Preserving Our Families from Satan's Attacks

Christ’s Victory Over Satan at the Cross

There's one very important truth that is not sufficiently proclaimed in Christian churches, and that puts a lot of believers in fear and bondage. And that is this truth. I mean, I myself never knew it for many years in my life.

I grew up in an assembly where they never taught it. That truth is that when Jesus died on the cross, a number of things happened. Our sins were placed upon him. He took away our sins. That is proclaimed everywhere in evangelical Christianity.

Romans 6 says our old man, that old nature of ours was crucified with Christ, which leads us to live an overcoming life. And then one very important truth, Satan was defeated on the cross. That's the part which is oddly emphasized.

We hear a lot about Jesus died on the cross for us. But that Jesus defeated Satan on the cross. Satan was not defeated until Jesus died on the cross. Even when Jesus was alive, he himself could overcome Satan.

That's why in the old, but nobody else. That's why in the entire Old Testament, you read about Satan in Genesis 3, and then you hardly ever read about him in the whole Old Testament. You don't find Satan attacking the prophets or any such thing because God restrained him.

You read about Satan in Job, and there you read about how God restrained Satan from attacking Job beyond a certain limit. But otherwise you hardly hear about Satan in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, as soon as Jesus came, you find he's constantly encountering the Satan and the demons in people.

And then when you come to the Acts of the Apostles, you find the apostles were also encountering demons. And then you come to the Epistles, you find overcoming Satan is a major part of the Christian life.

Hebrews 2 and Deliverance from the Fear of Death

Let me just show you two verses, Hebrews 2 and verse 14 and 15. Since the children share in flesh and blood, Jesus also took part of the same. Why? Not just to forgive our sins, which is true, so that he could die.

You know, he couldn't die unless he took on a human body. But when he died, through that death, he made powerless the one who had the power of death, that is the devil. So as far as we know, up until the time that Jesus died, Satan had the power of death.

I mean, he couldn't touch any God-fearing person without God's permission, as we read in the book of Job and chapter two, God said, you can touch his body and make him sick, but you cannot take his life.

Satan would have loved to kill Job, but he couldn't. But he did have the power of death. But it says that one who had the power of death, the devil, was made powerless. He wasn't destroyed, Satan is not destroyed, he's hale and hearty, but he does not have power over a person who comes, listen carefully, who comes under the headship of Jesus Christ.

If you live under the headship of Jesus Christ, Satan will have zero power over you. He has made him powerless, that's why it's so important for us to live under the headship of Jesus Christ, to bring our families under the headship of Jesus Christ.

He made him powerless so that he can deliver or free those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage and slavery. The fear of death is there in all human beings, and it says here that through Christ's death, we are delivered from it.

Many of you will admit that you are freed from your sins because you've come to Christ. How many of you knew that Satan was also defeated on the cross? Let me ask you another thing. How many of you have been delivered 100 from the fear of death?

You'll gladly acknowledge that you've been delivered 100 from your sins, past sins. You know the blood of Christ has taken care of us. But here it says he died to destroy the one who had the power of death, the devil, so that purpose that those who through fear of death, do you know that the fear of death, it says in verse 15, brings us slavery.

It makes a man a slave, always afraid of death. What will happen? What will happen? I might get a sickness. I might get cancer. I might get an accident. And we live in that fear. I'm not saying we shouldn't be careful.

We must be very, very careful. But there's a lot of difference between careful and living in fear. There's a lot of difference between being careful and being tense and anxious. Anxiety is not part of the Christian life.

Carefulness, yes. Jesus was careful. We read in the gospels that sometimes he would not go to someplace where they were trying to kill him. That's just being carefulness. But he wasn't afraid. Never. Jesus was not afraid for one second.

But he was careful all the time. And we should be also. But not live in the fear of death. Because Satan was defeated on the cross. The second verse I want to show you is Colossians in Chapter two. Colossians Chapter two.

Christ Cancels Sin’s Debt and Disarms Spiritual Powers

It speaks about the two things that Jesus did for us. First of all, in verse 14, he cancelled out Colossians 2 14. He cancelled out the certificate of debt. Every time we sin. It's like we owe a debt to God.

I don't know whether you realize that. You have a bad thought. You got into debt to God. You have a bitterness against somebody. You're in debt again. Men are increasing their debt every day. You got a wrong attitude towards someone.

You go and sit and gossip against someone. Your debt is increasing. How many people would increase their financial debt like that? We're so crazy. Financial debt is not as serious as the debt of sin, which destroys our life.

And this debt of sin, Jesus, it says, and when Jesus died on the cross, Colossians 2 14, he cancelled it out. He paid that debt. Are you making him increase that? Lord, pay this debt. Also pay this debt.

Also pay that. We should be so careful not to sin. You should be careful not to shout and get angry at your wife. Or shout and get angry at your husband. That is increasing your debt. That's what Jesus died on the cross for.

It's like going to Jesus and say, pay my debt again. Pay my debt again. Pay my debt again. How many times a day are you going to do it? Are you going to take this matter of debt more seriously? Sin is a debt.

Jesus cancelled out the certificate of debt, which is against us. Took it out of the way, nailed it to the cross. Praise the Lord. There is complete freedom from the debt of sin, from the guilt of sin.

Through Christ's death on the cross. But if you love the Lord, you will not take advantage of it. The more I meditate on the cross, the more I hate sin. Even the slightest wrong attitude or thought or attitude or word or deed.

And then it says here, he took it out of the way, nailed it to the cross. And the second thing he did on the cross, verse 15, Colossians 2, 15. He disarmed the rulers and authority, the spiritual rulers and authorities that were cast out of heaven long before Adam was created.

And he made a public display of them. On the cross, there was a public display that all the angels could see. And if you have the eyes of faith, you can see it too. Most of you have had the eyes of faith to see Jesus taking your sins on the cross.

None of us saw Jesus hanging on the cross. But the eyes of faith have shown you taking your sin on the cross. You need the eyes of faith to see also that he took away the armor, the weapons of these evil rulers and authorities that they could harm you.

They cannot. There is no place for even the slightest fear of Satan in our life. That Satan can attack us, attack our families. He may try, but he's been disarmed. It's like a snake. Satan is pictured like a snake.

The snake has not been killed, but it's been paralyzed. You know the difference between a dead snake and a paralyzed snake? You're not afraid of a paralyzed snake if you're sure it's paralyzed. Satan can attack a Christian when he opens the door for the devil.

That's a different thing. That paralyzed snake becomes alive again. But he's been defeated and he has triumphed over all these evil forces. Jesus triumphed over them on the cross. Verse 15, made a public display of them.

Walking in the Light to Protect the Family

It's important to know that before we go into the subject of how Satan likes to attack our families, but he cannot touch our families if we walk in the light. It's when you allow darkness into your home that Satan gets power.

Darkness comes through anger, through dirty movies. You think you're sitting, relaxing, watching some filthy movie with those sex scenes. The sex scenes maybe come only for five seconds, but that five seconds will remain in your mind for 50 years.

Not the rest of the movie. You'll forget the rest of the movie. That's a scheme of the devil. You open the door to the devil in your home through those filthy movies, and then say, oh Lord, protect our home and our family from the devil.

You've ruined your children with those things. We need to be alert. I don't believe the devil can enter the home of any child of God who lives under the headship of Christ, who believes that Satan was defeated on the cross, and who can say to the devil, you've got no right over me.

I remember in my heart when it became clear to me, it's as if the Lord spoke to my heart. As you were living in fear of the devil all these years, from now on, the devil will be afraid of you. The tables are reversed.

It's not just that I am not afraid of the devil. That's a good testimony. But the devil will be afraid of you. James 4, 7 says, resist the devil and he will flee. Not walk away. He will flee. Flee is even a stronger word than run away.

He will flee full speed. Who is the one who runs away full speed from you? Not a lion. A lion will come attacking you. But there are these little worms and things like that that would run away because they know that you're more powerful than them.

The only one who runs away is one who feels that you're more powerful than them. If you feel the other person is more powerful than you, you run away. The devil will flee from you. As you were afraid of the devil until now, the devil will be afraid of you.

This is how we are to live. Especially in relation to our families. So now let's go to Genesis chapter 1 and see God's plan for the family. In Genesis chapter 1, we read, God made man in his image. He never made the angels in his image.

Humanity Made in God’s Image

From the beginning of time, God never made anyone in his image except the human race. The angels do not have God's image. They have many other abilities, physical abilities, mental abilities. But no angel can be a child of God.

No angel can look up to God and say, Father, Daddy, only human beings. It's a tremendous privilege. Some of these things we take for granted. We got to see what an honor and a privilege it is. Even the Old Testament prophets did not have it.

It was possible only after Christ died and the Holy Spirit could come in. So it says here, God's original plan was that Adam and Eve should grow up as his children. He made them in his own image. And we read in Genesis 1 and verse, first of all, we read on the sixth day, he first made the animals.

He made the fish and the birds and all on the fifth day. He could have made the animals also on the fifth day, but he did not. We teach man a lesson. On the sixth day, the first part of the sixth day, we read in Genesis 1, 24, that he made the animals who live on the earth.

And then the second part of the sixth day, he made man and woman to rule over these animals and all the birds and the fish. And then we read in Genesis 2, verse 7, that God breathed into Adam before he was created the breath of life.

So Adam was just a clay model of a man. Perfect in every way, all the internal organs, everything there. What was missing was a spirit. When God breathed into man, it is not only that he began to breathe, but it says he became a living soul.

That means he didn't just have a soul. He was a living soul. It means he had a spirit. Man is body, soul, and spirit. And that spirit, the deepest part of us, came through the breath of God. And in that spirit, we have a very important part of it called the conscience.

The Conscience as a Protection Against Satan

The conscience that immediately tells you that you have sinned, even if you won't acknowledge it. You know in your heart, even when you profess before people that you don't feel you've done anything wrong, your conscience keeps telling you, you have.

You have done something wrong and you can't silence that voice. That's the voice of God. You ignore it and you'll be lost eternally. Listen to it. Listen to it. Even after you're born again, let your conscience become more and more sensitive.

To lose sensitivity in the conscience is like getting spiritual leprosy. It's like losing sensation. Lepers don't have any sensation in their skin. And when you lose sensation in your conscience, you're pretty much on your way to hell.

You need to repent and come back to God and say, Lord, make my conscience more sensitive. One mark of spiritual growth is being sensitive in your conscience. That is one of the most important things to prevent Satan from attacking our family.

That's why I'm emphasizing it here. Husband and wife need to have a sensitive conscience. As soon as you've spoken an angry word to each other or one to the other, your conscience will tell you immediately.

You may not acknowledge it. You may be too proud to acknowledge that you got angry with your husband. You got angry with your wife. You spoke a rude word that was not kind. The way you expressed it, you can maybe clever man that you are or woman that you are.

You can say, no, no, no, I didn't mean that. But your conscience tells you, keep your mouth shut. You know it was wrong. Listen to that voice. You can preserve your family. Listen to that voice when you're watching a dirty movie.

Listen to it unless you want to destroy yourself and your children and your whole family. The voice of conscience. God breathed into man and man became a living soul. He got a spirit, a conscience. And why did God make animals the first part of the day and man the second part of the day?

Teach man one lesson. Animals have got eyes, ears, nose, four limbs. We have two hands and two legs. Animals have got four legs, four limbs. Animals have got four legs. We got two hands and two legs, but four limbs.

And then the internal parts of the animal are very similar to the internal parts of man. In fact, the other day you read about a pig's heart being transplanted into a man and the man could live. So there's a lot of similarity between the internal organs of an animal and a man.

But the Lord was saying there's one thing that distinguishes man, which no animal has, conscience, the awareness of God. That's why you see animals, every animal in the world is always looking down. You never find an animal looking up.

No dog, no cow looks up. Always down, down, down. But as man has been created to look up, that he belongs to God. We have the power to look up. The Bible says God is the lifter of our head in the Psalms.

And when a man is looking down, down at money and earthly things all the time, he has become, come to the level of an animal. I'm not saying God will lift your head up, but in your spirit, there must be an upward look that shows that you're a human being.

And what God was saying was that if you neglect your conscience, it's very easy for you to sink to the level of an animal. Because remember, the animals were created on the same day as you. And the only thing that distinguishes you is your conscience.

You neglect that and you're down to the level of an animal. That's why the animals were created on the same day as man, to teach man that lesson. Only one thing distinguishes you from the animals, your conscience.

That's what will make you walk with God. You neglect that and you're just like an animal. And you'll behave like an animal. That's why you find so many, even in Christian homes, husband and wife, behaving like two dogs barking at each other.

Yes, they've sunk to the level of animals. So that's the first thing we see, danger. And then I want you to see that when God made man and woman, he made man first. That was not an accident. He could have made two clay models, Adam and Eve, very easy, and breathed into both of them simultaneously.

He did not do that. Recognize that God in his great wisdom did not make Adam and Eve together. You read in Genesis chapter 2, I don't want to go into that now. He made Adam first, put him to sleep, pulled out a rib from his side, made a woman separately.

God’s Order in Marriage and the First Priority of God

And when Adam was first created, he opened his eyes. The first person he saw was God. There was no Eve. Eve was not anywhere around, wasn't even existing. As soon as Adam opened his eyes and the breath of life came into him, the one person he saw was God.

Teaching us that when you open your eyes, you must see God first. The first thing, when you wake up in the morning, begin your life with God, even before you get out of bed. It's my habit. Before I get out of bed, my quiet time, even if it's one minute or two minutes or five minutes, begins in bed.

I don't need to open the Bible, that comes later. I need to begin my life with God. I encourage all of you, as soon as you wake up, say, our father, my dad, I want to live this day free from sin. Please forgive my sins.

You should have done that the previous night, asking God to forgive you, cleanse you. Lord, I want to live with you this day. I want to hear your voice today. That's how you are to begin if you want to build your family and protect it from the devil.

Man and woman. So, we were created to look up, and if we don't listen to that, we begin to look down. But then after Eve was created, second, and that time Adam was asleep, you read in Genesis 2. So, when Eve was made and she opened her eyes, she did not see Adam.

She did not know the existence of Adam. Who did she see first? God. And then he brought her to Adam. What does that teach us? That teaches us that man and woman, husband and wife, they wake up in the morning.

They must begin with God, not with their husband or their wife, not with each other. And then God brought Eve to Adam and they saw each other and they loved each other. But remember this, that Adam and Eve, as soon as they were created, the first person they saw was God teaching us he must be first in our life.

Just like the Bible begins. You know the first four words of the Bible? In the beginning, God. Those are the first four words of the Bible. And that should be how our day begins. Every day should begin like that.

Our life must begin like that. Our married life must begin like that. In the beginning, God. Not in the beginning, my wife or my husband or in the beginning, sex. No. In the beginning, God. Then all the other things fall into their proper place.

Sexual Faithfulness and the Sacredness of Marriage

Even sex. There's nothing dirty about sex. It's the movies that have made it look dirty. There's nothing dirty. There's everything filthy and evil and demonic about sex if it is an outside marriage. Yes, I agree.

Not only filthy, demonic. Outside of marriage, adultery, fornication, fooling around with other women when you're married. Demonic, demonic, 100 from the devil. It's not just a weakness. No, no, no, no.

It's not having like having a headache or some stomachache. No, no, no, no. It's demonic. Sex outside of marriage is demonic. And equally, sex within marriage is not just good. It is divine. Now, sexual life can be divine or demonic.

It's up to you. And I'll tell you why it's divine. When God created man, please listen. Genesis 1, verse 27. What are the first words God said to man after he was created? The very first word, the word of God, the Bible, Adam's Bible, the very first word when God spoke to him and Eve, Adam and Eve.

It says here in Genesis 1, 28. As soon as he created them, he said to them, be fruitful and multiply. Those are the first words. How was Adam and Eve? That means have children. How were they supposed to have children?

Tell me, what was God encouraging them to do? Have physical union with each other. Those are the first words he speaks to Adam and Eve. That shows us the sacredness of sex. And that's why the devil has used that to pollute it completely and make it demonic.

It's divine or demonic, and you choose what it is going to be. Utter, total faithfulness to your wife, to your husband. It becomes divine. Carelessness in your mind, in your thoughts, thinking about other women, pornography.

Demonic. It's not evil. It's demonic, not just evil. Because it's something God created. It is sacred. The very first words that he speaks to Adam and Eve. Have you seen the sacredness of sexual union between husband and wife?

Most people haven't. And they have not seen the demonic nature of dirty sexual thinking, of watching pornography. That's not just a weakness. It's demonic. It opens the door for the devil to come right into your life and destroy you.

Many people who could have been useful servants of God have been destroyed by the devil through failure in the sexual area. If you fail, I'm not saying there's no hope. Repent. Repent like the thief on the cross.

Lord, I repent like you've been a murderer. Supposing you had killed 25 people. Repent like that. And come before God and say, Lord, I terribly failed in the sexual area. I want to come back to you. Please forgive me.

Cleanse me. Help me to take it more seriously. Being faithful to my wife. Being faithful to my husband in this area. Not to pollute my mind or my eyes. So that's the first thing I want to say. This is how the devil gets advantage.

Satan’s Temptation in Eden and the Need to Resist

Protecting our families from Satan's attacks. Now turn to Genesis in chapter 3. We read so much about family life right in the first three chapters, the first four chapters of the Bible. And we read that when the devil came and he wanted to drag the couple away from God, God allowed Adam and Eve to be tempted.

You know, God could have stopped the devil from coming into the garden. Definitely. Why didn't he do it? Why doesn't he destroy the devil? I remember one of my grandchildren asked me, Grandpa, why has God allowed Satan to exist if he does so much evil?

And I told him in a very simple way, which he understood. I said, if you want to build your muscles, where do people go to build their muscles? They go to a gym or to some equipment where they have to subject their muscles to resistance, their legs or their hands.

And the more you subject those muscles to resistance, that's how you build up your muscles and become strong. So spiritually also, you have to be subject to resistance. And that's why God has allowed the devil to exist so that you can resist him.

And you're resisting the devil would be like you're doing physical exercise in a gym. Spiritually, it makes you strong. And I said, that's why I told him you need to resist the devil. And he understood it.

And he said, yes. So when the devil tells me not to listen to my daddy and mommy, I'm not going to listen to him. I'm going to resist. That little child understood it. We need to explain to even our children that they can overcome Satan by a simple thing like obeying daddy and mommy, which God has commanded from the earliest age.

We have to teach them that how to overcome Satan. So the devil was permitted to come into the garden. He was permitted to tempt so that they could become strong so that they could make a choice. That's the other thing.

God did not want Adam and Eve to be like robots programmed, like computer programmed robots that would avoid forbidden trees because they are programmed that way. Adam was like a robot. He would have come to the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the system inside would have been programmed. Turn away from here. He would have turned away. No, he had to choose. Adam and Eve came to the tree. They were tempted. They could say yes or no to the devil.

And that's exactly how God has allowed the devil to exist today. That's how we become strong. That's how our families can be strong by resisting the devil. If there were no devil in some way, we would not be so strong.

Jesus himself, we read, God allowed Jesus to be tempted by Satan, but he never sinned. So there's nothing wrong in being tempted by Satan. I'm sure Jesus faced some severe temptations from Satan, but he overcame all of them.

He always put God first. He says, no, man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. He told the devil very first sentence. So I'm not going to listen to you. I've already heard what God says.

And so get away Satan. But Eve did not say that. And I want you to notice another thing here. The devil knew it's easier for me to knock down Eve than Adam. I don't know why, but he went for the one he felt he could overcome.

And it was the woman. That is another reason why a woman must be subject to a man in marriage and in the church. Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 2. You see the two reasons why a woman is to be subject to a man.

Women’s Ministry and the Speaker’s Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2

1 Timothy chapter 2 is speaking about the order in the church. A woman must not teach 1 Timothy 2 .12 in a church. A woman must not exercise authority over a man in a church. A woman must never be a pastor, assistant pastor, or the main preacher in a church.

She can testify and share the word, but not a teacher. I do not allow, verse 12, a woman to teach. The Holy Spirit is saying that. She must quietly, verse 11, receive instruction. If man and woman are equal, why like this?

Well, there are two reasons given. And please listen carefully. This is not my opinion or Paul's opinion. This is the Holy Spirit. Adam was created first, verse 13. They were not created together, like I told you.

1 Timothy 2 .13. Adam was created first. And second reason, Eve was deceived. Adam was not deceived, verse 14. The woman was deceived first. Adam was also deceived, but he was second. The woman was created second, and she was deceived first by the devil.

So two reasons why a woman should not teach in the church. She can teach children. She can teach other women, like we read in Titus chapter 2. But she's not allowed to be a teacher in a church, a command of the Bible, which is being disobeyed all over the world in churches.

It shows how little respect many Christians have for the word of God. They say, ah, we know better in the 20th century or 21st century. No wonder there's so much of sin and corruption and man in the church sinks away more and more away from God into all types of other sins, into many, many other sins.

And so that is how it says what it says. It doesn't say women can't have a ministry. It goes on to say, no, they can't teach in the church. But 1 Timothy 2 .15, they can have children. They have a privilege which a man doesn't have.

A man cannot bear children. Sorry, that privilege and honor. Imagine the privilege and honor of bringing another human being into the world. It comes through a woman's body. What an honor. And that she can have.

That's her ministry. To have children and to bring them up in a godly way. That's your ministry, sisters. So if we understand God's order, we don't let the devil come in. The devil will always try to make the woman the head.

Adam’s Failure to Lead and the Headship of the Husband

That's what he did in the Garden of Eden. Hey, Eve, Eve should have said to the, why don't you eat this tree from this tree? And Eve should have said, hang on. God's given me a partner, even if she didn't realize him as a head.

Let me consult him. If only Eve had gone and consulted Adam. Adam, what do you think about the suggestion this lovely snake has said? We should try and eat this tree. Two people in the multitude of counselors, there is safety, Proverbs says.

But she didn't consult him. And it might have been a different story if she had. She decided, I can take a decision on my own. I don't need to consult my husband. I feel sorry for women like that. That's exactly what the devil would like you to do.

And she sinned. And when you sin, you know, there's something about sin. But when you have fallen, you want other people also to fall. It's like if you've got your clothes dirty, you don't want to see other people with clean clothes.

You want to see them also get their clothes dirty. And you will try and make them also their clothes dirty so that they come to your level. This is something evil in the human race. I become dirty. I want other people to be dirty like me.

Then they don't become superior to me. So Eve said, I've sinned, so I might as well give this to Adam as well. And, you know, I want you to see something here that for men. Where was Adam when he was eating on the tree?

Was he somewhere else? Somewhere near some other tree? No. We read very clearly in Genesis 3 verse 6 in the last part. Her husband was with her. While the devil was talking to Eve, Adam was standing there like a dumb man with his mouth open and just watching the whole conversation going on and saying nothing.

What type of husband was he? Supposed to be the head of the home, just like the many husbands today who do not take their place as the head of the home, directing the home. He watched the devil leading his wife astray.

And he just sat and sat and watched. And the devil led his wife completely astray. And when Adam, when Eve gave the food, Adam just opened his mouth and said, OK, thank you. What a dumb man. That's how sin came.

And Adam did not take his place as the head of the home. And you husbands, when you don't take a place ahead of the home, that's how the devil comes into your home. You must exercise your authority as a head, not like a tyrant.

No, God never designed man to be a husband, to be a tyrant, but to be the head of the home. Very important. That's the place he did not take. What type of head? Well, let me show you. Says in Ephesians and Chapter 5 and verse 23, the husband is the head of the wife.

That is New Testament teaching. Why? Because only then, further down, Chapter 6, verse 10, 11, 12, we'll be able to stand verse 11, Chapter 6, 11, to stand against the schemes of the devil. You know, there's only one place in the New Testament where we have taught about the armor of God and how we can stand against the schemes of the devil.

Only one place in all the episodes. And that is Ephesians 6, verse 10 onwards. And what is the passage immediately before that? The home life, husbands and wives, Chapter 5, verse 22 to 33, children and parents, Chapter 6, the home.

And then immediately after that, resist the devil because the devil is going to attack the home from Genesis 3. We know that, that we see the connection here in Ephesians 5. And what is the solution to it?

Ephesians 5 .18, be filled with the Holy Spirit. There's no way to resist the devil unless you're filled with the Holy Spirit. You cannot resist the devil in your own cleverness and strength, not even after having listened to this message.

You heard a message, which is the truth. You understood in your head. Don't think you can resist the devil with your intellect. He's cleverer than you. You need something in your spirit, the Holy Spirit to come and fill your spirit, fill every area of your life.

If you want to be a spirit, if you want to resist the devil, you need to be a spiritual man, a spiritual woman. Then you can protect your home from the devil. That's why, how to be spiritual? One simple rule, thirst and faith.

John 7, verse 37 onwards. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water, which he spoke about the Holy Spirit.

I see these are the two requirements to be filled with the Holy Spirit. John 7, 37 and 38. Thirst and faith, a thirst which is desperate. Lord, I will not let you go until you fill me with the Holy Spirit.