The End of Self-Confidence - Zac Poonen - June 29, 2013

is a picture of a spirit-filled life and he brought them to the border and they would not enter in and that failure is mentioned three times in the New Testament now when some incident in the Old Testament is mentioned three times in the New Testament we must sit up and take heed to it I'll just show you where they are first of all in the book of Jude it says in verse 5 Jude soli one chapter then verse 5 and remember he's talking about let's read verse 3 he says I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation he said I wanted to write to you something about what our salvation is all about something like the book of Romans explaining salvation and but while I was thinking of doing that I felt a necessity to appeal to you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the Saints for certain persons have crept in unnoticed who have turned the grace of God into licentiousness and you know these are people who have misunderstood what the grace of God is supposed to do that means they think of grace as something just there to forgive our sins and so he says I wanted to you to contend earnestly for that faith which is once delivered to the Saints which has been corrupted by a lot of people who are giving another interpretation of grace and there's a lot of that in the world today by the way where you know if you preach holiness they say you're preaching law and not grace grace means you just freely forgiving everything and so he says in this connection I want you to remind us 5 that you know all things once for all that the Lord after was saving a people out of the land of Egypt subsequently destroyed those who did not believe so these people who have crept in verse 4 unnoticed how have they turned the grace of God into licentiousness how have they denied our master and Lord Jesus Christ by going against what Jude writes in verse 5 the Lord after saving a people subsequently destroyed them so these people who crept in say if the Lord saves a people he will not destroy them that's what they're saying and Jude says I want to remind you that in the Old Testament the Lord after saving a people destroyed them because they did not believe they did not go into what God really wanted them to go in into many people don't realize that in the Old Testament gospel that Moses preached to Israel there were two parts you read that in Exodus I will take you out of Egypt I will bring you into Canaan and if you cut out that second part the gospel was incomplete the grace of God pictured there was to deliver people out of slavery of sin bring them into a promised land of victory so he says I want to remind you that those whom the Lord sailed he destroyed then see a second example it's coated in Hebrews and chapter three verse 12 take care brethren lest there should be in any one of you an evil unbelieving heart in falling away from the Living God these warning people be careful and then he takes the example in verse 17 with whom was God angry for forty years wasn't it with those who sinned whose bodies fell in the wilderness to whom did God swear that they will not enter his rest but to those who were disobedient and so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief so what's the lesson for us therefore chapter 4 verse 1 let us fear here is a fear that most believers that I met just don't seem to have let us fear that when God has given us a promise of entering into his rest some of you should seem to come short of it for we have had the gospel preached to us just as they also but the word they heard did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who heard so here he uses the word gospel now in this context what is the gospel is it coming out of Egypt or entering into Canaan for many people the gospel is coming out of Egypt but here it says they had the gospel preached to them but it did not profit them and he's talking about people who had come out of Egypt chapter 3 16 and then perished in the wilderness because they did not enter the promised land so according to the Holy Spirit in Hebrews the gospel is not just coming out of Egypt it's entering the promised land and so he goes on to say in verse 9 of chapter 4 there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God even the Sabbath which he coats in verse 4 and God rested on the seventh day from all his works he's a picture of a life of rest that God wants us to enter into rest means where the Giants are slain if the Giants are not slain there's no rest God wants us to enter into this life of rest and the one who has entered into this rest has rested from his own works as God did from his so here is a picture God draws before us from that Old Testament example of how God is purpose in the lives of these believers were not fulfilled you know when they came out of the Red Sea turned to the third example where it's coated in 1 Corinthians 10 this is the third place where the same failure to enter Canaan is coated and it's good to look at all three examples we saw in the book of Jude this is how people turned the gospel of grace of God into licentiousness we saw in the book of Hebrews chapter four that this is the real gospel not just coming out of Egypt but entering into Canaan and now we come to chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians he's again his subject is chapter 9 verse 27 after I preached to others I can be disqualified he's talking about the possibility of he himself being disqualified and he says I don't want you to be unaware brethren chapter 10 verse 1 he talks about our fathers were under the cloud passed through the sea baptized into Moses in the cloud in the sea they ate the same spiritual food drank the same spiritual drink but verse 5 with most of them God was not well pleased and they were laid low in the wilderness and this happened as an example for us again in verse 11 these things happen as an example and they are written for our instruction what is the instruction we get from these people who came out of Egypt and they had two baptisms we read in chapter 10 verse 2 a baptism in the sea and in the cloud the first is a picture of water baptism going into the Red Sea and coming out and the second is a picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit the cloud coming down upon them every Christian must have these two baptisms but this is what many who even have received a baptism in the Holy Spirit have not understood what was the purpose of this baptism what was the purpose with which God sent the cloud into the camp of the Israelites it was not just to give them an experience it was to lead them day by day by day into the promised land and I believe this is what many people who have experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit have not understood that the purpose of this cloud is to lead us into a life of victory over sin where the Giants are under our feet and if that is mentioned three times in the New Testament as a warning I'm really amazed that so many believers never seem to take it seriously the Bible says let us fear lest God having given us a promise of entering his rest he seemed to come short of it since God was angry with those people for not going on turned back to numbers chapter 14 and you'll see what happened there when God had brought them to the bodies of the promised land and they did not go in what the Lord said to Moses in numbers 14 11 was how long will this people spurn me how long will they not believe in me despite all the signs which I performed in their midst and he wanted to destroy them God was so angry with people who came out of Egypt for baptized in the Red Sea baptized in the cloud just because they did not go in to possess what God wanted them to possess but Moses pleaded with them and the Lord forgave them and then the Lord said verse 22 surely all the men who have seen my glory in my science which I performed in Egypt but put me to test these ten times and not listen to my voice they will not enter the land and you know for the next 38 years they wandered and wandered he God brought them to the bodies of the firmness land two years after they left Egypt and I learned something from that that two years after we are born again God expects us to come into a life of victory how long after we are born again two years that's the Old Testament lesson but we may not enter in and there's only one reason they didn't enter in they said the Giants are too strong we cannot overcome them and though you may have heard this many times hear it again this is what believers saying these sins are too strong for us to overcome and it's two people out of 600,000 who said no God can help us to overcome them so learn something from there to that the majority of Christians who come out of Egypt are wrong when they say we cannot enter in there maybe only two believers out of 600,000 believers who say we can overcome sin and enter the land the proportion is very very small of felucca people who believe that God did not call me to live on this earth perpetually defeated by sin no he expected me to be to conquer not to conquer all sin at the same time because you know when they entered the land of Canaan they didn't destroy the Giants in one day there's a difference between the way the Egyptian armies was killed that was in a moment the whole army of Egypt was buried under the Red Sea like that God could have done something like that in Canaan to destroyed all the Giants with a flash of lightning or something but he didn't do that it was a slow day by day month by month occupying of the land of Canaan and Joshua in his entire lifetime the Lord had to tell him at the end of his life Joshua there still remains a lot of land to be possessed and you're an old man so there was a difference between the way the Egyptian army was dealt with and the Canaanite Giants were dealt with and all these things it's we read are written as an example for us it's a very accurate picture of how the Lord leads us in our Christian life you probably heard me say this that many Christians are confused concerning to New Testament terms I don't know if all of you are clear in your mind about it the old man and the flesh I mentioned this because for nearly 20 years of my Christian life after I was born again I never knew the difference between the old man in the flesh I thought it was the same I called them both sinful nature which is the word up which is a word the Bible never uses like I said earlier Christians use lots and lots of words which are never found in Scripture because they got used to listening to it from people they assume it is in the Bible but it's not in the Bible I'm amazed that so many Christians say the Bible is God's Word but they don't seem to coat God's word when speaking about certain things they prefer the language used by men for example sinful nature when people come to me and say what about sinful nature I say what are you referring to flesh or old man what do you mean by sinful nature the flesh of the old man and they're confused I say why not use biblical language instead of using some other word that man is invented there is a difference in the altar in the New Testament between the old man in the flesh and let me explain that to you because it relates to what we are just talking about and you know I know my understanding it delivered me from a lot of confusion in my mind as to what was dead and what was not dead turn to Romans chapter 6 in Romans chapter 6 the Bible says we must be mature in our understanding and not be like little children we shouldn't be forever drinking milk milk milk milk milk we should start eating some meat if we are grown up and what I'm going to talk to you now is not milk you like to think about it it's meat Romans 6:6 says in Baptism verse 4 Romans 6:4 we are buried with him through baptism into death and he's explaining the meaning of baptism that when you're most of us were baptized in water what did you testify to in baptism let me explain to you that were 6 our old man was crucified with Christ so that this body of sin does not control us anymore that we should no longer be slaves to sin and so in Baptism we were united with him verse 5 and the likeness of his death and came up in the likeness of his resurrection so when I went into the waters of baptism I was testifying that my old man is dead and here in Baptism I'm burying it and when I come out of the water I'm testifying that's a new man now that's ruling in my heart not the old man now the thing I want you to notice is I did not have to kill the old man your old man was crucified with Christ God did it I didn't do anything for that that's a big that's picture in the Old Testament by the Egyptian army that was buried by God the Israelites had to do nothing about it in a moment it was over and that going through the Red Sea I told you was a picture of water baptism and that's what it says here your water baptism is a picture of the Egyptian army the old man buried completely under the sea you see how exact the picture is and you come out the other side you're finished with the old man now what is this old man the old man is the mind that wanted to sin so when people come to me for baptism the question I ask them is do you want to sin again not will you sin again none of us can say no I'll never sin again but my question is do you want to sin again and if you're really born again the answer will be no then I ask them do you want to sin even once if you're really born again the answer will be known again remember I'm not asking will you sin do you want to is that want to want to do that's the old man the mind that wanted to sin now want to ask all of you sitting here even the young people if you have asked really asked Jesus into your heart the desire to sin is gone I'm not saying you'll never sin again but I really believe something happens that you don't want to sin again you don't want to displease the Lord hasn't that happened in your life even if you are defeated every day by some sin aren't you pretty fed up of that if you're really born again it's true you don't want to sin again I believe that's true of almost everybody here I think you agree with me you don't want to sin again so then it's from there that we have to move on to the next step where we actually overcome it but we need to deal with this first the ohh and that's the beginning of the Christian life this is not some postgraduate degree as soon as you leave Egypt you put the blood of the lamb on the doorpost you believe in the blood of Jesus next thing is baptism I finished with the old man and who killed it God killed it who buried the Egyptian army God I didn't have to do anything was it a slow process no in one moment the old man was finished I passed out of death into life Namie was buried in a moment and i come out the other side and then the cloud comes upon me the Spirit of God comes within and now the whole purpose of the Holy Spirit is to lead me day by day by day into a life of victory in two years the Lord took the Israelites but little by little by little billion in two years they reach the borders of the promised land and the Lord said now go in and there they sent the spies in and the spice saw these big giants but those are the lusts in our flesh that's not the old man the Giants in Canaan are not the Egyptian army now the Giants in Canaan God never killed one of them the Israelites had to go in and kill them and he cook they couldn't kill them all together they had to kill them one by one now this is very simple it's such a beautiful illustration that God is put in the Old Testament to show us how we are to come into a life of victory it's helped me tremendously to know this so that all the confusion of what is the thing that's dead in me and what is the thing that's not dead you know people get feel tempted and say is my old man really dead or not well that's very easy to find out do you want to sin if you don't want to sin then the old man is dead but are you tempted are you tempted strongly sure the Giants of Canaan they're alive now the question is do you believe that the same God who destroyed the Egyptians can give you the power now to kill the Giants one by one so the land of Canaan I believe is a picture of our human body from head to foot many giants have ruled this land from the time we were born so many Giants disobedience rebellion and thoughts of adultery and hatred and anger and jealousy and quarrelsome Nessun every imaginable thing murmuring grumbling complaining coveting and all types of Giants have ruled this land which should belong to God from head to foot in the Old Testament they called it from Dan to Beersheba that was the land of Canaan Dan to Beersheba that's head to foot God says it belongs to me and I want you to go in there and occupy it for me that's what the Lord is saying I want you to get rid of these giants that have ruled your body for so long I want you to make this land a land from Dan to Beersheba head to foot hundred percent for God it's not going to happen in one day no it took years for the Israelites to occupy Canaan but that first generation did not get in and that's a warning to us see that first generation the problem with them was they felt we can go in and conquer the land ourselves that was the reason why they couldn't get in oh we're pretty strong and when they went in and they saw these huge Giants oh they came trembling and came back and say no no no no we're mistaken we can't conquer them they are too strong for us we'll be defeated this is a picture of a born-again person trying to live in his own strength looking at his muscles looking at the Giants and what did they say we look like grasshoppers in front of them how in the world can we conquer them what is the difference between those 10 spies and Joshua and Caleb Joshua and Caleb said boy if God is on our side and he is these fellas are like bread for us of course we can conquer them what was it that delighted God's heart in Joshua and Caleb their faith that with God's help every giant could be brought under their feet now I want to say to you my brothers and sisters if you want to bring delight to God's heart speak the Word of Faith Lord I believe that every sin that's ruled in this body I'm going to overcome and conquer in the power of Jesus Christ the power of the Holy Spirit that's the faith that delights God God was so delighted with Joshua and Caleb that he said in numbers 14 24 my servant Caleb had a different spirit he had a completely different spirit compared to the rest of you I will bring him into the land it's not caleb will enter the land I will bring him into the land I remember the days when I was saying I got victory over sin finally the Lord said don't say that say Jesus kept me from falling so that's what I say now it's the same thing in different words I got victory over sin and Jesus kept me from falling but it's got a different tone about it it's not Caleb saying I got into the land the Lord brought me into the land that's what he says here I will bring him into the land and he and his descendants will take possession of it you know it's a wonderful thing when we get into this life of victory that our children also get blessed they begin to have faith for this victory in their lives don't you want your children to possess the land of Canaan as well well you got to get in first he said I will bring Caleb into the land and his children will also take possession of it wonderful dear brothers and sisters this is the gospel this is what we read in Hebrews four the gospel which they did not which did not benefit them because they wouldn't believe you don't have to look at your own ability do you believe that God can bring you there you remember what the Lord asks the blind people the two blind men not can you open your eyes do you believe that I can do this for you is a very important question in Matthew chapter 9 do you believe that I Jesus can do this for you and that's what he's asking us do you believe that I can lead you into a life of victory the first step is faith it's not gritting your teeth it's not saying I'm going to struggle I'm going to be more serious from today victory is by faith like we sing in a song holiness by faith in Jesus not by effort of our own holiness by faith in Jesus not by effort of our own that's the lesson that the Lord wanted to teach his disciples also continuously so finally God said well I'm not going to help all of you 600,000 people who wouldn't believe me all of you will perish as a warning to future generations that you can't play the fool with God he says I gave you ten chances to listen to me you wouldn't listen and I'm not going to keep on pleading with you forever numbers 14 22 10 times 10 times I called you and you wouldn't listen you thought you could play the fool with me forever no you're not going to I finished with you and now you will wander for the next 38 years to complete 40 years and now when you and Deuteronomy chapter two you read about them having completed that thirty-eight year wandering I told you after two years they brought them to the prom borders of the promised land they would not go in so the Lord said you got to wander another thirty-eight years now you see in Deuteronomy 2 and verse 14 the autonomy to 14 it says that time that it took for us from Kadesh Barnea which is the place where they were hast to go into the land until we finally crossed over the brook zeroD was 38 years and what happened in those thirty years years all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp as the Lord had sworn to them the men of war I see something there God has to wait till all the men of war in us perish when that took 38 years that means the strength of self thinking that I can manage this I can overcome and as long as we feel like that God says I've gotta wait I gotta wait till all these men of war that dwell in your heart die all the feeling that the little more determination and a little more strength you'll make it it's got to be by faith so that no man may boast in his presence you know that's the reason why God allows us to fail and fail and fail and fail and fail and be defeated and defeated and defeated and defeated despite all the determinations we made I'm going to make it next year I'm going to be a victorious Christian and they didn't work we're still trusting ourselves as long as we are defeated it is an indication that the men of war have not all died there's still some men-of-war living within us until all the men of war perished and that took 38 years and at the end of 38 years they're all dead the Lord said now I can lead you in and I'll give you the land see this is a principle that you find in the Lord's dealings with us you see that for example in the fishermen did the disciples going fishing they toiled all night until the men of war perished until the expert fisherman within them all died they thought we're expert fisherman that's what you know Peter said in John 21 it's very interesting Peter had just denied the Lord and they'd seen the resurrected Lord in chapter 20 but Peter had given up all hope of ever being an apostle again he said I've finished with being an apostle I've denied the Lord three times kind of person who denied the Lord three times ever be an apostle again as far as Peter was concerned the answer was no but Peter said there's one thing I can still do I can go back to my old trade of fishing I'm not fit to be an apostle I denied the Lord three times I given up on that I'm sorry what I did but I finished with that but I can go back to my old trade of being an apostle a fisherman and is as it were the Lord was saying really okay go ahead and try once the Lord has called you to be an apostle you can't become a fisherman again once the Lord has called you into something brother you can't go back to something else even if you were good at it once upon a time you had to move on with the Lord and so the Lord has to teach Peter a lesson he gathers his friends and goes fishing he says in John 21 3 I'm going fishing what he means is I'm going back to fishing permanently and the other said I think we are also pretty fed up of being apostles were no good we'll come with you let's go fishing and that night they caught nothing is just a few words but they started in the evening at 6 o'clock and went on and on and on and on and on it's like the 38 years you know trying trying trying trying trying trying till all that the expert fisherman in Peter died the expert fisherman in Thomas in Nathaniel James and John died by early morning they were dead the this feeling that I'm an expert then the Lord came that's always when the Lord comes he will come but he will come when the strength of self has died and of course Jesus knew that they hadn't caught any fish do you see a sense of humor there in the Lord asking them well boys did you get any fish by the way last night he knew the answer he hadn't got anything he says okay now I'll give it to you now you can enter the promised land put your net on the other side and when they did it they couldn't haul it in because of the great number of fish what happened all of a sudden God did that if they had caught the fish on their own they would have boasted in it but this was one time when pas when they brought the fish to shore such a huge net of fish there was not one fish there that Peter could boast about saying I caught that he all his previous years he had been fishing he could boast Hey look at the fish I caught today you know how fishermen boast about the size of their patient all types of things they do when they go fishing but not this time he couldn't boast at all 153 large fish verse 11 and Peter could not boast of about any one of them it was like a hundred and fifty three Giants killed in Canaan but she couldn't boast about one of them God did it but God didn't do it till they had come to an end of themselves and there is one reason why God does not lead many of his children into a life of victory they have not come to an end of themselves they still feel I can make it I can make it no it's just ok try how long will you keep trying when you come to an end of yourself then I'll appear so imagine these people fishing 6 o'clock seven o'clock 8 o'clock 10 o'clock midnight they still haven't come to an end of themselves they see just a little more effort we make it you know like we go for meeting after meeting out the conference our conference I'm going to make it next time we don't make it and finally by about 5 o'clock in the morning say oh it's hopeless we give up the Lord says well now you're ready this is always God's Way you read let me show you an example in John's Gospel chapter 5 in John chapter 5 you know a lot of people say that jesus healed everybody who was sick it's not true he went to the Pool of Bethesda John 5 verse 3 where there was a great multitude of people who were sick not one or two John 5:3 a great multitude of sick blind lame withered waiting for the moving of the water there probably two three hundred people there and you know the story Jesus heal only one person and walked away he saw 306 people and He healed one person and walked away he didn't always heal everybody neither does he do it today and then he goes to a certain man who was there guess how many years thirty-eight years he was a that man was a picture of those Israelites where he struggled under the law and who had wandered and wandered and one this man had tried for thirty years to get into the pool and he didn't succeed and every year he thought I'll make it next time I'll make it right I'm 38 years was over he said I give up and he went away from there sat in the corner I said I give up I'll never be healed and the Lord says now you're ready you come to an end of struggling to get into the pool now I'll heal you then you know every miracle there's a message there if he can see it and it's very significant that this man this man is a picture of man living under the law like those Israelites in the wilderness for 38 years struggling trying to get in couldn't succeed and healed him in a moment and he was up and about you know in the story of Moses Stephen says in Acts chapter 7 if we understand God's ways it'll help us in our life that's what I'm trying to show you the ways of God in his mind in Acts chapter 7 it says in verse 22 Moses was educated in all the learning of Egyptians and listen to these words he was a man of power and words and deeds that means he was a very eloquent man that's the meaning of a man of power and words eloquence and in deeds his actions matched his words he knew he was an Israelite and when he was approaching the age of 40 he visited his brethren the sons of Israel and he killed an Egyptian and he supposed verse 25 that his Israelite brethren would understand that God was granting them deliverance through him but they did not understand he killed one Egyptian and hoped that the Israelites would see felis do you see what I've done with one blow I killed this guy I'm an eloquent man I'm a man of power and words and in deeds God has sent me to deliver you they didn't understand and Moses had to run away for 40 years and his 40 years in the wilderness was like the 38th year wandering of the Israelites what was God waiting for God was waiting for this man who was mighty in word and deed to come to an end of himself this eloquent Egyptian Prince to finally come to the place that when God says to him at the age of 80 Moses I want you to go and be the leader of the Israelites and God Moses says no he says I can't speak that's quite an amazing thing you read in Exodus for what he says to God he says Lord exodus 4 verse 10 I have never been eloquent neither recently nor in time past I am slow of speech and slow of tongue he wasn't like that when he was 40 but he'd completely forgotten it God had wiped out that confidence in his own ability by the time he was 80 and the Lord said I can make you speak and he said please Lord don't send me send somebody else verse 13 he was completely broken God brought him down to a zero point and then he became a leader the same lesson God killed them in him the men of war brought them down to zero maybe after 39 years they were still a thousand men of war alive God said they're not ready yet there are a thousand men of war still alive they've got to die one by when they all died the last fellow died God said now it's zero all six hundred thousand have died they can get in the same here all the strength of self had gone in Moses and the Lord said now you can be the leader it's the same thing in the Pool of Bethesda man tried so long to get in he couldn't get in tried tried tried right after 38 years he said I give up God said now you're ready the disciples fishing fishing fishing fishing fishing all night at five o'clock in the morning they say I give up I said now you're ready what is the lesson in all this for us today God is waiting for you and me to come to a zero point and if you haven't got big tree I want to say to you in Jesus name don't give up you haven't come to that zero point yet you say that I'm weak no the thing is not you're weak you're too strong you have to become weak why can't you overcome your anger you see I'm so weak no you're not weak you're too strong if you become weak you'd have overcome your anger long ago it's strong people who get angry it's strong people who lust with their eyes it's strong people who fight and murmur and quarrel when you become weak you don't do that I see that in the story of Lazarus it says when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick he didn't go have you ever heard of anybody doing like that you suddenly hear that somebody you love is seriously sick and you say oh really I better wait here a few days then God's ways are not our ways there was a lesson even in that miracle God was waiting for Lazarus to become weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker well he's still not weak enough he still could lift a little finger breathe a little finally he died to make sure he died they kept him in the grave for four days the Lord says now we can go what is it lesson there let him come down to a zero point I raised him from the dead now the reason I say this is because so many people wonder why haven't I come to a life of victory even though I've been seeking this for so long in all these examples you see the reason because if God gave us victory over sin before we had come to the zero point we would destroy ourselves I'll tell you how if you were lifted out of a hundred foot pit called anger or dirty lusts and after being lifted out of this hundred-foot pit you fall into a thousand foot pit called spiritual pride that wouldn't be much of a victory but that's what will happen if God has not brought you to a zero point when God gives you victory after you come to a zero point you can never boast in your victory you will not fall into that deep pit called spiritual pride and that is the reason why he allows us to fail and fail and fail like those disciples fishing fail and fail and fail and fail and fail till you're absolutely convinced I can never get victory impossible then God says now I'll give it to you now I'll fill your boat with fish and you won't be able to glory one bit in it because now you're convinced that you can't make it otherwise you will boast you will look down on others one you will boast about what you have accomplished and secondly you look down on others who are still defeated or backslidden now I want you to do that I'm telling you from my personal experience for years and years I was defeated but once I saw this truth that sin shall not have dominion over you I said Lord that's going to be true in my life but I was still defeated and the devil would taunt me what's all this talk about victory you're defeated I say yeah I'm defeated I fell again today but Satan one of these days sin will not rule over me that was my confession again defeated yes I'm defeated but one of these days sin will not rule over me I did not know then why it was taking time failure failure failure failure failure till I came to rock bottom said Lord it's impossible I can't make it maybe other people who talk about victory and all I don't know how they got in but I don't seem to be able to get there and the Lord said now you're ready it was exactly I'll tell you the truth it is exactly like that in my life and I know the result of that the result is I can honestly say from that time till today I have never once been able to feel that I got the victory I said Jesus kept me from falling and he keeps me from falling today I'm so like the branch in the tree absolutely helpless without the tree even if it's borne fruit for 50 years I can't do it it's not a theory anymore to me it was it here he once upon a time you know the statement of Jesus in John 15:5 without me you can do nothing I used to quote that verse and I thought I knew it but I didn't really know it today I know it I can honestly say it's not a verse for me it's reality and the second thing that happened in my life was I could never again look down or despise another believer who was defeated I could not despise a Roman Catholic no I couldn't despise anybody I said Lord it's your Grace has changed me I disagree with a lot of people I disagree with most Christian groups because of their dog for I mean wrong doctrines and UNCHR ice-like practices but that's different from despising them for being defeated I'm disagreeing with them and their doctrinal habits and practices but I don't despise anyone I can honestly say that God's removed this whole business of saying I thank God Lord I'm not like those people there is a little bit of that in a lot of Christians and if you look into your heart you may find a little bit of that there lord I thank you for to what you've done in me and I'm not like that other group down there for the other church and if you got that in your heart brother you haven't really got victory maybe you got some victory over something by gritting your teeth but you've fallen into a much deeper pit called spiritual pride and it's not victory at all God has to do such a work that you don't fall into that pit call spiritual pride that there's not an atom of spiritual pride in you then you know that God did it why does it say salvation is by grace through faith so that no one should boast in his presence so that no one should boast twice in Scripture it says that you know how important that is let me show you those two verses Ephesians 2 you know that one place where it comes Ephesians chapter 2 verse 9 so that no one should boast it is of grace so that no one should boast I want to ask you my dear brothers and sisters is there any inward boasting in you over other believers in the church you feel you're better than them or perhaps believers in other groups lord I thank you I'm not like other men but no one should boast and the other place where it comes here is talking about salvation and then the other is in 1 Corinthians in Chapter 1 1 Corinthians 1 it says verse 29 that no man should boast before God God has chosen the weak and the despised and those are nothing God has chosen the ones who are nothing verse 28 so that no one should boast he brings us to the place nothing means zero God brings us to a zero point so that we cannot boast and that takes time with people that is the reason why Peter had to fail to deny the Lord three times see when these things happen in my life I began to understand so many scriptures now I understand why Jesus waited and healed only one man who had been there for 38 years why he waited till the disciples struggled for hours and Jesus came only when they were about to give up why all the men of war had to perish before they got into the promised land and why does God allow Peter to deny three times you know supposing you heard that a brother is going to be severely tested tomorrow in some temptation what would you pray for him tell me honestly I think I would pray lord please protect him don't let him fall supposing you fear that a certain brother is being severely tempted by a woman to commit adultery with her and he's going to meet her tomorrow what will you pray oh god please save him from that sin do you believe that denying Jesus three times his worse than adultery I believe that is worse than committing adultery three times to deny Jesus he I don't know him it's blasphemy and blasphemy is worse than adultery and yet Jesus never prayed that Peter should not fall he said Peter before the crows twice you're going to deny me three times and I'm not going to pray that you should not fall why is that God's ways are not our ways turn to Luke 22 verse 34 I say to you Peter Luke 22 34 I say to you Peter before the crows today you will deny me three times you'll commit the terrible sin of denying Jesus Christ but I'm not going to pray that you won't fall you will do it but I'm praying something else for you verse 32 what I'm praying for you is that after you fall three times your faith will not fail that when you have hit rock bottom and you realize you're a hopeless good-for-nothing person you reach to zero in your life I pray that you won't give up there that right there hitting rock bottom you'll say but my father still loves me like the prodigal son I'll get up and go back to him that's the faith that would not fail for faith not to fail is to believe that God loves me even when I failed miserably is there somebody here like that you tried and tried right so long and your whole life has been just a secret experience of failure that you're never able to share with anybody else you look around in a church that preaches victory and you hear about victory on Sundays and Sunday after Sunday you hear the powerful messages and you sit there and say boy this is for everybody else it's not for me I'm not like the others in this church I'm just defeated but this is a good church to belong to I want to be here but I better not let anybody know that I'm just thoroughly defeated thoroughly thoroughly defeated do you feel like that well this message is for you the Lord says I'm praying for you and praying for you who are a total failure that your faith will not fail never mind how many times you fell into whatever sin that your faith that God will still lift me out God still loves me don't lose that faith even if you've denied the Lord three times or fallen into some sin again and again and again maybe you're sincerely tried but you failed I want to tell you in Jesus name that God still loves you and he's praying that your faith will not fail he ever lives to make intercession for us why did he want Peter to fail I'll tell you because the guy was so proud he said even if everybody denies you not me such people have to fail you know God tries to break us in many ways he tries to break us through financial difficulties he tries to break us through sicknesses he tries to break us through difficult bosses through difficult people difficult neighbors difficult relatives and through fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law you know he broke Moses through a father-in-law he broke Jacob through another father-in-law living with in-laws can be a tremendous way of being broken and God did that with Jacob and with Moses and but when he when all these ways don't succeed none of these ways are sinful you know financial difficulty there's no sin in that sickness there's no sin in that being irritated or troubled by a father-in-law or mother-in-law there's no sin in that but when all these ways to try and break you have failed you're still the strong person God says then there's only one way to break you you got to fall into sin it's not God's will it's never God's will that we should fall into sin but that's his last method when every other method has failed to break strong people he allows them to fall into sin and he will not pray that you should not fall that's what happened to Peter okay Peter you got to fall it's a I've tried every other method with you it hasn't succeeded you got to fall and he fell then he was broken he wept bitterly that's why he went back to fishing he said no not possible that I'll ever be an apostle again finished I'm going back to my old trade and that's when Jesus came and commissioned him again and said Peter do you love me Peter's not the old Peter anymore he doesn't say if everybody doesn't love you I love you no he says Lord I don't even know I don't even know whether I love you I can't see anything I want to love you Peter feed my sheep I'm commissioning you again you're not to be a fisherman you're to be an apostle he was broken he had come to a zero point God filled him with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost that failure was his preparation for Pentecost many people don't realize I know in my life it was exactly the same total failure was the preparation for Pentecost in my life if I had only known that I was discouraged mostly that I am discouraged because nothing seemed to be working but God had a beautiful future for me and he has for you too I want to tell you in Jesus name and on the day of Pentecost when God used Peter so mightily that 3,000 people were Jews were converted baptized in water and baptized in the Holy Spirit I can imagine one of the Apostles coming up and slapping Peter on the back and saying hey Peter that was a great man your 15 minutes sermon brought 3,000 Jews to Christ I mean bringing one Jew to Christ itself should excite anybody bringing 3,000 Jews to Christ and they take baptism and are baptized in the Holy Spirit wow what a man of God you are Peter said I don't believe all that I know what I did six weeks ago I know what I did six weeks ago I denied my Lord three times I'm a hopeless person but Jesus has done something for me and I can never glory in it if the Lord did something today through me it's not going to go to my head any more it would really have gone to Peters head 3000 Jews getting converted baptised and imagine if it happened to you brother he went and preached a brief sermon somewhere 3,000 Jews got converted and baptized in baptized in the Holy Spirit you will be able to keep your head the same size after that what was it that saved Peter not it brought him to a zero point before that and before God can use anybody mightily to accomplish wonderful things for him he has to bring us to a zero point and then fill us with the Holy Spirit that is God's Way so don't get discouraged say Lord bring me to that zero point quickly bring me to the place where I know I cannot make it so that you lead me into this promised land where I don't trust in my own strength anymore I trust you to give me victory let's pray there is hope for everyone while there's life there's hope so don't ever get discouraged you're on your way there every failure is one step closer to that zero point say Lord I'm determined to go all the way with you I don't care how long it takes I'm going to get there I'm going to enter the promised land I'm going to enter into this spiritual life where Jesus keeps me from falling day by day and it will never go to my head where Jesus will make rivers of living water flow through me and it won't go to my head not even secretly Heavenly Father and help us each one you know your purposes for us are beyond our understanding but they're always for our good thank you for your ways that are perfect and Jesus name Amen

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 48,532

Rating: 4.8796167 out of 5

Keywords: end, self, confidence, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, summer, conference, 2013, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: C-1BzkHqD2g

Length: 66min 3sec (3963 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 01 2013