Pride and Humility

When we open the pages of the Bible, the first thing we read is of the creation of the heaven and earth and if you turn there for a moment, when you read the Bible too fast or carelessly and don't think, we can miss certain things. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1 verse 1. And the earth was formless and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Now, I want to read a verse to you. You know, when God creates something, if you think, that's why I said, when you read, you must think. Does God ever create anything formless, empty, dark? No, that's completely contrary to his nature. In James 1 verse 17, it says, only good things and perfect things come from the father of lights. James 1 verse 17. Every good thing and every perfect gift comes from the father of lights. So how did this God the father from whom only good things and perfect things come, how did this create an earth which is formless and void and darkness? When we read something like that, we must stop and say, there must be something here that I don't understand. And if you don't understand, just leave it for the time being. One day you will. I remember when I was converted in 1959, one of the first things I did was to read through the whole Bible. I said, never read the whole Bible even once, so let me read through it. There are many believers who have been believers for ages and they never read through the Bible even once. I'd say if anybody's sitting like here, you should go home and put your head in your hands and say, Lord, I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself. I haven't read the Bible through even once. So I decided as soon as I was converted that I would read through the whole Bible, even if I didn't understand it, I would read it. And I finished it in about six months. A lot of things I didn't understand, but I got a general idea of the whole thing. Then I, of course, read it subsequently many times in the last 60 years. But here's one of the things that made me think, I mean, it just cannot be formless and void and dark. God never does anything imperfect like that. When God makes something, it is perfect. It can become imperfect through sin or some man messing up with that. So I discovered that something must have happened between verse one and two, which is not written here. It must be written somewhere else in scripture. And that is the fall of the highest archangel. Adam was not the first created being. Because in Genesis three, you read about Satan. Where was he created? You should ask that question. Where in the world did this Satan come in? It's not mentioned in chapter one or two. So then when you meditate and think, Satan, the source of all evil, he must have come there between verse one and two. And that was the cause of verse two. So then I asked myself, why isn't it written there? It's not written there because this book was not made for the devil. It was made for man. So it does not give the devil the dignity of coming in the first page. It gives man the dignity of coming on the first page and say, we'll relegate the devil to another page and tell later on what happened to him. So when Adam sinned, we know this, that the earth suddenly became wild and the jungle and the animals became wild, who were very pleasant and good until then. Just one man's sin brought thorns and thistles and all the poison and evil, the poisonous snakes and poisonous weeds and everything. Sin. Just one sin. If you want to see how serious sin is, just think of Genesis three. What happened when one man sinned with one sin? And once you see the seriousness of that, you will see what havoc sin can do in your inner life and you don't even know it. What havoc sin can do in your family. There's one thing we should hate with all our heart. It is sin. And yet most Christians have never come to the place where they hate sin with all their hearts. And here I can see the havoc that sin came, that brought when the highest archangel fell, that beautiful earth which God created became without shape, without shape, empty, dark. And then I see this wonderful word, the spirit of God began to move. And he did not create the earth there. He already created it in verse one. But this ruined earth, which the devil ruined, God remade it. And if you look carefully, in verse one, you read created. But thereafter, you always read the word made. Verse seven, God made, God made. Verse 16, God made. There's a difference between created and made. Read the Bible carefully. Created is created from nothing. Adam's inner soul was created. So we can say Adam was created. But he was also made because his body was made from existing dust. So his inner being was created but his body was made. So there's just a little thing that you need to notice. When God creates something, it is perfect. The devil ruins it and God remade it into something beautiful in six days. Now he could have done it in a moment. But the reason he did it in six days is to give man a principle of life that he must work for six days and rest for one day, which all humanity follows. People of every religion, even those who don't accept the Bible, they still work for six days and rest on the seventh day. Muslims, Hindus, every religion in the world, Buddhists, every Tom, Dick and Harry, they work six days and work the seventh day. They are indirectly acknowledging that chapter one of the Bible is the truth. Imagine, people of every religion. So I thought we could think a little about what was it that made the earth formless and void and dark. So turn with me to what happened between verses one and two, which is not written here because this book is written for man. And the history of how the highest archangel became the devil is very important for us to know for one reason, because the origin of sin in this universe was not in Genesis three. That was the origin of sin in the human race. But the origin of sin in this world was in Genesis one between verses one and two. And that is written in Isaiah chapter 14, where the highest angel, an archangel, who's called star of the morning, his name is not mentioned anywhere. God does not give Satan the dignity of revealing what his name was. It's when Satan fell that Michael the archangel took over as the archangel in heaven, but he was not the first one. This other nameless archangel was the first one. He was senior to Michael, senior to Gabriel. But it says about him in Isaiah 14, he's called here in verse 12, the star of the morning, the sun of the dawn. Now that is translated in some early Latin translations as Lucifer. It's not his name. It's just a translation of star of the morning, star of the dawn. So people began to call him Lucifer. That's not his name. His name is not known. He became the devil, became Satan. O star of the morning, sun of the dawn, how you have fallen from heaven. You have been cut down to the earth. You are weak in the nations. Subsequently weak in the nations. You said in your heart, this is how he fell. Very important to see how Satan fell because that is the origin of sin. Whenever a doctor diagnoses a sickness, he wants to know what is the origin of it. Where did it come from? Where did COVID-19 come from? They try to trace it to find a cure for it. Very important. Where did the devil come from? How did sin come into the universe? You know, the perfect God was full of love and perfection. How did sin come? Here it is. When the highest archangel said in his heart, he didn't even open his mouth and say it, just in his heart. So there the first lesson we learn about sin is that sin came not with an action, not with a word, but with a thought. The first sin in the universe began in the mind of a created being. And that's where sin originates even today, in our mind. So if you don't deal with it there, it will ruin your life. The earth became formless and shapeless and empty. Your life will become shapeless and empty. Watch over your thoughts carefully. Like it says in Proverbs, where all the issues of life come out from there. He said only in his heart. That means nobody heard him. In his heart. He got a plan. He's already the head of the angels. Millions and millions of angels accept him, whatever his name is. You are our leader. But he was not satisfied that all creation respected him. Imagine, every one of these billions of angels respected him as their leader and he was still not satisfied. We have to learn lessons from this. Sin comes from a dissatisfaction with our appointed lot in life. Even though your appointed lot may be very much more blessed, much more blessed than millions of people in the world. If you have a refrigerator in your house, you are more blessed than more than 90% of people in the world. Have you ever thought of that? And we could think of many, many other things like that. We are so blessed. But there's a dissatisfaction. Get rid of that, my brother, sister. Otherwise, it will destroy your life. It will destroy your home. It will destroy your church. Dissatisfaction, which leads to expressing your complaint and gossiping and backbiting. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. That's the next thing to think about. Sin came when a person wanted to go higher than God had already placed him. Imagine, he was already the highest. Where does he want to go next? Supposing you're the president or the ruler of the most powerful nation in the world. What more do you want? You want to go still higher? That's how sin is. Even if you have everything, you're not satisfied. So one of the first lessons you need, you know, when you see sin, you see the opposite of what holiness is. So when you learn that sin is being dissatisfied, even though you have everything, and you can see plenty of that in our country here. So many rich people and their children who have almost everything they can ask for. Dissatisfied. That is how people go into drugs. Even though they have everything, they're not satisfied. They want something more, something more. Be very careful. That is a lust. And you must kill it. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. Okay, that's all right. I will sit on the Mount of Assembly. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. Here is the dangerous part. Verse 14. I will make myself like God. Oh boy. How did sin come when a person created being, wanted to become a God, wanted to become like God, wanted to run other people's lives. Do you have a lust to run other people's lives? I know many pastors who like to run other people's lives. And they use scripture to rule over people in their church. They're not following the master who washed people's feet. I have a responsibility for many churches, but I can honestly stand before God today and say, I have no desire to run anybody's life. Even when people come to me for counsel, many, many people have come to me through the years for some advice, some situation, some problem. I say, my brother, sister, they're sitting with me in my house and I say, listen, this is my, I can't tell you what you should do, but this is what I would do if I were in your situation. This is my advice. Then I tell them, don't do it until you hear from God. You've only heard from me. Take this, go home, take this advice I give you before God, Christ, ease your head, not me. And say, Lord Jesus, this is what brother Zach suggested. I respect him, but this is what he suggested. If that is what you want me to do, give me peace in my heart. That's what you should pray. It's by peace in your heart that you know what God's will is. And I said, if you don't find peace in your heart to follow the advice I give you, please don't do it. You will not be disobeying God by disobeying me. I'm only a man. Don't do it. That's the advice I consistently give to everybody. Because I do not want to be like the devil to run people's lives. When my children were small in the home under my authority, God told me to be their head and to rule them. And I ruled them. Otherwise, I'd be disobeying God. But then as they grew up and left home, I gave them the freedom to choose, still guiding them, advising them, warning them, correcting them, but not trying to run their life. I kept on advising them about the type of girl they should choose to get married to. And a lot of other advice. When they were in college, and all four of them, they went away from home when they were 18 years old. And they came to the United States on a scholarship to study here in colleges. And I would keep in touch with them frequently. And in the early days, there was no emails. And phone calls were very expensive. But when email started, I wrote to them regularly. And I preserved those emails for many years. Emails that I wrote in the 90s, 1990s and 2000 and all that. And more recently, we printed it as a book called Here Are My Sons. That's the advice I gave to my teenage children when they enter college. And I recommend all teenage children to read it. You don't have to buy it. You can buy it if you want. We have an office in Texas. But you can go online. Everything we offer is free. You go to cfcindia.com, go to resources, books, and all my 30 books are there. You can read all of them absolutely free. So if you don't know how to buy it, you can read it. But here we see that he wanted to be like God. That is the origin of sin. When a created being was not satisfied with the position God had made for him or her. Apply that to yourself. What is sin? Sin is not just going and killing somebody or telling lies. Sin is when you are not satisfied with the position God placed you in. If you are not satisfied to be a woman when God made you a woman and you wish you were a man. There is no difference between your sin and the sin that made Satan into Satan. No difference. When you want to rule over people over whom God gave you no authority. To rule over your children. Right. You should do it. But to rule over people to whom God gave you no authority. When you try to boss your husband. When God says the husband must be the head of the wife. That doesn't mean you can't give any advice to your husband. Of course you should. The Lord said that Eve is the helper. And a helper must give advice. If you don't give advice, you are not being a helper. But you are not to rule over your husband. Then you are trying to take a position that only God can have. Even as an elder in a church, I don't have the right to rule over anybody. Each person in my church, even a newly converted person, is under the headship of Christ. I am a member who is there to help them to be closely connected to Christ. And I must always recognize that position of mine. I am there to wash their feet. To make it clean. So I am just trying to show you the origin of sin. You try to make yourself like God, you will be thrust down to hell. That's one place where we see how this highest archangel became Satan. There is another passage in Ezekiel 28. These are the only two passages that we know in scripture that tell us how the highest archangel became the devil. The origin of sin, which is between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis chapter 1. Now here, first of all, the word of the Lord, Ezekiel 28, came to me saying, Son of man, say to the leader or the ruler or the prince of Tyre. That was the earthly ruler of Tyre, which is a city and a sort of a region on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel. Say to the prince of Tyre. But over that prince there was a king. That king was the devil. He is called the prince of the power of the air. He was the one who ruled over this earthly prince of Tyre. This devil is called in verse 12, the king of Tyre. This other guy below him was only the earthly leader, verse 2. And above him was the king of Tyre, the real king, which is this archangel who became the devil. And to the devil, the Lord says, there was a time, verse 12, when you were perfect. You had the seal of perfection. Like Adam was created perfect. This archangel was created perfect. Nothing wrong, no defect in any part of his being. Full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. Imagine a created being, perfect, the most beautiful created being. We've seen many beautiful human beings. The archangel was far more good looking and attractive than any human being you've ever seen. The perfection of beauty. That's what it says here. Full of wisdom. And you were in Eden. Aha. So there was somebody in Eden before Adam. There was an Eden in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, which became full of chaos by the time it came to chapter 1, verse 2. But then God remade that Eden in Genesis chapter 2. That's the second. It was the same Eden remade. But that Eden was a beautiful place in the beginning. Between verse 1 and 2 of Genesis. You were in Eden, the garden of God. And then he describes his beauty in terms of various precious stones, ruby, topaz, beryl, genix and all that. And on the day you were created, verse 14, you were the anointed. You know how many believers seek to be anointed? Here was one who was created and anointed from the day he was created. The anointed angel. And the Lord says, I placed you there in Eden. You know, that's why when many years later, when Satan saw that he had been expelled and somebody else had come to Eden, Adam and Eve, he was determined to get them out of there. Jealousy. How dare they come to the place where I was first? Jealousy. It's another thing that originates with Satan. And he was determined and schemed. He was the wisest of all creation. It says here, he was full of wisdom, verse 12. And when wisdom gets twisted to hurt others, he could think of a wonderful scheme to get Adam and Eve out of Eden. He says, I can't do it, but I'll make God do it. So he schemed and planned to get him out of that place which he thought he belonged to him, Eden. You were the anointed cherub and God had placed him there on the holy mountain of God. Here's another statement about this archangel. Verse 15. You were blameless. Not a single fault in him in any area. From the day you were created until one day unrighteousness was found in you. And we read that in Isaiah 14. I will exalt myself. I'm not happy with my present position. I want to go up. I want to be like God. Once you understand that is the origin, that's how this beautiful earth which God created became corrupt. You will realize that sin is not just dirty thoughts or pornography or hatred or murder or telling lies. It's much bigger than all that. It is pride. Pride is the first sin that came in this universe. That made this universe into a hell or the earth anyway into a hell. You were internally filled with violence and you sinned. Verse 16 middle. Therefore I cast you as profane and I destroyed you covering cherub. What happened? Verse 17. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. Oh how much that has happened to so many human beings since that day. You look in the mirror and say what a good looking man I am. What a good looking woman I am. You know where it began? It began with the archangel who became the devil. Your heart was lifted up. They didn't talk about it. No, you don't go around telling people I'm so good looking. No, no, no. You just look in the mirror and admire yourself. That's all. Oh, you look at your abilities, your intellectual abilities and how you're so smart when you can work on computers or other things that you can do better than others or construction business or what it is. You look at what you've done and say, boy, am I not smart? You know where it began? With an archangel who became the devil. It's good to know where all these thoughts begin. And they're not innocent. It says you corrupted your wisdom by being your heart being lifted up. You never said a word to anybody. It's just in your heart. You began to admire the beauty God gave you. You never created it yourself. That smartness that you have, that intelligent mind you have. You never made it. God gave it to you as a gift from your birth. You got it in your genes. What can you boast about? Exactly like that archangel. He didn't create it. God created him like that. And she should have fallen before God and said, God, thank you for making me like this. Let me never compare myself with other people and say, boy, am I more good? Aren't I more good looking than them? Aren't I smarter than those dumb guys in my office or those other dumb people in the church? This whole looking down on other races, racial superiority. You know where it began? Right here. Right here. Am I not smarter? Am I not better? Is not my race of angels superior to that other race of angels? I'm the one perfect in beauty. That's what he thought. Whether it's angels or human beings or anything. Am I not superior? That is the origin of sin. And so you corrupted your wisdom. You know, he is called here. Verse 3 of Daniel, Ezekiel 28. You are wiser than Daniel. Ezekiel 28 verse 3. It's quite interesting. We've always thought the wisest human being was Solomon. They talk about the wisdom of Solomon, the wisest human being that lived with Solomon. No. Solomon was wise in an earthly way, but he married hundreds of women and had many concubines and worshipped idols. He wasn't wise at all. But in God's eyes, if you were to ask in the Old Testament, who was the wisest man? It was not Moses. It was Daniel. Moses was a great leader. But Daniel was the wisest man. And you read the book of Daniel and you see he was the humblest man. The wisest man is always the humblest. If pride gets in, he is no longer wise in God's eyes. Daniel was such a humble man. Even when Nebuchadnezzar tried to praise him, he said, Oh no, it's not me, O King. It's God. He never took the glory to himself. Even when he came out of the den of lions, he said, Oh Darius, it is not me. It's God. Shut the lion's mouth. We can learn some things from this. Do you want to be wise in man's eyes or in God's eyes? If you want to be wise in God's eyes, always give the glory to God. Never touch it. It was he who did it, not me. You corrupted your wisdom and so I cast you down. That is how this highest archangel became a devil. So from this third heaven, you know there are three heavens. The first heaven is what you read, it says in the Psalms, when I see the heavens, the work of your hands, all of creation. That's the first heaven. In 2nd Corinthians 12, we read of the third heaven. That's where Paul once was lifted up in a vision. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, he says in verse 4, I was caught up to paradise. In verse 2, he says, I was caught up to the third heaven. The last part of verse 2. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 2. That's the one place in scripture where we realize there are three heavens. And when he calls that paradise in verse 4, paradise is in the third heaven. That's where believers go when they die. That's where Christ is. That's the place to which Paul was lifted up in spirit. The third heaven. The first heaven is what we see in the Psalms, when I behold the heavens, the work of your hands. Between this first heaven that we see, which includes all of space, millions of miles, between that and the third heaven, there is a second heaven. And when the devil was cast out of God's presence, he was cast down into the second heaven. That is why we read in Ephesians chapter 6. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, these evil rulers and powers, the world forces of darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. Which heaven is that? Not this physical heaven. Not the third heaven. He was cast out of the third heaven into the second heaven. The devil is not in hell. He's never been to hell yet. He's in the second heaven. But he comes down to earth. There are some demons who have been cast into hell. You read about that in 2 Peter chapter 2. Certain demons who were disobedient, 1 Peter chapter 4, 2 Peter 2, were cast down into hell. But the devil himself and many of his demons are not there. They are in the second heaven. And they have access to the earth. They are the ones who possess people. Demons possess people. Demons that come into people. They come from the second heaven. They have freedom to move up and down. But they cannot go to the third heaven. When the devil spoke to God in the book of Job, he spoke from the second heaven to God in the third heaven. It's good for us to know these things. So sin came by a creative being wanting to go up, wanting to be more than what God made him, that made him proud that he was better than all the others, comparing himself with other creative beings. It's the spirit of the devil. When you compare yourself with other believers in a church, be careful which spirit is operating in you. When you are proud of your cleverness, your wisdom, your intelligence, your good looks or anything you are proud of, know where it came from. It came from that evil spirit who was cast down because of his pride. And that is why when Jesus had to overcome Satan in order to deliver us, he had to do the exact opposite of what Satan did. That's the only way to conquer Satan. Satan exalted himself. Jesus humbled himself. The only thing that can conquer pride is humility. If a person who is not humble turns around to the devil and says, in Jesus name, I resist you, you know what will happen? I'll tell you. You read about in Acts of the Apostles, when some people tried to do that in Acts chapter 19. There were some people who had heard Paul casting out a demon. In Jesus name, get out. And in Acts 19, we read of the seven sons of Scewa, a Jewish priest. We read about them in verse 13. Some of the Jewish exorcists, Acts 19, 13, went from place to place saying to the evil spirits, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul is preaching. And those, when seven sons of Scewa did this, the evil spirit answered and said to them, I recognize Jesus and I recognize Paul, but who in the world do you think you are? I like that. And the man who had this evil spirit who spoke, jumped on these seven sons of Scewa and tore their clothes and overpowered them. You can't use the name of Jesus like these people did against the devil if your life is not right with God. If you're a proud person, the devil says, hey, you and I have fellowship. How are you trying to cast me out? You and I got the same spirit, man. You can overcome Satan only by humanity, not by rebukes and things like that. I've been to, you know, I told you there are areas where I disagree with the Pentecostals and Charismatics, not only in speaking in tongues, but also in the way they cast out demons. I've seen numerous cases of these people in the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches yelling and screaming and shouting and going on fasting and prayer to cast out some demon from a person. Did Jesus ever do it like that? Never. These sons of Scewa were doing it. Jesus always spoke one word and the demons fled. We've had to encounter demons in India, in the villages, especially because where people worship idols, in 1 Corinthians it says there's a demon behind every idol. The demon gets into some of those people. And we've seen them. And some women who are demon possessed are so strong that 3-4 men cannot hold her down. But in every one of those cases I've seen, one word, in the name of Jesus, get out, they leave. I've cast out a number of demons in many parts of India. Never once did a demon not leave. Every single time they left with one command. If it did not leave, I would have to say to Jesus, Lord, I have to go and fast and pray. Something's wrong with me. Why didn't that demon, am I like the sons of Scewa? Just using the name of Jesus, but every single time they left. I remember once one sister brought a lady to our house and my wife and I were sitting there in our sitting room. I thought she just came for prayer and she wanted her to accept Christ. So I told her, ask Jesus to come into your heart and say to the devil, you were defeated on the cross. I always tell people to say that. Every person who accepts Christ must tell the devil, you were defeated on the cross. And she turned around to me with her face changed and said, I was not defeated on the cross. Oh, I was talking to the woman, the demon inside her began to speak to me. So when a demon speaks to me, I reply. So I quietly said to the demon who was inside her, you were defeated on the cross. Jesus defeated you. Get out of her right now in Jesus name. Gone. Then I told that lady, now tell the devil you were defeated on the cross. And she said it. You were defeated on the cross. It's not special about me. If you walk in humility and purity, you can do it. Anyone. I remember a true story of a Chinese pastor who was in one of the villages in China in the early 20th century. And there were a lot of demon possessed people and they would bring them to him and he would cast out the demons. Every time. And one day they brought a demon possessed person and the pastor was not there. His 12 year old son was there. And they brought this. His pastor is not here. Shall we go? He said no. The little boy said come right in. 12 years old. He'd seen his pastor. He'd seen his father casting out demons. Simple boy who has lived in simplicity and purity. He commanded the demon to get out of the demon left. It doesn't matter if the boy is 12 or not. His heart is pure and his humble. It's the name of Jesus that he fears. Not you and me. He was defeated on the cross. You have to be absolutely convinced. Not only that your sins were forgiven on the cross. But Satan was defeated on the cross. Satan was active on the earth throughout the Old Testament. That's why you never read of Satan activity on the earth after Genesis 3. God did not allow Satan to go around rampant because everybody would have been demon possessed. And he would have destroyed so many lives because they had no power. Where do you read in the history of Israel Satan coming? Only once it says Satan indirectly tempted David to number the people. In a very abstract way. That's about the only place Satan is mentioned. Even in the book of Job he is not mentioned as Satan is on the earth. He is talking to God in the heavens. You never find Satan anywhere on the earth. Because God restrained him. But the moment Jesus came to earth. That's when you begin to see Satan's activity on this earth. He would go into a synagogue. And this demon possessed man who was sitting there for years listening to the boring sermons of the Pharisees. Got all worked up because Jesus had come. And began to yell and scream. And Jesus would shut him up. And cast out the demon. Those Pharisees who knew the scriptures. Forwards and backwards. They had no power over that demon. It's the same today. It's the same today. I remember here in Loveland. At a conference I came years ago. Not in this church but there was another group here. Many years ago before RLCF was started. There was a meeting here. I was speaking and the leader came to me and said. There's a lady here. I've been trying to counsel her. She's not able to help her. Can you please talk to her? So I went and talked to her. She was a white American lady but dressed in night clothes and pajamas. I said why in the world does she come for a public meeting like this? And I discovered later she belonged to some type of cult. And so I counseled her and I said now say. Lord Jesus forgive my sins. She opened her mouth and said. I cannot say that name. Aha. Then I realized she had a demon. She can't mention the name of Jesus. She just could not say it. I rebuked the demon and cast out the demon. And then I said now say the name of Jesus. Again she said. I can't say the name. And inwardly I asked the Lord. Lord what is that? And the Lord said to me. The demon is gone. But she's got into the habit of saying. I cannot say the name. Thank you Lord. And I said to her you can say it now. Say Lord Jesus come to our and she said it. Then I said say thank you Lord Jesus. I cannot say the name. I said you can say thank you Lord Jesus. She said it. And the next morning. This lady all dressed up so well. Neatly. The hair combed and everything. Looking very attractive came to me and said. Brother Zach. You recognize me? I said really? Are you the same person? Yes she was. Overnight she had changed. The devil has come to ruin people. We have authority over him. But if there's something in you. Which is similar to his nature. You'll have no authority over him. That's why you got to know what is his nature. His nature is primarily pride. And if you got something of that in you. Your words will be empty words like the sons of Sceva. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Like I've heard numerous Pentecostals saying. I've seen them pastor spit and scream and nothing happens. The devil is not scared of such people. He's scared of any humble man or woman. Even a 12 year old child. God resists the proud. Have you read that? In 1 Peter chapter 5. God resists the proud. But gives grace to the humble. He resisted the first proud created being. Resisted him so much he threw him down into hell. Rather into the second heaven. One day he'll be thrown down into the lake of fire. Even today. That attitude is. We see that right at the beginning. What God resisted. Right at the beginning. Was not adultery or murder or theft. Or telling lies or pornography. It was pride. That changed the highest archangel into a devil. And Jesus could conquer that. By humility. That's why the Bible says. It says your God resists the proud. 1 Peter 5.5. But he gives grace to the humble. If you want grace for anything in your life. The secret is. Humble yourself. You young people. I want to say to you in Jesus name. Learn to be humble. And the more gifted you are. The more you need to learn to be humble. Because the devil will remind you. How gifted you are. If you are a preacher. You preach one good sermon. And boy. Think what the devil will tell you about that afterwards. He will puff you up immediately. And you get puffed up. From that moment God resists you. It doesn't matter who you are. It's a attitude of God. Even towards anyone who calls himself a child of God. If you are proud he resists. It's a nature. It's like a law. You know the law of gravity. Whatever it is. You drop it. It goes down. It's a law. This is another law. God resists the proud. No matter who they are. God resists the proud. And God gives grace to the humble. So if you want grace. You don't need to know the bible. But you got to be humble. A lot of people who know the bible so well. Don't get grace. There are other people who are extremely humble. Who don't know the bible. They get grace. What you need is not bible knowledge. What you need is grace. And what happens when you get grace? See Romans chapter 6. Here is the proof. That you got the grace of God in your life. Of course we get forgiveness of sins. Through the riches of his grace. That is certainly the beginning. But it's not just that. It says in Romans 6 and verse 14. When you are under grace. Sin cannot rule you. No giant in Canaan can defeat you. No sinful habit in your life can overcome you. If you get grace. You'll never fall a slave or a victim to pornography. Not even once. You will not even want to watch pornography for 5 seconds. Or 1 second. If you get grace. You will not shout at your wife or husband. If you get grace. Not even once. If you do it. At that moment you didn't get grace. That's all. You will not tell lies. Even when you are in a tight spot. And about to lose your job. You will not tell a lie. If you have grace. You just will not sin. So how do we know whether we got grace or not? Do you sin? Then you have to say. I got grace for forgiveness of sins. But I didn't get grace to overcome sin. Forgiveness of sins is in Psalm 103. Even without grace David got it. It was covered. But now by grace our sin is cleansed. That's not enough. That's just the beginnings of grace. The fullness of grace is more than this. From one step to another. Where by grace we overcome sin. The clearest proof. That you are getting the grace God wants you to have today. Is that you overcome sin in your life. What you are aware of. You are able to overcome. The sins that you plagued you. That you could not overcome. Your foul temper. You couldn't control your tongue. All of a sudden you find you are able to control your tongue. The tremendous love for money. Which drove your life. You are able to put it under your feet. Have you read in the book of Joshua? I don't have time to show it to you. Joshua once got all the giants. The rulers of different parts of Canaan. And called the Israelites and said. Put your feet on the necks of these kings. Number of kings were there. And Joshua called the Israelite leaders. And put your feet on top of their necks. I like that. Put your feet on the neck of the devil. The humble person is called to do that. So don't be satisfied with. We have forgiveness of sins. According to the riches of His grace. There is much more than that. See Ephesians 1.7. That's where we begin. In Christ we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Yes. Forgiveness of sins. By the riches of His grace. But it don't stop there. There is more. If you bought a two volume encyclopedia. And you got only one volume. You paid for two volumes man. Why you got only one volume? You go back to the store and say. Hey where is the second volume? Grace is supposed to give you forgiveness and victory. Why you got only one? Go back to the store. Go back to God and say. Hey Lord I got to get another. The second part of it. Sin shall not have dominion over me. I already got Ephesians 1.7. According to the riches of His grace. But what about Romans 6.14? That sin will not rule over me. Because now I am under grace. Why should I miss out on that? But you can't get it. If you don't humble yourself. God gives His grace only to the humble. Once upon a time you were humble enough. To acknowledge that you were a sinner. And that Christ died for your sins. And you came to that level of humanity. And you were forgiven. Now you go further. And say Lord I want to humble myself like Jesus did. That sin does not have power over you. That sin that could rule you. You find that Goliath is slain. You put your foot on its neck. That is the way God wants you to live. Let me turn you to Philippians. In chapter 2. I have often said that. If you want to live the Christian life. One verse is enough. To show you the standard. The standard God wants you to live by. Supposing somebody asks me. What is the standard. That God wants me to live by as a Christian. Can you tell me in one sentence. Yes. I can tell you in one sentence. The standard God wants you to live by everyday. In your office. In your home. In the place of work. In the street. In the road. Everywhere. Philippians chapter 2. Verse 5. Have the same attitude in you. That is in Christ Jesus. In your home. Husband. Have the attitude that Christ had. Wife. Have the attitude that Christ had. In your school. You young children. Have the attitude that Christ had. Towards your boss. Who harasses you. Have the attitude Christ had. In every situation. When you are tempted to lust. Or to pornography. Or to evil. Or to gossip. Or backbite. Have the attitude that Christ had. With that one line you can live your whole life. That is the rule for the Christian life. Have the same attitude that Jesus had. Towards people. Towards money. Towards your work. Towards everything. Towards sin. And what was his attitude? Listen carefully. Three steps. Number one. Though he was God. Verse 6. He humbled himself and became a man. That itself is a tremendous step of humility. The opposite of the devil. Remember. The devil wanted to go up. And become like God. And came down. The only way to conquer the devil is by doing the opposite of what is in his nature. His nature is wanting to go up. And be proud. Jesus came down. That's how he overcame. That's how you and I can overcome too. And coming down as a man itself would have been a great step in humility. But he went further. He humbled himself to a second level. Verse 7. He became a man. Step one. Then he humbled himself even further to become a bond slave. And a slave was the lowest level of humanity in those days. And you say well Jesus can't possibly go down lower than that. But he did. He went below the level of a slave in the Roman Empire. To the level of a apparent of a criminal. Though he was no criminal. He died. He made the third step to the death of the cross. And the cross was reserved for the worst criminals in Roman society. So what did Jesus do? As God he became man. Man he became a slave. And as a slave he went down to the level of a criminal even though he was no criminal. Even though he was no slave. So humility, humility, humility. That's why you probably heard me say there are three secrets of the Christian life. Humility, humility. If you have learnt it, you have learnt the three secrets of the Christian life. Where do I get it from here? Have the same attitude which is in Christ Jesus. And I tell you the devil will have no power over you. I tell you in Jesus name you young people whatever area Satan is empowering you he'll have no power over you. You'll have power over the way you live in your home. I've told people this. If you got a very angry unconverted wife or husband who's yelling and screaming in some situation don't confront her or him. Get alone by yourself in a room. Lock yourself up and bind Satan's attack on your home in Jesus name. It's the devil who's there not your wife or husband. He's behind her or him creating that confusion in the home of the Christian. Don't argue there. Keep your mouth shut and get into a room and bind Satan's attack on your home. And Jesus says in Matthew chapter 18 verse 16 to 18 What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Matthew 18 verse 18 to 20 What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. And so you'll find the problem is solved or it'll begin to be solved. But you will have no authority over Satan to bind him if you're proud yourself. That's why if there's one thing you have to battle in your life it is pride. And it comes in so subtly. Spiritual pride among believers comes in so subtly. Very well. Maybe you have a ministry or you accomplish something and you get puffed up. Oh the devil has so many means of puffing you up. I remember when there was a a girl who was brought to me in a village with a demon because she had been worshipping an idol and I said look at me. And from inside the voice said I'm scared to look at you. I knew what the devil was after. He wanted to make me proud that the devil is scared to look at me. And I lose my power over him immediately. You see the subtlety there. I refuse to accept it. I don't receive compliments from the devil. No thank you. I want authority over him. I don't want to accept his praises. You have to be very careful. I remember another demon possessed man who came to see me. I mean I knew him before. He came to my door one day and said Brother Zach, I want to see you but the devil told me don't go and see this brother Zach. The devil was again trying to puff me up. The Lord gave me insight to see through that type of thing. Be careful. Various ways in which the devil will try to puff you up so that you lose your power over him. All he's got to do is puff you up. He knows that you'll have no power over him after that. And he succeeded with so many believers. I've seen it happen in so many Pentecostal charismatic churches. Yell and scream and yell and scream and the devil demon is still there. I remember in Bangalore when some of these people had tried to yell and scream and cast a demon out of a lady who had been a Christian but was living next door to a temple and took something from the temple and ate it or something like that. And so they asked me those brothers saying can you please come and pray for this lady. I said sure. And I went there and there was this another man who was some type of Pentecostal man screaming and yelling. So I told this brother brought me to see. I said I don't know who's got the demon here. This person who's trying to yell and scream or the other poor lady there. Will you please ask him to leave the room first. So he asked him to leave the room and there was quiet. Then I told that lady ask Jesus to come into your heart. And she said the voice said tell her to do that not me. Don't tell me to accept Jesus. Oh ho. The demon is saying don't tell me to accept Jesus. I said OK. Then in Jesus name you get out of her right now. And he left. No yelling no screaming. And then I told that lady ask Jesus to come in your heart. And she did. Right there. It was all over in a couple of minutes. And I checked upon that lady later on. Happy in the Lord. What she needed was not counseling. Or prayer. What she needed was deliverance. There are people like that in the world. God has kept you and me in the world to be humble representatives of the Christ who conquered Satan on the cross. Be faithful. Be faithful. This is not the ministry that only some special prophet or apostle can do. That 12 year old boy knew he could do it because he knew it was not in him. It's the name of Jesus. Jesus defeated Satan on the cross. Now let me show you those verses before we close. Hebrews chapter 2. We must know the authority we have over Satan. Why did Jesus become a human being? You say to take our sins. Correct. But that's not all. That's one of the things he did on the cross. What about the other thing? Hebrews 2.14 Since we have flesh and blood the children he also took part in the same flesh and blood. Why? Not just to take care of our sins but so that he make the devil powerless. The devil is not destroyed. He is still existing but he is powerless. Now he is certainly powerful over proud people but he is powerless over a humble Christian. He made him powerless so that he can free those who all their lifetime were slaves to the fear of death. On the cross our sins were taken. Our old man was crucified Romans 6 and the devil was defeated. Out of these three things how many of these three things have you heard of? Probably only one. That Christ died for our sins. Romans 6 Read Romans 6. Our old man was crucified with him. That also happened on the cross. That we might never serve sin. Our sins were taken over taken by him on the cross so that we can be forgiven. Our old man was crucified with him on the cross so that we can overcome sin. And Satan was defeated on the cross, number 3 so that we can have power over Satan. So that we need never have the fear of death. Verse 15 Do you have the fear of death? Do you fear that COVID would kill you? Do you fear something else will kill you? Where does that fear of death come from? From the devil. He had the power of death once upon a time. It says there, verse 14 But that was taken away from him on the cross. Do you believe that? John Wesley, that great saint used to say I am immortal until my life's work is done. And I can say that. I don't know how long I'll live. But I can say I am immortal until the work God prepared for me before I was born. Until I finish that wherever I have to do it I am immortal. I don't say that in any boasting. I confess the word of God that Satan has no power over me. The power of death. He says to deliver them who through fear of death were slaves. Fear of death brings us slavery it says here. We should not fear death. I've seen believers who say oh I wish I could die and go to heaven. I don't have to wish to die a single second before God's time comes but I don't want to live on this rotten earth one single second after God's time comes. Sure. Because I'll be a nuisance to him if I stay on longer than God wants me to stay on. But I want to stay on as long as God wants me to stay. If there's one more soul to be one to Christ. If there's one more message I have to preach somewhere to deliver somebody I want to be alive till then. And you have a plan. You may not be a preacher like me but God has a plan for every one of you my dear brothers and sisters. Your children. God has got a plan for them. Even they are small. They were brought into your family to accomplish a purpose for God. And Jesus defeated Satan so that you and your family can be delivered from the fear of death and be immortal until God's plan for your work for your life is finished. You confess that. Say Lord I believe that you will keep me. I don't love this rotten old earth. I'd rather be in heaven any day. Paul said that. But Paul said but for you it is needful that I should remain here Paul said. Very often I say that too. I would like to be with Jesus in heaven any day. But if God wants me here on earth still to encourage somebody to bless somebody to deliver somebody to lead somebody further into his kingdom I am ready. I am ready to live here to 120 years like Moses lived. But that's God's choice not mine. Dear brothers and sisters it's a wonderful life the Christian life. But remember what I told you in the beginning how did the earth become so bad dark without shape. It's the work of the devil. But the Holy Spirit worked on that earth and remade it and made it beautiful. And the Lord wants to use us on this earth to set people free from the work of Satan. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father oh we thank you that Satan was defeated on the cross. He has no power over us. I know he doesn't like people to hear this message. I know he doesn't like me preaching this message. But we are here to proclaim it till the day you return that Jesus Christ won the victory on the cross. And we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. I pray that everyone sitting here who heard the message will today be freed from the fear of death. From the power of Satan. They will learn to walk the way of humility like Jesus did all of us so that your grace can be upon us for forgiveness for victory over sin and for overcoming Satan. Thank you Father in Jesus name Amen.