======================================================================== HAVE YOU MISSED THE OVERCOMING CHRISTIAN LIFE？ by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of thirsting for an overcoming life and seeking fellowship in a new covenant church. It highlights the need to die to self, trust in God's faithfulness, and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to partake in God's divine nature. It encourages humility, faith, and a willingness to be broken to zero in order to be used by God. Duration: 1:19:29 Topics: "Thirsting for an Overcoming Life", "Fellowship in the New Covenant" Scripture References: John 7:37, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Romans 8:28, Romans 8:31, 2 Peter 1:4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of thirsting for an overcoming life and seeking fellowship in a new covenant church. It highlights the need to die to self, trust in God's faithfulness, and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to partake in God's divine nature. It encourages humility, faith, and a willingness to be broken to zero in order to be used by God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Second Corinthians chapter 4, it says in verse 3, our gospel is veiled or hidden from those who are perishing. And then in verse 4, it says the God of this world, that is Satan, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So we see here that there is a gospel of the forgiveness of sins, and there is also another gospel which is called the other gospel of the glory of Christ. And there's a lot of difference between the two. The gospel of forgiveness of sins is just the beginning, but the gospel of the glory of Christ, that means to partake of the glory of Jesus Christ. It says the glory of the father was seen in Christ full of grace and truth. Imagine that we can partake of that. That's an amazing promise. And this glory of Christ, who is the image of God, the Bible says we have to partake of his nature. You remember Jesus said that there was a narrow gate and a narrow way that leads to life. Most of what is being preached is about the narrow gate, not about the narrow way. But if you want to know the gospel of the glory of Christ, we got to understand the narrow gate and the narrow way. If you turn to Matthew chapter 7, Jesus spoke there in verse 13 about the narrow gate and the narrow way. The gate is small and the way is narrow, Matthew 7, 14, that leads to life. And there are very few who find it. There are very few who have found both the gate and the way. And just like we read in 2 Corinthians 4, the God of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers from hearing and understanding that their sins can be forgiven freely through the death of Christ on the cross. They think they have to work and earn their salvation. And we have discovered that it is freely available through the death of Christ. In the same way, the God of this world has blinded the minds of believers from seeing the way, the gospel of the glory of Christ. And in my observation over the last 50, 60 years, I've discovered that most believers have been blinded to this truth of the gospel of the glory of Christ. I, myself, after being born again for 16 years, I was born again, but I did not understand the gospel of the glory of Christ. I was just like most believers. You sin in your thought life, you get angry, and then you overcome. You ask God to forgive you and you move on and on and on and on. And I could not say that I was an overcomer because I was defeated and forgiven, defeated and forgiven. So I experienced forgiveness, but not overcoming. I was sure I'd come through the narrow gate, but the narrow way that leads to abundant life. Think of this word that Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 10. These are words that we got to take seriously. Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Not just life, but have it abundantly. So there is life and there is abundant life. There is a gate and there is a way. And we must not miss either. So that's the burden of my heart. When you come to the last book of the Bible and Revelation, what was the message of the Lord to the church? In the last book of the Bible, the message of the Lord to the church is basically two things, which he repeats many times. To five out of the seven churches, he says, repent. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, his message was repent to unbelievers. But when we come to the book of Revelation in chapter two and chapter three, the message of repent is given by the Lord to believers is to the backslidden churches that had not understood anything about the overcoming life. But they were churches. That means they were not unbelievers. Their sins are forgiven. And they were sitting back saying, my sins are all forgiven. I'm on my way to heaven. Just like a lot of believers today, I would say more than 90% of born again believers are in that condition. And why is it they don't go further? Because there is no thirst or longing. There is a simple principle of God's dealings with man, which I often like to quote. And it's a verse that you must remember. It's the reason why many people don't make much progress in their Christian life. And that's verses found in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13. My dear brothers and sisters, never, never forget this verse. You will search for me, says the Lord, seek me, but you will find me only when you search for me with all your heart. If you are satisfied with your defeated condition, you will never get any more. I know how the Lord led me into this. I was sick and tired and fed up with my defeat and my thoughts and my words. And I said, Lord, this is not the Christian life described in the New Testament. I want to be an overcomer. And I prayed and I fasted and I sought and I thirsted. And I have to say God met with me and led me to higher ground. He doesn't force anybody. He doesn't force anybody to be born again. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die and go to hell. And isn't it interesting that God doesn't stop any of them? He doesn't force anybody to come to heaven. That's so important. And he doesn't force anybody to come there. They have to choose. In the same way, Christians will sit back and say, well, I'm born again. I'm on my way to heaven. Everything's OK. I'm comfortable. I'm earning enough money. My children are OK. You'll never make any progress. But if you say, Lord, I'm sick and tired of my defeated life. I'm sick and tired of the way I speak to my wife at home. I'm sick and tired of getting angry so often. I want to come to a life where I'm an overcomer. Those are the ones who seek God with all their heart, they will find him. So what did I say about the two words to the church in the last book of the Bible, repent and overcome? Repent means turn around. Turn around from what? Turn around from a defeated life. Turn around from this lazy, lethargic attitude towards following after the Lord. Turn around from this sitting back, comfortably thinking I'm going to heaven. Everything is OK. Turn around from that way of life. And I believe that's the primary challenge that comes to every one of us. What you need, my dear brother, sister, is not information. What you need is a change of heart that stirs you up to seek after God, that you can experience everything promised in the New Testament for believers. That is what God wants you to seek for. That is repentance. Once upon your repentance was to escape the punishment of sin and going to hell. OK, that's finished. Now God wants you to repent from your defeated life as a Christian, which is bringing such dishonor to the Lord's name. Do you know that the Bible says in Revelation chapter 12, sorry, Revelation chapter 13, that the devil is the accuser of all the believers on the earth. He's the deceiver of the whole world. It says in Revelation 13, but he's the accuser of the brothers. He has two ministries. One is to deceive the whole world. And the other we read in Revelation 12 and verse 10, he accuses them. He deceives the whole world, Revelation 12 verse 9, and he accuses believers in Revelation 12, 10. But it says in verse 11, they overcame him. So what does it mean when it says the devil accuses believers? It says here he accuses believers, Revelation 12, 10, day and night. He works 24 hours, seven days a week. And what is his job, accusing. In practical terms, that means every time you slip up, the devil says, God, see that person there. He claims to be born again. He sits back saying, my sins are all forgiven. I'm on my way to heaven. But look at the way he's behaving. You see the way he gets angry at his wife. You see the way he's unrighteous with money matters. You see what type of pornography he's looking at. You call him your child, God, you should be ashamed of yourself. That's what the devil says to God. And I want to ask you, my brother, sister, does that make your head, make you hang your head in shame? Or can you sit back and say, oh, let him keep doing it. The blood of Jesus cleanses me. Then you are treating the blood of Christ like tap water. Every time your hand is dirty, you go to the tap and wash your hands, say, okay, I'm clean. Every time you slip up, oh, the blood of Jesus is there. You are treating the blood of Christ like tap water. And you're bringing dishonor to the Lord's name by giving the devil opportunity to accuse you day and night. I saw that and I tell you, I've gone the same way yourself. I was defeated and I was ashamed of myself and I began to seek God with all my heart. And I said, Lord, I want to shut the mouth of the devil that he will not have anything to accuse me to you about. Now the devil can't know my thoughts, but I want it to be pure in my thoughts as well so that God himself would be happy with me. But there are so many other things in our life that the devil can see. He can see in our face, if you've got a grudge against someone, even though he cannot look inside you, he senses, he hears believers gossiping, backbiting. He sees believers having a revengeful attitude to people and is all the time accusing them to God. God see this person claiming to be a disciple of Jesus. And what can the devil say? We read that even a man like Joe in the Old Testament, the devil tried to find something to accuse in him, even though God gave him a certificate saying that is the finest man on the earth. The devil says, I'm going to find some fault in him. Do you think the devil is not looking for faults in you and me? Take that seriously. God wants you to be an overcomer. Believe that first of all. You, yes, you, no matter how defeated you are, God wants you to be an overcomer. You've got to start with that faith. Even if you're at the bottom of the pit, even if you're the worst believer on earth, I want to tell you in Jesus name, God wants to make you an overcomer. The devil accuses believers day and night, but it says in verse 11, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and they did not love their lives unto death. So it's the blood of Jesus and the way of the cross. They did not love their life unto death means they chose the way of death to self. There are two things we read there. They overcame Satan by the blood of the lamb. That means all the guilt of my past life, I'm absolutely convinced the blood of Jesus has cleansed me. Good. I think many of you believe that already, but then it says they did not love their self life unto the point of death. See we sin because we love our self life. Our self life is offended by what somebody said or did, and then we react against that. And if I love that, the devil will overcome me. But if I hate my self life to the point of death, Lord, I'm going to die to the self. Like Jesus said, take up your cross every day and follow me. I can be an overcomer. You can be an overcomer. And I want to tell you that that is the reason why God has given us the Holy Spirit. So repent and overcome. In the book of Revelation to every one of the seven churches in chapter two and chapter three, I don't have time to show it to you, but you read that in chapter two and chapter three, his message was always he who overcomes, he who overcomes, he who overcomes. The promises in Revelation chapter two and three are all for those who overcome. And the last one, the last promises to the church in Laodicea, and this is a tremendous encouragement. The church in Laodicea was the worst of all the seven churches. They were so bad that the Lord said he's going to spit them out of his mouth. And he was outside that church because he says to that church in Revelation chapter three, I stand at the door and knock. If Jesus is standing at the door and knocking, is he outside the church or inside the church? He was outside. But yet, even to that thoroughly useless, backslidden, compromising church, Jesus says, you know what the next verse is? After he says, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice, even if you're as backslidden as that Laodicean church, there's hope for you. You hear my voice and you open the door. I will come into him and I will sup with him. Then he goes on to say, verse 21, you can overcome just like he himself overcame. You can be an overcomer like Jesus overcame. What a fantastic promise that is, to be able to overcome as Jesus overcame. That's why Jesus is called the forerunner. Turn with me to Hebrews. Hebrews and chapter six, Hebrews chapter six, Jesus is called a forerunner. Towards the end of chapter six, we read in verse 20, Jesus has entered into the most holy place in heaven as our forerunner. What does it mean to be a forerunner? One who has run the race ahead of us in whose footsteps we can follow and everything, every step he took, I can plant my feet in those footsteps. That's the message of the new covenant. That's the message of overcoming. So that's what he means here in Revelation 321. He who overcomes even as I also overcame. That's the point. The way he overcame, he says you can also overcome. I want to ask you, my dear brothers and sisters, do you believe that? You know, we can't make progress if you don't believe it. Do you believe that you, however defeated you may have been, you look at Jesus' life and say, Lord, according to your promise, I'm not looking at myself, according to your promise, I can overcome just like you overcame. Begin with that. I pray with all my heart that you will say that to the Lord right now. Lord, I believe I can overcome even as you overcame. The most defeated person listening to me today, to you, I'm saying this. Confess your faith. In Romans chapter 10, it says we believe in our heart and we confess with our mouth. It's like the two wires in electricity. You know what happens when you put on a switch and the lights come on? All that happens inside that switch is two wires touch. When you turn the switch off, those two wires are separated and the light goes off. You put the switch on, those two wires touch, the lights come on. These are the two wires that need to touch. Romans chapter 10, we believe in our heart and we confess with our mouth. Do you believe that Jesus loves you, that he wants you to overcome as he overcame? Then say, Lord, I believe it. I'm not saying it'll happen tomorrow, but I believe it's the first step. Everything in the Christian life, repentance must be followed by faith. So the first step is, are you sick and tired of your defeated life? If you're content with your defeated life, I have no message for you. If you're content with a good public testimony before others, like the Pharisees who have the outside of the cup clean, I have no message for you. But if you say, Lord, the outside of my cup is clean, everybody thinks I'm a wonderful Christian in my place of work, in my church, among my relatives and all, but they don't know what goes on at home. They don't know what goes on in my thoughts. They don't know what goes on in the dark. They don't know what goes on in secret in my life. I'm sick and tired, Lord, of my defeated life. That's repentance. I want to turn and then faith. I believe, and I will confess with my mouth what I believe, that I can overcome even as you overcame. Let me give you the example of the apostle Paul. You know, we can look at Jesus and say, oh, that's such a high standard. How can we ever reach there? Okay, let's look at a human being like us and a person who was a worse sinner than you and me. Are any of you murderers? Paul was a murderer. He hated Christians so much that he went out to kill them. I don't think any of you were so bad. That's the man God picked up and made the most triumphant Christian of his generation. And look at his testimony in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14. He's talking about himself. The apostle Paul was once a murderer, hated Christians, born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, and came to this wonderful life where he says in 2 Corinthians 2 14, he gives the glory to God. He doesn't take the credit himself. Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ. You got to read that slowly. Who leads me in victory, in triumph as an overcomer in Christ, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Do you think he's telling a lie? You think the Holy Spirit would inspire him to write a lie in the Bible? It was the absolute truth. How did he come to that life? Repentance and faith. He was sick and tired of his defeated life. You read Romans chapter 7 and you see his cry, Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body which is full of spiritual death? That's his cry. He felt he was a wretched man. He was fed up with his defeated life where he saw sin all over him. You know, he says in Romans 7 that in his thought life, it's an interesting verse in Romans 7, he was a slave to every imaginable lust. Do you lust in your thoughts? I'm sure you do. Paul says in Romans chapter 7, every type of lust was in him. In verse 8, the word coveting is the same as lusting in the margin of my Bible. Romans 7, 8, sin produced in me lusting of every kind. There are many types of lusts. Paul had every one of them, but he was sick and tired of it. He says, Oh, wretched man that I am, Romans 7, 24. How can I ever be free? And then he goes on in Romans 8, says, praise God that by the power of the Spirit, I can be free from this law of sin that drags me down. And he says, and come back to 2 Corinthians 2, 14. Thanks be to God. He's the one who did it, who leads me in triumph 24 seven, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Christ. And as a result, manifest through me the aroma of Christ. What the smell that comes forth from the lives of many believers is a stink, sometimes an aroma, but generally a stink. And what is the smell that comes out of your thought life? What is the smell that God gets out of the things you're thinking? Grudges, bitterness, unforgiving spirits, sexually dirty thoughts, anger, grudge, and all types of wrong attitudes towards others. It's a stink. And God changed the apostle Paul so that that thing changed into an aroma. That's what the fullness of the Holy Spirit did for Paul. It's not just that he spoke in tongues. I feel very sad when I see that so many believers in our day have been deceived by being taught that the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. I'm not against speaking in tongues. I speak, I've spoken in tongues for 45 years, but I never use it in public. It's a private love language between me and my Savior and my bridegroom. But that is not the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit is Romans 5, 5, that the love of God fills my heart, that I can love God with all my heart, stop loving this world, stop loving money, and that I can love other people who hate me, who speak against me, and love everyone. Every believer, forgive everyone. That is the mark of being filled with the Spirit. Romans 5 says the Holy Spirit floods our heart with the love of God. And 1 Corinthians 13 says you can speak in all the tongues imaginable. If you don't have love, you're a zero. So keep that in mind. Don't look for tongues. I never sought it. If God wants to give it to you, he'll give it to you. It's a gift. It's like the gift of teaching. God's given me the gift of teaching. I did not produce it. And you cannot be a teacher like me unless God gives you that gift. And if God calls you for that ministry, he'll give it to you. Tongues is like that. Not everybody can teach. Not everybody can speak in tongues. Not everybody can heal the sick. But everybody can be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the love of God flooding his heart, loving Jesus with all his heart, and loving others as himself. So God enabled Paul to be able to say, follow me as I follow Christ. And that is our calling also. Think what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5. You know, there are verses in scripture which we don't take seriously. Matthew chapter 5. Let me read you just one verse, one statement of Jesus, which people just don't take seriously or they twist it. What did Jesus say in Matthew 5, verse 48? The last verse of Matthew 5, after speaking about the areas where we must overcome and especially relating to loving our enemies and being good to those who hate us and greeting those who won't greet us, having a gracious, loving attitude towards everyone. He said, that's how your heavenly father is. He makes the sun to rise on evil people, on atheists and everybody equally. Be like that. And then he concluded it by saying, Matthew 5, verse 48, you must be perfect just like your heavenly father is perfect. Do you have a longing for that? I say, Lord Jesus, you said I must be perfect like my heavenly father is perfect, perfect in love and mercy. To others, I can't be perfect in knowledge and wisdom and holiness. No, no, no, no. He's talking here about love and being merciful to others, forgiving everybody, loving our enemies. That means if I got 10 enemies, I can love all of them. That's perfection and love to enemies. If so many people hate me, if I can love all of them, if so many people have done evil to me and I can do good to them, if 10 people have done evil to me and I do good to nine of them, I'm not perfect. But if I can do good to 10 of them, I'm perfect. That's the meaning. It's a standard that you can reach. Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And I want to say to you in Jesus' name, you can get there if you repent of your defeated life and thirst for this life that God has promised. You know, the reason why so many believers are depressed and gloomy is because the devil has blinded them to this wonderful life they can come to. The most perfect life that this world saw was the life of Jesus Christ. There was no better life. And isn't it wonderful that the Lord says you can live that type of life? That's our calling. If you have a longing for it, God will help you to come there. That's where we want to begin. So I want to show you another verse. Paul gives his testimony. These are amazing verses. Paul has been set up. You know, there are only two people in the New Testament who said, follow me. Jesus said, follow me. And Paul said, follow me. In 1 Corinthians 11, 1 and Philippians 3, 17. Follow me. Only two people. And Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. Take that challenge that you also should be able to say to others, follow me as I follow Paul as he followed Christ. See what he says in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 4. This is the overcoming life. I am conscious of nothing against myself. What he's saying is, I'm not aware of any conscious sin that I'm committing any day. I'm not aware of a single conscious sin that I'm committing every day. But that does not mean I'm perfect. He goes on to say, because the Lord examines me. You know, there's a whole area of our life which is unconscious. Just like in an ice cube that is in a glass of grape juice or something. 90% of that ice cube is below the surface. You can't see it. Only 10% is above the surface. And our life is like that. Our conscious life, what you're aware of is only 10% of your whole life. The sins that you're aware of are only 10% of all your sins. There is a 90% of you inside you where you're not like Jesus at all, including me. And including Paul. He says, but in my conscious area, there's nothing that I feel convicted about. What that means is, this is the illustration I use. If you could take a knife and slice off that top 10% of that ice cube, the part of the ice cube that is above the surface of the juice, slice it off. What will happen? You know what will happen. That part you can throw away. But something underneath will come up. Again, from the remaining 90%, 10% of that will come up. So apply that to your life. What happens? And I found this in experience too. When by the power of the Holy Spirit, we deal with conscious sin, the 10% that I can see, and deal with it and overcome it. And I say, I'm conscious of nothing. I finished with that. Something hidden, part of that hidden 90% will come up. I will see some new area of un-Christ-likeness in my life. And I can battle that and overcome that. And then I slice off that 10%, something more will come up. Like that, little by little by little, the whole of my un-Christ- likeness gradually gets reduced and I become more and more like Christ. This is the overcoming life. To use an illustration, in the Old Testament, there was a land of Canaan. And to live an overcoming life is to go into the land of Canaan and kill all the giants and occupy their land. But they could not occupy the whole of the land of Canaan in one day. They first conquered Jericho. They killed the giants in Jericho and occupied that land. But there were a thousand other giants in the rest of Canaan. That's like unconscious sin. The area they conquered, Jericho, was conscious area. They conquered it. There was not a giant living there. But then the Lord said, now you got to go and conquer the rest of the country. That's exactly what he says. And even at the end of Joshua's life, the Lord tells him in Joshua chapter 13, he says, you're very old now, Joshua. Joshua chapter 13 and verse 1, he says, you're very old, but there's still much of the land of Canaan yet to be possessed. There's a whole lot of the land of Canaan to be possessed. He says, Joshua, you occupied quite a bit, but there's still more to be possessed. And the sad thing is in the book of Judges, they never bothered about it. They allowed the enemies to rule the land. This is the condition. The book of Judges is a perfect description of the lives of most Christians, a life that is meant to be completely ruled by Christ. There are all types of Canaanites ruling different parts of the land of your life. That's not the way God meant it to be. Let me turn now to Romans chapter 6, the overcoming life. Romans 6 and verse 14, it says, sin will not be mastered over you because you're not under law, but under grace. This is the overcoming life. When you come under grace, sin cannot rule over you. No sin. When any sin rules over you, it is an indication that there's something of the grace of God you missed out on. It's like if you're under a roof, the rain cannot fall on you. But if you go outside that roof, the rain falls on you. When you're under grace, it says here, sin cannot overcome you. It cannot drench you. You're an overcomer. It's when we move away from grace that sin overcomes. What does it mean to live under law? You know how the Old Testament people lived. They were given a commandment. They tried and tried and tried and tried to keep it. So when a Christian hears the commandment and tries and tries and tries to keep it, he'll be defeated. He'll be defeated all his life. He's under law. What is grace? Grace is God coming to help the Christian to overcome. See Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4 is talking about Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4.15, being tempted like us and not sinning. I told you how Jesus is our forerunner. He never sinned. But many people don't believe that he has given us an example to walk like him. Because they say, oh, he was God. Yes, in his person he was God. But he never used his resources as God to overcome sin. Did you get that? In his person he was God. But he did not use those resources to overcome sin. He used the same resources that we have, the power of the Holy Spirit. To use an illustration, if an angel came from heaven and used his wings to fly across a swimming pool and told me to follow him, I would have to say to him, I cannot follow you. I cannot overcome gravity. Overcoming gravity is a picture of overcoming sin. I get into that swimming pool and I go down because gravity pulls me down. As long as I live in this world, my flesh, the lust in my flesh pull me down. There's a lot of gravity in my flesh pulling me down into sin all the time. So I have to tell that angel, get rid of your wings and be subject to the law of gravity like me. And then teach me how to swim. That's an example. When Jesus came to earth, if he came using his power as God, listen carefully, and he said, see how I overcome sin, follow me, it would be as ridiculous as the angel flying across the pool and trying to teach me to swim and say, I can't. I can admire you, but I can't follow you. And many Christians only admire Jesus' life. They don't follow him because they don't believe that God of the world has blinded their minds from this glorious truth. Which glorious truth? That Jesus came to earth exactly like you without sin. And he overcame only with the power of the Holy Spirit as a man. He did not overcome as God. He overcame as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's why he says, follow me. Is it like the angel getting rid of his wings and saying, I'm also now subject to the law of gravity. I'll teach you how to swim without drowning. Ah, I say, thank you. Now you can teach me because you've become like me now. And the day I see, this is what happened to me 45 years ago, when God opened my eyes to see one truth. I hadn't seen it clearly for 16. I had not seen it clearly for 16 years after being born again, that Jesus became like me and overcame sin as a man in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ, which the God of the world has blinded from so many people. And that's why most believers have not come into an overcoming life. It says in Hebrews 4, let me read this to you. Hebrews 4, 15 and 16, let me read it like this. We have a high priest who can sympathize with us, can sympathize with our weakness. It says we don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness. In other words, if he had come as God, then he would be a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness because he doesn't understand our struggles. He doesn't understand temptation. God cannot be tempted. The Bible says in James 1, but he was not a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness of being tempted. He can sympathize with our weakness. And what is that weakness? Being tempted. It says in the same verse. Why can he sympathize with our weakness? Because he was tempted like us in every single point. Boy, I wish I could teach that to every Christian in the world. That Jesus Christ came to the earth like us and was tempted like us in every single point. What are you tempted with my brother or sister? Jesus was tempted in the same area. And he did not sin. That is how he's our forerunner. You read that and say, therefore what? Therefore what? Therefore, verse 16, let us. Here is Jesus, our example, came like us, tempted like us, overcame every sin. Therefore, now let us also come to the same throne of grace with boldness. Boldness so that we can receive. We need two things. First of all, mercy. Mercy means forgiveness for our past. Jesus did not need mercy because he never sinned. We need mercy. So the first thing we get at the throne of God is mercy. My past is blotted out by the blood of Christ. But don't stop there. They got mercy in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is full of that. His mercy endured forever. His mercy endured forever. We read in the Psalms. Fine. But they did not know grace. John 1, 17 says grace came through Jesus Christ. And here it says we can receive mercy and Hebrews 4, 16, find grace to help us in our time of need. What is our time of need? Verse 15. When we are tempted, please meditate on these verses. The God of the world has blinded people to see this. And that's why we have Christians today defeated, defeated, defeated in their thoughts. Defeated in anger. Defeated with lusting with their eyes. Defeated with the love of money. Defeated with bitterness, murmuring, complaining, all types of things. Jesus never sinned in any of these areas. What does it mean? Let us run the race looking unto Jesus. I think of the apostle Peter. He walked on water. And Jesus called him to. That was overcoming the law of gravity. That's like a picture of overcoming sin. As long as he looked at Jesus, he walked. But the moment he turned his eyes away from Jesus and looked at, let me say, temptation or the angry words of others or the way other people were treating him badly, he sank. That's what happens to you or me if we turn our eyes away from Jesus. Immediately we sink. But the Lord did not let him sink. You know what he said? Lord, save me. That's all you have to say when you're sinking in defeat. Three words. Lord, save me. I tell you in Jesus name, I tell you, he will stretch out his hand and hold you so that you don't fall. And if you keep looking at him, he will keep holding you that you never fall. And little by little, you'll become more and more of an overcomer, as I told you how it is in conscious and unconscious sin. 1 Timothy chapter 3 is another verse I want to show you. The secret of living a godly life. 1 Timothy 3.16. Great is the secret of godliness or the secret of an overcoming life. Or as the Living Bible paraphrases it, it is true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ who came to earth as a man. That's the Living Bible paraphrase of 1 Timothy 3.16. Great is the secret. Oh, it's a secret. It's a mystery. The mystery means a secret that God reveals according to Psalm 25 verse 14. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him. You know, we don't reveal our secrets to everybody. There are many things we openly shout and speak for everybody in the room to hear. But secrets we whisper to our loved ones. And the Lord whispers his secrets to those who fear him, who reverence him. And one mark of those who reverence God is that they want to be free from sin. Because they know sin is dishonoring God in their life, making the devil accuse them to God day and night. Lord, I want to be free. And the Lord whispers his secret to them. The secret of godliness, 1 Timothy 3.16. You can see it. Christ came to earth just like you. And was tempted like you. And received grace from me, the Father says. Received the Holy Spirit to give him grace every day. Of course, he prayed for it. And he received. And he overcame. And you can also overcome. That is the secret of godliness. How did Jesus pray? Hebrews chapter 5. It was not an easy way for him to overcome. Says in Hebrews 5 and verse 7. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 7. In the days of his flesh. That means during his entire 33 years on earth. 33 and a half years on earth are called the days of his flesh. What did he do? He prayed. He never prayed when he was in heaven. God doesn't have to pray. Why did he have to pray? Prayer is the sign of a helpless person seeking God for help. Did Jesus have to be like that? Yes. Because he was like us as a man. And we need help. He wanted to be an example for us. Like the angel cutting off his wings. Subject to the law of gravity. Jesus came like us and he had to pray. And how did he pray? With loud crying and tears. What was he praying for? He wasn't praying like a lot of Christians pray. Today Lord give me more money. Give me a better job. Give me a better house. He wasn't praying for a single earthly thing. He was praying that he might not enter into spiritual death. Which is a result of sin. He prayed to him who was able to save him from spiritual death. Spiritual death is another word for where sin leads you. James 1 says that. Sin when it is finished brings death. We can paraphrase that to say Jesus prayed to the father. Saying father keep me from sinning. Keep me from doing my own will. The root of all sin is to do your own will. Where self is on the throne. Father help me to put myself to death every day. And to do your will every single moment. Help me. How did he pray? With loud crying and tears. And he was heard. This is not speaking of Calvary. Because he didn't pray to escape physical death. No. He was praying to escape spiritual death. Which comes as a result of sin. Father I don't want even the smell of sin in my life. And it wasn't just a casual prayer like some of Christians pray. It was a desperate prayer. And he was heard because of his godly fear. His godly fear means he never wanted a smell of sin in his life. And I say Lord I want to pray like that. That's why he often used to go to the wilderness and pray. Where he wouldn't disturb anybody. I remember years ago I said Lord I live in a city. The wilderness is miles away and I can't find a place where I can shout. But the Lord taught me you can have a loud cry in your heart even without opening your mouth. And I remember the days when I was defeated by sin in my bed. I would weep on my pillow and cry in my heart without making any noise. Lord I want an overcoming life at any cost. I want a life where I will never lose my temper at my wife even once 365 days of the year. Philippians 4.4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Always means 24-7. I say Lord I want an overcoming life where I will rejoice in Christ 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And you know in my early Christian life I used to be so discouraged. Often gloomy just like many Christians. Discouragement has gone from my life. I'm telling you honestly. And I didn't take it away. The Holy Spirit took it away. Do you have a longing for that life where you rejoice in the Lord always? Where you need a life where it says in Philippians 2.14 you can do all things without grumbling or disputing. What a wonderful life it is. Do everything without grumbling and disputing. In everything give thanks. Ephesians 5 19 and 20. And rejoicing always. Philippians 4 verse 6. Being anxious for nothing. What a wonderful life is described here. Now these are not imaginary things. I'm quoting scripture which many of you believe is inspired by the Holy Spirit. A freedom from the love of money for example. Jesus said in Luke 16 no one can serve God and money. A life where we can overcome Satan. Ephesians chapter 6. We struggle not against flesh and blood but against all these satanic powers. And having overcome all of them we stand firm. Ephesians 6.11. But I can confront the devil like it says in James 4.7. I submit to God. I resist the devil and he flees from me. I remember gradually God the Lord brought me to the place where he said to me. Just like you were afraid of the devil once. From now on the devil will be afraid of you. I'll tell you something. That's for every one of you if you want if you are willing to be free from sin. The devil is not afraid of a person who is proud and angry and has got bitterness and gossips and backbites and murmurs and complaints and whose mind is full of filthy thoughts. The devil is not scared of him at all. Here it says we do not fight against flesh and blood Ephesians 6.12. That's another thing the Lord told me years ago. If you want to overcome Satan make one decision in your life today. Many years ago the Lord said to me that you will never again fight with a human being for anything. I decided that many years ago. I will not fight with a human being over property or I will not even fight with him over doctrine. I would proclaim the truth if he wants to argue. I say God bless you my brother. I'm not going to argue with you because I do not fight with human beings. In the old covenant they fought with Canaanites and Amorites and Moabites but I'm not an old covenant Christian. Jesus never fought with human beings. When they slapped him he forgave them. When they called him Beelzebul prince of devils he said you're forgiven. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. I'm not a follower of Moses or even John the Baptist. We do not fight with human beings and the Lord said if you want to overcome the devil make one decision in your life that you will never fight with human beings. You won't fight with your neighbors. You won't fight with your wife. You won't fight with any human being or anything. Lord help me. I need grace. Hebrews 4 16. What did we read there? Let us come boldly to the throne of grace and get that grace from God. We need to get the same grace that Jesus had. Luke chapter 2 verse 40 says the grace of God was upon Jesus. That's why sin could not rule over him and when the grace of God is upon me murmuring, complaining, anxiety, fear and bitterness and hatred will all disappear from my life. I'll have power to overcome it. I'll be tempted. I'm tempted every day but I will overcome. That is the power of the Holy Spirit God wants to give us. That is his divine nature that he wants to make us a partaker of so that we overcome. Yeah, I want to say one final thing. The new covenant Christian life of overcoming is not an individual type of life. It's a life in fellowship with others. That's why we need to seek fellowship in a church. There is no such thing as individualistic Christianity and I thank God that soon after God led me personally into victory. He gave me fellowship with others and a little church began to be formed and getting victory personally is the first step towards building a local church just where you are. And let me define to you what a local church is. A local church is not two, three hundred people. No. Here is a definition of a local church. Matthew 18 verse 20. Where two or three, two is enough, or three are gathered together by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. Not those who just gathered together themselves. No. Gathered by the Holy Spirit. Led by the Holy Spirit. Gathered means somebody else did it. Those two or three gathered together in my name. Jesus said, I'm in the midst. That's the church. He's the head and it starts with only two or three. It goes on to become four, five. It's just like, you know, in a big, in the mother's womb, two separate units unite inside that fallopian tube and they join and become one. And then inside the mother's womb, those two little cells become four. Then eight and 16 and 32. And gradually it becomes a baby. That's how a baby is formed. And that's how the church is formed. Initially with just two who are united, two dissimilar units coming together and becoming one inside a mother's womb. And that's how God brings us together with others. So if you're not interested in fellowship, you're going to live a very lonely life. You'll be defeated. I'll tell you that. Your desire for personal victory must lead on to a desire to build the church of Jesus Christ. Let me read further. Where two or three are gathered in my name. That's the church. I am in the midst. And these two, the only two or three, they must agree together completely. That means their agreement is in Christ. I'm not worried about little personal differences we have about so many things in Christ. Do you want to follow Jesus? I want to follow Jesus. We are agreed. That's fine. The other things are all peripheral and secondary. Do you want to follow in Jesus' footsteps? I want to follow in Jesus' footsteps. We are agreed. And I get two or three like that. Then what would be the power I have? Verse 18. I'll have authority to bind satanic powers on earth. That'll be the church Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16, 18. The gates of hell, the powers of darkness will not be able to prevail against this church. Why are you not able to find one or two more with a similar desire to join you wherever you are? I'll tell you why. That's true in my life. I'm telling you from my own experience. Initially, when I sought the Lord, I was alone. But the Lord showed me in John 12, 24, a very important verse. A grain of wheat will remain alone. You take a grain of wheat and put it in a beautiful glass case. A hundred years later, it'll be one grain of wheat. But Jesus said in John 12, 24, if it falls into the ground and dies, if it falls into the ground and dies, dies to self every day, it will not remain alone. Every farmer knows that. They sow one seed into the ground. It comes forth 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold from one seed. That's how the church is formed. If God can find one person in any place in the world who is willing to die to himself every single day of his life and seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit and say, Lord, I want to live an overcoming life. I want to take up the cross every day and follow Jesus in the fire of the Holy Spirit. Please give me this. You fall into the ground and die. God, you will find very soon, God will add to you one more person who has the same desire. And then there are two. The church is beginning to be formed. Then it'll be three. Many others will come and go who are not interested in dying to self. So we also found that when we started meeting. A lot of people came and joined us who had no interest in dying to self. They dropped off, but a few stayed on. And that became the core of what we call Christian Fellowship Church today. One by one, God adds, dear brothers and sisters, this is the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not coming for individual holy Christians. He's coming for a glorious church, a church that has become his bride. Long with all your heart that you will build that church in your locality. And that will help you to live an overcoming life. That is God's will. And I would say that the Lord is saying, I will help you. He's called, the Holy Spirit is called a helper. Beautiful title. A helper. John 14. What does he come to help me? He's come to help me with grace to, first of all, overcome in my life. And then help me to fall into the ground and die every day. And overcome in my inner life. And to unite me with other people he is finding in my same town or village or locality. That he's going to join to me and together form a church. Believe that. According to your faith, be it unto you. If you say, no, no, no, that can never happen in my place. Then I tell you, it will never happen in your place. Not because God cannot do it, because you don't believe it. There's a law in God's dealings with man. One I showed you earlier. Seek, if those who seek me with all their heart will find me. Here's another one. According to the level of your faith, you will receive. So if your faith is very little, only for a personal overcoming life, that's all you'll have. And you'll probably get defeated after a while. But you say, Lord, not just me. Overcoming life means I've got to be part of a living church. Even if it's only two or three. I want to see that in my locality. I want a church that glorifies God in my locality. I want to say to you, in Jesus' name, He will do it for you, whichever part of the world you're in. God bless you. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray that these words will not be taken away from anybody's heart. But it'll bring forth fruit in many lives. We trust you, Lord. Help everyone to have faith. Those who come through the gate to determine to walk the narrow way that leads to life. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Brother Zach, for those wonderful words. I have two or three questions. If you can take a couple of minutes to answer that. You did mention that the Philippians 4 for rejoice in the Lord always. I'm always encouraged by that Psalm 1611. In your presence, there is fullness of joy. At your right hand is precious evermore. What about some believers who think, maybe some of us here may think that, well, you don't understand my situation. The circumstances that I am going through is just like so tough. How do you expect me to rejoice always? What would you tell them? Okay. Our situations are all different. But I want to show you a few verses. First of all, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13. 1 Corinthians 10, 13, it says in the middle of that verse, God is faithful who will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability. To be tempted beyond your ability. Some of you say, oh, this is becoming too much for me. You know what you're saying? If you're a child of God, God is unfaithful. You're shouting out, God is unfaithful. He's allowing me to be tested beyond my ability. The Bible is full of lies. That's what you're saying by your life. But the Bible says God will never allow you to be tested beyond your ability. And you're saying he is doing it. What are you saying, actually, that he's unfaithful? Your unbelief is what's making you fall. Start testifying from today. No temptation can come to me, which God will not give me power to overcome. Because if the temptation is too much for me, God will not allow it to come into my life. When I look back over my life, I find in the early days, God did not allow me to be tested with very strong temptations. Just like a child who's in the second grade. He'll only get questions related to second grade in his examination. No teacher will give him a 10th grade question paper. No. And if human teachers can be like that, how would God allow any of his children to be tested beyond their ability? But it does happen because of their unbelief. So if there is a situation where I say, oh, I can't help murmuring and complaining here, and I can't help getting anxious and worried here. In other words, I have to disobey God. No. It was like that with me because of unbelief. But I said, Lord, your word says I must be anxious for nothing. I can be concerned about different things, but not anxious. And your word says that I must rejoice always. That I must give thanks for everything in the name of Jesus Christ. I want to live that life. And Lord, I trust you to make sure that temptation doesn't come that's too much for me. Let me say one thing. Are there temptations today? Listen carefully. Are there temptations today, which are too much for me to handle at my present level of maturity, which if they come to me, they'll knock me down and I'll be defeated? The answer is yes. But God will ensure that temptation does not come to me today. It will come to me maybe five years from now when I'm strong enough to overcome it. That's what I'm saying. There are temptations that the devil can knock me down with today, but it will not come because of 1 Corinthians 10, 13. And it will not come to you if you have faith. And then let me also read to you Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 says, what shall we say to these things? First of all, Romans 8, 28. God will make every single thing work together for your good. I believe that. Because I love God. I want to fulfill his purpose. Romans 8, 28 says, every single thing that people do, good things, bad things that people do to me will work for my good. There's a filter through which all the evil that people do to me passes. And when it passes through, it becomes good for me. The evil that Joseph's brothers tried to do to him to sell him off as a slave to Egypt, it went through God's filter and made Joseph the ruler in Egypt. And that is why Joseph quotes this Romans 8, 28 in Genesis 50, verse 20. You know, there's a Romans 8, 28 equivalent of this verse in Genesis 50, 20. Joseph says to his brothers, you meant evil for me, but God made it work for good. That's the Romans 8, 28 of the Old Testament, Genesis 15, verse 20. He had that faith. We have it much more. And then in Romans 8, 31, it says, what shall we say to such a wonderful gospel? Listen to this. If God is for me, who can be against me? Can you say that? We should say it. He who did not spare his own son, Romans 8, 32, how will he not give us everything else that we need? Who is going to bring a charge against me? Verse 33. Will God or Christ? No. Verse 35, Romans 8, 35, who can separate me from the love of Christ? Tribulation, distress, persecution, troubles, problems, famine, nakedness, that is so nothing in all these things. Verse 37. I am more than a conqueror. Confess that. Make that your faith, and it will become true in your life. Thank you, brother Zach. You briefly mentioned that overcoming life is, it's also mentioned that divine partaking is in the divine nature. Would you mind taking like one or two minutes to explain that? What does it mean your partaking in divine nature? The divine nature was manifested in Jesus Christ perfectly. And it was through the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus, God gave to the church on the day of Pentecost. And that's why the devil has made so much of counterfeit of that in the world. You know, only valuable things are counterfeited. Nobody counterfeits toilet paper or brown paper. They counterfeit gold, diamonds. And so the Holy Spirit being counterfeit, people ask me, are there counterfeit gifts of the Holy Spirit? Yes, I think 90% of what I've seen is counterfeit gifts, counterfeit tongues. Most of the tongues I've heard spoken in many churches, 90% of it is counterfeit. Because some man taught them to mumble something and babble something. And they said, that's tongues. You've got the Holy Spirit. Oh, I get mad at the devil when I think of how he has deceived Christians all over the world. And I'm determined to expose the lie of Satan everywhere. The Holy Spirit has come to make us partakers of God's nature. Whether you speak in tongues or not, you know that Jesus never spoke in tongues. He did not need to speak in tongues because his mind is perfectly one with the Father. One day when we get to heaven and our mind is perfectly one with the Father, we will not need tongues at all. That's not the main thing. It's a gift used to serve God in this earth. But partaking of his nature, that's what the Holy Spirit has come to give. Therefore, ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is pictured in the Bible like water, rivers of living water. And have you noticed one thing? That rivers always flow down to the lowest place, always. The river doesn't climb up to the hill. It flows down to the lowest place. The humblest person sitting here is the one who's going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit first. The one who bows down before God the lowest, who goes down and says, Lord, I'm zero. He'll be filled with the Holy Spirit first, who gives up his will completely. God's grace, 1 Peter 5.5, is given to the humble. That is how we become partakers of God's nature. It's God's grace coming to us through the spirit of grace that gives to us that nature that enables us to overcome sin. He doesn't make us robots. No, God doesn't program us like a computer that we automatically overcome. No, we've got to use that power. It's like, you know, the electricity company gives you electricity in your house, but they're not going to come and turn on the lights. They're not going to come and turn on your washing machine. They're not going to come and turn on your fan. You've got to do that. You've got to use the electricity they give you. So God's not going to make you a robot that moves around in victory. No, but he gives you the power, like the electric company gives you the electricity. You've got to use it. You can use it for anything you like in your house. You can use it to overcome sin. You can use it to serve God. You can use it to overcome everything you've been defeated by in your life. Thank you, Brother Zach. You mentioned about the last point was about fellowship, and I see so many believers from all over. About fellowship? Yeah, fellowship. And I see so many believers from all over the world, right? So I mean, I just counted, I think, like 10 folks from Nigeria and stuff like that. So if they're keen on dying to themselves, according to what you said on June 12, 24, what's the next step? What's your advice to these folks who doesn't have any fellowship there so far? The Lord taught me when I was seeking for this life of victory and seeking to build a new covenant church, like the body of Christ. What the Lord said to me was the greatest work you can do for me in India is to fall into the ground and die, not go and preach, fall into the ground and die. And I said, Lord, I'll do that. Before that, I was traveling the world, different countries in the world as an international preacher. The day came in my life, I gave it up. I said, Lord, that's not what I want. I want to build a church. And I said, I'm willing to fall into the ground and die every day in my personal life, my thought life, my relationship with my wife and the way I bring up my children, myself will die. I will be detached from the love of money. I'll be detached from everything. I'm willing to live simply. I'm willing to do anything, but I want an overcoming life. And then whenever I get, I didn't do it perfectly from day one, but as I got light on it, I said, Lord, thank you for giving me light on that. And then I would take one step forward. And I, different things, you know, when I slipped up, the Holy Spirit would say to me, that's not what Jesus would do. That's not the way Christ would react. And I said, Oh Lord, I'm sorry. I reacted wrongly. And the Lord saw that I was really serious about my repentance, small little things. If I said a word out of place, the Lord said, that's not what to do. I remember once when I helped somebody and very much, we helped this brother very much. And years later, we found he was not at all thankful to us, to me. And I said, Lord, this guy is so unthankful. And the Lord said, something's wrong with you. And I said, Lord, what's wrong with me? In as much as you did it to the least of these, my brothers, you've done it unto me, said the Lord. You did not serve me. You serve that person. That's why you're expecting thanks from him. But I've taught you that even when you serve others, you must serve me. And if you serve that brother as a service to me, you would not be expecting thanks from him. You'd be expecting thanks from me. I got light on the fact that expecting thanks from another brother is a sin. Have you got light on that? I got light on it from my own failure. That's just one example. And I said, Lord, I want more and more light on everything un-Christlike in me. And as I died and died and died, God brought to me. It is not my choice. I could not find, you know, the picture the Lord gave me is the country of India is like a huge haystack. And, you know, there's a saying in English, finding needles in a haystack. How can you find needles in a haystack? Such a big pile of haystack and 10 or 15 needles in it. How will I find it? And the Lord said, if you try to plunge into this haystack and search and search and search among the 1000 million people in India, you will not find them. A better way is you spend all your life and you may find not even find one or two. Outside, put a powerful magnet outside that haystack. One by one, these things will come out attached to the magnet. And if you have a church like that, which is seeking to follow Jesus, it will draw these people who are seeking for a whole hearted life. And you will gradually be able to build such a church where fellowship is built. One of the things we decided was I'm never going to take money for my service. I've written 30 books. I will take no royalty, not even one cent for the books I write. I'll go and preach. I will not take money. I will support myself like the Apostle Paul. There are very few preachers who are even interested in that type of life. Many preachers want, hey, I go and preach. I expect people to give me money. I tell you before God, I expect zero. So many people, when they give, I return it. I say, give it to the poor. And I say, you really want to follow the Lord? Be detached from the love of money. Say, Lord, what I'm interested in is not money. What I'm interested in is fellowship. Fellowship, give me godly brothers who can follow in your footsteps. And without partiality, don't look for people of your community or your language. No, of course, we must speak the same language, but I'm not bothered about community. Don't look for people at your level of education. God has given me fellowship with illiterate people who cannot read and write. Do you know there are people in our churches, in the villages in India, who cannot read or write? They have to get somebody else to read the Bible to them. I fellowship with them. I don't just fellowship with PhDs and people who are educated. There's no difference in God's eyes. So if I'm willing to fellowship with anybody, and it doesn't matter if they are different language, different community, different whatever. I want fellowship at any cost. I believe God can give it to you anywhere. You must have a longing. I would say this one final thing. Everything depends on thirst. Take this verse. If any man thirst, John 7, 37, come to me and believe. Only two things, thirst and faith. Do you want to thirst? Do you thirst for a victorious life? Jesus has come to me. Do you thirst to build a new covenant church? Come to me. If you don't have a thirst, you'll never get anything. And if you don't believe that God can do it in your locality, it won't happen. God bless you. Thank you, Brother Zach. So one more question. This is the last question. So such a person like a thirsty, and this person is very, me thirsting for that life and finding a new covenant church, having a new covenant church. But he says like, well, I'm not a pioneer. I'm not a facilitator. I'm not an administrator. I don't have any capabilities. What would I do? Well, do you think I started life with capabilities and gifts? No. God said, I want to bring you down to zero. You know, there was a time when I thought I was capable. I accomplished nothing. I lived a defeated life in the years when I thought I could do something for the Lord. The Lord said, I have to bring you down to zero. Do you know the story of Jacob? Jacob was wrestling against God and God broke his hip socket and he had to lean on a staff for the rest of his life. And when he was broken and all his strength was gone, then God told Jacob, now you're a prince of God. Or take Moses. When he was 40 years old, capable, smart speaker, he was so powerful he could kill an Egyptian with one blow. And he thought he would deliver the Israelites like that. God said, no, you're too strong. I'll take you to the wilderness. Forty years, you're going to look after sheep. You've been living like a king. Look after sheep. And I'm going to make you live with your father-in-law for 40 years. Can you imagine anything? If you want anything to break you, go and live with your father-in-law for even one year. Moses had to live for 40 years. He was thoroughly broken. And then God appears in a burning bush and says, Moses, now you're ready. And he says, oh, no, Lord, not me, not me. This man at the age of 40, he thought he was ready. Now he had come to zero. God says, now you're ready. What about the apostle Peter, who said, even if everybody denies you, I will not deny you. He said to Jesus, Peter, you're not ready. You're too proud. You are going to deny me three times tonight. He said, no, no, no, I'll never do it. And he did it. And he was so broken by that. For the rest of his life, he never forgot. I am the one who denied the Lord. I want to say to you that God's aim with all of us is to bring us down to zero. Whatever your strength is, God wants to make you weak there. And when Peter thought, OK, I failed as an apostle. I denied the Lord. Peter said, there's one thing I can still do. I can go fishing, John 21. He says, let's go fishing. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/g9UG_uPU3Cs.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/have-you-missed-the-overcoming-christian-life/ ========================================================================