New Covenant Truths - the Inner Life - Part 2 — Zac Poonen

Overcoming the World Through Faith

The Apostle John says in 1 John and chapter 5, 1 John chapter 5 and verse 5, verse 4, this is whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. What does that mean?

Noah's Faith in the Coming Judgment

Let's take an example from Noah. How do we overcome the world by our faith? It's important to understand that. In Hebrews 11, we read about Noah in chapter 11 of Hebrews and verse 7. By faith, so here he's talking about Noah's faith.

By faith being warned by God, what did God warn him? That the whole world is going to be destroyed. Now that has an application for us because the Lord has told us that everything in the world is going to pass away, but he who does the will of God will remain forever.

That's 1 John chapter 2, verse 15, 16, 17. And it says here, by faith, Noah being warned of God by things which he had not yet seen. Now we haven't seen the world passing away. It doesn't look as if the world is passing away, which we see around us.

Noah, it didn't look in Noah's eyes that the world is passing away, but he believed God. God said it's passing away, so I'm not going to live for it. What did he live for? It says here, in reverence, he prepared an ark.

Condemning the World by Building for Eternity

He spent all his energies building one thing, the ark, because he knew that's the only thing that's going to survive the flood. So he had faith. Nobody else had faith. That's why they lived for the things of the world.

And your faith is tested here because we live surrounded by the world and it's a question of whether you believe that all that you see around you is going to pass away. And you're going to spend all your energies towards building that which will last forever.

I mean, it's a sensible thing to do. Would you go and put your money into a bank which you know is going to crash in one week? Or would you go and put your money in a bank which you know is going to last for a long, long time?

There's nothing very great about going and putting your money in a bank that's going to remain. That's the true Christian. He's got some sense. He knows that everything around him is going to pass away, and so he's going to spend his life and energy in something that's going to last forever.

People in the old covenant didn't have light on that. What did David know about the world? Even great prophets like Moses and Elijah, you ask them, what is this world system? They say, we don't have a clue.

It's only when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost that he gave light to people saying, there is a world system run by a ruler, and you're living in the midst of it. And if you're not careful, that water is going to get inside the ship and sink you.

I'll tell you, it has sunk many Christians, many preachers, because there are many things in this world that attract us. But it says here, Noah condemned the world, it says in Hebrews 11, 7. Notice that expression?

He condemned the world by preparing an ark. That means every time he put a plank in the ark and nailed the ark in, he was saying, I'm condemning the world by spending my life. He spent his money on building the ark.

He spent his time building the ark. He spent his energy building the ark. That is the main thing. He didn't mean that he was a full-time worker. He had to work because there was nobody to support him financially.

Earning a Living While Pursuing Eternal Things

He worked and supported his family. He had a wife and three sons and their daughters. He had a vineyard and he had to support his family. He was a gardener. But in addition to supporting his family, he spent his time building the ark.

And that's a good example for all of us to follow, that we earn our living, take care of our families, and spend our time building that which will last forever, after the world is destroyed. So I need to ask myself, am I spending my time in something that will last forever?

And I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any relaxation or... Because we are living in the world, in a world full of tension, we need sometimes relaxation. We need to go for a picnic. We need to go for a vacation.

We need things like that. But that's just to refresh us or take our tired minds away from something. That's part of just refreshing ourselves. It's like having a shower. And it's like other things we do to relax, like sleeping.

We need to sleep. We need to take a shower. We need to have some form of relaxation, etc., in different ways. People do it in different ways. But our whole goal is to live and labor for the things that will remain forever.

And our job and everything else is just a means of, like they say, keeping body and soul together. It's not a thing we live for. We live for the things that are eternal. So that's how our... When John says we overcome the world by our faith, it means I live in such a way that other people around me say, how is this guy not so interested in the things we are interested in?

He seems to be living for something that I can't see. That's right, he can't see it. But we have seen it by faith. That's how Jesus lived. He overcame the world. So remember this. This is a very major part of the New Covenant, to overcome the world.

Jesus' Dedication to Doing the Father's Will

And we can follow Jesus here. If you looked at his life, you found that he sometimes didn't have time to eat, because he was ministering to somebody, helping somebody. Now that... I mean, if this world were everything, that would be a waste of time, to go and help somebody spiritually.

What's the use of that? I've got to take care of myself. I've got to eat food. But Jesus felt that that was more important. You remember when he spoke to the woman of Samaria, and he was hungry like his disciples, and they went and ate food and came back.

And he said, I've already eaten. They said, how did you eat? And he said in John chapter 4 verse 34 and 35, my food is to do the will of him who sent me, to finish his work. That was his food. In the New Covenant, our food is to do the will of our Father, and to finish the work he has given us to do.

And if in the process of finishing his work, sometimes I have to skip a few meals, or skip a night's sleep, that's fine. Or lose a little bit of my money, or spend a lot of my money, that's fine. I want to finish the work the Father gave me.

Do you see, when you look at these principles of the New Covenant, how few Christians really are living by New Covenant principles, even though, even many who understand it, like in our midst. So, I want to show you another verse now in Luke chapter 4.

New Covenant Ministry as an Overflow of the Inner Life

I told you in the Old Testament, your ministry did not come out of your life. You just had a ministry, whether you had a life behind it or not. But that's not true in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, our ministry is an overflow of our life.

You know, it's like, you fill up a jug with water, and the water flows out of the jug. That's an overflow. So, that's different from water being poured from outside just flows outside the jug and flows out.

In the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came upon people and gave them a ministry. But in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit works inside our heart first. And Jesus said in John 7 verse 37 to 39, out of our innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

And then it goes on to say there, in this way the Spirit was not yet given. That means all the Old Covenant experiences that people had of the Holy Spirit was not like this. Because it never came from the inside.

There were many people who were anointed in the Old Testament. Some of them had such an anointing even to raise the dead, like Elijah and Elisha. But it did not come from within. Whereas in the New Covenant, John 7 verse 38, from the innermost being.

The Inner Life as the Foundation of New Covenant Ministry

Now, many people when they read John 7 verse 38, they think of rivers of living water. That's good. But the main thing is not the rivers. The main thing is it must come from the innermost being. If it doesn't come from the innermost being, it's not New Covenant.

So, in the New Covenant, the inside is important. And that's why God kept Jesus for 30 years. And the Holy Spirit with no ministry. He never healed the sick, never preached a sermon. Now you'd think that's a tremendous waste of time.