(Christian Leadership) the Spirit of Grace and Power — Zac Poonen

I want to speak today on grace and power and the Holy Spirit. I want to begin with the first promise in the New Testament. Yesterday I mentioned that when we come to the word of God, if we don't come with an open mind, we may not see new truths.

We'll see the old truths again and again, and perhaps find new illustrations to explain the old truths. But if I come to God's word thinking that I've already understood everything God has to show me, I can miss something new God has for me.

And one of the things I decided many years ago was that I'd always let God change my thinking if there was something I hadn't understood properly, that he would correct it and lead me into that which was correct, that he'd help me to understand his ways, even if it brought me into conflict with a lot of what is known as Christianity.

You've got to be willing to pay that price. If God sees in any of our hearts a desire to find security in people around us, and not in him alone, he won't lead us on. If he sees in us a slight desire to please someone, you know what the word of God says, if I seek to please men, I cannot be the servant of Christ.

That is impossible. I want to invite you to open your mind as you hear and say, Lord, show me, is this your word or not? Correct my thinking. Lead me in the path which is right. And let God convince you.

Very often when I speak to people I say, and they say, yeah, now I'm gripped. I say, hang on. You're convinced because I said it. And you got some respect for me. Take that before God. You got it second hand from me.

Take it before God, make it first hand. Let him convince you from his word. And then you'll never shake. Okay, the first promise in the New Testament is found in Matthew 1 and verse 21. The very first promise in the New Testament where the angel told Joseph that this little baby that is going to be born to Mary, his name shall be called Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

The First New-Covenant Promise: Salvation from Sin

That's the first promise in the New Testament. He will save his people from their sins. And that's why his name is Jesus. Many people who use the name Jesus don't know why he is called Jesus. Here the angel explains it.

His name shall be called Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. Now we use the word save very frequently. And very often we equate being saved with being forgiven. Now that's not true.

And that's the distinction I want to make here. This is a new covenant. As soon as you come to this, the previous page says New Testament. It's a new covenant. This is something new which they didn't have in the Old Testament.

They had forgiveness in the Old Testament. Psalm 103, a thousand years before Christ was born. David said, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. One who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who crowns your life with good things.

That's material blessing. They had forgiveness of sins, healing from sickness, material blessing in the Old Testament. What they didn't have was being saved from sin. That's why the New Testament begins with this as the very first promise.

This is the distinctive feature of the new covenant. David could not say, Bless the Lord, O my soul, who saves me from sin in my life. No, he could only say, God forgives me. What is the difference between being forgiven and being saved from sin?

Now very often when we talk about being saved, we talk about being saved from the wrath of God. That's in a moment when we accept Jesus as our Savior. Without any works. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.

That's the only way to be saved from the wrath of God. That is salvation from the penalty of sin. But now there is another salvation from the power of sin. And that's what is speaking of here. One day in the future, we'll be saved from the presence of sin altogether.

That's future. But right now, in between, the time when I was born again, and the time Jesus comes again, I have to be saved from the power of sin. And that's what's being spoken of here. Here's an illustration, if my little 5 year old son was going outside the house, and I said, son be careful, they're digging up the road there, they made a big huge 8 foot pit there, and don't go anywhere near it.

And like little boys are, they disobey. And he falls in the pit and says, Daddy. I come running and say, what's the matter son? And he says, well daddy, I'm sorry. I disobeyed you. And I say, ok, he's there in the pit.

And I say, ok son, you're forgiven, goodbye. I want to ask you a question. Have I forgiven him? Have I saved him? That's the difference. That's the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant.

In the old covenant, they were forgiven, but they were still in the pit there to keep offering sacrifices every day. But now with one sacrifice, it's all over. We can not only be forgiven, we can be saved.

Jesus came, you should call his name Jesus, because not even forgive their sins, he will save his people from their sins. He will save his people from their dirty thoughts, and from their lustful thinking, and from their anger, and from their bitterness against their wives, and from jealousy, and strife, and every other form of evil.

That's why we call him Jesus. That's the message of the new covenant. And if you haven't experienced it, it's because the God of this world, the devil has blinded our eyes, to the full gospel. See, this is an expression that's used a lot in the world today.

Full gospel. People say we're a full gospel church. But what's the full gospel? It's being saved from our sins. It's no use saying we're a full gospel church, if people living inside there are still defeated by sin.

Whatever gifts of the spirit they may have. Jesus came to save us from sin. That is the full good news. That I'm not only saved from the wrath of God, but I can be saved from this wretched, sinful flesh of mine, that has kept pulling me down, down, down, for so many years.

You know, I have heard of a particular lunatic asylum, where they give a little test, to see whether a man has come back to his senses or not. They put him in a room with a tap open, a faucet open, and the water flowing.

And they give him a bucket and a mop, to dry the floor. And if he tries to dry the floor without first closing the tap, they know he still needs to stay there a little longer. He'll never end. He'll be mopping the floor all his life.

But you know that's what Christians do with the blood of Jesus Christ. It never ends. We're mopping, mopping, and mopping. Well, that's good news that we've at least got a mop and a bucket. But I want to say, the gospel is even better news than that.

That God can do something about that tap. Otherwise it really wouldn't be good news. If all that God could say to me, well you're going to be forgiven, but you're going to be defeated by the same old lust, all your life.

I say, well thank you Lord, but I hoped it would be better than that. And it is better than that. You shall call his name Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sins. The very first promise, as soon as you turn to the pages of the New Testament.

But we missed it. We thought it was all genealogy. Somebody begat so and so, and somebody begat so and so. And you didn't come to this verse. You turned over and rushed through. But this is the very first promise in the New Testament.

Salvation from sin. I want to turn to Hebrews in chapter 4. In Hebrews in chapter 4, we read verse 15 and 16. We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. In other words, to put it in a positive way, we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses.

Why? Because he was tempted in all points, as we are, yet without sin. Now I am sure that God can sympathize with us, even without having become a man. Because he is God. But, you know, we'd always feel, you know, you don't really understand what I am going through.

You know, it's like if a very wealthy man goes to a slum and says, well, I really feel sorry for you folks, and here is a little money. They'll never feel that he understands what they're going through.

He lives in his palace out there, he's a multi-millionaire. What does he know about what we're going through in the slum? He may be a sincere person, very affectionate, very compassionate, but those people in the slum will never feel that he understands them.

And that's why God became a man. He came into the slum. That's the good news. He loved us so much, that he came into this filthy slum, and lived here. And, wonder of wonders, he was tempted in all points, as you and I are.

I remember the first time my eyes were opened to this truth, and interestingly enough, it was about 15 years after I was born again. You know, Jesus once spoke about the ladder that Jacob saw. Jacob once had a dream where he had a ladder, where he saw a ladder going up to heaven, and the angels of God descending, ascending and descending upon that ladder.

And in John chapter 1, when Jesus spoke to Nathaniel, he said that that ladder was himself. He said you'll see the son of man or the angels of God descending and descending. And I always thought that that ladder, which came all the way from heaven, stopped a little short of down at my level.

I thought Jesus couldn't possibly have come right down to my level to be like me. And the day my eyes were opened to this glorious truth, that, like it says in Hebrews 2 .17, he had to be made like his brothers in all things.

He became like me. I wept tears of joy. I said Lord, I never knew you loved me so much. I never knew that you loved me to become exactly like me, to lift me from the pit in which I was. That the last rung of the ladder came all the way down to earth.

It didn't stop some ten feet above me. Now many people can't think of that. That Jesus would become just like me. That he could be tempted just like me. They feel it robs him of some of his glory. It's not true.

If a missionary, I mean I live in a country that had a lot of godly missionaries that have come from western countries including the United States. I praise God for godly men and women who have come there and who have sacrificed and suffered to preach the gospel to people in my country.

And I've said to people in our land, I've been supposing a a missionary from the United States where they live in such great comfort comes to our land and lives in a five star hotel and visits the slum every day and preaches the gospel.

Well, that still would be a sacrifice. But think of another missionary who comes from a similar wealthy background and comes and lives in that slum. Whom would you admire more? Would you despise this person because he lived in the slum?

No. The glory of Jesus became greater in my eyes when I saw that he became just like me and that he was tempted like me in every single point. I wouldn't believe it if it were not written in scripture and he didn't sin.

I don't want to try and analyze that. I just want to find the comfort I get from that. That when I'm tempted, I could now say, Lord Jesus, sometime in your walk in Nazareth, in those 30 years, you were tempted just like me.

I am being tempted right now. Give me the grace to react and resist this temptation the way you did when you walked in Nazareth. You know, in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, there are many differences.

One of them is this. The Old Covenant was full of commandments. Thou shalt, thou shalt not, thou shalt, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt, and so on. It was good. But in the New Covenant, God gave us an example who said, follow me.

Now supposing none of you knew how to swim and here I wanted to teach you how to swim. There are two ways to teach you. One is to draw diagrams on the blackboard how to move your hands and legs and then say, OK fellas, go jump in the river now and remember what you saw on the blackboard.

That was the Old Covenant. Absolutely accurate. Those diagrams were perfect. How to move our hands and how to breathe in and out and everything. Wouldn't it be better the second method where I say, well, come along with me to the river and I jump in and say, follow me.

That's the New Covenant. That's why Hebrews says the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. Jesus never gave us a lot of commandments like Moses. He said, follow me. I've been tempted like you.

There's not a single temptation any of us can ever face. Which he hasn't faced. And he overcame. He never sinned. Now, we got to read Scripture carefully. It doesn't say he faced all the circumstances we face.

No. He didn't have a drunken father. He didn't have a nagging wife. He didn't have difficult children. He didn't face the temptations to impatience we face with other drivers on the road. It's the same in India by the way.

It's actually worse. We have cows and dogs and everyone on the road. And we have a lot more patience than you all get over here. He didn't face our circumstances. The Bible doesn't say. It's not necessary.

But the temptations that come in those circumstances he faced them. You don't have to face the same circumstances. The temptation to be irritated. The temptation to be impatient. The temptation to be angry.

He faced them all and he overcame. And he says, follow me. Look at my example. And I want to say my personal testimony in the last 25 years. Since I saw this truth. And I'm sorry that it took me 15 years after I was born again to see it.

When I'm tempted I say, Lord you were tempted like this. Exactly like this. Maybe a temptation to compromise. Maybe a temptation to please some man. Maybe a temptation to lust. Maybe a temptation to get angry.

Maybe a temptation to anything. I go to Hebrews 4 .15. You were tempted like me. And you didn't sin. I want to do the same thing. I want to see your footsteps. And I want to plant my feet in your footsteps.

The way you walked in Nazareth. And I want to tell you it works. Now I want to go to the next verse. Hebrews 4 .16. Because it goes on from that. He says, therefore. And like someone said whenever you see a therefore in scripture.

See what it is there for. What's it there for? Why does it say therefore? Because it's connected to the previous verse. Therefore let us. Because we have a high priest. Who can sympathize with us. Who's walked this way.

Who's tempted like us. Who became like us in everything. And who understands the struggle. Who understands. The need to resist sin unto blood. Like it says in Hebrews 12 .3. Who faced such a great contradiction of sinners against himself.

Hebrews 12 .3 and 4. Let's look unto him. And run this race. Let us therefore draw near. With great boldness. To the throne of grace. That. We may receive. Mercy. That's what we need first. And that we may find grace.

We need two things. Mercy. And grace. Mercy is an old covenant word. You don't find grace in the old covenant. Even in the one or two places where it says. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. What it means is he found favor.

It's not speaking about that grace. Which only came through Jesus Christ. According to John 1 .17. There was no grace in the Old Testament. There are people who say grace means the undeserved favor of God.

Now I beg to disagree with that definition. Because everybody in the Old Testament got the undeserved favor of God. Nobody gets favor that they deserve. Every human being. Right from Abel's time got undeserved favor.

Grace means more than that. Mercy. That's an old covenant word. It refers to forgiveness. Jesus never needed mercy. We need mercy. Because we've all sinned. The best of us have sinned. And we will probably sin till Jesus comes again.

In one way or the other we could slip up any time. We don't have to. But we might and we often do. We need mercy. That's the first thing we need when we come to God. Mercy. Mercy that deals with our past.

But we now need something to deal with our future. And that's grace. Now for many years I never knew the difference between mercy and grace. I thought these were just interchangeable words. I've discovered that not interchangeable words.

Mercy is old covenant and grace is new covenant. We have mercy and grace in the new covenant. And so mercy first of all to blot out my past so that the guilt of my past doesn't hang over my head. Mercy that justifies me.

And justification is another word which is more than forgiveness. I never understood the meaning of that for a long time. To be forgiven. That was wonderful. But to be justified. And this is how the Lord showed it to me.

It's like here I'm standing in a court. Accused of thousands of wrongs and crimes that I've committed. And the judge listens to all that the prosecutor has to say against me. The law of God is the prosecutor.

And I'm guilty of all of them. And the judge has mercy on me. Says okay you're forgiven. I walk out. Happy. But as I walk out and as the crowd outside the court house. I walk out happy but with my head hanging down.

Because I'm a criminal. I'm a murderer. I'm a adulterer. Thief. That's forgiveness. I'm forgiven. I'm free. I don't have to go to jail. Now consider another scenario. Here I am standing before the judge.

He examines carefully all the charges against me. Examines all the witnesses. And says these are all false charges. There's nothing wrong with this person. He never did any of these things. He can go through.

This time I walk out of the court hall with my head lifted up. That's the meaning of justification. It's unbelievable. That God Almighty. Against whom I've committed so many sins. Could not only forgive me.

But declare me righteous. Look upon me as though I'd never sinned in all my life. It's unbelievable but it's true. And if you believe it. You will say. My glory and the lifter of my head. That's what God is.

He lifts up our head. There's no need for a single sinner. Forgiven by Jesus to walk with his head hanging down. No. We're not only forgiven. We're justified. Never forget that brother and sister. Today God delights over us with shouts of joy.

We're forgiven. Justified. But there's more. What about this flesh of mine. That's always dragging me down and down and down. Is there an answer for that? There certainly is. God offers us grace. I want to go back for a moment to Matthew's gospel again.

Grace as Power in the New Covenant

We looked at the first promise in the New Testament. Do you know what's the second promise in the New Testament? That's also interesting. The first promise is he will save his people from their sin. The second.

Matthew 3 verse 11. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Do you know that the New Testament begins with two promises? The very first two promises of the New Covenant. Don't miss either of them.

One. He will save his people from their sins. And two. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And the devil's made sure that he's got people scared of both. Somebody talks about being saved from sin.

Oh holiness. This is dangerous teaching. Perfection. Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Oh those are those fanatics who go do crazy things. And what's the result? He's killed two birds with one stone. He's got some people off on a fanatic extreme.

And he's got other people reacting to that. And not wanting this truth at all. I remember what God said to me once concerning different doctrines. What the Lord said to me was, Don't let your understanding of a doctrine ever be a reaction to the extremes you see in certain Christians.

Don't let your understanding of a doctrine be a reaction to the extremes you see among certain Christians. Get your understanding from God's Word. Forget the extremes and the fanaticism that you see in others.

Because I got turned off from the baptism in the Holy Spirit because I saw a lot of fanaticism. I'm not a Pentecostal. I'm not a charismatic. I never have been. I've never belonged to those churches. I always wanted to be a Christian.

Experiencing everything the New Testament offers. I remember once when I was seeking God for this I said, Lord, I don't want what I see around here. I want what Peter, James and John got on the day of Pentecost.

I want that. That's the second promise in the New Testament. It's for me. Let a million people go to the fanatic extremes. I'm not bothered. I get what God's Word promises me. What Peter, James and John got on the day of Pentecost.

Which transformed their lives. And I said, I want that. I want power. And do you know the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Grace? In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 29 He's called the Spirit of Grace. And that is grace comes to us through the Holy Spirit.

What is baptism? Baptism is immersion. To be immersed in the Spirit of Grace. Why should anyone be afraid of that? That's the very thing we need. I need an immersion. A drenching in the Spirit of Grace.

There are two ways we can be immersed. One is you go into a river. And the other is if there's a flood of water falling down from heaven. If I stand under a river flowing down. I can be drenched. And that's what the Holy Spirit is.

The river of God flows down from heaven. And I stand under it. And I get drenched. And it's grace all the way. Grace, grace, grace. And grace is not undeserved favor. Grace is power. Grace equals power.

I want to show you that from scripture. I don't want you to ever believe what I say if I cannot show it to you from scripture. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. Paul says about a time in his life when God allowed him to suffer a thorn in the flesh.

And he asked the Lord to take it away from him. And the Lord said to him. 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 9. My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is perfected in weakness. What is my grace? My power.

It's the same thing. My grace is enough for you. Because my grace or in other words my power is made perfect in your weakness. Paul understood that. He said well then I'm okay. I'm alright because the power of Christ is going to rest on me.

That's what grace is. And when God says my grace is sufficient for you. What it means is that my grace is sufficient to handle anything that you'll ever face in your life. If I send my son to the shop to buy something worth five dollars.

I'll give him five dollars. But if I send him to the shop to buy something worth a hundred dollars. He can't buy it with five dollars. He needs a hundred dollars. So I give him a hundred. That's what it means when it says my grace is sufficient for you.

Exactly according to what you're needing. Is the pressure very great? Grace is going to be very great. Is it a hundred dollars you need? You'll get that. My grace is sufficient for you. I praise God for this.

That there'll never be a situation I ever face in life. Where the Lord won't give me enough to pay the bill. Praise the Lord for this. This is the good news. There is no temptation that's going to be too strong for me.

There is no giant in Canaan's land. That's not going to come under my feet. Not one. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Because you're not under law. But you're under grace. You're not under the old covenant.

You're under the new covenant. You're not just one receiving mercy. But you're receiving grace. I want to show you another verse. It's not so well known unfortunately as my grace is sufficient for you.

My grace is sufficient for you is being popularized throughout the world. Very famous verse on grace. But I've discovered another verse. Which is a much fuller statement on grace. I think it's the most wonderful statement on grace in the whole Bible.

I don't know how many of you have noticed it. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 8. 2nd Corinthians 9 verse 8. It says here that God is able to make all grace abound to you. That always having all sufficiency in everything.

You may have an abundance for every good deed. Here are 7 times you get a picture of totality. Notice that. All grace, abound, always, all sufficiency, everything, abundance, every good deed. I've never seen a verse like this in the whole Bible.

7 times. All grace is going to abound to you. Always. Not just sufficiency but all sufficiency. Not just in most things, in everything. And for every good deed, I just won't have enough. He's going to give me $200 when I need only $100.

An abundance. This is the gospel. That's why a Christian is to be an overcomer in every situation. You know what, how Ephesians 6 describes the Christian? Beautiful. Ephesians 6 .13 it says, Having overcome everything.

You'll be able to resist in the evil day, Ephesians 6 .13. Having overcome everything to stand firm. No matter what the situation. Sister, are all your six children sick at the same time? God is able to make all grace abound towards you.

That you having all sufficiency in everything. You may have an abundance to do every good deed for all those six children. And still to be, greet your husband with a happy face when he comes home from work.

That's great. Is it possible? Well, according to your faith, be it unto you. But if you say yes. But if you say yes. According to your faith, be it unto you. The answer is the same. I think of that story where two blind men went to Jesus.

And Jesus asked them, you know the story in Matthew chapter 9. What do you want me to do for you? He said. We want our eyes to be open. And then he asked them a question. Do you believe that I am able to do this for you?

He didn't ask them. Do you believe that if you just try a little harder you could see a little bit? That's not what he asked. Do you believe that if you just try a little harder you could overcome that sin?

That's not what he's asking. It's like asking a blind man, can you just try opening one eye a little bit. See if you can see a little bit. That's not the gospel. Do you believe Jesus said that I am able to do this for you?

It's got nothing to do with your ability. It's got to do with whether you're willing to let Jesus do a work in your life or not. And I thought one blind man goes in first into the room and. Lord, I'll be happy if you open just one eye.

That'll be enough for me. I could see the road and I could walk around. I believe that you can open one eye. And the Lord says to him, according to your faith, be it unto you. And he goes out with one eye open and he's so happy.

And the other blind man goes in. And the Lord asks him, do you believe I can do this for you? He says, sure, I want both eyes open. And he says, according to your faith, be it unto you. And he goes out with two eyes open.

Now you have these two blind men. And now this first man, he says, hey, this is heresy. Jesus opens only one eye. How in the world did you get two eyes open? Does Jesus give forgiveness and victory? No.

Only one eye. And he starts the one-eyed denomination. And he gets a whole lot of people who have faith that Jesus can open one eye in that church. And here's this other one. It's usually smaller of a few people who got both eyes open.

And they are dubbed as heretics and false teachers because they preach that Jesus opens two eyes. This is what's happened for 2 ,000 years. I want to say to you, brothers and sisters, you can have your choice which one you want to join.

According to your faith. Not according to Jesus' ability. No. If it were according to Jesus' ability, we'd all have both eyes open. But it's according to your faith, be it unto you. For years, I belonged to the one-eyed denomination.

After I was born again, I was on my way to heaven. My sins were all forgiven. But that was about all. I had the mouth. I had the bucket. And the tap was always open. Till God had mercy on me. You know, I've discovered one thing.

You don't understand scripture. You don't get new revelations on scripture by study. You get new revelation of Jesus when you have a new need in your life. It's not by sitting and studying Greek and Hebrew.

I don't know Greek and Hebrew. But I had needs in my life. And I said, Lord, is there an answer to this need in my life? And without any knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, He showed me that sin need not have dominion over me.

And I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, I don't care what sin it is in your life. Jesus can deliver you from it. It doesn't matter which it is. I told you yesterday how as a young man, I struggled with lustful thoughts.

And nobody ever told me what I could do about that. And I told you yesterday, I thought everybody preaching up there had no problems with lustful thoughts. And it was only me. That's why I thought, oh boy, why am I only struggling with these thoughts?

Is it because I'm a maniac? Because I didn't know the way. I was forgiven. The tap was open. I was mopping, mopping, mopping, mopping. Till I found something better. That Jesus could not only forgive me, He could deliver me from the power of sin.

When I was too weak to deliver myself. Through the Holy Spirit. And I thought of this, you know, This verse came to me at that time. God delivers only people who seek for victory like this. I want you to read this verse in Exodus chapter 2.

In verse 23, in the middle of that verse it says, The sons of Israel, Exodus 2, 23, The sons of Israel sighed because of their bondage. And they cried out. And they cried for help because of their bondage rose up to God.

I want to ask you, my brothers and sisters, How many of you have sighed because you were defeated by sin? Wept at night and say, oh Lord, there I lost my temper again. Lord, there I lusted with my eyes again.

There are a lot of people who sigh. There are a lot of people who don't sigh. No wonder they don't get delivered. The children of Israel sigh. You know, sighing is more than crying. It's crying and saying, oh, when will I ever be free from this?

From this bondage. And they cry for help rose up to God. And it rises up even today. And it says, God heard their groaning and He hears their groaning even today. Here and there, not among many of His people.

Most believers are just content in their defeated condition. But here and there He hears some crying out for an immersion, A baptism in the Holy Spirit of grace and power. And God, verse 24, remembered His covenant in that day with Abraham.

And today, through Jesus, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, God remembers that. And He saw the sons of Israel. And He took notice of them. And He delivered them. And He is the same today.

But He waits for us to sigh and cry. Now I want to turn back to Hebrews in chapter 4, where we saw that we may receive mercy. That's what He does for us, first of all. And then, that we may find grace to help us in our time of need.

And our time of need is, in the context of verse 15, when we are tempted. My need is not for more money, to get a better car or better house. These are the stupid things being preached in Christendom today, unfortunately.

My need is to be delivered from this wretched nature I inherited from Adam. From sin. And when I'm delivered from that, all the other things will fall into their proper place. So, help in time of need is when I'm tempted.