Old Covenant Christian or New Covenant Christian ? - Zac Poonen

I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity of speaking in a ballon life for 20 years beginning [Applause] every year a number of times in some years and since a number of you may not know me I thought I would begin with a brief testimony I was converted born-again 59 years ago when I was 20 years old when I was an officer in the Indian Navy and seven years later God took me out of that and I've been serving the Lord in India for 52 years [Applause] my main ministries Bible teaching and planning churches in the villages and cities of India and it's been a great honor that God's continued to bless that ministry and I'm married and I got four sons three weeks ago we completed 50 years of our married life together my wife is here and I wanted to stand up so that you can see her [Applause] [Music] she's more than a wife she's mean my prayer partner and travels with me all the time I'm very thankful for that my subject today is Old Covenant Christian or New Covenant Christian there are two different things in my observation the vast majority of believers born-again believers whom I have met our old covenant Christians and I will explain to you hopefully in the next few minutes what that means and I hope you will be challenged and you will have faith that you will rise to possess what Jesus purchased for us on the cross the tremendous inheritance that our Heavenly Father gave to us in Christ and through the Holy Spirit and it's possible that we don't possess it fully you know if your dad was a billionaire and left you a huge inheritance of property and money in different banks and he died or you'd be really careful to make sure that you don't lose any of it because when it comes to money we are all very sharp and very careful we won't allow any crooked lawyer to cheat us of our inheritance but is it possible that the devil has cheated you of your inheritance in Christ maybe you got a portion of it it's like if you got $1,000 inheritance from your billionaire father you'd be well you say it gets something but there's a lot more than he laid up for you and some crooked lawyers cheated you of it I really believe the devil's cheated a lot of Christians of their full inheritance I don't think most of them I've even got 10% how do I know because for 16 years after I was born again from the age of 19 to the age of 35 even after I was in full-time Christian work I never understood what it is to possess this new covenant inheritance that's how I know from personal experience from defeat and failure from pretending to be spiritual and preaching more to impress people than to help them I remember the day the Lord asked me do you want to impress people or you want to help them I said Lord I want to help them then the Lord said stop trying to impress them as a preacher forget it don't seek a reputation seek to help them and if you want to help people there's a verse in scripture that tells us in Philippians and chapter 2 and verse 3 it's a it's a command to all Christians but there very few who obey it Philippians 2 verse 3 the last part says with humility of mind and in my translation regard one another any SV says this as more important than yourself with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourself Jesus regarded people as more important than himself that's why at the Last Supper when the basin of water was there but the slave that normally washes people's feet was not there and everybody had looked around to see who would wash the dirty feet Jesus said well I'm the one he was he did not regard others as more spiritual than himself whether that's not possible that would be a lie to pretend that others are more spiritual and God doesn't ask us to tell lies that others are most spiritual but the command is to regard others as more important than ourselves that is the mark of a humble man and Jesus was that and when you enter into the full experience of the New Covenant I tell you it'll be easy for you to regard others as more important than yourself and if you're not doing that right now just say to yourself I'm not like Jesus Christ that is the first step to enter into the New Covenant it's not what we appear no there's an appearance of outward humility that we all like to have to gain a reputation for humility that's a lot of garbage throw it in the trash real humility of mind it's in the mind how do I look at other people who are less intelligent poorer and less spiritual can I consider them as more important can I be their servant that is New Covenant life and ministry well it took me many years to discover it and I'm so thankful that God opened my eyes to see it because it changed my life completely I'll tell you some of the other blessings that came into my life I used to be a very discouraged Christian frequently discouraged over things and defeated I was in this endless circle of sinning repenting confessing sinning again repenting confessing sinning again this endless circle for a number of years I'm not talking about gross external sins I think my external testimony was good I wasn't fooling around with women or cheating on money or my taxes or any such thing but inwardly it was an endless cycle of defeat defeated by anger defeated by dirty thoughts defeated by bitterness murmuring complaining wrong attitudes to people jealousy etc and I knew this is not New Covenant Christianity there was more to it God didn't want Christians to go around discouraged I read verses in the Bible like rejoice in the Lord always always means 24/7 was that a suggestion or was it a command as long as I took it as a suggestion I could say well do it whenever possible but when I saw it as a command from God you shall not worship idols rejoice always both are commands by God and I said Lord I haven't got there you know the first step to come into New Covenant Christian 'ti is to acknowledge that you are not there and be honest with yourself and I said Lord I want to be honest I'm so often discouraged I can't honestly say I'm rejoicing always it's not true I read verses in scripture like be anxious for nothing Philippians 4:6 and I said Lord it's not true have you just written that there to taunt us too it's something which I can never attain to do tease us you know how sometimes evil grown-up people tease little children by offering them something and when the child comes forward pull it back pull it back pull it back it's God like that rejoice always rejoice always and I never get it be anxious for nothing be anxious for nothing and I never get it no gods a loving father the failure must be with me and that's what I said and I said Lord I will never be satisfied you know one thing about knowing God there's a beautiful verse in Jeremiah 29 and verse 13 the principle is true in the Old Testament and in the new German 29 verse 13 it says you will seek me and find me only when you search for me with all your heart and that's the reason many people don't find him as a God who can lead us to the fulfillment of all his promises we're not searching in for him at all our heart perhaps we are pursuing out to our profession or money or fame or a hundred and one other things that the devil offers us and we miss out on God's best and I want to say to every one of you sitting here God loves you there's no doubt about it he's got a plan for your life which is far above what you're experiencing right now and that plan was made before you were born in your mother's womb each one of you must see that in your mother's womb God planned a life for you and he knew that one day you would respond and give your life to Christ he also knew that today you would be here in abundant life sitting listening to this message and I want to save you he wants to lead you higher God's Word doesn't come to condemn us never condemnation is an Old Testament type of preaching in the New Testament the Word of God is always come up higher my son come up higher my daughter don't live with that low level and that's the spirit in which I want to preach not with condemnation I don't want to look down on any one of you I want to really from my heart consider you as more important than myself that was why I wouldn't be able to speak the truth to you but the Bible also says that if I see Galatians and 1 and verse 10 that if I cannot if I seek to please men Galatians 1 verse 10 the last part if I try to please men I cannot be a servant of Christ so I want to determine that I will not seek to please you in my sermon I will seek to please Jesus who's here in our myth right now I always seek to be conscious of the fact that the Lord Jesus my Savior is there right in front of me sitting in the front seat listening to me as I speak and I want to please him more than anyone else and I believe it'll bless you if I do it that way in Hebrews in chapter 8 we read this about this new covenant and verse six in the last part of that it says Jesus is the mediator Hebrews 8 verse 6 the mediator of a better covenant that has been enacted on better promises he compares the new covenant with the Old Covenant and sis's is better it's on better promises how much higher is the new covenant from the Old Covenant as much higher as Jesus is than Moses Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant and Jesus is the mediator of the new one of the big differences between Old Covenant and new covenant is in the Old Covenant it was only the word which was the light thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my father it says in psalm 119 verse 105 if the word was the light and that's all they had all of that Old Testament all the laws that God gave to Israel but in the New Testament it says in John 1 verse 4 in Jesus was life and the life was the light of men so there was a big difference in the New Covenant in the Old Covenant it was the word you had to understand the word in the New Covenant it was the life in the Old Covenant the prophets would say come and hear the message of the Lord the word in the New Covenant the word is come and see how the Lord has changed our lives in the Old Covenant lives were not changed you would just proclaim the word Moses children were not a good testimony but Moses was the greatest prophet Samuel children took bribes but salmon was a great prophet the way they brought up their children didn't matter in the New Covenant it says a man cannot be an elder 1 Timothy 3 if he has not brought up his children properly that's the standard in the New Covenant according the new covenant standard Samuel the great prophet could not be an elder in the new covenant church did you know that you read in 1 Samuel Chapter 8 his children his two sons were taking bribes and he made them judges in Israel that's an example of how the New Covenant is different the standards are much higher as much higher as Jesus is than Moses and we see when we look around at Chryst Christendom today they've not risen up to that standard and that's why the name of the Lord is Dishonored the first thing that the Lord told us to do was not preach the gospel the first prayer is not Lord save the Lost the first prayer is our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name let your name be respected let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven that your kingdom come so when we look around and see how the name of Jesus is being dishonored not by non-christians no non-christian can dishonor the Lord's name no atheists can dishonor the Lord's name because they don't take his name it's only when a woman marries a man and takes his name and calls herself mrs. so-and-so only then can she dishonor his name if she's not married to him she cannot dishonor his name and it's when I'm married to Christ and I called myself a Christian it's only then I can dishonor his name until that point I cannot because I'm a non-christian see I come from a country which is 98% non-christian and when I whenever I witness to non-christians in my land and I've lived there all these 79 years one of the first things I always tell them I'm sitting in a train or witnessing to someone about Christ I want to tell them first of all I want to tell you something my dear friend 95 sent of Christians are not Christians see until I begin with that in preaching the gospel he will say this guy is trying to convert me to a Christianity and I know about this Christian fellow cheated me two years ago and the other Christian was a crook so I have to eliminate from his mind prejudice by telling him that I disagree with that type of Christianity that is nominal Christianity which is not reflecting the life of Jesus they may be speaking the word as I said in the Old Covenant is the word in the New Covenant the Word was made flesh that's the difference in the Old Covenant the word was in the book and an Old Covenant preacher preaches from the book and from notes and things and it's all correct all those Old Testament prophets they preached the right thing but like I told you it was not reflected often in their life whereas when Jesus came the Word was made flesh it was in his life in his life was the light of men and from there came the word it was from within the word came out in Acts of the Apostles in chapter one and verse one we read like this Luke who's writing about the previous book he wrote which is the Gospel of Luke this is the second book he wrote he said the first account I composed or Theophilus that the Gospel of Luke was all about all that Jesus began to do and teach so Luke's summary of the Gospel of Luke is what Jesus began to do and teach and Acts of the Apostles is what Jesus continued to do and teach through his church but notice the order he first began to do and then teach he did and taught that was not all covenant in the Old Covenant was he taught the word the word come in here the message of the Lord coming here what the Lord has said but in the New Covenant is come and see what the Lord has done in our life through his word and that is what I shared with you so when you think of the Sermon on the Mount that wonderful message that Jesus preached it wasn't something that he sat down in the previous night and took down notes as to what he's gonna speak the next morning he spoke out from 30 years of his life for 30 years he had lived that life and he spoke from that that is the only type of preaching that is new covenant preached so we say well then we won't be able to preach all these wonderful sermons right we like to preach according to the level of your life if you are in the first grade you can teach people or below the first grade if you are in the second grade you can teach people up to the first grade if you're in the tenth grade you can preach people below the ninth grade the sad thing is when a Christian preacher is only in the first grade begins to talk about tenth grade stuff it's just a lot of nonsense it doesn't it's not real in his life in the New Covenant that is just not true the New Covenant as we read here is a better covenant enacted on better promises now let me clarify one thing when we talk about Old Covenant I'm not talking about the 39 books of the Old Testament that is the Bible in fact the word Old Testament describing the 39 books of the Bible is never found that's a description man has given calling it Old Testament just for convenience but the halls all 66 books of the Bible the Old Covenant is the covenant or agreement that God made with Israel giving them a law the New Covenant was established by Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost through the gift of the Holy Spirit and through his death on the cross so as I just said the emphasis in the New Covenant is life more than teaching we must be more interested in our life than in understanding in Hebrews in Chapter eight we receive the promises of the New Covenant he says here in Hebrews eight verse 10 this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel and now that applies to us today read carefully Hebrews 8:10 I will put my laws into their mind and I will write them in their hearts this is the New Covenant and I'll be their God so notice the emphasis it's inside inside our mind inside our heart inside our mind means he gives us the desire to do his will perfectly all of his will inside our heart means he gives us the ability to do his will there are two things we need a desire to do his will and an ability to do his will and that's going to be inside if you have a desire to do the will of God don't ever think that you work that up yourself it was a fulfillment of that promise I will put my law into their mind if you're better than that other guy who there's no desire to do God's will it's not because you're a better person you got to just humble yourself and say Lord you had mercy on me and you put that desire into my mind to do your will now don't stop there in the Old Covenant it was the external life alone that mattered but in the New Covenant it's the inner life that matters you remember Jesus told the Pharisees you clean the outside of the cup but the inside is all dirty and that's how it was and when my external life please listen carefully when my external life is better than my inner thought life something is wrong with my Christianity I am an Old Covenant Christian the Old Covenant people their external life was much better than their inner life think of David do you know that David wrote most Scripture then the Apostle Paul in quoting the Psalms and the number of sounds he wrote but he would say don't look at my life if I saw a pretty woman like Bathsheba I'd fall and to get her I'd even kill her husband and marry her that's David but boy look at those songs I wrote and when a man's message is more powerful than his life he's an Old Covenant Christian even if he's the greatest preacher in the world Jesus did and taught in him was life and the life was the light of men life the word became flesh it didn't just come out of his mouth and when we look at these standards in the New Covenant we see how far short Christendom has fallen because the devil has cheated us of our inheritance because the Lord says I will not only write my law in your mind I put it in your mind and I'll write it in your heart it's his responsibility you remember when Moses went up to the mountain God with his finger and the finger by the way in the New Testament is a picture of the Holy Spirit because Jesus once said I cast out demons by the finger of God another gospel it says he casts out demons by the Spirit of God so you put the two verses together you write the finger of God is the Holy Spirit and with that finger he wrote on two tablets of stone hard rock and he wrote on that for Commandments on one man's relationship with God and six Commandments on the other man's relationship with each other and God was as it were telling Israel it's easier for me to write on those rocks than to write them in your hearts your hearts are harder than these rocks but in the New Covenant the Lord says I will write that law in your heart now and in your mind these are the two tablets now with Jesus wants to write his law on your mind in your heart and the equivalent of those two tablets of stone and even if your mind in your heart are harder than those rocks the Lord says I'll write it that's why the Holy Spirit has come to do and so don't say I'm too bad no it's for bad people Jesus came for sinners he didn't come for the righteous he didn't come for the holy people or those who think they're holy he came for hard-hearted people and says I will write my law in your mind in your heart so believe that first of all and believe that God wants to do it you know when Jesus once talked about the gift of the holy spirit there's so much confusion concerning that in the world today so much confusion and because of that confusion some people turn away from it altogether we have two extremes concerning the holy spirit nowadays in Christian teaching one is this extreme where you have all this fanaticism going on in the name of Holy Spirit bringing such dishonor to the Lord and then on the other side are those who say we want to steer away from that and don't talk about the Holy Spirit at all well the devil is quite happy with both groups I'll tell you that because one group won't talk about it and the other group goes into the extreme fanaticism but there's a balance in God's Word Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit he could never have fulfilled that ministry apart from that you know that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit of the age of 30 he had the Holy Spirit from birth he himself is the son of God and yet he needed to be anointed not to be more holy Jesus was not more holy when he was 31 then when he was 25 but there was something that came upon him when he was thirty at the baptism in the River Jordan after which he would preach cast out demons and do the will of God do God's work and that's the same gift he gives us so in Luke chapter 11 he spoke about this gift of the Holy Spirit like this in Luke 11 the subject here is when the disciples came to him and said Lord teach us to pray verse 1 and many people finish with just that the Lord's Prayer our Father who art in heaven hello be thy name but that is more to it than prayer and then that just that what we call the Lord's Prayer he went on to say I want to explain some more in answer to your question Lord teach us to pray and he said this how you should pray in verse 5 Luke 11 5 supposing you have a friend and you go to him at midnight and say to her lend me three loaves and he says I'm asleep my children are asleep don't trouble me now and I can't give you anything but this man doesn't give up he keeps on banging at the door and saying you got to give me you got to give me because a friend of mine has come who's needy and I don't have what it takes to help him what is he asking for he's asking not for himself he's asking for something to feed a needy person who has come to his house this is Christian ministry around us in the world are needy people of course I can act with no concern for them some friend has come to my house he's hungry so what go to bed man we'll see you in the morning but this man was not like that he said listen have you eaten no you don't usually ask people at midnight when they come to your house or that they've eaten because you don't have any food in the house is better not to ask them but this man was so concerned he had so much love for that person and this is the basis on which we pray for others that I'm so concerned about that person's need number one and secondly an awareness that I don't have within me what it takes to meet that need then I will go to God like this man sing God give me what it takes to help this man this is the only basis of Christian ministry and as I said I never understood it for 16 years after being born again I thought all I had to do was sit down and study and read a lot of books and prepare a sermon and preach it that's not the way brother sister it's by having a burden and a compassion and love for people in need and then recognizing secondly that I don't have it what it takes to meet that need and going to God and knocking and knocking and all you say give me what I need to help this person and what is it I need to pray for verse 13 if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him not to everybody to those who ask him how in this way in this way Lord give me this give me this give me the part of the Holy Spirit to live this life to offer this person something from my life that will lead him higher not a theory that is new covenant it is very different from the old covenant that is full of rules and regulations but this is a life where God writes his law in my mind and in my heart and thereby I can live this life in the New Covenant the very first promise in the New Testament is in Matthew 1 in verse 21 it's very important to understand this because that's where the New Covenant begins when I spoke about life Matthew 1:21 it says you shall call his name Jesus and the reason is given there in Matthew 1:21 read it carefully not he will forgive his people their sins that was already there in the Old Testament David said in Psalm 103 bless the Lord who forgives all my sins 1,000 years before Christ came he rejoiced for the forgiveness of sins but this was something new he will save his people from their sins that is the New Covenant in the Old Covenant it was forgiveness in the New Covenant it was deliverance from sin that's what I mean when I say that most Christians haven't come into the new covenant how has it been in your life I've asked people this question I said has Jesus saved you see huh I said what do you mean as he saved you from anger as he saved you from dirty thoughts you know they are sin as he saved you from bitterness have you saved you from all murmuring and complaining in your home as he saved you from losing your temper at your husband or your wife there's always the answer's no no no no as he saved you from the love of money as you save you from anxiety and fear and discouragement and bad moods and I say no no no no he's not saving me from any of those things but I confess them and I'm forgiven ah I say then be honest honest he will take you very far say that Jesus is my forgiver he's not yet become my Savior ah but he saved me from hell but hell it's at the end of your life okay he'd save you from that what about is there no salvation right now from these things you shall call his name Jesus because he will save his people from hell no what did we read in Matthew 1:21 he was save his people from their sins now I want to say in my life author I was born again all I knew was that I was saved from hell I could not honestly say I was saved from sin the devil had cheated me of my inheritance and I saw as I read the New Testament to pay the 27 books in the New Testament and I was thirsty I said there's a life I want which I don't have you know I think of all these immigrants who come from different countries to the United States why do they come here because they want a better life for themselves and their children they know this is a country which will receive them and give them a better life why don't they go to some poor country in Africa because they know they won't get it you have such a longing for a better life on this earth that's why we look for jobs where we can live have a better life for ourselves and our children my question is why don't we have that same longing spirit to come to a life free from sin we don't realize how much sin is destroying our inner life and how much it's bringing a bad name to the the name of Jesus Christ on earth so if I have a longing Lord I want to be safe from sin like I we read that verse if you search for me with all your heart you'll find me you remember Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit also in John chapter 7 one day he got up it's the only time we read in the Bible that he shouted out usually Jesus spoke very softly but here one day it says he cried out John 7:37 if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink and from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water and this he spoke it says in verse 39 about the Holy Spirit and it's a very interesting - written here in verse 39 this he spoke about the Holy Spirit who those who believed in him would receive for the spirit listen to this for this spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified and then you wonder how did David have the spirit how did Samson have the spirit gideon and the prophets Elijah Elisha got a double portion of Elijah's spirit how does it say the spirit was not yet given the meaning is the spirit was not yet given in this way it says from the innermost being the rivers of living water will flow it was not like that in the Old Covenant here's another big difference it in the Old Covenant in the new in the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit came upon Moses and David and Samson he didn't come inside them and though it's like a waterfall that flows over our head and float around and blessed millions of people but in the New Covenant the Lord says the Holy Spirit will come within and the water will flow within its like you have a a glass here and I have a lid over it and I pour water on it you know you keep on pouring water it can flow around like a rivers and bless many people but the inside of that Cup will still be dirty because the water hasn't flown inside that's what happened in the New Covenant that God removed that lid and the Holy Spirit could come into our spirit and clean up our spirit first and then flow out from within that's why you read David could commit adultery Sampson could commit adultery and as I said Moses in Samuel couldn't bring up their children properly but you never read in the New Testament about Paul committing adultery or John committing adultery or Peter committing adultery there is a lot of difference between New Covenant and Old Covenant we need to recognize this so many Christians when they fall into sin they go for refuge to the Old Covenant ah but those people did that and still God use them what are you interested in just to be used by God you know the Bible says in second Timothy in chapter 2 there are different types of vessels in God's house 2nd Timothy 2:20 in a large house there are gold and silver vessels but also vessels of wood and earthenware if it's only a question of being used we use wooden crates and boxes we use earthen jars but if your house is on fire you won't rush in to pull out those wooden crates and those earthen jars you'll go in and pull out your gold vessels and silver vessels because those are the ones that have got intrinsic what is your value before God if you only think of being used you'll be a wooden crate and an earthen jar and a lot of old covenant people were like that they were used mightily there are many old covenant preachers being used today do you know that the jesus said that in the final day matthew chapter seven there will be many who will stand before him matthew chapter 7 and verse 22 Matthew 7:22 it's not 1 or 2 many will say to me the Lord says on that day Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name we cast out demons in your name we did many miracles in your name can you think of preachers today who are prophesying in Jesus name casting out demons and doing miracles go to the next verse then I will declare to them verse 23 I never knew you I'm not saying you didn't do these things in my name I'm not saying you're telling a lie of course you cast out demons in my name not in the name of some even God you healed the sick you preached in my name but I never knew you I never had an intimate relationship with you the word know is an Old Testament word which speaks to the relationship between a husband and a wife had him knew his wife and the Lord says I never knew you what he means is I never had this bridal bridegroom bride the husband wife relationship with you spiritually you were only interested in serving me you were not my bride in the New Covenant we become the Bride of Christ in many homes in India we have made to work in the house it's very important to have them because if you don't give them a job they'll starve but there's so much poverty so it's an act of compassion to give a lady a job as a maid in your house so you can have in your kitchen your wife cooking a meal and the Maine also cooking and she may be a better cook but she's not your wife did she do a good job terrific job or the meal she cooked and she has no relationship with you she won't get your inheritance that's the difference it in new covenant and old covenant and that's what the Lord is saying to these people they're saying Lord we cooked all this for you the Lord says that's fine but you never became my bride you were only interested in doing this and that and the other for me you never thought of a relationship with me do you know that the most important thing in the New Covenant is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as a bride - a bridegroom do you have that you wake up every morning and tell the Lord that you really love him with all your heart do you have that type of relationship that is New Covenant and that's what the Lord means when he says here as he read in Hebrews 8 I will put my law into your mind and write them in your heart now I want to tell you one more thing in relation to the holy spirit if you think that you are more eager to receive the power of the Holy Spirit then God is eager to give it to you that is unbelief and that's the main reason why many believers do not receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit after the problem with me for many years I prayed faster than I said Lord give me the power of the Holy Spirit bring me into this new covenant life or I can rejoice always where I can be free from anxiety and fear and murmuring and grumbling and come into a life of overcoming be one like those overcomers woken up in the book of Revelation and I would pray and pray and pray and nothing would happen and I discovered finally that I was full of unbelief and the unbelief is this I was more eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit then my Heavenly Father was eager to fill me with the Holy Spirit and as long as I had that attitude and that type of faith that I am more eager I'm crying and I'm praying I'm fasting but God doesn't seem to answer my prayer that unbelief prevented me from receiving God's gift till I came to the place where I said Lord my Heavenly Father if earthly fathers give good gifts to those to their children then they ask for bread the father will not give a stone how in the world will you deny me the Holy Spirit it is impossible if the Holy Spirit does not come and fill us my brother sister it's because there's some area in your life you are not yielded whenever you when you're born again the Holy Spirit comes in but he may not fill your life in the New Covenant we can be filled with the Holy Spirit within if you think of your heart like a house with ten rooms there's one room which is called the guilt room where we feel guilty about all the thousands of sins we have committed in our life and when we ask Jesus to come into our heart it's the Holy Spirit who comes in he can't be born again without the Spirit coming in he comes with the guilt room and all our sins are cleansed in a moment but it's like a house you see a house on a hill with ten rooms and there's light in one room is there light in that house yes is it filled with light no nine rooms are dark and that's how it is in our heart - the Holy Spirit has come but we're not filled with the Holy Spirit the disciples received the Holy Spirit on the day that Jesus rose from the dead he came to that room and said he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit and they received the Holy Spirit and then 50 days later on the day of Pentecost they were filled with the Holy Spirit we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit for that he comes in knocks at the different doors in your house okay it's forgiven you all your sins praise the Lord one room is full of light the guilt room and now he says can I come into your television room to determine what programs you watch Jesus says can I come in and control that and you say well Lord there may be some programs you don't like so you keep that room locked or the Lord says can I come and see the books you read the magazines you read and you say well let me think about that that comes locked the Lord says can I come and look at your finances how you earn your money is at all righteously are you generous and you keep that doom room locked and all these rooms locked and you see Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit it'll never happen because you don't open the door you can pray for 100 years nothing will happen but if you open the doors he'll fill you immediately so I want to say this is a challenge to all of you do you really want to come into this new covenant life when you go home spend a little time before God alone and say Lord show me the rooms in my heart that are not open to you I'm gonna be radical today I'm going to give up everything you tell me to give up I don't want to watch any program on television from today which you will not sit next to me and watch I don't want to watch a movie which you cannot watch with me I don't want to read a book or a magazine that you cannot read with me I don't want to earn money in any way that you cannot certify his righteous and upright I don't want to spend my money in any way that you will not approve of you take God seriously and don't play games with God and go to him like this area I'm an area in the area I tell you you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit before next Sunday I can tell you that I know from my own experience your life will be changed you'll begin to possess your inheritance it won't come all of a sudden but there'll be a growth many of us if you look at our past Christian life it's been same level or sometimes further down than when we were when first converted but it's going to go the other way if you take seriously what I say Lord right your law in my heart and mind I open myself he won't force you if you thirst for it you say this is what I want more than anything else he will do it for you and let me conclude we read here that it's enacted on better promises I'll just give you three of them Matthew 6:33 says if you're seek the kingdom of God first and its righteousness all your earthly needs will be added to you he's talking about food clothing shelter and all the things you know the things we work hard for go and slog away week after week after week earning our money and the Lord says if you determine I'm not saying you should give up your secular jobs keep them but in it all that the kingdom of God be upright the principles of God's kingdom and righteousness be upright that you will never cheat anyone you will never do anything contrary to what your conscience tells you to do everything that you need on earth will be added to you I've been in full-time Christian work for fifty-two fifty-three years now fifty-two years as I said my wife and I have been married 50 years we decided to seek God's kingdom first we decided never to send a report of our work any to anyone anywhere in the world never to make our needs known to anyone but our Heavenly Father now I want to say to you you haven't starved we're not the richest people in the world thank God we're not but God's added everything we need for ourselves and our children and God is taking care of that I can testify it is true then I want to give you another promise it's true for every one of us it's in your Bible to 1 Corinthians in chapter 10 and verse 13 the other fear we have is that supposing some massive temptation comes to me which will be too much for me to overcome it will not come when you allow Jesus to be Lord of your life it says 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13 1 Corinthians 10:13 listen to it and claim it no temptation will overtake you but such as is common to man and God is faithful this is the part I want you to see who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able he won't give you a 10th grade examination paper when you're in the third grade he just won't do it but with the temptation will provide the way of escape that you may be able to bear it this is the wonderful thing about temptation that God stands by us he not only gives us a question paper according to the grade we are in he sits beside us and helps us to answer that paper isn't that wonderful if you had your teacher sitting next to you when you had to answer the question paper that's the Christian life really but if I don't allow the Lord to have possession of my life then of course it doesn't happen but here's the promise he will never allow you to be tested beyond your ability I've claimed that and I can testify to that after all these 59 years of being a Christian especially the last 43 years where I've understood the New Covenant that I've said Lord I'll never allow myself to be tested beyond my ability I know that you will not allow it and I can prove it in my life now I want to say that to you also don't ever fear oh some massive temptation will come to me and I will be defeated no the third promise I want to give you is a very well-known one from Romans 8 and verse 28 for all those who are in the New Covenant Romans 8:28 God will cause all things to work together for our good if you love him and are called according to his purpose and that good is mentioned in the next verse verse 29 that he will conform us to the image of his son so here are three promises if I seek God's kingdom person's righteousness everything I need on earth will be added to me health what I need of material wealth etc I will never be tempted beyond my ability in all of my life but with the temptation God will give me strength to overcome it so I can be a conqueror from this day onwards to the end of my life because of that promise and third whatever evil other people might do to me or whatever may happen accidentally or purposely that people do it will work for my good to make me more like Christ which is my goal in any case dear brothers and sisters this is the inheritance that Jesus purchased for us on the cross and we have a loving Heavenly Father who was promised to do it for every one of us let's go and possess it let's bow our heads in prayer [Applause] well it hits about in prayer I don't think you can if you've never understood all this before you can begin right now and say Lord I want to enter into this new covenant life I don't think you can rush into it go home and you can receive Christ right now that takes only a moment for him to come into your life and forgive your sin but for those whose sins are already forgiven to enter into this new covenant life you need to sit down and count the cost and ask whether you really want the Lord and don't play games with God be honest with them and say lord I want you to enter into this area this area this area of my life I want to yield it to you fill me with the Holy Spirit I want to say to you he'll do you for you more than you can ask or think Heavenly Father remind us again and again and again of the word that you have spoken so that it can be true in our lives we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: CFC India

Views: 35,685

Rating: 4.8513932 out of 5

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

Id: hYzASZjWiFI

Length: 54min 30sec (3270 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 12 2018