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The Riches of the New Covenant
Zac Poonen

Zac Poonen (1939 - ). Christian preacher, Bible teacher, and author based in Bangalore, India. A former Indian Naval officer, he resigned in 1966 after converting to Christianity, later founding the Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) in 1975, which grew into a network of churches. He has written over 30 books, including "The Pursuit of Godliness," and shares thousands of free sermons, emphasizing holiness and New Testament teachings. Married to Annie since 1968, they have four sons in ministry. Poonen supports himself through "tent-making," accepting no salary or royalties. After stepping down as CFC elder in 1999, he focused on global preaching and mentoring. His teachings prioritize spiritual maturity, humility, and living free from materialism. He remains active, with his work widely accessible online in multiple languages. Poonen’s ministry avoids institutional structures, advocating for simple, Spirit-led fellowships. His influence spans decades, inspiring Christians to pursue a deeper relationship with God.
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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the transition from living under the old covenant to embracing the riches of the new covenant in Christ. It challenges believers to move beyond mere forgiveness and material blessings to possess the full inheritance of grace, including perpetual joy, freedom from anxiety, victory over sin giants, and authority over demonic forces. The speaker highlights the importance of not fighting with human beings to gain strength in spiritual battles and to establish the kingdom of God on earth.
Sermon Transcription
I'm happy to be here again. And I want to share with you what is the basic emphasis God has asked me to preach for the last 40 years. There are many different gifts in the body of Christ. And even if there are many teachers, God does not give every teacher of the word the same emphasis. The burden that God has placed on my heart is to lead God's people into the riches of the new covenant. Because I find many, many Christians live under the old covenant. So, let's begin with 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 1. The Holy Spirit speaks through Paul here. In the middle of that verse, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. We use the word grace and the grace of God a lot among Christians. How can you receive the grace of God in vain? I'm sure all of you have read that verse. Do you feel that that verse could refer to you? That you have received the grace of God in vain? To use an illustration. Supposing a young man receives an inheritance of millions of dollars from his father when he dies. His father has worked very hard and earned millions of dollars. And he's willed it all to his only son. And you go and see the son after 4-5 years and he's wasted all his money and he's like a homeless person on the street. He received his father's inheritance in vain. This is how many of God's people can receive the grace of God in vain. The inheritance that Christ purchased for us through his death and resurrection. Especially through sending the Holy Spirit into our lives. Is so huge and great that it is possible that we do not come up to possess all that God has for us. It is possible that we do not come up to possess all that God has given us through inheritance. Turn with me to John's Gospel, chapter 1. And verse 17. Here it says The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. The great word under the old covenant for Israel was law. Everything was governed by the law of God. And the great word in the new covenant is grace. There was no new covenant grace in the Old Testament. They had mercy. Mercy is different from grace. Mercy deals with our past sins and forgiveness. Grace deals with our future, how we can overcome sin. So you have received forgiveness of sins. But not overcome sin, then you are receiving the grace of God in vain. You know, some of us can be very happy that we are living a fairly decent, good life. And maybe our life is better than the lives of many non-Christians or even Christians in other churches. But the more we claim to have the word of God, the higher our life should be. See, most Pentecostal Christians would say we know about the Holy Spirit, which other churches don't speak about. Then our life should be far higher than the people in the other churches. The kingdom of God is not in words, but in power. So, when you think of people who lived under the law in the Old Covenant, think of a man like Moses, or Elijah, or Elisha, or John the Baptist. Can you think of what godly men these were? I cannot imagine John the Baptist watching pornography. But he was under the law. How is it people under grace watch pornography? Is grace lower than law? What is the difference of level between law and grace? The difference is this. Moses brought the law. Jesus brought grace. So, grace is as much above the law as Jesus is above Moses. So, a man who followed the law of Moses, like Elisha for example, he was so free from the love of money that when Naaman offered him so much gold, he said, I don't want it. How is it so many people who claim to be under grace who are just eagerly running after money? We have not experienced the riches of grace. The devil has cheated God's people of their inheritance. To use another example, here is a son who has inherited millions from his father, but he doesn't know the details that the father has written in his will. In which all banks his father has kept the money, in which all cities he's got property, and he gives this will to a lawyer to execute for him, and the lawyer cheats him of 90% of that inheritance, and this boy, this young man lives struggling to live with the little bit he got. Would you allow a lawyer to cheat you of the inheritance your rich father left for you? No. Why? Because when it comes to money, we are very careful. Do you feel Satan has robbed you of your inheritance under grace? Do you feel Satan has robbed you of your inheritance under grace? I want to show you a few of the blessings we have under grace. See, it says in Romans 6, verse 14, See, it says in Romans 6, verse 14, you see another difference between law and grace. Sin will not be master over you because you are not under law but under grace. Sin will not be master over you because you are not under law but under grace. Or we can put it another way and say that if sin has mastery over you, you are under law. In this one single verse, you can find out right now whether you are under law or under grace. In this one single verse, you can find out whether you are under law or under grace. It's very important when we come to the Word of God to get rid of preconceived ideas we have. It's very important when we come to the Word of God to get rid of preconceived ideas we have. And be open to see, is there something here that I need to learn? And be open to see, is there something here that I need to learn? If you read the history of the Christian Church, particularly in the last 500-600 years, If you read the history of the Christian Church, particularly in the last 500-600 years, you find that God has always been recovering new truths to the Church. you find that God has always been recovering new truths to the Church. There were great truths that God revealed to the apostles in the first century. There were great truths that God revealed to the apostles in the first century. And for some time, Christians lived in those truths. And for some time, Christians lived in those truths. But then we read of a long period called the Dark Ages of Christian History. But then we read of a long period called the Dark Ages of Christian History. Where mostly the Roman Catholic Church was the biggest church in the world. Where mostly the Roman Catholic Church was the biggest church in the world. Almost every Christian was a Roman Catholic. Right up to 1500 A.D. Right up to 1500 A.D. And they were teaching that salvation is by giving money to the Church. And they were teaching that salvation is by giving money to the Church. Confessing your sin to a priest and he will forgive you. Confessing your sin to a priest and he will forgive you. And thousands of people believed it. And thousands of people believed it. And they were lost and went to hell. And they were lost and went to hell. Then God raised up a man called Martin Luther. Then God raised up a man called Martin Luther. All that he did was check up whether what the church is preaching is in God's Word. And he compared what everybody was believing with God's Word. And he compared what he himself was believing with God's Word. That is how the Reformation started. And this is how God brings forth truth to honest people. Compare your present standard of life with the Word of God. Like to use that illustration, compare the money you got with what your father has written in the will for you. He left 10 million dollars for you, but you got only 10,000 dollars. Then you're being cheated. I'm supposed to have 10 million and I got only 10,000, somebody cheated me. I want you to go to the Word of God like that and say, here is what Jesus purchased for me and here is what I've got in my life. I've been cheated. I want to possess all my inheritance. You know, Jesus once made a statement in Matthew 11. Many people haven't understood that. It says in verse 12, Matthew 11, verse 12. From the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force. See, John the Baptist was the point from which things began to change. Because he was preparing the way for Jesus Christ to come. So, up to John the Baptist, everybody in Israel was seeking a kingdom of earth. You never read of any heavenly blessing in the Old Testament. And God gave an old covenant to Moses. Every blessing was earthly. I will defeat your earthly enemies. The Philistines, the Moabites, the Amorites. I will give you earthly wealth. I'll give you plenty of earthly children. I will give you a lot of cattle. Your cattle will multiply. Your fields will prosper. I'll give you plenty of rain on your ground. And you will be the highest nation on the earth. You read it in Deuteronomy 28. It was a kingdom of earth. They looked at that and looked at that for 1500 years in Israel. And then John the Baptist came. And you know what his message was? Repent. Repent means turn around. Because the kingdom of heaven is near. They were watching the kingdom of earth and earthly blessing for 1500 years. He said, now turn around and look at the kingdom of heaven. That is the real meaning of repentance. Turn around because the kingdom of God is near. When John the Baptist died, Jesus preached the kingdom of God is near. And then one day Jesus told some people, before some of you die, you will see the kingdom of God coming. It's near. It has not yet come. But some of you standing here will live to see the kingdom of God come. And that happened on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit of God brought the kingdom of heaven down to earth. Like we sing in that song, heaven came down and glory filled my soul. You know what is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit coming and filling our lives? To bring the atmosphere of heaven into our hearts. And if you, husband and wife, live with the atmosphere of heaven in their hearts, their home will be like heaven. Why are so many homes like hell with so much fighting and quarreling? You have received the grace of God in me. So, here it says that to get this kingdom of heaven, you have to be a violent man. Only such people will take it by force. What does that mean? All true believers are people of peace externally. We pursue peace with all human beings. If they slap us on one cheek, we don't hit back. We let them slap us another if they like. We believe God will take care of that. We don't resist evil. Externally, if somebody comes to fight with me, I'm not going to fight with him. In the Old Testament, they fought. In the New Testament, we don't fight. You know the reason why many Christians are not able to possess the kingdom of heaven? Do you know why many Christians are not able to possess the kingdom of God? They are not, inwardly, violent against sin. As zealously as people like David and Joshua went and fought against the Canaanites and possessed the land, in the same way, not externally, inwardly, we have to fight against our lust to possess the land. So, this is where we've got to be violent inside. Every sin that I see in my heart, I've got to be violent against it. That is the meaning of this verse. Violent men will take the kingdom of heaven in their hearts by force. But when you sin, you say, well, we are human, naturally we will sin. Then you are not a violent man. You will never possess the kingdom of heaven. You will always be occupied with God blessing you with earthly things. And if you think the greatest manifestation of God's blessing in your life is earthly blessing, yeah, now I'm not poor like I was in Romania, now I'm pretty rich being in the United States. God has blessed me. That is an old covenant blessing. That's not a new covenant blessing. I mean, think of how rich Solomon was. Nobody here is as rich as him. That is not a new covenant blessing. Jesus was not the richest man on earth. Paul and Peter were not the richest people on earth. Paul sometimes didn't have enough food to eat. But sin did not rule over him. He had the kingdom of heaven in his heart, and he brought other people into the kingdom of heaven. It's very important for us to understand this. Three times in the New Testament, we are warned that the children of Israel who left Egypt did not enter Canaan. You can take your time to look at it. When you get home, read 1 Corinthians 10, read Hebrews 3 and 4, and read the book of Jude, the letter of Jude, Judah, not Yaakov. So three times we are warned the children of Israel came out of Egypt but did not enter Canaan. Why is that warning given us three times? Everything that happened in the Old Testament was a picture of something God is fulfilling in the New Testament. Like the tabernacle, it had a lot of meanings, all the parts of the tabernacle. The Passover lamb killed and the blood of the lamb has a meaning for us. That's symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us from death. It says they were baptized in the Red Sea, 1 Corinthians 10, after they were protected by the blood of the lamb. The Israelites went into the Red Sea and out. That is a picture of water baptism after they were protected by the blood. That is why child baptism is wrong. And then they came out of the Red Sea and then it says they were baptized in the cloud that came from heaven. That is a picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. So they had three experiences. They were redeemed by the blood of the lamb, they were baptized in water, symbolically, and symbolically they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now many Christians think if I've got these three, I'm a postgraduate, I've finished my Christian experience. No! That is the kindergarten lesson in the Christian life. What is the kindergarten experience in the Christian life? Redeemed by the blood of the lamb, baptized in water, baptized in the Holy Spirit. That's just the beginning. In the Acts of the Apostles, they did not wait 20 years to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Most of them on the same day, some maybe a few days later, it was the beginning of their Christian life. But because these truths were hidden for so long, buried underneath, buried under human church traditions, and little by little people discovered it, Martin Luther discovered and proclaimed justification by faith. Then maybe 200-300 years later, people began to speak about water baptism. Even in Martin Luther's time, there were people called the Anabaptists who took water baptism. But the Lutherans persecuted them just like the Catholics persecuted the Lutherans. Any new truth that somebody proclaims, which is in the Bible, they say, oh, that's wrong teaching. When Martin Luther said justification by faith, the whole Catholic Church did this wrong teaching, they wanted to kill him. And when the Anabaptists preached water baptism, which Martin Luther did not preach, then the Lutherans persecuted them. It's always been like that. Somebody proclaims a truth which is in the Bible, but which you haven't understood yet, you think that's false teaching. But if it is in the Bible, it's not false teaching. And like that through the years, then about 120 years ago, people began to preach the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And again, people said this is false teaching, they persecuted them. Today it's accepted, but when all these truths first came up, they were persecuted. But when all these truths first came up, they were persecuted. What about the truth of the New Covenant? Have you heard of that? That sin shall not rule over you? You know what Jesus said about it? John chapter 8, verse 32, "...you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free." What freedom was He talking about? The Jews said in verse 33, we are not slaves to anybody. The Jews said, we are not the seed of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to anybody. What do you mean saying we are going to be free? And Jesus said in verse 34, I'm talking about the slavery of sin. That is the worst slavery of all. And when you know the truth, the truth will set you free from that slavery. We have to acknowledge that Old Covenant people, though they got forgiveness of sins, they were slaves to sin. Even people whom God used mightily. One of the most powerful judges in Israel was Samson. He delivered the Israelites from the Philistines again and again. But he was an absolute slave to adultery. But God used him. And many other people like that. Balaam, he was a prophet who prophesied about the coming of Christ to earth. But he was a slave to the love of money. So there was no freedom from sin in the Old Covenant. See Psalm 103. This is written 1,000 years before Christ by David. And he tells you the blessings he got in the Old Covenant. He says in verse 2, bless the Lord, O my soul, and don't forget all his benefits. And I want you to see the four blessings they got under the Old Covenant here. Number 1, verse 3, he forgives all your iniquities. That's not New Covenant, that's Old Covenant, 1,000 years before Christ. Number 2, he heals all your diseases. That is 1,000 years before Christ. Number 3, verse 4, he redeems your life from the pit of hell. And number 4, verse 5, he satisfies yours with all the good material things on earth. So here are four blessings which they had under the Old Covenant. So here are four blessings which they had under the Old Covenant. Forgiveness of sins, healing in answer to prayer from sickness, redeem from hell, and material blessings. Have you got these four? That's Old Covenant. What is it they did not have? He could not say, bless the Lord who delivers me from sins power. So when you have Christians who are rejoicing in forgiveness of sins, God has healed me from sicknesses, I'm not going to hell anymore, He's redeeming me from hell, and He's blessed me in many material ways. That is not the result of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That is what David had under the law. That is the level to which Moses brought them. What about Jesus bringing grace? Where is He going to take us? Only to this level? Then we have received the grace of God in vain. So think of that picture of the Old Testament people, the Israelites. They were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, baptized in the Red Sea, baptized in the cloud, a picture of the Holy Spirit, and then what? Was that the end? No! That was the beginning. That cloud in 1 Corinthians 10 is called a baptism in the cloud. It's a picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It came from heaven. Now we need to ask ourselves, it was a fire at night and a cloud during the day, a clear picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. Now the question is, why did God give them this baptism in the cloud and fire? It was not only to protect them. The cloud protected them from the heat of the sun, the fire gave them light at night, but the main purpose of the cloud was to lead them step by step into the land of Canaan. Day by day by day they followed the cloud and it led them to the borders of the land of Canaan. Day by day they followed the cloud and it led them to the borders of the land of Canaan. And then God said, this is what I redeemed you from Egypt for. I didn't redeem you from Egypt just to have these three experiences. Redeemed, water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit. What comes beyond the Pentecostal experience? Life in the new covenant. What comes beyond redemption by the blood of the Lamb? Beyond water baptism. Beyond baptism in the Holy Spirit. Life in the new covenant, entering the land of Canaan. And when they came to the land of Canaan, you know the story in Numbers chapter 13, they sent the spies to look at the land and the spies said, this is a wonderful land. You don't have to pump water from the river Nile like we did in Egypt. No, it's not struggle, struggle, struggle. This land receives rain from heaven. It's a land flowing with milk and honey. And the grapes were so heavy that two people had to carry it on a stride. And it was all very good, but the people who live there are giant. So we can't go there. They're too strong. But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, no, if God is with us, we can, these people will be like bread first. Ten people said, no, we can't go. In every church, the majority is wrong. Majority vote is for politics. Ten people vote saying we cannot go into the land. And two people say we can go. Who is right? Don't think that many people saying something means they are right. One man with God is a majority. But the 600,000 people were so foolish. They followed the majority just like many Christians follow the majority today. Do you know the majority of Christian preachers are wrong today? They leave people defeated by sin. And they don't enable them to enjoy all the grace of God as God has given them. So let me show you some of the blessings of this spiritual land of Canaan. Let me give you a taste of those grapes from the land of Canaan. See if you like it or not. Here is one of those grapes. Philippians 4, verse 4. This is how we can live in the land of Canaan. This is what Jesus purchased for us. You will never find this verse in the Old Testament. Because nobody could have it. You know, life in the Old Testament is like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Life under the law, under the Old Covenant is like the 40 year wandering. Life in the New Covenant is like Joshua going in and possessing the land. There are three places where you can live. Egypt, the wilderness, or Canaan. Every unbeliever is in Egypt. When you are born again, baptized in water, baptized in the Holy Spirit, you come out of Egypt. But now you have two choices. Either spend all your life wandering in the wilderness, or enter in Canaan. Spend all your life under the law, under the Old Covenant. What does that mean? Satisfied with forgiveness, and deliverance and healing, and deliverance from hell, and material blessings. And nothing more. Wilderness, wilderness, wilderness. Even though you come every Sunday to the church, sing wonderful songs, give money for missionary work, but live a defeated life. Here is a grape from Canaan, Philippians 4.4 Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Paul wrote this when he was lying in a rotten old Roman prison. He wasn't sitting on a comfortable couch and writing rejoice in the Lord always. And those Roman prisons were much worse than prisons today. There were rats and cockroaches all over the place. And he says rejoice in the Lord always. Not most of the time, but always. Now all of us have some times of joy. Or some more, some less. But always, what does that mean? 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It doesn't say rejoice in your circumstances. The circumstances may be pretty bad. Rejoice in the Lord always. This is one of the grapes of Canaan. That I can live a life where I'm perpetually full of joy inside. All the time. Why is it that most Christians don't live there? When a Christian is in a bad mood, You know how sometimes some people are in a bad mood, they don't want to talk to you? Sometimes a husband or a wife can be like that. Because something went wrong in the house or in the work or somewhere. And you can see in their face they're in a bad mood. They're certainly not rejoicing in the Lord at that time. That is a wilderness experience. That's not the land of Canaan. You can't say at that moment you're rejoicing in the Lord. See in Philippians 2 verse 14. Do everything without grumbling or complaining. Can you say that's true in your life? Can your wife give a testimony? My husband never grumbles, never complains about anything. Can your husband give a testimony? My wife never grumbles, never complains about anything. But we all say we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. What sort of Holy Spirit is that that makes you grumble and complain? You've been cheated out of your inheritance. I was defeated like that for so many years in my Christian life after being born again. Because I did not read my father's will carefully. I read finally this my inheritance is this. I can live a life without grumbling or complaining about anything every day of my life. Why is it that Jesus was full of joy? We say because he was a son of God. No. We read in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 9. It's written about Jesus. He loved righteousness and hated sin. He did not just avoid sin, he hated sin. It's not enough to avoid sin, you've got to hate it. And because he loved righteousness and hated sin, God, the Father, anointed him with the oil of gladness more than all the other people in the world. So, there I see the secret of joy. If I love righteousness and hate every sin, God will anoint me with the Holy Spirit's power that gives me gladness more than other people who are not anointed like that. A lot of people seek an anointing of power. Power for what? Power to rejoice always. And I praise God that I decided to be violent against everything in my life. I say, I want to possess this kingdom. That's how God brought me into it. And it's been a blessed experience for me for a number of years now. So, today I have a certain rule in my life. Psalm 16, verse 11, it says, In God's presence there is fullness of joy. You all know this verse. In thy presence is fullness of joy. And I have made it a rule in my life. Anytime when there is not fullness of joy in my life, I am not in God's presence. It's the devil who wants to make my life miserable. My inheritance is to be free from grumbling and complaining. And to rejoice always. Here's another grape from the land of Canaan. Philippians chapter 4. Remember, Paul is writing this from a prison. Another thing. Philippians 4, 6. Be anxious for nothing. It's amazing to write that from a prison. You don't know whether you're going to be beheaded tomorrow morning. He says, be anxious for nothing. And how to be anxious for nothing? All those things that are bothering you, verse 6, take it to God in prayer. Like a song we sing, oh what peace we lose just because we don't take everything to God in prayer. And don't just pray generally. It says in prayer and supplication. That means you specifically say, Lord, this particular thing is bothering me. This is the thing that's causing me anxiety. I'm afraid I'll lose my job. Or I think my child is seriously sick. It's causing me anxiety, Lord. But you say I should be anxious for nothing. Then by prayer and supplication, I don't stop there. Thanksgiving. Thank you, Lord, you have heard me. The only proof that you have prayed in faith is that you give thanks. The mark of faith is that you give thanks to God. And if you make your requests known to God like that, the peace of God will guard your heart. Now, either that is a lie or it is the Word of God. I have decided to follow this rule for many years now. As long as we live in this world, we'll be tempted to anxiety in so many things. If I live under the law, I will be anxious. If I take my inheritance in grace, I will do what it says here. And it's not my trying to convince myself nothing will happen. No, it is the peace of God that guards my heart. It's like an army of heavenly angels guarding my heart. We need this, brothers and sisters. One more thing. A lot of Christians, you know those giants of Canaan are like anger? These are some of the names of the giants of Canaan. Anger, bitterness, anxiety, fear, complaining spirit, accusing others, love of money. These are all giants that have ruled our life. And when you try to overcome that anger, here's another giant, the lust of the eyes and dirty thoughts that come into our mind. And they rule our life saying, you can never conquer me. And like the 600,000 Israelites, we tremble and say, no, no, no, we'll never conquer it. We tremble on our knees and say, no, it's too bitter, we'll never conquer it. But where are the Joshua's and Caleb's who will do violence and possess against the giants? Who will look at this Goliath called anger and say like David, I come to you in the name of the Lord and I'm going to come down before you. Who will look at this Goliath called pornography and say, okay, you have ruled me so long, but you're going to come down before me now. Who look at all these complaining, grumbling giants and say, you're all going to come down. And I'm going to possess this land for the Lord. And the devil himself, so many Christians are afraid of the devil. He's like another giant. You know, he was defeated on the cross. You have to say to the devil, I resist you in Jesus name. The Bible says you will flee from me when I come to you. Why is it it doesn't happen? For so many years as a believer, I was afraid of the devil till I really understood what it is to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. There is an initial baptism in the Holy Spirit, but we need to be continually filled with the Spirit, just like you need to fill your gas tank in the car 10 years ago. We need to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit. The devil will flee from us. And when I was seeking God about this, the Lord gave me one verse and I'll close with this. This is a new covenant privilege. Nobody could fight the devil in the old covenant. They fought in Philistines, Amorites, all human beings. Ephesians 6, verse 12. Our struggle is not against human beings, but against demonic forces, spiritual forces of wickedness. So here are two types of battles. Struggling with flesh and blood, human beings, or fighting against satanic forces. Now listen. In the old covenant, they fought against human beings. Philistines, Amorites, Moabites. In the new covenant, we fight against satanic forces. And it says here, we do not fight against human beings. And what the Lord said to me was, if you want strength to fight the devil and overcome him, stop fighting with human beings. Many years ago, from this day, the Lord said, never again fight with your wife about anything. Never, never, not even for a single second. Never get angry or yell at your wife even once. Never fight with other believers. If they disagree with you, love them and forgive them. Don't fight with them. If they call you false teacher, bilzibul, anything, don't fight with them. Say God bless you and leave them alone. And the Lord said, if you are faithful in never fighting with any human being, you will have such tremendous power against Satan, that as once upon a time you were afraid of Satan, now Satan will be afraid of you. And I found that to be true in my life. You know, in India, when we go around preaching the gospel, we come across many people who are possessed with demons. Just like in the gospel, exactly like in the gospel, who will say all types of things to you. And the only way to cast out those demons, is if you have faith that Jesus defeated them, your life is clean, and you don't fight with human beings. And I tell you something in my testimony, we have cast out many demons. Every single demon was cast out with one sentence. No half an hour prayer and fasting or any such thing. Half an hour prayer and fasting is before you meet the demon. But when you encounter the demon, one sentence, in Jesus' name, get out of him or get out of her. And if the demon does not obey you, go and fast and pray. Something's wrong with you. You're fighting with human beings. That's why the demon didn't obey you. You're fighting with your wife at home. You're fighting with some other believers. Repent of all that. Stop fighting with human beings. And demons will be subject to you. Jesus said, if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come. We are called to establish the kingdom of God on earth. Dear brothers and sisters, you've come out of Egypt. Baptized in water, baptized in the Holy Spirit. The whole purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the pillar of cloud, is to lead you to Canaan. May that be true in all of your lives. Amen.
The Riches of the New Covenant
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Zac Poonen (1939 - ). Christian preacher, Bible teacher, and author based in Bangalore, India. A former Indian Naval officer, he resigned in 1966 after converting to Christianity, later founding the Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) in 1975, which grew into a network of churches. He has written over 30 books, including "The Pursuit of Godliness," and shares thousands of free sermons, emphasizing holiness and New Testament teachings. Married to Annie since 1968, they have four sons in ministry. Poonen supports himself through "tent-making," accepting no salary or royalties. After stepping down as CFC elder in 1999, he focused on global preaching and mentoring. His teachings prioritize spiritual maturity, humility, and living free from materialism. He remains active, with his work widely accessible online in multiple languages. Poonen’s ministry avoids institutional structures, advocating for simple, Spirit-led fellowships. His influence spans decades, inspiring Christians to pursue a deeper relationship with God.