This sermon emphasizes the importance of being a light in the world by understanding the significant changes brought by Jesus in the New Covenant. It highlights the need to believe in God's promises, to resist the lies of the devil, and to experience victory over sin through God's grace and discipline. The message encourages humility, forgiveness, and trusting that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

I want to try and explain this morning what it means to be a light in the world. One of the things that we have thought about during many years in our church is, what are the things that changed after Jesus came, which people in the Old Testament could not have or never spoke about, even though they had great men, we've seen the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. There are many, many things, and God gives us more and more light as we go along. If we are faithful to the light God gives us, he gives us more light. For example, nobody in the Old Testament could ever say, I am the light of the world. But Jesus, when he came, he was the first person to say that, I am the light of the world. And what does that mean? The Bible says that the whole world lies in darkness. It's very important for us to see that. Let me show you that verse in 1 John 5.19. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Now, there are lots of people in the world who don't believe that. They think, well, some parts of the world are not under the power of Satan. When it talks about the world, it's not talking about the earth. There's a difference between the earth and the world system, which controls the people in the world and a lot of things that happen here. The devil is not called the ruler of the earth. He's called the ruler of the world. And there's a lot of difference between earth and world. So here it's speaking about the world lies in the power of the evil one. And that evil one is the ruler of darkness. And so the whole world lies in darkness. And in the midst of this darkness, ruled by Satan, came Jesus as a light to show that everything that Satan said was a lie. It's very important to remember that. Because remember that sin first came into the world through a lie. Satan convinced Adam and Eve, Eve first, of a lie. And that lie was, first of all, that God's word, even if you disobey it, it's not serious. Turn to Genesis in chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3, we read, the woman, the serpent came to the woman and the first thing he said was, has God really said that you shouldn't eat from any tree of the garden? See, there are certain things we can learn right from the beginning. And that is the first step which the devil uses. He used it then, he uses it now, is to somehow convince you that God's word doesn't mean what it says. Listen to this, my dear brothers and sisters. If the devil can convince you that something written in scripture does not really mean that, he has already won the victory. It's just a matter of time before he drags you all the way down into the pit. That's what Eve did not realize. And you see that contrast, how the devil came with God's word, questioning God's word. Has God really said you can't eat all the trees here? He knew very well what God had said and Eve knew it very well also. But he was trying to put a doubt in God's, in Eve's mind concerning God's word. And then when Eve said, yeah, God has told us that, if you eat this, you'll die. Then he goes to the next step in verse 4 and says, no, you won't die. The first is to question God's word. And then secondly, you say, no, it doesn't happen. Once you allowed him to make you question God's word, he immediately goes to the next step and say, no, that won't happen. It won't happen. And Eve believed it. And she discovered that it did happen. What did the Lord tell them both? Told Adam and Adam told Eve, in the day you eat, you will surely die. And that was fulfilled in two ways. First of all, spiritually, as soon as she ate, her connection with God was broken. How do we know her connection with God was broken? Because she made Adam sin. See, when your connection with God is broken, you make other people also commit sin. That's one mark of that your connection with God is broken. How do you know you're connected with God? The opposite of that. You lead people away from sin. All people who are connected with God lead others away from sin. All people who are not connected with God lead people into sin. See, it could be a simple thing like a woman dressing immodestly. What does that prove? It proves her connection with God is broken because she's leading people into sin. And when people lead others into sin, it means their connection with God is broken. And how do we know that Adam's connection with God was broken? As soon as he ate, he made accusations against his wife. So here we see how sin came by Adam and Eve doubting the Word of God. That is how darkness came. And so it's the same thing the devil does today. Exactly the same. He makes us question what God has said clearly in his Word. See, for example, I want to begin with one of the first things that we need to know. 1 John and chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9. 1 John 1 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is where we must begin because we have all sinned and we need forgiveness. And if we don't have forgiveness, we can never proceed further. Not only if you don't have forgiveness, if you're not absolutely sure, if you're not absolutely sure that our sins are forgiven, we cannot proceed further. It's like saying, if you don't lay a foundation, you cannot build a building that will stand. It will collapse. Now, why do I emphasize that? Because the Bible says the devil is the accuser of the brothers. And I have seen so many people who sit in churches who are not sure whether some sin in their past has been forgiven. They're not sure. They're always uncertain. And then 20 years later, the devil reminds them, yeah, but what about what you did over there? And they're disturbed again. So this is very important to know the devil is a liar. That's why I pointed you to Genesis chapter 3. Question God's word. Has he really said that? No, it doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that he will forgive all your sins. Yeah, but he'll forgive your small sins. Where does it say that in scripture? If you have not confessed your sin, oh, then it's true. God can't forgive. If you have confessed your sin, you say, Lord, I really want to give it up. And I don't want to do that again. He doesn't ask you to promise that you'll never do it again. Because none of us can promise to God saying, I'll never do that again. That's like me saying, I'll never trip and fall for the rest of my life. Can any of you say that? However, many years you're walked without falling, you can't say, I mean, you may walk out of the gate and trip on a banana skin or something and fall. So, but you don't choose to fall. No, unless you're off your head, you don't choose to fall, but you can fall. So it's like that. So God doesn't say, promise me that you'll never sin again. Well, I say, Lord, I can't promise that. What the Lord does is you want to give up sinning. That's the question. It's very important. Don't let the devil accuse you. And if you have confessed your sin, he is faithful. And what the devil is trying to say is he is not faithful. He says, no, you are faithful to confess your sin, but he is not faithful to forgive you. You know, this is why unbelief is so insulting to God to say you're faithful, but he's not faithful. You confessed your sin, but he did not forgive you. So faith is to say, God is faithful. I, who am so weak, such a sinner, I did my part. I was, I confessed my sin. He is faithful to forgive me. And I believe I've been forgiven. It's very important that if you have given your life to Christ and you turn from sin, you're absolutely sure that not only your past is forgiven, but more than that, it says in Hebrews in chapter eight and verse 12, I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. And when you hear a word like that in Hebrews eight, 12, the devil immediately comes to you just like he came to Eve. Has God really said that he will not remember your sins anymore? Really? Are you sure that he means that? And yeah, you wonder. And as soon as you begin to wonder, the devil's already won. And then it's just a matter of time before he leads you further down. So it's very important that you say, yes, God's promised. And I believe he's faithful that he doesn't remember my sins anymore. Not at all. He doesn't remember my sins anymore. Confess that. That's why the Bible says in Revelation and chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12 in verse 10, it says he accuses, Satan accuses us to God day and night. And how did the overcomers overcome that accusation? First of all, by the blood of the lamb, believing that the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed them from their sins. And secondly, by speaking that word of testimony to Satan, the blood has cleansed me. I'm cleansed. If you don't speak that word of testimony to Satan, you cannot overcome him. And the greatest example is Jesus himself. He did the opposite of what Eve did. When Eve questioned God's word, Jesus quoted God's word. Every time Satan came to him with a temptation in the wilderness, Jesus just said, it's written. That settles it for me. The second time he came, it's written. That settles it for me. It's written, get behind me, Satan. And Satan left. He had no chance with Jesus because Jesus said, this is what God's word says. That settles it for me. Do you know what a difference it'll make in your life? If you take that position, that's what God's word says. That settles it for me. There's no further discussion. He has said, I will not remember your sins anymore. That settles it for me. You know what a tremendous difference it'll make in your life? I remember more than 40 years ago, 45 years ago, a day in my life, I remember where I was standing. I was standing on the quarter deck of a ship, converted about one and a half years ago, still doubtful whether my past was still remembered by God. And I heard this word in my heart. I will not remember your sins anymore. And it changed my life. I said, Lord, that settles it for me. And it settled it for me for 45 years. It makes a tremendous difference. That is the light that shines in the darkness. Our calling is to proclaim that the devil is a liar, that God is true and the devil is a liar. In fact, the Bible says, let God be true. Romans 3 and I think it's verse 3. Let God be true and every man a liar. Even men can be liars. Let me show you two verses. First of all, Romans in chapter 3, Romans chapter 3, verse 4. Let God be found true, even though every man be found a liar. That means all the six billion people in the world may say something. It could be a lie. God is true. See, this is a very important position to take because you know what is happening in Christianity today? Something new starts. Some preacher, usually in America, decides to do something, maybe get people to fall down or get people to laugh or get people to do something. And because they have the money and the power to spread that message all over the world, all over the world, Christians see this on television and hear this and read about it in books. And thousands and thousands of people are doing it. And you know what many Christians who don't know God's word say? Oh, if thousands say it, it must be true. I say let six billion people say it. If God hasn't said it, it's not true. That's what this verse says. Would you be able to stand? Let me ask all of you a direct question. Supposing all the six billion people in the world, except you, decided to believe something. That everybody must start falling down now and start laughing. Would you have the courage to stand up and say Jesus never did it. He never taught it. I wonder. That's why the devil gets far over you. Because he can convince you if he gets sufficient number of people to say something. Hundred thousand people say something. Oh, it must be true. I better not miss out on this. I say I'm willing to miss out on everything that the devil invents. Because I know God's word. You know, God must be able to do such a work in your heart that you can stand against the whole world. And let them all believe that. God's word says this that settles it for me. It's very, very important that God be true and every man a liar. So what if the whole world says something? Makes no difference to me. Absolutely no difference. I want to say my brothers and sisters, every one of you should come to that position. Everyone. Don't depend on the faith of another strong brother in the church or your parents or anybody else. You must say God's word is true and everything else is a lie. That's what it means to be a light in the midst of darkness. Darkness is the lie of the devil. And the light is to say God's word is true. Let me show you the second verse. John's gospel chapter eight and verse 44. It says here about Satan. There is no truth in him. Verse 44, the last part. There is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature. For he is a liar and the father of lies. That means every single line that was ever spoken in the world, his father was the devil. That's how, and can you imagine the number of lies that have been spoken in the world in 6,000 years since Adam? Millions and millions of lies. And that's what made the world full of darkness. So many lies about God's word. So many lies about Jesus Christ. So many lies about what true Christianity is. And in the midst of this, God says, Jesus came as a light. And the wonderful thing is Jesus says to us today, Matthew 5, 16, you are the light of the world. Nobody in the old Testament could say that, but we're supposed to say it now. I'm the light of the world. What am I supposed to do? The same thing that Jesus did when he was on earth to show that the devil's a liar. Do you know what your calling in life is? If you haven't understood it, let me explain it to you today so that you know what your calling in life is. Your life, listen carefully, must be a demonstration of the fact that the devil is a liar. Got it? Your life must be a demonstration of the fact that the devil is a liar. I mean, I've taken that very seriously. I want my life to be a living demonstration of the fact that God is true and the devil is a liar. That God is true. Every word of God is true and the devil is a liar. Not just say it with my lips. I mean, that's great. Just confess it with our mouth is very important, but that's the first step. I confess with my mouth that my sins are all forgiven and then I live as one who believes it because it's true. The devil's a liar and he cannot have any power over me and the only sin God will not forgive, you know what that is? The sin you don't confess. Got it? The only sin God can never forgive is the sin that you will not confess. You to be honest and every person who came to Jesus honestly and asked for something, the Lord always met with him. Supposing the blind man who said, oh well Lord, I think I'm not so bad. Well, he wouldn't have been healed when he was not healed. There was one blind man whom Jesus touched and he couldn't see properly. He confused men and trees. Imagine confusing men and trees. You've got to be pretty blind if you confuse men with trees and the Lord asked him, can you see? He was honest. He said, no, I can't. Okay, I'll heal you. That's all God wants. Honesty. Lord, I'm defeated. Lord, I can't love people. I treat people like trees. I chopped down trees and I chopped down men also and women. Something's wrong. Tell God, Lord, I'm very hard on human beings because I see them like trees. Please open my eyes and the Lord will show you the difference. The trees are not made in his image. You can chop them down if you like, but human beings are made in God's image. You cannot speak to your wife rudely like you chopped down a tree. You cannot speak to another human being rudely. They are made in God's image and a lot of people haven't seen that. I tell you multitudes of believers, everyone who speaks rudely to other people has to say, I still see men like trees, but they won't confess it. And so they remain with this 90% blindness all their life when they could be healed if they were just honest. What a tremendous reward awaits those who are honest and say, Lord, I'm very hard on people, especially in my own home. I treat my children like trees. Lord, I need to have my eyes open. I'm 90% blind. You have opened my eyes a little bit, 10%. My sins are forgiven, but I'm blind. How long are you going to live in that, my brother, sister? Just be honest. Say, Lord, I'm like that. My sins are forgiven. So that's the first thing. There are many other things in God's word that we have in the New Testament that the Lord wants us to be like a light in the midst of darkness and prove to the devil that he's a liar. Let me show you. Romans 6 and verse 14. The Bible says that God has abolished the law because there was something the law could not do. And that's why he got rid of it. Then we can say, why did God give it in the first place? He gave it in the first place to show man his sin and his inability to obey God and also to show him that no matter how much you keep the law, your sins cannot be forgiven. So Romans chapter 6, we read in verse 14. Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. The law we read in James chapter 1 is like a mirror, verse 22 to 25. Do you need a mirror? I think all of us looked at our mirror this morning. You need it. But when you see that your face is dirty, you can't use the mirror to clean your face. That's very simple, right? So that's exactly the law. When you look at your, the law shows you your sin, but it can't cleanse it. But is it necessary? Yeah, without the mirror, you won't be able to see your dirty face. So the law is necessary to show you this is God's standard. You say, oh, I haven't attained to it. Here and here and here and here and here. So many spots on my face. Thank God for the mirror. But then when to clean that face, I can't take the mirror and wipe my face. I need soap and water. And so when I, God shows me his standard in the law and I see, oh, here and there and the way I speak and the way I deal with money and the way I do so many things, perhaps the way you dress, there's so many things. It's coming below God's standard. It's not what man says. Man's a liar. I'm not bothered what men think about me. What God's law shows me. Now, what do I do? I go to the blood of Jesus. I confess my sin and get the blood of Jesus to cleanse me. Just like I use soap and water, clean my face, my face is clean. So that was why God gave the law, but the law could not do certain things. And that's why he said, okay, now, have you understood that the law cannot show you or can cannot help you to overcome sin? It can show you your sin. And that's why we still read God's word. God's word is a revelation of his mind and his character. And as I read it, it becomes like the old Testament law to me. I see my sin. Oh, how many times in my life I have seen my un-Christ likeness as I have read God's word or as I've listened to a message. And I'm sure you've experienced that too. As you've heard God's word, anointed, prophetic, you've seen un-Christ likeness. Now, what do you do with that? Immediately take soap and water, immediately go to Christ and say, Lord, that's right. That's my sin. Don't just sit there and say, is the preacher trying to preach at me? Of course, he's preaching at you. He's not preaching to the walls and the chairs and all that. He's preaching to you. I've heard people come to me after a meeting and say, Brother Zach, were you talking to me? Yes, of course. Who else? I was not talking to the curtains and the windows. No, I was speaking to you. Don't have any mistake about it. And if ever you come to me and ask me a meeting, Brother Zach, do you have me in mind when you said that? Yes. You don't have to ask me that question. You, especially you, and say, Lord, thank you. Thank you for that light that I got. Now I can cleanse myself in the blood of Christ and be free and be clean. And then the wonderful thing is there was something the law could not do, as I said. That is, it couldn't cleanse us, first of all. It could not help us to keep from getting ourselves dirty again. That's something more. The blood of Christ can cleanse us. Soap and water can cleanse you. But how to keep from getting yourself dirty again? I mean, soap and water can't help you to keep yourself from getting dirty again. And that's why God gives us His Holy Spirit called the Spirit of Grace. It's not by the blood of Christ that we get victory over sin, though some songs seem to teach that. It's never taught in the Bible. The blood of Christ cleanses us from sin. But to get victory over sin, you need something called grace. And that grace is imparted by God's Holy Spirit. And when it says here, you're not under law, but you're under grace, that can give you power to overcome every sin. Sin shall not rule over you. No, it cannot be the master over you. Think, let's stop at that verse and think for a moment. All through the years since the time Adam and Eve were put out of Eden, the devil has told people, you cannot overcome sin. First of all, he tells people your sin cannot be forgiven. And so many people do many things. They go on pilgrimages. They give money to God. They roll on the ground. They do so many things to get their sins forgiven. Because the devil keeps on saying, no, you've got to do more. You've got to do more. You've got to do more. You'll never be forgiven. And he leads them on a wild goose chase. They never end and they die without their sins forgiven. Isn't it wonderful that our eyes have been opened to know that Jesus took the punishment for all our sin? Every one of them. Oh, how wonderful it is. What peace comes into a heart to know that. But then, something more than that. The devil tells such people who have already got the peace of forgiveness, no, you can't get victory. Impossible. You can try and try and try. It will not work. It will not work. It may work for some other people. And some of these other people who talk about it may not also be having it. They may be just bluffing you. And you believe all that. And what is the result? You believe the devil's lie. You live according to the standard the devil says. And that is, you'll never have victory. Impossible. But it's true. You can have victory in your life. If you know the power of grace. If you open yourself to the Holy Spirit. And for many, many years, I have told people, you need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. Just like you opened your heart to let Jesus come and forgive your sin. And you got forgiveness. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter got up and said, there are two gifts that God's giving all of you from now on. Acts 2 38. One is the forgiveness of your sins. And the other is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The first time the gospel was preached, Peter did not preach only forgiveness of sins. He says, the good news is, one, God deals with your past forgiveness of sins. And two, God helps you in the future to give to the Holy Spirit. Because we have two sides, the past and the future. Many people, their past is dealt with. Praise God. What about the future? The good news is, Acts 2 38, God gives you forgiveness of sins for your past, the gift of the Holy Spirit for the future. It's a, it's really good news. I tell you, it's really good news. And a lot of people have got half the gospel. They miss out on the other half. It's like going to buy a two volume encyclopedia and sort of getting A to M. When you get A to M, you won't be able to find out something about some country that begins with S or T. You wonder what happened. It's paid for. Why didn't you go and collect it? It's free. It's lying there in the shop for you. Free, as free as the first volume. A lot of people think, oh, to get my sins forgiven, that's easy. Let's come to Jesus and ask him, how many of you believe that you've got a past and pray for 40 days and things like that before you get your sins forgiven? I don't think I've met a believer in the world who believes that. But they do believe that, that when you come to the second volume, the second gift, oh, that's not so easy. That's another lie of the devil. And if you believe that lie, like I believed it for some time, you just wander around, wander around trying, oh, I've got to do something more. I'm not yet ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I'm not yet ready. I'm not ready. When will you be ready? He'll keep you waiting till you get to heaven. And when you get to heaven, if you get there, he'll say, now you can receive it. It's too late. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not for use in heaven. It's for use on this earth. I need to be overcomer in my life. I need to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve God in my life, to bless other people. I can't do any of these things without the power of the Holy Spirit. I can have my sins forgiven without the Holy Spirit. You know that? All I need to do is confess and say, Lord Jesus, your blood cleanses me. Praise God. And I can spend 50 years of my life confessing my sin. My sins are forgiven. Confess my sin. My sins are forgiven. But I'll never overcome sin in my life like some of you are defeated by the same old sins you were defeated 20 years ago by. Why is that? I'll tell you some of the sins I was defeated by. Complaining, grumbling, murmuring, bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, after I was born again, bad thoughts. And I could have lived like that all my life, but I finished with it. I finished with it years ago because I understood I could be not only be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but live every day filled with the Holy Spirit so that I'd never get angry with my wife or with people I work or never. I have worked with people in the office here in CFC for many different brothers who worked there with me for many, many years. And a lot of things didn't, them did a lot of wrong things. Go and ask them if I got yelled at them and got angry with them. God gives victory over anger. Go and ask my wife if I yelled at her. God gives victory. It's true. Now I'm not saying this to boast. I'm saying this to tell you the truth. The devil's a liar. You can overcome your anger. You can live a life where you're never depressed. I say that because that's, that's my experience now for many years. And it was not true in the early part of my Christian life. I'm not saying this to boast. I'm saying this to prove the devil's a liar. When he tells you, no, no, no, no, no. You have to be depressed once in a while. Rubbish. I remember once where I said this, some people came to me and said, Oh brother, Zach, but you don't understand. There's a thing called clinical depression and all that type of stuff. And some women get depression at different times. I say, well, then you got to have a different Bible, which says rejoice in the Lord, always accept women who are going through certain difficult times in their life or those who have clinical depression, all the others. Please rejoice in the Lord. Always. That's not what my Bible says. You believe all the lies that 6,000 million people in the world say, go ahead. I say, let them all say it. God is true. That's what changed my life. I said, God is true. I don't care what the doctors say. And I don't care what all the psychologists say. I believe God's word is true. You say that and I tell you to change your life. It'll make an insane person sane. It'll make a depressed person permanently free from his depression. I believe that because God's word says that. I remember once a man came to my house and said, brother Zach, you must teach people not to take medicines when they are sick. And where does it say that in the Bible? If it says that in the new Testament, I'll preach it. But you got that crazy idea in your head. Don't try and convince me. I'm not going to let the whole world say, I'm not going to listen to them. God's word is my guide. You know why some of you are defeated? Because you don't know what God's word says. You know more about the newspapers and the bombings in London than you know about God's word. Okay. But no wonder you're defeated. If you knew a little more about God's word, it'd make a difference in your life. I tell you, I'm sorry to say we have a generation of people today who know more about what television preachers preach than about God's word. And what is the result? Defeated. The home life that's miserable. There's no overcoming. There's no victory. It's the same old things again and again. My brothers and sisters, let me tell you, it need not be like that from today. If you will open yourself to the Holy Spirit and say, Lord, I want to live a life where sin does not rule over me. The devil's a liar when he says this sin has to rule over you. Oh, but you're young. You'll be defeated by lust till you get married. I mean, if that is true, then the Lord has to say, okay, all those who are married and who lust with their eyes, that is adultery. That's not what he said. You can be tempted to lust with your eyes when you're 15 years old or probably younger nowadays with all the evil on television. 13 years old, you can begin to lust with your eyes. What are you going to tell this young man? Sorry, there's no victory till you get married. You mean for the next 15 years, I've got to go on like this? Yeah, sorry. That's the good news. That's not good news. Not for a person who wants to please God. Is there no message for such a person that till he gets married, he can never overcome. He's just got to be defeated, defeated, defeated. One day he gets married and he discovers he's still defeated after that. Don't think you'll get victory by getting married over just because you got married. You'll be defeated by the same thing you're defeated when you're 14 years old. Victory is not through marriage. Sin shall not have dominion over you because you're married. No. Sin shall not have dominion over you because you're under grace. Whether you're 13 or whether you're 80, it's grace. It's the power of the Holy Spirit that can keep you from sinning. Take it seriously. The devil's a liar and let every man be a liar. God's word is true. Everything, every sin can be overcome. That is the message of the new covenant. Of course, we get more and more light just like the Bible says we grow. It's like school. The Bible speaks about our Christian growth like an education. You go from first standard to second standard, third standard, fourth standard. Now, it's like you ask a student in second standard or something. Can you get all your addition sums right? Yeah, 100%. Can you understand square root and geometry and trigonometry? No, no, not yet. But he's got 100% in maths. Even though he doesn't know geometry and he doesn't know square root and he doesn't know cube roots and trigonometry and all that. How did he get 100%? Because that's his level. Next year, he'll go to a higher level and he can get 100% again. Five years later, he'll understand more about geometry and trigonometry and get 100% there. So, God doesn't expect you to live beyond the light you have. Sin, overcome sin in the areas where you have light. Somebody who's 30 years more, been walking with the Lord more than you 30 years, he'll have more light naturally. So, God expects a higher standard from him. Do you know that all of us sitting here, God does not expect us to have the same degree of victory over sin? Here's somebody who was converted yesterday. You think God expects him to have the same degree of victory over sin as me? No, not at all. Now, he's just in the kindergarten. Some of us have been in school for 20 years. God expects a lot more from you. So, the only thing that God expects you to overcome is that which you have light on. And it may be very little right now, but it should not remain there. You don't want your son to remain in the same class every year. And God doesn't want you to remain in the same class, studying addition every year. He wants you to go on and discover other things. And that's Christian growth. And then as you grow, sin shall not have dominion over you there. And then you get light on some other sin in your life, that sin will not have dominion over you. And 20 years later, you get light on some other sin, that sin will not have dominion. And 40 years later, you get light on some sin that you never even knew was sin. And that sin doesn't have dominion over you. And gradually, you become more and more like Jesus. And you become a sweet, overcoming saint, who's a blessing to everybody you meet. Every word that comes out of your mouth is from God. Words that bless and strengthen and encourage. You don't get there overnight. No, you get there if you walk with God every day. And two little secrets to walk with God, to be filled with the Holy Spirit all the time. One is, keep a pure conscience. Always keep a pure conscience. As soon as you sin, immediately go and set it right with God and with man. That means if you lusted, tell God, Lord, I committed adultery just now, five minutes ago, in my thoughts, nobody knew it except me. I'm really sorry, Lord. And half an hour later, if you do it again, Lord, I'm sorry, I did it again. You've got to deliver me. Confess it immediately. And if you got angry with somebody, confess it to God and confess it to that person. Settle it immediately with God and man. Don't wait till the evening. If a thorn gets into your foot, when do you take it out? In the and you have a bad attitude. It's like a thorn. When are you going to take it out? Some people keep it in for five days. That's not God's will. You can take a thorn out of your body immediately. You don't take a thorn out of your relationship and your soul and your spirit for days. You've got to be crazy. That's like the person who who's got a sick child and a sick dog and takes the dog to the hospital first. Don't you think that person is mad? He should take his child first, then the dog. And if you've got a thorn in your relationship and a thorn in your body, get your relationship straight first before you remove the thorn from the body. I mean, that's simple. Otherwise, we're like the animals. The animals only care for their body. They don't care for relationships. And every human being who doesn't care for his relationships is like an animal. He's living at the level of the animals. You know that God made animals and human beings on the same day, the sixth day. To teach man, you can descend to the level of the animals very easily if you don't live by the Holy Spirit. So first thing, keep your conscience clear. And the second thing, only two things. Always humble yourself. Always, always. If you remember these two things, I guarantee you live a life filled with the Holy Spirit every day. You don't even have to pray, God fill me with the Holy Spirit. I do pray that a number of times, but I may not always remember to pray, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. But I don't need to. If I keep these two things clear, and I've tried my best for many years, to always keep my conscience clear, always. And in every situation, every situation, to choose the way of going down, of humility, not of arrogance and fighting for position, but going down, going down. You choose that way, my brothers and sisters, and you live a spiritual life. And sin will not have dominion over you. I want to show you another verse, Romans 8, verse 28. We are to be a living demonstration to the world that this word is true. Romans 8, 28 says, we know. Now, a lot of people don't know that, but we must know it. Paul says, we know it. We know with absolute certainty that God, Almighty God, our loving Father, causes, that means God manipulates things, does things, all things, everything in the world that happens in my life, to work together, not individually. Notice, every word in this verse is important. We know that it's Almighty God who causes everything to work together for our good, means our very best. If, if we love God, that means with all our heart, that means in my life, money is not important, job is not important, God is important first. And are called according to His purpose, that means I see that God has got a purpose for my life. And I want to fulfill that on earth. I don't want to be the greatest in any field on earth. I want to fulfill God's purpose for my life. If that is the type of person you are, that means you love God with all your heart, that you want to live according to the plan which God made for your life. Okay? And if there are people like that here, you really want to love God to the best of your knowledge, with all your heart, and you want to live according to the purpose God has for your life, I want to give you a promise from the Word of God, that every single thing, every single thing that human beings or the devil try to do to harm you, will work together for your good. And all the discipline God sends into your life, will work together for your good, to make you a better person. You know that God disciplines those whom He loves. When I was a young Christian, I would say, I know Jesus loves me because He died for me. As I've grown older, I say, I've got one more reason. I haven't forgotten the old reason. I still say, Jesus loves me because He died for me. But number two, Jesus loves me according to Revelation 3.19, He rebukes you and disciplines you. Revelation 3.19 says, as many as I love, as many as I love, I rebuke and I discipline. Hebrews 12 verse 6 onward says, if you are children, then God will discipline you. If God does not discipline you, probably you're not His children. That's it. It's that serious. I have never in my life spanked anybody else's children. Thank God. I hope to keep that testimony to the end of my life. But boy, did I spank my own children. I have rebuked my children more strongly than anybody else. Because they're my children. And I'm sure your testimony is the same as a father. If you see a boy on the road doing something terrible, you can't go and spank him. But if your child does 10% of that, you spank him. And when you do something wrong, what is the application of this? When you do something wrong, and God doesn't immediately spank you, discipline you. Brother, sister, something is seriously wrong. Perhaps you are not a child of God, according to Hebrews chapter 12. Perhaps God's given up on you. Because the last time you did something wrong, He spanked you, you got so offended. God says, okay, do what you like. You know, I have seen people like that. I don't know whether they're still believers, but they were good believers for a long time. But I knew them. Even some who were here in our church once. But they didn't listen. They didn't listen to God. They wouldn't accept correction. They wouldn't accept rebuke. Now I see they do so many wrong things and nothing happens to them. They go around speaking evil so much and they are living in good health. Do you envy that? I tell you, I don't envy that. I don't want to be like those street boys. I want to be a child of God. And I've seen in my life sometimes, I do this much wrong, and God's hard on me. And I asked the Lord, Lord, why did you do that? And the Lord says, you remember the little thing you did last week? For that little thing, for that little thing, you gave me a spanking, Lord. Please, Lord, do that all my life. Because that's what I want. I don't even want to go one degree off. And there are other people going 90 degrees, 180 degrees off. They seem to be happy. Yeah, the street children. Not God's children. God doesn't spank them. You know, in the Old Testament, they couldn't understand this. There was a man called Esau who wrote Psalm 73. He says, Lord, why do the wicked prosper? I can't understand it. I am so faithful. I'm keeping my heart clean. It looks as if it's all a waste of time because I'm suffering so much and I have so many problems and difficulties. But these wicked people who disobey you, Lord, they just seem to enjoy life and they are healthy and strong and everything seems to go well with them. And he says, this almost made me lose my faith till I came into your presence and I discovered what their final end is going to be and what my final end is going to be. So he says, thank you, Lord. I desire nothing on earth but you. Psalm 73, 25. And what do I desire in heaven but you? I'm willing, Lord, to be poor and to suffer all my life if I have you. They didn't understand it fully. Even Jeremiah had a problem with this. In Jeremiah chapter 12, he says, Lord, why do all these wicked people seem to have a good time and I'm your prophet and I'm suffering so much and everybody's out to get me even though I'm not doing anybody any harm. And these other fellows who are doing so many wicked things, they just seem to enjoy life. And once he even told the Lord, Lord, you're like a deceitful spring to me. I come to you for water and there's no water. And the Lord says, Jeremiah, stop all this nonsense. Stop saying these stupid things. You want to be my mouthpiece? Get rid of these bad words from your mouth. Speak words of faith. But in the New Testament, you never find Paul saying that, Lord, why are these wicked prospering? Never. He's understood, Romans 8, 28, that every single thing works for good to those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. And I want to say to you, my dear brothers and sisters, our calling in life, I told you only three things today, to be a living demonstration of the fact that when I've confessed my sins and returned from them, my sins are all blotted out permanently. There's no record of it anywhere in this universe. You go searching for it, you won't find it. But I want to say one qualifying thing. If you don't forgive somebody, somewhere that record comes up again. That's what the Bible says. Only one thing. If you don't forgive somebody, Jesus said all your debt will come back upon your head again. So that's why it's very important to forgive other people. The second thing I said was we got to be a living demonstration to the devil and to the world that sin cannot have dominion over me when I'm under grace. Cannot have dominion over me. God's grace is greater than the greatest temptation there is in the world. The devil says, no, I've got temptations greater than God's grace. And God's word says, no, God's grace is greater than every temptation. If somebody looks at your life, who will they believe is true? The devil or God? If somebody observes your daily life carefully, who will they believe is true? The devil or God? The devil who says, I've got temptations that are greater than any grace God can give. Or God who says grace is greater than every temptation. What does your life prove? I hope it'll be different from today. Lord, I believe grace is greater than any temptation. Maybe I haven't got it enough. And why don't I get it? Because God gives his grace only to the humble. God gives his grace only to the humble. Just acknowledge, Lord, I'm not humble. That's why didn't grace. I thought I was a very humble guy, but I discovered today I'm not. How do you know you're not? Because you're defeated by sin. And if you had grace, you'd have overcome that sin. Let's be honest. Let's not say God's word is not true. God is true. His word is true. But I'm not willing to humble myself. And number three, to testify to the devil and to the world. Every single thing works for my good. Discipline is for my good. All the bad things other people try to do to me all works for my good. Everything works for my good. So I praise the Lord. This is what it means to be a light in the midst of darkness. The whole world lies in darkness. They don't believe these things. And in the midst of that world, God has put you and me to be a light. May God help us.