little things that you're doing along the way. The little things that God tells you, I'm going to lead you step by step by step to that wonderful life that Jesus had. But if you listen to me, each time, humble yourself.

When I tell you to keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth shut. See, in Ephesians 4, Jesus listened to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He was very sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

That's how he never sinned. That's how he always did the Father's will. Ephesians 4, it says, verse 26, be angry, but don't sin.

Does that give you permission to be angry? Yes, if it is a non-sinful anger. The Bible says when Jesus saw people making money in the name of religion, he was angry. So angry that he took a whip and chased them out.

Because you people exploiting the poor people here for money, I'll tell you honestly, that's exactly how I felt when I heard about this birth registry going on here. Poor people here being exploited by somebody who wants money from them. I felt exactly like Jesus felt in that temple.

And that caused a lot of disturbance, and I'm not disturbed by it at one bit. Jesus wasn't disturbed at a lot of people. Maybe some people came up to Jesus and said, oh Lord, what happened? Are you getting angry? He says, cool down, cool down.

I can imagine some stupid people going up to Jesus and saying that. How would you have felt if you saw Jesus taking a whip? He said, come on, come on, don't hit these people. So there are some things that Jesus is very furious about.

Whenever he saw anybody exploiting others in any way, especially poor people being exploited for money, Jesus was angry. When poor people, the Pharisees would not allow Jesus to come and pray for a poor person on the Sabbath day, he was angry with them. That is the type of anger mentioned in Ephesians 4, 26.

Be angry with that type of anger, but which is not sinful. He's saying you must have a righteous anger which is not sinful. That's the meaning of be angry, but without sin.

There is an anger without sin, but if it is an anger with sin, then it says in verse 31 of the same chapter, put it all away. Put away that type of anger completely. So is verse 31 contradicting verse 26? No.

Put away all anger that is sinful, but be angry with a non-sinful type of anger. So just in all these things, Jesus is our example, and if you look at Christ and say, Lord, I want to follow your example, and like Peter had to get revelation on Jesus as the Son of God, we need to get revelation on Jesus as the one who was tempted in every single point as we are, but yet never, never sinned. I know it made all the difference in my life, because I'll tell you what goes on from that.

What is the result of that? Turn back to Matthew 16 and verse 18. On this rock of revelation, I will build my church. And I know in my own life, it is after I understood this, that I could follow Jesus in being, overcoming temptation, that God began to show me what it is to build the church, of building people together, and through the years, I've discovered the devil is dead against the church being built.

He doesn't mind your bringing souls to Christ and leave them there. It's like a mother having a baby and leaving it on the street, and go and have another baby and leave it on the street. No mother does that, but a lot of believers do that.

They go and bring a person to Christ and then leave him there, and goes somewhere else. Look at all the great evangelists, bring people to Christ, and what happens to them after that? Oh, well, they say, we hope they join some church. That's not what a mother does when she has a baby.

She doesn't have a baby and says, well, I hope somebody will take care of it. Paul's evangelism was very different, and that's what we've started doing in the church. If you went to Paul and said, hey, Paul, I heard you brought a lot of people to Christ in Philippi, a few people, a number of people.

He said, come, I'll show you where they are. He'll take you to Philippi, take you to the church, and see all these people sitting here? These are the people I brought to Christ. I didn't bring them to Christ and say, I hope they go to some church, I hope they'll come together.

No, he took time to bring them to Christ, build them up into a church, and then he moved on to another place, and he says, come, I'll take you to Thessalonica, and I'll show you the people I brought to Christ there. Come to this church. I'll show you this one, and this one, and this one, and this one.

I brought them to Christ and put them into a fellowship. It is not God's will that we come to Christ and just wander around here and there. We have to become a part of a fellowship, a body.

It's not one finger lying around there, and a toe lying over there, and an eye lying over here. No, it's got to be built into a body, and that's what the devil fights against. So, see in Matthew 16, 18, on this rock of revelation, what will Jesus say? What will he do? Peter, on this rock of revelation that you got, I will build my church.

Not, I will save souls to go to heaven. No, I'm not interested in saving souls to go to heaven. Such an expression is never found in the Bible.

It's found in a lot of Christian language today. Jesus said, I'll build my church, and the church I build, all the parts of darkness will not be able to destroy it, and I've seen that in different places through the years. In many, many places in India, how the devil has sought to attack the building of the church.

He doesn't mind you're bringing a person to Christ and leave them alone, then go and bring somebody else to Christ and leave them alone, bring somebody to Christ and leave them alone, and let them go to whatever church they like, and they never get built into a body. Do you think all these people who have accepted Christ and go to different, different churches are built into a body? Is that important to be built into a body? According to Jesus, that is the most important thing. I will build my church, and against that church, all the parts of darkness will not overpower, and I've seen that through the years.

The devil will attack it. The devil has attacked almost every church that we've sought to build, but he's not succeeded. The devil will try to attack this church, not for people to prevent people from going to heaven, but to prevent it from becoming a body.

But the Lord says, if you let me build the church, the gates of hell, the parts of darkness will never be able to overcome it. Paul was a co-worker with Christ in building the body of Christ, making people one, not just taking people to heaven. This business of saving people to go to heaven is not found in the New Testament anywhere.

That is used by evangelicals today. In the New Testament, it was always saving people to build them to a church, whether it is Paul went to Ephesus or Philippi or Thessalonica or anywhere. It was always gathering them together, build the church, and that's what we've seen through the years.

And that's what the devil attacks. He doesn't attack people just bringing people to Christ. He tries to do that, but he doesn't bother if they come to Christ as long as they don't get built into a church.

And where a church is being built, he will try to attack it and prevent it from becoming one, bring some type of conflict, conflict, conflict. And in that church, God needs people who have understood the importance of building the body and who stand against that attack of Satan. And that's where Paul said in Ephesians 6, we do not fight with flesh and blood.

That's another thing the Lord showed me. I got a revelation on that, that in building the church, there will always be some people who create some type of conflict. And I've seen that in church after church after church.

It's not only here, I've seen it in other churches too. And what the Lord told me from Ephesians 6 and verse 12 was, he speaks in verse 11 about the schemes of the devil. What are the schemes of the devil? He's against the church being built as a body.

Break it up, break it up, bring division, get people to speak against each other, get people to listen to gossip, and get people to spread stories. It doesn't matter if it's not fully true, just get people because people have a great lust to listen to stories. Spread the news and destroy, destroy.

And where are the people who say, Lord, I'm going to stand with you? Jesus is building the church. He said, I will build my church. Are you a co-worker in that? That's what I want to ask all of you here.

Are you just here to take people to heaven? Are you here to build the body? And in that context, the Lord showed me in verse 12, don't struggle with flesh and blood, but fight against the evil rulers and powers of darkness. If you are the type of person who can get into a conflict with human beings, I can tell you to your face, you will never overcome Satan. God will never use you in a million years to overcome Satan.

You will always be fighting with human beings. If you want to fight the devil, you've got to decide in your life, I will never argue with human beings. I will never argue with my wife.

I'll never argue with a brother about anything. If he wants to argue with me, I say, okay, brother, you please hold your view. Let me hold mine.

I'm not going to get into conflict with you because I decided 50 years ago that I will not fight with flesh and blood. And that's why I have experienced overcoming the devil, not only in my personal life, many other situations in local churches. I will not fight with flesh and blood.

I want to encourage all of you to say this, what is written here. Our struggle is not N.O.T. In any circumstance, I will not fight with a human being. And the Lord told me, if you fight with human beings, you lose the power to fight against the devil.

And I said, Lord, I never want to lose the power to fight against the devil anytime. And I remember soon after this, when the Lord began to show me how to cast out demons. Here's my testimony.

All the many demons that have been cast out in different places in India and even here in America, not a single case did I have to repeat it a second time. In the name of Jesus, you demon, get out of him or get out of her. Gone.

And the Lord said that will not happen if you fight with flesh and blood. Then you will be struggling and struggling and struggling. So I decided I will never fight with human beings.

I'll never fight with my wife. I'll never fight with any brother about any subject they can they want. They can think they have won the argument.

Brother, you will please win the argument. I'm interested in fighting the devil. I'm not interested in winning an argument with you.

I'm not even interested in proving to you that I'm right and that guy was wrong. Sometimes there can be conflict between believers. And you have a great lust to prove that you were right and the other fellow was wrong.

Get out of it. Decide that I don't care. Let him think I was wrong.

Let him spread the news I was wrong. But I will not fight with human beings because I'm concentrating on casting out demons. I'm concentrating on fighting the devil and making sure the devil gets no inroad into my life.

No inroad into my home. So dear brothers and sisters, I believe every one of you sitting here, if you've accepted Christ as your savior, this is the path God wants you to take to build the body of Christ wherever you go. Whether you're here or in some other place, build the body of Christ.

Don't just bring souls to Christ and leave them there. Build them into a fellowship. Be a part of a church that's building the body.

Not just that goes and attends meetings, these mega churches where they listen to a message and go home. And maybe they're doing a lot of social work, helping the poor on the streets and all that, which is all excellent. It's all very good.

Mother Teresa, for example, did a great job helping the poor, but she never built the body of Christ. With all the ministry he had, she never built the body of Christ. I said, what if Jesus is not helping the poor on the streets? I'm not against it.

By all means, help the poor. The Hindus help the poor, the Muslims help the poor, but I'm interested in building the church. We got to see what is most important.

Jesus said, I will build my church. And I want to say to you, that is the main work that Christ is doing today. If I were living in Noah's time, I would have spent all my energy and my money in building the ark.

I would not be building any private boats somewhere else. I would not be even building my house somewhere else, because I know the world is getting collapsed. I would devote myself to build the ark.

I said, Noah, I'm 100% with you. Let's build the ark, because this is the only thing that's going to remain when the world is destroyed, if you believe what God said. And I believe the same situation today.

The only thing that will remain after the world is destroyed is the church of Jesus Christ. So I, for one, have decided, I'm going to devote my life. Long ago, I decided this.

I will build the church of Jesus Christ. And I've seen the result of taking that decision in the last 50 years. My dear brothers and sisters, I urge you, don't waste your one life God has given you.

Maybe you made a lot of mistakes in the past, but concentrate on a life of overcoming sin and saying, Lord, with that life, I want to build the body of Christ. And I believe that's God's will for every one of you here. And I have hope for you.

I believe that the fact that you have sat here for so long and not got offended and left, because you've heard some very strong things from this pulpit, certainly from me, and you've not got offended. I know people in some places, some people who have come to a church in Bangalore, who got offended and left. But you haven't, which means I have hope that God wants you to build the body of Christ.

Make use of the one life that God's given you. You won't have another chance once you leave this earth. May God help us all.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I'm not able to express, Lord, the burden of your heart. I wish I could.

Lord, the burden you have, please help us to see into your heart what you desire for this church to be built as one body. And do it, Lord, we pray. Use my broken words and use everyone here to build the body of Christ, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Thank you.