The Danger of Being Strong — Joshua Daniel

Spiritual Strength in 1 John

The people who are in the camp immediately after your supper. Now if you turn to 1 John 2nd chapter. 1 John 2nd chapter and verse 14 I have written unto you fathers Because you have known him that is from the beginning.

Father, I have written unto you young men Because ye are strong. And the word of God abideth in you. Father, I have written unto you young men Because you have overcome the wicked one. Now You know in 13th verse it says I write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one.

So in two consecutive verses The same thing is said about young men. I write unto you because you are strong. Now have you met People who say yes, I am strong. Have you met people who say yes, I am strong.

Of course, normally we don't claim to be very strong. And very often it is true that we are not very strong. Now there are certain things which we strongly believe. One of those things as I told you this morning Is in the power of money.

When I first heard the phrase money speaks I was quite amused. I said what? Money speaks? Well, you might have been hearing money speaking to you almost continually perhaps. So if that is one thing which is very strong a Fixation in the hearts of many people.

And for the sake of money they will do anything. Now What are the other things in which? We are people are strong. Some people are very Opinionated. Their opinions are the only things that exist. Even in the face of failure.

They will Just pursue their own Willful ways. You know, it is very hard to live with such people. They have such strong opinions Which are not really based on reality. So they will fight for their opinion.

Strongholds of Addiction and Immoral Habits

They There are certain habits, which are very strong. I don't know how many of you were smokers before. Put up your hands, please. And how many of you were drunkards before. Will you stand up, please?

Yes. Drink and smoke. Thank you ladies. I'm very glad some of you are standing not because you drank before. But because you're honest. How much money you have spent over those habits. How much time. What a big chunk of your life and Your potential was lost over those habits.

And that habits. You know, there are other habits. There's a drug habit. But I'm not going to ask you to stand for that now. Yes. We must see the breaking of the drug habit. Well, there are other evil habits Which dominate people.

You know, it is claimed Masturbation is just natural. And you must do it. In some parts of the world, that's what people say and believe. But I have found that young people that got addicted to that They became so nervously weak.

Their minds were corrupted No concentration. And I found their spirits were warped. There is deliverance in Jesus Christ Over the flesh The world And the devil. So many of those things Which Are Very dangerous and harmful for your bodies And your souls And your spirits.

People today are calling it normal. It is normal for a girl to throw away her virginity. It is normal to run into adultery. Alright. How this world The nations of this world The economy of countries Is just being Broken By adultery.

Illegitimate children. Countries that cannot afford Teenage mothers With these illegitimate children. So everywhere The economy of Most of the big countries Is in great trouble. And then there are sociologists that say That people are going to live in groups No longer in families.

We used to say It is gang rape. But now it is Sociologists claim It is a social Evolution. How terrible. So the world calls these things normal And will not acknowledge That these things are wrecking Mankind Wrecking the personality of people.

And as the various Types of Diseases Venereal diseases increase And these organisms Are acquiring great immunity Against many medicines. And then So there is furious research And so much money is being wasted.

The Devil’s Destructive Stronghold

Yes. The devil's purpose Is to steal To kill And to destroy. So while these Various factors Are having a very strong Hold Upon the nations Today And some of you have found Those tentacles To hold you in a Death grip before.

Now The Lord says You are strong. What is it? It is a very comprehensive Strength. See some people are very weak In their minds today. Much of that weakness Is born out of Family discard. It could have been.

It could have started Even in the cradle. When a father and a mother Argue and fight The baby becomes Begins to develop Wrecked nerves. And they may not show In the beginning. But oh What unhappy families There are today.

How sad People who fight over money. People who live together Under the same roof But never Achieved Unity of mind Or purpose. Oh how hard it must be. While you are one flesh But you are two minds And two spirits.

How terrible. What kind of union is that? What kind of marriage is that? One proud person As the Bible says One sinner Destroys much good. One proud person. You know I have noticed Certain traits In the course of my preaching In various parts of the country And other nations.

Certain traits Are very strong To certain cultures. Somehow The Indian mind Though I can't see why it must be so proud Yet it is very proud. Now this is True of the Chinese mind To of the British mind Of the German mind Of the American mind.

Oh yes. As I labored in all these places I have seen peculiar variations Of pride. If you ask me What are they very strong in? Some people are very strong In their Self-exaltation Which begets pride I have seen.

Are you free from that? But here The Bible is speaking about Spiritual strength In Numbers. Chapter 14 You see that The spies The twelve spies Returned from Searching the land. And What was The consequence Of their report?

Israel’s Defeatism at the Edge of the Promised Land

Chapter 14. And the first And second verses. And all the congregation Lifted up their voice And cried. And the people wept That night. What? These men were Sent as an advance Party To Go assess The military Strength So that It may make it easier To overcome.

But they brought Such a report That it made the people Melted the hearts of the people. And they began to cry. And What happened? They murmured And all the children of Israel Murmured against Moses And against Aaron.

And what did they say? Would God that we had Died in the land of Egypt. Or would God we had Died in the wilderness. Of course they got their wish Later on. But Look at that When God was expecting Them to possess The promised land When God expected.

What did they do? They brought an evil report. They said we cannot Take the land. Verse 27. They said it is indeed The 13th chapter. Verse 27. Now it is indeed A land Which floweth With milk and honey.

But The walls Are very great. The people Are giants. And all these other Tribes lived In the mountains. Look at that litany Of defeatism. Verse 31. We are not able To go up Against the people For they are Stronger than we.

Now very often That's what we think. See the world is getting Very strong. I tell you as a preacher I may have said that What right have I to say that. Of course the world Will get stronger And wickedness will wax Stronger.

Resurrection Power Against Fear and Wickedness

But What have we got. The resurrection Power of Jesus. You cannot imagine What that strength is. Nobody has Explored it. And we who call ourselves Christians We just stand And gaze. We don't acquire We don't possess.

Why don't we Go to God and say Where is this Resurrection power To completely overcome. In my own body In my thoughts In my motives And ambitions. Where is this Resurrection power To overcome These wild forces.

What are those forces Behind man made gods. Surely they cannot stand Before the power of the resurrection. My dear friends We don't see our strength. We don't see The power. The sources and resources Of power Placed at our disposal.

But We are only thinking Of the power here. Every spirit attacking us. Some evil spirit Coming upon us. You know what you should Pray in future Lord Before our meeting begins. Let these Demons depart.

That's a normal prayer. Before the messenger Of God goes there. Hell must be in confusion. The devils must be In fright. There must be chaos In the camp Of the enemy. Do you see that my dear friends. We don't recognize Our strength.

These people. What did they recognize. The strength of the arm of God. No. What did they understand From the Red sea dividing. What did they get from it. Nothing. You know very often many people Who say they are converted Are just like that.

You know when people tell me about their fears And what might happen. And all the disasters That could hinder. I say to them What about all the deliverances God gave you in your life. Why don't you expect those Deliverances.

I don't understand The mind of many people Who call themselves Christians. They are only seeing Defeat. They are only seeing Fear and defeat. They are not strengthened In the inner man. By God's spirit.

I write unto you young people Because you are strong And you have overcome The wicked one. So dear friends The Lord gives What happened to these people here. There was Caleb 30th verse 13 .30. And Caleb stilled the people Before Moses.

Let us go up at once And possess it. For we are well able To overcome it. Yes. Put you before a mountain. Put you before a river. Put you before a hard situation. You must say with faith We are well able To overcome.

We don't say that. Oh my, full of fears. No, no, no. We are not doing any justice To our Saviour. We are not bringing Any honour to His name. We don't seem To understand The power of the resurrection.

Joshua and Caleb Against Majority Defeatism

It is fear That dominates. But Faith and fear Never can dwell together. So in the whole camp There were just Two people. Isn't that Very sad. You know We talk about democracy. We see democracy Here in action.

So democracy Won that day. The majority said No. Ten people said No. Only two people said We can go. That was Joshua and Caleb. My dear people Isn't that sad. So don't think. Democracy offers All solutions For moral problems.

Tomorrow you might have Some strange law in this country. There are too many People Girls who are unmarried. So you must have two wives. Now I don't know the balance Between male and female in India. I think men are in excess.

But suppose such a law comes. I know there are many people Who would say we want four. They will say our religion Guarantees us four. Listen my dear friends Four or forty. Your evil heart will never be satisfied That wicked heart of yours.

But democracy Today is making some Most wicked laws. Almost everything Is being legalized. Murder. Abortion Killing old people. Euthanasia. I don't see What law can exist. When you can kill old people.

You can kill babies. What exists between. The law of the jungle exists. What is that law of the jungle. The fittest survives. The man or person Who swallows all the rest They survive. Well Democracy is being used For that today.

Faithful Minorities Who Transform Nations

But You may be in the minority But that does not matter. We just heard of Daniel. One man Can shake a country. One man. One man Can change the laws. Unrighteous laws. One woman. One Esther Can save a nation From extermination One man.

But What kind of weaklings We are producing. And we call it the chur. And every Sunday morning All you have to do is To hold many milk bottles And distribute it. Or find some way By which you can have Milk bottles hanging over Every pew And distribute it To the people.

That is what we see. We do not bring strength Into the church. We do not bring prayer Into the church. We do not bring holiness Into the church. Holiness into the church. We do not bring faith Into the church.

All that we bring On Sunday morning Is tired weary Bodies But With an artificial Smile. No my dear friends That is not the church. That is a bunch of people With one foot in the grave. With one foot in the grave.

That is all. Now my friends Turn back To that portion of scripture. I write unto you Young people For the word of God Abideth in you. For the word of God Abideth in you. Some people Have one problem. Last month I was on the verge of death.

Last month I was on the verge of death. And Next month What happens? Same thing again. Some binge drinking Or some kind of activity Which creates Another crisis. So many families Pass from crisis To crisis.

Is that a case Of the word of God abiding in us? That is mental Christianity. So you know it all In the mind. Now all the children That have grown up in the fellowship Are subject To that great danger.

The Word of God Abiding in Believers

Mental Christianity. I want you to learn Faith here. And I want you to Put the word of God In your heart. You have been told already That you must meditate on God's word. Now friends The word of God abideth in you.

If I abide in you And my words abide in you. If I abide in you And my words abide in you When you ask for what you want It will be given to you. If I abide in you And my words abide in you. Have you seen friends?

When God abides in you This prayer becomes very powerful. I do not know How many prayers Are going to achieve great things. Do not be discouraged If you do not have instant replies. You know I never knew That God had such great things.

I never knew When I was a student I never knew I was very good at geography. But I never even heard Of Arunachal Pradesh. It probably did not exist at that time. It was Assam. Now when the word of God Is going to those remote regions I cannot say that I planned those moves.

I cannot say that I planned those moves. I met people from Burma. And they are going to take faith with them. They came in the midst of danger In spite of danger. And surely God is going to bless them.

Faith Made Active Through the Word

Now my dear friends When the word of God Abides in you Faith Grows. Faith abounds. Faith is nothing but The word of God Being converted Into flesh and blood Into real action. That is the word of God Which abides When it abides.

When temptation comes The word of God Which abides in you Which ejects it. That is the word of God Which abides in you. When fears come When relatives express All kinds of coming tragedies. The word of God Abiding in you Expels those fears.

The word of God Expels those fears. What a wonderful thing to tell young people. Oh young people. You are not distracted by the dollar. You are not distracted by your Ph .D. You are not distracted by your physical beauty.

You are not distracted by all the allurements of the world. But for the word of God abides in you. What a thing to tell young people. But is that true of you? My little children. My dear young people I write unto you Because the word of God Abides in you.

And you have overcome The wicked one. You have overcome. It is a settled fact. It is not Some kind of futuristic plan. It is a fact. Yes You have overcome The wicked one. How wonderful. See how many things Trip up people.

Overcoming the Wicked One by Looking to Jesus

Young people. One bad example In a pulpit. One preacher Who does not live up to what he preaches. You can go around saying Everyone is a big humbug. That's all. That's all. You have not overcome the wicked one.

Someone's weakness Has become your excuse. You know if people's weaknesses Had been turned by me To excuse myself Then I would never have stood. I would have looked at this man. That man He raised the dead.

But alas What kind of man is this. I would not have figured at all Figured out for Jesus at all. I would not have come out for Jesus. Some people are specialized In digging up the weaknesses of others.

My dear friend Become a specialist In digging up the dirt From your own heart In digging up the dirt. So and so is doing this. So and so is doing that. I look at Jesus. I only look at Jesus. And every time I come to him I am lifted.

I am lifted. But when you look at people You sink deeper and deeper. That is why I tell leaders. My dear man You are not fit to be a leader. You have not proved yourself. You are just a nice fine man.

You may be alright In an office environment. But in the battlefield You hardly count. You are not ready To bear the scars of battle. Oh my I write unto you Young man. Because you have overcome The wicked one.

Christ’s Victory and the Call to Become Overcomers

What did Jesus our Lord Tell us In this world You will have tribulation But be of good cheer. I have overcome The world. So our Saviour Is going to turn you Into an overcomer. Let us cast off This environment This cloud of fear.

And let us look At our Saviour Who says Be of good cheer. You too will be like me. You too will be an overcomer. You will be. Let us pray. Let us tell God Oh my Father Let me not Be a defeated fearful person Always pointing my finger At some approaching calamity Or some other person's Weakness.

Let me look at Jesus. Let me possess Your resurrection power. You are the one That makes people Overcomers, weaklings Into overcomers. You are the one That turns cowards Into heroes. Oh Lord Oh Lord. Can't you turn me also Into one that overcomes.

Oh Blessed Father. Why are people Who name the name of Jesus Living always In an environment Of defeat. Why are they saying Oh I am afraid of this. I am afraid of this. What is going to happen. Why are they not saying My Lord is able.

Why are they not saying The God of Daniel Will not leave me. The God of Peter Will strengthen me. Oh forgive us Lord. We want a different Level of Christian Living. Cleanse us Lord Cleanse us of all Unfaith.

Oh we want to be Overcomers. We want to win over the wicked one. We want him to flee As we advance In Jesus name. Oh Gracious Father. We need your touch. We need your covering. We need your conducting.

We need your leadership. We need The resurrection And the resurrection Power in action. Have mercy upon us. We ask in Jesus almighty name Amen. Amen. And now may the grace Of our Lord Jesus And the love of God And the fellowship And power of the Holy Spirit Be with you.

Dear people Amen.