Reign in Christ — Zac Poonen

Overcoming and Inheriting the Kingdom

I want to turn to Revelation and chapter 21. Here it is speaking about the new heavens and the new earth and who are going to dwell there. And it describes this new Jerusalem as a bride adorned for her husband and how God is going to dwell in the midst of his people.

Then it says, after describing all those things, where he's going to make everything new, verse 5, for whom is this? Verse 7, he who overcomes will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Now, it's a very common mistake that Christians make to take one verse and make a doctrine out of it. And that is how lots of the cults have developed. They got their favorite verse and they build a huge doctrine around that verse and that's about all they see.

And for them that is a major part of the Bible. 90 of the Bible is that verse. Now, it's not just the cults. If you go to the average believer and someone goes to him and says, hey, I'm an unbeliever.

You can try this out if you don't believe me. Even go to a good pastor or believer and tell him, I'm an unbeliever. How can I be a son of God? I don't think anybody would point you to this verse. He who overcomes all things, he will be my son.

You think anybody would point this verse out? No. They'll point some other verse like, as many as received him, then he gave the authority to be the children of God. It's true. That's John 112. But you know, everything in that verse depends on what it means to receive him.

There are a lot of expressions used in Christendom which are not found in the Bible. If we understand it correctly, it doesn't matter. We don't have to express things in the Bible in the same way, provided the meaning is the same.

We know, for example, one of the great emphasis in the New Testament is on belief. But we know that belief is not what we understand. And somebody asks you, do you believe that? Is so-and-so the president of India?

Do you believe that? I say, yes, I believe so-and-so is the president of India. Well, that's not the type of belief that the New Testament speaks about. We know that. Because there is a belief which is just an acceptance of a certain fact.

And there's a belief which is a committing of oneself. Like in a marriage, where a woman trusts that man and commits herself to him. So that one word, believe, is so important to understand it correctly.

Because our eternal destiny depends on that. Or receive. As many as received him, to them he gave the privilege to be the children of God. We tell people who want to be born again, ask Jesus to come into your heart.

But you'll never find that in scripture. In scripture, it's always believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But because that word believe is so misunderstood, and millions of people say they believe in Jesus Christ, and we know they're not born again, so we have to rephrase that so that we explain to people what it really means.

So I find personally that since scripture doesn't contradict scripture, I believe that every place where it says how we can be a son of God must all mean the same thing. It can't be contradictory. I'll just show you a few examples.

Here it says, only those who overcome are going to be sons. And they're only going to inherit all these things, all the things mentioned about. But most believers have the idea, whether I overcome or not, I'm going to inherit all these things.

Well, if that's the case, then God must be a liar. God's word, anyway. Either God's word is a lie, or this is not God's word. One of the two. If this is God's word, then it's a lie, or this is not God's word.

Otherwise, if this is God's word and it's true, then it's only those who overcome who will inherit all these things. And in contrast, the opposite is mentioned in verse 8. But here are the opposite of those who overcome.

The cowardly and the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, immoral, persons, sorcerers, idolaters, liars, they'll be in the lake that burns with fire in Brimston. And then let me show you another verse in 1 John, in chapter 5.

See, John is the one who speaks a lot about overcoming. And it says here, 1 John 5, 4, that whoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that's overcome the world, our pain. So everyone who's born of God is an overcomer.

If he doesn't overcome, you wonder whether he's had a genuine experience. Because it says here, whoever is born of God overcomes the world. I turn to 2 Corinthians in chapter 6. Here it says, verse 17, 2 Corinthians 6, 17, therefore, come out from their midst.

He's talking about those who are in fellowship with idols, or darkness, verse 14, and idols, verse 16, et cetera. Come out from among them, verse 17, and be separate. And touch not what is unclean, and I will welcome you.

And I'll be a father to you. And you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. So who is a son and daughter? Those who come out and are separate. That's the way to be a son and daughter, God says.

Then, I'll be a father to you. So to whom is God a father? Well, many will say, those who accept Christ as their Savior, God is their father. True. But it also means that they come out from the midst of people and don't touch what is unclean.

And God says, I'll be a father to you. Or take another verse in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, how to be a son of God. In Matthew chapter 5, the end of the Sermon on the Mount, it says, verse 43, middle of the Sermon on the Mount, sorry.

You've heard it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven.

So, what about a person who doesn't love his enemy, doesn't pray for those who persecute him? Does it mean the Lord meant that, well, even if you don't love your enemy and you don't pray for those who persecute you, you'll still be a son of your father?

These are just examples. I wanted to show you how many people have favorite verses when they want to understand something. If somebody were to come and ask, how can I be a son and a daughter of God? They won't go to 2 Corinthians 6, say you've got to come out and be separate, don't touch the unclean thing.

Or if somebody says, how can I be a son of God? They won't go to Matthew chapter 5 and say you've got to love your enemies and bless those who curse you. We've got other verses which we go to. As I said, it all depends on what it means to receive.

Interpreting Scripture with the Whole Counsel of God

So when we recognize that Satan himself quoted a scripture to Jesus to try and lead him astray, don't you think that it's possible that Satan could quote a scripture to lead us astray? And he has led millions of people astray by quoting one scripture and makes them understand it according to the dictionary meaning.

There are millions of people today who think that believe means, well, I believe in the Lord Jesus just like I believe that the sun rises in the morning or something like that. And they believe that the devils fooled them.

But Jesus corrected it by saying, but it is also written. Don't just quote one verse, Satan. See what the other verse says. You put both together and you get the truth. So when we put all the scriptures together, I've just shown you some of them, as to how to be a son of God, it means a lot more than just saying, Lord Jesus, come to my heart.

And that's the reason why you have such a lot of shallow Christianity in the world today. And even in churches that start out so well, after a while, it becomes shallow. Because standards go down, as I said on Sunday, everywhere.

Standards go down. And that's because we're not taking all of scripture. Let's turn now to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28. I mentioned this, too, the other day, that there were two sides to the Great Commission.

One was to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. And God would confirm his word with signs following. The sick would be healed. Demons would be cast out. And that happens even today.

But then the other side of the Great Commission, just like the other side of a coin, is, here in Matthew 28, again going to all nations and now make disciples. And here there's no mention of miracles or any such thing.

Here it is a question of teaching people obedience. Make disciples and teach them to observe every single thing I commanded you. And if you do that, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Now, isn't it true that almost every Christian takes that verse, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, and applies it to themselves, even if the rest of that verse is not true in their life?

To whom did Jesus say, lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age? He said, if you decide in your life that you're going to go and make disciples in every place you go, and you're going to teach them to obey everything I commanded you, then I'm with you always to the end of the age.

I think a lot of believers don't experience the Lord's presence with them, because they don't fulfill the conditions. There are many, many examples of this. For example, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

It's not found in Scripture. Scripture, 1 John 1, 7, is if we walk in the light, if God is in the light, then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So, dear brothers and sisters, be careful that Satan doesn't fool us by making us think we've got a promise when we haven't fulfilled the condition.

Warnings Against Presumption and Prosperity Teaching

He who overcomes will inherit all things. And the devil says, oh no, you don't have to overcome. You'll still inherit all things. Remember what Jesus said, Satan is a liar and the father of lies. And remember that he deceived our first parents, Adam and Eve, by telling them a lie.

God had said, if you eat this fruit, you will die. In other words, you'll be cut off from me. And Satan said, oh no, you won't die. That's okay. Whether you eat it or don't eat it, it'll be the same. And they believed it.

So, in the New Testament, we read in Romans 8, 13, if you live after the flesh, you will die. Talking to believers, if you live after the flesh, you'll die. And the devil says, oh no, you won't die. You'll be all right.

And do you know the number of believers who would rather believe the devil than believe God's word? Because when you believe the devil, you can live as you like. And imagine that everything's gonna be all right.

But when you take God's word seriously, you find that there are warnings there. And if we take those warnings seriously, we protect ourselves. I'll give you another example. In John's Gospel, chapter 16, it says, John 16, the last verse.

These things I have spoken to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world, you'll have tribulation. What did Jesus say? In him, we will have peace. But in the world, we'll have tribulation. Now today, when a preacher says, in the world, you'll have prosperity, they'd rather believe that.

Jesus said, in the world, you'll have tribulation. Or when a person says, in me, in Christ, you'll have prosperity, Jesus said, no, in me, you'll have peace. So there are many verses like this where if we are not familiar with Scripture and the word of God, we are going to be deceived.

And I think of what, when the rich man told Abraham, please send Lazarus from paradise to my brothers so that they at least will repent and don't come to hell. You know what Abraham said to the rich man?

They've got the Bible. They don't believe the Bible. You're not gonna believe even if someone goes back to them from heaven. That was his answer. They have the Bible. It's the last verse of Luke 16. So I believe that's the word that comes to us.

They have the Bible. They don't read that. And if they don't believe what's written there, and they believe all the fanciful things that preachers tell them on television or in books or in sermons, they've got only themselves to blame.

They have the Bible. And the Bible says, in the world, you'll have tribulation. Why should you be surprised then if you have tribulation? Because the world said, but at the same time, in the world where there's tribulation, Jesus said, in him, we will have peace.

In the midst of all this tribulation, we have peace because we have a father who cares for us who will not allow a hair of our head to be touched without his permission. That's why we have peace. But the tribulation will be there.

That's not gonna change. In other words, we're not gonna have an easy time in this world if we are Christians. If you went to the first century Christians who were being persecuted and chased in second, third century particularly, running from cave to cave, wholehearted disciples, people whose relatives were being killed because they believed in Jesus and they wouldn't say that Caesar is Lord and they were being killed.

And you went and told them, hey, you know, you gotta just trust the Lord, man. You'll be prosperous and you'll be living in a big house. You won't be running from cave to cave. They'd have straightaway called you a false prophet.

But today, nobody calls such people false prophets. You know why? Because we love to hear that message that in the world, you will have prosperity. And when we love to hear something which is contrary to what Jesus taught, God himself will allow you to be deceived because you don't love the truth.

The Love of Truth and the Danger of Deception

See, it says that in 2 Thessalonians in chapter two. I believe this is, I've often said that one of the most frightening verses in the whole Bible because we've spoken about deception. And the Bible says in Ephesians four, I think it's verse 22, that our lusts are deceitful.

And it says in Jeremiah 17, that our heart is deceitful. It says in Revelation 12, verse nine to 11, that Satan is a deceiver. Do you get it now? Satan's a deceiver. The lusts in our flesh are deceitful and our heart is deceitful.

Above all things. You know, our only hope against the deception of our lusts and the deception of the devil and the deception of our heart is if God gives us light. Then none of these things, we won't be deceived by any of them.

But if God himself also deceives us, then there's no hope at all. That's why I say this is a terrifying verse. This is the one verse in scripture where it says God will deceive certain people. It says here in 2 Thessalonians two, verse 11.

For this reason, God will send upon them a deceiving influence. You can look it up in any translation. That's exactly what it says. God will send a deceiving, deluding influence on people so that they believe what is false.

Imagine God making people believe what is false so that they will be judged. Now for this reason, when you read a word like for this reason, I really wanna know why is God, what is the reason why God allows people to be deceived?

And that's in the previous verse. They did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved from sin. It's not because they didn't get healed of their diseases. It's not because they didn't become prosperous.

It's because they didn't want to be saved from their sins. Thou shall call his name Jesus, first promise in the New Testament, because he shall save his people from their sins. He didn't come to make us rich.

He didn't come to make us healthy. He came to make us holy. He came to save us from our sins. And when people don't want to be saved from their sins, God will allow them to believe what is false. And look at the millions who are believing that.

Look at the millions today who don't want to be saved from sin, who wanna be rich, who want some gift of the Holy Spirit, who wanna speak in tongues, who want to fall down when somebody lays hands on them, all types of things today.

But how many of them wanna be saved from their sins? And when we don't wanna be saved from our sins, look what happens. God allows them to believe what is false. And it says here about receiving the love of the truth.

There are two types of truth. One is the truth in the Bible. God's word says, sanctify them. Jesus said in John 17, Father, sanctify them through the truth. Thy word is truth. And the other is the truth about ourselves.

The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth. Jesus said, when the spirit of truth is come, John 16, he will lead you into all the truth. Let's look at that verse. John's gospel. He's called the spirit of truth.

And it says here in John 15 and verse 26, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you, that is the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. And he's gonna come and convict the world of sin, et cetera.

And he will lead you into all the truth. That's also in one of those chapters it says. Now, what is all the truth that the Holy Spirit is gonna lead us into? First of all, all of the truth of God in his word.

I don't mean truth about whether Christ is gonna come before the tribulation or after the tribulation. That's also truth, but that's not as important truth as the truth that helps us to be saved from sin.

Or the truth about whether healing is for today or whether all speak in tongues. And those are also truths, but they're not as important as the truth that saves us from sin. So there in 2 Thessalonians 2, it says they didn't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Some of these other doctrines, whether women should cover their heads or men should not cover their heads or whether women should wear ornaments or not and whether we should wear dresses as pastors or be called pastors or bishops.

Well, those are not major truths. We're talking about the truth that leads us to salvation. There are many, many truths in scripture, but here it's talking about the truth that leads us to salvation, to be saved from sin.

The spirit of truth will lead us into all the truth. In other words, it's possible for us to be saved from every known sin. Now I may know only 10 of my life, but in that 10%, I'm to be totally saved.

The other 90%, as little by little as God gives light, I can be saved, but I can't be saved until I get light on something. But the point is this, the truth of scripture and the truth concerning myself.

Now if I don't receive the love of the truth, for example, in some particular situation, the Lord shows me that I was proud. I don't accept it. I don't receive the love of the truth. The Lord says, you were proud there.

That's why I didn't give you grace, and that's why you fell into sin. No, but I don't accept it. God says, okay. He's not gonna force us. But when we don't receive the love of the truth, we are opening ourselves up to the rest of that verse.

God sends upon them a deceiving influence so they believe what is false. What will happen to such a man after some time? I'll tell you. He'll believe that he's spiritual when he's not. Do you know multitudes of people today in the world who think they are baptized in the Holy Spirit?

Now I don't believe one bit they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Some of them are the biggest lovers of money on the face of the earth. How could they be baptized in the Holy Spirit? But they call themselves pastors, who are spirit-filled.

God has allowed them to believe what is false about themselves. Do you know the number of people in the world who think they are born again just because they repeated a formula or sat in the right church?

So many people who imagine they are born again. I'm born again, I'm okay. God allows them to believe what is false because they don't receive the love of the truth. If you want to marry somebody and you're very eager to marry that person, you can convince yourself that that person, that boy or girl is born again because you're so keen to marry that person.

Oh yeah, yeah, he is born again or she's born again. Okay. You don't face up to the truth. God will allow you to believe what is false. I tell you, it's dangerous. We can imagine, I want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

And deep down in my heart, I don't want holiness. I don't want power to be a witness for Jesus Christ. All I want to do is speak in tongues so that I can say I joined the club. God will allow us to believe what is false.

We'll mutter something and say, I think we're baptized in the Holy Spirit. There are multitudes of people like this because they don't take scripture with scripture. They don't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Facing Sin, Pride, and Doctrinal Blindness

So that's a warning. Or for example, you know, for example, supposing I've always held in my mind a certain doctrine. And then as I read the scriptures and I study the scriptures, I find that that is not what the Bible teaches about that particular subject, whether it's water baptism or baptism in the Holy Spirit or speaking in tongues or any subject or holiness or victory over sin.

And I come to that and scripture seems to teach that. But I am stubborn. I say, hey, I can't give up this thing which I've held. Maybe somebody's afraid he'll be thrown out of his church or somebody will be upset with him or his family will be disturbed if he accepts that view.

And so he pushes that out and says, okay, let me go to the next verse. He doesn't love the truth so that he can be saved from disobedience. See, everything I don't do in scripture is disobedience. So here's an opportunity for me to, I discover, hey, I haven't obeyed that.

And I sort of brush it aside because that's not what I've always believed or that's not what my parents believe or what my church believes or something like that. And I put it aside. I can put it aside.

And God will send a deceiving influence upon me that'll make me feel nice that I'm spiritual when I'm not. I want to ask you, my brothers and sisters, have you ever considered the possibility? Please listen.

Have you ever considered the possibility that you may not be as spiritual as you think you are? I think most of us have some idea of how spiritual we are. We may not think that we are the most spiritual people in India or the world, but we have a certain idea of this is my level of spirituality.

But have you considered the possibility that it may not be true? That God may be allowing you to believe what is false? Those are the exact words of scripture. Believe what is false because in some area you did not accept the truth about yourself when God tried to show it to you.

You argued against God or you just turned your head away from that truth. Okay, he's not gonna force you. He'll say it and he's gonna leave it. I mean, he doesn't treat us like little children. Do you know that one of the differences between Old Covenant and New Covenant, among many differences, one of the differences, you'll see that if you read Galatians chapter three and chapter four, that in the Old Covenant, God treated people like little children.

I'm gonna show you that verse. Before the faith came, Galatians 3 .23, before the faith came, we were kept in custody under the law and the law became our tutor. You know, like little children need a tutor.

The law was like a tutor to lead this little child to maturity, to Christ, so that now we've come to faith. We're not under a tutor. It means we're not under the law now. And now we are sons. It's children, babies who are under the law.

When we become sons, we're under grace, which is a million times higher than law. But because most people in the world haven't understood grace and have misunderstood grace, they think it's better to be under law than under grace.

It's a million times better to be under grace than under law. The standard is higher. You have now become sons. You don't need a tutor, it says. And then he speaks about where chapter four, verse three, while we were children, you know, little babies, we were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world, but now we're six, you are sons.

That's the difference between old covenant and new covenant. One, we are babies, the other, we are sons. One, we are little children, the other, we are mature sons. Okay, now let's see. How do we tell little children?

How do we talk to little children? We tell them, come on, you do that. You tell a three-year-old. Son, you gotta do that. He says, I'm not gonna do it. You gotta do it. You have to do it. No, I'm not gonna do it.

Then daddy takes a stick or something and he makes him do it. You gotta do it. You're not gonna give in to him. But supposing you're talking to a 23-year-old son. How long are you gonna tell him? You gotta do it when he says, I'm not gonna do it.

You tell him once perhaps, maybe twice, and then leave it. That's what God does. That's the disadvantage of being a son. That God tells you something, hey, this is the truth about yourself. Ah, you say, I don't wanna listen to it.

Okay, God says, I'm not gonna keep telling you. You're not a little child. You're 23 years old. You're a son. You don't wanna hear it, it's okay. It's terrible that God tells me something and I won't listen to him.

He says, okay, go your way. You know, I believe with all my heart that multitudes of believers, God has just left them like that. For one reason, they don't love the truth. Why is that? Because they're proud.

I can't be so bad. After all, I'm pretty spiritual, really. I would encourage you to consider, please, my brothers and sisters, I would encourage you all to consider there is far more pride in you than you think.

If it were not so, such abundant grace would be poured upon your life, the result of which would be you would never be discouraged. You would never condemn yourself, never. You would always rejoice. You'll never be in a bad mood.

You'll always be in triumph. In other words, the type of life Paul describes, that will be your experience when we receive abundance of grace. It says in Romans 5, those who receive abundance of grace reign in life as kings.

What does it mean to reign in life as a king? That means I don't get discouraged like Elijah to sit under a juniper tree and say, oh, I've had enough. That means I don't fall into sin like David when he looks at a woman and lusts.

It means that I don't get angry like Moses to break even the tablets of stone. They didn't receive abundance of grace. They were under law. They were children who had a tutor. Moses was a child, according to Galatians 3.

Elijah was a child, according to Galatians 3. But now God has sent his son so that we don't have to be children. We can be sons. But we got to receive the love of the truth. Then we shall be overcomers.

Overcoming in Backslidden Churches

It's God's will that every one of us should be overcomers. I was impressed about that. In Revelation, you know, I often used to think that we all know out of the seven churches, five of them, the elders were backslidden, terribly backslidden.

You know, one had lost his first love and the other was following the teaching of Balaam and going after money and mingling with idols. And another one was allowing his wife, Jezebel, to influence church matters.

And another one had a name that he was a live grace. He was a great preacher, but he was dead. And another one was lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, just satisfied that he had a lot of this world's goods.

Those are the five bad elders. They were elders of churches, New Testament churches, but backslidden elders. Yeah, an elder can be a backslider. Paul said, I'm afraid, lest after having preached to others, not only I'll be a backslider, but I won't even be accepted before God.

He says, therefore, I discipline myself. Paul lived in that fear, and so he never became a backslider. And if we live in that fear, we'll never become backsliders. But if we sit back and say, oh, well, I'm okay, then we're in danger.

Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. But these five elders were backsliders. And so the churches, you can imagine, if a church has got a backslidden, worldly elder, it's pretty sure that that church is also gonna be backslidden and worldly.

I've seen that all around India and everywhere, where the pastor or leader or elder is backslidden, half-hearted, cold. The church becomes like that. And so to all those churches, the Lord says, he who overcomes.

At the end of each of those messages, it says, he who overcomes. And I understood that to mean, okay, the elder is backslidden, never mind him. But you sitting there, you young brother, you young sister, why do you not overcome?

Well, you say, oh, well, my elder is like that. He doesn't teach us properly. He's backslidden. That's got nothing to do with you. The Lord doesn't accept that excuse. To all those five churches, he says, but if you overcome, there's a challenge to people in backslidden churches with backslidden elders, that you must be an overcomer.

It's a personal challenge. The Lord realizes that everyone in the church will not be overcomers. And I believe we are living in those days all over the world. It's very difficult to find a spiritual church.

You can find spiritual people, but to find a spiritual church, it's very difficult. Maybe in China, perhaps, where there's a lot of persecution. But in countries like ours, where there's no persecution, it's very difficult to find a spiritual church.

But there are spiritual people. And if you want to be a spiritual person, you have to fight a battle all the time. All the time. You have to keep on opening yourself to the truth, love the truth, ask God to show you the truth about yourself, and say, Lord, I want to be saved from that.

I want to be saved from that pride. You know, we got to consider the possibility that there's a lot of selfishness in us. A lot more selfishness and self-centeredness than we think. To face up to it and say, Lord, there must be.

I mean, I'm talking about myself. I don't preach what I don't practice. I say, Lord, there's so much of selfishness in me. In my flesh dwells nothing good, and I want to get light on it before I leave this earth as much as possible, purify myself as He is pure.

But it's selfishness and pride and love of money is, of course, linked to selfishness. But these are the two things particularly we get light on more and more and more and more and more. How we seek our own, not the things of Christ's.

And so, if we're getting light on this, we can be overcomers. And the call comes to the individual. Now, the thing that struck me was the other two churches which had good elders. You know, one church was the church in Smyrna where it says, hey, you fellas, Revelation 2 .8, your elder is nothing to complain on.

Your tribulation, your poverty, and people are persecuting you and you're gonna suffer and you're gonna be put in prison, but be faithful unto death. Yeah, there's no complaint against that church in Smyrna.

And they're facing tribulation, facing poverty, and it doesn't say anything particularly good about that church, but there's nothing bad. And then, it speaks about another church in Revelation 3 and verse seven, which is even better, where the elder brother is such a radical, wholehearted brother.

It says here in verse eight, the Lord says, I've put before you an open door and because you have a little power and you've kept my word and you have not denied my name, there are people who are persecuting you who belong to the synagogue of Satan.