In this sermon, the preacher begins by acknowledging that life is not always fair, but emphasizes the amazing grace of God that brings people together in different circumstances. He then directs the congregation to Matthew 23:3-4 and encourages them to open their Bibles and follow along. The preacher mentions his current focus on prayer and prays for God to reveal His truth through His word. He shares a personal anecdote about running in his kitchen and his mother's humorous reaction. The sermon also briefly touches on the topic of courtship and the importance of learning about it to avoid unnecessary problems.

I hope all of you had a wonderful morning, and that you rested well last night. I had a wonderful morning. I woke up in the morning, my dad said I must exercise, so I decided to honor my father. And I started to run in my pajamas around the kitchen. Round and round and round and round and round, about for 13 minutes, I was running, running, running, running in this little room. And my mom came out, but she didn't know I was running, she looked at me and she started laughing. It's terrifying. And, uh, Dorgan, I'm not going to preach this morning on how to get a wife, luckily. So you don't have to worry. But I'd like to mention, I have a friend in Africa, he's wonderfully married. And I remember years back, he went to public school and he didn't know much about courtship. So I decided I have to teach him about courtship, or else he's going to hurt himself. And, uh, because he was very human, boys are human. And, uh, so I decided to give him a video that Bo got, that Uncle Stephen offered on courtship. And I said sit down, he didn't understand English much, but he sat down there. And I tried to get him to listen to this English sermon on courtship. And he listened and he listened, and he'd never heard the word courtship in his life. And he looked at this thing and he said, courtship? I said, what is courtship? I've never heard about courtship before. He said, I wish I'd heard about courtship. I would have been saved from so many problems, he said. And I really now believe in courtship. And I thought, this is wonderful, I really thought, this is so amazing. I showed him the video, I believe in courtship. He saw a girl and he really liked her, his heart went bang. And, uh, that was him, he's very human. And he went to his father and he said to him, and he didn't know much about courtship. But he said, father, I just want to talk to you about something. He said, that's fine. He said, I believe in courtship. Can I marry your daughter? And he was shocked. But anyway, they got married. They happily married and they wonderfully married. And they're one of the most lovely, lovely families out there. They're a mission couple. They've got one child and a second child that's an expectant. What's wonderful about them is one person said, and this is God's grace, but I don't believe you should make a rule of it. He said, why is it that he did everything wrong and he's happily married? And I'm doing everything right and I'm unmarried. This is not fair. But that is how it is sometimes. And, uh, it's amazing God's grace. It brings people together in different ways, in different circumstances. Now, I'm going to read a verse this morning, Matthew 23, Matthew 2, verses 3 and 4, and I'd like you to look it up in your Bible. Matthew 23, verses 3 and 4. I'm going to preach on an interesting topic. Okay, I'm meant to pray now. Father, I just want to thank you so much that we can come again and be gathered around by a precious word. And I want to ask you that you would break open the word of God to us today. Like in Psalm 190, it says, Open our eyes and remember, behold, the one is in my law. And Father, I ask you that you would just show us, Continue my word, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. And I ask today that the truth would start to set people free from the lies that are in Christians' lives. And I ask, Father, this is in the name of Jesus Christ, knowing that you've answered prayers, you've answered so many prayers before, and I ask this morning that you would answer prayer, and that you would bind the demons in the name of Jesus Christ, and that you would be here in a special way. We long for that presence. We long for your working in our hearts. We long for you to change lives, because if you don't, God, then what's in a life that has changed? And I ask this in Jesus Christ's name, my dear Lord and Savior. Amen. I'm going to read Matthew 23, verses 3 and 4. It's talking about the Pharisees. Jesus Christ was talking to the Pharisees, and he said, All therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not eat after their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and greaves to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders. But they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. I'm going to speak this morning on spiritual pressure, for want of a better term. Something that I love to study on through the years, studying the old revivalists, and how they came under spiritual pressure. And there's two types of legalism, which you'll read it here. Two types of legalism. The one type is the type of the Pharisees. And they, the Pharisees, their type of legalism was they had a whole lot of rules, which they gave to other people. They gave these rules to other people. They only did them in front of the people, but behind their backs they didn't do them. They didn't touch them with one of their fingers, the Bible says. And these rules were not a burden to them, because they didn't consider it even to have to keep them. But then you had a second type of people, you had the hearers. These people that heard these Pharisees giving these rules, and they believed, as they listened to these Pharisees telling them of these rules, they believed, according to the scripture, verse 4, that this was God's will for their life. And as they heard these rules, they decided that if I want to be spiritual, I have to copy these Pharisees, I have to do what they say is God's will. And as they listened to this, it became a burden, says the Bible, grievous to be born. You know, spiritual pressure is one of Satan's most destructive weapons, a burden grievous to be born. And I'd like to start off with a sermon saying this thing, there's a lie that many young Christians, many godly Christians, many of the revivalists, some of them found it out if you read their life stories, if you read into their diaries, they only found it out at the end of their lives many times, believe, and that is this, that if you are right with God, and walking close with God, it is impossible to be deceived. If you are right with God, and walking close to God, it is impossible to be deceived. I listened, on the internet there was a great preacher, I have great respect for him, preaching a sermon, and I love his sermons, but then he came with one sermon, and he said if you walk close with God, and you're right with God, then it is impossible to be deceived. And I said, oh no, because that's the first step to being deceived, is to believe you can't be deceived. You know, when I was just saved, I remember God radically changed my heart, I had a love for God, there was nothing on earth that I longed for more, than to walk closely with God, and to do His will. I didn't want to lie any sin into my life, I wanted to walk close with God, I spent hours with the Bible in the morning, and through the day, I used to sit there reading the Bible, every spare moment I used to go out, and try to win souls. I was right with God, just after my salvation. And I believe this lie. I believe as long as I keep myself close to God, there will be no way, that God will show me if Satan lies to me. And then Satan came, I wouldn't say Satan, and he came and started to lie to me, and say, this is God's will. And I thought it must be God, because I'm walking close to God, and I said, okay, I want to do God's will, I really want to please God, and I thought, okay, I'm going to do this, and I took this lie of Satan. And then I took another lie from Satan, and I took another lie, and eventually I did rules. Burdens, grievous to be born, because I believe that lie. You know, I believe the most strange things. This is not, I'm not going to mention a lot of the things that really were burdens, grievous to be born, I'm just going to mention some of the things that are really strange. I believe that to have revival, you had to cry. You had to be a crier, you had to, somehow, if you were truly broken by God, and you preached, and you wanted revival, there must be tears rolling down your face, if you really loved these people in front of you. I believe that as you sang, that if you were really in touch with God, that you would cry when you sing. And one day I was walking down the road, and I, sometimes really from my heart, I used to cry, tears rolled down my face as I praised God, and I sang the old hymns. But then there were times when I just couldn't cry. And I thought, is there something wrong with me, have I now suddenly not got love? And then suddenly I remembered that verse, one of the verses which said, The joy of the Lord is thy strength. And I thought, God doesn't always want us to be crying all the time. And so God, the truth, set me free. You know, later on I got into a great torment, one of the, Charles Finney is a wonderful man, his books have been used in revival across the world. But he's also been used of Satan, and Satan used scripture, so Satan used godly preachers to bring people into bondage. And one of the people he used is the, not used Charles Finney, but used of his writings, Satan has twisted it. And I remember reading this book as a young Christian, on how to have revival. And I wanted revival, I wanted everything that was of God. And I read this book, How to Have Revival, and it said, it came to a point where it said, you have to confess all your sins to people. You have to make a long list, Charles Finney said. And he went on, and he said that every little mistake he ever made, basically like you have to write letters and tell them. And I read this thing, and I thought, okay, I'm going to do it, because I want revival. And I started writing letters, and I felt great when I wrote these letters, it's good to do restitution. But the problem with Charles Finney is, he never said we must stop. He really didn't. I've seen other people at the same time, a few months later, read the same book, went into the same bondage, and it became a burden, because they didn't know when the revival was going to come. Is there something else that I have to confess to people? Oh yes, I did that mistake, and I'll just write that, and then that, and eventually you're thinking, when is this revival going to come? It became so bad later, that I honestly felt, if I didn't confess the mistake I made, or little law that I broke in college, that I had to write it down, and give it to the principal, or someone. If I didn't do that, then I didn't have peace, I couldn't speak with God. And it became so bad later, that I was one God, and I remember I stood at this tree, and I'm always absent-minded, and I looked at this tree, and I took a twig off the tree, and I broke it. And when I broke that twig, I suddenly thought this, oh no, I'm going to have to confess, that I broke this twig. That's how bad it was. That's how it went up, you can just imagine, have you ever seen someone do this? Imagine you're a security guard at this place, and this guy came up to you, with two little twigs in his hand, and he said, I'm so sorry, I broke your twig. When I read my Bible, I believe that, that if you don't read a certain amount of time, at least an hour, that if you read five minutes less, then God won't bless you that day. I felt condemned. A person came to our Bible collars, and he used to cry, this is, I couldn't believe this man, he was broken, he used to cry, tears rolled down his face, he talked about, we need to go through with God, we need to go through with God, we need to seek God, and he cried as he did, and I looked around me at the other students, and saw that they started to become broken, and they started to cry, but I want to tell you something, I struggled to cry in public. I can cry for hours on my knees, but when I get up and go in front of people, it's very hard for me to cry, that's my personality. And I sat there, and I didn't realize this, and I saw everybody crying there, and I was the only one not crying. And I thought, how unspiritual am I? I need to be broken, like that man. And then something interesting happened, another man came to college, and he was a wonderful man of God, a deep man of God, saved out of the world, but mightily saved, conservative, he had become conservative, and he didn't cry. He never cried. And I looked at him, and I said, wonderful, he doesn't cry. And he's godly. And then this person who cried all the time, and everybody was saying, wow, the godliness, the effect he has on the other students, he went out into a district of Africa as a missionary, and in that district, he worked for a whole year and a half, and he never brought one soul to God. And then that same, the second person I talked of, who didn't cry, he went out into the same area, and he almost had, I won't call it revival, but God worked in a mighty way. I've seen people who are deep sinners saying, that godly man, when I heard him preach, I came on a conviction of sin, and I called out to God, and he saved me, and their faces are shining. And he was the guy who didn't cry. But everybody thought that the first guy was a spiritual one, who never brought one soul, and a whole year, was always crying. If you read 1 John 4 verse 1, it says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. You know, this verse doesn't say, try every spirit, whether they are of God, except if you're walking very closely to God, because then you'll automatically know when the devil lies to you. It doesn't say that. It says, try every spirit, whether they are of God. I met a lady last year, she was really believing some strange lies as a Christian. Some lies were bringing her to bondage, not go to certain, I'm not talking about worldly places, I'm just talking about normal places, because she thought there was some demon. And I said to her, I just tried to show to her, that we should try the spirits, whether they are of God, even if they give you good standards. And she said, Roy, it's impossible, it's impossible for a Christian to be deceived, if you're walking right with God. And I can prove it to you, she opened up her Bible, and she read John 10 verse 4, V and 5a. And she said, Roy, look here, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. She said, it's impossible, and she was very much deceived in certain areas, it was very obvious that she was deceived in certain areas, but she didn't believe she could be deceived, because she was trying to walk close to God. And she wasn't testing the spirits, because God said you must. You know, my understanding of sheep, I've never seen a sheep, that on the first day there was a fold, know it's master's voice, perfectly. It's true when you get saved, that this book becomes a new book to you, the Holy Spirit comes into your life, it becomes alive. I remember that day. I remember when I first opened up my Bible, and I'll say, for the first time, God's Holy Spirit broke open the Word of God. But I didn't perfectly know, when it was God speaking, and when not God speaking, because that came over time, you learn to know the master's voice. And I can show that to you in scripture. If you go to Hebrews 5 verse 13 and 14, it says, it talks of new born babies, that they don't know what is right and wrong, until after time. It says there, Hebrews 5 verse 13 and 14, For everyone that uses milk, is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age. Even those, now listen to this, not because they were born again, but those who by reason of use, have their senses exercised, to discern both good and evil. Not just because you got sheep, but because of reason of use. You've come, and over time, you've come to the point where you realize, this is Satan, you didn't always realize it at the beginning. As I can testify. Some people look at history, through the glasses of that liar told you. They look at history, that if someone is walking perfectly with God, then they cannot believe the lies of the devil. So they look at the revivalist, and they see the revivalist, having the most strange things, in between their wonderful doctrines, in between their salvation doctrines, in between the most wonderful things they wrote, they had the most strange things that they believed. Some of them, I can prove that to you, from history I've studied. One revivalist, Thomas Heresy, in Wales in the 1800s, Methodist revival. And they look at these things, and they say, well God asked them, something that he didn't ask other people, he asked that Anderson and Vindelhoff, and why, I might ask you a question, why then did they force it upon other people? If God only asked them, why did God force it? You know I read in history, and I see this poor guy, and he believed God told him to wear this huge hat. Huge hat! Massive hat! Father hat! You know I believe God used him in spite of that hat, not because of it. I met a girl, I knew her from childhood, a cripple, and I started to talk to her, how God set me free from this life, which I thought was pleasing God, but was bringing me into bondage. And she said, boy I remember, when you were first saved, I was scared of you. The souls would be saved on the side, and the drunkards would be turning from drinking. Though God was working, she was scared of me. Because of my trying to be totally over dedicated, not over dedicated, you can't be over dedicated, but trying to serve God, I didn't realize that Satan can come, and pretend to be the Holy Spirit, and say this is also God's will. She said, I can see that you are free. The truth set me free. You know, I have learned to live, not by spiritual pressure and fear, but to live by love and discipline. Those two things. Love, which leads to obedience, of Christ's commandments in the Bible, and discipline. Not by spiritual pressure and fear. In 2 Corinthians 3, you all know that passage, one of the most precious passages in the Bible. It talks of Moses. It looks back in the Bible to Moses. Exodus 33. And basically in Exodus 33, Moses had this desire, he wanted to see God's glory. And we read that in verse 18, and he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And God answered in verse 20, no man can see me and live. And then in verse 23, it says Moses could see his back parts, and even seeing God's back, the back parts of God, affected him so that he shone, and he had a veil in front of his face. And we read further in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 14, that the Jews, and also the unsaved, have a veil over their heart when they read the Bible. They have a veil over their heart. And then in verse 16, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. In other words, when we say, when the Jews say, when the Gentiles say, that moment, when we turn to the Lord, the veil is taken off our hearts. I remember that seven years back. The veil was taken. For the first time, it was as if God was speaking to me, and I could see something in the Scripture. He was alive. And we read further in verse 18, but we all will open his face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. I change into the same image, from glory to glory, not like Moses, not like the Israelites. We don't have that veil. We can see God with an open face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. Changing the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And you know what I love about that verse? A few years back, I was reading it, and I just thought, amazing! The starting point is glory. The starting point is glory. And the next point is glory. As we see Christ, He changes us, glory unto glory, unto glory. And the wonderful thing is, one day, when we die, we read in 1 John, that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We're not going to just see Him as in a mirror, like this verse says. We're going to see Him as He is. And that's going to be glory. The beginning point, the second point, the last point, after we die, it's going to be ultimately glory. And that's amazing. That verse, we shall see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Do you know that in history, you know this from the book of Martyrs, and all the different history books, that they used to, that one person actually took a pole, and they put it through a living man, a Christian's body. And they put him on a fire. And they started to turn this man with a pain riveting through his body. And they slowly turned him on the fire. Like the English others say, spitbride. And when I read things like that, I see people in different lands who are going through tremendous torture. This verse amazes me in Romans 8 verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. When we see Jesus, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And God says, the sufferings of this present time, even though people were spitbride, is incomparable to the glory which shall be revealed in us. And Satan does not want Christians, he does not want glorious Christians to be walking about. He doesn't want that. He doesn't want what God intended when the veil is taken off the earth, that you start to see Jesus. And as you see Him, you change into the same image even as far as the Spirit of the Lord. He doesn't want that to happen and there's two ways you can stop it. There might be more. The one is he gets you to sin, to compromise, to lose your first love. But the other way, as has happened in many great Christians lives, is he gets you to live in spiritual pressure and fear. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And I'd like to ask a question here. How does Satan begin to apply spiritual pleasure in our lives? How does Satan start to apply spiritual pleasure in our life? Now one thing that Satan uses a lot is your conscience. Satan uses your conscience. People feel and if you read the old revivals, they feel that every time that you feel bad inside, that definitely God is speaking to you about something and you have to find that something and make it right with God. And I met a very godly person in South Africa recently. He reads his Bible for hours. He goes out and speaks and so on. Whenever anybody ever comes to him and says is this right or wrong? He says, well the very fact that you're just thinking about it means it is wrong. And that sounds wonderful for sin but it doesn't help with things that are not sin. I ask many people, what is the difference between the conscience and the Holy Spirit's work in your life and most of them don't know. If you read Romans 2 verse 15 then you see that originally your conscience was linked to a standard that was the law of God that you were born with and that's why nobody over the world has an excuse when they do sin. But as you grow up, as you grow up through circumstances so people influence you your conscience starts to be linked to other standards. And we read in the Bible 1 Timothy 4 verse 2 of a seared, there are different types of consciences in the Bible if you make a study of it. 1 Timothy 4 verse 2 talks of the seared conscience. It's in the Greek that it's rendered ineffective. And it's not talking of the verse afterwards of the people who were influenced but actually of the false prophets before and it's talking of a conscience that doesn't care about sin. A seared conscience. Then you have a weak conscience. 1 Corinthians 8 verse 9 this is talking of Christians by the way. Christians can have a weak conscience. And that is someone who believes things are sin which are not sin. Someone who believes things are sin which are not sin. We read this in 1 Corinthians 8 verse 9 conscience being weak is the foul. 1 Corinthians 8 verse 12 a wound their weak conscience. Romans 14 verse 1 that they are weak in the faith talking of the same type of things. You see your conscience feels bad according to the standard which it's linked to. Your conscience feels bad according to the standard which it's linked to. And when I was at Bible college I started to link my conscience to standards which are not God's will. And I remember after I got saved with these things I started to believe for instance that I had to confess every little mistake I made. That was the standard that I believed was God's will for my life. It was linked to my conscience and how this worked basically as I remember is that when I violated what I believed was God's will I felt terrified. I lost God's peace I thought. I felt terrified but all that was happening was my conscience was I was going over the line that was connected to my conscience. And the only way I thought there was a wall between me and God that I could be set free was either to write as I said a long list of apologies or I used to go on my knees and say to God God I'm sorry about this and when I said sorry then I felt peace again. And I only realised later that these things aren't even sin. Many things that I had in my life at that stage. And I realised that then I was set free through the truth of God and then I didn't feel bad breaking those rules. And the mistake that many great preachers made is they thought in history every time they felt bad about something inside they thought God is definitely showing me something. And then Satan came and he gave them rules and he gave them rules and he gave them rules. If you read the autobiography of Francis Asbury then you know that he was one of the greatest revivalists that ever lived. He went around America. So many people came to the Lord through that man. But if you read carefully you'll see that he also suffered from great depression. He started to believe so many things with God's will. So he made the standard, this great revivalist who was walking with God near to God made the standard so high that he couldn't reach it. And you read there how he was depressed. He hated himself. I cannot be what I want to be because I love Jesus. I want to be what he wants me to be but I cannot be it. I know a preacher in South Africa. I phoned him recently. He used to go around to towns. Entire towns used to come to get this preacher. I've seen lovely godly young men saying when I was in these meetings God spoke to me and as he spoke I realized that I was a sinner and I came to God and I was set free. But he started to add, he started to believe every single time that he didn't feel peace about something or God was showing him something. He started to add these rules to his life and these rules and eventually he had this mountain that he had to carry. You cannot believe how big this mountain is. my life. And he couldn't reach it. And eventually he left the ministry about a year back. I phoned him recently. He said, Roy, I just cannot reach it. Though God used it. And they walked close with God. He went to his knees once and on his knees he said to God, God is it your will for me to reach it. And he Roy, I cannot reach I cannot reach I I cannot reach I I cannot reach I cannot reach until you reach it. I cannot reach definitely is divine leadings. If you read through the New Testament, I'm not saying that there's not such a thing as God speaking to you. I'm not saying that God can ever lead you. I mean, Peter went into Tron or whatever and he realized by this divine leading that he had to go and speak to Cornelius. But if I read through the New Testament, then I see that these were very special moments. You don't need, as some people I've met, divine leadings about every single little thing in earth. You don't need a divine leading concerning what I eat on the table, where I go after I've eaten. The first thing is if you have a divine leading, you should test every single leading. Number two, you do not have to have divine leadings concerning every part of your day, eat, sleep or drink. In 1 Corinthians 14 verse 26, he said in the Corinthian church, they were a carnal church, they had sin in their lives. And Paul asked them a question, how is it then brethren, when you come together, every single one of you have a psalm, have a doctrine, have a tongue, have a revelation, have an interpretation, then all things will be done and satisfied. Why is it that you've got so many leadings about every little thing on earth? I believe that we are, even though I have myself had amazing leadings where God has led and saved souls in general through the day, we can have great freedom to make choices within the principles of God's word. I'd like to read a little poem. I didn't write it, one of my friends wrote it. It is the word of God alone, the written word I mean, by which the will of God is known, for there his ways are seen. The Bible is the way by which the Holy Spirit leads, and he will fall into a ditch or two in other heads. If you would grow in every grace and have your mind renewed, the Bible is the only place to find your proper food. And if you need to yet be led in matters more concrete, like where to go and whom to wed, his word is still complete. For though the answers won't be spelled in letters in the sky, the wisdom in his word behold will guide you by and by. For you think you need to hear a voice specifically for you, the tip is not a bit of, and oft is not a bit of choice that tells you what to do. But God is not ordained thereby to guide how each man lives and every little thing. He lives, he leaves us freedom to apply the principles he gives. When searching for God's will for you, there's just one place to look. The things that he would have you do are written in the book. And obviously I said that I do believe that God can lead you through his Holy Spirit in your heart. But in general, we are free to make choices within the principles of God's word. You know in Africa, they sit you down at the beginning of the year, some of them have different ways of finding out how to go to different towns. And it's very interesting. One, they told me once, OK, please go to your room. I said OK. And in your room tonight you have to pray for a long time and find out from God exactly where you're supposed to go to preach. I said OK. I went to my knees and I prayed and nothing happened. I asked for wisdom. Didn't get any strange feelings or heard any voices which said go to Pretoria or Timbuktu. I woke up in the morning, I said, and we went and got the big map and the person, one person said, OK now where have you been led to go? I said I plead unspiritual. I really said that. You know what I've found, and I've really found this. I have sometimes just said that, you know, I don't have to wait for a feeling to bear the word of God. It says go and preach the gospel to every creature. I know at certain times God leads you to speak to one person specifically. I understand that. But in general, what I do in general, is I look at the map and think, what is the most practical place to go? Lord, I want to ask for wisdom. And I ask in reverence for wisdom. And thank you that you will give wisdom according to James 1. And I look at the map and I think he's going to give me wisdom, so how's it going to be practically out there? And I decide where is practical on the map to go. And then I go, and I get in my car and I go, and it's all arranged for whatever practically and so on. And amazingly, God works. Souls are saved. I've seen drunkards saved. But then other people, and it's wonderful, I've got nothing against them, they had to wait for that feeling, that lightning from the air. They waited, and eventually the peace. They go to that town, and then that town, and then that town. And they go, they get in the car, they drive to the towns. Town to town to town to town. And guess what? God saves souls. But he also saves souls when I win. Same results. Some people lose their simplicity in Christ. Concerning getting a wife, I said I wouldn't preach about that, but I'd like to give a... When you get a wife, I don't know much about that, but divine leadings are not everything. If you believe that the only thing you need is a divine leading, then you've got a problem. I know families, and so many families, but families that they have a few kids, and they have peace, and there's wonderful peace, and they can't believe the peace, and it's almost like they have revelations concerning this person for their daughter or their son, and they get married, and it's wonderful, and they love each other. And then they think for the next one, and the next one is going to work exactly the same way, and they've got peace, and it's wonderful, and it's lovely, and then they find out after all the peace that that person was an evil man. I know a man, he's a great friend of mine in South Africa, and that man, 13 years back, wasn't fighting for God, he was saved, he longed for one thing, to go through with God, and he used to read the Bible for hours, and pray and pray, and take CDs and give it out, and just want to take literature, Christian literature around, and give it out to people. And he married a woman that he thought was godly, and then he found out afterwards that she started to listen to worldly music, with swear words, and evil things, and he said she's not godly, a month after marriage. He said how can you listen to this? And then later she started bringing evil into her life, and she divorced him, he said please don't leave him, and she divorced him. She used her body to win another man. And I spoke to him, because I've known him for years, my dad knows him as a godly man, he never married again. But I said to him, how can you, who loved the Bible, who lives to give every last cent away that people can hear about Jesus Christ, who lived, well I know, and I've spoken for hours, and hours, and hours, many times with this man, we prayed together, how was it? Were you bachelor in that time? He said, well I made one mistake, I walked into the shop the first time I saw this girl, I saw her long hair, I saw her lovely conservative dress, I saw how she talked to Jesus, and I went to my knees and I said God, is that my wife? And I thought, I thought that if I walked close with God, I would never be deceived. That was my mistake, that if I walked close with God, I would not be deceived. I felt God say yes, and I went to her parents who were ministers, and we got married, and I only found out afterwards, I believe there's nothing sinful in asking out about the girl or boy that you want to go out with, or whom my God has called. Ask, not only pray, but be practical, find out who she really is. Then there's other people, they're so scared to get married. I know a girl, also from childhood, I don't speak to girls all the time, but I know this girl from childhood, had muscular dystrophy, body falling apart, Bible in tatters, another family, loves God, but that girl really had to get to a point where she had lightning from heaven for anything before she did anything. She needed divine meaning in every little thing in life, and I knew this. And she, a boy, asked her parents, can I court your daughter, Godly, I've known him for years now, he's a lovely man. And they started courting. And she loves him, and he loves her. And the parents agreed. And I sat there by a minister's house in front of people or so, and I just spoke to her and said, how's it going, and she said, well I've got a problem. I don't know if it's God's will for me to marry this man. And I knew her, if it was someone else I'd say different things, but I knew her, she wanted lightning from heaven. Honor him. And I asked her a few questions, can I ask you a few questions, she said yes, I said yes. Is he in love with Jesus? Yes he loves Jesus, I said I agree. Is he in love with you? Yes. Do you love him? No. Do your parents agree? Yes. Then marry him. Yes. She loved that. I'd like to mention a few areas. The devil comes with spiritual pressure, and he tells you things of God's will. Number one, the devil says, and I say the devil, I mean, I don't know how it works in the spiritual realm, I just know this happens, that it is God's will to be humble by speaking negatively about yourself. It's God's will to be humble by speaking negatively about yourself. When I was at Bible college years back, a person came to me, an older brother in the Lord, and he said to me, we have to start a revival. And I thought, that's wonderful, let's start a revival. And he said, come to the room, and he said, we have to be humble, if we want God to come down, we have to be humble. And he said, copy me. I said, okay. I was, I was, I wasn't really, I was still a baby in Christ. And I sat there, and he started to say, oh Lord. And I looked at him, oh Lord, I am terrified. I am evil, I am horrible, I am full of sin, I am, oh Lord, forgive me, Lord. And he said, now you start. I said, okay. I am terrified, man. I thought this was wonderful. We're going to have revival. And I thought, I felt so amazing afterwards, yeah. And then I walked down the passage a few days later, and I heard an older brother who had been years saved, and I heard him there, and he was talking, and he didn't know that I heard him, but he said, you know this guy, and he talked to the guy that prayed with me, he wanted me to pray with him. And I listened. And he said, he came down, and he started saying, oh, I'm terrified, oh, I'm horrible, I'm, I said, what are you doing, he said. And I listened. He said, then he got angry with me. And he started, ah, because you're not also being humble. I thought, that's part of the Bible, to get angry. You're not being humble, you're lying. To boast of your gifts is sin, because God gave them to you, and you cannot take credit for them, someone said, but to deny your gifts is also a sin. The devil goes on, there's another area, the devil says it's spiritual to panic. Have you ever met people like that? It's spiritual to panic. I was once, I was in charge of this a few years back, of a conference, a young people's conference, and there was people there, we had, my dad was preaching, I asked him to preach at the conference, it was wonderful, and he terrified a whole group of young spiritual workers there, and this one older spiritual worker started, at one stage, to do things he shouldn't do, he started shouting at the people, and saying, you're all terrifying people for doing this and that and that. And I looked around me, and this was terrifying to me, I had to handle the situation, but I looked and I saw, oh no, these spiritual workers are all panicking. You know, ducks that run around, what's happening? They were panicking, and the one person came up to me and said, why are you not panicking? I mean, why are you not worried about it? I said, I am worried about it. I said, listen, I'd like to mention two things. One is, if all the people in this camp see all of the leaders panicking, and just going around like ducks, what's going to happen to the camp? And number two, in Revelation, we see that many terrifying, much worse than someone screaming in a meeting, much worse things are coming on earth, and you panicking like this now, what are you going to do then? I'd like to ask a question. If you come to a scene of an accident, and you have a scene of an accident of a wreck, and you're just lying on the ground, you don't know which are alive and which are not, what type of person do you want in a scene of an accident? Someone who goes, whoo, whoo, whoo, or someone who is calm, who goes around to the bodies and figures out, is this person alive, as they also define in the ambulance and so on. You need someone who's calm, and we're living in a world that is a spiritual disaster, and we need calm people to go around saving souls. Hebrews says, carry one another's burdens. It doesn't say carry one everybody's burdens. You know what this means? It means to pray for them, to support them, to write letters to them, to visit them, to help their family. It doesn't mean that you start to fret, that you take on your shoulder their burdens and start to carry it around everywhere. I know a person in Africa, his brother was a minister, and he had a large chest, and he didn't have the ability not to take people's burdens upon his own shoulder. He didn't just support them, and come in encouraging them, and carrying their burdens in that way, he literally carried their burdens on his shoulders, and he began to fret, and to fret, and eventually he lost his health. I did that at one stage, fretting about people. I thought I had to put in to be saved, I had to fret before God, I had to burn. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't cry to God on your knees for souls, that you shouldn't fret. Another area where Satan comes is through vows. Vows. I like to read what Oratory said in this, Satan often suggests something is the will of God, and it is not at all. When the believer does not follow the false suggestion, Satan says, you disobeyed God. So Satan suggests something is the will of God, and it's not God's will. And then, just the suggestion, you think, I've committed myself, and Satan says, you disobeyed God when you don't keep it. Because of this, many conscientious young Christians fall into a morbid and unhappy state of mind, fearing they have disobeyed God and lost His favor. This is one of the most frequent devices the devil uses to keep Christians from being cheerful. He tells you, you've made a vow. I'd like to bring a few principles concerning vows. If you vow, number one, anything that contradicts the Bible doesn't count. If you vow anything that contradicts the Bible, I met someone who vowed that he would never read the Bible again. And he feels he cannot never read the Bible again because he vowed it. If you vow to kill someone, Exodus 20, 1 Peter 2 verse 2, not to read the Bible, then you don't have to keep it. There's a scary part in the Bible concerning this, that the devil has used to make people feel that they have to keep every single commitment they thought they made to God, they have to keep it. And some people have hundreds and hundreds of laws in their lives which they feel, I have made to God and I have to keep them all. And they read verses like this in Acts 5 verse 4, and in the innocence of Peter, where Peter I think speaks to, and they were killed by God for not keeping their commitment to give money, all their money, to the Christians. I'd like to read that verse, Acts 5 verse 4, while it remained, was it not thine own? And listen to this verse, after it was sold, was it not thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. I'd just like to suggest something before coming to explain it. What is God saying here? After it was sold, sorry, while it remained, before he sold it, by the way by this time he's already said, I'm going to bring this and give it to the church. He said, but before it was sold, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, even after you sold it to give it to the people, it was in thine own power. You know why God killed, and in the innocence of Peter, it wasn't because they didn't give them money. It wasn't because, I'm going to explain it better, it wasn't because they wouldn't have been killed, I don't believe if they didn't give any money. They were killed by God because they lied to Christians. They came and they lived a lie by saying, I am giving all my money, and they only gave half. But up until that point, they would not have been killed. If they had come to the point where they said, you know I think I cannot give the money, they would have been honest then to the Holy Spirit and Christians. They would have been honest to the Christians and said, I can't give the money anymore, even though I've sold it. So the lie was being dishonest to Christians. And I'd like to apply this to me. When I was younger, just saved, I sat in my grandmother's bed, and I said, in this bed, I was alone, sorry, in one of my grandmother's rooms, I said, God, I want to know something. I want to know if I can marry. So please tell me if I can marry. I'm going to open up the Bible, please give me a verse, and tell me if I can marry. So I opened up the Bible, and I really wanted to marry. And I opened up the Bible, and I read in Corinthians, that it's good if people like Paul, they don't marry. And I thought, oh no. And I closed the Bible, and I said, God, can I have a second chance? And I opened up the Bible the second time, and I read, Jeremiah is forbidden to marry. I thought, I know. And then Satan came to me and said, God is asking you not to marry. And I so loved God, I so wanted to do God's will, I said, okay God, it's hard, but because I see you asking me not to marry, I'm not going to marry. And then later on I figured out that God doesn't in general work that way. I was wrong. I was making a commitment to God inspired by what Satan told me. And I came to God and I said, I'd like to apologize for that commitment. I wasn't being dishonest to the Holy Spirit in Christians. I said, I'm sorry that I made that commitment, because it was based on what Satan told me. I thought it was based on, and I'd like to apologize, and I'd like to marry. One lady, you've probably heard this before, one lady, she's wonderful, she, someone phoned her and said, I'm committing suicide, I'm committing suicide. She said, God, what do I do? She put the phone down, she had to phone the person back, she said, what do I do? I'm going to open up the Bible, God give me wisdom. And she opened up the Bible, and she read, Go and do thou likewise. Oh dear. The old Wesleyans, great godly people, the Wesleyan lay pastors under John Wesleyan, and they used to do that, they used to believe that you open up the Bible, you ask God for wisdom and open up the Bible. And they had the most amazing leanings and problems. I was once, one person came up to me, a very convincing person, he said, this thing is sin, it's sinful, you're not going to have a revival if you don't have it. I said, man, you're so convincing, I thought it must be sin. Now if your father tells you something's sin, you must do it because he's your father. Anyway. But I'm talking about outward pressure from someone outside your family coming, and he sat there and he said, this thing is sin, this thing is sin, and I thought, it is sin. And I said, okay, I'm going to, and I committed to God, I'm going to give this thing up. And afterwards I read it, I said, sure. I made a commitment based on something that wasn't God's, it wasn't God inspiring me and I went to God again. And he has not stopped to bless me. Even though I came to him and said, I realized that was not God's will. So I'd just like to repeat that, anything that contradicts the Bible doesn't count. And if you realize that it was satanic in origin, then you can come to God and he will not punish you if you come to him and say, I'm sorry. Satan comes in such strange ways. I used to believe, I don't know if any of you used to believe, I used to feel as a young Christian, that if I didn't wash my hands when I blew my nose, then I couldn't pray. And if I, if I cleaned my, this is years back, if I, if I, if I had a sweet or something that was sticky, then I couldn't pray. And I used to sit there and try to pray and I had to go and I went and I washed my hands and I used to come back. And it was such a terrifying thing. And then I read that verse, Matthew 15, verse 11, not that which goes into the mouth of the Father, the man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this the Father, the man. And it was as if there was a satanic attack on the one side saying, this isn't about this, this verse isn't, isn't going to help you, don't, don't act on this verse. And then I made a choice to resist the lies of the devil. I said, I'm going to stand on this verse and I'm not going to wash my hands. You might think this is stupid, but to varying degrees this happens in conservative Christian life. I'm talking of the extreme. You might be having the first little stages or you might be having a few little things that are bringing this in your life. Another area, the Africans in Africa, many of them live under fear. Every time something goes wrong, if I hit you on the head, if I hit you on the head or someone hits you on the head or something like that, or they lose their crop or they lose a child, then they feel that they've harmed the spirits, they've made the spirits angry, the forefathers. And they think they have to go to the witch doctor and they go to the witch doctor and say, what have I done wrong? And the witch doctor says, you've done this wrong, please pay me. Or take a child or whatever. We have to sacrifice a child or a goat or something. But you know Christians often do that. I remember when I was younger I went to a house and there was very low doorways in every single room about here. And I'm terrified, I don't know about you people, I've got a terrifying brain. And I forget about doorways. And I used to walk like this, and hit my head. And I hit my head on one weekend about seven times. And you know it's as if something was saying on my head, isn't there something wrong with you? Isn't God trying to speak to you? And I could have fallen for that. Even if you do it seven times, it doesn't mean that God is trying to speak to you. It might just mean that you're supposed to bend down when you're going through the door. Another thing, Satan tries to get you to fail. And he does, he gets Christians to fail. I don't know about you, and sometimes before you're saved, some people have gone into deep sin. And I know people, friends of mine, that they so struggle with this, because Satan taps them with the spiritual pressure. And the way he comes is he tempts them, he knows that's the area that they fell. So he tempts them in that area. And the reason he does that is he wants them to feel that they're not set free. He tempts them and he says, see, you're not free. The Bible, I read, 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19, it talks of fornicators, adulaters, adulterers, effeminates, abusers of mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, and then it says in verse 11, and such not are some of you, such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. If Satan comes and tempts you in a certain area, it doesn't mean that you're not free. Temptation is not sin. Spiritual pressure after an individual's failure. I met one person, this is very interesting. He said, I so want to be free from this thing, and I tried for months to be free from it, and then I fell. It was to do with movies and television and stuff like that. And I don't want to be in these things in my life, but then I fell. I sat at a friend's house and I watched stuff. I said, can I ask you a question? And it's still in my heart. How would the devil spiritually attack him? I said, could it be that this is happening to you? I said, for a long time, you've come to the point where you want to stop these things in your life. You stop it, then after a long time, you go over to a friend's house, you watch it for a little while, this box, and then the devil comes after, he said, it's alright, and he says, now what's the use? You failed, what's the use of carrying on? And then you watch for hours and hours and hours, because you gave up, where you should have after five minutes, you said, why did I do this? Sorry, God, walked out. Because you failed, you think, what's the use? And then fail more and more and more. And he said, boy, that's exactly, he was a minister, he said, that's exactly what happened. If I fail a little way, I think, what's the use? And then I go totally deep into these wrong things, through spiritual pressure. You know, Satan uses verses. Satan can use verses, he used them in the Bible. I met the person, he was, he listened to a preacher preach, and this preacher talked about the unforgivable sin in the Bible, and the preacher said, that if you don't come out in these meetings, if you don't come out in these meetings, then you're going to quench the Holy Spirit. And he didn't come out, and then afterwards he thought, I've quenched the Holy Spirit, I've committed the unforgivable sin, God's never going to speak to me again. And he was in darkness. And then one day, later, he got saved, wonderfully saved, and for years he had the joy of the Lord. And then he read a book, a book of a godly person, who I've read the books. Satan can use verses, you can use godly people as well. And he read this book of a godly person, and then he understood that he had committed the unforgivable sin. And he went into bondage. And for ten years he was in darkness. When I found him, he was literally shaking. He was sitting there shaking, as he talked about the bondage that he was in. So he had ten years of the joy of the Lord, because of spiritual pressure. I'd like to mention something, if you haven't, sorry, who was Jesus speaking to? He was speaking to the Pharisees who said and believed that Jesus used Satan to do his miracles. Satan was a source of his power. If you haven't done that, then you haven't committed the unforgivable sin. If you haven't said and believed that Jesus Christ, source of power, was Satan, then you have not committed the unforgivable sin. And number two, if you're worried about it, then you haven't done it. Anybody who has done that sin is so hard and hearted, they're incapable of stressing about it. If you're stressing about it, then you haven't done it. You might have sinned, but not the unforgivable sin, because they are so hard, the people, those Pharisees who committed that sin are so hard that it was almost incapable of them being saved, coming back to God. Oh, Satan uses verses, Hebrews 6 verse 4, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and had tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, if they shall fall away, to renew them again, to repentance. Satan comes with that verse and he says to people, I remember, people in college, they'd run into sin and said, I can't come back to God, it's impossible for me to go, because the Bible says, it's impossible for them to come, to be renewed to repentance, if they shall fall away. But that word, according to, I think it was Torrey who said, means apostate. It means someone who's so hard, it's almost impossible for them to come and be renewed. I'm not preaching doctrine, no, I'm just preaching about the verse and how Satan uses it. I mean, we've got so many examples of people who were wonderful Christians, they'd come into deep sin and they came to God and were restored. David being one of them. I'm coming to the end, and I'd like to ask a question, make it practical. How can we move from a life of spiritual fear and pressure to a life of love and discipline? How can I move from a life of spiritual fear and pressure to a life of love and discipline? Number one, you ask for wisdom. If any man lack wisdom, then ask of God. Number two, I'm giving a few little practical things. Use your memories. Charles Pershing says, one of the most powerful things you can ever use is your memory. Remind yourself of the times you were free, and remind yourself of the truth. In specific situations, apply this truth in what you know about how the devil can attack you spiritually. If you're having a quiet time, when I have my quiet time, when I'm feeling tired sometimes, the devil comes and he says to me, you don't have a seeking of the God if you don't feel like having a quiet time. Well then, remind yourself, use your memory. I'm human. Humans get tired. They don't feel like doing stuff when they're tired. You know, so many times I'm only a little tired, and then I feel like if I'm really tired, I just go to sleep, and then wake up and read the Bible. But if I'm only a little tired, I say to God, I remind myself I'm a human. I'm tired, and it's human. And I say to God, and I just remind myself of how much God loves me as a Christian, and how He wants to speak to me through the Word. And then I read the Bible, and He just blesses me, and blesses me, and blesses me. Satan comes to you with things like washing your hands, and resists them. Deliberately, this is, deliberately wash your hands. Don't wash your hands. If he says it's a sin to not eat sweets or anything like that, I'm just giving you an example, then even if I took a person, and this person didn't want to drink coffee, he said, it might be sinful to drink, and I said, okay, well let's go to the coffee shop. We drove to the coffee shop. I got him out, bought him coffee. Why did I do that? To get him over the lie of the devil, before the devil gave him more lies. Because I saw Satan was just giving rules, and rules. If you've got vows, ask yourself this question, would God actually ask this of me? Do you think God is giving you things that you believe is His will? It's not sin to actually use your brain. If you've got false humility, if someone asks you all the time, is it, are you a good runner? Yes, I am a good runner. Don't say, I'm the worst runner on earth. I've got, that's not humility. Deliberately, but then say, but by the grace of God, and I could lose my legs in a moment. So give glory to God, for what you are. You know that spiritual pressure, and I'm coming to the very last place, spiritual pressure can keep you back from doing a lot for God. I remember one time last year, we'd gone to the schools, we'd preached at churches, we'd been working for God on the streets, we'd been speaking to people, getting our trash, talking to little kids, preaching, preaching, preaching, and I came to a stage where I felt very tired, and the other missionaries wanted to go out on the street to preach. And I just felt, I don't feel like this, but if I don't do it, I'm going to grieve God. And I felt I'm pressurized to do it. And there was no joy to do it. And then suddenly I realized, I don't have to do this. I can have a choice. I can go home and sleep, and God will be just as pleased as if I go out with Him. And when I realized that there was a burden which lifted up for me, and I noticed a choice, and then it was a joy to go out and to speak to people, because it wasn't because I have to do it, because God wants me to do it, it was because I make a choice at this point to obey God. You must recognize where Satan attacks you concerning past sins. If you know that you fell deeply in some area, know, just think about it, when you get tempted and you feel that you're terrified, think that Satan is going to tempt me in that area. And then lastly, look, look, and look. Glory unto glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. If you read Bill Guthard's The Commands of Christ, you'll know how important it is to obey the commands of Christ. And I love that. But if you obey the commands of Christ, then you must remember that they're not grievous. They're not like the rules of the Pharisees. They're what God does in your life mostly, and secondly, they're mostly situation-specific. That's so important. You don't have to worry, am I keeping all Christ's commands? Am I keeping all Christ's commands? God works repentance in your heart, God gives you salvation, and the rest mostly are situation-specific. You only have to do them in certain situations. I'll give you an example, bless your enemies and forgive while you stand. You know, I had a huge problem with that verse. And the problem was this, I don't have any enemies. Is that a problem? How do I pray this verse? How do I bless my enemies when I don't have any? This year was the first time I've had an enemy that I knew of. A godly man had misunderstood something, he phoned my mission, he tried to destroy me. And I thought, what is happening? I don't know, it's the first time in my life someone is just trying to destroy me. And he's working, he's working, people almost want to throw me out of the mission for what he's done. And then suddenly I realized something as I was just sitting there wondering what is happening. I've got my first enemy. I mustn't let this, my first enemy. I went to my room, I said, God, I'm not going to let this opportunity go by. Bless him! And he was wonderful. He's one of my best friends now. God just turned around, he says, please come to my house any time. That's what God does sometimes, if they will him. But what I found out about the commands of Christ, you don't have to worry, I'm not keeping all of them, I'm not writing to God. When the commands of Christ are not grievous, they're mostly situation specific. If you don't want anybody to forgive, then you can't stand up to forgive them while you pray. And then lastly as I said, look unto Jesus, the we are all, as the verse at the beginning said there, I just want to read it again. When you read your Bible, and this is what I end with, look to Jesus. When you're winning souls, look to Jesus. When you've failed, look to Jesus. Most people, much of spiritual pressure comes when people try to do the work of God. You read the Bible, and you don't feel like something's going to happen. You try to work up something. Why don't you just ask God to open up the word for you, he wants to do it. When you're winning souls, you try to convince them. Obviously you should use good arguments, but the point is, you must leave it to God to do the convincing. Take the pressure off yourself and put it on him. And he's already borne it actually 2,000 years back to Calvary. When your body is tired, remember that your body is tired, and you're human. I just thought I'd end off, even though it's not in my sermon, with this one little thought. Just to sum it up, concerning your body being tired. My dad had a person come to him, and this person came to him and said I read the Bible for hours and hours. I pray, and I pray, and I pray, and I pray, and what must I do? I feel like I'm unspiritual. You know my dad didn't say to him, go to your knees and pray for five hours and meet with God. My dad said to him, listen, when last did you go for a jog? He said, a long time back. He did a jog around the block. The man went and jogged around the block. And he came back and said, I feel better. When I was in college, the same happened to me. I never speak, in general, don't speak negatively about other people. And I was so tired after reading the Bible for hours and hours, for weeks and weeks, without exercise, that I suddenly started speaking negatively about our principle. And I thought, why did I do that? I mustn't do that. And I did it again. And I did it again. And I thought, what am I doing? And you know there's two options. You can go to your knees and pray for 16 hours till you meet with God and He sets you free from your anger and all these things. I didn't do that. I didn't pray. All I did was I said, okay, I just remembered something. I haven't jogged for two weeks. I jogged around the block. I jogged and jogged and jogged. I came back and I didn't say another negative word. You just remember, Satan comes and says you're evil when all you need sometimes is a jog. And of course with anger we need to yield our rights in certain areas. But in other times all we need is a little sleep or a little jog. I laugh at myself. This year, I don't get angry normally, but I get angry at nothing. I was laughing at myself. I was so tired. I was driving around for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. And I was getting angry and suddenly they were saying, why are you getting angry? And I said, I suddenly realized I haven't slept much. Well, go to bed. I woke up, oh, I'm not angry at anything on earth. It's not all spiritual. I preach on yielding your rights. I preach on how to get a victory from anger in the spiritual sense, but so much of it is just spiritual pressure. We feel wrong and all you must do is forgetting that you're human and you have to look after your body. Before I pray, I'm just going to read a verse. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That doesn't mean we can do anything that we can sin. We mustn't have standards, but it does mean that we must resist Satan's spiritual pressure in our lives and live in simplicity in Christ. Let us pray. Father, I'd just like to ask you, I know how it was with me, how I fell into darkness at times. All I wanted to do was serve thee, and I noticed that. And I got rules, and one rule was a little thing, and then the next rule, and the next rule. And Father, I'd like to ask, there's people who are Christians who went to institutions, but they were so bound by rules later, they went off their head. Father, help people to see, give them the sermon, and let them see that they mustn't just, because they're reading the Bible for 50 hours a day, think that they know what's right and what's wrong. They need to test the spirits, try the spirits with it, always remind them of that Lord. And if there's lies in people's lives in this room, then please destroy those lies through the truth of God. And Father, I ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Hitherto have you asked nothing of my name, therefore ask that you may receive. I ask in the precious name of Jesus that thy Holy Spirit, through thy word, through thy truth, would set people free from the lies of Satan in their lives. And that their lives would become glorious, they see Jesus in the Scriptures, they obey the commands of Christ in every situation, that they would live a life through love and discipline, and not fear and spiritual oppression. Dear Father, help us all, through Jesus Christ, I ask this. Amen.