A Full Salvation: Part 1: From the Penalty of Sin - Zac Poonen - July 29, 2018

I heard a story once that the great evangelist deal Moody who lived in the 19th century here in the United States went to a house meeting and somebody asked him after that how many people were saved and he said three and a half people so they said you mean three adults and one young person he said no three young people and one adult because he said the adult has already wasted half his life for the world so he's only got half a life to give to God but the young person's got his whole life to give to God so that's why you all are it's wonderful to know Jesus when you're young I'm very thankful that I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior 59 years ago when I was 19 and a half I was working in the Navy and I received Jesus as my savior and it changed my life but that was not the first time I asked Christ to come into my life I was born in a god-fearing family my father was a born-again Christian before I was born so he would always send us to a good Sunday School and I heard the gospel from very young age like many of you have and whenever there was an invitation to ask Christ to come into a heart I would say Lord Jesus please come into my heart but I never felt any change I often used to hear other people give spectacular testimonies of what happened to them when they got converted nothing like that happened to me and I was wondering did he come in or not how do I know see if I were had lived in gross sin and has suddenly converted there was a chained life it would be more visible you know like the difference between black and white but I was not living in grass in my dad never took us to a movie and he never drank or smoked and we never had anything which people call a sin externally so for such a person who has lived a fairly good life externally when you get converted you don't know is he coming or not that's how I was and so the next time a meeting came along again I'd say Lord Jesus please come into my heart and I'm probably not exaggerating I must have asked the Lord to come into my heart about a hundred times over a period of six years now I say that because that is possibly the experience of many of you but I'll tell you something in all those years when I was uncertain unsure whether the Lord had really come into my heart I was wavering in my Christian life I would backslide and inwardly not externally you know we can sing inwardly quite a lot you know thoughts and attitudes particularly attitudes towards others and nobody ever knows it and we can have a very good external testimony but we're really living in sin we're not living in sin before men because they can't see us we're living in sin before God and back and forth and of course I would always repent because I knew what I was thinking was wrong or my attitude was wrong and I'd say Lord I'm sorry I slipped up there and forgive me and I'd come back and come back but it is always this up and down experience and I can only say that God was merciful to me it's not that any special radical decision I took but one good habit I had and I hope you will also have it even if you're not sure of your salvation was to read the Bible every day now a lot of people think that's not so important but I'm very thankful that my parents taught me to read the Bible every day and to pray every day a brief prayer before I got out of bed and the only prayer I knew was the well-known prayer our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name and I just rattled it off like a parrot and got out of bed and would read my Bible which is a ritual really but you know sometimes even from a ritual God can speak to you so here I was in a naval base I just become an officer and I was reading the Bible one morning in my room and that you know I used to read chapter by chapter by chapter if the chapter was too long I'd read a portion of it and that day my portion was John chapter six so if you have a Bible I want you to turn to that turn to that chapter have a look at this verse because it'll really help you hmm in John chapter six as I read through I came to verse 37 John chapter six verse 37 and I read there the last part of that verse the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out I stopped sometimes I stopped you know when it were strikes me and that day it really struck me and I said something like this I don't remember the exact words but the gist of it was lord I come to you so many times and I felt from that verse that the Lord spoke to me from that verse see when I say the Lord spoke to me I don't want you to imagine that I heard a voice from heaven I saw a vision of Jesus I've never seen a physical vision of Jesus in my life and with these years I've never heard God speaking but I've heard God speaking in my heart so clearly that is as good as hearing with these years over a period of time it becomes like that so when I say God spoke to me please remember that I'm not saying I heard with these years and I felt that the Lord spoke to me from this verse I have not rejected you you see I've come to you according to this verse the Lord said I've not rejected you and I can't explain it I probably read that verse before but that day it was like faith came into my heart yes the Lord has not rejected me Lord I believe you today I believe your word that you have accepted me I didn't feel any sensation that's another thing I've never had any physical sensations in my life through Christian experiences never never in all my 59 years and some people talked about that okay god bless them but I was greatly comforted once by a verse in John chapter 20 in this connection in John's Gospel chapter 20 we read of a time when Jesus it was the day of his resurrection he rose from the dead and Mary Magdalene had just seen him and came to the disciples in John 20 verse 18 saying I've seen the Lord she was the first person who saw the risen Lord and that Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead and that evening verse 19 and the evening of the Sunday the first day of the week when all the disciples were inside closed doors for fear of the Jews Jesus came there and stood in their midst and said peace be with you and when he said this he showed them his hands and feet and then they knew this is really Jesus because there were the nail prints in his hands and his feet and they rejoiced when they saw the Lord and then he went away then we read on verse 24 only ten were there Judas Iscariot committed suicide but Thomas one of the twelve was not there and when the disciples came to him verse 25 24 verse 24 it says Thomas was not there that day when the other disciples were saying we have seen the Lord he said no I'm not believe it until I see the imprint of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side where there's spear pierced him I will not believe so you know the Lord was so merciful to Thomas that's a great encouragement to know that he's merciful to those who have a struggle to believe Thomas had a struggle to believe the Lord doesn't reject you see we got a struggle to believe have no time for you know he said okay I'll meet you at your level two so 8 days later his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them and Jesus came again and he said to Thomas first 27 okay reach your finger into my hands and your hand into my side and don't remain unbelieving but believe and Thomas saw that and he fell and he fell down and said my Lord and my god and this is the worst that helped me verse 29 jesus said to him because you have seen you have believed blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed that means Thomas there are some people who are more blessed than you and that's because they believed in me without seeing me that comforted my heart because I have not seen him like thermos am I missing the blessing no Jesus and I'm more blessed than Thomas and I can tell you that today I am more blessed why do I say that because God's Word is true blessed are those who have not seen me physically like Thomas like you're seeing me and yet believe do you feel discouraged when somebody speaks of some physical sensation that he had when he believed or he was filled with the Holy Spirit and he felt a shiver down his spine or he saw a vision of an angel or so many things people say nowadays none of them discouraged me and when I hear it I don't wish oh I wish I had that I'll tell you why listen because I don't want the lower blessing I want the higher blessing how many of you want the higher blessing the higher blessing is blessed are those who have not seen who not felt come not experienced and who are believed so when I read that verse in John 6:37 him that cometh to me I'll not cast out I said lord I believe that and that was 59 years ago in July 1959 this month 59 years ago and let me tell you this to use a naval expression I dropped an anchor there and my ship has never drifted from that day till today there have been many ups and downs in my life I wasn't perfect then I'm not perfect now I'm pressing on to perfection and I'm climbing a mountain following Jesus I haven't reached the top but I'm not at the bottom I started at the bottom 59 years ago and I'm moving up slowly but I've never had any physical experience but I don't want it I dropped an anchor and my ship has never drifted and I want to tell you this all of you young people is very important to have an assurance that Christ has accepted you and if you haven't got it till today please take it from this verse John 6 seven where Jesus says to you personally today if you have come to me I will not cast you out that's a word of the son of God some people ask me how do you know this Bible is God's Word I said I've read it for 59 years you know one of the things that happened to me when I was converted was I began to have a hunger or a thirst let me say for the word of God when a baby is born a physical baby the doctors wait for it to cry if it doesn't cry they even give it a spanking to make it cry because it was breathe and then you know for the next one year at least it's crying crying crying every day many times a day and it's not crying because it is in pain it's crying because that's the only way a baby knows how to express itself sometimes it may be in pain but most of the time a baby is crying for milk I'm thirsty I need food and you don't have to teach a child that you know there are some baby babies usually nine months in a mother's womb before it's born but sometimes the baby comes out when it's only six months in a womb and then it's very weak not fully developed then it doesn't cry it's too weak to cry then you know they in the hospitals they put it in a little small little chamber type of thing and they have artificially keep feeding it but a normal healthy baby cries so crying today they'll cry tomorrow it will keep on crying and it's always crying from milk that's what happened to me it says in 1 Peter and chapter 2 please turn with me to these verses because it's good for you to know them and what I used to do in my younger days when I studied the Bible I'm not asking you to do this but I did it and it was a great help to me if a verse really spoke to my heart I would either underline it or shade it with some colored so that I could refer back to it later so here is this verse 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 2 it says like newborn babies who longed for milk you must long for the pure milk of the world of God so that you can grow in respect to salvation salvation has got three tenses like we study in grammar past present future and it's very easy to remember them fast salvation is saved from the penalty of sin or the punishment for my sin I'm already saved past tense because Christ paid the price for me on the cross in present tense I am being saved from the power of sin that's a gradual process and it should take place in your life initially you break the power of sin in one area then another area don't get discouraged keep going that way in one day you'll find more and more areas where your conquered the power of sin in your life that is salvation in the present tense and then there's salvation in the future tense when Christ comes back when I'll be saved from the very presence of sin so salvation has got three tenses from the penalty of sin in the past if you receive Christ from the power of sin in the present which lost my entire lifetime I'll never be completely saved from the power of sin in this life all through our life but we should be progressing gradually more and more and more and more and if you are being delivered from the power of sin by little you're going the right direction definitely we shouldn't be stagnant just like when you go to school you don't remain in the first grade forever the next year you go to second grade not the next day but at least in a year later you go to a second grade and if you fail doesn't matter two years later you go to the second grade but you don't live in the first grade forever and then you go to the third grade and so the Christian life is like that a progression and the progression is measured not by your knowledge of the Bible please remember that that's good to know the Bible but your progress in the Christian life is measured by your being freed from the power of sin in your inner lion little by little by little and don't get discouraged Christian life is a education you don't learn to ride a bicycle overnight you fall get up fall get up and then you learn to ride a bicycle little child learns to walk by falling probably 500 times or more then it gets up and learns to walk and to those of you who are defeated by sin I want to say to you learn look at that little child he never gets discouraged even though it's fallen many times today he gets up again and tries again so don't ever get discouraged in your battle against sin God's there to help you to be safe from the power of sin so here it says in 1 Peter 2:2 about growing up in relation to salvation or growing up to salvation we've always heard about salvation in the past I'm saved people ask that question are you saved I say yes I am saved and I'm also being saved and I will be saved I am saved from the penalty of sin there's no doubt in my mind about it Christ paid the complete price for all the sins I committed in my life and I am being saved from the power of sin and I will be saved from the presence of sin see so here our salvation in the Bible is three tenses and this is the present tense you're growing in salvation so if you have accepted Christ and you're sure Christ has come into your life praise the Lord then you should be growing in Salvation very important because the more you grow in salvation you're becoming mature and you're not a baby anymore you know babies can't help other people babies cry about a whole lot of silly things but you don't cry about silly things you're grown up and you're able to help people you got some strength in your arms and spiritually that's how it should be to grow when you grow up you don't get offended with silly things that other people do or say to you that those are babies I've always taught people that getting offended with somebody what he said or what he did to you he's a kindergarten lesson that we must learn quickly to overcome it it's one of the earliest things you must learn to overcome to overcome sexually dirty thoughts to overcome anger to overcome murmuring grumbling takes time to overcome the love of money takes time but overcoming getting offended that shouldn't take any time that's just a matter of my pride to think why did he speak to me like that why does it matter just ignore it I heard somebody say if somebody flings mud at you and if you try to wipe it off your shirt it'll spoil your shirt if you just leave it there just dry up and drop off and you're sure it won't be so spoiled so the sensible thing is do just ignore it it'll drop off and your shirt will be clean so we must learn to get off in overcome getting offended if you want to work at one thing I would say it you begin here don't get discouraged if you're still getting angry you're still murmuring complaining that'll take time it took time with me also to overcome it does not overnight but getting offended please ask God to give you power to get over that Lord I just want to ignore that okay he called me a devil or he called me a bad name or he offended me by sometimes he didn't look at me and smile at me people get offended with silly little things like that what a good interpretation on it maybe he was preoccupied with something else and didn't see me why do you get offended that somebody didn't shake your hand or smile at you or the way he looked at me maybe he had a stomachache or something that's why he looked at you like that it was a problem here no not with me just put a good interpretation on it always don't get offended you you take my word seriously and I'll tell you you'll make tremendous progress by next year you'd have gone to a higher class but if you don't take it seriously you can sit in the kindergarden forever so we must grow up to salvation not just say I am saved I have to grow up to salvation very very important so having said that one of the most wonderful things one of the most wonderful things that Jesus said that Jesus has done for us is what he said on the day of his resurrection just before he came to the disciples there's something he said to Mary Magdalene I want you to turn to that that was the first sentence that he spoke after his resurrection you know the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the greatest event that took place in this world in the history of the world the greatest event was the resurrection of Jesus Christ that includes the crucifixion of course but just crucifixion is not enough if you read the Acts of the Apostles you'll find that early disciples never said we are witnesses of his crucifixion even though they were they always said we are witnesses of his resurrection because the resurrection included the crucifixion you can't be resurrected without dying but they were more interested in emphasizing resurrection than crucifixion see today we speak a lot about Jesus died for us very important but don't forget to add he also rose from the dead too many Christians today are only talking about Jesus died for us as a witness for Christ but the Apostle said we are witnesses of his resurrection so because without the resurrection we'd be without hope and what are the first words very very important that Jesus spoke the first words that Jesus spoke after he rose from the dead to a human being I hope you know some of you may know if you don't let me show it to you very important you know the first words that people speak hear me in the back okay John chapter 20 at the rafter the resurrection he told Mary in verse 17 you know Mary was clinging to him because she was so excited and he said stop clinging to me because I have not ascended yet to the Father and listen to these words those are personal words but listen to this go to my brother's that's the first time Jesus called his disciples his brothers in John chapter 15 at the Last Supper he said these words you can see it in John 15 I called you servants till now but I call you my friends okay servants friends but now after the resurrection brothers you see the progression they were initially servants and he said you are my friends now he said you're my brothers it's a far greater thing to be a brother of Jesus than to be a friend of Jesus because a brother is a brother and a friend so he said go to my brothers and tell them and listen to this I ascend to my father and your father my God in your God that's the first time in the entire Gospels that Jesus called God my father and your father otherwise he'd always say father or my father that's all or sometimes he'd say your father but never did he combine it together and say our Father my father and your father he never said that till his resurrection so something wonderful happened in the resurrection it was the beginning of a new creation something new a new race different from Adams race was beginning and that's why he used this expression and you remember when you know the story in Genesis 1 where God made Adam from the mud it was just mud and water that's all that Adam was clay and water and shaped like a human being exactly like a human being but it was only a model made of clay and then we read in Genesis 2 and 1 that God breathed into Adam and that made him immediately immediately different from the dogs and the Lions and the cats and the animals because the animals and are also made from the same dust of the earth they've got bones and they've got a lot of things inside their body that are exactly like the organs we have inside our body but when God breathed into man that's the thing that distinguished him from animals immediately you know there are many things that animals have that we have take a dog for example I don't know all about the internal organs of a dog but I think it's got a stomach like we have it's got a heart and I presume it's got a lot of other organs that we have in our digestive system it has and it's got a mind you know the dog has got a mind you can train it its dog has got feelings it can get angry can smile at you a lot of things a dog has but human beings have he's got legs eyes ears hearing abilities seeing ability and as I said thinking feelings but there's one thing that no animal has that's conscience a dog doesn't have a sense that what I'm doing is displeasing to God and God could have made Adam just like that with eyes yours heart liver kidney exactly like we are in every way and we have been like the animals with no awareness of God see a dog doesn't have any awareness of God dog doesn't look up he's always looking down it's wholly occupied with Earth's always looking for the basic nearly two things that animals look for food and sex that's it and anyone who behaves like an animal is also looking only for two things food and sex and sleep that's animal level of life but God when God breathed into Adam suddenly does not the Holy Spirit know Adam did not have the Holy Spirit no one had the Holy Spirit within him till Jesus came even in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was only upon people upon the first human being that walked on earth with the Holy Spirit within was Jesus Christ and afterwards the disciples but Adam he didn't have the Holy Spirit but he had a spirit man is three parts body soul and spirit and when God breathed on Adam he got a spirit and in that spirit is a very important part called conscience a conscience that told him that is wrong or this is right that's why even a little baby has a conscious which convicts him as he grows up when he does lies he's convicted he made he made babies children tell lies but they're convicted in their conscience they're telling a lie now here's see something similar in the new creation that was the old creation in the new creation we read in John chapter 20 that Jesus came in the midst of his disciples and we read here John's Gospel chapter 20 in verse 22 he first said to them in verse 21 peace be with you and then verse 22 he breathed on them that's exactly what God did to Adam but here it was different these people already had a conscience there was something more that happened here when he breathed on them remember it was Jesus who breathed on Adam God is a Trinity Father Son and Holy Spirit the Son of God is Jesus Christ and he was not known as Jesus then but he was there when he was with the father and the Holy Spirit in the world was created he was with the father in the Holy Spirit when Adam was made and when God breathed on him it was Jesus also along with the father and Holy Spirit breathing on Adam so Jesus breathed on Adam and he got a conscience now the same Jesus after his resurrection comes to these disciples and breathes on them and they get something more they have the Holy Spirit coming within them that is the third person of the Trinity God Himself coming in to dwell should never happen before in a human being it's an amazing thing and I want to tell you something what is it that distinguished Adam from all the other animals there in Genesis 1:1 thing conscious not eyes ears mind feeling animals had all that the one thing that distinguished Adam from all the other animals was conscious he could feel if he did something wrong as soon as he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden eating of that tree God said not to eat immediately he knew he was wrong and Eve knew she was wrong and they aware they were naked they covered themselves they was guilty immediately it's not because some angel came and said hey you did something wrong there was no need of an angel Adams conscience told him you have something wrong that's why he went and hint behind a tree you know sin not only convicts us it makes us foolish sin makes us into real idiots how do we know Adam was foolish he thought he could hide behind hide from God by going behind a tree it's like playing hide-and-seek you go behind a tree and you think he can't hide from God that's the most foolish thing that's what happened to Adam sin made him foolish he went and hid behind a tree and God loves even those who have fallen him do you know that in the Garden of Eden as soon as Adam sinned he should have been the one running to God said God where are you I'm sorry I slipped up what he didn't he ran away and the wonderful thing we've seen the Garden of Eden is that God came after Adam and said where are you Adam and that's the wonderful thing we see throughout history God came after man by in the form of Jesus Christ and you can say that God came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ and said to humanity where are you why are you covering yourself with all your fig leaves of human goodness and all that to try and cover your nakedness you cannot cover your nakedness you cannot cover your sin with all your good deeds I'll give you something better you know what God gave Adam he took away those fig leaves killed an animal you know that's the first time an animal was killed in Eden first time blood was shed and took the coat of skin one for Adam and one for even we read in Genesis 3 God clothed adam with that coat of skin and sad and here's something better than your fig leaves you see Adam was the first human being so he did not know that fig leaves dry up fig leaves are big leaves today we are we know that leaves dry up if they are not connected to the tree but Adam didn't know that and you can't blame him because he was the first human being so god loved him and gave him something better and we are like that today you know we try to cover ourselves with some good deeds and all - when we do do something wrong and God says that's never good enough for you so like he killed an animal there and he didn't he allowed Jesus to be killed on the cross and took his righteousness listen carefully he took the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ like a dress and like he covered Adam with that animal skin he put that upon us and Adams nakedness was covered and our nakedness spiritual nakedness is covered it's a wonderful to know that this is salvation God not only forgives our sin but he covers our nakedness he gives us dignity you know one of the sad things we see in the world today even among so-called believers they don't respect other people's dignity it's a very sad thing I have seen like I mean I can recognize that in unbelievers but even among many believers they speak in such a rude way to other human beings forget about other believers we have many beggars in India thousands of them and the Lord has taught me that if I am a Christian I will never speak in a rude way to another human being not to a beggar not to somebody who cheats me I've had people who call me the devil because they don't like what I preach well they call Jesus also the devil because they didn't like what he preached but Jesus forgave them he said if you're spoken against the Son of man you are forgiven and that's what the Lord's taught me that human being was once made in the image of God but he's lost it the devil's got inside him and that's why he calls me the devil and is he his speaks to me in an undignified way but why should you respond like that you got the righteousness of Christ on you you respond to him like Jesus would so remember that the Lord not only forgives our sin he breathes on us says that the Holy Spirit come in and clothes us with the righteousness of Christ that's why we have boldness to stand before God not only are we cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ from all our past sin but we stand before God with boldness because you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and so now Jesus says to me God is your father and my father that's why the Bible says when the Holy Spirit comes in turn with me to Romans and chapter 8 it's good for you to know these verses because they'll help you you remember what I said as a baby you must cry out for the milk or the Word of God get to know these verses in the Bible Romans chapter 8 and verse 15 Romans 8 verse 15 it says once upon a time you're subject to a slavery to sin you had a spirit of slavery that led you to fear God's punishment but now you have received a spirit of adoption that means God has made you his child through the Holy Spirit and he cries out Abba Abba is a Hebrew word the English translation for it is dad or daddy so if you were to translate it the Holy Spirit comes inside me makes me look up to heaven and say dad do you know as soon as you're born again Christ comes in God becomes your heavenly dad some of you may have had bad experiences with your earthly dad maybe they were not very kind to you or maybe they always put you down by saying nothing good will come out of you or some bad stuff like that what you need to know is God as your heavenly dad and even if you had a good earthly father this world is such an insecure world that we feel insecure without knowing God is our Heavenly dad it was like that with me I had a very good earthly father but still when I became a Christian I was very insecure but it took me many years to know God as my first father my dad in heaven so that's one of the wonderful things that happens when you're born again God in heaven is your dad that's why Jesus taught us to pray you know the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter 6 he said when you pray pray like this I'm not saying that every single time we should pray like this but this concept should be there when Jesus said don't pray like the heathen verse 7 no there's a way in which non-christian people pray or those who don't know Jesus pray but you're not to pray like that verse 9 Matthew 6 verse 9 pray like this so in this way he said it doesn't mean you're to repeat it but that this is the way in which we should pray our Father who is in heaven nobody in the Old Testament could look up and say father they always call God God Lord God Almighty greatly to be feared you know it's like if you're a big huge multinational organization huge set up with tens of thousands of employees and there's a CEO who sits on top the director of the whole organization and chief executive officer nobody can approach him if you want to go to him you've got to talk to the secretary and get an appointment one month later you can meet him because he's a very busy man and when you go to him here to call him Sir but think of that CEOs little son little three-year-old son he walks into his room and says dad he doesn't need an appointment with the secretary that's the difference between Old Testament and New Testament in the Old Testament God was so distant you couldn't come to him easily but today because Christ has come in to us and said my father is your father he says you can go to him and say dad do you realize the privilege of this I mean if you're working in an organization and you're one of the low level employees and you can never know the manager or the top boss that's how it was in the Old Testament and imagine that now you become his child and you're gonna walk right into his office any time and say dad I want to talk to you our father every time learn to talk to God as father many people say lord god there's nothing wrong in that he is Lord and he's God but get used to calling him dad her father I almost all the time I pray now father father because he's my dad and not only that he's my father who's in heaven that is that proves to me that he's what runs the universe he runs this earth there's no problem he cannot solve there are many problems man cannot solve there are millions of problems even the devil cannot help his own children with but there's no problem my father cannot solve my father who's in heaven so whenever you think of your relationship with God think of these two things he's my father and he's in heaven he's my father so he loves me he's in heaven so he's Almighty he can do anything if you keep these two things before you all the time never forget it please don't forget all that I said this morning my father who's in heaven he loves me because he's my dad he can do anything because he's in heaven that is the basis of faith why do I have faith because I have a dad who loves me why do I have faith because my dad's in heaven and he cuz there's no problem he cannot solve so even if you don't use these words our Father who art in heaven let that be the back of your mind whenever you pray for anything I'm talking to my father who's in heaven who loves me and who can solve every problem that is how we are to begin our Christian life and that's how we are to live every day so I hope you've learned something today which will have changed your whole way of life remember first of all be sure Jesus has accepted you the one who comes to me I will never cast out okay let's bow our heads in prayer now will you pray a silent prayer to the Lord in your heart say dad my father the truths I have heard this morning I want them to sink deep down in my heart to go through my mind into my heart so that it'll be there forever and change my way of life I pray in Jesus name [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

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Length: 47min 28sec (2848 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 30 2018