Casting Away All Confidence in Self — Zac Poonen

The Old Testament and the New Covenant

As you all know, three quarters of the Bible of this Bible that we hold is Old Testament. And because we preach in this church more than perhaps any other church in the world, that the old covenant has been abolished, it's very clearly taught in Hebrews 8, and that we should be under the new covenant.

The danger is that a lot of us may stop reading the Old Testament. But if you neglect the Old Testament, you have neglected three quarters of God's Word. The old covenant is different from the first 39 books of the Bible.

The first 39 books of the Bible are called Old Testament by man. It's not written like that anywhere in the Bible. Just for reference sake, we call it the Old Testament, but testament and covenant are the same thing.

But the old covenant is what God made with Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses. The Ten Commandments and the 603 other commandments that God gave in Leviticus and all that, that has been abolished because that has been fulfilled in Christ.

The Sabbath has been fulfilled and the tithing, every law has been fulfilled in Christ. So we don't go back to the old covenant for doing those things commanded there. But you can understand the New Testament better if you have read the Old Testament, because there you see the symbols.

First of all, you see the origin of sin. You have to begin with Genesis 1, 2 and 3 in any case. And then many other things you see which are even quoted in the New Testament, which helps us to understand the New Testament better.

I'll show you a few examples. If you turn to Hebrews in chapter 9, it says here in Hebrews 9, verse 1, even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and an earthly sanctuary. And there was a tabernacle and it speaks there.

This is New Testament, Hebrews 9, 4, there was a golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant and all these things. And then it says here, into the second most holy place, verse 7, the high priest alone could enter once a year, not without blood.

That's teaching us about the tent of the tabernacle. So you won't know what that means unless you read the Old Testament. There was a tent which had two compartments and into the second compartment you could not enter.

And the Holy Spirit was signifying through this, verse 8, that the way into the most holy place was not yet opened. So you won't understand what that means unless you read the Old Testament. So I'm just showing you how there are parts of the New Testament which you won't understand unless you read the Old Testament.

The Veil, Christ’s Self-Denial, and Victory Over Sin

While that outer tabernacle was still standing, and that is as long as God is accepting that tabernacle and temple, you could not go into the most holy place. But now, Hebrews 10, 19, Again, you won't understand that unless you realize in the Old Testament there was a veil.

And that that veil symbolized the flesh or the self-will of Jesus Christ. The word flesh is used in the New Testament sometimes to refer to just meat and sometimes to refer to our self-will, which fights against the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus had a will of his own, which he denied, as you know in Gethsemane, not my will but thine be done. And he denied that not only there, but for 33 and a half years he spent all his life saying no to his own will.

As a little child, he said no to his own will and obeyed his parents. All his life, he was tempted in every point that you and I are. And the way he overcame was, he said no to his own will. No, no, no, no, for 33 and a half years.

And finally, when every single temptation that any human being can ever face, that includes all the temptations you have faced and will face, he had overcome all of them. You know what he said on the cross?

It is finished. How have you understood that word, it is finished? What was finished? For many years, I thought it was just the punishment for my sins was finished. That's how most people have understood it.

And that is also correct. But that's only, like many other parts of scripture, only part of the truth. There's a depth to the statements of God. It is finished meant all the punishment for our sin was finished and every temptation has been overcome that you can ever face.

He has denied his will, it is finished. And that self-will was symbolized in that veil that hung, that's what we read here, the flesh of Jesus, that veil that hung in front of the most holy place. And there we learn that it is our self-will that prevented man from going into God's presence.

You won't understand that unless you read the Old Testament. So, until the self-will of man had been completely conquered and rent, way into the holy place would not be open. You couldn't go into God's presence.

That's why nobody could know God as father. That's why that place was blocked. And now, it says here, when Jesus completed all that temptation saying no to his self-will at every point, the veil was torn.

That's the meaning of the rent veil. When Jesus died on the cross, that veil was rent. And I'll tell you, 99 of Christians have never understood that. And this is the biggest problem with our life. And if you don't understand it, you don't get victory over sin.

It's not just a question of overcoming anger or overcoming dirty thoughts. It's a question of crucifying your self-will, your stubborn self-will which manifests itself in your married life, which manifests itself when you're driving on the roads.

And if you don't put that self-will to death, you're not going to get victory over anger or victory over dirty thoughts because those are small segments. Self-will is a big circle. One segment of it is anger.

Another segment is murmuring. Another segment is dirty thoughts. And if you just try to conquer those things and your self-will remains the same, you're going to have problems all your life. And that's why there are people here who have heard about overcoming anger and dirty thoughts for, I don't know, 20 -30 years and you're still defeated.

Have you ever wondered why? There's a new and living way, it says in verse 20, through the veil. And that veil is not anger. It's not dirty thoughts. It's self-will. The veil that is his flesh. And to go through that veil means I choose every day, like Jesus said, to deny myself, my self-will.

To take up the cross means to put that will to death and go through. And this also applies to man's spirit, which is also symbolized by that most holy place where God cannot enter. Just like we could not enter into God's presence, symbolized by the veil, God cannot enter into my spirit, symbolized by a veil in my heart.

That is my self-will. If that's rent, God can come in. Otherwise, he's on the outside. And our greatest passion must be to experience God deep within our hearts. To experience his leading, to hear his voice.

And if you want to know that, my brother, if you really want to know that deeper walk with God, learn to deny your self-will, to rent. You don't have to rent the veil. The veil has already been rent.

To walk the way of the rent veil. That means the way that Jesus went. Then you experience that in your life. So, I'm just telling you how that symbolism helps us understand. Something is very practical.

I mean, if it's just theory. Some people study this as just theory of types and all that. And I'm not interested in that. Everything I read in the Bible must be practical. If it doesn't apply in my practical life, well, I'm not interested in studying that.

The Law as a Tutor and the Two Sons of Abraham

So, in the same way, for example, I'll show you another example of how Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament. If you turn to Galatians, and we read there, here it speaks about, you know, we are now sons of God, and not servants.

In the Old Covenant, it says here, in Galatians chapter 3, and verse 24, the law has become a schoolmaster or tutor or governess or what we would call a private tutor in our house. To lead us to Christ.

That means, if I were to use an illustration, like an ayah, someone who takes care of us when we are little children, holding us hands when we cross the road, to finally come to the place where we can go on our own.

So, the law was not meant to be our ayah forever. I mean, you may have had an ayah at home, someone who was like a governess to look after you, take you to school or something like that, but she doesn't hold your hand forever.

A time comes when, that ayah leaves your hand, you can go on your own. That's how it should be. That's why I say, I don't live by the Ten Commandments. I needed the Ten Commandments in the days when I was not born again.

That's why our children, they have not been born again, so they are under law. Your children are not under grace, they are under law. That's why we have to discipline them, punish them, and that's why we have to compel them to do things.

But, when they are born again, we are free from law, because we have learned to walk on our own. Now, if a child is mentally retarded, then the ayah may have to hold his hand, even when he is 20 years old, because he doesn't know how to cross the road.

And unfortunately, a lot of God's children are like that. Even though they have been born again 20 years ago, they still need the law, because they are irresponsible. But it's not God's will, because you obey the law at a deeper level.

You obey the law in your heart. You don't need a law which says don't commit adultery, because you don't commit it in your heart. You don't need a law which says don't kill, because you don't get angry.

So, there's a picture there, of the law was like a tutor or an ayah to lead us to Christ. And once we come to Christ, we are free. Free to obey God, just like Jesus did. And in the Old Testament, we have examples.

For example, further down in chapter 4, he speaks about Abraham's two, the two people he had children through. That's also in the Old Testament. If you don't read the Old Testament, chapter 4, verse 22, Abraham had two sons.

Now, you won't know what that means in the New Testament, if you haven't read the Old Testament. And that one was by a bondwoman, and one was by a free woman. Sarah was a free woman. His servant woman, Hagar, was a bondwoman.

And the son of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh. Meaning, verse 23, that Hagar's son was born in the normal way that all children are born. Abraham had the power. He was not impotent. He had the ability to have children.

His wife, Sarah, could not have children. She was barren. But Abraham, at the age of 85, had the ability to have children. And so he had, at the age of 86, he got a son called Ishmael through Hagar. You can read about that in Genesis, chapter 16.

But then, Sarah was still barren. Later on, when Abraham was 100 years old, 14 years later, by the time Abraham also became impotent, and that you don't read in the Old Testament, that you read in Romans, chapter 4, that Abraham looked at his own body, which was dead.

Till then, Sarah's body was dead, as far as giving birth was concerned. But in Romans 4, we read that Abraham's body was also dead. And then he had a child. That was a miracle. This person had gone beyond the possibility of having children, and then God gave him a child.

So that was not the result of normal birth. It was through the supernatural empowering of God, that he got Isaac. Otherwise, he could not have had Isaac. And that's why God waited until Abraham became impotent.

Because till then, he felt, I'm capable. Okay, Sarah can't have a child, that's fine. I'm still capable, and I can produce one. And you read in the Old Testament, how Abraham lifted up Ishmael to God, and said, Lord, please let this be the promised seed.

You have given promise for me. It's an example of the mistake that a lot of people think, that when God gives them a promise, they have to help God. If God is in a difficult position, they have to help God to fulfill that promise.

That's what Abraham felt. Because God told him in Genesis 12, you're going to have seed like the stars of the sky, and the sand on the seashore. What he meant was, you're going to have a heavenly seed, that is the church, and an earthly seed, that is Israel, like the sand on the seashore.

But he didn't understand that. He just knew he was going to have a lot of children. And he was not having any children. God said that to him when he was 75. So he waited 10 years, no children. And then Sarah also said, okay, we better help God now.

See, God's in a tight spot. What do you do when God is in a difficult position? You have to help him, right? That's the stupidity of man. All these people, for example, today, what is the application of it for today?

The application is, when you don't have money enough for God's work, when God's work has to be done, we have to help God. We have to write letters to America or Europe, to help God, you know, because God is in a tight spot now.

And we have to tell them, tell man, see, God is in a difficult position now here in India. And we need your help. If you guys don't help, God's work here will suffer. So you guys better help us with sending us money, so that we can do God's work here.

Ishmael, Ishmael, Ishmael. How many of you have understood that? How many of you have seen that going begging foreign people anywhere, even India or abroad for money, is producing Ishmael? It may look very nice.

Do you think Ishmael was a handicapped, retarded child? He was much stronger than Isaac. He was very strong, big. And a lot of this so-called Christian work is pretty big. But when you lift up that work and say, Lord, accept it, God says, no.

I won't accept it. Because this is produced by your cleverness and your ability and your contacts in different places. And that's how you did it. I'm not going to accept it. Very few people see that. You'll see it at the judgment seat of Christ.

When all of that comes crumbling down and is destroyed as wood, hay and straw, that day you'll discover it, but it'll be too late. Blessed are those who see it now, so they don't waste their time producing Ishmael's and building with wood, hay and straw.

The principle is, you can't trust God alone. You have to help him out. And you have to do something without God's leading. If you want to know the way God did his work, look at Jesus. He never sent out any prayer letters.

He never asked anybody in the world ever for money. Paul, look at the way the apostles did it. They never asked for anybody. So where did all these bright ideas come from? From man's clever brain. That's what you can learn by reading the Old Testament.

Man's clever brain produced Ishmael. And when God saw that, you know what God did? I'll show you in a moment. But it says here that Sarah was the free woman. And the son by the bond woman, verse 23, was born according to the flesh.

The son by the free woman was born according to the promise. That means that was 100 dependent on God alone. The other was God plus man. That means Abraham also cooperated. And he thought God was helping him.

But it was almost 100 man. He had a child exactly like any other person has. He thought it was God plus man. It was not. It was 100 man. But done in the name of God. I want to produce a child to fulfill God's promise.

I'm doing all this so that I can promote God's work. It looks very spiritual. And if you are fooled by that, that shows how carnal you are. Then he says, this is also a symbol of the two covenants. Verse 24.

That these are two ways of serving God. One is the old covenant. When Israel was serving God, that was okay. You know, for example, if people didn't pay that tithe, there's a curse pronounced in Manakhi 3 .10.

Cursed are you. Because you have not given your 10 to the temple. You know, that's a very favorite verse of pastors today. You never find it in the New Testament. No. Because they haven't understood the difference between Ishmael and Isaac.

And so they say, okay, for God's work, we must do this. We must raise money, give money. And they were forced to do it. But in the New Testament, it says, God loves a cheerful giver. So these are symbols of two covenants.

Freedom in Christ and Dependence on God

One came from Mount Sinai. And everyone who comes from there are children. Verse 24. Who will be slaves. Listen to that. That is the reason for your slavery to sin. Everyone who is a slave to anger, to dirty thoughts, to murmuring, complaining, grumbling, whether you know it or not, my dear brother, sister, face up to it.

You are under the old covenant. Even though you sit in a church that preaches the new covenant. You are under law. Romans 6 .14 says that Sin shall not have dominion over you, because you are not under law.

I can put it another way. Sin will have dominion over you, as long as you are under law. That's the meaning of Romans 6 .14. Till you come under grace. These children who are born under the old covenant are bound to be slaves.

Hagar was a slave. Ishmael, her son, was a slave. He says that's different. And even that earthly Jerusalem, he says in verse 26, which was the Jewish headquarters those days, it's in slavery. But our Jerusalem is a heavenly one.

Verse 26. When we talk about Babylon to Jerusalem, we are talking about a heavenly Jerusalem, the true church of God, described in Revelation 21. And concerning this, it is written, Rejoice, O barren woman, in verse 27.

That's a quotation from Isaiah 54, verse 1. And do you know that Isaiah 54 comes immediately after Isaiah 53? Isaiah 53 is the chapter about the cross, the death of Jesus, Jesus dying for our sins. And do you know what's the very next verse after Isaiah 53?

Isaiah 54, verse 1. That's quoted here. Rejoice, O barren woman, Sarah, who did not bear. You can break forth and shout, because the children of this barren woman are more than the one who thought she had a husband.

So in other words, the whole purpose of the cross, Isaiah 53, is to lead us to Isaiah 54, verse 1, where we can have children. Jesus will have spiritual children, and we ourselves, no longer being under law, will come into a life of victory.

This is what we learn from the Old Testament. And therefore, he says in verse 28,. Therefore you, brethren, like Isaac, are children of the promise. You're not produced by human effort. It's by the supernatural power of God.

We're supposed to live by that supernatural power of God, not by our own cleverness and abilities. That's why we're not to lean on our own wisdom. Christ has made unto us wisdom. So what does the scripture say?

Further, verse 29. And at that time, I don't know whether you read this in the Old Testament, again, it's the Old Testament. In the book of Genesis, it says that Ishmael, who was 14 years older than Isaac, began to trouble his little brother.

He kept on persecuting him, bullying, bullying that poor little Isaac. And he says exactly, you read that in the Old Testament. And like that, at that time, Ishmael, verse 29, born according to flesh, persecuted or bullied the one who was born according to promise.

It's happening now also. That is why you find, I don't know whether you know, but when we started preaching the new covenant in the early days, boy, we were persecuted tremendously by the people of the old covenant.

Christians. Who did not believe in victory over sin. Who did not believe that we could live an overcoming life. Who did not believe that we don't have to send reports anywhere to get money from God. We have proved in 41 years, through, not only in wealthy places like Bangalore, but in the poorest villages in India, where most of our churches are, we have proved that we never have to take an offering.

We never have to compel anybody to give money. We never have to produce Ishmaels in order to fulfill God's promise. It's one thing to talk about this in theory. It's quite another thing to prove it in practice.

In my own life, my wife and I proved it, long before CFC started. We decided that that's the way we'd go. And after God proved it in my life, I proved it in our local church in Bangalore. And I said, until I prove it in the poorest villages in India, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, that God is the same, that those who seek God's kingdom first will find all other things added to them, I want to prove to this world that God is the same.

Dear brothers and sisters, that is what CFC has stood for. It's not just a question of a few messages. You can get up here and preach some messages and hear some messages, but it's a lot more than that.

It's a question of living a life of leaning 100 upon God, just like a branch in a tree, absolutely helpless, and however many years we have been there, still helpless. See, that branch that produces fruit after 50 years is as helpless as it was when it started producing 50 years ago.

That's what happens to some people. They get puffed up after a little while. When God produces fruit in their life, they begin to think they're somebody, and then God sets them aside. It's very important to remain till the end with that spirit in which God produced Isaac.

Helpless dependence upon God. It's so very, very important to understand that. That's the way I want to live till Jesus comes, because that is the new covenant, and that is what he's explaining here. So brethren, verse 31, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free.

And so stand fast. When you read Galatians 5 .1, many people read it all by itself. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand in that liberty. What does it mean? You won't understand that unless you understand chapter 4, verse 21 to 31.

Sometimes these chapter breaks that come in the Bible, which are not in the original letter. Paul just wrote one letter. Whenever you read a chapter break in the New Testament, try and see the connection there is to the next verse, otherwise you miss something.

For freedom Christ set us free. Stand fast in that liberty, and don't be subject to a yoke of slavery. Don't be subject to the Ishmael method of serving God. That's the meaning. Ishmael was a slave. Stand fast and let all your ministry be the way Isaac was produced.

You know, it's not by depending on our own ability. It's so important in everything we do. When I seek to preach God's word, I have to be very careful that I'm not depending on my own cleverness and my own ability to move people emotionally or to convince people, but to helplessly depend on God.

Otherwise I will produce Ishmael. Most of the sermons I hear on the internet are Ishmael's. So many sermons. You need to distinguish. Is this human cleverness? Or is it something that stirs faith in your heart to trust God, that you can also live this way?

And the reason why I mention money so much is because Jesus said there are only two masters, God and money. You either depend on God or you depend on money. So dependence on money is what Ishmael stands for and dependence on God is what Isaac stands for.

So there is where we find a clarity in our thinking that just like the parables of Jesus made certain truths clear. For example, Jesus could have said God loves you so much that even if you are a terrible sinner, he will welcome you.

But the story of the prodigal son who went away is a far more living and realistic and powerful explanation of that truth than just the statement that if you come back to God, he will accept you. See, a parable, an illustration is so powerful.

No prophet in the Old Testament did it like that. Jesus was the master at that. He was always, he was the first prophet or servant of God that spoke in parables most of the time. He used illustrations like salt and light and the eyes and the body and so many things and so many stories all the time to illustrate truth and it's the same principle when we understand these Old Testament stories how they illustrate truth.

And that's what we see here about Ishmael and Isaac. You'll understand freedom in Christ a lot better if you try and see what is the meaning here. That's the value of reading the Old Testament. Like entering through the veil.

I mean these things have blessed me tremendously not just as a clever thought. I mean if it's only a clever idea to you and you pass on that clever idea to other people that's worth nothing. It must produce a practical reality in my life.

And that's the important thing. So in that connection I wanted you know, you read about deliverance from Egypt is also a picture of salvation. The blood of the lamb put outside is the way symbolizing the blood of Christ and going into the Red Sea and coming out is a picture of water baptism.

I mean nobody would ever baptize children if you see that going into the river and coming out is a picture of baptism today. If you understand that in the Old Testament it's impossible to sprinkle children because Christians didn't sprinkle the Red Sea water on those people's heads.

They went in and out. That is baptism. And coming out and then another cloud comes down from above as soon as they've come out of that river Red Sea and that is called in 1 Corinthians 10 the baptism of the cloud.

It's called a baptism. And you see that that is the baptism in the Holy Spirit that came from above. So you see the symbolism and its meaning is people what is the purpose with which God baptized people in the Holy Spirit?

Even the average Pentecostal will not be able to tell you. He'll tell you it's in order to give you the gifts of the Spirit or to speak in tongues and all that. I believe in all the gifts of the Spirit.

I would not be able to preach if God did not give me the gift of prophecy. Impossible. He gave it to me years ago and that's what I use. I thank God for the gift of tongues that liberated me from discouragement.

If there's one thing that delivered me from discouragement it was speaking in tongues. So I'm not against these gifts. But you know just that is not the purpose. If you look at the Old Testament you understand it better.

The baptism in the cloud which came upon them when they came out of the Red Sea is a picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and then I ask myself what was the purpose of that cloud? Then I know the purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit was to lead them step by step into the land of Canaan.

Ah! Now I know the purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to lead me day by day into the life of victory. That opened my eyes. So the baptism in the Holy Spirit the cloud coming down is just the beginning.

And if they didn't follow the cloud day by day by day by day by day they won't enter the promised land. The cloud led them right to the borders of the promised land after two years and God said go in now.

Majority Opinion and the Waste of Christian Life

And they consulted with men and they went by the majority opinion. Twelve spies went and ten of the spies said we can't go in. Even though the cloud had led them right to the border and said go in they took a vote and ten versus two they said ten people said we can't go in.

Only Joshua and Caleb said we can. So the majority wins. That is an example from the Old Testament that the majority amongst God's people is always wrong. They were God's people they were not Egyptians.

But the majority vote among God's people was wrong. Please remember that all your life. One man with God is a majority. Not the majority of people. Your life will be useful. You won't waste your Christian life.

I've seen so many Christians I believe they're wasting their life. And one day when they stand at the judgment seat of Christ they'll wake up and say boy I wasted my life because I didn't understand the principles.

I had a Bible. I was not like those ignorant people who did not have a Bible in my own language. I had a Bible in my own language. But instead of spending my time reading the Bible I'm spending my time in the world which can prevent you from reading the Bible.

Too much occupation with music entertainment up to a certain extent relaxation and entertainment even watching an occasional clean, 100 clean movie which is very rare is okay. But a lot of waste of time in these things.

You can waste a lot of time they spend more time with Facebook than with God's book. No wonder they don't grow. You won't grow. Because God sees you're honoring earthly things more than him. I never wanted to be like that in my life.

I started my Christian life in the days when there was no television or internet or Facebook or any of those things and I want to live my life like that so that I can preserve myself in an evil and adulterous generation.

I can only recommend it to you. I cannot force you to do it. If you love Jesus you'll say Lord I want my life to count for you in these last days. I don't want to waste it. So I want you to think about these things seriously.

And in the Old Testament there's another thing which I want to point out to you which is very significant. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 16. I would show you this verse. When Ishmael was born. Genesis 16 and verse 16 we read Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

That's the last verse of Genesis 16. And that is 11 years after God spoke to Abraham when he was 75 to leave Ur of the Chaldees saying I'll give you children. I'll bless you. So he waited a long time.

Nothing came through Sarah. So he decided to take law into his own hands and decided to help God and produced Ishmael. And Ishmael persecuted Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael have persecuted the descendants of Isaac through the years to the centuries also.

And then notice this. What is the next verse? After the last verse of Genesis 16 last verse Abraham was 86 years old Ishmael was born. What happened when Abraham was 87? I don't know. 88, 89, 90, 91. Nothing.

It's unimportant what he did. Next verse is he was 99 years old. What happened in those 13 years? I'll tell you. God was waiting for Abraham to become impotent. Like we read in Romans 4 for his body to become dead.

As if God was saying Abraham, you think you can produce a child, right? To fulfill my promise? Okay, I'll wait. I cannot do anything for you till you become impotent and you cannot have a child. Then let's see what child you'll produce.

He could produce a child when he was 87, 88, 89, so God has to wait. There's a lesson there for you and me in that. You think you can serve God with your cleverness and your ability and your study and that.

God says, okay, I'll wait. I'll wait till you come to zero. I'll wait till you become impotent, helpless. Till you become like that branch in that tree which says I cannot produce any fruit without the tree.

Have you come to that place? You haven't? Then God has to wait. This is a principle throughout scripture. He waits till you become spiritually impotent and say, Lord, I can do nothing without you. Nothing means nothing.

That is the message of the gap between chapter 16, verse 16 and chapter 17, verse 1. There's an invisible gap there of 13 years with a powerful message in that gap and the message is God waits for you to be impotent and helpless.

That's all. And when he was 99, then we read later on in Sarah became pregnant supernaturally because Abraham was impotent now and when Abraham was 100 years old the very next year Sarah gave birth. But before that as a preparation for that the Lord wanted to teach Abraham something in a very special way.

What? Abraham didn't understand the significance of why 13 years nothing is happening. You know, we read very often God would speak to Abraham. Abraham, Abraham, God would say here I am. Abraham would say here I am.

Again, he would say Abraham, Abraham and he would say here I am. But for 13 years God never said anything. When God stops speaking there's a message in that also. The message is you're too full of yourself.

You're too self-important. That's why you can't hear God's voice. Okay, God has to wait till you come to the place of helplessness, impotence, spiritually. Say Lord, I can't do it. That's how it was with Moses.

We read in Acts chapter 7 that when Moses was 40 years old he thought all Israel would think God has helped, called me to deliver you. What was God's message to Moses? Moses, you're too strong. You can kill one man, Egyptian, with a blow of your hand.