This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding the power and promises of the new covenant through the indwelling Holy Spirit. It highlights how God's faithfulness ensures that believers will never face trials or temptations beyond their ability to bear, using examples from Paul's life to illustrate endurance and humility in the face of challenges. The message encourages believers to trust in God's provision, seek humility, and resist the devil with the assurance of victory.

So I want to continue on that. You see, there was never a promise like this, 1 Corinthians 10, 13, in the old covenant. There are many promises in the new covenant after Jesus came and the Holy Spirit came, which we can experience because of one reason, and that is that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. We have a power, it's like saying when electricity came, we could do so many things that people could not do before electricity came. So many gadgets in our house, it's all after electricity came. It's something like that, the promises in the new covenant. The Holy Spirit has come, now we have power to do so many things that people in the old covenant could not do. So what would you think of somebody today, where, who, electricity is available, and he does not use all the facilities that he can have in his house, with the use of electricity, and especially if all the gadgets are offered free, why wouldn't we use them? And if electricity is free, think if you were given a washing machine, and a dishwasher, and a dryer, and a computer, and everything that electricity can run, fans, and lights, and air conditioners, and everything was given to you free, and the electricity is free, is there anybody who would be so foolish as not to use it? No. We would all use it. It's exactly the same in the Christian life, we have to see that God has given us a power in the Holy Spirit, which nobody had in the Old Testament. Before electricity came, there were so many things people could not do, which we can do now. So it's exactly like that. And one of those wonderful things is, 1 Corinthians 10.13. Please turn in your Bibles, 1 Corinthians 10.13, so you know where it is, and if you have the habit of underlining, that's a good verse to underline. And that is that, God is faithful. That is the main important foundation for this statement. There is a sovereign God in heaven, who is absolutely faithful to ensure one thing, that you, as a child of God, never face a trial, or a temptation, that is too much for you to bear. He will allow pressure, because that's the way we grow strong. I mean, if you go to any gym, where people go to build their muscles, you'll find that every exercise there is to subject your muscle, the hand or leg or stomach, to a strain against something. And it's through straining against that pressure, even the legs when you run, that the muscles are built up. You can't build up muscles just by eating. Every muscle in the body develops when it's subjected to a strain. And that's the reason why God has allowed testing, trials and temptation, to make us stronger Christians. That's the only way, and that's one reason why God has allowed the devil to exist. It's a question that young Christians sometimes ask. Why doesn't God just destroy the devil with a word? No. Then who will be there to... God never tempts us. Who will be there to oppose us? So, there's a purpose that the devil fulfills. There's a purpose in all the testing and trial, that God brings into your life. Even Jesus, after he was filled with the Holy Spirit, it says the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tested. He was not tested with those temptations when he was 5 years old. No. He was tested with them when he was 30. Even as a man, there was a growth in the strength of temptations that Jesus faced. And it's exactly the same with us. He'll never allow us at any time to be tested beyond our ability. One of the best examples of that is in a school, in a final examination, no student gets a question paper above his class. If he's in 3rd standard, he'll only get a 3rd standard question paper. I don't think any of you ever faced, in your whole life, even by mistake, getting a question paper which was not meant for your class. And if a teacher can be careful in that, why won't God keep his promise? Now why I say this is because there are many many Christians who say this is getting too much for me, the way my husband is treating me is getting too much for me, the way my wife is behaving is getting too much for me, the way my parents are treating me is getting too much, the way children behave. I want to tell you my brother and sister, when you say that, you are glorifying the devil. I will never glorify the devil. When you say God, then you're saying God is not faithful. At this particular moment you're saying, in my house, with the pressure I'm facing right now, God is not faithful or he doesn't know what's happening. That's exactly what the devil wants you to say. And the more you say and think like that, the weaker you'll become. So, here is a wonderful promise really, to confess in that moment, Lord the pressure is very heavy, but I believe even in this time you're faithful. And you will not allow this to become too much for me to bear, but it says also here in this verse, God will provide a way of escape, so that I can endure it. There's a way of escape, so that I can endure it. And so, that way of escape is, if I choose to go the way Jesus went, of humbling myself and believing that God is sovereignly allowing this for my good. That's a way of escape. And I can testify for many years, that if you choose that way, I guarantee, you will never murmur, you will never complain, whatever may happen. You know, the Bible commands us, never to murmur, never to complain. That's another command which is impossible in the old covenant. The old covenant was only, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't tell lies, which are commandments people in the world are given. What are the commandments for us? It's not just that level. Let me turn you to Philippians 2. Philippians 2. See the standard that God has laid down for us in the new covenant. Philippians 2.14 Do everything, all things, without grumbling, without disputing, that is, without murmuring, without complaining, that is the way that you prove that you are a child of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in this world. So what it's saying is, the world is crooked and perverse. Why? Because it is murmuring and grumbling all the time. And in the midst of a world which is full of murmurers and grumblers and complainers, God says, I put you as a light that you will never murmur. You will never grumble. How many of you are serious about taking that as a challenge in your life? I did not start my Christian life like this. When I was born again, I was like every other person, murmuring, grumbling, complaining about everything. I didn't believe that I will not be tested beyond my ability. And nobody taught me. I'm sorry to say, in my whole life, I never sat in a church for 55 years where somebody taught me never to murmur, never to complain. I had to pick it up myself. You guys are lucky that you can hear these things from the pulpit. Because when I murmur and I complain, you don't realize I'm getting into fellowship with the devil. When I face a particular test or a trial in my home and I murmur and complain, I'm doing what the devil is doing. Because that is how he became the devil. See, it's because I'm discontent with the circumstances God has arranged for me that I murmur. I'm unhappy with my circumstances. And if you look at the origin of Satan, there were a number of things in his heart. One is pride. It's the origin of evil. Rebellion. Satan was proud, it says in Ezekiel 28, his heart was lifted up because he was an angel and he was beautiful and clever and all these things can make a person proud. An angel became a devil in a moment because of his pride and his cleverness and his beauty. You can be proud of your cleverness and beauty and become like a devil in a moment too. And the other thing in Satan was, secondly, the spirit of rebellion. I will not submit to authority. God was his only authority. I will not submit to authority. So remember that is the second thing. A spirit of rebellion, that's why I say if you want to save your children from fellowship with the devil, teach them one thing, more than physics and mathematics and English, teach them to obey their parents. If you don't teach your children to obey their parents, you are preparing them to fellowship with the devil who rebelled against authority. Thirdly, teach your children to respect their teachers in school. There is a terrific spirit of rebellion, you know, making fun of the teachers and speaking evil of them. Don't let your children do that. Let the other children do it. Let them go and serve the devil. We can't help it. Make sure your children have zero of the spirit of rebellion. Very important. If they go and work in an office, however bad the boss is, don't rebel. If you are not happy with that work, resign. Find another job. But rebellion at home, or in a school or college, or in your place of work, is to fellowship with the devil. It's very important to remember that. That's how an angel became a devil. And that's how you can become like the devil too, to rebel against authority. Very, very important. That's why rebellion against the authority of the elders in a church is a very serious thing. Because it's in fellowship with the devil. And that's when we don't permit it, because we don't want the devil to come inside the church. It's not because we love to have any authority as elders. Far from it. We are servants. But we don't want the devil to come into the church, so we don't allow rebellion against the elders. We say, if you are not happy with the church, brother, there are a thousand other churches. Please go and join there. Join wherever you like, but wherever you go, submit to them. So if you are not happy in one church, you can go to another. That's why the Bible says, wives submit to your husbands. A wife who does not submit to her husband is bringing the devil right into her home, and the devil will attack her children. And she'll say, how did that happen? That happened because you opened the door for the devil. That's how he came. Don't be surprised. So, in the same way, the husband must submit to God, authority over him who tells him to love his wife like Christ loved the church. If he doesn't seek to do that, he's also opening the door for the devil. So rebellion is the second thing. And the third thing, pride, rebellion, and third, discontent. These are the three characteristics of what made an angel into a devil. Please remember this. Discontent means, I'm unhappy with the circumstances, the situation God has placed me in. This angel was discontent with his position. He was the highest of all, and he was not content. Any type of discontent with your circumstances, or the color of your skin, or your intelligence, or your height, any type of discontent brings crumbling. Let me show you a verse, a warning, from the Old Testament in Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes has got some good statements there. And one of them is in Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Ecclesiastes 10, in the middle of verse 8, it says, A serpent will bite one who breaks through a wall. And I want to apply that to what I just said. God has built a wall around us, let's say, a wall right around us. And we are within that wall. Those are our circumstances. By that wall, I mean all your circumstances. Maybe your income is a particular size. If you get 10,000 rupees, that's the size of your boundary. Somebody else gets 50,000, his boundary is bigger. Somebody gets 100,000, his boundary is bigger. When you are not content with the circle God has drawn around you, you say, I want to get what I can't afford. You get into debt. That's a serpent's bite. Debt is the bite of a serpent. I am not talking about some emergency where you suddenly had to borrow something which you didn't immediately have the money. That's okay. Try and repay it as soon as possible. I am talking about where you want to get what other people have, even though you can't afford it. That's the great danger of the credit card. And ultimately a lot of people with credit cards get into so much debt. You have to be an extremely disciplined person, I'll tell you this, if you use a credit card. Otherwise you will destroy yourself and you will pass on your debt to your children and life is going to be very miserable. It's all going outside the wall. Contentment means, maybe God has drawn a very small circle around me. I am happy. And if God sees you are happy, He will gradually increase it. I remember my wife and I, we had a very small circle when we were married. Extremely small. We couldn't even rent a house. But we decided, okay, we will stay here. With the limited circumstances we have and never buy anything which we can't afford. As God increased that circle, then we could buy more things. And the result is in our entire married life we have never been in debt to anybody for even one rupee. Because we decided, I don't want the serpent to bite me. I don't want any fellowship with the devil outside that wall. So when I murmur and complain about my circumstances, maybe inside the wall God has allowed some pressures. And I complain about it. I want to break out of this wall. The circumstances can be like a pressure around me. But that's the way by which God seeks to lead you to a higher level. Let me show you a wonderful verse that the Lord showed me when I was a very young Christian. I'm sure it will help many of you. Psalm 66. In Psalm 66, try and apply this to your own life. Psalm 66 and verse 10 to 12. Here it says, O God, you have tried us. Tried us means you have tested us. You have refined us as silver is refined. Silver is refined by being put in the fire. Silver is never refined by soap and water. So, the Lord you put us in the fire. My circumstances were fiery. And you brought us into a net. Caught in a net like fish in a net. You can't escape. Maybe your circumstances, maybe you find yourself in circumstances where you can't escape. Difficult circumstances. Maybe your home or with your relatives. You're like caught in a net. But it's God who did it. You brought us into that net. That's the point here. Here's a man whose faith, believing the net didn't come up by people. You allowed people to put this net around me. And you refined us. And you laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. That means you made a, put a heavy weight upon us. It's always you. You, verse 12, made men ride over our heads. That means treat us like dirt. Have you had that experience? Somebody treating you like dirt. Riding over your head. Do you see the man? Or do you say, Lord, you made that man treat me like dirt. That man didn't put a burden on me. You made that man put an oppressive burden on me. And what was the result? We went through fire. When a man put me into the fire, it was God who allowed it. Took me out of the fire and put me into ice cold water. God did that. And what is the final result of a man who submitted, without complaining, without grumbling, in all these circumstances, he said, Lord, you did it, you did it, you did it, you did it. And didn't complain about people and circumstances. You know what is the final result? You brought us into a place of abundance. You brought us into a place where rivers of living water began to flow out from us. This is God's way by which he makes a man or a woman a man of God and a woman of God. All of us go through trials and circumstances. But a few of them, few of us react like this psalmist reacted, Lord, I see you in it. I see you in it. You know the meaning of that verse in Matthew 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they what is it? shall see who? God. How have you understood that verse? For many years I understood it like this, that if I keep my part pure, one day I'll see God. It's true. But there's more to it than that. Right here, if I keep my heart pure, the way God wants it to be, I will see God in all my circumstances. I will only see God. I won't see people. Then I won't have any complaints. I'll give you an example of it. When Judas Iscariot came and betrayed Jesus, Peter did not see God. He saw Judas Iscariot. He took out his sword. I think he wanted to hit Judas Iscariot. But he was a fisherman. His aim is not very good. He hit some soldier instead and cut off his ear. And what did Jesus do? Jesus said, The cup which my father has given me, shall I not drink it? See the difference between Peter and Jesus? Peter saw Judas Iscariot. Jesus saw his father. And that made all the difference. He immediately picked up that ear from the ground and put it back on the soldier's head and healed him. You can't do that. Unless you can see God in all circumstances. Imagine if all... I don't know what circumstances you are facing right now. Who do you see? Do you see Judas Iscariot? Do you see some person? Or can you say like Jesus, The cup which my father has given me, shall I not drink it? I mean the postman was Judas Iscariot. Supposing you get a check for a hundred thousand rupees but it came from a very ugly rude postman. You won't tear it up saying well the postman who brought it was an ugly rude fellow. I'm not going to take this check. So what if he was an ugly rude fellow? It came from my father. That's how Jesus saw it. I want you to see my brothers and sisters that sometimes God sends his messages through some very ugly rude mailman. But see the one who sent it. The cup which my father has given me. That's what the psalmist said. Okay, men rode over my head and I went through fire and water oppressive burden. It was you, you, you, you, you, you. That's what you got to see in verse 10 to 12. Always you. God will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability but will give you a way of escape. And that way of escape is if you can have humility and faith. Lord, in this situation I humble myself and I believe this is you. You have arranged my circumstances. You have allowed this fellow to talk to me like this. See the beautiful example of David in 1 Samuel. I'm sorry 2 Samuel. And there was a time in David's life when his own son Absalom rebelled against him and chased him out of the throne. You must read that story in 2 Samuel and chapter 15 about the man who chased him out and in chapter 16 you find David is running for his life because his son has chased him out. I mean David is an old man now, maybe 55, 60 years old. 60 years old. He'd been on the throne for 30 years and his son rebelled against him. The son whom he brought up rebelled because he wanted to be the king. Chased out his father David and David had to run for his life. Now when David was running for his life there was a relative of the old king Saul whom David had replaced who was always bitter against David. For 30 years he had been bitter against David for you know replacing Saul and Saul's son Jonathan could not be the king etc. And this guy was a relative of Saul who had probably had a lot of influence in the palace when Saul was king and he was so bitter that when he heard that David is being kicked out and running for his life he was so happy he went to meet David. You read in 2nd Samuel 16. His name was Shimei. 2nd Samuel 16 and verse 5 When King David came to Bahurim, behold there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei. The son of Gera. He's from the family of Saul. He came out cursing. He called David every bad name he could think of and he threw stones at King David and all the servants of David and Shimei cursed him saying get out you man of bloodshed you worthless fellow now the Lord has punished you for all the bloodshed you brought on the house of Saul in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given your kingdom into the hand of your own son Absalom and your evil has come upon you. You're a man of bloodshed and David had a soldier a general called Abishai next to him and he said to David why should this dead dog curse my Lord the King? Let me go and cut off his head right now. Listen to David's words. The king said I've got nothing to do with you Abishai. If Shimei curses me it's because the Lord has told him or permitted him. Let's put it like that. The Lord has permitted him to curse me. Then how can I say why have you done it? Remember what we read in Psalm 66? You Lord. It's not Shimei. He's only the postman. You have permitted first of all you permitted my son to kick me out of the throne and make me run for my life and now you have permitted Shimei to curse me and if you permit Shimei to curse me I'm not going to fight with him. I'll just accept it. He said even my son seeks for my life he said in verse 11. See that's what, David had many weaknesses no doubt but in these few instances you see the heart of that man there was something good there and today we don't have to be, David had these occasional times when he would say something wonderful the difference in the new covenant is what was occasional can be permanent in our life. In the book of Job for example he went through so many pressures occasionally he would say some wonderful things like my redeemer is alive and God knows everything that's happening to me but most of the time he was down in the dumps but in the new covenant because we got electricity, because we got the Holy Spirit we don't have to be in spurts spiritual we can be all the time because we know God will give me a way of escape so that I can endure it means so that I can overcome in every situation this is the wonderful message of the new covenant most Christians that I have met I'm sorry to say live in the old covenant they have occasional times when they have spurts of excitement and happiness and no murmuring and complaining particularly after listening like a message like this one or two days you may be great but then you go into the dumps again because you don't believe consistently that my loving father in heaven undertakes for everything and I will never murmur, I will never complain against anybody in the world about how they treat me everything that people do is much better than I deserve when Paul who wrote this verse, God will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability let me show you something of his own experience, he writes that to the Corinthians you know we read it just now 1 Corinthians 10, 13, remember that verse, God will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability but with the temptation will make a way of escape that we can endure it, we can overcome it and I want to say that you must confess it confess it, confess it, this particular trial I'm going through right now, Lord you have allowed it I see human beings are the postman but you have sent it and you will never confess it to God, I believe you will never allow it to become too much for me I won't drown underneath this I won't be burnt in this fire I'll be purified so Paul tells the Corinthians something of his own trials he went through and you wonder why Paul has written it sometimes Jesus never told us about all the trials he went through in his 30 years in Nazareth God allowed Paul to tell us about some of the trials he went through in the Acts of the Apostles you read about number of trials he went through, that's written for our encouragement so let me show you something of the trials Paul went through and compare your own trials with that ok, what you're going to do right now it's a little homework 2 Corinthians 11 you are going to compare that particular trial you think is too much for you with what Paul went through ok, and remember Paul was more faithful than any of us does God take his faithful servants through this? 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 23 2 Corinthians 11, 23 Are they servants of Christ? I speak as if I am insane I am more than that ok I have laboured far more than others I have been in prison more times than all these other preachers around me I have been beaten so many times I can't even remember how many times have you been beaten for preaching the gospel he says he has been beaten so many times that he has lost count and I have been often in danger of death not because of cancer or things like that, danger of death because he is preaching the gospel in risky places particularly the Jews hated him and Paul would go and preach the gospel and sometimes they wanted to kill him all these things are for the sake of the gospel it's not because he was trying to make money or anything like that we get into a lot of problems because we are going after things which we want for ourselves and five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes you see the Jews were taught you must never give anybody more than 40 lashes so just to be on the safe side they'd only give 39 just in case they made a mistake in counting and he got that five times with his shirt taken off and whipped on the back 39 lashes five times for preaching the gospel three times I was beaten with rods that's different from the lashings lashings are with leather whips three times with rods once I was stoned when Stephen was stoned he died when Paul was stoned they left him for dead but he didn't die he was probably just unconscious for a long time once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked see those days the seas were rough and the ships were all sailing ships and not very strong we read of one shipwreck that Paul faced in Acts 27 what he tells us actually he was shipwrecked three times you know traveling for preaching the gospel why does God allow someone who is going to preach the gospel to be shipwrecked I mean can't God take care of that one ship because his servant is there he didn't allow Paul to die that is true God does not allow a person to die before his time but shipwreck yes and a night and a day I have spent in the deep sea that means 24 hours once when he was shipwrecked he had to keep swimming for 24 hours that's one verse that tells us he was a good swimmer or he may have had a piece of wood to hang on to but 24 hours in the sea and there he is Lord I went to preach the gospel which you allowed me to be floating around in the sea I thought of this you know if I were drowned in I mean if I was in a ship and shipwrecked and I'm hanging on to a piece of wood I'd say Lord send a ship right now please get somebody right now you know how we pray when we are in some difficult situation it may not be a shipwreck but some other situation Lord do it right now Lord within five minutes send somebody and one hour goes by and two hours go by and ten hours Lord in Jesus name right now get it that's how we pray are you surprised that an answer doesn't come so soon imagine being 24 hours just picture this in your mind when you read the bible you must use your imagination picture yourself in the middle of the sea tossing around with waves and you don't know whether you'll survive or not and you're praying and there's no ship in sight floating around floating around floating around but Paul's time had not come so he cannot die it's an amazing thing God will never allow us to be tested beyond your ability he became a stronger man at the end of it and he survived then he says I've been on frequent journeys again not to make money but to preach the gospel we travel to make money and do so many things for holiday vacation so many things Paul wasn't going on vacation his vacations were to go to preach the gospel and he says I've been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers you know drowning in rivers dangers from robbers those days it was not safe walking on the roads lonely roads dangers from my fellow countrymen the Jews and dangers from non-Jews who opposed Paul converting people to Christ dangers in the city and dangers in the wilderness dangers on the sea and dangers among false brothers that's another problem people who come to the church we don't face so much of it now we have backsliders today but Paul had false brothers you know some Jews who came in as spies pretending to be Christians to somehow trap Paul or grab him or false brothers there have been a number of cases in Christian history where false brothers came into a group of believers and betrayed them cheated them handed them over to the authorities in China communist countries it's happening even in the 20th century happened and among false brothers and on top of all that I've been in labor and hardship because you know Paul supported himself financially and he had to earn his own living and there was a lot of hard work there he would sit at night stitching tents so that he could not be dependent on people financially and so through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst that means he didn't have enough to eat or drink sometimes often, not once or twice often without food brothers, sisters when can you see I was often without food this is a man of God the greatest man of God in the first century in cold and exposure sometimes didn't have a blanket to cover himself and on top of all this the greatest pressure of all concern for all the churches the problems in different churches with the elders or compromise or some sin that he has to deal with it think of this man this is the man who writes God will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability now do you understand this is not somebody sitting in an easy chair and writing some letter and when you compare what you are going through what you are going through is a mosquito bite that you are complaining about so much this guy was facing lions compare being bitten by a mosquito and somebody facing lions these things are written for our encouragement do you know what made Paul the mighty man of God that he became anointed with the Holy Spirit continuously from the day he started till the end of his life continuously anointed he went through these trials that's what made him a man of God if you escape those trials you will never become what God wants you to become there are very few men in Christian history I will tell you that who were anointed and continued faithfully with the standard God kept them told them to keep anointed, anointed, anointed and even greater anointing till the end of their life without compromise very very few even in the world today many people start well but a few years later they compromise and want to please men and the anointing is gone but Paul was not like that till the end of his life he preached the same standard that he preached he never lowered his standard never compromised because God kept him faithful through trial so there is a purpose in trial you see the next chapter chapter 12 all this was not enough I mean we would have thought all this is enough lord to keep a man humble no on top of all this God gave Paul a sickness in his body it says in 2nd Corinthians 12.7 to keep me from exalting myself I was given a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me do you know the meaning of torment have any of you experienced torment something that's keeping on troubling you it's called torment hurting you, someone keeping on yelling at you yelling at you, yelling at you that's torment and here is a sickness that never seems to go away he says I pleaded with the lord three times to take it away and the lord said no my grace is sufficient for you God never took away Paul's sickness and he suffered with it and once he understood that the purpose of this is to keep me humble because all the fantastic things God has done through me I am in danger of pride so God has to humble me before others so God gave him a sickness which was in Galatia which was an area and he planted churches there but God stopped him there by a sickness that's why he says there it was through a bodily illness that I ended up in Galatia preaching the gospel to you for the first time and that sickness of mine was a trial to you in my bodily condition how can somebody's sickness verse 14 be a trial to somebody else now it's a trial to me if I am sick it's a trial to me but he says my sickness was a trial to you in my bodily condition and you did not despise or loathe it how can you loathe somebody's sickness unless it's something visible I mean if a man's got an inward liver problem or kidney problem you don't see it you can't loathe him for it but if he's got a sickness which is visible which makes you feel I don't like looking at him you know like somebody who's got leprosy you don't feel like looking at it I think Paul had this when he was speaking this eye's pus coming out and having to wipe it all the time it's sickening to see man's pus coming out of a man's eyes all the time and he's preaching in front of you the whole time see how God humbled this man he was not like a film star like a lot of today's preachers standing before people he was 4 feet 11 inches he'd be this height and he spoke in a pulpit and he was bald with a hooked nose that's what history tells us not very attractive and on top of that he had these drooling eyes I mean eyes dripping with pus and he says you did not despise me but even though you saw this you received me as an angel of God you received me as if I was Jesus Christ himself imagine receiving a servant of God as if he was Jesus Christ himself what a man Paul must have been what a godly man he must have been despite all his physical appearance that people received him this is Jesus who has come to our church now he says in the middle of verse 15 I bear you witness that if possible you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me that's how we know it was a sickness in the eyes you would have taken your eyes and given them to me when you saw the sickness in my eyes you didn't loathe me, you loved me so much you know like a mother would love to give her own, take away the child sickness and give her own health to the child here were people who loved Paul so much because they saw how he labored to serve them and build them up and lead them to Christ and change their lives, they loved him so much that they said Paul I wish I could give my eyes to you amazing how those holy Christians loved one another they cared for God's servants so much Paul had no complaints he never complained with this eyes drooling he was in prison and he would say rejoice always, he always said God will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability, I know that so when such a man writes that verse in 1 Corinthians 10.13 it's not just a theory he's proved it through years at least maybe 20 years of his life before he writes it and a man who went through far more trials than you and I have so I hope what we have read here will save us from complaining about little little trials that we face in our life why something has not happened why we prayed for so long and the answer didn't come dear brother, sister I don't know why but one thing I'll tell you, God is faithful he will never allow the trial to become too much for you remember this for the rest of your life the same with temptation there are some people who say oh this temptation, I just can't overcome it I just can't overcome it, this anger, this lust don't say that say there is no temptation that I cannot overcome it may take me 10 years to get it, overcome it but I'm going to get it, I'm going to overcome I remember when I was seeking for the power of the Holy Spirit in my life I said Lord I don't want a cheap counterfeit I won't just go to some prayer meeting and get some fellow to put his empty hands on my head and think I've got it, I've got nothing I will not do that, I will come to you Jesus if it takes me 10 years, I'll wait 10 years and get the real thing rather than some cheap I see so many people today who got some cheap counterfeit baptism in the Holy Spirit that doesn't help them in any way that leaves them grumbling, complaining, murmuring discontent, proud, arrogant I said what type of baptism in the Holy Spirit is this love of money and everything satisfied with some counterfeit they wanted a badge unbaptized in the Holy Spirit I didn't want any badge I said Lord I want the real thing from you and I don't care whether people think I've got it or not I want the real thing and if it takes me 10 years or 20 years I'll wait go to God like that that mighty power of the Holy Spirit can keep you overcoming all the time in every trial, He'll never let you sink He'll keep you on top like Peter walking on the water the reason is because the one who's coming and posing as the devil was defeated on the cross that's what we need to remember all the time let me show you Colossians in chapter 2 in Paul's letter to the Colossians he tells them what Jesus did on the cross we think we know what He did well first of all we read in verse 14 He cancelled the certificate of debt against us sin is like a debt we owe to God and there was a big certificate against us hundreds of millions of sins Jesus tore it up on the cross number one cancelled it all those decrees that were against us that were hostile to us He took it out of the way nailed it to the cross number one secondly all these evil authorities like the devil and his demons he disarmed them he did not destroy them the devil is not destroyed, he is alive but his armor is gone he cannot fight against you if you believe that he was defeated on the cross if you don't believe that Satan was defeated on the cross you will always be afraid of him I don't know whether you believe that Satan should be afraid of you Satan can't harm you if you have faith in God if you submit your whole life to God and say Lord I have no ambition on earth except to do your will I have no desire to do anything on this earth except fulfill the will of God in my life if you can say that honestly and Lord I never want to exalt myself over any human being I always want to go down and humble myself I want to die to myself if you say that I want to say to you that is submission to God the devil will be afraid of you just like you were afraid of the devil once upon a time isn't it a wonderful thing to be? Jesus was never afraid of Satan and you and I need never be afraid of Satan or somebody trying to put a curse on us or witchcraft it's all garbage nobody can touch you if you submit to God let me show you James chapter 4 I'll show it to you from scripture James and chapter 4 and verse 7 here is a verse that is misquoted by some people they misquoted by saying resist the devil and he will flee from you I say no it first says submit to God that's the part they leave out and before that it says God gives grace to the humble verse 6 read it all together be humble God will give you grace verse 6 submit to God then resist the devil but if you skip all that say I'm gonna go resist the devil you won't be able to do it God gives grace to the humble submit to God now resist the devil and what does it say he will do he will not run but flee flee is a much stronger word than run have you fled from the devil in past days now are you just holding your ground or is he fleeing from you I know what God's will for me is the devil must flee from me not once in a while all the time all I have to do is always humble myself get God's grace and submit to him always the devil will flee from me who is the one who flees from you one who is afraid of you who is the one you flee from one you're afraid of supposing you heard there was a lion that escaped from the Banerjata safari roaming the streets in Bangalore and one day you walk out and you see that lion and it's charging at you what will you do I don't know what you brave guys will do I'll run I'll flee but if I see a mouse in my house a tiny mouse I know some women will run but most of us I don't think you'll run you just stamp your foot and what does the mouse do flee that's right flee so when you confront Satan is he coming at you like a lion once upon a time it was like that today before me he's like a mouse because I know my position in Christ I used to flee I'm ashamed of the days when I used to flee because I never knew my authority my position in Christ today I know it and I believe God's word not he might flee he will flee the only thing that can prevent him from fleeing is when you stand up to him he says Jesus I know Paul I know but I know all about you I know how you watch pornography on your computer when nobody is looking I know so many things in your private life and all the unrighteousness and money matters you're trying to make me flee you won't do it I'll make you flee that's what the devil says to some people keep away from sin my brothers sisters humble yourself live before God's face and submit to God what a wonderful life it is to live on this earth and the devil flee from us at every single time that is how we honor God one last verse 1 John chapter 4 it's one of my favorite verses and that's why we put it up there in the back of the hall 1 John 4 17 as Jesus is so also are we in this world the last part of verse 17 1 John 4 17 if you didn't know where that verse was it's in 1 John 4 17 towards the end as Jesus is so also are we in this world Jesus was not scared of the devil for one second I don't want to be scared of the devil did the devil attack Jesus? sure he even killed him so I'm not saying he won't attack us I'm not scared he killed Peter, he killed Paul he killed all the apostles so what? he killed James when he was 30 years old but with God's permission like in the book of Job God permits Satan to do certain things that's fine, but we are not scared of him we don't run away from him he flees from us and when God's time comes he may allow the devil to kill some of us fine I mean those days of persecution may still come if God wants to purify the church in India he may do it that way but we rejoice even in those situations, Paul says death, life, sword nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus I want to say to you brothers, the Christian life is a triumphant life always victorious never complaining, never grumbling because Jesus won the victory for us when he rose from the dead and he is our Savior Amen let's bow before God in prayer Our Father I pray that everyone here may taste this life of triumph to which you have called us give us the power of the Holy Spirit everyone we pray in Jesus name Amen