Seeing the Glory of Christ in His Person (Dutch) — Zac Poonen

Seeing Christ’s Glory Through the Holy Spirit

It's a great joy and privilege to share God's word with you this weekend. And all over the world we have to acknowledge that we as Christians have come far short of God's purpose for our life. There is something that the devil has robbed us of.

And I pray that for many of us we will recover from Satan what he robbed us of. So we'll begin with the verse that we have here in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. As I've studied the Bible, I've discovered that 2 Corinthians 3 .18 is the best and most perfect teaching on what the Holy Spirit does.

If you want to know what the Holy Spirit's main ministry in our day is, it's in this verse. Everything is summed up here. The first thing the Holy Spirit does is show us the glory of Jesus Christ in a mirror.

And James chapter 1 tells us the mirror is the word of God. Now in an ordinary mirror we see our own face. But here it says in the mirror of God's word we see the glory of the Lord Jesus. That is the first ministry of the Holy Spirit.

If you read the scripture and you only get a doctrine, then you have not seen the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You can study the scripture and be completely blind to the glory of Jesus Christ. Many Christians, when they study scripture, they get a doctrine.

And those doctrines divide Christians into many, many groups. And each group thinks they've got the truth and somebody else is wrong. This is not something new. It was exactly like that when Jesus came to this earth.

The Pharisees had one doctrine and the Sadducees studied the same Old Testament and they had another doctrine. And the Herodians, they studied the scriptures and they had a third doctrine. But none of them could see the glory of Jesus.

When Jesus came to this earth, these people who had studied the scriptures for so many years, they looked at Jesus and they said, he is the prince of devils, Beelzebul. That teaches us you can study the scriptures and be completely blind to the glory of Jesus Christ.

And yet the Pharisees thought that they were the holiest people on the earth. They thought they had the right doctrine. But they were blind. Then there was this young man called Peter. He was not a Bible scholar.

He hadn't gone to any Bible school. He was not a Pharisee or a Sadducee or a Herodian. He hadn't even studied the Bible as much as those people. But one day when Jesus asked the disciples, who do people say that I am?

We read in Matthew 16 that they said some say you're Jeremiah, some say you're Elijah, some say you're John the Baptist risen from the dead again. Then he said, who do you say that I am? And Peter said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

How did the Pharisees who studied the Bible say that he was Beelzebul? Peter who had not studied the Bible so much could say, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. But Jesus said to him, you're blessed Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.

But my Father in heaven, you see Peter got revelation from the Holy Spirit. And so he saw the glory of Jesus, and that's what made him such a mighty Apostle. And those Pharisees who spent their time studying the Scriptures and arguing about doctrine, they completely missed seeing the glory of Jesus Christ.

These things are written for our instruction. There are many like the Pharisees today, and there are a few like Peter. It's dependent on the revelation of the Holy Spirit. It's not by study of the Scriptures alone.

You can study the Scriptures without the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and you will never see the glory of Jesus. And that's what this passage says. Now how do we know whether we've seen the glory of Jesus Christ or not?

Transformation as the Test of Seeing Christ’s Glory

Now most of us who are sitting here may say, yeah, I've seen the glory of Jesus. How do you know that you're not deceived? We can't afford to be deceived in this area. Because 2 ,000 years ago, if you had asked the Pharisees, have you seen the glory of the Messiah?

If you had asked the Pharisees 2 ,000 years ago, have you seen the glory of the Messiah? Do you see the glory of God in the Scripture? David of old said, yes, sure, but they hadn't seen it. Only Peter saw it.

So I want to be sure that I'm not deceived. Here is this verse. We with unveiled face, verse 18, see in a mirror the glory of the Lord and are transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Lord, the Spirit.

Now, I don't want to give you my opinion here. I want to show you what God's Word says. Many of us Christians, we believe the Bible is the Word of God. But we don't take seriously what's written here.

Read this verse carefully. I encourage the people to read the Bible slowly. We read the Bible too fast. And so we don't understand it. There's no blessing in reading the Scripture if we don't meditate on it.

It's no use reading through the Bible in one year if the Bible doesn't go through you. I'm more interested in the Bible going through me than me going through the Bible. So let's look at this verse a little slowly.

How do I know? I mean, even a little child can answer this. Just with this one verse. How do I know that I have seen the glory of the Lord Jesus? According to this verse, there's one proof. If I have seen the glory of Jesus, I will be transformed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.

I will become more and more Christ-like every year. I will be more and more patient with people every year. I will be more and more free from anger every year. I will be more and more pure. More and more compassionate.

I will be more and more compassionate. More and more humble. More and more loving. This is the meaning of being transformed from glory to glory into the likeness of Christ. But if that is not happening to me, if I'm still losing my temper like I was ten years ago, brother, sister, I don't care what your doctrine is, you have not seen the glory of Christ.

And I'm saying, don't let the devil rob you of your birthright. When God sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he sent him with one purpose, to show us the glory of Jesus Christ and to fill our inner life and make us more and more like him.

Then why is it so many Christians are not becoming more and more Christ-like? Why are Christians still having bad moods and anger? Why are they so frequently complaining and grumbling about so many things?

And it's the same, year after year, they don't seem to change. Why do they love money so much and pursue after money? Did Jesus love money? Did Jesus ever wake up in a bad mood one morning? And then the devil will come and say, oh, you can't be like him.

But the Bible says, we can be changed into his image. Who are you going to believe? The devil who says you can't be like him? Or the Bible that says the Holy Spirit will transform us into that image from glory to glory?

It doesn't happen in a moment. Becoming like Christ is something like conquering Canaan. It's like conquering the land of Canaan. I mean, the Israelites didn't conquer the land of Canaan in one day. But little by little, God's purpose was they should occupy the whole land.

And that every giant that ruled Canaan should be killed. And that all giants in Canaan should be killed. And that the whole land, from one end to the other, should manifest the glory of God. And the land of Canaan is an image of you and of me.

And many giants of sin have ruled this land for so many years. But the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus Christ. And we allow him to fill our lives. Little by little, that land gets occupied. And the giants are killed one by one.

And from glory to glory to glory to glory, we are changed into the likeness of Christ. And this is why the devil has made the doctrine of the Holy Spirit the most controversial doctrine in Christendom today.

Avoiding Extremes in Teaching About the Holy Spirit

We have some people talking about the baptism in the Holy Spirit in such a fanatical way that they've gone off to one extreme. And then there are other people who react against that and say, we don't want that, and go to the other extreme.

There are some people who talk about the baptism in the Holy Spirit with only one gift of the Holy Spirit. That's everything in their life. And there are others who say, we don't want anything of that.

That's what happened in Christendom. Some people have fallen over the cliff one side, and some people have fallen over the cliff the opposite side. Concerning the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And the result is, neither of them are really filled with the Holy Spirit.

And that's what the devil wants. He doesn't care whether you fall over the right side or the left side, so long as you reach the bottom. But if you come to the Scriptures, you won't go fall this side or that side.

There's a middle path, which is not in this extreme or the other extreme. Like I said, this verse describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit better than any verse in the whole Bible. The main ministry of the Holy Spirit is twofold.

First, to show us the glory of Jesus in Scripture. And then to change us into that likeness, little by little by little. So, if you study the Scripture, and you've got a doctrine, and you haven't seen the glory of Jesus, then you're following the Pharisees.

Removing the Veil Through the New Covenant

Now, there's a reason for this. It says in verse 18, there's a veil that has to be removed. See, for example, earlier it says about Moses having a veil over his face. Verse 13, it says Moses put a veil over his face.

And why did Moses put a veil over his face? And why did Moses put a veil over his face? A veil over his face? In these verses, you see the contrast between Moses and Jesus. Moses brought the law. A lot of rules and regulations.

The Holy Spirit brought life. Jesus brought life. He said, I've come to not give you laws. I've come to give you life, an abundant life. Moses brought the old covenant. Jesus brought the new covenant.

And one big difference is this. In the old covenant, Moses went up to the mountain, saw the glory of God for 40 days. And that glory began to shine in his face. And when he came down, he covered his face with a veil.

Remember, this is old covenant. He covered his face with a veil. Now, one reason is because people were scared to look at him. But there is another reason. And that's not written in the Old Testament.

That's written here in verse 13. In verse 13 it says, Moses put a veil on his face so that the children of Israel would not see that underneath that veil, the glory was becoming less and less and less and less.

So, if you lifted that veil and looked at Moses' face the next day, the glory was a little less. And you lifted it the next day, it was still less. And the next day, it was still less. And after a few days, it was gone completely.

When he went up to the mountain, it was there. But little by little by little, it was going away. And Moses put a veil over his face, it says in verse 13, so that people would not see that underneath that veil, the glory was fading away.

Is your Christian life like that? Where you put a veil, pretending that you are very spiritual? And underneath that veil, there is no glory. The way you talk to your wife at home, or the way you talk to your husband at home, the way you look at internet pornography, there's no glory there.

So you have to cover it up. You have to cover it up with spiritual language. You have to cover it up with Christian music. And activity. And underneath, there is no glory. But you don't want people to know that.

So you have to hide under a veil. You know, most Christians live like this? And that's why I say most Christians are living in the old covenant. And that's why I say most Christians are living in the old covenant.

They are living now in 2009, but as if they are living in pre-Christian times. I want you to see this contrast. In the old covenant, there was the covering that Moses was allowed to cover. The glory became less and less and less and less every day.

In the new covenant, the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus. And verse 18, the glory becomes more and more and more every day. Now you ask yourself, which covenant are you living under? You know why there was a difference?

In the old covenant, when they read the Bible, they saw a law. They saw a doctrine. In the new covenant, when we read the Bible, we see the glory of Jesus. Not a rules and doctrine. When you read the Bible, if you only see doctrine, we have to say there is still a veil there.

See what it says here? When you read the Bible, See what it says here? Verse 15. To this day, whenever Moses is read, there is a veil over their heart. There are two ways you can read the Bible. You can read the Bible like the law of Moses.

That's the meaning of verse 15. You read the Bible and you see it's full of rules. You can't do this and you can't do that. You must do this and you must do the other thing. And there is a veil. And under that veil, your glory will become less and less and less.

You know, this is the experience of many Christians. They come to a conference like this for three days, a weekend, and boy, they see the glory of God. This is like Moses on the mountain. And they go back.

When you see them one month later, the glory has become less. And then what do they do? They have to cover it. They have to hide their nakedness. They don't want other people to know that the glory is going.

And then they have to wait until another conference. Again, they climb the mountaintop and they see the glory. And it's all wonderful. But it decreases. And they have to put a veil again. This is the experience of most Christians if they are honest.

Honesty as the First Step Toward Deliverance

But most Christians are not honest enough to admit it. I want to tell you something that if you want to meet with God, you have to first be honest. You got to be honest about your true condition. And if you have heard me now describe your condition, even if you are a respected Christian leader, you say, Lord, that perfectly describes my condition.

The first step to deliverance is honesty. God loves honest people. That's why a woman caught in adultery could find deliverance, but not the Pharisees. The woman caught in adultery admitted, yeah, I've fallen into adultery.

There was no veil. She was not trying to cover up anything. The thief on the cross, he said, yeah, I'm guilty. I've done all these wrong things. He went to paradise. But the Pharisees who tried to cover their life with a veil Jesus said to them, how will you escape the damnation of hell?

Do you think the thief on the cross was living a better life than those Pharisees? That thief on the cross, his life was more wicked than the Pharisees. How did he go to paradise and the other Pharisees go to hell?

Only one reason. He was absolutely honest about his condition. That's why Jesus said, I did not come to call the righteous. That means those who think they are righteous. Those who pretend to be righteous.

Those who put a veil of righteousness underneath their sin in their life. So the most important thing is to see the glory of Jesus Christ. But if you read the scripture and you see it like a law of Moses then it says in verse 15 there's a veil over your heart.

But here's the way of deliverance. Verse 16. But when a man turns to the Lord that veil is taken away. How can the veil be taken away? We have to turn to the Lord. Now in the New Testament whenever it talks about the Lord it's talking about the Lord Jesus.

Except in one place. And that is this place. Here, it's talking about the Holy Spirit. It's the only place in the New Testament where the Lord is referring to the Holy Spirit. And that's not my opinion.

It's written here in the next verse. Now, verse 17 the Lord is the Holy Spirit. So read verse 16 and 17 together. When a man turns to the Lord the veil is taken away. And he says here I'm talking about the Lord Jesus.

Or the Holy Spirit. So the way for the veil to be taken away from my life is to turn to the Holy Spirit. Now we need to make this practical. When I read the Scriptures if I don't turn to the Holy Spirit there's going to be a veil over my face.

I'll tell you how it is. It's like I put a sheet over the Bible and I try to read it. I can't read anything. There's a veil there. I'm trying carefully to read and read and read. I can get information in my mind.

You can read the Bible like you read a history book or a chemistry book. And you get a lot of information in your mind. But you don't get revelation in your heart. The Pharisees read the Bible like this.

And they got a lot of information in their mind. They argued about what you should do on the Sabbath day and what you should not do on the Sabbath day. How to wash your hands before you eat your food?

Can you carry your bed on the Sabbath day? You must type your mint and dill and cumin and all those things. But they didn't understand compassion and love and mercy. Because they had this veil on top of their Bible.

But Peter he turned to the Holy Spirit and the veil was taken away. It makes all the difference. You can read now. He could see Jesus. He could see Jesus and the glory of Jesus. And Jesus said to him You're a blessed man, Simon.

You're more blessed than all these people in Israel. Because you can see something which all these clever people cannot see. And I want to say to you my brothers and sisters when you read the word of God if you see in it the glory of Jesus Christ you are more blessed than all the Bible scholars who can explain Greek and Hebrew and all that.

Testing Spiritual Claims by the Character of Jesus

There are so many preachers and pastors who preach a lot of clever things. They haven't seen the glory of Jesus in their life. And how do we know that? Because they're not becoming more like Christ themselves.

When a person says he's filled with the Holy Spirit and he speaks in tongues and he heals the sick and at the same time he loves money and he's eager to get money from people I say that's not the Holy Spirit.

I don't know what spirit it is but it's not the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus and makes us like Him. And Jesus did not love money. He was not a preacher who went after people to get money.

How is it today that so many people who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit are going after money? I tell you, in Jesus' name that is another spirit. Don't be deceived. This is the test. To me, the perfect example of the Spirit-filled man is Jesus Christ.

You can never go wrong if you make Him your example. If you don't make Him your example if you don't let the Holy Spirit show you the glory of Jesus in Scripture you will go astray in 101 ways. You'll never be deceived if you see the glory of Jesus in Scripture.

Let me give you another example. Today there are all types of strange manifestations which people are saying this is the Holy Spirit. How to know whether it's the Holy Spirit or some other spirit? Well, it's very simple.

We've got to compare it with Jesus Christ. We've got to see the glory of Jesus. If we see the glory of Jesus there then it is the Holy Spirit. If we don't see the glory of Jesus there I say that can't be the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit has come to glorify Jesus Christ.

He has come to make us like Christ and He has come to make our ministry like Christ's. He is going to make us preach like Jesus Christ. He is going to make us serve people like Christ served people. That is the mark of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Let me give you an example. Today for example some people lay hands on somebody and they fall down. Now how to know whether that's the Holy Spirit or some other spirit? It's very easy for me. I look in the Bible and I see do I ever see Jesus putting hands on somebody and make him fall down?

Never. I see Jesus putting hands on people and lifting them up. I say then this can't be Jesus. I don't know what it is. I'm not here to judge them but it's not Jesus Christ. But if you have not seen the glory of Jesus in Scripture but you've only got a doctrine there's a veil over your face you'll be confused and you'll be deceived.

But we don't have to be deceived. It's a wonderful thing that the Holy Spirit has come to show us the glory of Jesus Christ. The Lord is the Spirit and He shows us the glory of Jesus Christ. Let me give you one example of that.

Responding to False Accusations Like Jesus

I remember many years ago you know when we serve the Lord we are attacked and accused and criticized a lot. Jesus said that blessed are you when people say all types of evil things about you for my name's sake.

He also said if they've called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more they'll call the members of his family. So I faced that in my life. I've been serving the Lord full time now 42 years and I've had a lot of false accusations and when people accuse you falsely you're tempted strongly.

You're tempted strongly to wish that God will punish them and teach them a lesson. I mean we don't do anything ourselves but we hope that God will judge once the Lord showed me the glory of Jesus in scripture.

That was from Matthew chapter 12. We read here in verse 24 the Pharisees heard about Jesus casting out a demon and they said this man casts out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of demons. So how do you feel when somebody calls you the prince of devils?

Some bible scholar calls you a prince of devils. Has anybody done that to you? They did that to your master. Are you greater than him or lesser than him? Jesus said if they call the master Beelzebub the members of his family they'll call by worse names.

Maybe you're a compromising diplomatic Christian who doesn't want to offend anybody and that's why nobody calls you any bad names. Jesus wasn't like that. He was not compromising. He didn't want to please a single human being on this earth.

He wanted to only please his father. He never preached for money. He never preached to be invited back again to the same place. He never preached to please anybody. He spoke the truth that would help people and not impress them that he was a great preacher.

There are very few people like that in the world today because he wanted to please only the father. And the Pharisees were angry with him and they called him Bilzebul. What did Jesus do? Listen to his reply in verse 32.

He said whoever will speak a word against the son of man it will be forgiven him. And this is where I saw the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. Between the glory of Moses and the glory of Jesus.

Moses was a servant of the Lord and Jesus was a servant of his father. But there was a tremendous difference between the two. You know, we read in Numbers chapter 12 that Moses' sister and brother Miriam and Aaron one day they got together and they criticized him for a very small thing.

Did this man Moses marry a non Israelite woman? Why did he go and marry that Jethro's daughter? He should have married a non Israelite woman. They criticized a servant of God concerning the wife he married.

You know what Miriam got for that? Leprosy. You criticize Moses, you get leprosy. And you criticize Jesus, what should you get? Hell. But they didn't get hell. They got forgiveness. And the Lord said to me, when people criticize you, what do you want them to get?

Leprosy or forgiveness. Do you want to follow Moses or do you want to follow Jesus? And the veil dropped from my eyes. I could see the glory of Jesus. I said, Lord, the people who hate me and do evil to me, I want you to forgive them.

I want to forgive them myself. You know, it's wonderful when you see the glory of Jesus. We're not looking at those Old Testament examples anymore. Because that was old covenant. That was kindergarten stuff.

That was kindergarten lessons. New covenant is like going to college. There's a lot of difference between kindergarten and college. Do you want to live in the kindergarten all your life? Do you want to go to college and ask God to forgive those who criticize you?

Joy, Victory, and the Fullness of the New Covenant

So many Christians are living in the kindergarten. They are living under the old covenant because they haven't seen the glory of Jesus. And that's why there's so much strife and quarreling. Not only in their churches but in their homes.

That's why there's so much jealousy in their heart. And that's why there's so much discouragement and depression. You know, discouragement and depression is another thing which is characteristic of old covenant people.

I was born again and baptized and I was a Christian but I used to still get discouraged so often. I used to get depressed and I read in the Bible that you must rejoice in the night before he was crucified that he turned to his disciples and said my joy I give unto you.

Imagine if you are going to be hanged tomorrow morning that you go around encouraging people today saying I got a lot of joy in my heart and I like to share that with you. That's how Jesus was. He was never depressed.

No matter what happened he knew that everything was under the Father's control. That is new covenant life. That is the glory of Jesus. I remember once a servant of God a servant depressed and we are not greater than Elijah.

I said I don't agree with you. I said the Bible says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Run this race. So I told him if Elijah is the author and finisher of your faith then you have to be depressed.

If Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith you will never be depressed. You can live an old covenant life like Elijah and be depressed and gloomy or you can see the glory of Jesus and never be depressed but rejoice in the Lord always.

Now you know what the devil says when you hear a message like that? You cannot conquer the land. The giants are too strong. 600 ,000 Israelites believed the devil and they could not enter the land of Canaan because they believed the lie of Joshua and Caleb.

They said those giants may be stronger than us they are not stronger than God we can conquer them. God said according to your faith be it unto you 600 ,000 people you have get discouraged and bad moods all right according to your faith be it unto you all 600 ,000 of you will have bad moods and be depressed.

But in the midst of those 600 ,000 Christians there'll be two Christians like Joshua and Caleb who say God's word says rejoice in the Lord always. We can rejoice in the Lord always 24 hours a day 7 days a week because that's how Jesus was.

You'll never see Jesus like Elijah sitting under a juniper tree and saying oh father I'm fed up with my life. Why is it so many Christians sit like that. They haven't seen the glory of Jesus today. Christian preachers fall into adultery.

Did Jesus fall into adultery. Did Paul fall into adultery. Were they watching internet pornography. Even if there was internet those days how can such people call themselves Christians. Even in the old testament Elijah John the Baptist would not have watched that type of pornography.

But today so many people who call themselves Christians are just deceiving themselves. They've got a doctrine this doctrine this verse the other verse. And there's sin in their life. Dear brothers and sisters I want to tell you in Jesus name the devil is making a fool of you.

And when Christ comes back you're going to get a big surprise. So you better listen to the truth now. Don't let the devil rob you of your inheritance in Christ. If your father was a billionaire and he had many millions of euros in his account and he dies and he's written a will in your name with all property here and there that he's willed for you.

Tell me would you read that will carefully. Or would you allow some crooked lawyer to cheat you of your inheritance. No none of you would do that. If your father was a multimillionaire you would read that will every sentence carefully and say I want my full inheritance.

How many of you have studied the new covenant with the same interest. Say this is my inheritance in Christ. One part of my one small part of my inheritance is this that Philippians 4 4 that I can rejoice in the Lord 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

I'm not preaching what I don't practice for so many years of my life. The devil robbed me of my inheritance. But I stood against the devil and I said you're not going to rob me of my inheritance anymore.

My father wrote a will for me. It's signed in the blood of Jesus Christ and no devil is going to rob me of my inheritance. Just like you would not allow a crooked lawyer to cheat you of your father's inheritance.

The Image of God and Following Jesus

Dear brothers and sisters ask yourself have you missed something in the Christian life. There is a glory in Jesus which we can have when God made Adam He created him in His image. That means with the capacity to receive God's nature.

Adam did not have God's nature. If he had God's nature he would not have sinned. But he had the capacity to receive God's nature. The angels didn't have that capacity. No angel was made in the image of God.

They were made with many supernatural powers but they were not made in the image of God. Among all of God's creation the first person God made in His image was Adam and then Eve. They had a capacity which no one else in creation had.

That's something like saying that a bulb has got the capacity to receive electricity and give forth light. Now if you send electricity through this pulpit it won't give any light because this wooden pulpit doesn't have the capacity to give light.

Even if you put 10 ,000 volts through this it won't give any light. But when electricity goes into a bulb it gives out light. That's the difference between Adam and the angels. The angels did not have the capacity to receive God's nature.

Adam was created with that capacity and he could have received God's life. But he didn't because he believed the lie of the devil. And just like the devil is robbing today's world the devil doesn't rob you of your inheritance.

How did God want Adam to live. We don't know in the Old Testament nowhere do we see. How did God originally want Adam to live until finally Jesus walked on this earth and there God could say this is how I wanted Adam to live.

This is how I wanted every child of Adam and Eve to live the way Jesus lived on this earth. That's why Jesus often said follow me. Do you know. He said follow me and see how many times he said follow me and you will discover he said much more follow me than believe in me.

Now what about you. Do you just believe in Jesus or do you follow him. What does it mean to be a disciple. Disciple is not somebody who just believes. A disciple is a learner and a follower. That means he looks at Jesus to learn and then he follows him.

The holy spirit shows him the glory of Jesus and makes him like Jesus. We can never make ourselves like Jesus. Many Christians think of the church meeting like a self improvement program. You know we can improve our old Adam's nature and try and be a little kind and a little patient.

But it's all on the surface. Inside we're not changed. That's not divine nature. You know there was a brother who was in our church. He came from Hinduism. He said this in a testimony. I could conquer anger by practicing yoga.

I didn't have to be a Christian. But what type of anger could he conquer with yoga. On the outside control your tongue control your expression and don't lose your temper. But inside the heart he could be boiling with anger.