Chapter 4
Chapter 4 - Deception and Salvation
Deception through a church
In the meantime, Sunderapandian attended a Christian prayer meeting where evil spirits were working. One evil spirit that operated a counterfeit gift of healing started influencing him. This evil spirit made him close his eyes and say something. He thought he committed a great blunder by attending this prayer meeting. He sought forgiveness of God. In order to get forgiveness of God, he went to a nearby park and starting performing “obeisance” to God 1000 times. He wanted to please God by undertaking such an obeisance. As he was completing obeisance for 900 times, he fell unconscious. It appeared to him that he got the peace of mind after doing such obeisance. He did all this under the influence of the evil spirit. When he opened the Bible, Psalm 107:23-31 came to him as a promise of God. Due to the deception by the evil spirit, he thought that the Holy Spirit led him to go to Sri Lanka for doing business. He gave some money to some unauthorized travel agents for going to Sri Lanka through an illegal channel. He along with others then waded through the chest deep sea water, boarded a boat stationed in the sea water and reached an island to go to Sri Lanka in an illegal manner. When he reached the island, somebody shouted, “The police are coming”. He immediately ran away from that place and while running, he stumbled upon some thorny bushes and fell down. He then cried out to God, saying, “Oh Lord, I will not tread on such a path. Please save me”. Then he fled that island and reached home.
Experience of personal salvation
Sunderapandian could not still see God. Again he went to Adinarayanan and tearfully opened his heart to him out of great agony and told that he could not see God. Adinarayanan asked him to stay with him at night and to pray with fasting. Adinarayanan assured him that the latter would definitely see God. At night, Sunderapandian wept and prayed in the room given to him for stay in the house of Adinarayanan. At 10 pm, Adinarayanan asked Sunderapandian whether he saw God. The latter replied in the negative. Adinarayanan encouraged him to continue to pray. At midnight, three sins committed by Sunderapandian came to his mind. They are –
(i) In his house, Sunderapandian had built an altar for an idol and tied a talisman around his hand. The Holy Spirit urged him to remove this talisman from his hand.
(ii) When he was studying in the school, he used to eve-tease the girls with bad thoughts. The Holy Spirit convicted him of this sin.
(iii) The sinful thought of fornication he had harbored in his life was brought to his mind
As the Holy Spirit convicted him of these sins, he hardened his heart and did not want to reveal to Adinarayanan what the Holy Spirit had exposed in his life. When Adinarayanan visited him and enquired about him whether the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart, the latter relented and revealed this to Adinarayanan, the man of God. While speaking to Adinarayanan, Sunderapandian wept and turned his face with a guilty conscience away from the former. He had never made such a confession of sin earlier.
Sunderpandian could not forget that glorious day when he died to his sins and accepted Jesus Christ. Adinarayanan prayed for him and sent him home. But still Sunderapandian wanted to see God. The following day was a Sunday. He could not go to church on that day as he had attended his work in the shop. He was still crying with a burden in his heart to see God.
The following Friday, he took a bath in the morning and did not eat anything. The Holy Spirit urged him to read the Bible. When he opened the Bible, the Holy Spirit spoke to him from Zechariah 3:4 – “…take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment” He then closed and opened the Bible. The same page containing this verse only opened from the Bible. This happened three times. It was a great surprise to him. His heart was filled with divine peace. Even then he doubted whether God had forgiven his sins. Holding the Bible in his hands, he thought over it. At that time, a spider was seen moving on his hand. It went towards the Bible in his hand. Sunderpandian asked God for a sign. If his sins were truly forgiven by God, that spider should go around the Bible three times and then go away from that place. The spider then started to go towards the Bible but retreated. This kindled his anxiety and he wept loudly. The Holy Spirit convicted him of his unbelief. Then a miracle happened. The spider walked towards the Bible, went around it and then left that place. Remaining on his knees during prayers, he watched this miracle. The unbelief immediately disappeared. The burden of sin on his back rolled away. Then he cried out to God, “Oh, Lord, I came here to see you. But still I could not see and speak to You. I could not hear You either” At that time, he head a voice speak to his heart calling him, “My son!” Upon hearing this voice, he perceived that it was the voice of his Beloved Lord. All the doubts and worries disappeared immediately. Divine peace filled his heart. He further heard the voice of God speak, “My son, I am with you. The change that took place in your heart is the evidence of My presence. You are seeing Me. I have forgiven all your sins and have delivered you from all your troubles”.
Sunderapandian ultimately saw God and experienced salvation. It was a glorious day in his life, which could not be forgotten by him for ever. The Lord became his father and his mother. He felt like being in the bosom of his real mother. He decided to preach the love of God to others throughout his life. The golden date of his salvation was 5-7-1960 and the place where he met God was Chennai, the place where the Apostle Thomas was martyred. It was 2.30 p.m.
....Ctd.