A Full Salvation: Part 2: From the Power of Sin - Zac Poonen - July 29, 2018

[Music] the Christian life is like a building it's got a foundation and on that foundation you put the superstructure so what I was telling you in the last session was like the beginning of the foundation that's not all there is in the Christian life you know Jesus once spoke about people who lay a foundation and don't build the rest of the house it's very important to have a foundation what you heard earlier about knowing Jesus as one who forgives you and God is your father it's very important but to know salvation from the penalty of sin alone is the foundation the superstructure is to know salvation from the power of sin and one day to be complete the building will be complete when and will be saved from the very presence of sin when Christ returns the great tragedy in many Christians is they received Christ as their Savior they have their assurance that sins are all forgiven but they don't grow or to use the illustration of a baby it's like a baby that never grows same size same level of knowledge and that's sad any any parent would be grieved if your child never grew up you wouldn't be here sitting here today if you hadn't grown up from the time you were a baby and that's the big tragedy I have seen among Christians and all groups there very few who seem to grow there doesn't seem to be a passion to grow in the Christian life so we need to understand how can we grow in the Christian life not just how we can be born but how we can grow as well I mentioned one thing in the last message people asked how do you know the Bible is the Word of God well today I know it because in the last fifty nine years it's changed my life and I found in it believe it or not the answer to every spiritual problem I've ever faced in my life till today there is an answer in scripture to every spiritual problem you have this is not a geography book telling us whether the Sun earth goes around the Sun or things like that people look for all that that's not this book is not for that this is not a history book it's a book for those who are interested in living a godly life and becoming children of God and growing up to be effective servants of God in their life so as I read this book I found promises in it now tell you every promise is true I've experienced so many of them and I'll tell you another thing every command that Jesus gave can be fulfilled if you're wholehearted and you're serious in your Christian life and you ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit there are some amazing promises in the Bible and commands that can be fulfilled the commands of Jesus are meant to make us strong why does a father give instructions to a child you know don't play with that knife don't put the mud in your mouth to protect the child from sickness and hurting itself so if you look at scripture know that every command is to prevent you from hurting yourself spiritually if you believe that god loves you as a father I mean it would be a very poor father who gives no instructions to your child and says okay you're my child I'll give you food and drink do what you like go where you like never educates him that would be a very poor father a good father is not only one who gives food and clothing and everything else but also disciplines his child so the child grows up to be a mature strong human being useful to society around him if your parents hadn't done that for you you would never be useful to society you'll just be a useless human being probably end up as one of the homeless people on drugs or something like that so a good father will discipline you correct you and lead you and God is a good father that's why we have to take the commands of God in the scripture seriously because they are for our good but you know how a little child does not always think it's parents commands are good that's why they put a long face and say I don't want to do that mommy or I don't want to do that dad they don't realize that a good father and mother every command they give is for that good every type of food they tell them to eat is for their good every type of food they tell them not to eat is for their good and Jesus said if earthly fathers know how to give good things to their children how much more your heavenly father will give good things to those who ask him so today I know the Bible is God's Word I've read through the whole thing many times and I found every promise is truth I found that God has got a solution to every problem I ever faced in my life and as we grow spiritually we can come to that level one day where we can obey some of these commands in the Bible not suddenly but if you you know it's like going all the way up to high school you don't get there overnight you start in the kindergarten you go to the first grade second grade and one day you learn such a lot you want to spend all your life just learning how to spell cat and bat and adding two plus two you don't want to spend all your life just knowing that in the earthly realm we really want to know more and more in school we should have the same passion in the Christian life too and so I know that Bible is God's Word because it's I found an answer in it to every single problem I faced I've never found a promise that's not fulfilled I've never found a command that cannot be obeyed whew then you can ask me well how did you know there's a God's Word when you started your Christian life fifty nine years ago out through the early years of your life well initially I believed it because other people said so okay let me try it out and then as I grew in the Christian life in my younger days I always looked around for godly people I found many Christians were shallow not serious about the Christian life if I went up to them and say to a much older person say can you tell me how I can overcome dirty thoughts or how I can help me with this problem very often they wouldn't give me an answer because they didn't have victory themselves but thankfully God sent across my path every now and then sometimes a message audio or video some and those days it was not video so much audio more where I could hear something from a man who knew God then I would listen to a lot of such messages and sometimes I had the opportunity to meet some really godly men and if I got a chance to speak to them even a little bit I discovered two things about every godly man that I've ever met in my life one every one of them believed that the Bible is the Word of God and every one of them believed in being filled with the Holy Spirit and when I say being filled with the Holy Spirit I'm not talking about the Pentecostal version or any other version I'm talking about the biblical version the way Jesus was filled spirit he's the perfect example of the spirit filled man so these are the two things I saw every man of God I ever met in my life they all believed the Bible was God's Word and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and I saw that in the first chapter of the Bible if you turn to Genesis 1 I want to show you something there you know there are hidden truths in many of the verses of Scripture if you look carefully you'll understand it here's one of those hidden things Genesis 1 just in the first three verses in the beginning God created the heaven and earth and the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved over the surface of the waters and God said let there be light and there was light just those three verses now this is a picture of man let me read it like this in the beginning God created man perfect but Satan came between man and God made man disobey and verse 2 man lost his shape he was no longer in the image of God he became empty and dark man was lost what did God do he didn't ignore man the Holy Spirit came and began to plead with man just like he pleaded with you that's how you're here do you know that all of you are here because some time in your life the Holy Spirit spoke to you and told you to turn from your sin and to believe in Christ that's what we see here the Spirit of God moved moved upon you you may not have known it but he did and the second thing that happened was the Word of God came to you God said that's the Word of God verse 3 and he brought light into your life this is a picture of what God is always doing with us he start out perfectly created by God the devil comes and messes it up and God doesn't leave us his holy spirit comes to move upon us speak to us and he gives us his word and what you read in the rest of that chapter is every day God said something the second day God said verse 6 and the third day God said something verse 9 and on all the way all the six days God said something and even on the sixth day God said in verse 24 let the earth bring forth creatures every day God said something you read that again and again and again again that reminds us of a word that Jesus spoke do you know what was the first words of Jesus public ministry after Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan he started his public ministry at the age of thirty do you know what his first words were it's in the wilderness when he spoke to Satan Matthew for man shall not live by bread alone Matthew 4:4 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God remember all your life those are the first words of Jesus public ministry you cannot live just meeting your earthly needs with food if you really want to live life with a capital L you need to hear the word of God not once in a while every day man shall not live by bread alone but by every word not that proceeded but proceeds turn to Matthew chapter four please and verse four remember this verse all your life that's how we grow spiritually Matthew 4 and verse 4 it is written man shall not live we can say on food alone but on every word not just a few favorite words if you want to live life with a capital L don't pick and choose favorite verses in the Bible that's what a lot of Christians do they picked the promises I love the promises they say God will make everything work for my good he will not allow me to be tempted beyond my abilities he loves me with an everlasting love so many comforting verses come to me all you who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest that's like standing on one leg you know what the other leg is the commandments there are two legs on which we stand every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is promises and Commandments those who try to stand only on Commandments they become legalists they bind heavy burdens on people which those poor people can never lift the Pharisees were like that commandments Commandments Commandments Commandments Commandments you're standing on one leg and people get weighed down with those burdens but then there are others who don't like to hear the commandments oh no no they're all too heavy promises promises promises but they're also standing on one leg they don't get depressed they just live defeated lives and when you live a defeated life do you know that Satan in heaven says to God ah ha God look at that fellow who calls himself your child look how he's behaving so man shall not live by the promises but also the commandments that's the balanced Christian life and all of you must grow in the balanced way when you read scripture you know when we taught memory verses in our church I said alternate between a commandment and a promise don't keep on memorizing promises don't keep on memorizing Commandments have a balanced Christian life just like when you walk you know you don't hop on one leg left right left right a commandment and the promise in a commandment a promise that's the way to grow in the Christian life so if you memorize Scripture memorize a commandment and a promise you'll grow spiritually and so man should live by every word that the other thing I want you to notice here it is not preceded 2000 years ago but proceeds present-tense Matthew 4:4 which means that when you read the Bible there's a word that's proceeding from God's mouth to your heart right then where that word becomes living to you and you see more in that verse than you ever saw before I mean just for example you just now saw Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 to 3 perhaps some of you here never thought of comparing that with man's fallen condition and how the Holy Spirit and the Word of God come to restore man what do you see at the end of Genesis 1 every day God speaks that's one thing and every day of your Christian life God wants to speak to you and what happened when God spoke you know Genesis chapter 1 he said that there be light that was light and he said let the earth come up in the fruit trees and the fruit trees came up and let the waters abound with fish and the fish came up let the animals come up in the earth the animals came up what you see there is whenever God spoke something it happened that's the wonderful thing to know that if you really hear the Word of God in your heart something will happen but if you close your heart to it it won't happen do you remember when Lazarus was dead in the grave for four days and Jesus came there and he wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead and he had to speak only one word Lazarus come forth but before he spoke that word he told those people there who roll away the stone open that the entry to that grave the grave was covered with a big rock move it out of the way now let me ask you a question do you think Jesus could have spoken a word and move that stone out of the way sure yes or no yes he could still a storm like Andy make a rock move out there's a spiritual lesson there if you want God to come into something dead in your life spiritually dead and raise it up he can do it but he'll ask you to open the door for him don't keep the door closed say Lord deliver me from the spiritual death roll away the stone that's blocking the entry to your heart that you got to do he could have done it himself but if he does that in your life you'll become a robot if he does everything you become a robot and God does not want robots in heaven that's why he asks you to make a choice do you want Lazarus to be raised from the dead open the door do you want that spiritual death to go away from your life yield your will to me that's obedience that's Commandments then the promise will be fulfilled every promise and very often the promises are not fulfilled in our life because we keep the door closed say Lord come into a miracle come into a miracle come into a miracle nothing happens I hope you learned something from there today man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth the words are always preceding I tell you a verse which tells me shows us how Jesus lived turn with me to the Book of Isaiah chapter 50 Isaiah chapter 50 and verse 4 this is a prophetic reference to Jesus Christ when Jesus came to earth this is a verse that was going to be fulfilled in his life then and it says here the Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples to speak a word to help others isn't that a wonderful ministry to be able to have a word that will sustain a pure poor very discouraged person I believe God wants to speak to all of us in such a way that we can help others around us but in order to have that tongue that blesses others it says here in the last part of verse 4 he wakens me morning by morning that means every day in the morning Jesus woke up and he wakens my ear to listen that's what we need to do to to listen Lord you know what Samuel said speak Lord for your servant is listening lord I want to listen what are you saying to me today and if you develop the habit of listening this is one of the habits I developed when I was a young Christian and I want you all to develop it at a very young age to learn to listen to God every morning and throughout the day I'm not saying that you should be having your Bible open throughout the day I'd read it in the morning ask God to speak to you and say Lord remind me of this throughout the day Psalm 1 says blessed is the man who meditates on the law of God day and night he's not reading the Bible day and night it's like our food you know you eat food in the morning your breakfast and during the day is getting digested if your food doesn't get digested you don't become strong you can eat the healthiest breakfast and if it doesn't get digested it just gets thrown out of your body one way or the other but it when it gets digested and makes you strong so if you read the Word of God you eased your conscience oh I read the Bible today I can go on with my work you got to let that word you heard get digested that's by meditating on it and you can meditate on it a little bit when you're reading but if you allow that word to come back to you again and again during the day or maybe the next day some other time you remember what you've read and say Lord speak to my heart speak for your servant is listening then God will show you some amazing things from that verse that you read or that passage that you read which applies to you so it doesn't become just a story there but it becomes living to you the food is getting digested and what happens when that breakfast gets digested in your body it gets converted to muscle you become strong and the reason why many Christians are weak one because they don't read the Word of God second they read it but they never meditate on it so here it says Jesus also had to listen and it says here another thing even worse for imagine Jesus also had to listen as a disciple when do you think he started listening I believe he started listening when he was as soon as he could understand maybe five years old four years old he didn't have a Bible those days you know these type of printed Bibles printing was discovered that the the late 1400s that means six hundred years ago before that there were no printed Bibles the Bibles were in written in parchment very expensive to have one copy of the Old Testament nobody had it in their home but in the synagogue the Jewish temple the Jewish place of worship they would have one copy so in Nazareth there was a synagogue and I can imagine that Jesus went to the rabbi who was the leader of the synagogue and young five-year-old boy saying rabbi sir can you please read me something from the Bible and then rabbi would be excited that a five year old boy would want to know about the Bible and he said sure come my son and he would read something and Jesus would listen carefully go back home and meditate on it next day he had to school and work at home he had to help his mother and all that but then he went and went to the rabbi again and said rabbi can you teach go to the next chapter read me some more he would listen go back home and meditate on it and he did that every day and on the Sabbath day he would sit with the others and listen and after seven years when he was 12 years old one day his Joseph and Mary took him to the temple in Jerusalem and for a feast you know the story in Luke chapter 2 and when they came back imagine they forgot completely to bring Jesus with them he was twelve years old of course there you know those days the families were also integrated with each other that your son could be with some other boys in some other family all moving together from Nazareth to Bethlehem and they thought that Jesus must be with one of the other families from Bethlehem we're all going together but one and a half days after they travel they're looking for Jesus and he's not there he's not with any other families so they have to walk one and a half days back and they come to the temple that is three days after they lost him and there he is sitting in the temple talking to the great scholars of his day who read all about it in Luke chapter two and they were amazed at the way he knew the scriptures don't imagine that Jesus came from heaven and the Bible crammed in his head no he came exactly like us he had to learn the Hebrew ABC just like us like we learn ABC he had to learn addition two plus two just like us and he had to learn the Bible just like us everything so it was by diligence that he acquired that knowledge to such a knowledge in seven years that he could question the great scholars why can't you do that in seven years you know that's one of the things that challenged my heart when I was I was baptized when I was 21 and this is the thing that came to me if Jesus could learn the Bible so well in seven years without a printed Bible why can't I with a printed by room know the Bible in seven years so I spent all my spare time between twenty-one I got married when I was 28 once you get married I'll tell you folks you won't have so much time to read the Bible and study it let me tell Warren you right now and once you get children boy and you'll never have any time so better make full use of your single days that's what I did I had no other distractions I really wanted to know the Scriptures and I did that by the time I was 28 I really came to know the Bible I used all my spare time to read the scripture I was doing my secular work and earning my living but I had a lot of spare time I'd carry a little pocket New Testament now it's so easy you couldn't have the Bible in your phone those days we didn't have cell phones but I've used small pocket New Testaments I've carried in my pocket whenever I was really sitting in a train or traveling in a bus or waiting at a bus stand I would take out my New Testament and read it make use of all the spare time don't waste it so much of our spare time is wasted a lot of young people waste a lot of their time and one good way to use your spare time is by reading the Bible it will make a tremendous difference in your life I'll tell you it kept me from so many sins in my life external sense and it helped me to have a good foundation later on for my life for my family life from bringing up my children properly and also for preaching God's Word to needy people and to build local churches the way Jesus wanted it it all came out of a knowledge of the Bible I did not know that when I was 21 years old I did not know what God had planned for me but I wanted to know the Scriptures and I'll tell you a little story of how I was challenged to study the scriptures I was living in the naval officers quarters and there was another Muslim naval officer who was there and you know I was a witness for Christ and I was trying to witness to this man about Christ and he said you believe the Bible you know he had not some knowledge of the Bible so he asked me a question and the question was was jonah alive or dead in the fish's belly I said he was alive and he came out alive he didn't die then he said he knew this verse you know didn't Jesus say that as Jonah was in the fish's belly so the Son of Man Jesus will be in the heart of the earth so when Jesus was in the tomb was he alive or dead I was stuck because you know many Muslims believe Jesus didn't die on the cross he just swooned and they put him in the grave and the cool air of the tomb revived him he never died there was no resurrection I was really stuck I didn't know I say I'm sorry I don't know the answer to that here I was trying to witness to him about Christ and there was a verse he asked me from Scripture and I did not know the answer I went back to my room I was only 22 years old or something thoroughly ashamed and I knelt down and I said Lord I'm sorry I did not know the answer to something he asked me from the Bible I'm gonna start studying the scripture today so that if there is an answer to something in the Bible I will know it that's what started my I'm thankful for that little challenge that came to me from that man and from that day I started studying today I know the answer to it the answer is Jesus said as Jonah was in the fish's belly so shall the son of man be not in the grave but in the heart of the earth that's where paradise was in the center of the earth that's where Jesus died and went because he told the thief on the cross today you'll be with me in paradise which is in the center of the earth that's where he went when he died his body was not in the center of the earth his body was on the surface of the earth in a cave so I know the answer to that today that Jesus was alive his spirit was alive in paradise in the heart of the earth even though his body was dead in Joseph's Tomb so that's what triggered me you know and whenever you witness to someone and you find you don't have an answer to some question that should bring in you a sense of shame oh Lord I'm supposed to be a witness and I don't even know the answer to this let me go back and study the Scriptures so that's how I started studying the scriptures and it changed my life and I want to say that as an encouragement to all of you you don't know what ministry God has for you brother or sister 15 years from now and you can't suddenly enter into ministry 15 years from now if you're not prepared for it and God wants to start that preparation now and one way is by getting you into God's Word to read it and if you don't know read some book that'll help you to understand it if you go to youtube and you know I've got about 1,000 sermons on YouTube you just put YouTube Zach Coonan and you a subject which you are confused about grace or faith or sex or love or anything you're confused about deception you'll get a whole lot of messages on that subject read some of them you can go to our website CFC India com we have 600 questions and answers there a lot of your questions can be answered get to know the Word of God because if you keep on studying like that in your spare time I'm not saying give up your other studies or your other work you will have a ministry i I tell you in Jesus name God wants to use you brothers and sisters I believe God wants to use the sisters to to help so many sisters my wife started started studying the Word of God as a young girl and God used her to have so many sisters through the years so every brothers and sisters your sisters may not stand so much in the pulpit but think of the amount of ministry we can have just meeting people in our homes or when you meet your friends anywhere every one of us can have a ministry to bless others and then when you come to the end of your life you can enter heaven and hear the Lord say to you well done good and faithful servant do you want to hear that I want to hear it I want to I'll tell you that's the only thing I live for to tell you honestly I'm standing before God when I say it Jesus is the Lord Jesus is right here and I can say that before him Lord the only thing I want to live for is that when I end my life and enter your present you should be able to same to me well done good and faithful servant even though you messed up so many things in the early part of your life you repented you turned around you receive me you submitted every area of your life to me and you studied my word and I could do something through you I want the Lord to be able to say that to you as well we read here that the Word of God helps us to grow up to salvation you remember that verse and we read there the Word of God is like the milk that the baby eats but you know after a while you don't keep giving the baby just milk you give solid food when the baby is one year old you're giving solid food not just milk and so we read the Bible has got not only milk but solid food meat turn with me to Hebrews in chapter 5 in Hebrews chapter 5 we read here in Hebrews chapter 5 concerning Jesus about how Jesus came to earth like us was tempted like us overcame sin like us but how did he overcome by praying do you know that Jesus lived so completely like a man that he had to pray for help and you read that in Hebrews 5 7 in the days of his flesh that's referring to the thirty three and a half years when he lived on this earth he prayed and supplicated means he cried out with loud crying and tears to the father who was able to save him from spiritual death you know sin leads to spiritual death and when Jesus was tempted in order not to go into that spiritual that he prayed that's why he never sinned teaching us that when we prayed we can also overcome sin turn back to chapter 4 in verse 15 chapter 4 verse 15 Hebrews 4:15 we don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us you know someone who has gone through your struggles can sympathize with you for example if you're growing up in a home with tremendous poverty and a drunken father there are people like that another man who grew up in a poor home with the drunken father can sympathize with you tell you listen this is how I overcame in such a home he can sympathize more with you than somebody who had a good father or who wasn't faced your problems the same with temptation if someone has not been tempted like you he can't sympathize with you I'm not talking about circumstances but temptations the person does not have to have a drunken father to be able to sympathize with you I didn't have a drunken father but I have been tempted in every way that you are tempted because you and I are all children of adam' and we are the same nature when we are born every human being is tempted in exactly the same way everyone is tempted to anger to sexually dirty thoughts to bitterness to murmur to be stubborn to rebel against God to disobey parents it's all the same whatever religion you are born into everyone we are tempted in all the same way and we have often fallen the wonderful thing about Jesus is he was also tempted but he didn't fall says in Hebrews 4:15 he can sympathize with us because he was tempted in all things as we are you know I never understood that for many years after I was born again and so I was frequently defeated in my life but when I read that verse I said wow Lord Jesus you mean you were tempted like me yes and he never sinned it says without sin so therefore what what is the consequence of that verse 16 therefore we can also come to the throne of grace and get the same grace to help me in my time of need which he got to overcome so I learned something from those verses that the way to overcome sin is by receiving grace from God just like Jesus received as a man when he was tempted so thereafter whenever I was tempted I would say Lord Jesus when you were in Nazareth you were tempted just like I am being tempted right now and how did you overcome I want to overcome the same way you prayed for grace I'm gonna pray for grace and I believe the father will help me because you know what he said in the day of resurrection your father and my father he's my father too so give me that grace to help me it says in verse 16 my time of need is when I'm and then I tried it out sometimes the pressure of temptation in my thoughts or when I'm all alone or when you're at the computer can be so great to go to some site that will pollute your mind ruin your life or some other temptation when somebody provokes you to anger pray a quick prayer lord give me grace right now it's amazing what God can do don't try to hang on there yourself and overcome you won't be able to overcome pray for grace at that moment that's what Jesus did and I said Lord I want to do that and I found it work so it says here worst Hebrews 5 7 in the days of his flesh he prayed with loud crying and tears and I've seen that I can cry in my heart without making a sound with my mouth it's a cry in my heart Lord I don't want to fall into this sin I'll tell you every one of you if you have a really a desire that you don't want to pollute your heart with sin you know that sin pollutes your heart it ruins you it's like breaking down the walls of the house it's like putting filthy muck into that cup of coffee or milk or whatever you're drinking into that plate of good food to put muck into it that's what sin does and that brings a pollution into your life did he cry out and it says he was hurt verse 7 Hebrews 5 7 he was heard because he feared God he feared to sin and like that he obeyed verse 8 and became perfect means complete now listen to this concerning verse 11 this is the verse I was coming to concerning Jesus in this way you know the part that he died for our sins his basic foundation stuff I spoke to you that earlier Jesus died for our sins he rose again made God our Father good now we lay the foundation now we are talking about superstructure again we need to see Jesus as our example now we saw him as our Savior forgiving our sin says I won't remember you send him on now he's our example so once you know Jesus as your Savior you need to know him as your example to follow that's how you build a superstructure and concerning jesus is our example verse 11 he says we have a lot to say to you but it's very hard to explain it because you're not serious about hearing it you know there are many Christians who receive Jesus their sins are forgiven yeah I'm on my way to heaven I don't want anything more that's like laying the foundation and not building the house I mean if you lay a foundation you're gonna build a house to live in it right you don't live on a foundation that's the sad thing with many Christians they lay a foundation have accepted Christ they're defeated defeated defeated defeated defeated all their life you see them twenty years later they're defeated by the same old sins that defeated them twenty years ago that's like going to a twenty year old kid sitting in the kindergarden still trying to figure out what 2+2 is it's exactly like that it's serious so concerning Jesus in this way as our example I have a lot to say to you the Holy Spirit says but it's very hard to explain if you're not serious about hearing me and he says here if you had been listening he's telling these people the Hebrew people by this time you should have become teachers of others he's telling this 25 year-old Kim twenty-five year old young man sitting in the kindergarden twenty-five years old man you should have been a teacher in the school today but instead of being a teacher in the school you're sitting there still learning well how do you spell C 80 and B 80 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 that's sad that's what he's saying here you need someone to teach you again the first principles and you still need milk and not solid food you see how babies go from milk to solid food but he says you're still drinking milk your Al Capone with the elementary principles of salvation forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness there's more to it than that is victory there's an overcoming life walking as Jesus walked that's solid food but he says people who like milk verse 313 they don't like the word of righteousness because they are babies and I want to tell you what I have seen is most Christian churches are full of babies spiritual babies they don't want to hear about an overcoming life brother overcome your anger overcome your bitterness overcome your discouragement overcome your self condemnation overcome your unloving attitude to people overcome your discouragement and gloom and bad moods and think what your home will be like if you gradually come to the place where you don't have bad moods your home will be a little bit like heaven do you think the devil wants your home to be like heaven now he wants you to be grumbling and fighting and complaining and murmuring all the time and make your life gloomy and you make other people's life gloomy that's not the way we are supposed to live that's the word of righteousness but he says some people don't want the solid food they just want to milk milk milk milk all the time because they are babies that is the sad thing in the Christian life today and so we have a whole lot of churches today people sitting there who should have been teaching others who are still sitting there drinking milk and it doesn't take long to start sharing God's Word with others I told you I was converted when I was 19 and a half I was baptized when I was 21 and as I dug into the word and dug into the word and dug into the word in two years by the time I was 23 and a half I was sharing God's Word with others blessing them and helping them and I discovered you can do that and I believe that every one of you can do that if you're serious study of God's Word it says by this time you should have been teachers but why are you not teachers because you're not taking your Christian life seriously you're not building the building you're sleeping on the foundation so I hope you'll be challenged not only to know God is your father but to know Jesus as your example and the Holy Spirit comes to help us to follow in Jesus footsteps as our example this is the wonderful message of the New Testament that Jesus can not only forgive you but strengthen you to walk little by little by little in his footsteps we can grow in the Christian life read further verse 13 for everyone who only takes part of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness he likes the word of forgiveness but he doesn't like the word of holiness righteousness so what is the mark of a spiritual baby you can find out now whether your spiritual babies over they are growing up are you only interested in forgiveness of sins milk milk milk milk milk every day it's needed when we are a baby sure but the question is when are you going to grow up when are you going to build a fire superstructure the word of righteousness the word of holiness that is solid food but it says in verse 14 solid food is for the mature and you can mature in two years in the Christian life in physical life in the world you'd probably take 20 years to be mature but in the Christian life in two years you can become mature believe me and I have an example for that in the Old Testament you know the story of the Israelites being delivered out of Egypt Egypt is a picture of our unconverted state Pharaoh is a picture of Satan were slaves to Satan we were all unconverted once and then we heard the gospel that you can be delivered from Egypt put the blood on the door the blood of the Lamb and we believed in the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross to forgive our sins put our trust in that and then go into the Red Sea and come out a picture of water baptism the Israelites went into the Red Sea and came out and then the pillar of cloud came down from heaven a picture of the Holy Spirit that comes to lead us and the holy s--t that cloud came from heaven to lead the Israelites step-by-step-by-step to the promised land they were not to be in the wilderness all the time the wilderness was only a short period of time by which they were to reach Canaan where they were to occupy the land and kill the Giants and be overcomers and this is a picture of the Christian life he come out of Egypt believe in the blood of Christ water baptism received the Holy Spirit and then it says in Deuteronomy chapter 2 after 2 years they came to the borders of the promised land that's all God's plan was for them was in 2 years I want you to enter Canaan but they came to the borders of the promised land and Moses sent 12 spies who read about it in numbers chapter 13 go into the land and see what type of people are there and the 12 spies came back carrying the grapes of Canaan on huge balls is such wonderful fruit and they said their report was the land is a wonderful land plenty of good fruit is not like this desert wilderness we are wandering in for the last two years but there are big giants living there we can't conquer it we look like grasshoppers in front of these giants all in numbers chapter 13 but two of those spies their name was Joshua and Caleb they said no we saw the Giants but we didn't just look at our muscles we looked at God and we believe that if God wants us to go into this land these giants are like bread for us just like we can swallow bread like that we can chew up these giants and overcome them and occupy their territory you know those giants by the way are a picture of the lusts in your flesh this is the land of Canaan this body of ours had two foot ruled by many many giants through our eyes to our tongue in our thoughts sin sin sin and when God says to you sin will not rule over you that's the promise some people look at this oh how can I overcome this anger how can I overcome this bitterness how can I overcome this discouragement they are like huge Giants and like the other ten spies they said no no no we can't conquer this but the people with faith like Joshua and Caleb said we can't conquer it but if God helps us we can conquer them they're the ones who finally have conquered but God punished those people you know they say you people won't listen to me you don't have faith that I can help you conquer the Giants you think your dad those giants are bigger than God you think your sins are more powerful than Almighty God you think your sins are more powerful than the whole spirit then the Lord told those Israelites okay you're punished for the next 38 years you'll wander and wander and wander in the wilderness till all of you died 600,000 people died in the wilderness because they would not believe God and a new generation came up thought said you go in that's how Joshua led them into the land of Canaan but huh what is the original plan in two years they must enter that's why I say to you two years after you're born again you can begin the journey of overcoming not all the Giants together they never killed all the Giants together one at a time they killed one giant occupied his land they killed another giant occupy design like I told you start with killing the giant called getting offended it's one of the easiest Giants to kill say lord please help me never to get offended with anybody what they say to me or what they don't say to me whether they smile at me or don't smile at me whether they shake my hand or don't shake my hand whether they say a bad word to me a rude word to me I don't want to get offended I say it's only Jesus opinion of me that matters not this guy's a boy imagine a day when a day comes in your life and you don't get offended one giant is killed there many other giants but do you read the history little by little they occupied the land of Canaan and little by little you can occupy all the land the devil took away from God in your life you can make your body once again a holy temple for God that is growth in the Christian life and I want to say to you in Jesus name that is God's will for every one of you you can do it as I said you don't go from kindergarten to the 12th grade in one year but you see some of those people who have reached high school and the twelfth grade or even middle school eighth grade how did they get there they didn't go from kindergarten to the eighth grade in one year year by year by eight or nine years they got there and so when the devil discourages you and says no no no you're gonna be in the kindergarten all your life you say no I'm not gonna be I see some of these people have already caught up to eighth grade and fourth grade I'm gonna progress in my Christian life I'm gonna go on don't ever give in to the devil he will accuse you well you say no I'm not gonna listen to you Satan get away Satan I'm gonna listen to God's Word he will help me to be an overcomer so let me read the next verse is therefore chapter 6 verse 1 leave the elementary teaching about Christ press on to maturity so give up just being in the kindergarten that's the medium chapter 6 verse 1 press on to high school to press on to maturity so I'll give you a little promise in 1 Corinthians in chapter 10 and verse 13 it's a wonderful promise 1 Corinthians 10:13 please remember this no temptation has ever come to you which is too much for you that's like saying the teacher in the kindergarten will not give you a ten standard or a tenth grade we call it standard in India eighth grade or tenth grade question paper to answer no that's too much for you the kindergarten teacher will give you a kindergarten question paper to answer when you go to first grade you get a first grade question paper when you go to the second grade you go to a second grade question paper that's what it's saying here God is faithful not to allow you to be tempted beyond your ability but will give you the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to overcome but we need to pray Lord give me grace the other promise is Romans 6 and verse 14 Romans 6:14 says here's a wonderful promise that changed my life my honest testimony this one word changed my life from being a defeated Christian to being an overcomer claimed it to remember it all your life sin cannot rule over you because you're not under law but under grace let me explain law and grace law is you're struggling struggling struggling struggling to overcome sin you'll be defeated in a hundred years you'll be defeated grace is God helping you to overcome which is better God helping me I can overcome struggling myself even a hundred years from now I'll be defeated in the kindergarten but when grace comes like you know let me give an illustration you remember the disciples in John 21 went fishing in all right they caught nothing they were expert fisherman Peter and all the other fishermen they fished and fished and fished and fished and fished no fish that is law living under the law you try and try and try and trying to overcome some of those bad habits of yours and you never seem to overcome and so you give up you're discouraged you're hopeless you say I'll never overcome and then that morning Jesus came and he said boys cast your net on the right side that's Grace and all of a sudden what they couldn't catch all night with all their struggles in a moment the net was filled with fish that is Grace it's not their cleverness but they had to do something they had to put the nets just like they had to roll away the stone for the Lazarus to be raised up from the dead you have to do something I'll tell you what you have to do you have to come to God say lord give me grace I can't do this on my own then you'll find your boat is filled with fish your life becomes an overcome that's how it happened to me I'm telling you the honest truth I'm not telling you stories I was just like those disciples for years and years and years and years not just one night I tried I failed I tried I failed I tried I tried to overcome my anger I tried to overcome my discouragement I tried to overcome bad habits and murmuring I failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and I said Lord I can't do it then the Lord showed me seek ask for grace every time you have tempted Lord give me grace now cry out for it like Jesus prayed for it hast God to fill you with His Holy Spirit I pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day of my life now Lord I don't want to sin I can't do it on my own give me the power of the Holy Spirit I want to testify and he helps me day by day he will help you day by day don't ever get discouraged discouragement is the way to ensure you'll never become an overcomer you must refuse to be discouraged I always tell people discouragement is a no-entry Road don't go there self condemnation no entry never condemn yourself God doesn't condemn you he doesn't say you're hopeless even if you've been defeated for twenty years he won't say you're hopeless he says you can get the victory so don't let the devil discourage you don't let the devil condemn you ever say Jesus is the victor like Joshua and Caleb enter the land I'm gonna enter this land of victory even if it takes me 20 years I remember when I was seeking God to be filled with the holy spirit I said Lord if it takes me ten years I'm gonna wait but I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit like the apostles were on the day of Pentecost and I want to live an overcoming life you say that to God and God will do miracles for you what he did for others he'll do for you I hope you'll have failed to do that and then you'll find that the walls come up you know you don't complete the house overnight little by little the walls are coming up in your life and one day when Jesus comes the roof is put and your salvation is complete so let's go that way but they use the picture of a baby growing up to be an adult or completing your house laying a foundation and building a house on top of it let's complete our Christian walk in faith let's pray for some of you what you heard today may have been new challenging but it's because the Lord is saying to you my son my daughter come up higher I don't want you to live at that low level anymore I want to lift you up recognize that you cannot live this life on your own trust me pray to me for grace when you are tempted I will lift you up you cannot lift yourself up but I can lift you up to overcome every sin that's defeating you now little by little by little you'll be an overcomer don't ever give up the battle the Lord your father in heaven is inviting you he loves you he do more for you than any earthly father did for his kid thank you Father for this wonderful gospel I pray that everyone here will begin to experience it from now on I pray in Jesus name [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 3,825

Rating: 4.9452057 out of 5

Keywords: full, salvation, power, sin, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, young, adults, conference, 2018, yac

Id: qx8EN59zOp4

Length: 64min 58sec (3898 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 30 2018