Why God Delays Victory - Zac Poonen - March 13, 2012

second Corinthians three this is one of the chapters in the New Testament that contrasts the Old Covenant with the New Covenant and I want you to see here one verse that describes the two the Old Covenant is called a Ministry of death in verse seven if the ministry first of all he says in verse six we have been made servants of a new covenant and he contrasts it by saying the Ministry of death in letters engraved on stones that's the ten commandments that God gave Moses came with glory on Mount Sinai so the sons of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face even though it was fading then the Ministry of the Spirit will have more glory than that and then he describes the Old Covenant ministry and as a Ministry of condemnation and the New Covenant ministry verse nine is a ministry of righteousness so this is something that we must all remember condemnation is part of the Old Covenant the law only succeeded in condemning people that's the Old Covenant ministry is called a ministry of the law or a Ministry of condemnation and the New Covenant is a call to ministry of righteousness now law is where God says thou shalt thou shalt not thou shalt thou shalt not and it's very easy for us to come to a new covenant church and to hear the message in that spirit of thou shalt thou shalt not you shouldn't do this you should do this and it always ends in condemnation so we need to understand what what is the difference between being married to the law and married to Christ the law is like a husband that makes perfect never asks us to do anything wrong but makes very high demands on us and never lifts a finger to help us and we struggle and struggle and struggle to keep it I'm always come short and feel condemned that's exactly how people lived for fifteen hundred years under the law now the reason why God gave the law was so that man would realize his need so that man would realize that he can never make it no matter how hard he tries to God's standards that was the purpose of the law it was never God's final answer for man and that's why it's called a Ministry of condemnation so as I said we can read the Sermon on the Mount for example and take those as laws you know now you've got to love your enemies as well now you've got to forgive everybody no matter what they do to you and now you must not be anxious and that can be like another set of Commandments or now you mustn't get angry and now you mustn't lust with your eyes and you say boy the Old Testament law is better didn't have such a high standard and this is what happens to a lot of people when they hear what Jesus said and they seek to live taking these in the spirit of the law and it leads to condemnation and so what a lot of people do is they say well that's impossible to live there we're just going to live as we are and we're thank God our sins are forgiven and we're on our way to heaven and Jesus is forgiveness that's all there is to it and you know that such people look constantly defeated lies and very often backslide and get into terrible sins so what's the answer to that is one type of Christian that we see in the world and if the other type is only one who is always feeling condemned and that often happens to a lot of people who sincerely pursue holiness I think a lot of people who pursue holiness usually go under the law first what we must get out of that as soon as possible because that's not the way we're supposed to live let me just you've probably heard it before but let me explain again the difference between exodus 20 is the law and I want to just show you those Commandments there for a moment and Exodus 20 see what the Lord says you should have no other gods you shall not make an idol verse three was three for and you shall not take the name of the Lord in vain verse seven verse eight you must keep the Sabbath day holy those the first four Commandments you must honor your father and mother verse 12 you must not murder you must not commit adultery you must not steal you must not bear false witness you must not covet see that's the law you must do this you must not do this you must do this you must not do this you must not do this you must not do this you must do this every commandment is that and it brought man to condemnation now I wonder whether you are hearing the standards of the New Testament in that same spirit and then whether you know it or not you're under the law and the Bible says you'll be defeated by sin because Romans 6:14 says sin shall not rule over you if you come under grace and not under law so it's because we have approached the New Testament Commandments in that spirit of the law that we find ourselves under condemnation so I want you to contrast what I just showed you with Hebrews chapter 8 Hebrews chapter 8 is a very liberating chapter Hebrews is not a very popular book with Christians but I would encourage you to read it and Hebrews 8 it says in verse 7 the first covenant was faulty we all agreed there to keep on listening to these Commandments and feel condemned condemned condemned you know it's very easy I really believe that I've seen this with a lot of people who hear our message in India too and it's quite likely with a number of you that you've heard the truth and you really want to be different from other Christians you really want to live a godly life and it's only condemnation condemnation condemnation because you just can't seem to live up to what God is telling you to do and you just condemn yourself all the time and that's why it says the first covenant is faulty so if you live with the spirit of the first covenant that's not the way God wants us to live from Hebrews 8 7 8 now if that was perfect there was no need for a second covenant but thank God he abolished that it says in verse 13 when God says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete that's finished and we shouldn't have that and we don't need to all have the spirit of that Old Covenant now see the new covenant is different he says I'm going to make a new covenant verse 8 Hebrews 8 8 which is not going to be like verse 9 the Covenant I made with the Israelites and old and this is the covenant now listen just like you have Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 three things here in the New Covenant there are three statements in Hebrews 8 verse 10 to 12 now I want you to see something which you may not have noticed this is the covenant verse 10 I'll i will put my law into their minds middle of verse 10 I will write them in their hearts I will be their God all shall know me verse 11 I will be merciful to their iniquities verse 12 I will remember their sins no more did you see the contrast between you shall you shall not you shall you shall not you shall you shall not you shall not you shall not - God saying I will I will I will I will if you understood that I don't mean understand you in your head if you ask God to give you a revelation in your heart that this is the new covenant I tell you you'll be liberated you have to see this the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him and if you fear him and say Lord please open my eyes to this the Lord wants to do a work in our heart one of the I'll give you two examples of the law from the miracles Jesus did do you remember how many years it took for the children of Israel after they left Egypt to come to the borders of the promised land for the first time when they turned back you know how long it took two years they took two years to come to the borders of the promised land and then they sent the spies in and we read in Deuteronomy - they did not obey God and so God said okay for the next 38 years you're going to be wandering the first two years were in God's will the remaining 38 years were not in God's will it made a total of 40 years so that's specifically written in Deuteronomy 2 38 years now in John's Gospel chapter 5 you read of a man verse 5 who had been sick for 38 years that's a picture of a man who was struggling to walk for 38 years and he never succeeded and the Lord came to him is a picture of a man under the law you know just like those Israelites in 38 years in the wilderness Jesus saw him lying there and said do you want to get well and that's the question he asks all of us do you want to live a life of rest and victory and of course we want to don't you think this man has been lying back that for 38 years wants to get up and walk I'm sure all of you want to enter into a life of rest and victory then he says but I can't do it that's what we say too because I try to go to the water to be the first one in but I never succeed I've tried and tried and tried and tried for 38 years I've never succeeded I on the point of giving up I think you would be too if you were like him Jesus said get up walk it was just a word from the Lord you know this is the contrast between law and grace in law it was thou shalt thou shall not struggle struggle try and get to the water trying but somebody gets in first oh wait maybe I'll do it next year by the time 38 years has come he said I give up I'm not even going to try it when he came to the end of himself Jesus can you know it says there there was a multitude of people verse 3 lying there but jesus healed only one person it's not true that Jesus went around healing everybody now I think I mean in picture language it would mean all the others had not come to the end of themselves they'd say we'll still make it next year this guy had given up he's I've tried enough I'm not even going to try give up and that's the point at which Jesus came and there are many other instances like this in fact almost every story is like this see John chapter 11 here's the story of Lazarus and that's also a picture Lazarus is a picture of a man struggling to live he's not dead he's sick and they sent a message to Jesus saying he whom you love is sick verse 3 and the Lord when he heard that instead of going immediately like we would do verse 6 he stayed two days longer in the same place see Jesus lived by the leading of the Spirit not according to the leading of his reason any little thing he always consulted his father it's a very good habit to develop here's a crisis dad what shall I do you know we have the privilege of doing that same privilege that Jesus had to look up to heaven and ask his heavenly dad what should I do now and because the Jesus had listened to the father so perfectly for 30 years he could hear him loud and clear it takes time to hear the Lord loud and clear and it'll only come by keeping on listening if you find you and that's why I say it's very important to obey the commandments in the new test in the Bible if I reach I read something in the New Testament and I think that I can pass judgment on God's Word and decide whether I should obey obey it or not I'll tell you something you'll become deaf to God's voice and in a time of crisis when you want to hear God's wise you won't hear it but is the one who's trembles at God's Word listens to God's Word obeys it obeys it obeys it obeys it he becomes attuned to the father's voice and he can be so clear he can hear the father's voice that he could hear Jesus could hear the father saying to him through his spirit don't go mag in somebody's 6 years we seek and you don't go and Jesus said I won't go then and finally he went more than four days later and up up until that time why was Jesus waiting Jesus waiting for Lazarus to stop struggling as long as he could even lift a little finger GZ no he's still trying to live symbolically the miracles were parables so here's a parable here's a man struggling struggling to live and the Lord says no I can't come yet like they say when you if you're a lifeguard on the beach don't try to rescue a person while he's struggling he may be drowning but if you try to rescue him when he's still struggling he dragged you down wait till he stops struggling wait till he's given up and exhausted then you go and pick him up and he won't struggle try to drag you down it's something like that as long as Lazarus is a struggling glue Lord Cerwyn come and finally he dies and to make sure he's dead he's put in the grave for four days then the Lord comes and raises him up this is how it is man comes to an end of himself the Lord says no I'll do a work for you and then the last miracle that Jesus did the only miracle that he did after well anyway it was the last one after his resurrection and that was the miracle of the fish it would happen once before but it happened now in John 21 again and there again if the principle is the same life under the law the disciples fishing all night struggling struggling to catch fish it's a picture of man trying to keep the commandments keep the commandments keep the commandments not even one fish failure failure failure failure do you find it like that in your life struggling struggling struggling to do something and constantly failing by trying to keep some commandment that you've seen in the New Testament or the Sermon on the Mount somewhere you read something and you try and try and then the Lord knew they were going to fail why didn't he come earlier because they hadn't come to an end of themselves it's a principle with God that he has to bring us down to a zero point before he lifts us up and so 6 o'clock in the evening they went out absolutely sure they'd catch fish because they were such experts and that's how many a Christian starts out on the road of seeking for victory this is just a little more gritting my teeth and a little more determination I'm going to make it and he doesn't make it nine o'clock ten o'clock eleven o'clock midnight nothing they still haven't given up they see they're still trying by the time it came to four or five in the morning they say we give up and as soon as they came to the place where I give up I can't do it the Lord comes in and filmed a boat with fish it never got so much in their entire life that's grace you can't take any credit for it so why does God allow us to fail so often see the reason is because one of the reasons anyway is so that when we get victory one we don't become proud of it and second that we don't despise other people who are defeated I know it is like that my own life when I first understood Romans 6:14 that sin shall not rule over you you come under grace and that was more than 16 years after I was born again I was defeated constantly and I thought well that's all other Christians around me are this is the only thing we just keep asking for forgiveness and that's it but yet I read these verses like Romans 6:14 Silvan lot rule over you and it took me many many years I just keep confessing it will happen it will happen I don't know when it'll happen it's like Abraham when he was 75 years old God said your seed is going to bless the earth and he waited and waited you know you waited 25 years for that promise to be fulfilled it was a hundred years old and he's called the father of faith so faith is not something that brings a result immediately here it says in Hebrews six that verse twelve that we should not be lazy verse eleven Hebrews six 11 we must be diligent we must not be lazy verse 12 but we must imitate those Hebrews 6:12 who through faith plus patience inherit the promises so there are two things required to inherit the promises one is faith plus patience like the two wires that carry electricity you know that every switch is just a point where the two wires touch a switch is a place where two wires are kept close to each other the moment you put on the switch the two wires touch that's how the lights turn on so it's faith and patience when they touch the lights come on so it says you must be imitators or those who faith with patience so you cannot inherit the promises with faith alone it's faith plus patience and you know Jesus spoke about the widow who kept on going to the judge saying give me justice give me justice against my enemy give me justice finally she got it or Jesus spoke about another man who went to a neighbor's house to get bread for a visitors he knocked and knocked and knocked and knocked and till finally open it these are the parables Jesus spoke about persistence of patience believing that God is a more loving than this neighbor of mine and more loving than an unrighteous judge and so persistence that persistence is the proof of my faith if I give up that proves I really don't believe that God is a loving father it does something in us you know when we keep on going and we keep on defeated if God were to give us victory over say a hundred-foot pit called anger in which we have fallen and keep falling falling falling in that a lot down at the bottom of that pit called anger where we and lying there and the Lord lifts us up and delivers us from it and soon thereafter we fall into a thousand-foot pit called pride that's not victory but that's what happens if God gives us victory too soon we get victory and we fall into something because pride is so close to us so God has to deliver us from every sin whether it's dirty thoughts or bitterness or jealousy or anger or anything through a process of allowing us to be defeated defeated defeated defeated toil all night and catch nothing and then when we come to the end of ourselves to comes and fills our boat and the result is you know when Peter came with that boat to the shore and folks said hey this is fantastic man how in the world did he catch so many fish he couldn't put his collar up and say yeah I did it he couldn't say that it had nothing to do with him and that's the mark of a really godly man when he gets victory he cannot take one bit of credit for it and the other thing is secondly he will never again despise somebody who was defeated with her unbeliever he cannot look down on a backslider I'll tell you honestly this is exactly what happened to me I was defeated so thoroughly thoroughly and anger and everything else for so many years after being born again and seeking and seeking and seeking and defeated seeking and defeated and seeking and defeated but I held on sin will not rule every Lord one of these days is going to happen Satan you are not going to push me down always I'm going to overcome one of these days I'm not going to give up and the result was that when the Lord began to give me victory in this area and other areas I can honestly say before God that for many years now it is impossible for me to look down on a person who is defeated even a terrible backslider in the church it's impossible for me to think that I'm better than him and what a word God has done that it's impossible you know how easy it is for us to look down on somebody in the church we've got some weakness or some failure particularly where we we're asked which is our strong point we usually criticize others in the areas where we are strong where we have a strong point we see the weak points and others God has to deliver us from this the ugly one of the most difficult things for God to deliver us from is our pride a spiritual pride and that takes a long time we don't even realize that you know it's like bad breath when we don't often recognize that your bad breath where other people recognize it it's like that pride is something like that it's something that we people and it's much a million times worse than bad breath I'll tell you that but other people see it and you don't see it yourself and that's the thing God wants to deliver us from completely that you can be a victorious Christian and at the same time be the humblest person of all that you cannot take one atom of credit for that victory and that there was not a single person you no not a single person you know whom you can look down upon I've had believers who come and confess to me as an elder some of the terrible things they have done and I can say Lord even if I'm not falling into all those things I know my flesh is capable of all that so I will not despise him real victory is a wonderful thing and so don't give up doing while you're the Lord will come the morning will dawn and you'll fill your boat with fishings is I will I told you the law is thou shalt thou shalt thou shalt know the new covenant is I will do it I will fill your boat with fish I will write my law upon your heart and your mind I will give you the desire to do my will and I'll give you the ability to do my will so that's what we need to seek God for and until then remember condemnation is from the devil there is no condemnation in the New Covenant everybody knows John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life do you know the next verse that's very important John 3:17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world that's a very important verse it's helped me so many times in my life that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn anybody Pharisees condemn daddy's proud believers condemn others Jesus never condemned anybody God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved you know this is why I personally don't believe in just going around distributing tracks everywhere and putting tracks on the windshield wipers of cars and saying okay their blood is not on my hands what have I succeeded in doing condemning them okay they're going to hell now it's not my business I put a tract in there on that car wiper and I gave him a tract they didn't take it they threw it in the trash that's they're responsible what have I done I've gone wrong condemning people they don't really Jesus would ever do that because he didn't come here to condemn the world he came here to save the world so my desire must be to save that sinner not just to give him a tract and say okay now I'm not responsible for your blood Jesus never did that sort of thing God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world and we need to learn that ourselves first he did not send come to me to condemn me in any way he came to save me and that's why I can look at his face with joy say Lord I'm pretty defeated but I'm happy that you come not do you never condemn me men make under me and I may condemn myself because I'm a stupid foolish person not not believing the Scriptures so I condemn myself I should not condemn myself see in when we condemn ourselves we get discouraged second Corinthians 3 speaks about the Ministry of condemnation we saw that and then he says there's another ministry the ministry of righteousness which is described in chapter 3 verse 18 as the holy spirit little by little changing us from one degree of glory to another to the likeness of Christ that's a ministry the Holy Spirit does of slowly it's not all of a sudden and Genesis chapter one is the great proof of that in Genesis chapter 1 when the earth was corrupt and dark and empty God could have spoken a word and in a single moment the trees and the Sun and the moon and the stars and the fish and the animals and the birds and man and woman would all come he didn't do that why did he do it little by little one day the light another day the heavens another the earth about to see than the trees and the fruit and then the fish the Sun and the moon and then the fish and this animals and then man because God is trying to teach us that that corrupt earth becoming perfect finally is a process that happens day by day by day by day and that is how God sanctifies us all so it's not suddenly from defeat to victory it's a process day by day by day and I need not get discouraged if everything is not perfect here is going to happen I look at the end where God is going to look at me and say very good we must have that faith maybe we're in the second day but the sixth day is going to come when he would say very good everything will be perfect I don't have to give up so it says here in chapter 4 second cooking for one since we have received this myrrh ministry and God has been merciful to us we don't get discouraged that's a great verse and so I always tell people there are two no entry roads in Christianity as a clear no entry sign discouragement and self condemnation even come out from those roads but you're not allowed to go in there's a no entry sign there and so whenever I come to a place where I'm going to get discarded I say hey I've approached this no entry road I'm going to turn around or whenever I come to this condemning myself because of you know there are lots of things we can condemn ourselves for because we made a blunder maybe you lost the money lost a lot of money because of some stupid decision you made fine Lord I'm sorry what else can I say he's not going to condemn me the world hasn't come to an end just because that happened he'll take care of us something went seriously wrong fine God is slowly changing me and he's going to use all those things that look like that look bad for my good for example constant defeat doesn't constant defeat look like a very bad thing but if constant defeat can take away my self-confidence little by little by little that self-confidence worn out and that's the only way he can do it the only way the Lord can remove our self-confidence I'll tell you this is by allowing you to be defeated and defeated and defeated till you come to an end of yourself and you say there's no hope for me see this is always worse with you know Abraham the father of faith let's look at him let me show you a verse in Genesis chapter 16 God had told Abraham you're going to have a son and from 75 years to 10 years up to the age of 85 he tried to have a son through Sarah and he failed and so Sarah finally said you better take Hagar and verse 4 he got conceived and so Abraham said I made it but that wasn't victory that was a picture of you know gritting your teeth struggling and producing something which you think will be acceptable to God it's what people teach under yoga in yoga and Buddhism they teach you how to control your tongue so that you don't lose your temper well you don't lose your temper but the heart is full of anger that hasn't changed or they teach you how to control your eyes so you don't lust for the heart is full of lust that hasn't changed that's Ishmael you know with our own effort and strength and I think I've conquered something I often use the example say here's a husband who's the wife is very upset with him one day and yells at him and screams her head off and the husband is very patient and keeps quiet and inwardly says to himself lord I thank you I'm not like my wife that sound familiar those words then say it loudly but inwardly or I thank you I didn't lose my temper that wife who lost her temper may a little later repent get light on it and repent and ask God to forgive him the anger will be forgiven instantaneously by the blood of Christ and she's justified but this husband who looks down on his wife will probably never get light on the fact on his spiritual pride because he thinks he didn't fall he fell into a much deeper pit than his wife did the very fact that he looked down on her and said thank God I didn't fall like that that's the story of the Pharisee in the publican so this spiritual pride is a very deadly dangerous thing that's Ishmael what did what do I do when what does this husband do he didn't lose his temper he produce an Ishmael Oh Lord aren't you happy that I didn't lose my temper the Lord says no like Abraham said all that Ishmael might live before you God says no it's a product of your own determination and it says this is the interesting I want you to notice I don't know whether you've ever noticed it in your reading of the scriptures turn with me to Genesis 16 verse 16 Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born what is the next verse Abraham was 99 years old when God appeared to him there's a huge gap of 13 years with nothing written what is happening in those 13 years you see Abraham in the beginning he could produce a son that's how we produce Ishmael Sarah could not but Abraham could he had the ability to produce his son with his own strength but God said that will be a son produced by your own strength and I won't accept it that's law so I have to just wait you know like the Lord waited for the disciples to fish and fish and fish and fish and fish for eight nine hours the same principle here God has to wait for thirteen years till Abraham also becomes important and is himself incapable of having a son even if he wants to that's what it says in Romans 4 he looked at his body debt service was already dead now his was also dead the Lord says now I'll give you a son and you read when he was 99 years old and he was impotent Sarah conceived and he was a hundred he got a kid that is the son of promise the principle is the same so when he was 86 it was difficult when it was 99 years impossible by time years 100 the job was done so in God's dealings with us there are three stages first difficult impossible and then done like the disciples went fishing by midnight it was difficult by 4 o'clock in the morning it is impossible by 5 o'clock it was done the boat is full of fish so the delay in our coming to victory is because we haven't yet come to the place where it's impossibly feel it's impossible we we still feel it's a bit difficult to get victory and then God has to wait it is difficult and so we keep on trying to produce one Ishmael after another it was the same with Moses you know when Moses at the age of 40 felt he could deliver Israel God says you're not fit he takes him into the wilderness makes him live with his father-in-law for 40 years and breaks and breaks and breaks and breaks him till all this mighty strength of the Prince of Egypt disappears and at the age of 80 he says Lord I will not go I'm not the man go and find somebody else and he wasn't acting humble he really felt important to deliver Israel God says you're the man this is God's Way in his dealings with all this is what brokenness means it means God has shattered your self-confidence this is the meaning of the Old Testament circumcision the Old Testament circumcision was a cutting off of the flesh and Paul says the true circumcision Philippians 3:3 he is a casting away of confidence in our flesh that's the meaning of the Old Testament circumcision though I have no more confidence in my ability and it takes a long while to be circumcised in our heart you know Jeremiah told the Israelites in Jeremiah 4 be circumcised in your heart not just in the externally that means you're so confident in yourself and you can find out if there are still those remnants of self confidence in you by just these two things 1 do you feel proud anytime when you manage to control your temper you produce an Ishmael and you were pretty proud of it now you haven't come to an end of yourself have you ever looked down on somebody who loses their temper or does something wrong and you secretly say I would never do that oh you haven't come to an end of yourself brother you got a long way to go I hope you'll get there soon but you haven't got there yet because of these two things if you get a little victory you become proud of it you do a little thing for God and you become proud of it and the second is you look down on somebody else when they fail you have a go before God and say Lord I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisees yeah you don't realize how many times I've gone before God and said that Lord I'm the number one Pharisee proud and looking down on others and thinking that I accomplished this but I thank God I came to an end of it they came when I said Lord it is impossible I don't say it's difficult anymore so let me show you another verse in Hebrews one which encouraged me a lot hebrews 1 it says jesus hated iniquity and loved righteousness hebrews 1 9 and that is the question i want to ask you all of you not whether you are overcoming sin do you hate sin can you honestly say i hate it he may not be able to do righteousness yet but can you say you love it well and you can follow Jesus Hebrews 1 9 he hated iniquity so I could say Lord I haven't come to the place where I finished with iniquity but I can honestly say I hate it now turn to Romans 7 Romans 7 is one of those very difficult scriptures to interpret particularly verses 14 to 25 and most of the great Bible scholars never never interpreted correctly there's a lot of theory there some people say Romans 6:14 is victory over sin then Romans 7 Paul is describing his unconverted days I don't believe that because in his unconverted days he will not say I believe the law is good no now let me just quickly go through Romans 7 14 to 25 I know that the law is spiritual see this is a born-again person saying this but I am a flesh and my flesh is sold into bondage to sin I've been redeemed by Christ as a person but my flesh is sold into bondage to sin and listen to this that which I'm doing I don't understand I'm not practicing what I would like to do here's a man who hates sin this is a born-again person I don't want to do it I don't wanna mess with my eyes I don't want to get angry but I do it I do verse 15 the very thing I hate that you're experienced and if I do the very thing I don't wish to do then I'm agreeing with the Lord is good so then it's not me doing it but this in this flesh in me that's doing it because I am against it that's one mark of being born again that I hate that sin it's come forth from me whether it's anger or lust or whatever it is again he says verse 19 the good that I want to do I don't do and I do the very thing evil that I don't want to do again he repeats it it's as if he's drilling it into us I'm doing the thing I don't wish to do then it's not me it's sin that dwells in me so he says I find a principle in me the one who wishes to do good that's a born-again person finds within me a principle of evil here's the testimony of a born-again person verse 22 i joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man I want to live according to God's standards when I see a different law in the members of my body waging war and making me a slave and if you have this cry in you verse 25 wretched man that I am who will set me free you're on the right path brother sister the great danger is when we look at others and say wretched man that he is a wretched man that she is when a wife looks at her husband and says what a wretched man he is or husband looks at a wife this is what a wretched woman she is the godly man says what a wretched man I am the Apostle Paul wretched man that I am who is going to set me free thank God through Jesus Christ I will get deliverance but this is the verse that a lot of people get confused with verse 25 with my mind I serve God but with my flesh the law of sin that's the conclusion of the whole thing they say hey that looks like an anti-climax I thought praise God I'm going to be free and all of a sudden he says no for the rest of my life my flesh will serve the law of sin but my mind is going to serve the law of God in other words there's going to be a lot of unconscious sin in us till the day we die things that I don't even know you know how particularly in the area of selfishness a person who's really godly will be able to see selfishness in you which you can't see yourself even though you're born again and you're trying to live a good life and that's you know that's where husband and wife if one is more spiritual than the other you can see a selfishness in the other person but that person doesn't see it himself or herself and that's why we must be merciful with one another you know just like a child in the sixth grade understands things that a child in the second grade can understand so we are all at different levels and what would you think of a child in the sixth grade looking down on a child's second grade and say hey you don't know geometry you don't know trigonometry who is the foolish kid there the one in the sixth grade the second grade kid is not supposed to know it we have to look at each other recognizing that that other brothers sister that husband that wife of mine is not got light on something God in His mercy is given light to me that is what helps us to be merciful to others his flesh or her flesh is serving the law of sin my flesh is also serving the law of sin but both of us our mind is serving the law of God odd his and mine hers and mine but that light has not yet come to that person as it has come to me in God's mercy that's what makes us merciful to others because we didn't get that light by our own cleverness it was God's tremendous mercy to us that he gave us light on some area of selfishness selfishness is like a huge onion every human beings got it if you get light on it we peel off one layer and there's still a lot left and the one who's worked on his selfishness more and more and more and more and more and the onion has become pretty thin we'll be able to see selfishness in somebody else whose onion is still thick and you may think you're a very holy person but someone who's much more unselfish than you can see selfishness in you but he won't say obviously if he's a godly man he won't even give you a hint that he sees you're selfish because he says I was there five years ago myself and little by little God gave me light and I believe God will deliver that person too it's a way we don't look down on a child who's at a lower level who doesn't understand some things we understand and so he says that's why there's no condemnation Romans 8:1 follows on from that I'm not condemned because I find this unconscious sin I'm discovering and I believe I'll discover if I'm faithful to the Lord in this year I'm going to discover areas of selfishness and maybe spiritual pride in which I don't see right now I'll peel off one more layer maybe some area of love of money I think I'm pretty free from it but God will show me one more layer no it's not your attitude to money is not yet exactly like the attitude of Jesus if that's your goal Jesus was the totally unselfish person and I haven't got there yet and the Lord shows me little by little by little in our speech for example we managed to control our speech quite a bit and it's pretty good but the Lord says it hasn't come to the level of Jesus speech yet if you are passionate to become like Christ you see that's the goal God has for you and he's giving you the Holy Spirit to bring you to that goal you'll never get discouraged that's the meaning of second Corinthians 3:18 and 4:1 3:18 as the Holy Spirit is going to make me show me Jesus glory make me like that and because I believe that chapter 4 verse 1 it says I don't get discouraged I don't get discouraged because God's going to make that in me because I see on the end of the sixth day God and say very good it's going to happen so little by little they are being renewed like it says in 2nd Corinthians 4:16 day by day we are renewed just like Genesis one and one day I'll be like the Lord completely so there is no condemnation no need to get discouraged men will look at us and condemn us that'll happen till the last day of your life on earth because there are multitudes of foolish people among believers and unbelievers but the Bible says man looks on the outward appearance God looks at the heart so he sees in your heart a real desire to live a godly life that man or woman who condemns you doesn't see that they just see how you fellow slipped up or lost your temper or did something wrong or did something selfish and cut you no judges you inwardly even if they don't say it don't worry about them you know in your heart you hate sin just preserve that and say Lord you're going to do it I'm still learning coming to the place where I can't make it you're bringing me to the place where I will never despise another human being you're bringing me to the place where even if I'm the most victorious Christian on the face of the earth I won't be proud of it you're bringing me to the place where even if I have the most fantastic ministry on the face of the earth there won't be an atom of pride in me because I will know by then it was all of grace it was all of God this is real victory and that's why it takes so long God has to allow us to fail and fail and fail and fail and fail I hope you are encouraged what I what I'm telling you is really basically my own testimony this is how God led me let's pray Heavenly Father I pray that you will encourages each one and help us never to give up in this first suit because you are our forerunner and you're so long-suffering and patient with every one of us you have hope for every one of us even when we don't have hope for ourselves thank you for that give us hope for ourselves and for others around us we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 55,631

Rating: 4.776567 out of 5

Keywords: why, god, delays, victory, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: cHWo_GR51O0

Length: 53min 11sec (3191 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 15 2013