This sermon emphasizes the importance of humility before God, highlighting that God gives grace to the humble and exalts those who submit to His mighty hand. It contrasts Old Testament honor with New Testament grace, focusing on seeking God's nature over earthly blessings. The message stresses the need to resist the devil through humility and faith, allowing God to exalt believers over sin and the enemy.

In our last session, we were asking this question, how do we know that God is honoring us? It was different in the Old Testament and different in the New Testament. That verse, those who honor me, I will honor, is actually found in the Old Testament. In 1 Samuel 2 verse 30, in the New Testament, it's written slightly differently. In 1 Peter 5 verse 5, in the last part, God gives grace to the humble. And humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time. Now, put these two verses together. What does it mean when it says God will exalt you? Remember, this is similar to the Old Testament, them that honor me, I will honor. Here it's written that those who humble themselves under my mighty hand, I will exalt them. Whenever you come to a scripture like this, you can either use your own reason and find some explanation. Or, humble yourself and say, my reason could be wrong. Because many times, the way we interpret scripture is very different from what scripture means. Many people, when they think God will exalt them, means God will make them some minister or some big man in the world. Or, like it says in Romans 8 verse 28, all things will work together for good to those who love God. What does that mean? You know, supposing you are disappointed with something, like you applied for a job and you couldn't get it. So you say, ok, I believe in Romans 8 verse 28. That means God will make it work for my good? What does that mean? Give you a better job with a better salary? No. Maybe another job with a lower salary. But, He will make you more like Jesus. That is the good. Not a higher salary. If you wanted to marry a girl and it didn't work out, say, ok, I believe in Romans 8 verse 28. What does it mean? He will give you a prettier girl? No. He may give you an uglier girl. But He will make you more like Jesus. It's all a question of your mindset. If your mindset is like people in the world, then you are only thinking of money and good looks and all those things. But, if your mind is like the mind of Christ, then these things don't have so much value. Other things have more value. And that is to become like Jesus Christ. So, when you read a verse like this, you say, Lord, what does it mean that you will exalt me at the proper time? The best thing is to compare scripture with scripture. Whenever I find a scripture, I cannot understand. I say, Lord, let me search the scriptures to see if there is another verse that explains it. If there is no verse, then I say, Lord, please give me a revelation based on the general principles of the New Testament. But in this case, there is another verse that explains it. What does it say here? God gives grace to the humble. So, humble yourself in front of the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you. Listen to this. God gives grace to the humble. Submit to God's mighty hand, and He will exalt you. These three things you see in James chapter 4, verse 6. The last part. God gives grace to the humble. Verse 7. Submit to God, which is submit to the mighty hand of God. And the third thing. He will exalt you. How is it written here? The devil will flee from you. That is the meaning of He will exalt you. You see how you get revelation when you compare scripture with scripture. God has hidden many things in scripture, and lazy people will never find it out. But it is very simple to compare scripture with scripture. So, when you compare scripture with scripture, you understand it. What is He going to exalt me over? Not over people. I don't want to be the ruler of India. I don't even want to be ruler in a church. Some people think, oh, I don't want to be ruler in the world, but I will be an elder in the church. God will exalt me. That is absolute rubbish. Is that a better word for rubbish? In Kannada? Rubbish is foolishness. This is worse than that. This is rubbish. What you put in the garbage bin outside. To seek for honor in the church. It is rubbish. And for a person to seek for that is like going into the garbage bin to eat from there. There are people who do that. It is not just the poor boys in the street. It is the people in the church. I am not interested in that. I want to be exalted over the devil. If God is not exalting you over the devil, it doesn't matter if everybody in the church thinks you are a great person. So when you compare scripture with scripture, it says God will exalt you. It is very clear here. He will exalt me over the devil. He will give me such power over the devil that the devil will run away. Imagine what a powerful person you are, if the most powerful created being runs away. Do you know that the most powerful created being is Satan? In heaven, the highest archangel is Michael. Do you know what Michael once had an argument with Satan? Do you know what Michael told Satan? See the book of Jude, verse 9. Michael had a dispute with the devil, it says here. He argued with him. And he did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment. No, he couldn't say that. He could only say, the Lord rebuke you. Because Satan is the most powerful created being. He could not say anything to him except, may the Lord rebuke you. But I am not the most powerful created being. But when I stand against Satan, I don't say, the Lord rebuke you. I say, in Jesus' name, I resist you. I am commanding you in Jesus' name to get out of here. And he will flee. Do you know that you have more power than Michael the archangel? Not you actually, but the name of Jesus. See, if you take the name of Jesus away from me, then I am weaker than everybody. He is something like a machine gun. Even a little 5 year old operates a machine gun, all the big giants have to run away. This is a small boy, but he has got a machine gun. In the name of Jesus, something like that. When you take away that machine gun from him, even a 6 year old boy can hammer it. So it's the name of Jesus that makes us more powerful than the devil. But not everybody can use that name. That's very important, the devil doesn't run away from everybody. What did we read? The three steps. God gives grace to the humble. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Then resist the devil. Now, if you don't believe that God gives grace only to the humble, that means you are not sure whether God will give you grace or not. You don't have faith. Oh, I don't know whether God will help me in the battle against the devil. Then you can be sure you will not get God's grace. Without faith, the Bible says it is impossible to get anything from God. So the first thing is to believe that God gives grace to the humble, I believe that. Because God's word says that. There are certain things we must know. Just like in the world, when a baby is born, it knows nothing. You ask a 2 year old child, does water flow up or down? Does water flow up or down? He has seen it flowing down. And if you tell him, no, in some places water goes up, you know that? He may believe you because he doesn't know. But you ask a 20 year old, he says, no, it's impossible, everywhere water goes down. Spiritually also, there are many things that many believers don't know. Do you know that water always flows down every part of the world? Somebody could have fooled you when you were 2 years old, but they can't fool you now. You are absolutely sure, water always flows down in every part of the world. In the same way, God's grace flows down to the humble. Who will get it first? The humblest. Where does water flow first? The lowest place. I mean, you may not know it. Because spiritually you are like a 2 year old. And the devil can fool you like you can fool the 2 year olds in the world. But he can't fool me anymore. He can't fool me that God gives grace to some proud people. No, it's impossible. It's like saying, water flows up. It's impossible. Nowhere in the world does it happen. If you have not got grace, it's because you are not humble. God honors those who honor him. In the New Testament it says, God gives grace to those who humble themselves. In the Old Testament, honor was different. When God said, I will honor those who honor me. It meant a position in Israel. You read that God would make a man a priest or a prophet or a king. Like, there was a priest called Phinehas who honored God once. And you read, that's in Numbers chapter 25. And God said, I'm going to honor him and his children that they will be my priests. It was a position. God honored David. And because David was faithful, even his son Solomon God blessed. But in the New Testament, it's not by some earthly position that he honors us. Because in the Old Testament, all the blessings of God were earthly. You read from Genesis to Malachi, all the promises of God in the Old Covenant were earthly. I will defeat the other nations. I will bless your fields. You will have many children. Your cattle will be healthy. Your wives will never have miscarriages. Everything was earthly from A to Z. But in the New Testament, everything has become heavenly. It's very important to understand this. That's why that man who was in the middle, John the Baptist, when he was introducing the New Testament age to all these Israeli people, he was telling them, the kingdom of God has come near. The kingdom of heaven has come near. Which kingdom do you have? The kingdom of heaven is coming. Those who had eyes to see it, they saw it. It's like telling a poor beggar, who has been living in a hut for 50 years, a big palace has been built for you. In a few days, you can move into the palace. Do you think the beggar will be excited or not bothered? No, he is excited. Hey, I am going to move into a palace. That is the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth. That's what happened on the day of Pentecost. The palace was ready. Spiritual palace. It's a mansion that Jesus has already prepared for us. Some people are waiting for a mansion in heaven. What sort of building are you looking for in heaven? With lot of bathrooms and big sitting room. Is that what you are looking for? I am not interested in all that. It's a spiritual mansion that I can have right now. Where I can live in a palace instead of a hut. Where spiritually I can live like a king rather than like a beggar. That is the kingdom of heaven. Even today, most believers are living in a hut. Spiritually speaking. Because their mind is so much on earthly blessings. They are happy that God has blessed them with earthly things. I will tell you something. God blesses us with earthly things to test you to see whether you are happy with that. Whether that is enough for you. Let's say for example that God has blessed you abundantly with a good job, enough salary, house, everything. You say, Lord, I am so thankful. And I see that you are satisfied. Even though you got less than 1% of the nature of Jesus Christ. And He sees you are satisfied. I will tell you, in a hundred years you will get nothing more of the nature of Christ. Because God's nature is giving you only to those who thirst for something more than they have. So if all you are interested in is good wife, good husband. Good house, good job. And good church fellowship. And maybe some good conferences. That's all you will get. And you live all your life with 1% of the nature of God. Because He sees you are not hungering and thirsting for the really valuable thing. So remember this brothers and sisters. When God blesses you with those other things. You thought it was a blessing. But it was also a test. It was a blessing and a test. To see whether you would be satisfied with that. The many many many Christians have failed the test. They got the blessing but they failed the test. I know in my life I have to say that I never sought for anything earthly in the last 40 years. God is my witness on that. You may not know but God is my witness. But God has given me many many earthly things which I don't deserve. Much much more than I deserve. But I also know it is a test. And I say Lord always I say you can take it all away. I am not interested in these things. And I will tell you something. If one day God takes it all away I will not lose my joy even a little bit. I have had remarkably good health for 40 years. But even that I say Lord that is not the thing I look for. If I have health good I can serve you better. But I am not satisfied with that. I want God's nature. If you say that you will get it. Jesus said if anyone is thirsty let him come to me. What about people who are not thirsty? They are satisfied with empty trash. They won't get anything. This is the condition of a lot of God's people. And on top of those earthly blessings if they also get some recognition in the church people in the church think they are wonderful brothers. Their cup of joy is full. That's all they want. Do you think God will ever give anything more to such people? Whose cup of joy is already full because they got some recognition in the church? I couldn't care less for recognition in the church. It means nothing to me. What does it matter if everybody in the church thinks you are a great brother or sister and God doesn't think so? Everybody puts your name under the list of wholehearted brother or sister. But God doesn't put your name in His list. You are an absolute fool to be happy that some man has put you on His list. God must exalt you, not man. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and man will exalt you. No, God will exalt you. What are you looking for? So many believers are looking for some man to exalt them. Throughout the years I have always made it a practice to speak words of appreciation to believers. I learned that from Jesus. He speaks words of encouragement to me. I see in the Bible how He used to speak words of encouragement to different people. So it's good for us to do it. Even to heathen people, Jesus would say an unconverted Roman captain he said, I've never seen such faith anywhere in Israel. Or Nathaniel, oh there's a man in whom there's no hypocrisy at all. And even to the churches in Revelation to all of them He says, yeah I know some good things in you. So I've also done that. Many brothers in my church I have spoken good things to them. Where I could not no lie, no flattery but where I sincerely appreciate something. But you know what has happened? That has made the heads of some of them very big. Oh, brother Zach thinks I'm a wonderful brother. Oh, brother Zach thinks I'm a wonderful brother. That became a test for them. Are these fellows interested in the appreciation of a man? And I've seen many of them go down. Somebody once told me Brother Zach that happened because you appreciated him. No, no, no. My appreciation is correct. Even Jesus appreciates people. That was a test for him. And he failed the test. He failed the test before God, not before me. See, God tests us through many things. He tests us when people criticize us. He tests us when people correct us. He tests us when people appreciate us. What does he see? Only one thing. In every one of those situations will you humble yourself and go down? God will exalt you. If you go up God will push you down. That is between you and God. Let people say anything or not say anything. Our calling is very simple. I have to believe first of all believe God gives his grace only to the humble. And everything I face around me can be a test. A test for what? To see whether I humble myself. Somebody corrects me let me humble myself. I will never get offended. Somebody criticizes me accuses me falsely let me humble myself. I will keep quiet. Let him accuse whatever he wants. Somebody praises me. I will humble myself. I will go before God and say, Lord, he doesn't know my heart. That's why he praises me. I will not let that affect me. I will humble myself before you. You will always get grace. And the proof of that will be like it says in Romans 6.14 God will exalt me over what? When he exalts me over the devil he will also exalt me over sin. Sin may be very strong and I may be very weak. Who is stronger? Goliath or David? Goliath is strong. David is so weak. And here is Goliath and here is David. Here we see Goliath is big and David is small. Our sin is like Goliath. No matter what sin you are a slave to we are here. Now the question is, who is going to win? Without God's help, I know who will win. Definitely Goliath will win. Any 5 year old will answer that question. But if God comes on the side of David then who is going to win? Then I have no doubt, David will definitely win. Because God is so big and Goliath becomes so small before God. See if a dog comes to bark against me a dog comes to bite me fierce dog I will be afraid. I will run away. I don't know about you, but I will run away. Because I have got some sense. But if I have got a fierce lion with me and I tell him, you better handle that dog who is going to run? The dog. So, that's how it is. If I humble myself God will give me grace. This Goliath will come down. Whether that's the devil or sin or some bad habit I have got for so many years it will come down. Because God honors those who honor him. If you find Goliath still standing in your life still ruling your life still ruling your home making your home like a little hell making your life like a little hell you can be pretty sure that you have not humbled yourself. However humble you may think you are and however humble all your good brothers think you are and however much all the sisters praise you for your humility God Almighty does not think you are humble. Because that is a law. God gives grace to the humble. Supposing a big mountain peak top of a mountain and says, why doesn't the water flow up to me? I am quite humble. I am quite low. Why is the water always going to that valley? Why doesn't it come to me? I am also quite humble like the valley. Mountain peak, you can stand there for a hundred years, water will never come to you. Because you are so high. The valley is low. That's where the water flows. It's a law. Anywhere in the world it's true. Everywhere the water flows down. And everywhere in the world God gives grace to the humble. You see, many people don't believe that. They think God will give them grace even if they are quite puffed up. Well, the fact that you are defeated by sin proves God has not given you grace. The fact that the devil is not afraid of you proves that he is not running away from you. Proves God has not given you grace. Is it possible for God to give a man grace and the devil not flee from him? I used to ask myself this question. You know, sometimes when we confront demon possessed people, I don't know whether you have seen how many Pentecostal pastors cast out demons. They shout and yell. I saw one person who used to spit on the ground. And scream and then pray for 4-5 hours. I thank God I never made any of those people my example. I looked at how Jesus cast out demons. He never yelled or shouted or spat on the ground or any such thing. With a dignity with courage he would speak one word. Get out. And he won't say it a second time. Do you ever find Jesus saying that a second time? Do you find Jesus fasting and praying for 5 hours to cast out one demon? When the disciples couldn't do it, they asked, why couldn't we cast out the demon? He said, you don't have faith. You need to go and pray and fast. Then come back. So, I said, Lord Jesus, you are my example. Whenever I confront a demon possessed person, I believe I have to speak to that demon only once. Not twice. I don't have to shout. I don't have to scream. Because the devil has got much better ears than you and me. If you have authority because your life is clean and you have humbled yourself, God has exalted you. He has to run. The Bible doesn't say the devil will walk away. It says he will run away. And if he does not run away, I say to myself, Lord, I think I need to go and pray and fast. And see what's wrong with me. Maybe some area pride has come into my life. That's why I didn't get grace here. That's why even the devil is not afraid of me anymore. The name of Jesus has no longer got any value. There are so many believers using the name of Jesus. It's like these toy machine guns you buy in the toy shop. You are not afraid of a toy machine gun. And the devil knows whether you got a real machine gun or a toy machine gun. I'll give you an example of that. See in Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19. We read here that there were one Jewish priest called Sceva. He had seven sons. And these sons, when they heard about Paul casting out demons in the name of Jesus, they found one man with evil spirits and told him, in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, get out. You know what the evil spirit replied? I really like this passage. I recognize Jesus, verse 15. I recognize Jesus. And I know Paul. But who are you? And he jumped on them and tore their clothes, stripped them naked and all those seven people had to flee. God did not exalt them over the devil just because they used the name of Jesus. Because the devil saw this is only a toy machine gun that these people have. Yeah, it looks like the real one. But the devil knows when you use the name of Jesus whether you really got power behind it or it's just a toy. You know nothing happens with a toy. It's the same when you pray. All believers pray in the name of Jesus. Why is it all their prayers are not answered? Even though they all pray in the name of Jesus. That's because for some it's like a toy. It's not the real thing. It's like a check with a fake signature. There is a signature in a check. One crore rupees. You present it in the bank you don't even get one rupee. This is not the correct signature. You just copied it yourself. This is not that man's signature. And that's what heaven says. You pray in the name of Jesus. It's not the real Jesus you are praying. Because your life is not right. You haven't humbled yourself. God exalts those who humble themselves. It's not only Jesus. The devil here it says he recognized Paul. Yes, I know Paul. You know when I read that verse many years ago I said Lord I want to be recognized in hell more than on this rotten earth. I want to be recognized by the devil in hell. I want to be recognized by the devil. Not by people on the earth. I want God to recognize me. I want the devil to recognize me. Whether people recognize me or not is unimportant. What about you? Do you want people to recognize you? Do you want your elders to recognize you? Or do you want the devil to recognize you and be afraid of you? Do you know what God wants? He wants you to be one whom the devil is afraid of. For many years I was afraid of the devil. Not now. It's not neutral now. The devil is afraid of me. Don't just say I'm not afraid of the devil and he's not afraid of me. No, no, no, no. He has to run away from you the Bible says. No sin can rule over you. No fear No anxiety Can rule over you anymore. And God honors you with his nature. We stand like Jesus Christ in the world. See it says in 1 John 4 1 John 4 This is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament. Verse 17 As Jesus is so also are we in this world. If you want to know one verse in the New Testament that tells you what your authority should be Here is the verse. As Jesus is so also am I in this world. I say that to myself. You may not say it. You think it's pride. It's not pride. It's faith. When I quote the word of God is that pride or is it faith? You know sometimes people who don't believe that you can be sure that your sins are forgiven. Supposing I tell you tell such people my sins are all forgiven the blood of Jesus cleansed my life completely. They say oh you are so proud. You say all your sins are forgiven. That's not pride. That's faith in God's word. In the same way there is another word of God which says As Jesus is so am I in the world. Why do you feel that's pride? That's not pride. That's faith in God's word. But the devil wants you to think it is pride so that you will never come to that position. But if you want that then you have to humble yourself. Otherwise you can quote the verse Satan As Jesus is so am I. The devil will say Jesus I know and Paul I know but who do you think you are? I know all the pride in your life. You got no power over me. I can see there is no grace upon your life because you are proud. I never want the devil to reply to me like that. I will tell you something. The devil is replying to a number of you like that. Because there are things in your life you have not set right. Is there somebody you have not apologized to? The devil says you are trying to resist me. I know all about your private life. Is there some money you borrowed which you never returned? The devil is sitting on your head and he will keep on sitting on your head till you return that money. Don't try to resist the devil. He will just sit on your head and laugh at you. Because he will say what are you trying you are playing games with me I know all about your life. So many believers they play the fool with God in matters of sin and they think they can resist the devil. They think because they raise their hands and shout and pray in the meeting God will really be happy with them. No. You have to humble yourself under God's mighty hand. And that's really true. First you must believe that God gives his grace only to the humble. And the other side of that same truth is that if you are humble you will have to get grace. See if you are in the lowest place like a valley the valley doesn't have to say oh rain please come here first. Water will automatically come there. Because water always flows to the lowest place. We experience that in Bangalore. You know sometimes in Bangalore there is a water shortage. And sometimes in our house two days no water. Then I asked some other brother how is it in your house? We get water all the time. I said how is that? Same water supply I am not getting it and you are getting it. You know the reason? Their house is in a lower level than mine. So the water goes there. With water there is no partiality. See Bangalore is a place of ups and downs some high some low. Unfortunately our house is in a little higher place. Some other people whose house is in a lower place they get water 24 hours a day. Because with water there is no partiality. Even the unbelievers get it and I am a believer not getting it. It's got nothing to do with believer or unbeliever. Whose house is in a lower place same way with grace it's got nothing to do with believer or unbeliever. If you humble yourself grace will always go to the lowest place. Some people are so high and they say why I didn't get grace today? And another brother is getting it all the time. You know the reason? It's just like the water. With God there is no partiality. He gives grace to the humble. We must believe that. And the second thing submit to the mighty hand of God. Whether it's correction conviction of sin in your conscience don't argue and try to give a reason. I have had this experience many times. When I point out something wrong in a brother I don't like to do it. And I never do it to people for whom I have no responsibility. Just like my children. I had a responsibility for my four sons at home. I would correct them regularly. But I never corrected my neighbor's children. I have no responsibility. Same way in the church. I only correct those I have responsibility for. I don't correct other people. It's not my business. But I have seen that some people when they are corrected just like little children they argue and justify themselves. Then I leave them. It's okay. Do what you like. But I have seen through thirty years that God never gives them grace. Ten years later they are still justifying themselves. They may be good brothers. Ten years later they are good brothers. They got hundred percent ten years ago. They are still getting hundred percent today. But they were in second standard ten years ago and they are in second standard today. What are you saying? I got hundred percent. Which class did you get hundred percent? Second standard ten years ago second standard today hundred percent. I am not impressed by that. I have seen people like that. They were good brothers ten years ago. They are good brothers today. But no spiritual development. No growth. No greater light on sin. Why? Because when God points out something in them they don't humble themselves. They justify themselves. One mark of a Pharisee is to justify yourself. One mark of a Pharisee is to justify yourself. Third thing God will exalt you. That is His business. You don't have to worry about that. If you do the first two things you believe that God gives His grace to the humble you humble yourself. God will exalt you. The devil will flee from you. Sin will not rule over you. Let's pray. Did we learn something today? Will you pray that God will write these lessons deep in your heart? He will definitely honor those who honor Him. Will you pray that you won't forget these truths in a few days? Thank you Father for hearing us. Help us to honor you all the days of our life. Humble ourselves in all situations. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.