Entering Into The Rest Of God's Perfect Love | Zac Poonen

let's begin with a verse in Hebrews 4 we know that not supposed to have any fear or anxiety and that's one of the things that we anyone who spree Qing nowadays will say with all this happening in the world but we must not fear we must not be anxious which is right because God cares for us and our faith in our loving Heavenly Father is tested at a time like this whether we believe that he knows the number of hairs in our head and the sparrows that fall to the ground etc the words of Jesus are tested in a time of trial not when things are going relatively easy and for many of you there may not be any financial struggles but there are people who are struggling among God's people financially maybe in other countries I know certainly in India and their faith is being tested in more than just a matter of whether they'll be attacked by the COBIT but whether they'll be able to survive this time when they're not able to get work cetera many who are paid on a daily basis to work in the farms etc so we're not to fear it doesn't matter how poor we are you're a child of God God is a father who knows all our circumstances and he can provide supernaturally in any situation in any country in any generation and in any century we believe that with all our hearts but here in Hebrews 4 1 it says let us fear so here is something we must fear and it's I feel a lot of people who listen to the other part that has better not fear probably don't pay sufficient emphasis to Hebrews 4 verse 1 let us fear should we fear if we are not to fear all the other things on this earth let us fear if goddess made a promise of entering his rest any of you may seem to come short of it what is this rest the context it's quite clear that it is not forgiveness of sins there is a rest that comes when the rest of freedom from guilt or for some people to freedom from the fear of going to hell which is a very low level of fear but freedom from guilt is an important rest that everybody should come to we always emphasize we must keep a clear conscience at all times and one mark of a clear conscience is there is rest in our conscience there's peace that we know that all known sin has been confessed to the Lord and that's meaning of walking in the light and the light that we have which keeps increasing as we walk with the Lord and there is a rest there that we are sure there's nothing in our conscience and we have can look straight into the face of God without any sense of guilt if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me I really believe millions of Christians their prayers are not heard because of just one word psalm 66:18 if I regard sin in my heart the Lord will not hear me that means it's waste of time praying and many don't realize that they've got bitterness against somebody they haven't forgiven someone they are wishing evil for someone who may be harmed them whatever evil another person may have done to me if I wish evil towards one human being even the smallest amount of evil that is sin in my heart that is not the heart of Jesus Christ we have often said that the standard of sin is not just that we don't do anything we know to be wrong but sin is all have sinned and come short of the glory of God that's the standard of sin in the New Testament not just that we keep the commandments of the law and the glory of God is seen in Jesus Christ John 1:14 full of grace and truth so he put John 1:14 and Romans 3:23 together scene is anything that comes short of the life of Christ that's in and for a person who is a disciple of Jesus that is the only definition of sin every other definition of sin that there is in say 1 John 3 verse 5 transgression of the law or James for the last verse knowing what to do and I don't do it those are all good but we graduate from there to the clearest definition of sin which is coming short of the glory of God coming short of the light of Christ so if I'm conscious of anything in my heart which is contrary to the life of Christ for example wishing evil for someone jesus never did that that is sin then I'm wasting my time praying God you can pray for a whole hour a whole night you might as well go to sleep it's an absolute waste of time we need to convince ourselves of that that is there is one sin in my heart and I believe I'm more and more concerned about people who have something in their heart against someone who they don't like it's one of the lowest levels I wanted to begin with before we move into the fear mentioned here in Hebrews 4 it's all of us every human being if he's crossed seven or eight years of old somebody is harmed even a little child and they are angry with someone and as we grow up we get order and order there are many people in our life who have hurt us harmed us relatives in-laws neighbors bosses in the office and people who did harm deliberately or accidentally all through life you and they remember them we cannot erase them from our memory but if there is anything contrary to love in my heart towards any of them that is sin now in the early days of our Christian life we don't understand that level of sin so God is merciful to us and I certainly didn't understand that in the early days soon after I was converted mainly because nobody ever preached it I mean the other hear light of the word before we see something as sin so because nobody preached it I never knew that if I have one unloving thought towards any human being that is sin but that's become more and more clear to me and as I have understood it more I've shared it more and more in my ministry that we have to examine our hearts constantly he read in the when we come to the lord's table it says let a man examine himself and so let him take part and those days they broke bread once a week it was urging people at least once a week examine your heart but a whole hearted disciple he's not examining his heart once a week he said all times saying what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 4 I am conscious of nothing against myself that means in his conscious life that means whatever God had given him light on in his life he was conscious of nothing you see the flesh is a huge area we don't have light on it all of a sudden God is merciful to us if he showed us everything there were all the corruption in our flesh we get so overwhelmed we'll be discouraged he shows us only as much as we have light on it something like how we study in a school we go from one class to another we don't get 10th grade lessons when we are in the first grade we'd be overwhelmed so God also leads us and step by step and he leads us as far as we want to go and as you move up higher and higher you discover that ultimately God's law is the law of love in 1 John 1 when it says God is light we say well what is like mean they can it's not defined walking in the light at least we can understand is walking in honesty but what does it mean when it says God is light it doesn't mean God is honest God is light and we have to find some other words that explains it and that's in 1 John 4 where we are told God is love 1 John 4:8 so love we can understand so God is light means God is love light is love and anything contrary to love to the love of God is darkness I must hold that standard even if I take all my life to get there I must say Lord I will never know your standard to convince myself and I'm ok for example I've used this example in Philippians 4 4 it says rejoice in the Lord always that means there must never be a moment in my life when there's no joy in my life never never never they can be external feelings of sorrow for example when a loved one has departed or something like that but never it said it doesn't say rejoice in your circumstances rejoice in the Lord and always always means 24/7 and if a person lowers that and says well always doesn't mean always it means most of the time so if most of the time I'm rejoicing and happy I guarantee you'll never get past that if you're it's like quitting it fourth grade and saying that's fine I've learned to add and subtract and divide and multiply and I can read that's it no there's a lot more in education than fourth grade so it's not just most of the time rejoice in the Lord who never changes always so any area where I read scripture and I sort of bring it down to my level I remain in that level forever I've got a hole god standard where it is and honestly acknowledge I haven't got there and I don't mind repeating this endlessly I've spoken about this many times but until we get there we need to keep hearing it she says if your student is finding it difficult multiplication is difficult they're gonna keep on doing multiplying multiplication problems till they understood it it's like that we are not finished with hearing a message once most messages we hear gotta hear 10 20 times before it really grips us because we are such creatures who justify ourselves there's a tremendous amount of self-justification which is an unrecognized sin in most believers this tendency of Adam to not just disobey God not just listen to one's wife these a couple of things he did but also when caught to say yeah but it was not me it was my wife to find some excuse that's what Adam did when God asks him a straight question yes or no did you read of the tree so this self justification when Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees is very much in us and we had to eat it they'd hate it like we hate adultery and murder and bitterness and pride and every wretched things dirty thoughts and pornography I gotta hate self-justification like I hate pornography I gotta see it like that because Jesus said in Luke 16 15 that self justification is an abomination or detestable in God's eyes in any way to justify myself he's an abomination to God is detestable to God and I've always linked that verse with an Old Testament verse in Deuteronomy I think in chapter 22 it says when you the Israelites were told when you go outside the camp to go to the toilet take a Spade with you and when you're finished you must cover up what has come out from your body cover it up because the Lord God walks in the midst of the company does not want to see any abomination there so that's what I call an abomination an unflushed toilet and what is that just to find yourself justifying yourself is a filthy toilet that's not being flushed and God says is an abomination I don't want to have one bit of it I want to have zero self justification that when God shows me something I immediately say yes Lord yes yes Lord that's that's me that's me it's not my wife it's not anybody else it's me I did it I took from the fruit and I ate it no more doesn't matter who gave it to me I ate it so such justification is very important and so in this area of love we've got to be ruthless with ourselves if you really want to you know a lot of people seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit if you really want to be filled with the Holy Spirit take this verse is the mark of being filled up into the spirit don't be satisfied you speak in tongues don't be satisfied that you've had some experience in the past Romans five verse five to me as I've studied the scriptures that is the clearest definition of being filled with the Holy Spirit the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us that means my heart is if I'm filled with the Holy Spirit my heart is filled with the love of God not human love no not some low standard love it I have but the love of God which I cannot produce myself but which God has to give me that's why I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit because in my flesh there is no love there's a lot of self justification and love of my self but the love of God that says God so loved the world the type of love that is willing to give he gave His only Son for a world that hated him to love that's willing to lay down my life but those who hate me and want to harm me a love that wants to do good to all those who are evil towards me and only wish the best for my enemies and that type of love and willing to do anything to serve and bless those who harmed me that type of love you cannot produce you cannot efficiently do something on the outside but you can't have it in your heart until your finger the Holy Spirit and I see that love mentioned herein as I you often heard me say in three ways one the foundation of God's love in my heart God the love of God poured in my heart by the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit assures me you are loved your beloved of God you're the apple of his eye he cares for you he loves you more than all the birds he is created in everything else he loves you intensely more than any earthly father loves his child many of you are father's more than you love your children you ought to be assured in your heart God loves you more than that would you be concerned if your child is sick God is concerned about you when you're sick are you concerned about some problem in your home financial problem physical problems sickness God is more concerned about you to be assured of that to have zero doubt about it then I'm founded the love of God is being poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit that's the foundation and then from there too first love for God a fervent love for Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit produces and I can love people when i see ho how much they have done for me I respond in love and when I hear about Jesus dying for me and and you see a movie of being whipped and crucified and you feel moved and you hear about his love for you and you respond and love that's good it's a human response in love which we can have towards other human beings as well but that fervent love for Christ can only come through the Holy Spirit for example jesus said you cannot love God and love money and in the measure in rich if a person has got a slight love of money and that measure the love of God has gone down you see it's like a a bottle it's if it's not filled up to the brim there's a little space there and very often with a lot of people to love for Christ is something like that there's this little space there where they love something else someone else jesus said you can't even love your wife or children or father or mother anything on me the whole bottles got to be filled with love for Christ alone and very often there's a little bit of love for money there's a little space in that bottle that's empty and only the Holy Spirit can fill that whole bottle fill my whole heart so there's no place in my heart for anything other than God and next thing is to love others especially among God's people you all men will know you'd know you're my disciples when you love one another a new commandment Jesus said I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you it's not just love one another that itself would be a difficult standard but to love one another as much as I have loved you that's the commandment in John chapter 13 you must yes you must read that again and again if you're not sure about it john 13 and verse 34 I give you a new commandment that you love one another even as I have loved you so the love to the Holy Spirit pours in our heart is first of all a deep foundation in the fact that God loved me intensely more than anyone else more than my father more than anyone and on that is the Holy Spirit produces in me a fervent love for Jesus Christ and also from that love for Jesus Christ's love for others when we say we love God with a whole heart soul and mind well even I say well what there's no place in my heart to love other people oh yes when I love God with all my heart from there I cannot love God with all my heart without loving others the two go together you know 1 John 4 says if you say you love God and you don't love your brother you're a liar so these are two components of the same love the Holy Spirit fills my heart with love for others the rich type of love the type of learner says God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son a love which is willing to lay down my life for people who are evil towards me who say Lord when I think of I mean I do this sometimes where people have done evil to me and very often my prayers Lord please give me an opportunity to do them some good to deny myself in some way to sacrifice something to do them good so that they know I have not only that I had no bitterness against that but I can just say I'm sorry I don't know but I tell you I have no bitterness against you it's more than that - God didn't demonstrate his love by telling us from heaven that he was not bitter against us for our sin he demonstrated by laying now is like God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for us that's the challenge has been coming to my own heart more and more and I think of being filled with the Holy Spirit so many people in the world when they think Oh God want to be filled with the Holy Spirit they are thinking of an experience and I believe that's where the devil's deceived so many people they just get some experience and that's it I've had experiences to being filled in the spirit but I say I keep pressing on to say Lord I want your love to fill my heart I know because that is the mark of ink of the Holy Spirit of God pour out his love in our heart to the Holy Spirit that's given to us so this is and coming back to Hebrews for me I thought I was digressing actually not let us fear Hebrews for one Leicester promise remains of entering his rest any of you seem to come short of it and what I have been telling you so far this is the promised land this is the rest that God has promised to us a heart which is perfectly at rest is a heart that is filled with love anything contrary to love is unrest that's how I see it and it will always bring unrest if I'm for example if I'm unsure that God loves me intensely that like I like this Living Bible paraphrase of job and chapter job and the trees he knows every detail what is happening to me that's a wonderful paraphrase any ants bees he knows the way I take he knows every detail the margin of my Bible says he knows the way it is with me that means he knows every detail of what is happening to me I tell you it's a tremendous comfort and rest it brings into our heart when I realized God knows right now with all the problems there may be God knows every detail every little detail even the details I don't know so many people don't know what is gonna happen in the days to come and when is this lockdown gonna be lifted and when is this is this gonna spread more is there gonna be a second attack of Cobre after some time when this one is over I say God knows every detail I don't need to know he knows every detail as far as it affects me and not only he knows every detail and you that's all covenant in the new covenant goes one step higher and says that all those details God makes to work for my good Romans 8:28 so that's being addressed it's a rest in the fact that God loved me perfectly and very important in these days to have that assurance and from there as I said to have this fervent love for Christ where I try to eliminate from my life everything that hinders me from loving the Lord let us fear lest a promise remains of entering his rest any of you should seem to come short of it now we know that there was a difference in the way God wanted the Canaanites to be killed and the way the Egyptians were to be killed and God delivered the Israelites from Egypt they didn't have to lift a finger Moses lifted up his rod and the entire Egyptian army went buried in their bread see but when they went they didn't have to do anything but when they came to Canaan they still had to trust God because otherwise they'd be like grasshoppers these were giants out there and they could not overcome those giants in their own strength they had to trust God every victory in Canaan was the power of God the pulling down of the walls of Jericho they couldn't do that on their own God did it and in one place we read God stopped the Sun so that Joshua could win the victory but it was not like the defeat of the Egyptians because not let me sit back and God stops the Sun and we just watch all the enemies being destroyed no in Canaan they had to actually fight in God's power so it was a cooperation I mean if somebody just sit back and said no God will do it nothing would happen Caleb had to go and fight in order to conquer that land of Hebron but it was in God's power he believed that if God is on our side we're gonna overcome so that is the type of victory that's spoken of here because if you leave the previous verses in Hebrews 3 he's talking about Canaan as the land of rest hebrews 3:16 who was the ones who provoked him when they heard all those who came from Egypt with whom was he angry for 40 years Hebrews 3:17 why was God angry with those people because he told them go and possess the land of Canaan and they did not he said no no no it's too difficult the land of Canaan for many many years riding right up to the early part of the 20th century I think all Christians from the teaching of who all the preachers through the years was that Canaan was heaven you know crossing the River Jordan you look at these some of the old hymns because I crossed the river of death and enter into Canaan's land there's just heaven but God has given us light in these last days to show that Keenan's land is not heaven because there are long giants to be killed in heaven Keenan's land is right now in my body but I have to come to a life of rest where every giant of the flesh is slain and that's not going to be slain by God automatically like he killed the Egyptians I've got to do it but I can't do it my own power I'll be I'm like a grasshopper like the ten spies said to Moses we're like grasshoppers before these giants in the flesh the giant of anxiety and the giant of bitterness of the giant of unrest and the giant of complaining and grumbling and sexual lust and anger these are massive Giants and we're like grasshoppers how can we overcome them Joshua and Caleb said yeah God is on our side these are like bread he read Numbers chapter 13 and 14 it's like eating bread it's not at all difficult to eat bread it's so soft he says killing these Giants will be like eating bread for us they are direct bread for us is that faith but it was not sitting back and waiting for God to kill them it was a cooperation so this entering into rest is not something that happens automatically the rest that initially comes God forgives our sins in the forgiveness of my sin I gotta do nothing I just say Lord I turn around from our sins he Lord I'm a sinner i I don't want to sin anymore I'm not promising I won't send anymore that I can't promise but I don't want to sin anymore and I believe with all my heart that Jesus died to take the punishment for all my sins and he rose from the dead he's alive forgive me that's all forgiveness is 100% from God not only forgiveness what he says in Hebrews 8:12 I will not remember he has sinned anymore that is one rest that is the initial we can say coming through the gate but then after we come through the gate that's narrow gate there is a narrow way that leads to life that is another rest after coming out of Egypt we had to enter Kenan that's the second thing and that's what's spoken of here verse 19 they could not enter the second land of Canaan because of their unbelief they came out of Egypt they believed they believed because we know they put the blood outside the door they believed in that and that's how they escaped death in their home but when they came to Cain and they did not believe they could not enter the land because of unbelief let us fear lest we also have this unbelief bring us into this life of rest where every unloving thought in my life is killed every giant is killed and you see this matter of conscious and unconscious sin in the land of Canaan it's a huge land with many many Giants but the only Giants they could kill were the ones they saw they entered in a certain part of Canaan and they were so certain first of all in Jericho they killed him then him in the eye and different places they saw certain Giants they fought them in the power of God and kill them but that doesn't mean they had conquered the whole land of Canaan even towards the end of Joshua's life God tells Joshua there still remains a lot of land to be possessed read that in Joshua towards the closing chapters of that book there's a lot of land to be possessed just because you've occupied a little bit and is much better than life in the wilderness they could relax oh this is better than life in the wilderness yes but God wants you to possess the whole land right from the top to the bottom of the land of Canaan is meant for you every lust in the flesh has to be crucified and overcome and it's not going to be automatic he's gonna be with the power of God as you yield at every point so let us fear lest there is a promise of entering into his arrest and what does that promise sin will not have dominion over you that's a clear promise which sin is excluded in Romans 6:14 nothing every sin in the flesh can be conquered by grace 14 there are so many theories about overcoming sin and victory you know there are people who preach became more popular in the days of John Wesley onwards that there's an experience where you're entirely sanctified and you don't sin again well it's a deception what happened to those people who claim to be entirely sanctified is when they did something wrong they called it mistakes but look sad thing is that the blood of Jesus doesn't cleanse mistakes if you go to the Lord and say Lord I made a mistake well it's my blood doesn't claims that a new cleanse sinned but they were hesitant to call it sin because they said we are entirely sanctified from sin it's a deception we have to be very careful about that deception and we must be honest and you call its anus and acknowledge it and turn around firmly it can be forgiven walk in the light we can be forgiven but if we say you know John once again John is 95 years old and the Holy Spirit inspires him to say that there are two dangers he says here one is 1 John 1:10 we say we have not sinned I've never seen in my life or that is one deception I'm very few people will go into that but the other is even at the age of 95 John says verse 8 if I say I have no sin that's another deception I don't think any of us will fall into the first deception if we say we have not sinned we've all come past that not God to forgive us but there are people we don't teach entire sanctification in that way in our churches but there are some groups that teach it even today that's an experience anything you must seek what is their equivalent of being filled to the spirit you are entirely sanctified that means you're actually saying we have no sin and John at the age of 95 but if ever a man is entirely centered it had to be John but he he was fully the Holy Spirit age of 30 and 65 years later he says if we include himself he doesn't say you there's a lot of difference between you and we in the New Testament when Paul writes to the Corinthians he says you how carnal you our fleshly he doesn't say we are fleshly Paul was not you read 1 Corinthians 3 you are babes he doesn't say we are all babes there's a difference between you and we so he says if we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and there are lots of Christians who deceive themselves they're quite sincere they've they go past 1 John 1:10 they acknowledge that they have sinned but when it comes to 1 John 1:8 they deceive but thankfully we don't have that teaching in our midst so there is a whole land of Canaan to be occupied and giants that I see I can deal with then I must always acknowledge there are giants I don't see in my flesh and I think I've conquered everything because I don't see them and you will never see them if you don't have a passion to occupy the whole land if you know if you're not honest before God and say Lord I have not yet become totally like Jesus Christ it's very clear in Scripture that we shall be like him when we see him not before that so that means is a whole area of my life where I had not yet become like him and that is the life of rest I must come to in other words I'm not yet loving Jesus Christ as I should there is a love that we will have a Christ when we see him face to face when my heart will be perfect in love today when it speaks about being perfect in love it's only the areas of the land of Canaan that I see it's like saying I perfectly destroyed every Canaanite I have seen praise God I'm conscious of nothing against myself in my in my conscious life I love Christ with all my heart so you take this matter of the love of money a lot of unrest comes too many people in the area of money that's why I mention it not only those who are poor even those who are rich they can come to unrest when it comes to some sudden expenses they have themselves or their family we see how will I meet it an unrest that comes through the love of money the uncertainty of a job for example or lapin if I get fired from here or there's insecurity and there's a lot of people are being laid off in the company and then a little unrest comes in relation to money and Jesus said in Luke 16 and verse 13 that no one can serve God and money impossible that's very clear he says these are two clear masters and if I serve God 90% and 10% money there will be unrest in my heart one day or the other we have to earn our living in fact that also is very clearly important clear words in second Thessalonians three that if someone one and second Thessalonians 3 verse 10 if a person is not willing to work he should not eat that's a law the Holy Spirit second Thessalonians 3:10 a person who's not willing to go and earn his living work he should not eat his family should starve so God has ordained he said that to Adam as soon as he sinned by the sweat of your brow you will earn your bread you got to work hard he said to earn your bread from now on it's not gonna be easy like what wasn't eaten before sin came one of the results of sin just like he told Eve he left pain the birth of babies and every woman has pain when she gives birth to her baby and every man has to perspire in order to earn his living so if a man is not willing to work you should not eat so we have to work but in that work we can serve money instead of serving God no we have to serve God even in the job we do say Lord this is a job you've given me I'm thankful for it I work here to earn my living to take care of my family but ultimately I'm serving you so that I don't become a beggar I don't become a homeless on this street waiting for other people to take care of me Jesus was never a homeless person he may have been poor but he was not homeless he was never you know so desperate that he had to ask people for money or break never his father provided for him one way or the other even while he was a carpenter and later on in full-time Christian work as well and any one whom God calls to that ministry he'll provide even today but we cannot serve God and money we must be very clear on that I cannot love God and money jesus said you cannot serve God and money was Luke 16:13 you cannot love God and money because you will love if you really love one you hate the other in relation to God and money so here is another area where it's very easy for us to fool ourselves we have entered into rest oh we are perfectly free from the love of money can you really say that see I've been serving the Lord full-time for 56 years and to the best of my knowledge when I quit my job in the Navy I said lord I don't love my in fact I took my undying savings that I had saved up in my entire naval career and gave it away for God's work so that I had zero in my bank account that's how I stepped out into Christian were 56 years ago and all these years I've never sent a report well fifty-four years ago Italy and never sent a report to anyone God called me 36 years ago but I didn't leave me for another two years I've never sent a report of my work never begged or asked anybody for anything trusted the Lord and he's provided all my needs one way or the other for all all these years I've never lacked have an abundance more than enough like Paul says we Philippians 4 you're more than enough for our needs but I cannot say today that my heart is as free from the love of money as Jesus heart was no to my conscious area the Giants that I know the Giants of the love of money that I've seen I have killed not one is alive but lord I acknowledge that there's a whole land of Canaan where there are many other subtle Giants subtle interests in earthly things and comfort and money which I may not be aware of give me light on it I want to determine undetermined finish off every single giant of Canaan there is I want to enter into this rest more and more and more so this entering into rest when you see it in the context of Hebrews 3 he's a progressive thing it's not something I got it now I'm in rest good that is the area that you have seen but when you read scripture in his context we have to go further and further so Hebrews chapter 4 is a great chapter it's speaking about rest and it compares it to the seventh day when it says in verse 4 God rested on the seventh day it was God who did all the work and Adam entered into God's rest that's teaching us that it's only God who can bring us into this rest of perfect love where I love God with all my heart and there is ZERO love for money my conscious area but then something happens I often compare our flesh to an onion and something happens and I discover hey I love money they're a little bit on appeal at all and you know I got rid of that I finished with it I remember once when it was a long ago I'm not in any financials used to be but long ago there was a time when I was in some need and I of course I wouldn't tell anybody my meeting somehow I received some money and God said the Lord asked me are you happy that you got something he's a joy increased in your heart it was a searching question I'm supposed to rely on the Lord alone always I said Lord I'm sorry yes the joy is increased but I don't want it to be like this I want to rejoice in the Lord whether I have my needs met or not met if they're not met we'll just learn to live a little more simply and cut down even on our eating but I'm not going to find my joy and money so that was one one layer of that onion I saw that day and I said Lord I'm not gonna find any joy in having got some even my needs met no I'm gonna be addressed in this area but do you think that eliminated a lot of money for me completely no it's an onion I'll reach the center of it when Christ comes and I'll be 100% free it's the same way with purity you know we can stop lusting after women we can stop having dirty thoughts dirty dreams wonderful appiy layer after layer of the onions are peeled off we men have a tremendous problem in this area of sexual lust and we're all the same and if you're a normal human being of sexual desire from the age of 13 14 onwards and we battle and battle it and even after you're married it's there and we can be tempted by pretty women and gradually we overcome bad and then we wholly admire them and so you know if you do that too much it can tempt you what proverbs says be careful that you don't the start for woman's beauty not interested in her body you don't want to touch her but to desire a person's beauty to even ever wish that your wife were as beautiful as X Y or Z that's a terrible sin for you your wife must be the most beautiful in your eyes and the other that is sin it is sin you know the Lord told Ezekiel when he took away his wife he told Ezekiel I'm taking away the desire of your eyes from you I don't have time to show you that person's look it up into the next 22 or 23 or 24 as take away the desire of your eyes from you a wonderful prophet the desire of his eyes was his wife that's wonderful when you love God with all your heart you're pure in this area of lust you pure in the sense that you desire only your wife you don't want to look at another person's beauty I'm just trying to show you how there could be very subtle areas of unrest let us fear but there's a promise given to us that the whole land of Canaan can be ours we come short of it why because we relaxed a bit of Concord so much and because we hear so many challenging messages in NC CF you probably conquered more areas of the land of Canaan than some other believers you know and that's the thing that can make you relax that guy's conquered only thirty twenty percent in I've conquered 25% or 30% am I going to compare myself with him there's only one person I got to compare myself looking unto Jesus means I only compare myself with Jesus Christ Hebrews 12 it says let us run the race looking only unto Jesus he is my the author and finisher of my faith he was tempted in every point and did not sin he is the only author I have of my faith is the only finisher I have of my faith and if I ever compare myself with other believers around me compared to whom I may be better I in the category mentioned in second Corinthians and chapter 10 my translation of this is 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 12 the last part those who compare themselves with themselves our spiritual idiots without understanding the spiritual idiots if I compare myself with another and say hey I'm better than him I'm a spiritual idiot that's what the Pharisees did lord I thank you that I'm not like these other guys and especially that guy over there it's very easy in churches that preach holiness all churches including ours it's very easy to have this attitude sometimes without even knowing it comes up in a slore I thank you I'm not like those in that denomination of those in that denomination we bought the whole truth well I hope we have I don't know there could be even areas of truth that I still need to see more clearly we can see it with my conscious area I'm conscious of running against myself that's the best we can say but that could be Giants out there that I haven't see he is seen even in the area of doctrine I don't want to boast unnecessarily so long as we have conscious living in our conscious light I'm walking in the light and I have fellowship with God and I'm gonna keep on increasing the area of our area of light as we keep faithful in the area God gives us the light will increase like it says in proverbs 4 and verse 12 as you go step by step the way will open up before you or psalm 119 105 where it says your word is a lamp to my feet or I'd say a torch light in today's language God's Word is a torch like the light God gives me in my heart is a torch light and torch light shows me my steps immediately in front of me and I'll never see that one of the steps the land in the distance until I move forward but when I move forward with this torch light I see a little more and I move forward a little more with the torch light I see a little more that's how God increases the conscious area of our life or I see more and more and more and more and there's more and more areas where I have to come to rest so I want to be in a perpetual a progression in my spiritual life where the rest is increasing the whole land of Canaan to be occupied let us fear lest there is this promise of occupying the whole land and I'm satisfied we just got a little bit I want to enter into his rest and it's by faith that says here he they those who believe enter into his enter into rest the one who has entered into the rest verse 10 and sees from his own works and wears three when we believe we enter into rest we believe that God wants us to live a life of rest at all times and it's to enter into this rest that God gives us light and verse 12 is also in this connection verse 11 says let us be diligent verse 11 to enter into Hebrews 4:11 to enter that rest so that no one will fail fall or fail through disobedience and then inconsistent because because the Word of God is the one that he penetrates between soul and spirit in my life seen the Old Testament God's Word only showed us on the outside he had zero understanding of the Spirit the understanding of body and soul that was all there was in the Old Testament a lot of christians today also think of man as body and soul they are Old Covenant but when we come with a new covenant you read 1 Thessalonians 5:23 man is body soul and spirit and spirit comes first but they didn't have an understanding in the Old Covenant but the Word of God comes and shows us there is something beyond soul in spirit it's the most holy place which is closed in the old covenant days the tabernacle is a picture of body soul and spirit the three parts of the tabernacle and that spirit part was closed off at the rail but that veil has been rent now we can enter into life in the spirit Jesus told the Samaritan woman you people need to worship in the spirit worship in the spirit is also something that many people don't know most people worship in the soul which is emotion and excitement and but with the body it's all good I worship in my hands and raising hands and the soul with feeling but beyond that in spirit it's been spirit is to be like Abraham offering up Isaac offering up your best to God in the secret place only between you and God nobody knows about the secret sacrifices you make to God like Abraham told the servants I'm going up to Mount Moriah alone I'm gonna make us I'm gonna worship God that none of you want to see it true worship is like that other people can't see a true worshiper is alone in the most holy place with God and He fellowships with other people who are also alone in the most holy place with God he is wonderful fellowship with them that is the place of rest so the word of God comes to divide between soul and spirit and shows me judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart which they just didn't have under the Old Covenant so when we talk about the New Covenant that we have come into think of this area there the Holy Spirit uses God's Word to divide between soul and spirit to show me the thoughts and intents of the heart I didn't have any light on and the Word of God is constantly coming every day man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is like a sword that shows me a little more of what is soulish and cleanse it out not only cleansing what what is on the flesh that's easier to see but what is soulish what is human a human way of reacting as opposed to a divine way of reacting the Holy Spirit shows us that is one of the wonderful privileges dear brothers I hope you're getting some light on that in your daily life God is showing you beyond the areas of flesh beyond the soldiers of Egypt who have been killed - soul and spirit the land of Canaan this is an area where I don't believe I can explain to you the Holy Spirit can make it clear you know like even to pause closest co-worker Timothy I'll close with this second Timothy Timothy that [Music] think about what I've said and in 2nd Timothy 2 verse 7 consider what I say the Lord he give you understanding Timothy Paul says I can explain it to you won't help the Word of God has to come like a sharp sword and give you understanding in your spirit which I cannot explain the explanation is in the realm of the soul a lot of times we sit in the meetings and we hear a brother who's very gifted in teaching and with a clear mind and you got a clear mind and intellect or intellect you've grasped something ah he's got got it I understood the New Covenant you haven't you understood it in your soul let the whole word of God come to show you the division between soul and spirit consider I say the same thing consider what I say and the Lord will give you understanding take that humble place dear brothers then Lord I've heard something I've got it in my mind now Lord give me understanding in my spirit I want to get into the holy place and experience this this rest is not something to be understood is something to be experienced and only the Holy Spirit can do that I hope I have produced enough confusion in your mind so that you will see God now that's the ultimate purpose no man is supposed to be able to explain the whole truth to us no jesus said he is the truth he is the life and I can get the truth early as I get him the arrest is intellectual understanding in the soul to enter into rest is to enter to life in the spirit the Holy Spirit alone can bring you there and I pray that you will seek him God is a jealous God and he James 4:7 says he jealously desires our spirit he wants to be able to communicate with our spirit in a way that no man no teacher can explain to you so I leave it there I pray that the Holy Spirit will take his word and derive between soul and spirit and lead you into the most holy place and explain to you what does it rest in God is what it means to love God Holy Spirit filling your heart with love let's pray Heavenly Father I tried my best lord but I'm absolutely conscious that I cannot get anyone liked in this area I know what the light you gave me which nobody could explain what you taught me I pray that you will teach every one of these dear brothers I believe they're sincere wanting your best let no one be deceived let no one be deceived having occupied ten percent of Canaan and sitting back and thinking they got it all as opposed to press on like your servant Paul said I'm not yet attained I'm not yet to become perfect but I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus we want to all do that thank you Father in Jesus name

Channel: CFC India

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Keywords: zac poonen cfc Christian Fellowship Church Church Fellowship Christian Zac Poonen, Sermons, CFC

Id: 4re85Ro9DIw

Length: 56min 8sec (3368 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 22 2020