Holding Fast Our Assurance Until the End - Zac Poonen - June 2, 2019

[Music] following up on what we just saw in that slide show on pilgrims progress I thought we could have a brief time thinking about how we can hold fast until the end it's very very important one of the main messages in pilgrims progress is holding fast until the end not allowing Satan to deceive us or frighten us not allowing friends to lead us astray not allowing deceiving preachers to lead us astray not allowing discouraged believers who are backslidden to lead us astray how can we hold fast till the end if there is anything in our conscience that we have not settled that's one thing that will always be a drag on our life when Jesus met Zacchaeus and told him to come down from the tree and he went to his house you read in Luke chapter 19 Jesus walking down and Zacchaeus was a short man he climbed a tree to see him Zacchaeus was a crooked cheating tax collector he made a lot of money cheating people but yet the fact that he wanted to see Jesus showed that in his heart he had a longing for God but he had gone astray into a wrong path you know sometimes we look at a person who's crooked cheating and you think there's no hope for him and all the people in Israel felt there's no hope for this guy it's like that you know Jesus sometimes used to go to people for whom others would have no hope like this woman caught in adultery you remember in John chapter 8 the Pharisee said there's no hope for her she'll go to hell she deserves to go to hell we have a stoner and send her to hell Jesus said no I didn't come to the world to stone people and send them to hell I came to save people even Christians sometimes you know they can look at somebody and say oh she's a prostitute he's an evil person there's no hope for her but Jesus came for such people or sometimes we look at someone who's divorced oh what an evil person that is what about if someone has divorced five times there was a woman like that in Samaria you read in John chapter four divorced five times and on top of that now she was living with a sixth man not even married to him and supposing some woman like that came and sat in this church and you knew that this is a woman who's divorced five times and now sleeping with somebody who's not even her husband you would definitely say there's no hope for her she's a dead loss Jesus had hoped for her that's the message of the gospel the worst of sinners and I think of a another person who spent all his life cheating killing people murdering making so many widows and orphans by killing the father's and finally the law catches up with him and he's going to be hanged in those days crucified as a thief on the cross and at that last minute he says Lord please remember me I'm guilty I don't blame anybody else I don't blame my parents I don't blame my friends for the life I lived I blame myself you know the Lord is always merciful to someone who'll take the blame himself because that's what the opposite of Adam in Eden the problem with Adam was he would not take the blame himself even when God came to him and said did you eat from that tree Adam said I said I'm sorry Lord I did that no he has to find somebody to blame he points his finger at his wife I like if somebody could paint the picture of Adam pointing his finger at his wife she is to blame why do I say that that's a picture of many many homes sometimes is the wife pointing the finger at the husband husband pointing finger the wife the world is full of homes like that you are to blame your fault and then here was a man on the cross who said nobody's fault my fault that's the only thing he said he said Lord please remember me I'm guilty I deserve to go to hell I deserve to be crucified I don't deserve a few years in jail like some other murder I'm so bad that a few years in prison is not good enough for me I need to be hanged or crucified and it's as if Jesus said to him really you feel er so guilty and you are willing to acknowledge the brain completely unlike Adam you don't blame anybody else but yourselves and you trust in me well my dear brother come to paradise today you and I can walk in Paradise together would you say that to somebody who lived such a bad life at the last minute you'd go to him say ah last minute you're trying to get converted hey after living all your life such a wicked life Jesus never said that he never had the opportunity to turn he probably never knew that Jesus loved sinners but he realized it at that last moment there's a mercy with God which I find even many believers don't have many believers who have a high standard of holiness are not merciful to others and you may find that in your heart too I've often said this that when we began to preach holiness in that church when we start a meeting in our home for six years we met in our home in Bangalore and then the Lord gave us a plot of land where we could put a building to attract other people to come and hear the gospel so when we put the building up they asked me what verse shall be put behind the pulpit and I said the biggest need of Christians who preach righteousness his mercy so I said put this first behind the pulpit so that everyone who comes to this pulpit to preach wholeness will remember it and be merciful to others just as God has been merciful to you and if you ever watch the CFC livestream you'll see behind the pulpit that's the verse there and I saw this the other day in Matthew chapter 5 see have you noticed it in Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 verse 6 I hope this is where many of us are hungry and thirsting for a holy life Matthew 5 verse 6 those who hunger and thirst for a holy life will be satisfied that means they will get it and I want to say to you my brothers and sisters if you haven't got it the reason is you're not hungry and thirsting for it you're just asking for it if I get it well I'm good I don't get it it's not the most important thing in life I've got other things to do but the person who says I don't have other things to do this is the most important thing for me I want to live a holy life they will always get it so if there's any area in your life where you're not righteous and not holy you can be pretty sure it's because you're not really passionately Hungary and thirsting for it that's the only reason you're defeated and you'll continue to be defeated with any sin anger sexual lust bitterness murmuring you will keep on being defeated till you say Lord this is the most important thing for me in my life I hunger and thirst for it then you'll get it it says here they'll be satisfied so once you come to that holy life what is the next thing you need to learn now go to the next verse be merciful that's the very next verse because once you get this righteous life you can become proud I got it because I hunger and thirst and look at these other people defeated by sin and you can be unmerciful to people that's not gonna help them the holiest man who walked on earth was Jesus Christ and you know he was the most merciful person I just gave you a few examples of merciful to that woman caught in adultery merciful to the thief on the cross he was always like that the outcasts of society the lepers the lepers were the most outcasts they were not even allowed to live in the city because there was no cure for leprosy go outside the city and live there we don't care where you get your food nobody would go there Jesus went to them and encouraged them I believe that many many people who pursue holiness don't have compassion they're so hard on others who who don't pursue holiness or lived a wicked life I'm not saying we can save all of them but even if I'm not able to be an evangelist to them at least in my heart that must be compassion towards those who are lost those who are blind spiritually those who resist what we teach holiness next verses mercy turn with me to 2nd Timothy and chapter 2 Paul is writing to Timothy and telling him 2nd Timothy chapter 2 if you want to be a servant of the Lord and I believe that God wants everyone sitting here to be his servant if you're a son of God a daughter of God you have to be a servant of God God calls you to be his servant it's not just full-time workers every Christian is a full-time worker every Christian is to be a full-time witness for Christ whether you have a secular job or don't have a secular job you have to be a full-time witness for Christ and so it says you're such servants second Timothy 2 verse 24 some very good lessons for all of us the Lord's bondservant that's you young or old man or woman that's you the Lord's bondservant must never be quarrelsome you must decide in your life one thing I am a servant of the Lord I'm a child of God I will never quarrel with anybody I decided that long ago he I said nobody can quarrel with me I refuse to fight I refuse to answer back sometimes people come to corner with me about a doctrine that we preach Oh brother Jacques you preach holiness there's no such thing in Scripture and I say brother let's let's not argue let's change the subject because I know he's not interested in listening to the truth and I don't want to argue with him I will not win a person by argument I can win him by love so I say I'm not going to argue it because if I argue with you I know the scripture better than you all I will prove to you is that I know the Bible better than you and that's not what I want to prove to you I don't want to prove to you note that I know the Bible better than you I don't want to prove to you that I know the Lord better than you I don't want to prove to you that I am holier than you I am NOT interested in any of these things I'm interested in getting you connected with Jesus that's all an argument will not help you have to come to a place of need in your life then only you'll find so we must never be quarrelsome and we must be kind to how many people all which person in the world is the one you are not to be kind to and especially to those who are unkind to you you have to be kind to them it says be kind to all and able to teach you may not be a teacher gifted teacher you may not have the gift of teaching like me but you can teach a little bit I tell people in India even if you are in the kindergarten and that's all you study you can teach somebody you know who those poor little children in the slums in India who have never gone to school they don't even know ABC but the kindergarten kid knows that C eighty is cat and B 80 is bat you can teach that to those children you can teach the alphabet A to Z so everybody can teach others something which because there are always people in the world who know less of the Bible and less of Jesus Christ than you so don't say well I'm not a teacher well I'm sure you know something and there are people in the world around you your friends I remember I got converted really when I was 19 and a half immediately I said well I can't teach the Bible either I haven't read the Bible fully yet but I can tell people that Jesus loved me and forgive my sin and Jesus loves you and he can forgive your sin so I started witnessing whenever I got a chance I didn't go and thrust myself on people but if I got an opportunity I tell people that what Jesus did for me so we must be able to teach and we must be patient when we are wrong very important patient when we are wronged when somebody does wrong to you don't get impatient say Lord you are going to make this work for my good here you want to make me a little more like Jesus Christ I remember when some people some religious people took me to court in India for 10 years because I exposed their own teaching you know what the Lord said to me when I went to court don't be afraid religious people took me also to court when I was on earth oh thank you Lord than I and the Lord said look for my footsteps here footsteps of faith and love faith in God who is controlling every circumstance of your life and love for people who hate you and accuse you here so I decided to walk in those footsteps of faith and love I came out victorious triumphant at the end of those 10 years victorious means what not winning that I'm not interested in winning court case against anybody in the world becoming a little more christ-like that's the victory a little more patient a little more kind and good that is the victory I never want to win over another human being I want to become more like Jesus and that's the victory so gently correct those who are in opposition patient when you are wronged gently correcting those who oppose you not correcting them and Aang not telling them hey you don't know the truth gently very very important because it says if perhaps verse 25 God may grant them repentance that they come to the knowledge of the truth and thus they can escape from the snare of the devil who's held them captive by him making them do the devil's will every day you're meeting people who are doing the devil's will because the devil's caught them captive and you're not going to save them by getting angry with them and being harsh on them it says here if you want to really want to save them be gentle when they oppose you they oppose you because they're in the hand of the devil he's gripped them and they're held captive by him verse 26 to do his will and here God has allowed that person to come across me so that I can show him sadly read that passage again verse 24 the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome must be kind to everybody able to teach whatever little you know of Jesus patient when they are wronged by people with gentleness correcting those who are opposed you not just correcting but with gentleness if perhaps when you do that God may allow them to repent and they get saved and they'll know the truth and thus they will escape verse 26 from the trap of the devil who has held them it's an amazing picture the devil's help people in that in traps all around us and you meet some of them what are you going to do yell at them poor people are caught in a trap that's why they are living in sin that's why they believe all those false teachings and gods allowed use eyes to be opened supposing you see a lot of blind people around you and your eyes are open and you tell them hey can't you see that can't you see that wall is white no they say the wall is black what's he yelling at them their eyes need to be opened be thankful that your eyes are opened don't be proud of it because you were blind like them one day and God in His mercy open your eyes so be merciful to them it's a very important characteristic of a true Christian after holiness mercy blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness they will be filled Matthew 5:6 what is the next verse blessed are those who are merciful to others because they will get more mercy from God I want mercy from God till the last day of my life on earth and husbands be merciful to your wives even if they keep on making the same mistake day after day don't say how many times have I told you don't ever use that expression be merciful to your children they are ignorant they are small they don't know they don't know the consequences of some of their actions they are ignorant God has put them into your hands as parents to teach them the right way if you get impatient with them you'll never teach them God gives us children to teach us patience I used to call my four boys professors who taught me patience which nobody else could teach me God's given you also some professors in your house appreciate them respect them as professors who will come to teach you patience sent by God I believe and I remember once when I had a very severe headache my children are all small I said Lord why this headache I believe everything there's a reason no God makes everything work for good and the Lord said to me your your you're pursuing this life of victory you have already learned how to overcome the irritation of your children when you don't have a headache now I'm taking you to the higher class where you have a headache and you overcome being irritated by your children I said wow so this is a promotion because it is more difficult to overcome irritation when you have a headache then when you don't have a headache so I said that's great Lord you're so wonderful I thought it was a demotion actually it is a promotion to a higher class many things that we think are going down are actually going up yeah God's ways are the opposite of the world so to hold on to the end remember one thing that when the Lord forgives your sin we all know cleansed by the blood of Christ that is in 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins he's faithful and righteous to cleanse us from all unrighteousness now the great problem some of us have I had it also in my younger days that we don't confess our small sins more than once that's done that's gone but if you have committed some major sins in your life some really some sins that are really bad even in the eyes of people those sins sometimes we confess again and again and again because we think the more we confess it the more God will forgive us it's not like that you know if you really turn from your sin you have to confess it only once you can feel sorry for it for the rest of your life but you to confess it to God only once because the Bible says if we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and you know when we confess you know what we are doing we are bringing something into the light something we had hidden in the darkness confession is bringing it into the light Lord I'm not gonna hide it anymore and he says in verse 7 if we walk in the light we have fellowship with God and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin every sin that you bring into the light will be cleansed immediately it's only the sin that you hide that you don't confess to God that we'll never be forgiven but it'll come up at the judgment seat and then it'll be too late it'll be too late if we wait till the judgment seat for our sin to be exposed we must confess it now Lord I'm sorry I did that I don't I kept blaming somebody else but lord I blame myself like the thief on the cross I'm guilty you'll be forgiven immediately bring it into the light don't blame your wife like Adam blame don't blame your husband don't blame your neighbor don't blame somebody else in the church don't say this happened because he did like this the moment you say that I did this because he did like this they're like little children he hit me first so I hit him back as long as you continue like that I'll tell you you like to face a lot of sins at the judgment seat of God it's better to get rid of it now and say Lord I don't want to hide anything I want to bring everything into the light and I'm sorry sometimes we are reminded terribly of the evil things we did thank you Lord that you've forgiven me not only forgiven I'm talking about how to endure till the end you must believe that you're forgiven and also Hebrews 8 verse 12 the Lord says I will remember their sins no more very important I will not remember that sin anymore God says that thing you did it may come to your memory we can't help it our memory is not cleansed do you know that it's a heart that is cleansed some people don't understand the difference between memory and heart because you are reminded of a past sin you say oh I still remember that of course you remember that till the end of your life because your memory is not cleansed yet it'll be cleansed one day when Jesus comes back but your heart is cleansed right now God says I don't remember it and I believe in my heart that God doesn't hold it against me for example the thief who died on the cross if you meet him in heaven you ask him hey did you murder a few people on earth he say oh yeah I feel sad that I murdered so maybe he remembers it but he has no guilt about it but I say I thank God the blood of Jesus cleansed me even from that so memory is not something that we have to feel guilty about if we have really honestly turned from our sin and confessed it it's gone God says I will not remember it the other thing we must remember first we are cleansed in the blood of Christ second God says I will not remember it one more thing Romans chapter 5 I'm telling you how to hold on till the end like the pilgrim to reach heaven's gates without falling away in Romans 5 and verse 9 we are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ justified is a great word it means two things where we come so far my sins are all forgiven number one God does not remember my past number two that itself is great now we go to step three justified means just as if I had never sinned isn't that great just as if I'd never sinned in my life I'm seventy nine and a half am I've never sinned in 79 a half years do you feel like that about your life that you've never sinned in your whole life you say well not so sure that means you don't believe that the blood of Christ has justified you you believe it has cleansed you but it's not just as if you have never sinned oh yeah I did amazing the power of the blood of Christ and the next level is justified means more than that it means not only to I've never sinned which is a negative thing but a positive thing the word just is from righteous just means righteous justified means righteous so I've been righteous all my life not just that I have not sinned for seventy nine and a half years I've been righteous seventy-nine a half years that's what the blood of Christ does for me and I want to say I believe the Word of God that doesn't make me take sin lightly no not at all it makes me take sin more seriously because I say Lord I think of what you suffered on the cross every drop of blood from your body flowed out when you were pierced and the sword pierce your side it the blood flowed out there was not a single drop of blood left in the body of Jesus when they took him down from the cross do you know that there was not a single drop of blood all that blood there's a verse in Leviticus 17 I think is verse 11 it says the life of the flesh is in the blood the life of a man is in the blood you can cut off a man's hand he can still live you can bloke poke his eyes and blind them he'll still live you can cut off his legs he can live he cut off his shoulders he can live you can pull out many parts of the body from inside anyway some parts of the body from inside they can still live but if you drain out the blood from his body don't cut any part of his body just drain out all the blood from his body he cannot live even though he's got all his hands and legs and eyes and everything when the blood goes his life goes the life of the flesh is in the blood and when Jesus shed his blood completely on the cross he was pouring out his life completely for us that's why we got to take sin seriously I often meditate on the cross I'll tell you that honestly that's what makes me take every little sin seriously that's what make made me take anger at home seriously or discouragement and murmuring complaint seriously Lord you had to die and shed your blood pour out your life for this I want to hate it I want to hate it I want to hate it so we are thankful for the blood of Jesus cleansing us the Lord does not remember our sin anymore and the blood of Jesus justifies us declares us righteous this man is righteous has been rights just as if I had been righteous all my life and when we have that type of confidence we endure till the end the devil cannot condemn us and we are merciful - you know we see like we saw in premiums progress people running back all the time trying to stop us we don't judge them it's a poor man he hasn't understood what the blood of Christ could do he doesn't understand what it means to humble yourself and get grace from God I am not better than him I meet a lot of believers unbelievers and I keep saying I'm not better than them I meet a lot of backslidden Christians I say I will not despise them I could have been worse than all of them one of the greatest Saints that lived in the Christian history was a man called John Wesley who preached holiness lived holiness he died at the age of 88 or something having preached the gospel for more than 50 years faithfully god-fearing man and priest holiness lived holiness when he was dying you know what was one of them almost the last words from his lips on his deathbed he told the friends around him I am the chief of sinners but Jesus died for me and therefore I am entering his presence this man who lived such a holy life for so many years when he came to finally as he's approaching heaven said there's only one thing that can take me into God's kingdom Jesus died for me that's why he could he would never despised others he never despised people who were sinful he kept his standards he didn't join up with other churches or other people who didn't preach those high standards but he never despised them he didn't join them and he did not despise them some people when they hear we don't despise them they go and join them and then they become compromises of themselves no you have to stand true to the things we have heard you must fellowship with those who preach godliness but we must not despise people in any other group so if we have this attitude because I believe that many people fall away because they despise others or they think they are better than others and things like that so you know we become strong because we're reading God's Word you remember house Christians use the sword to fight the devil we need to have it all the time to resist the devil and stop listening to those demons are always whispering things into our years accusing somebody to us and see that person is like this and that person like this next time you hear all those accusations in your mind remember that picture of those two demons whispering things don't listen to them I'm not gonna listen listen to you the devil is called the accuser of believers the accuser of believers there's only one accuser of believer he's got many agents but there's only one chief accuser of believers and when you hear accusation remember that picture of the demons I keep it in mind whenever I also hear accusation but I say those are the demons I'm not gonna listen to them no when I have an elder of a church I have responsibility it says even if you hear an accusation against an elder wait confirm it with at least two this is before you take action confirm it that's what I seek to do I want to find out is that true somebody says all this is true okay let me find out from another person is it true then I take action not just trade away believe it in CI it's all rubbish this person is like that don't get into these opinions because the one was forming those opinions is these demons whispering things into your ears and you'd be defiled by them once the demons get a foothold into your mind with those accusations they will destroy you and you won't be able to hinder till the end who resist the devil with the sword of the Spirit the Word of God and by prayer and I believe everyone of us can endure until the end and have a glorious entry we don't have to wait till death maybe the Lord will come before we die let's remain and be faithful and God will help us one more thing we must seek to be filled with the holy spirit that's something we need all the time strengthened by the Holy Spirit he doesn't come out so clearly in pilgrims Express but you know different people encouraging him the house of the interpreter was the Holy Spirit teaching so indirectly it's there the Holy Spirit encouraging guiding teaching sending different people across our path to encourage us another brother coming along and encouraging us this is all the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and we must seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day of our life and the way to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day of our life is simple always keep a good conscience think of a vessel full of oil like the five wise virgins and full of oil get a flask full of oil but if there was a hole in that flask by the time the bridegroom came there would be the flask of oil would be empty they would think oh I have a flask of oil in my pocket no it's became empty because you allowed a hold a little hole is a unconfessed sin so that's the way we ensure that we are filled with the holy spirit all the time keep your conscience clear one only two things and the second is whenever you get a opportunity to humble yourself humble yourself don't take a position above others take the low position below them esteem others Philippians 2:4 as more important than yourself not more spiritual than yourself that's impossible but as Steam others is more important than yourself then you will always be filled with the Holy Spirit take the low place sit at the feet of the disciples and wash their dirty feet that's our job like Jesus and the last day of his life he was washing the dirty feet of his disciples humility and keeping a good conscience that's all you need to do keep a good conscience and always humble yourself we'll take the low place and you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit every day of your life till Jesus comes and if you have the assurance you have cleansed it from all sin and you're filled with the Holy Spirit I tell you we will all endure until the end let's pray Heavenly Father please make these truths real to us that we can live in the light of it all our days we pray in Jesus name Amen [Music] you [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

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Keywords: holding, fast, assurance, end, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: Dm1P2M-zQFA

Length: 36min 59sec (2219 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 03 2019