(The Better Covenant) 5 - Satan Defeated — Zac Poonen

The New Covenant and Steady Growth

We want to continue our study in the New Covenant or the Better Covenant. The last few studies we were considering how the New Covenant is superior to and better than the Old Covenant. And I mentioned that this doesn't mean that we are not interested in the Old Testament.

We're talking about the Old Covenant that God established through Moses, which we saw yesterday was obsolete and abolished. And if we don't understand the terms of the New Covenant and our privileges under the New Covenant, I believe that we can never enter into the fullness of what God wants us to experience during our earthly life.

My own experience with many, many believers has been that this is the fundamental reason why they never seem to come into what the Bible calls the rest of God. Their life seems to be perpetually in unrest and they seem to have an up and down experience.

Sometimes on the mountaintop, sometimes in the valley, sometimes praising the Lord, sometimes depressed. And yet that is not the path that God has designed for his people. Proverbs 4 .18 says very clearly, The path of the righteous is like the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day.

It's like when sunrise is compared there to the new birth. And the midday position of the sun is compared to the time when we become like Jesus, totally, sinlessly perfect, when Christ comes again. But from the moment of new birth to that midday position, where we become like Christ, there must be a steady growth.

Like the light of the sun that shines brighter and brighter, and you know the sun never backslides. It's always going forward, forward, forward, forward. That, Proverbs 4 .18 says, is the will of God for everyone who is righteous, who lives by faith.

If that is not our experience, you will discover the reason is invariably that you are trying to live under the old covenant, trying to live the Christian life under the old covenant. And it just doesn't work.

God as Father Under the New Covenant

So let me just review what we have already covered. First of all, we saw that in the new covenant, we don't come to God as God. But as a father. This is fundamental, this is the foundation. If we don't get this right, we are going to have a lot of problems along the way.

We come to God as father. We refuse to come to Him on any other basis. In the Old Testament, they could not come like that. Every heathen religion teaches man to fear this awesome God who is out to punish them.

Jesus said that He was our father. And we must be absolutely clear on this. Then secondly, we saw that in the old covenant, they were under law. And the distinctive word of the law was, thou shalt or thou shalt not.

But in the new covenant, we are under grace. And the word in the new covenant is, I will. I will write my laws in your heart and mind. God's grace comes to help us in our time of need. It is sufficient for our need.

If we try to live without that grace, then of course we fall. Then it is human struggle. Then it is an up and down experience. And then thirdly, we saw that in the old covenant, they live by sight. And that in the new covenant, we live by faith.

We don't look for visible signs. When people testify about visions and signs, it is not an indication of spirituality. A lot of people who claim to have these visions, maybe they do have them. I don't question that.

But I've seen a lot of carnality in their life. They don't know how to control their temper, even at home. What's the use of seeing angels if you don't know how to talk to your wife? I don't think your wife's impressed of you just because you saw angels.

So, it's a life of faith, not of sight. And then, we saw yesterday that another characteristic of the new covenant, that the Holy Spirit could dwell within. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit could only dwell upon a person.

The Spirit came upon David. The Spirit came upon Samson. The Spirit clothed Gideon. It says in Judges 6 .34. It's something like a dress. It's like a shirt or a dress that we wear. It can be taken off.

And the Spirit left people. Spirit came upon Samson and left Samson. But when the Spirit was upon him, he could do mighty works on the outside. We saw that in Hebrews 11, by faith. Every one of those Old Testament people did things by faith on the outside.

They didn't live by faith. No, none of them lived by faith. They did certain actions by faith. Splitting the Red Sea, pulling down the walls of Jericho. And many people are taken up with these external things.

But in the New Testament, we live by faith. The Spirit comes within. That's the meaning of John 7 .39 when it says, the Spirit was not yet given in this way because Jesus was not yet glorified. The first human being in whom the Spirit dwelt was Jesus.

And God became man. He lived on earth as a man. And he lived in the power of the Holy Spirit that dwelt within him. And came upon him after his baptism. So we see that Jesus is our example in all these areas.

In every area, He's our forerunner. There is a difference between the Spirit being upon and the Spirit being within. You take the case of Samson. He could, when he saw a lion. Now, our natural tendency is to run when we see a lion.

But when Samson saw a lion, and when the Spirit of God came upon him, he could catch that lion and tear it to pieces. But when he saw Delilah, she tore him to pieces. Because there was another lion inside Samson.

It was called the Lion of Sexual Lust. He could not conquer that. The Spirit came upon David and he could slay Goliath. He could face Goliath. But when he saw Bathsheba, he fell. Because within these men was another lion.

There was one stronger than Goliath inside David's heart. That was the Giant of Sexual Lust. And he couldn't conquer that one. So that clearly proves that the lion inside is much more powerful than the lion outside.

And this is what God could never accomplish in man during the age of the law. The greatest men who lived under the law could not deal with sin within. Their heart was constantly defiled. Many of them couldn't even keep the external law of thou shalt not commit adultery.

But now under the new covenant, the Spirit comes within. Jesus said in John 14, the Holy Spirit is now with you, but he will be in you. And he will, within you, he will fulfill the righteousness of the law.

He will write the law in your heart. God will work in you in the new covenant, like it says in Philippians 2, to will and to do his good pleasure. That is to write, put his law in our mind and in our heart.

To will and to do. To give me a desire to do it and the ability to do it. I'm sure all of us will acknowledge that it was God who gave you the desire to do God's will. That wasn't of your own making. The good news is, the same God who gave you the desire to do God's will, has also promised to give you the ability.

God works in us not only to will, but to do his good pleasure. We need to have faith for that. Now today we come to the fifth area where there's a distinct difference between the old covenant and the new covenant.

Spiritual Warfare Against Satan

Our subject today is Satan defeated. In the entire Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, we never read of a single Old Testament prophet or saint fighting Satan. Never. The closest we come to it is at some time when Daniel was praying in Daniel chapter 10.

But even there it was Michael who was fighting Satan, not Daniel. Do you know who the Old Testament people fought? The Israelites, the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Moabites, and many otherites.

These are the ones they fought. They fought human beings. In the new covenant, let me read to you Ephesians in chapter 6 and verse 12. We have looked at many distinctive features of the new covenant, and many ways by which we can identify whether you're under the new covenant or the old covenant.

For example, I told you the other day. Sin shall not be master over you because you're not under law, but under grace. So one way to know whether we have come into the full blessing of the new covenant is to ask ourselves, does sin have the mastery over us?

Does sin have the mastery over us? If sin has the mastery over us, well, we're still under law. You may be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You may speak in tongues, but you're still under the law. Because sin has mastery over you.

That is the test. Do you know God as a father or a distant God? Do you want to live by sight or by faith? It's very easy to know whether you're under the new covenant or the old. Here's one more test.

Ephesians 6 .12. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. That means we don't fight with human beings. But we fight against those evil rulers, powers, world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Do you fight with human beings? You're under the old covenant. Whether it's Philistines or Amorites or your neighbor or your wife. Or your boss or anyone. If you fight with human beings, you're under the old covenant.

A new covenant Christian, his position is, we wrestle not, we do not fight with human beings. In fact, one of the first qualifications to fight Satan is that you stop fighting with human beings. Many Christians never enter the new covenant because they're fighting with human beings.

Their enemies are enemies of flesh and blood. They've got a bitterness against this person who did some wrong to them and some grudge against some other person over there and somebody who did something to them 20 years ago.

How can these people ever fight with Satan? Their heart is full of bitterness and grudges and unforgiving attitudes and anger towards human beings. They've got their guns trained on human beings. We must have only one enemy, Satan.

And unfortunately, some Christians have got their guns trained at other Christians. That's even worse. We've got one enemy, Satan. We must stand for the truth, expose wrong doctrine and express our convictions.

Sure, but enemies, only one, Satan and his demons. We wrestle not. And if you want to enter in the new covenant, I want to encourage all of you who are here to make a decision today. That from today, I will never fight with human beings.

I may stand for a doctrine, but even for a doctrine, I'm not going to fight about it in an unchristlike spirit. No, I want to concentrate all my guns on Satan and his demons and leave God to deal with all my earthly enemies.

God can well take care of your earthly enemies. The Apostle Paul once said in 2nd Timothy 4, Alexander the coppersmith has done me much harm, he says. The Lord will repay. I'm not going to waste my time fighting about him or talking about him.

The Lord will deal with him. I've got to fight with Satan. I wrestle with principalities, powers, rulers, wicked forces. Is this only for apostles and some special category of leaders to fight with Satan?

It's for every believer. Is Ephesians 6 written for Christian leaders or for all believers? Is the armor of God which we need to fight against Satan only for leaders or for all believers? Every believer must take this position.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood. That's the first step. The second thing we need to know is that Satan was defeated on Calvary's cross. I want to show you two verses especially that make that very, very clear.

Christ’s Victory Over Death and Satan

First of all, in Hebrews in chapter 2, we're talking about the defeat of Satan. Now, he was not defeated under the old covenant. This is the thing I want you to see. Satan was not defeated until Jesus died on the cross of Calvary.

Many Christians know that when Jesus died, he took our sins. But many Christians do not know that when Jesus died, he defeated Satan. He took away Satan's power and armor from him. Imagine if you did not know that Christ died for your sins on the cross.

You'd be still carrying your sins. The guilt and weight of your sins would be upon you. And when you don't know that Christ defeated Satan on the cross, well, that's exactly what Satan doesn't want you to know so that he can have power over you.

Hebrews chapter 2 in verse 14 and 15. It says, since then, the children, that is us, share in flesh and blood. He himself, likewise, also partook of the same. That's the Lord Jesus. Why did he do that?

One of the purposes with which he did it was that through death, that is on Calvary's cross, he might render powerless. That means take away the power of him who had the power of death. That is the devil.

The devil was not destroyed. He was defeated. We know the devil is not destroyed. That's still in the future. But he was defeated. His power was taken away from him. And the reason was so that he might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

The fear of death is the greatest fear that human beings have. Every other fear is smaller than the fear of death. And all human beings lived in the fear of death. A lot of believers live in the fear of death today.

But here it says, not a single believer need live in the... It's called a slavery here in verse 15. It brings a slavery, an enslavement. Fear is Satan's weapon. And God does not want you, my dear brother and sister, to take a single decision in your life on the basis of fear, of circumstances or people.

We may have feelings of fear, but we don't live by feelings. We may have feelings of doubt and feel so many feelings, but we don't live by feelings. We live by faith. We don't live by what our senses tell us.

So what if there are feelings of fear? We're not going to take decisions on the basis of fear. We're going to take decisions on the basis of faith, knowing that Satan was defeated on Calvary's cross. And so we see, Satan had the power of death until Calvary.

If you read Hebrews 2 .14, that seems to be pretty clear. Him who had the power of death. He doesn't have it now. But apparently, when Adam sinned, he handed over all that God had entrusted to Adam to Satan, and Satan got the power of death.

And Jesus took that power away from him on Calvary's cross. It says in Revelation chapter 1, the Lord says to John, today I have the keys of death. Death is like a door. And Jesus said to John, I have the keys.

John was living at a time when all the apostles had died. He was the last one alive now. And all of them had died a violent death. They were killed or crucified, beheaded, so many things. And the Lord was comforting John by saying, don't worry.

I've got the keys of death. Nobody can kill you till I open the door. That applies to us too. I thank God that I serve a Lord who has the keys of death. That door can never be opened for me. By the enemies of the gospel, by road accidents, cancer, anything.

It can never be opened until Jesus determines the day and the hour when I should go through. If you believe that, you won't have any fear. You won't have any fear of going to any part of the world if the Lord calls you to go.

I'm not saying you should go if the Lord doesn't call you, but if the Lord calls you, fear will not stop you. Impossible. Because you say, well, the keys of death are in my Lord's hands. He took it away from Satan on Calvary.

And through his resurrection, he conquered death. Satan was defeated. We no longer live in fear of death. And because we don't have the fear of death, we don't have any other fears either. We can stand like Jesus before Pilate and say, you've got no power over me.

Pilate said, don't you know I have power to crucify you? And Jesus as our forerunner said, no, you don't. Only what my Father gives you. And we can say that today. Colossians in chapter 2 is the second verse.

Colossians chapter 2. It says, it talks about two things that Jesus did on the cross. Verse 14 and 15. One, he cancelled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees that was against us, which is hostile to us.

That is the debt we owe to God because of our sin. Jesus took that debt certificate and tore it up when he died on the cross. He paid the price. And then, that wasn't all. He nailed that to the cross.

Then verse 15. The second thing he did on the cross was he took away the armor from the rulers, the evil rulers and authorities, that's Satan and his hosts. And he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them in the cross.

So, Satan thought he had got Jesus when he killed him on the cross. Little did he realize that he himself was going to be defeated there when Christ died. Now, this is so important for us to know. It's very, very important for us to know that Satan was defeated on the cross.

Just like I said the other day, you must know that your sins were all forgiven on the cross. The blood of Jesus cleansed your past. You've got to finish with that. You must not think there's one sin left which is not cleansed in the blood of Christ, if you want to move on.

In the same way, you must know that the Satan and every single demon was defeated on the cross. I remember some years ago, a young lady was brought to my house. And she said, well, she wasn't a believer.

She said, every time somebody prays for me, I fall down. I said, well, we'll pray for you. You won't fall down. Just sit on that chair. And I asked her to pray the sinner's prayer. And whenever I tell people to pray the sinner's prayer and accept Jesus into their heart, I always tell them at the end of it, also to speak to the devil.

Just like you can speak to God, you can speak to the devil and tell him, Satan, I don't belong to you anymore. I belong to Jesus Christ, my Lord. You've got no power over me. You were defeated on the cross.

Jesus Christ is my Lord. He came in the flesh. And I told her to say that. I said, tell Satan, you were defeated on the cross. And suddenly she looked at me, changed her voice and said, I was not defeated on the cross.

I knew I was dealing with a demon there. So I turned to the demon inside her and said, you're a liar. You were defeated on the cross. You're a liar. Get out of her in Jesus name. Left. You don't need more than a word to cast out a demon.

If you believe that he was defeated on the cross. Then I told that lady, now say, tell Satan, you were defeated on the cross. Just half a minute later, she said, Satan, you were defeated on the cross.

I don't belong to you anymore. Jesus Christ is my Lord. You know, we come across situations in India where all your theology won't work. If you don't know how to cast out demons. Just like Jesus did. The Lord has given us authority.

This is the reason why he baptizes us in the Holy Spirit and fire. To give us authority over demons. So that they listen to you. Not, they're not afraid of you. For the mighty name of Jesus. There is no other name they're afraid of.

You can try the name of any other God. They won't listen. The name of Jesus. The name of Jesus. They fear and tremble at that name. And I know times when sometimes. Dealing with some of these demon possessed people.

They look so fierce and turn around at you and glare at you. And for a moment, you're taken aback. And to build up my faith, I asked myself this question. Was this one of those demons that escaped at Calvary?

Or was one of these, is it one was defeated? And I know it was defeated. I said, well, then it's okay. You can glare at me. I glare back at you. In Jesus name, get out of him or her. There's no demon that can stand before the name of Jesus.

In 27 years, let me give you my testimony. I have never seen one single demon. Not leave a person. When commanded to leave in the name of Jesus. You don't have to yell. You don't have to scream. You just do what Jesus did.

Tell that. Do what the apostles did. Tell that demon to go in Jesus name. It'll go. This is real. God has given us authority. And that's the day when this woman said, when the demon said through her, I'm not defeated.

That I realized that Satan does not like to be reminded that he was defeated on the cross. And that's the day I decided that I'm going to remind him of that as often as possible. That you were defeated on the cross.

Many days I say, Satan, you were defeated on the cross. You can't touch me. I would encourage you to say that. Satan is real. Just as real as any human being around you. Tell him what your savior did for you on the cross.

Tell him to his face. You were defeated on the cross. You can't touch me. I don't belong to you. Jesus Christ is my Lord. It'll build up your faith. And it'll deliver you from fear. Why do I say this?

Overcoming Satan Through the Blood and Testimony

It says in Revelation in chapter 12. How people overcame Satan. In Revelation in chapter 12, we read that Satan is called the deceiver of the whole world. Verse 9. Jesus called him a liar, a murderer.

One who hates his brother is a murderer. John reminds us. Satan was a murderer, Jesus said in John 8, 44. I want to tell you about certain sins that are very close to Satan. Let me just mention them quickly.

First of all, pride. He became the devil through pride. If it was not for pride, he would have remained as an angel. It wasn't the love of money or sexual evil or murder that made that archangel into a devil.

It was pride. Sin came into the world, not through disobedience. But through pride. And whenever we are proud, spiritually proud. Whenever you look down on somebody because he's less spiritual than you.

Or because he belongs to another race. Or he doesn't know the Bible like you. Or he belongs to another denomination. Whatever the reason. Whenever you are proud of your natural abilities or your spiritual abilities.

Whether you know it or not. At that moment, you are holding hands with Satan. That's why we got to hate pride. To hold hands with Jesus, we have to humble ourselves like he did. Another thing Jesus said was that Satan was a liar.

Do you know that the first sin mentioned in the Bible is a lie? The first lie that Satan said was what he told Eve. You shall not die, even if you eat that tree. Sin is not serious. It doesn't matter.

God loves you. Don't worry, God won't punish you. That was the first lie with which Satan deceived man and he's deceiving man with that even today. Sin is not serious. God won't punish you. God is a loving father.

You will not die. You will surely not die. Do you know the multitudes of people who believe that? God won't send you to hell. How can a loving father send anybody to hell? Do you know the multitudes of Christians who believe that type of rubbish?

Do you know who was the greatest preacher about hell? Jesus himself. Nobody preached about hell like he did. Because he knew the dangers that man faced. Satan's a liar. Whenever we tell a lie, even when a little child tells a lie, he may not know it.

He's holding hands with that first liar, Satan. He's a deceiver. When you tell a lie, when you pretend. Here's one way of telling a lie without opening your mouth. When you pretend to be more spiritual than you really are.

That's a lie. You're holding hands with Satan. That's why Jesus told the Pharisees who pretended that he was spiritual. How can you escape the damnation of hell? You fellows are holding hands with Satan all the time.

How shall we overcome him? If we don't get rid of pride. If we don't get rid of lying in our lives. He's a murderer, Jesus said. From the beginning, he's been a murderer. He was the one who instigated Cain to kill his brother Abel.

And quoting that same instance, it says in 1 John 3. He who hates his brother is a murderer. Love does no harm to his neighbor. Whenever you plan and scheme to do any type of harm to another human being.

Leave alone a brother, to another human being. You're holding hands with Satan. When you hate somebody. He who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

That's 1 John 3. How can you ever imagine that you are going into God's kingdom if you hate somebody? That is impossible. It's as impossible as an idol worshiper going to heaven. In fact, that person has got a greater possibility than the Christian who hates his brother.

He who hates his brother is a murderer. And no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Many Christians in many groups hate other Christians in other groups. Whether they know it or not. They're holding hands with Satan.

And they do not have eternal life. They may have had it once. They don't have it. I don't know whether they ever had it. That's for God to judge. I'm not getting into that matter now. But this I know definitely.

There's no eternal life in them right now. No murderer has eternal life. That's the third characteristic of Satan. Hatred. Pride. Lying. Hatred. Here's another one. He's called here in verse 10. The accuser of the brethren.

Whenever we backbite, gossip, speak evil. Steal a person's reputation by tearing his reputation to pieces. Speak about a brother without even knowing the facts. From hearsay. Whether you knew it or not.

In all those moments you were holding hands with Satan. The accuser of the brethren. Determine, my dear brothers and sisters. If you haven't determined that before. To get rid of pride. Lying. Hatred.

And a spirit of judgmentalism and accusation of others. Leave their judgment to God. He doesn't need your help to judge those people. God can do it very well himself. Let's not join hands with the accuser of the brethren.

But it says here. They overcame him. By the blood of the lamb. All the accusations of Satan. They said well the blood has cleansed me. And then it says by the word of their testimony. Verse 11. The overcomers are people who speak a word of testimony.

This is not talking about testimony in the meeting. The context proves that they're giving their testimony to Satan. They are speaking to Satan and telling him. I don't belong to you. You can't touch me anymore.

You can't touch my body. It belongs to Jesus Christ. This is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You can't touch me anymore or my body. Jesus Christ is my Lord. That's a word of testimony. I want to say one or two more things.

Unforgiveness and Anger as Openings for Satan

Which can bring us into fellowship with Satan. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. And verse 10 and 11. Here it speaks about. Having an unforgiving attitude towards someone. And I want you to see these two verses together.

And see how an unforgiving attitude brings. Satan. To the place where he is far over your life. When you forgive anything. I forgive also. For indeed what I have forgiven. If I've forgiven anything. I did it for your sake.

In the presence of Christ. He's talking about forgiving this man. Who had sinned and who has now repented. In the church in Corinth. He says, why do we do this? So that. No advantage be taken of us by Satan.

Satan gets a power. Over any believer. Who hasn't forgiven somebody else. We've got to be careful here. An unforgiving spirit. Is something that gives Satan power over your life. Here's another thing to beware of.

One more thing. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. It says. Anger. Undealt with anger. Gives Satan power over our life. It says in Ephesians 4 .26. Be angry. But do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger.

And don't give the devil. An opportunity. In your life. You see the devil coming in there. What does it mean to be angry without sinning? There is an anger. Without sin. And there is an anger with sin.

Jesus as the Measure of Righteous Anger

Whenever we are in doubt. Here's a little guideline I can give you. Whenever you're in doubt about anything in scriptures. Just like if you read an English word. In the newspaper or in a book. And you didn't know its meaning.

You'd go to a dictionary. And turn to that meaning. Turn to that word. And read its meaning. In the same way. Whenever you come to a word. In the new testament. That you don't understand. Don't go to the dictionary.

The word. Has been made flesh. In Jesus. Jesus is our dictionary. He said learn from me. What humility means. What gentleness means. Matthew 11 verse 29. For I am gentle and humble of heart. If you want to learn humility.

You can never get it from the dictionary. Look at Jesus. If you want to learn what righteous anger is. And what unrighteous anger is. Very simple. Don't go to the dictionary. Go to Jesus. Where did Jesus get angry?

And where did he not get angry? First of all. Where did he not get angry? When they called him the devil. He didn't get angry. Prince of devils. They called him a false prophet. Heretic. Lunatic. And Beelzebub.

And they spat on his face. They pulled his beard. They whipped him. They did all types of evil to him. He never once got angry. All anger. When people hurt us. Or call us names. Is sin. Where did Jesus get angry?

Says in Mark chapter 3. When he saw the Pharisees not willing. For the man with a withered hand to be healed. He looked at them with anger. He was angry. At their indifference to human need. That's what the living bible says.

When he saw their indifference to human need. When they would not allow a poor man to be delivered. When wherever he saw people being exploited. In the name of religion. He was angry. When he was. When he went to the temple.

And he saw people making money. In the name of religion. In the name of God. Exploiting poor widows. He was angry. So we get a helpful guideline. From the dictionary. From the word made flesh. Righteous anger is that which does not concern me in any way.

It's when I see other people being hurt. Other people being exploited. People exploiting poor people in the name of God. Anger should burn within me. But when people harm me. And call me names. My duty is to forgive.

This is where the world is upside down. The world is under the control of the devil. How do we know that? They get angry when people hurt them. And they don't get angry when other people are being hurt.

When the name of Jesus is being dishonored. They're not angry. That's because they're under control of the devil. When we come under the control of Jesus Christ. We're never angry. Whatever people may say or do against us.

But we are burning with anger. When the name of Jesus is dishonored. By people who exploit poor people and poor widows. Take their money to live in grand style. Like a lot of preachers are doing today.

If that doesn't make you burn with anger. I want to say you're not like Christ. Don't let the devil get an opportunity. And it says here even if you slip up and get angry. Don't let the sun go down on your rod.