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Thou Shalt Not Kill - Part 1
Joshua Daniel

Joshua Daniel (1928 - 2014). Indian evangelist and president of Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International, born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, to N. Daniel, a mathematics teacher turned revivalist. Saved at 15, he began preaching at 16 to students in Madras, earning a Master’s in English Literature from Madras University. Joining his father’s ministry in 1954, he led Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship from 1963, headquartered in Chennai, growing it to hundreds of centers across India, Cyprus, Guyana, and London. Known as the “boy revivalist,” he authored Faith Is the Victory and delivered thousands of sermons, aired on TV and radio in multiple languages, focusing on salvation and revival. Married to Lily, they had three children, including John, who succeeded him. His annual retreats at Beulah Gardens drew 7,000-9,000, emphasizing prayer and holiness. Daniel’s ministry, marked by tentmaker missionaries, impacted millions despite later critiques of family-centric leadership.
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Sermon Summary
This sermon by Joshua Daniel emphasizes the importance of following God's commandments, particularly focusing on the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill.' He highlights the prevalence of violence, moral decay, and societal breakdown in the modern world, stressing the need for a return to God's principles to restore peace and righteousness. Through real-life examples and biblical references, Joshua Daniel challenges listeners to consider the consequences of disregarding God's commandments and the impact it has on individuals and society as a whole.
Sermon Transcription
Welcome to the Lord's Challenge with Joshua Daniel. The Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International is a ministry reaching people from all walks of life since 1935. After a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ at the age of 16, Joshua Daniel has been declaring the marvelous deliverance from sin, which is freely given to all those who turn to the loving Saviour. From small villages to large cities, in many parts of the globe, through revival meetings, literature, radio, internet and television, Joshua Daniel has been tirelessly laboring, trusting God to supply all that is needed. Wherever this message has gone out, broken relationships have been restored, sickness healed, ill-gotten money returned, and thieves turn into givers. We now invite you to watch and receive the invaluable blessing that God has for you. Now dear friends, I want to talk to you of something so cardinal, so deeply necessary today, and what can it be apart from the commandment of God. It was not a suggestion. Thou shalt not kill. In other words, you shall not kill. Now, what do we see all around us? We see the killing fields. You know, they used to talk of the killing fields of Cambodia, or Loves, where people were butchered by communist men who had no regard for human life. Okay, but what is it today? There seems to be a whole transformation in this interim period, and this transformation is making whole governments look like sleepy old watch people. They're simply not able to handle this new situation. You know, it's a case of locking the stable after the horses have bolted, and to what purpose is that? So, thou shalt not kill. You know, the Lord Jesus said, I am come that they should have life, and life more abundant. Just think of that. It's not just a question of a little lingering type of feeble type of living, but the abundant style of life, full-fledged, wholehearted, full of power, full of vim and vitality to do that which is right, and to have the courage to point a finger at something which is wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong, wrong family-wise, and having the potential of bringing down your whole nation. We see people, whole peoples disappearing today. We see population coming down, and in some other areas of the world, so much butchery that many villages are lying desolate, the inhabitants having been either killed, kidnapped, or driven into slavery, or when did this all happen? You might think, oh, way back in the dark ages. Yes, yes, dark ages, and that's now today. So, we have rendered the 21st century into a dark, if not the darkest age, when on the one hand, moral responsibility has seized, and people will bite somebody intending to infect the person with AIDS. Have you not heard of this? Yes, and it is no longer love, but lust, and lust parades around as love today, with the result that our courts, divorce courts are full, and the kind of accusations that people throw at each other in a court is something appalling, and who are the witnesses of these things? The immediate family circle, which means children and infants. Oh, my. Thou shalt not kill. You may say, where is it to be found? Exodus chapter 20 and verse 13. This is one of the ten commandments which was given to Moses. Now, if somebody decides to ignore this commandment, then society as we know it, and have known it, cannot exist. There is terror everywhere. There are tears everywhere. There is blood flowing in the street, as well as in the bedroom. Now, is that the kind of atmosphere in which any healthy person can grow or thrive? Impossible. Now, my dear friends, when you go counter to the word of God, you make things impossible. You know, a bootlegger came to one of my meetings, and I eventually, after talking to him, I asked him, what is your trade, or what is your profession? He said to me, I live by illicit distillation. Bootlegging. Very well. And I said to him, but where is your wife and family? Oh, he said, my wife has run away, and in fact, divorced me in court. She actually told the judge, I simply cannot live with this man. He will kill me. My dear friends, and the judge, of course, gave her what she wanted.
Thou Shalt Not Kill - Part 1
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Joshua Daniel (1928 - 2014). Indian evangelist and president of Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International, born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, to N. Daniel, a mathematics teacher turned revivalist. Saved at 15, he began preaching at 16 to students in Madras, earning a Master’s in English Literature from Madras University. Joining his father’s ministry in 1954, he led Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship from 1963, headquartered in Chennai, growing it to hundreds of centers across India, Cyprus, Guyana, and London. Known as the “boy revivalist,” he authored Faith Is the Victory and delivered thousands of sermons, aired on TV and radio in multiple languages, focusing on salvation and revival. Married to Lily, they had three children, including John, who succeeded him. His annual retreats at Beulah Gardens drew 7,000-9,000, emphasizing prayer and holiness. Daniel’s ministry, marked by tentmaker missionaries, impacted millions despite later critiques of family-centric leadership.