(The Foundation and the Building) the Blessing of Having God on Our Side — Zac Poonen

God’s Opposition to Pride and His Help Against Sin

We're all familiar with that verse in Romans 8 .31 which says, If God be for us, who can be against us? It's quite a verse, if you don't know it, it's a good verse to remember, Romans 8 .31. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Now, if you think about that verse, we'll see that the most important thing is to make sure that God is for us. It doesn't say God's for everybody, in fact the Bible says God is not for everybody, but it says if you can only get God on your side, you know, you've got it made for the rest of your life.

I can say that from many years of testimony myself. The only person I've ever, ever wanted to be on my side is Almighty God. I can afford to lose the friendship of everybody else. And if I can just make sure that God is on my side, can you imagine, just think for a moment of the one who runs this universe, a universe in which the earth is only a speck of dust, and all human beings are still smaller specks of dust, and this Almighty God is on my side, what more do you want?

And yet, the vast majority of believers live defeated, fearful lives, because it's obvious God is not with them, definitely not, if he was with them, things would have been very different. The Bible also says that God resists the proud, if you don't know where that is, it's 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5, God is opposed to the proud.

He is against all proud people, it doesn't matter whether they are believers or unbelievers, it's a law, it's like the law of gravity, if you jump off the roof of this building, the law of gravity doesn't ask, is that a believer jumping off or an unbeliever jumping off, it's just the same.

Not even the slightest difference, if a believer jumps off the roof or an unbeliever jumps off the roof, the law of gravity takes over. This is another law, God is opposed to the proud. Now the law of gravity doesn't work everywhere, you know, you've seen these pictures in space, where there's no gravity, where people just float around, but this law works even in space, it doesn't matter where you go, you'll find for all eternity it works, everywhere in the universe it works, God is against proud people, wherever he finds them, even if he was supporting them for 20 years, as the moment he sees them becoming proud, he turns around and starts opposing them, even if they are his children.

This is the reason why you hear of many great preachers ending up falling into adultery or the love of money, it's just the same, to me there's no difference, whether you fall into adultery or the love of money, even though the world is more horrified when a person falls into adultery, God is equally horrified when a person falls into the love of money, just the same, because both destroy them, and the reason is, God begins to oppose them, that's why it happens, that's why it happens, God begins to oppose them, it's a terrible thing to have God opposing us, we could reverse that verse and say, if God is against us, what's the use of everybody else being for us, but we know that God is for us to fight against all the enemies of the human race, and God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to fight every enemy of man, and if we receive Christ into our life, and allow him to be Lord of our life, we can be sure that every enemy that Jesus fought when he was on earth, he will fight from within us, even today, without any exception, so let's look at some of the things Jesus fought against, number one, he fought against sin, the Bible says in the first promise in the New Testament, his name itself, Jesus, Matthew 1 .21, his name is Jesus, because he came, number one, to save his people from their sins, now if you don't make that the number one goal in your life, I'd say, you're not going to really have much fellowship with Jesus, because that is the primary aim that he has, he didn't come to give us material blessings, though he does that, but he primarily came to save us from our sins, the word Jesus means saviour, particularly in relation to being saved from our sins, and one of the things that we see very clearly in the New Testament is that God hates sin, even though he loves the sinner, and the Bible says in Hebrews 1 .9 that Jesus hated iniquity, he hates sin, everywhere he saw it, he hated sin, and he tried to instill in his disciples a tremendous hatred for sin, you know in the Old Testament they had laws about what they should eat and what they shouldn't eat, they were told not to eat pork and not to eat things that had blood in them and not to eat so many things, certain types of birds and fish and all, they were not supposed to eat, but in the New Testament Jesus said, what goes into your mouth can't ruin you, because if the body doesn't accept it, if your digestive system is working ok, it gets eliminated, or you vomit it out, but what comes out of your mouth, that's what spoils you, he said, and that's because what comes out of your mouth comes from your heart, what goes into your mouth goes into your stomach, and whatever is bad gets eliminated, but whatever comes out of your mouth comes from your heart, and when your heart is defiled with evil thoughts, Jesus said, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, there are many other things interested in Galatians 5, strife, factions, idolatries, many other things like that, it defiles the man, and so Jesus was trying to get his disciples to hate sin like he hated it, and if he was like that 2 ,000 years ago, you can be pretty sure that he is like that today, so when we say, if God be for me, or if God is for us, what is he for me against?

He is for me, number one, against sin, and that's what I've got to make my number one enemy as well, and if I make that my number one enemy, I can be sure of Jesus' help in my life, in a hundred and a thousand other areas, and you know that's the reason why many of us may not be experiencing the joy of the Christian life, the joy of answered prayer, the joy of fellowship with Christ, and all these wonderful things that you read out in the New Testament, perhaps you're not experiencing it because you have not made sin your greatest enemy like Jesus wants you to.

So why not start today and say, Lord, I want to hate sin more than I hate anything else on this earth. Can you think of some human being whom you hate? I'll tell you who that is, the person whom you see but you don't talk to, the person whom you see but whom you avoid, anywhere, it could be in the office, it could be in your home, it could be in the church, that's the person you hate, whether you like it or not, you hate that person.

I want to encourage you to stop hating that person and to start hating sin. Just like when you see that person, you avoid that person, why don't you avoid sin like that? Boy, think of how holy you could have been by now, if you had started avoiding sin just like you avoid the people you hate.

Why do you avoid certain people? Why do you avoid going to certain homes? Isn't it because you hate that person? True. You can give me 10000 excuses but it's not true. The real reason is you hate that person.

And so you avoid going to that person. Just think what a tremendous power hatred brings. As soon as you see that person you want to walk the other side of the road, you won't go anywhere near that person, you won't visit that person, you won't phone that person, you won't talk to that person.

Just think of the power of hatred. Just think if you channel all that hatred towards sin. Can you imagine how holy you'll be? You won't phone sin, you won't visit sin, you won't go anywhere near it. When you see it down the road you'll turn this way and go.

Boy, can you imagine what you'll be in another six months? It's all got to do with hatred. Hatred is a tremendous power. The only thing is you're channeling it in the wrong direction, towards people instead of towards sin.

Jesus never hated people. God loves the world it says. You cannot have God on your side if you hate one human being because God doesn't hate a human being. I'm just telling you the truth. The reason why some of you will probably never have God on your side in your whole life is because you never gave up your hatred of somebody.

You keep saying I don't hate that person but you do. You do hate that person. You got a grudge against somebody, you avoid someone. I'm just encouraging you, my dear brother and sister, don't waste any more years of your life or any more days of your life.

Channel it all towards sin. That tremendous power of hatred that you've got in your life, that has accomplished so much of evil, why don't you channel it towards sin from now on? The Bible says Jesus hated sin and the reason we don't overcome is because we don't allow the Holy Spirit to produce in us a similar hatred of sin.

Grace, Forgiveness, and Victory Over Sin

Jesus came to save us from sin because he knows that sin destroys us. There are more commands and exhortations in the scripture to stop sinning than to be healed from sickness. I've heard a lot of preachers in my lifetime.

Many, many, more than all of you. And I'll tell you something from years and years of observing and listening to many preachers. I've listened to them personally, I've read their books, watched them on television and I'll tell you something.

You'll find one in a thousand telling you how to overcome sin. You'll find a hundred at least among that thousand talking about physical healing and probably nine hundred others talking about forgiveness of sins.

That's about the proportion. One in a thousand. You tell me if you find preachers telling you how to overcome sin in your life. And yet that's the main theme of the New Testament. Sin shall not rule over you because you're not under law but under grace.

And I want to say to you, even though forgiveness of sins is the beginning of grace, it's like knowing ABC and living in the kindergarten forever. That all you can do is say CAT means cat and BAT means bat and that's about all your spiritual education is, that you got forgiveness of sins.

In your daily life, if you're not overcoming sin, if you're not overcoming anger, if you're not overcoming bitterness, if you're not overcoming the love of money in your life, if you're not overcoming lusting with your eyes, if you're not overcoming telling lies, if you're not overcoming deception, if you're not overcoming the spirit of strife and quarreling and selfishness and pride and haughtiness and arrogance and disobedience to authority in the world, in the home or in the church, if you're not overcoming these things, it's because you're not experiencing fullness of grace.

You're in the kindergarten, you learnt the ABC, the sins are forgiven but you haven't understood that Jesus hates iniquity. If you want to hold hands with Jesus and fellowship with him, you got to go the way he's going.

You can't hold hands with him and go in some other direction. It is impossible. The moment you're going in a direction to commit some sin, you can be absolutely sure that Jesus has left your hand at that time.

Sure. Supposing you're walking hand in hand with Jesus and you say, well Lord, I'd like to go to that pornographic shop and look at that book. He said, go, leave my hand, go. Or you say, Lord, Jesus says, I want to visit that child of mine in that home.

You say, oh no, Lord, I haven't talked to him for ages. Jesus says, okay, you go, I'm going to visit that child of yours. Can you imagine that Jesus can fellowship with some people whom you can't fellowship with?

There's something must be wrong with you, not with Jesus. How is it he can fellowship with that person which you can't? I always ask myself this question. Can Jesus fellowship with that person? If so, I must do everything in my power to fellowship with that person.

And the more Jesus fellowships with some people, the more I want to fellowship with those people. I know that Jesus cannot fellowship with certain people because they're living in sin. Well, then I can't fellowship with them either.

I can love them, but I can't fellowship with them. The only reason is that they're living in sin. So, remember this, if you want God on your side, you've got to ask the Holy Spirit to give you the same hatred for sin that Jesus had.

You know, why is it that we hate sickness? I don't think there's a single person sitting here who loves sickness. You don't even love a headache. Is there anybody who loves a headache, or a stomachache, or a backache, or any other ache?

No. Why is it we hate it? Why is it we're willing to spend tens of thousands of rupees to go to doctors and get scans and medicines and x-rays to be free from some little sickness? It's amazing how much money.

They won't even spend 10 rupees to buy a book on victory over sin. They're going to spend 10 ,000 rupees to be free from, to get some scan about some backache. Can you believe that? That's amazing. It's because we know that sickness is bad.

We hate it with all of our heart. And that's why we want to get rid of it as soon as possible. If our children have got it, we want to get rid of it from our children. If only our eyes would be open to see that no sickness can send you to hell, but one sin can send you to hell.

Do you know that? Do you know that Jesus said, you read that in Matthew 6 verse 14 -15, that if you don't forgive men their trespasses, the things they do against you, my Heavenly Father will not forgive you.

Let's say you lived a good life for 40 years, came to CFC, sang the songs, accepted the Lord, took water baptism, spoke in tongues, did everything good for 40 years and then the last week before you died, you developed a bitterness against somebody, one person.

Because of what he did to you. I mean, you got a reason for it. He did some terrible evil to you and you just got a bitterness against him. Maybe he cheated you, maybe he harmed you, maybe he harmed your children.

Okay, correct, what you say is right. But as a result of that, you developed a hatred or a bitterness. You smiled at that person, God saw a bitterness in your heart. Do you know that all your 40 years in CFC won't help you?

You know where you'll go if you die in that state? Hell. You say, but what about my 40 years service? You know, like government service, can't I get a pension? It doesn't work like that in the Kingdom of God.

If you don't forgive others, my Heavenly Father will not forgive you. How many people are you permitted to have a bitterness against? One? Two? And go to heaven? Not even one. That's how God hates sin.

And particularly forgiveness, it's so easy to forgive. The reason why many people don't get victory over anger and lusting is because they don't do the easy things first. Forgiveness is so easy. You just can't forgive.

So there's an example of a man who went to hell because he committed one sin after living a good life for 40 years. I want to show you a verse in Ezekiel. If you haven't seen it, some of us don't read the Old Testament enough.

Let me show you this verse. In Ezekiel, it says in chapter 3, here it speaks, no sorry, let's turn to chapter 18. Ezekiel 18. There's a little bit mentioned in chapter 3 also, but it's a little more clear in chapter 18.

Verse 24. I want you to remember this verse all your life. This is the word of God. When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, that's what I said, he's been righteous for 40 years, and he turns away from it and commits iniquity and does according to the abominations that a wicked man does, maybe he does it only for three days or one day after living 40 years in righteousness.

Now listen to this. All his righteous deeds which he has done for 40 years will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and the one sin which he has committed, for that he'll die. You say that's not fair, isn't it?

You better argue with God on the day of judgment. I'm not going to argue with God. God is the one who has established laws for this universe. I didn't create this universe, I didn't create human beings.

I'm not going to argue with God. I believe with God with all my heart that all the righteousness he did for 40 years will not be remembered because he didn't forgive somebody. I've never heard a preacher preach on that verse in my whole life.

Some of you who are fascinated by God TV, if you come across that verse, just tell me. Tell me if somebody preaches that. You see, fellas, I'm not leading you to victory over sin. Please tell you God loves you, God loves you, God loves you, God loves you, you're very important, very important, and you live in sin.

What's the use of that? God must help you to overcome sin. It's no use going to a doctor who says you're good, you're good, you're great, you're great, give me my pay, and allows you to die of cancer.

What's the use of going to a doctor like that? Okay, now see the opposite of that. This is the good news. Verse 21. With a wicked man, if a man is very wicked, wicked for 40 years, like the thief on the cross, turns from his sins which he has committed, and observes my statutes, practices justice, righteousness, maybe he just turned on the last day before he died, all the sins he committed, verse 22, will not be remembered against him.

See, God's very fair. Because of his righteousness he lived. Even if he turned at the last moment, like the thief on the cross. I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, God is the one who makes laws for this universe.

You better know his laws before you meet him face to face. Hate sin, because God hates sin. It's the first step to a really happy life. I want to show you a second thing that Jesus came to destroy. It says in 1 John chapter 3, verse 8.

The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. The last part of that verse, 1 John chapter 3, verse 8. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. He didn't destroy the devil himself, because God is using the devil to make us strong.

Just by the way, in case you didn't know, if you find a strong believer, he's become strong because the devil was around. He wouldn't have been so strong if the devil were not around to test him and tempt him and harass him and trouble him.

He's become strong because the devil was around. Thank God for that. That God has allowed the devil to exist. We praise God for everything Jesus did. I praise God that he's allowed the devil to exist.

And I praise God that he's taken away the devil's power. That he can't touch us. He can't touch us at all. He came to destroy the power that Satan has over us. There is no way in which Satan can touch a person who's totally surrendered to God, who's confessed all his sins, cleansed in the blood of Jesus.

He may not be perfect, he may be battling 101 sins in his life, but he hates them. He hates all of them and he really wants to set everything right with God and man as soon as he gets opportunity. I tell you the devil can't touch such a man.

The devil grabs hold of people who've got bitterness. The devil grabs hold of people who are indulging in sin and not hating it. Not the people who fall, but the people who are not battling sin. And Jesus came to deliver us from the power of the devil.

Jesus’ Authority Over Satan and the Need for a Clear Conscience

He said in Luke chapter 10 and verse 18, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. See Jesus said way back before Adam was created. He's telling us something here which he saw before Adam was created.

He's telling, you know fellas, you're afraid of the devil? Let me tell you what I saw. He was there, one of the great angels in our presence. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And I saw him being cast down.

We cast him down. God. And you know how soon he fell? The speed of lightning. The devil travels at 186 ,000 miles per second when he runs away from a godly man, from a humble man. Resist the devil and he'll flee from you at 186 ,000 miles per second.

That's what it says in this verse. That's the speed of lightning. 300 ,000 kilometers a second. And therefore I've given you authority over serpents, scorpions, over all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall injure you.

Do you know that? Nothing can injure me. If my conscience is clear. If I've forgiven everyone. If I've confessed all my sins. Nothing can harm me. No one can harm me. Nothing shall injure you. Because I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy.

And you've heard me use that illustration of the difference between authority and power. See two words there. I don't give you power, I give you authority. Over the enemy. He didn't say I give you more power than Satan.

It's not true. Do you know that Satan's got more power than you? But you've got more authority than him. And the illustration I love to use is the little policeman standing in the middle of the crossroads.

With this huge trucks coming up at him at 60, 70 miles per hour. And he just lifts up his hand. And that truck stops. Who's got more power? That truck can run over a hundred policemen. That driver doesn't have authority.

It's one little finger. One little hand. Stop. In Jesus name. Stop. That's it. I don't know how many of you remember. We had a conference here about 20 years ago. And there was a man. I didn't know who he was.

He just came in from the street. And he was crawling up the aisle. Like a snake. And everybody was looking down. I couldn't even see it, you know. Till he came right up to here. We had just begun our Bible study.

And I said, in the name of Jesus, lie down there. And he went to sleep. Immediately. Some of you were here. You may remember that. Because we're not going to let the devil interrupt our Bible study. We continued our Bible study for one hour.

So let's pray. Amen. He woke up. And then we could talk to him. It happened right here. The exact spot. Right there. Between those two chairs. I don't have more power than the devil. No. I don't even pretend that.

But I've got authority. Why? Because my conscience is clear. There's not a soul on earth whom I've not forgiven. A lot of people have done harm against me. More than I've done against you. Has anybody taken you to a criminal court yet?

I've forgiven. My conscience is clear. Some of you got little complaints. Some mosquito bites here and there. You got from somebody. And you got those complaints. What is the result? You hold up your hand and those trucks come crashing over you.

Because you've got no authority. You're a retired policeman. Trying to hold up your hand. The devil doesn't care for you. Ah, you were once upon a time. I knew you had power. Ah, who are you today? Jesus I know and Paul I know.

But who are you? Won't work my brother, sister. The devil is not fooled by the old uniforms you used to wear once upon a time. When you were in the service once upon a time. Once upon a time I know you were in the service.

But not today. Authority. Think if you've lost it. What's the use? A hundred trucks will stop when this man puts up his hand. But he's got to remain in service. There's no authority with those who are retired.

Or those who are sacked. I think some of us are not retired. We're just sacked from service. Because of misconduct. What a sad thing when we lose that authority over the devil. And there are so many ways in which the devil seeks to make us lose that authority.

Worldly Ambition, Satan’s Temptation, and Seeking God’s Kingdom

You know he even tried it with Jesus. He said, I'll give you all the things in this world. You think the devil tempts only you with that? Can you imagine that the devil thought he could even tempt Jesus with money.

And he could tempt Jesus with pleasure and honor and all the things of the world. He said, just do one thing. Just bow down to me a little bit. And that teaches us one lesson. What do you learn from that?

I'll tell you what I learned. That if I want to get anything in this world. I have to bow down to Satan. That's what I learned from that temptation. I hope you learned it too. That if you go seeking after the things of this world, you can get it.

Even Jesus could have got it. But the way Jesus could have got it is by bowing down to Satan. And the way you'll get it is by bowing down to Satan. But you say, but I need so many things in the world.

Sure, Jesus says, seek the kingdom of God first. And these things will be added to you without your running after them. That's the difference. Jesus did not starve. He fasted 40 days, but he never starved.

He never had to be without clothes. And he didn't run around in ragged clothes. He never had to sleep on the pavement. He never lived in a slum. No. But he didn't run after money. Not even when he was a carpenter.

Because he would not bow down to Satan. God, because Satan is the prince of this world. Jesus said that. John 14, verse 30. Jesus said, Satan is the ruler of this world. He's got the right to give certain things to different people.

If you want it from him, you can get it from him. But you've got to bow down your knee somewhere. In other words, what does it mean to bow down the knee? You've got to tell a little lie somewhere. You've got to cheat somewhere.

You've got to do something wrong somewhere. You've got to put God second and something else first in order to get it. Some of you have got a lot of things in your life. You've got promotions in your job.

Because you put God second. You didn't kick God out altogether. You just put him second. That's all the devil wants. He doesn't ask you to throw God altogether out. He says, just put him second and put something that I offer you first.

Your job was first and God was second. And something else was first in your life. God was second and so you got something. And you're so happy. And you're also religious, right? Because you've got God in your life.

That's religious. A spiritual man has got God first in his life. A religious man has got God second. Did you understand the difference between a religious man and a spiritual man? And therefore a religious man gets a lot of things in the world.

But he destroys himself. He never becomes spiritual. Because God's not first in his life. He has fallen for the trap of the devil. Which Jesus overcame. He's bowed the knee somewhere to Satan. And lost authority.

Balaam, Blessing, and Refusing to Denounce God’s People

It's very sad. You know when you put God first in your life. I want to tell you what Balaam. You know sometimes even non-christian people can say something which is true. Numbers chapter 23. See Balaam was a man who had some contact with God.

Because the Bible says very clearly that God spoke to Balaam. You read that many times in Numbers 22. God said to Balaam. Numbers 22 .9. God came to Balaam. Verse 12. God said to Balaam. Verse 20. God came to Balaam at night.

I mean that's not a false God. It was not some idol. It was the same God whom we worship. It says came and spoke to Balaam at night. Okay. Again it says in chapter 23 verse 4. God met Balaam. You can be pretty sure that that man had some contact with the true God.

And a heathen king called Balaam. And said curse the nation of Israel for me. Now remember the nation of Israel was God's Old Testament people. Not today. Don't think what you read in the papers about Israel.

That's not the Israel the Bible speaks of. God's not. Today God is dealing with the church. And I'm always disturbed when we sing these songs about Israel. King of Israel. I don't sing it. I just leave out that verse.

Because to me he's the king of the church. He's not king of Israel today. You know. It says here that he called Balaam. Balak the king called Balaam to curse Israel. And told him in verse 7 the last part.

Come curse Jacob for me. Come denounce Israel. Do you know what Balaam's reply was? Listen to this. How can I curse the one whom God has not cursed? Think that you can be in such a blessed position. That nobody can curse you.

They may curse. But it doesn't. It's like water off a duck's back. It's like throw a ball on the wall. Even less than that. The ball may make a stain on the wall. Curse doesn't even touch me. It just goes past.

It can't touch me. How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I curse a man on whose side God is? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? I want to ask you my brothers and sisters. Have you ever denounced somebody whom God has not denounced?

Be careful. Believers sometimes speak evil of somebody. They denounce someone whom God has not denounced. I tell you that false prophet Balaam had more sense than you. He says how can I denounce one whom God has not denounced?

Be very very careful when you speak about God's children. You can say you disagree with someone. But don't ever denounce someone whom God has not denounced. Be very careful. A lot of people have lost out spiritually because of that.

And then he says in these Israel, people of Israel are so blessed. He says in verse 10. Oh if only I could die as happy as an Israelite. Oh that my end might be like theirs. Today that applies to the Christian.

And then verse 23. No curse, I am reading from the living Bible, can be placed on Jacob. No black magic can be done against him. Do you believe that? No one can do black magic against me. No one can put a curse on me.

They can try. If they dig a pit for me, they will fall into that pit themselves. If they roll a stone on me, it will roll back on them. Not because I have power, I've got authority. Who gave it to me?

Jesus. How do I retain it? With a clear conscience and with humility. Because God is on the side of the humble. You only got to keep a clear conscience. And humble yourself, that's all. Keep your conscience absolutely clear.

If you are wrong somebody, go and ask forgiveness immediately. Because I don't want to lose this authority. I don't want to be sacked from service and lose my authority. The trucks can run over me. There are trucks all over the place.

And any of them will run over me if I lose my authority. I can't afford to be sacked from service even for five minutes. Some of you may think it's okay, five minutes is not a long time. Five minutes is enough for a truck to run over you.

And some of you, the devil has run over you. And you haven't recovered from all the fractures you got. After the devil ran over you. Have you learned a lesson for the future? I don't want to lose, be sacked from service even for one minute.

I want to keep my authority and it's so easy. You don't have to be perfect. But you have to admit your sin as soon as you committed it. You got to go and ask forgiveness from God. Don't justify yourself.

The one terrible sin that I have seen among believers is justifying themselves. Yeah, I did that, but this, this, this, this, this. Yeah, I did that, but my wife gave me this fruit to eat. What to do?

And the wife whom you created. That's what Adam said. Like I said the other day, go and read Psalm 51. Not one word of self-justification. Do you know that when you justify yourself, you are an abomination to God?

Did you know that? You know that I never show to preach anything which is not in scripture. I'll show it to you. I show you verses which you've never seen in your life. It's in your Bible, but you don't read them.

Self-Justification, Humility, and Spiritual Authority

Luke 16 verse 15. You are those, he told the Pharisees, who justify yourselves in the sight of men. You do something wrong, and you say, no, no, no, no, it's like this, it's like this. You got 101 explanations, why?

You are not wrong, of course. You are the great saint, who never does anything wrong. Somebody tells you, that's wrong. You say, no, no, no, no, this, this, this. Okay, go ahead. But God knows your hearts.

And that which is highly esteemed among men. We always read a verse in its context. There are many things highly esteemed among men. We can apply to all of them. But in this particular verse, it's referring to one thing, which is highly esteemed among men.

That means which men esteem very highly. What is that? To justify themselves. Everybody in the world, highly values justifying themselves. And that is an abomination in the sight of God. You got it? That when you justify yourself, you are an abomination in the sight of God.

That's why Adam lost paradise. Confess your sin, keep it clear, and you'll have authority. Satan can have no power over us. Zero. If my conscience is clear, and I humble myself in every situation. Humble yourself, keep your mouth shut.

Humble yourself. Let them accuse you. Fellows who accuse you to your face, write letters against you, don't reply. Let them destroy themselves if they want to. You will remain standing. A thousand will attack you on the left side, and they will fall down.

Ten thousand will attack you on the right side, and they will fall down, and you will remain standing. Because you have made the Lord your refuge. You dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. And you say, He is my fortress.