Grace Gives Power For Holiness by Zac Poonen

picking on the word grace that we need to understand properly jesus said when you know the truth the truth will set you free the devil doesn't want us to be free so the way he prevents us from being free is by not allowing us to know the truth if we know the truth we become free so it must be your greatest desire to know the truth of God's Word I want to show you a verse before I begin it's John chapter 17 and verse 17 Jesus was praying to his father and he said sanctify them in the truth thy Word is truth so we can become holy only through the truth and that truth is in God's Word so if you don't carefully study the Word of God you will not know the truth and then you will not be free and you will not become holy now the great work that the devil has done particularly in our day is that he has prevented God's people from being careful students of God's Word we have a younger generation growing up now who know more about television than they know about God's Word and so they will remain in bondage because it's only the truth that will make us free jesus said in concerning the holy spirit you know the Pentecostal church the Pentecostal people were the main group that for the last hundred years has brought the truth to the Church of the baptism in the Holy Spirit of the tremendous gift that God gave on the day of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit so when you call your church of Pentecostal church that's a very big name to have because it's referring back to the old day of Pentecost when God poured out his spirit upon man and people's lives were changed so it's a very big name to have it's a very important name but what is the holy spirit come to do let me read to you in John chapter 16 John 16 and verse 13 jesus said when the spirit of truth is come did you know the Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth when the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all the truth truth is a big area he will guide you into all of it you know God's Word has got so much truth in it but you cannot understand it without the Holy Spirit explaining its meaning to you if you try to understand the Bible with your human understanding you'll get a wrong understanding but when you go to the scriptures and you ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into all the truth he will lead you into all the truth and when he shows you the truth in the scriptures he's also going to show you the truth about your own life because the God's Word is like a mirror or if he were to use today's language God's Word is like an x-ray or a scan machine that gives us a scan of our inner life you know sometimes a person may think he is very healthy and he may feel very healthy but he goes to a doctor for a routine medical check-up once a year and the doctor takes a scan of his body and he says hey you got cancer but he says no doctor I feel quite fit so you may feel fit but here's the scan as a cancer that is eating away your inside and if you don't remove it by surgery it'll destroy it now what should he do it's no use getting angry with the scan report he should love the truth when the skank shows him his condition he must love the truth and allow the surgery to be done to remove the cancer then he can live it's something like that when the Holy Spirit speaks to us through God's Word it could be in a meeting like this when God shows us a true condition and that's like a scan and you say well I feel all right maybe you feel all right but God's Word shows you some sin in your secret life one of the great ministries that Jesus does is to reveal the secrets of men's hearts you know when Jesus was taken as a little baby to the temple Simeon took him up and prayed for him and this is what simian said that this child is this is in Luke chapter two he's set for the rise and fall of many in Israel Luke 2 verse 34 and then he said the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed through him see that's what happened when Jesus went into the synagogue in the synagogue's a lot of people were sitting who were listening to the preaching of the Pharisees for so many years and the secret sins in their lives were not revealed but the para sees were preaching from Isaiah and Proverbs and Esther and Chronicles and all these books people sat there and they lived in sin in their hypocrisy and all that they never got any light on themselves we can say the scattering machine was defective the pharisees could not interpret scripture in such a way they could get a correct scan of people then Jesus came into those synagogues and suddenly people began to see like Italy like Simeon said that thoughts of their hearts became revealed the secret sins and wrong attitudes in their heart were revealed now when the Holy Spirit is moving in a meeting the same thing will happen today see when Jesus preached in the synagogue he wasn't just preaching some theory he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Truth working through Jesus Christ revealed the secrets of people's lives in their sins and God's will is today that the Holy Spirit moves in a meeting and reveals the secret sins of people why does he do it so that he can he them from their sin why does the doctors take a scan it is not to make a man feel bad no the reason a doctor takes a scan is not to embarrass a person but to free him from his sickness and so when Jesus said the Holy Spirit of Truth will lead you into all the truth all the truth in the Bible and also all the truth about myself you see there are so many secret sins in all of us or there could be things in our life which we don't recognize as sin and the Holy Spirit shows us that sin and tells us that Jesus can save you from that sin that's like the doctor saying you've got a cancer but the good news is surgery I can heal it completely all the same thing it happened when you read the Bible not if you read the Bible as a ritual supposing you read the Bible like a ritual saying oh I better read my Bible 15 minutes today otherwise I'll have a road accident or something like that so I read it not like that but if you read it because you have a longing to know what God is speaking to you then the Holy Spirit will lead you into all the truth in Scripture and show you the truth about yourself and when you see the truth about yourself it's no use fighting against it I know times in my own life where the Lord has shown me I maybe I did something or said something and the Lord has spoken to me and said that was selfishness you did that selfishly you didn't think about other people you only thought about yourself what do I do fight for that scan report no I bow down and I say Lord you're right that was selfishness I'm sorry please forgive me cleanse me in the blood of Jesus from that selfishness and when I acknowledge the truth about myself God sees that I loved the truth and when I love the truth he will lead me into more truth and then like that little by little our whole life can be cleansed from sin see our life we can see only about 10% of our life 90% of our life is hidden we we call it unconscious sin there are things in our life which we don't even know are wrong but there are certain things we know are wrong so but if you deal with the things that you know are wrong then God will show you the things that you don't know which are wrong it's like if you have an ice cube and you put an ice cube in a glass of orange juice ninety percent of that ice cube is under the surface of the juice you can't see it it's underneath you can see only ten percent of that piece of ice above the juice level that's like what we can see in our life we can see only ten percent ninety percent is hidden but if you can take a knife and neatly cut off that top ten percent of that ice cube throw it away what will happen you know what laughing something which is underneath will come up and you'll be able to see some more and you take another knife and cut off that part what 11 something more will come up that is how God shows us more and more of the corruption of the flesh but if you don't deal with that top 10% you leave it like that you know that is a sin in your life don't you know there are certain things that are sin in your life already but you don't take it seriously you allow it to be there then the IceCube will remain the same size forever and you may be a believer 50 years and there will be no development in your life it's like a child who's in the kindergarten for 50 years that's a great tragedy if a child is in the kindergarten for 50 years he's supposed to be in the kindergarten only for one year after that he's got to go to the next class so many Christians are in the kindergarten for many years one reason they don't love the truth about themselves they don't deal with the sins that they know and so God does not show them the other sins which they don't know for me it has been a tremendous blessing in my life for God to show me the underneath part of the IceCube in my life which God shows me little by little by little and I'm trying to make the IceCube as small as possible before Jesus comes do you want to do that if you want to do it you better be honest with the Holy Spirit but when the Holy Spirit shows you something call it sin if you admire a pretty woman when you lust after her don't say oh I was just admiring God's creation which is so beautiful call it adultery call it adultery then you'll be free from it but you don't call it a dungeon one day you may actually fall into another but if you call it adultery God will free you from it Lord that was seen when God shows you in some situation that you love money call it by the sin it is Lord I love money now some of you may not feel that the love of money is a sin but 1 Timothy 6 and verse 10 says the love of money is the root of every type of evil it's not just one type of people the love of money is the root of every type of evil and if you've got that it's like a cancer that'll destroy you there are very few believers who understand that the love of money is a cancer they are more afraid of cancer than they're afraid of the love of money if you discover that you got love of money in your heart how many of you will cry out to God and say Lord free me from it but if you discover one day when the doctor tells you you got cancer you'll be getting a lot of people to have a prayer meeting for you to fast and pray that you'll be healed of your cancer have you ever fasted and prayed that you should be free from the love of money no because the devil says oh that's not serious right from the time Adam and Eve the devil has always been telling people sin is not serious and foolish Adam and Eve believed it and all the children of Adam and Eve also believed it that sin is not serious but Adam and Eve discovered that sin was very serious they got thrown out of the garden and one day many of God's people so-called God's people would find themselves thrown up because they discovered that they'll discover that sin is serious let me ask you a question for how many sins for how many sins was Adam and Eve thrown out of the Garden of Eden 500 125 what don't forget that you want to know how serious sin is there it is God is so holy the Bible says God is light and in him there is no darkness at all and you cannot say that you have fellowship with God if you tolerate some darkness in your life you cannot tell lies and say you have fellowship with God Jesus said your yes must be yes your no must be no [Music] you cannot cheat on paying your taxes and see I have fellowship with God I speak in tongues it doesn't mean a thing you signed a false statement about how much money you earn that's a lie and the Bible says in Revelation 21 all Liars will go to the lake of fire now if you don't believe it I want to tell you today maybe nobody told you until today but you today in the day of judgement when Christ comes again you will discover that what I said today is true all Liars will go into the lake of fire all those who sign false statements which is a lie will go to the lake of fire and you cannot say in that day that I didn't tell you the truth a lot of preachers won't tell you the truth because they want your money a lot of pastors won't tell you the truth because they want honor but a person who loves you will tell you the truth cause he wants to save you from sin which destroys you what about gossiping and backbiting and speaking evil of others is that as soon accusing others sometimes without even knowing all the facts yet that is one of the biggest sins among God's people do you know that Satan is called in Revelation 12 the accuser of the brothers revelation 12:10 the accuser of the Brethren that is a title segment got many titles he is called the dragon the serpent Satan devil the deceiver of the whole world there are many titles given right there in verse 9 all those which I just mentioned and there's one more title in verse 10 the accuser not of the worldly people he deceives the world verse 9 but when he comes to the church heed this he deceives that's true but he also accuses his special interest is not in accusing worldly people he is interested in deceiving the whole world believers and unbelievers everybody if you're in the world the devil tried you whether you're a believer or an unbeliever is called a deceiver of the whole world in verse nine but when it comes to accusing he especially likes to accuse believers not worldly P says in verse 10 he is the accuser of the brothers so when you have the habit of speaking evil about other believers maybe you don't like them maybe you say something to make them small despise them to show that you are bigger do you know who your fellowshipping with your fellowshiping with Satan didn't know that but you know it today when you open your mouth to accuse God's people or speak evil of God's people in your house to your husband or your wife or to your children or to other believers who come to visit you and you accuse God's people at that moment Satan is saying come hold my hand let's do that I do it all the time I'm glad you're join my team I'm so happy you're with me I'm looking for people who will help me in this work of accusing the brothers and sisters and I'm glad you also have decided to join with me but who are you who do you think you need but you call yourself a child of God a child of God holding hands with Satan you know whatever the devil is always going around the world it says he don't he's not in Hell he dwells in the heavenlies in the second heaven that's where the Bible says in Ephesians 6 but he comes down from there to the earth to roam around as we read in the book of Job that God asks the Satan where are you coming from he says I've been roaming around the world and what do you think he's saying around the world with all his hundreds and thousands of demons looking around for he's always looking for something to accuse can I find something in this believer to find fault he even accused Joe Joe was the man to whom even Almighty God gave a certificate saying he's a perfect and an upright man and Joe Satan says no he is serving you because you're blessed him he won't serve you if you don't bless I'm guarded to prove that Robert still served but he's accusing accusing and wherever he sees a Fault in somebody the devil has got very sharp eyes and he looks at young people older people and he's watching them all the time in that private life how they handle their money and how they talk and how they behave at home and when he sees one wrong thing he goes to God and says look at that that person he's supposed to be from that Pentecostal church they talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit and all look at how he then look at how they're behaving figured out they're talking at home look at how they behave in the college or school or in their place of work what is funny thing God does then God tells Satan no you're a liar no he what miss Amy said is food God has to say you're right there like that but in the midst of all these sinful believers here and there God will find one man one woman one young man one young woman who wants to keep themselves pure you know what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 5 keep yourself pure for a word keep yourself pure and that's the word I would say to all young people all of you young people word that Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 5 in verse 22 keep yourself pure keep yourself free from sin and some people listen to that 1 Timothy 5:22 and they keep them South free from sin and pure and then God can point out yes Satan that person is like that and that person is like that and that sisters like that and that young brother is like that and that young sisters like that but have you seen this brother what can you find fault with him he's kept his thoughts pure he's kept his wor mouth pure what a joy it is to God what a tremendous joy it is to God when he can find one person like that even one person in a church will you be that one person I'll tell you there are not many there are not many people most people the devil can accuse accuse accuse I remember when I was a young man and I read in the book of Job how God could boast about job to Satan and said the Satan was wandering around the earth and accusing people the God could say the have you seen Joe I said Lord I want to be like you but you can point to one man in India and said but see him he's not like the others I want to be like I had that desire when I was a very young man I want to ask you do you have a desire like that that get a goddamn point to you there is a man who never gets angry the devil says look at that first he gets angry with his wife shouts at people look at that wife she gets angry with her husband look at these people they speak in other tongues in the church and shout at each other in their mother tongue at home this is not Christianity and that God has to say yeah that's right but have you seen that person how he's got self-control is filled with the Holy Spirit the fruit of the Spirit is self-control if you cannot control your tongue you are not filled with the Holy Spirit I'll tell you that I used to get angry like anything even at home but God filled me with the Holy Spirit and then he not only gave me another tongue to praise him but he controlled my mother tongue also that's how I knew it was the Holy Spirit if you can only speak in other tongues but you cannot control your mother tongue I don't know if that is the Holy Spirit it may be some other spirit I've seen demon-possessed people speak in tongues but they cannot control their mother tongue and the Holy Spirit fills you in control your mother tongue you remember of the day of Pentecost there was a tongue of fire on top of the heads of all those 120 people it was God was saying this tongue of yours which nobody could control now by the Holy Spirit I'm going to set it on fire with the Holy Spirit I'll be able to control it I want to ask you whether the Holy Spirit's being able to control your tongue or not otherwise what is the use saying I'm a Pentecostal it's just a name I can be a first-class hypocrite saying Pentecostal but look at the way I speak to my wife at home look at the way I speak about other people at home gossip backbite it's it's great in the name of Jesus Christ you know James was a very practical man and he said I want to read the verse in James 1 and verse 26 James 1:26 if anyone thinks he's a very spiritual man that means he thinks he's filled with the Holy Spirit and I think many of us think we are filled with the Holy Spirit and it says here if any one of you thinks you're very spiritual but you cannot control your tongue when you speak your Christianity is worth zero your whole Christianity is worth zero have you read that verse in James 1:26 your whole Christianity is useless dear brothers and sisters when the Holy Spirit leads you into all the truth about yourself and tells you your Christianity is worth zero what are you going to say are you gonna fight against the scat and say no no I'm alright are you gonna get angry with the doctor why did you take that scan about me don't get angry with the doctor or the preacher or tear up the scan that won't eat you go to Jesus and say Lord it's true I've been a Christian for so many years but my Christianity is worth zero please lead me into that real Christianity that where I can control my tongue I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit dear brothers and sisters this is where we need grace let me show you Colossians and chapter for Colossians chapter 4 it says verses Colossians 4:6 let your speech now it's talking about the way we dog talking to believers let your speech always be with grace you know how we need grace even in our speech let your speech always be with grace and he says to use an example it's like food that is seasoned with salt so that you know how to talk to everybody Colossians 4:6 let your speech always be with grace so that you know how to talk to everybody do you know how to talk to everybody Colossians 4:6 says that Grace in our speech is like salt in our food salt is a very good thing when you taste the meal you can immediately say oh there's no salt in it him as soon as it touches your tongue you can know is there salt or not he doesn't even take two seconds and it is like that when you listen to a man speak in less than two seconds you can make out has this man got grace or not what is your wife thing all of you who are married ask your wife this question when you go home darling do you think my speeches got grace in it when sisters please ask your husband when you go home honey you think my speeches got grace in it ask them to tell you the truth look the truth if there is cancer there it's better to discover it now and get the surgery and get it out of my life there was no grace in my speech at all but I repented I used to weep at night on my pillow and shed tears on my pillow and said Lord Jesus deliver me from seeing I was not committing adultery or murder I was sitting with my tongue I said lord I this done like James says you can tame Lions and you can tame elephants and we can tame crocodiles and alligators in the zoo that you can't tame the tongue only the Holy Spirit can do that and I need grace and when I have grace from God they couldn't do that in the Old Testament the Old Testament they were under law in the law you can't do it you can't change the person with ten commandments Commandments are like rules Jesus came to change our nature not to give us rules Moses gave us rules Jesus finished with those rules and gave us grace which is to change our nature grace is help in time of need grace comes to give us a new nature within to use an example you know how a big always likes to be dirty a big has got no interest in being clean hidden food I mean plays around in the muck and the dirt it's quite happy that is a picture of the race of time you can play around with sin and is not disturbed he can lose its temper and get angry it's okay we are human that's how a pig is it can be dirty and it's not disturbed when you can get angry and you're not disturbed you're like a pig when you can lust with your eyes and watch internet pornography and you're not disturbed it's like a pig it just loves to be dirty it's not disturbed but a cat is not like that if a cat falls into dirty water it immediately jumps out and it links itself mix itself and licks itself I sometimes seen cats yeah I don't see there's any dirt in it what's it doing no it still wants to lick itself it's such a terrific passion to be clean there must not be any pick up dust and then that capped that mother cat has got a little kitten and the kitten starts licking itself who taught that little kitten to lick itself does the mother give instructions no you're a cat so you must lick yourself every day now its nature its nature a desire to be clean that is what happens when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we get a terrific desire to control our tongue to control our eyes to control our passions and to be clean we may fall into city the cat can also fall into dirty water I'm not saying a believer may not fall but what does a cat do when it falls into dirty water does it just enjoy itself jumps out immediately that's the mark of a believer he may fall but if he falls he jump out immediately and say Oh God so please help me cleanse me if he loses his temper with one word and immediately repent and after a few years he'll get victory because God sees he wants to be pure but what was the law the law was like tying the pig with ten genes you know if I were to take my pig through a dirty road full of muck and I control the pig with 10 chains Ten Commandments Pig wants to go this way live this big one's gonna settle it that way right the great struggle I take the pig through that dirtied marketplace with these ten chains the Ten Commandments and it comes out clean controlled by laws and rules it's not key as soon as you take out the chains and pack again to the mug but I checked you don't have to pull that cash with laws and CDs you know that Jesus came to set us free from the law because he can he give us the holy spirit within him let me read to you the holy spirit is called the spirit of grace I read that last time on Sunday Zechariah 12:10 I'll pour out the spirit of grace on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and it says in Galatians and chapter 5 listen to this wonderful verse Galatians 5 and verse 18 says if you are led by the Holy Spirit you are not under the law you're not under the ten commandments when you are led by the Holy Spirit but if you are not led by the Holy Spirit oh brother sister you better go back under the law that means if God has not succeeded in changing your pigs nature to a cat's nature then you better go back to the ten chains because that's the only way you'll be clean dot but the best way is not with chains like Moses law but the best way is a change of nature if by some miracle you could put a cat's nature inside that faith then you won't need any change because the pig will start licking itself and keeping itself clean it'll be quite a miracle if you could see a pig licking itself and keeping itself clean right doesn't even he changed now because God put another nature inside that is what is called being born again and being filled with the holy spirit and if any man be in Christ he's a new creation old things are passed away all things are become new it's like that biggest suddenly become a cat have you experienced that that is the real spirit filled life I did not know it for many years but I had a longing for it I wept and I prayed and I fasted and I sought God and I read the word and God opened my eyes and filled me with the Holy Spirit and showed me this wonderful new covenant lesson that God wanted me to have his nature then I was free from the law if you are led by the Holy Spirit you are not under the law it's like telling the pig dear pig if you get a cat's nature you don't need the ten chains isn't that right right but if you don't get that cat's nature brother you better need those 10 chains sure see God has given me the responsibility for about 50 churches that we have planted in India over the last 35 years and I see I preached the same message I'm preaching here I preached in all the 50 churches and I have seen that there are two ways in which I can build those churches one is by making Lord of rulers you must not do this you must not do that you must do this you must do this was not only 10 James what about 50 James because there are all pigs if I take away the teens they'll get 30 if I allow though if I don't make any rules for those young sisters those young sisters will all become worldly so I have to make so many rules for them and if I don't make rules for all the young brothers they'll all become worldly so what shall I do die then we'll change one chain two chain three chain ten to infinity then I keep them all clean brothers come and see what a pure Church we've got I'm holding the chains tight you see them our well-dressed they are how they behave really can you get rid of those chains let me see how they behave man oh no no we have to keep the chains there is a better way lead them to a genuine fullness of the Holy Spirit genuine not a counterfeit not an emotional excitement but the Holy Spirit you know I ask be Buddhist if a person is filled with an unclean spirit what has he become unclean if a person is filled with an evil spirit what has he become evil and if a person is filled with the Holy Spirit what should he become holy why isn't the holiness I remember once one brother came to our church in Bangalore and you know we we clap our hands were raised and who shall we praise the Lord but he came from a church where they make a lot of noise and we don't make so much noise so he came to our church and said hey you people don't have the Holy Spirit I said how do you know that have you seen how I live with my wife at all have you seen how I brought up my children have you seen how I handled money how do you know I don't have the Holy Spirit oh you don't have enough noise in this church ah I said see your Trinity is father-son and noisy spirit power Trinity is Father Son and Holy Spirit I said that's the big difference we have a different Trinity sir from you we I agree you're not filled with the noisy spirit but you're filled with the Holy Spirit has changed our lives it's made us holy in the way we handled money in the way we speak to our neighbors in the way we deal with people at home in the way we just live our daily life in the way we speak it didn't happen overnight but it did happen when you are led by the Holy Spirit you are free from the law and there's another wonderful thing that happens the Apostle Paul said in second Corinthians chapter 12 that God gave him a thorn in the flesh now I don't know what that thorn in the flesh was but I think it was a little sickness that God gave him and the reason was to keep him humbled this man who could heal the sick and raise the dead cast out demons he had a sickness himself he couldn't be healed and that would humble him we pray do you know that sickness is a messenger of Satan God doesn't give see season is always from the devil I believe that with all my heart I believed it all my life that sickness is from the devil but 80% of the sicknesses in the world today are because we are living in a world which is under curse don't think that all your sickness is because of sin there are little children born blind what sin did that child commit to be born blind no don't say that it's always do the same we are living in a world which is under a curse from the days of Adam and 80% of all the sicknesses are due to being under a curse it can affect believers it can affect unbelievers we can get it as affluent on the unbelievers can get it if there are thorns even if we can put the believers foot just like an unbelievers foot but that's because of the world under the curse for example we perspire when we work that's because of the curse God told Adam by the sweat of your brow you alone even believers perspire and above all we die death is due to the curse on the earth even believers die so don't think that all sickness is due to sin you 5 I believe that a lot of sicknesses you deceive me for example if you don't produce somebody you may you may have some sickness which will never be healed I remember when about 40 44 years ago I had to go to a hospital for a small surgery a very minor thing but they are to give me anesthesia and a few days after that I found a strange down mind and very severe pain just getting worse and worse I've consulted a friend of mine who was a neurosurgeon and he said perhaps when you were under anesthesia they were careless with your neck and your neck must have fallen backwards in some twisted way and some nerves are affected that's the process there's no cure for it I got so angry with the doctor who treated me I didn't know anything about victory or sins other days so when you don't know about anything about victory over sin you write some really angry letters so I wrote a really angry letter to that doctor it was a real stinger and but one day after I wrote it the Lord spoke to me you're a child of God that's not the way to write to another person he didn't do it deliberately it's an accident that can happen to anybody even if he did it deliberately you must forgive him that's the Lord I'm really sorry in the moment of anger I wrote that letter I immediately wrote another letter to that doctor I said my he was a bleep dear brother I'm really sorry I'm ashamed that I brought such a letter please forgive me I would draw that letter and all that yeah I'm thankful for what you did I know you never did anything to deliberately you did your best and these accidents can happen to anyone so even if I have to live with this pain for the rest of my life it's okay god bless thank you and in a few days I've never had 1400 who did that any amount of pills and injections would not have even me but when I forgive somebody I was healed that happened to me a second time with another doctor and the Lord said I want to test you a second time I said sure this time I'll pass this time I never wrote any stinking letter and I never spoke an angry word because by that time I had already learned my lesson how to overcome sin it's good and God takes care of us so sickness is sometimes from the devil and what Paul calls it you're a messenger of Satan but he prayed in second Corinthians 12:7 he says Lord heal me heal me three times were saved and the Lord said no do you know sometimes God says no to your prayers that doesn't mean he is not answering I always tell people God answers all my prayers sometimes the answer is you know like the traffic lights how many traffic lights are there three you have yellow I mean you have red orange and yellow and green red yellow and green let's call it that red means stop yellow means wait green means go so when you pray God says no or we or yes so always there's an answer so don't ever say God never answered my prayer sometimes when God says no we think he didn't answer it he did the answer was no like if my child come and ask me Dad I want a brand new car I said no what he said dad didn't answer my prayer of course I answer the answer was no sometimes the answer is wait you're not yet ready for it sometimes the answer is you can have it so the Apostle Paul he prayed God said no he prayed a second time Lord this is a messenger of Satan now in Jesus name get rid of it No you mean even in Jesus name it doesn't know if God wants you to have it allow you to keep it and then God said now I'll tell you why I'm saying no whenever God says no there is always a reason oh you're on a mighty servant of God there's nobody in the whole earth who is serving me like you and you are experiencing so many wonderful experiences being taken up to the third heaven doing miracles raising the dead you are in danger of spiritual pride and I resist all proud people and I don't want to resist you I can give grace only to humble people and I want to give you grace and in order to give make you to give you grace I have to keep you humble and the only way to keep you humble is by giving you this little sickness keep it and as soon as he heard that he said all tenets sake alone I accept that is the Lord said to me verse 9 my grace again that wonderful word grace is sufficient for you because my power not it's last Sunday we were thinking of Grace has help from Hebrews 4:16 grace is helped in time of my need here grace is power for my weakness that's the other definition of grace grace is help when I'm in need in time of temptation Hebrews 4:16 and grace is power when I'm weak then he says God says my power my grace is equal to my power and it's manifested when you're weak you know one of the things I've discovered through the years is God doesn't want you to be strong he wants you to be because when you're weak he can give you grace you know some people say I lose my temper brother Zack because I'm so weak I can't overcome my temper I say you're not you're strong that's why you lose your gun I mean I can prove that dear supposing you see a man lying in a hospital bed you know lying there and cursing all the nurses and angry with the doctors and shouting and yelling and the next day he's become a little weaker he's not shouting so much and after a few days our pleas got tubes in his nose and veins and everything he's become completely silent when was he angry when he was weak or when he was strong name is calm it's because you're strong that you get angry when you become weak you won't get angry God has to make you weak but when you become we he can give you this grace grace is like a power to strengthen me my goodness many years ago I prayed to God that he would give me the supernatural gift of prophecy because the Bible says seek earnestly for the gift of prophecy to speak God's Word with prophetic power exactly according to the need of people anywhere in the world I go according to the need of people and I said the Lord said then you must be weak he must recognize that you know nothing I said yes Lord you must recognize you have no ability yes he must lean upon me just like the branch is in the tree you know how the branch is so helpless defect the branch it cannot produce any fruit but it leaves helplessly upon the tree and the SAP that liquid flows into the branch that's the Holy Spirit's power and the fruit comes plenty of you if you were to go to the branch and ask hey branch how do you get such a lot of fruit I just do nothing I just need even helplessly upon the tree and the fruit keeps coming do you know that's the secret of the Christian life to lean upon Jesus say lord give me praise for every need in my life supposing you're facing some new situation tomorrow for which you don't know how to handle it you need grace every time I get into the pulpit I pray Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit give me the gift of prophecy give me an anointing from above give me grace so that I can speak words I thought into the need of people not only in the pulpit when somebody comes to see me at all and talks to me I see Lord I don't know when that person's need is but give me grace to help person the co-writer who is hard to tell do you know that God wants you my brother sister all of you young people everyone to be a blessing to others and grace is the answer for everything let your speech always be with grace when you're weak ask God for grace do you have a difficult husband you know what you need pray you can be a sweet wife with a meek and quiet spirit if you have grace if you don't have grace you won't be able to it you have a wife who's like a witch never mind grace can help you to be an overcomer and love her like jesus loved the church what you need is great grace can melt the heart of your rebellious teeny children and bring them back into the fold of God grace is the answer to everything by grace we can overcome and be overcomers and stand against the devil the devil will not be able to touch us God gives us grace let me read this in closing 1 Peter 5 and verse 5 it says God gives us grace to the humble there is only one category a person to whom God will give grace the person who is humble and do you know how to be humble please listen to me do not compare yourself with other believers do not compare yourself with other people in the church you will be proud or if they are better than you you'll be jealous one of the to compare yourself with Jesus Christ always and I guarantee you'll always be humble I'm telling you what I practiced I remember the days I used to compare myself with other believers and I was like the Pharisee lord I thank you like I'm not like that person that person and I didn't get braced but God doesn't give grace to crowd people till the Lord showed me that compare yourself with Jesus looking under Jesus and I looked under Jesus boy I saw so much need in my life I found constantly so many things in my life which are not christ-like and I kept on crying out to God for help it's very easy to be humble when you look at Jesus Christ one more thing you want to be humble even though Jesus has forgiven all our past sins cleansed it in the blood and said I will not remember your sins anymore you must remember your past if you remember all the sins that you've committed in the past it'll keep you humble I'm not telling you what is not written in Scripture it says in 2nd Peter chapter 1 and verse 9 if you forget your purification from your past sins you will become blind I'm not saying we should be guilty about our Parsons no the blood of Jesus has delivered me from all guilt about every single sin I committed in the past its cleansed in the blood God says I will not remember your sins anymore Hebrews 8 verse 12 but I must not forget according to 2nd Peter 1:19 my purification so that I always remember I'm a sinner saved by God's grace I'm not better than anybody else and I will never despise believers again poorer than people are always backbiting and speaking evil of others those who have forgotten their own sins there are ones who speak and accuse people the most those are the people who stick the speck out of somebody's Island as a being in their own eye do you know what to be the beam is a funny loving judgmental attitude even if that fellow has committed adultery it's a speck compared to a be unloving judgmental attitude the Pharisees beam in their eye when they looked at the woman caught in adultery and Jesus was saying that's a speck compared to your being you hypocrites you've got such a judgmental attitude to that poor woman look at all the secret sins in your life have you forgotten then they went away so let's humble ourselves brothers and sisters God loves us immensely I believe it's because God loved you that he gave you the word today that's a proof of his love so that he can make you pure and prepare you for his coming but he's coming soon let's bow our heads before God so while our heads are bowed and stand bow our heads before the Lord I want you to please forget about everybody else allow the Holy Spirit to show you only your need don't look at the cancer in somebody else's life but see the cancer in your own heart and say Lord I'm sorry for all the backbiting and gossiping that I practiced in my life till today I'm sorry for all the evil I've spoken against others I'm sorry for all the unkind criticism I'm sorry for the lustful looks and the impure thoughts I'm sorry for the lies I've said and for the cheating I've done in money matters in my business and in many areas Lord please cleanse me I confess my sin please I've brought a lot of dishonor on your name I've brought a lot of dishonor to you as the devil has accused me to you about many things Lord please forgive me today right now cleanse me in the blood of Jesus I want to go away from this church building completely clean in my heart and I want to keep my heart clean tomorrow and this week and next week I want to draw in purity and holiness give me praise for every situation to be an overcomer and make me a blessing to others Lord especially my speech please give me grace in my speech I believe you will help me so that I don't have to live controlled by rules and chains but led by the Holy Spirit yes Father we believe that you have a tremendous love for all of us and you sent Jesus to die for us that we might be pure and holy I pray you will bless every single person who is sincerely prayed to you tonight you know who they are even as a young person you've heard that prayer please assure them that you've heard that prayer and I pray you pour out your Holy Spirit upon them fill them with the Holy Spirit and strengthen them from within in the inner man with grace so that they can be conquerors we pray in Jesus name

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Keywords: Zac, Poonen, Revival, Repent, God, Sermons, Jesus, SermonIndex

Id: rOqFso7NFHE

Length: 64min 57sec (3897 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2010