Marks Of True Faith - (2 of 3) by Zac Poonen

a couple of Sundays ago I'd spoken here on faith before that for two Sundays I'd spoken on grace now the reason for that is these are two of the most important words in the New Testament very important because our salvation depends on it the fission's 2:8 says by grace are ye saved through faith and we need grace all the way from the time we are born again all the way to Christ comes again you need all the time grace upon grace we read in John chapter 1 it's not the same level the Bible says grow in grace and I like I've often said grace is God's hand reaching out from heaven saying take my gift faith is my hand reaching up and saying thank you Lord and taking that gift if God extends his hand and you don't extend your hand you get nothing if you extend your hand and there is no God who's extending his hand to you again you get nothing so you need grace and you need faith and we saw how there is a lot of false grace which proves that the real grace is very precious like I said people don't counterfeit brown paper and newspaper and toilet paper they counterfeit diamonds gold currency notes only something valuable is counterfeited grace is counterfeited there's a lot of counterfeit grace and just like if you went if you ever went to buy diamonds or gold in a store you take someone who's experienced not someone who's studied in a college about the theory of diamonds and gold there could be a lot of clever people so studied about minerals and colleges and got postgraduate degrees but so many uneducated Goldsmith who's dealt with gold will have a lot more experience in the world of diamonds and gold it is not study and knowledge but experience that matters and so if you want to understand true grace don't go to some scholar but go to someone whose life manifests that grace in increasing measure the same with faith don't go to some scholar who can explain this verse in that verse about faith but one whom you have seen living by faith there are very few people like that that's what I would go to and there's so much of contra fit grace is so much of counterfeit faith I want to go to someone in whose life I have seen grace and faith not someone who can preach theories I had to warn you because there are people who followed theories young upstarts who got spin their own theories and who lead themselves and other people astray he who has ears to hear let him hear I showed you this verse in 2nd Peter 1 verse 1 two Sundays ago where Peter speaks about faith of the same kind as we have for the same kind as ours in 2nd Peter 1 1 and 3 of 4 verses earlier in the previous chapter in 1 Peter 5 he says in 1 Peter 5:12 this is the true grace of God these two verses are so close together 1 Peter 5 12 this is the true grace of God and two verses later 2nd Peter 1 1 this is the faith of the same kind as ours Peter was so concerned that people should not get a false grace and people should not get some kind of faith which is not the kind of faith Paul Peter says which I got do you want to get the type of faith that Peter had the Apostles had then listen to God's Word see just like in grace I we saw in John chapter 1 that from Christ we received is upon grace upon grace and we needed all our life and there is a fullness of grace that is in Christ that can gradually come to us you know we are like an empty cup we receive a little few drops when we are born again and the cup must be filled up grace and grace and grace and grace till one day the cup is full and we become completely like Jesus Christ in our character faith is also like that just like it says grace upon grace we read in Romans chapter 1 uh Romans 1 and verse 16 I'm not ashamed of the gospel because for me Paul says the gospel is not a doctrine it's not a sermon it's not a message it is a power that gospel is a power many Christians have received it as a message a message is for people's heads Minds power is for people's hearts the Bible says it's good that the heart is strengthened by grace we don't receive power in our mind we receive instruction in our mind power we receive in our hearts the Pharisees had instruction but they did not receive the power of the Holy Spirit so they could not follow Jesus I fear that in faith many of us are trying to understand in our minds and the cleverer you are the more you can understand and explain but some simple person who doesn't have 1/10 of the intelligence you have will have faith and come to a glorious life which you will never come to either in your life or your family life because it comes by faith in the heart so remember like gray strengthens the heart we saw in Hebrews 13:8 faith must be in the heart and the difference between true false Grace and true grace is false Grace is in the mind true Grace in the heart the difference between false faith or counterfeit faith and true faith is false faith is in the mind you know people are clever argue like lawyers this verse that verse the other thing the other thing these are the clever people who go astray and there are people are two extremes of understanding in faith both clever both go astray but there are simple people who come to God with faith in the heart that's born of the Holy Spirit they are the ones who live so there's in Romans 1 it says it is the power of God not for everybody it's the power of God that brings salvation salvation means saved from sin the real gospel is something that saves us from sin but it's for everyone who believes everyone who has paid whoever he is whether it's a religious person like you or an intellectual person like the Greek or like it says in other places a barbarian uncultured uneducated saved by faith for in it in it in this gospel which we say is a power the righteousness of God which is not a theoretical thing with revealed from faith to faith from faith to faith to faith to faith to pay just like we saw grace to grace you find faith also is something that has to grow that's what scripture says and we saw in our last study the righteous man the further in verse 17 the righteous man shall live by faith not only be saved by faith but live by faith now unfortunately that phrase lived by faith has been devalued like a lot of other terms in the New Testament like currencies devalued the word live by faith has been devalued too a lot of Christians when they talk about living by faith they think of some full-time worker who's not getting a regular salary and they say he is living by faith you never find that expression in the New Testament I find out a lot of Christians who use lot of expressions which are never found in the New Testament I like some people to ask me brother Zack do we have a sinful nature I say do you find the word sinful nature in the Bible No then tell me what you mean are you talking about the old man are you talking about the flesh they say no no no I haven't thought about that then go back to the Bible and read the Bible and use biblical language then I'll tell you what it means but if you invent some word cause for nature and ask you to explain it I don't know what you mean this is a problem with a lot of Christians I think a lot of people you also don't realize that the word sinful nature is never found in the New Testament never what you need to know is the distinction with your old man in the flesh and the reason why so many people are confused is because they don't know the difference between the old man in the flesh we've spoken about it enough here it's not our subject today the righteous man shall live by faith not the full-time worker that's the first thing I want to tell you it's not full-time workers who live by faith a righteous person if you don't live by faith you're not righteous and if you're righteous you got to live by faith you're saved by faith and you live by faith the initial salvation all the way up to the end salvation has got three tenses past present future save from the penalty of sin once for all when we are born again and every time we sin when we confess it we are saved from the penalty of that sin save from the power of sin that's the present tense day by day by day increasingly in our life from grumbling complaining murmuring getting angry lusting after women and hurting others and harming others telling lies loving the things of Earth more than things of having all types of things that we need to be saved from seeking the honor of men seeking to impress people instead of God what a lot of things we need to be saved from from the power of sin which has destroyed us and one day we'll be saved from the presence of sin completely we will not even be tempted so salvation is from the penalty the power and the presence of sin and all of it is by faith so it's because of confusion in the minds of people they don't distinguish between past and present tense you know if you if you wrote English and you didn't distinguish it in past and present tense you've got a very bad English or any language or future tense it's one of the things they teach us in grammar past tense present and future tense so we need to understand that we got to live by faith not just be saved but live by faith all the way and that's why it's important for us to know what biblical faith is first of all as I told you it's in the heart not in the mind and let me repeat what I said earlier proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5 proverbs is one of those rare almost New Covenant books in the Old Testament he gives grace to the humble you find that in proverbs 3 verse 34 he scoffs at the scoffers that means he resists the proud which actually begins in proverbs 3 not in James or Peter and but look at proverbs 3:5 trust in the Lord not with your mind but with your heart and don't lean upon your mind when it comes to faith got it you want faith look for it in your heart not in your mind in other words you don't come to faith by argument you don't come to faith by study you come to faith by the Holy Spirit giving it in your heart it's inexplainable a lot of things in our mind we can explain you know in chemistry two parts of hydrogen plus one part of oxygen is water two plus two is four this is all explainable but there's certain things of the heart for example you're deeply in love with your wife I hope you are but how do you explain that you can explain it mathematically you can say you do a lot of things for her I'm not talking about that how do you explain what's in your heart the real things the things of real value are in the heart not in the mind eternal value the mind is good for life on this earth make money do a good business advance in your profession come first in the class a lot of things I'm not against that but if God has given you a good mind be thankful but don't despise someone else whose IQ is lower than yours God created him also that's like a white man looking down on a black man aha you despise only those white people for looking down on dark-skinned people when you are a clever person and you despise someone who is not so intelligent you are guilty of the same thing brother you point a finger at others you're guilty yourself that's all in the mind but faith is in the heart and in a find even among Christians there are people who can understand a certain doctrine so well and explain it so well that they look down on somebody who can't explain it so well I never get into theological arguments with people you know why I'll tell you because if I win a theological argument with somebody it only proves two things one I know the Bible better than him and second I am cleverer than him it's like they say in the criminal courts it's not the guilty person who gets condemned and the innocent one who gets free is the one who has the clever a lawyer who escapes even if he's guilty and the poor innocent guy because you got a poor lawyer gets condemned to jail its cleverness the whole world operates on that basis business clever people lawyers clever people doctors clever people become great doctors but in the kingdom of God it's in the heart Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10 let me read to you verse 10 Romans 10:10 with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness what about a fit of mind a person believes it will not result in righteousness it'll produce a self-righteous Pharisee and an argumentative Christian because he depends on his mind but faith in the heart now I'll tell you how to distinguish between faith in the heart and faith in the mind faith in the mind will not deliver you from the righteous shall live by faith faith in the mind a man can explain all the doctrines but he still loses his temper and if he's honest he's still lusting after women in his mind even if he's 80 years old he's lusting after women in his mind he's not delivered from sin he's got deception in his life and worst of all he's proud now pride is not considered a sin by most people but do you know that the Bible says that the opposite of faith is pride you know that verse I like to show people verses that are in their Bible which they have never seen it's in the Old Testament in the book of Habakkuk we just quoted a verse from Romans 1 just now the righteous shall live by faith do you know where it is first mentioned it's first mentioned in the Old Testament in the book of Habakkuk about cook is towards the end of the Old Testament it is just before Zephaniah and a guy no fourth or fifth book from the end of the Old Testament Habbakuk after Micah and Nahum in the book of Habakkuk and chapter 2 we read this expression that we found in Romans 10 the righteous will live by faith in the last part of verse 4 the righteous will live by faith that's what Paul quotes in Romans 10:17 but he doesn't quote the first part of the verse which tells us the opposite of the man who doesn't have faith we would think that the opposite of the man who doesn't have faith is the unbeliever the unbeliever in the man who has faith no he says the proud person and the man who has faith you see the contrast it's very important to see that it's the proud person who does not get grace we saw that when we studied grace and is the proud person who won't have faith so it all depends on pride I want to tell all of you some of your good looking thank God for that you didn't create your features God created it but if you are proud of it you lose faith and grace some of your intelligent again you didn't create it God gave it to you but if you're proud of it and look down on others you lose faith and grace maybe some of you have done well in your profession or business made a lot of money because God's goodness but if you're proud of it you lose faith and grace maybe some of you know the Bible better than others good but if you're proud of it you lose faith and grace maybe some of you become spiritual through the years and not like some others you're proud of it you lose faith and grace you see how easy it is for us to be proud and the way we know whether we are proud is is there anybody you look down upon maybe people of another community you know there are people who say all people of that community they're always like this they won't get faith or grace I never want to be like that I come from the Syrian Christian tradition in Kerala where people are very proud of their ancestry and come from certain such a family such a family they they keep the family names on the gates of their houses and let everybody know what a big family I came from so people sometimes tell me what their family were name is and asked me which family I came from I say I came from the family that is kicked out of the Garden of Eden many thousands of years ago I belong to that family sinners born sinners saved by the grace of God I've got nothing else to boast about I want to live like that all the days of my life on the last day of my life I shall believe I'm a sinner saved by grace not a sinner but a sinner saved from sin by the grace of God it's a very dangerous thing pride they can be pride of all types of things I mentioned some of them spiritual pride is the thing that stinks in God's presents more than anything else so if you want to understand true faith dear brothers sister pursue humility pursue humility that's the way there's a great verse in the Old Testament which says those who are humble seek for more humility that's a great verse I think it's in Zephaniah and if any of you think you're humble seek for more humility Zephaniah chapter 2 verse 3 all of you who are humble seek the Lord all of you who have obeyed his Commandments seek the Lord what should you seek for you're already humble seek for more humility have you ever heard this exhortation you humble brother seek for more humility are you do you feel you're one of the humble brothers in CFC humble sisters seek for more humility that's the way for more faith and more grace it's a wonderful thing is he just like in a baby this birth and growth birth is not enough birth is great you can't have growth without birth just like when we spoke about Grace there's a foundation and a superstructure Jesus spoke about a man who built it wanted to build a tower and he laid the foundation he never went any further there are people who talk about this foundational Grace where we are justified by grace but don't grow in grace they don't overcome sin we studied that when we study grace you need to perhaps go back and listen to those messages again they're all on YouTube in the same way this birth and growth in faith - faith when it says birth and growth so many people confuse that I mean I find a lot of Christians they're so happy that they are born in born again boy great I'm born again it's like a parents who were barren from they had no children for many years finally they have a child say great I've got a child now and never bother to feed it or close it or educate it what's going to happen to that child even though it was a miraculous birth in a few years it's dead then all you can glory in is my child was born on sudden such a date that's exactly how it is with many Christians born again on sudden such a date a child was born but they never nurtured it they have never allowed it to grow which of your parents will be like that which of you older parents have ever been like that with your children were you happy that they were born or he said birth puts upon me an awesome responsibility to make sure we bring up that child that it will grow we all understand that when it comes to physical birth but I'm sorry to say most Christians do not understand that when it comes to being born again there's a growing up to salvation have you read that verse how to grow up to salvation make sure you show you in other words that you've never seen one Peter and Chapter two if you're a baby verse 1 Peter 2 verse 2 it's good you're born again he speaks about being born again and two verses earlier in 1 Peter 1:23 new birth born again by the Word of God how were you born again 1 Peter 1:23 by the Word of God there's no other way and by the Holy Spirit now as a newborn babe 1 Peter 2:2 you again need the Word of God to grow to salvation what is this growing up to salvation I thought I'm already saved no he says you got to grow up to salvation to salvation from the power of sin a lot of people are born they think only that think of your little child think of how much pain and effort and labor you put in to bring up that child birth is an act of a moment your child is born they can even put a time on this birth certificate at such a particular time born growth you can't put a time it all the time don't you love to see your children grow taller better every class to class promoted that's how it should be now Christian life by faith birth and growth it's very important for us to understand this in the Old Testament there was not much emphasis on faith and the reason was because God was not revealed as a father no person in the Old Testament could say Oh father I mean there are a few references in Isaiah whereas I said oh you are our Father but nobody dares to stand before God and say Oh father the first human being that walked on this earth who dared to call god father directly was Jesus Christ nobody dared to call him father before that nobody could because he was the son of God and the wonderful thing Jesus did when he died on the cross and took the punishment for all our sins so that our past could be wiped out completely and that's not the end and sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to come and dwell in our hearts so that we can be born again and we can grow and the Spirit of God the first thing that he does when he comes into the heart of a born-again child his cry out daddy in the hebrew a''- bah you read that in Romans 8:14 2:16 the Spirit of God comes within us and cries out daddy you know how delighted you are when the first time your little baby says mama Papa you don't your Joy's only a fraction of the joy God feels when he hears somebody say to him daddy do you believe that that's one of the great truths of the New Testament about God God is a father not just the master of the universe but a father this is what changed my life completely theoretically in my mind I knew him as a father from the time I was born again when I was 19 and a half but I would sin I would be anxious how can you be anxious when you Almighty God is your father theoretically he was I didn't know him as a father in my heart I knew in my mind if you'd give me a question paper is God your father I would say yes stick yes or not yes there's a lot of difference between knowing him in your mind and the Holy Spirit revealing I felt in those years for 16 years after I was born again I was like a child whose father was working in some distant country and who might only seen photographs of for 16 years I was not an orphan because I had a father but he was living in some distant country think if you were a child who'd never seen your father from the time of your birth for 16 years you're not an orphan you have a father he sends you money now and then to take care of you but he's never hugged you he's never kissed you he's never spoken to you lovingly you read some letters of his now and then in the Bible and you know he's there but that is the condition of many many believers do you know one of the great privileges you have in the New Testament to know God in your heart is a father to talk to him every day to hear him talk to you this is my life now every day I don't glory in my knowledge of the Bible knowledge of the Bible is not eternal life knowledge of the God as a father that is eternal life he doesn't matter if you don't know the Bible much do you know that for 1,400 years Christians never had a printed Bible printing was not discovered and even in the early days the episodes of Paul were handwritten and a few people had copies of it most Christians never had one but they had the Holy Spirit they could cry out daddy that was their faith that's how they grew they grew not by Bible study you know we have so many groups today web Bible studies I'm not against it I wish we had more knowledge of the Father that's what we need more knowledge of God as our loving father this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent that means to know God is a father and Jesus spoke so much about a father and I want to show you a few things that Jesus spoke which stirred up faith turn to Matthew chapter 7 this is how we can have faith Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 this is how we grow in faith we are born of faith we grow in faith Matthew 7 and verse 10 verse 9 sorry Matthew 79 what father is there among you his son asks for a loaf of bread he won't give will he give a stone will you give a stone to your son if he asks for bread as a father no if he asks you for a fish will you pick up a snake and give it to him what simple illustration is Jesus used I love that my own mind thinks in pictures in illustrations that's how I study the Bible that's why it's become so living for me because my Savior taught like that with pictures and illustrations he wasn't like the Pharisees giving great lectures on unintelligible doctrines he used simple examples which even an ordinary person could understand because God has hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent he's revealed them too so that even the illiterate person can understand an illiterate person knows what a father is and he says your father's give a snake to a child who asked for fish no and he says compared to God all of you are evil compared to God every father is evil I mean God is so such a good father that the best father on earth is you know God is 100 the best father on earth is pretty close to zero 0.001 God is a hundred and if you know how to give good gifts to your children being at zero 0.0001% father can you imagine how much 100 percent father will give good things to those who ask him I believe that I believe it with all my heart sometimes our mind says hey but why didn't he answer this prayer and our mind says what about that other thing and a lot of people argue clever people coming are you what about this what about that why is he allowed so much poverty in the world why is he allowed babies to be born with AIDS why are there so many beggars and lepers in the world brother you can live with all your intellectual questions because you're so clever you'll just mess up your life I know in my heart I cannot answer all your clever questions but I know in my heart that my dad in heaven is a good guy some of these things I can't explain because I'm not as clever as you and certainly not as clever as God if I were as clever as God I could give you ten thousand answers to all your questions but I'm not as clever as God and that's why I can't answer some of these questions I mentioned I acknowledge some of these questions I don't have an answer God says my ways are not your ways my thoughts are not your thoughts as the heaven is high above the earth that's the difference between God's thoughts and mind that's why I can't explain these things but in my heart I know God's a good God is my father he cares for me that's why I can be free from anxiety that's why I can believe that he'll make everything work for my good that he'll give me good things when I ask him when I ask him for the Holy Spirit he's not gonna give me an evil spirit I asked for fish he's not gonna give me a snake why are people afraid to ask for the Holy Spirit they're unbelievers you see oh brother be careful when you pray for the Holy Spirit you may get an evil spirit what have you got in heaven a devil or a heavenly father he's going to give you a snake when you ask for a fish have you read the Bible how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him that's the first thing we need to know about God that he gives good things let me turn you to the same passage in Luke 11 same passage in Luke 11 sometimes comparing the Gospels we see something more of what Jesus said Luke 11 verse 11 now suppose one of you fathers is asked by son for a fish will he give him a snake instead of a fish now if he asked for an egg will he give him a scorpion you see a snake and look like a fish and a scorpion can look like an egg that's why he uses such examples the snake looks like a fish and a scorpion looks like an egg the Lord is not going to give you something that looks like the real thing he's going to give you the real thing and you know loaf of bread can a stone can look like a loaf of bread so he says if you ask for bread he won't give you a stone and if you ask for an egg he will not give a scorpion and then again the same word if you being evil fathers you know how to give good gifts to your children but this time notice what he says how much more will your heavenly Father give the best possible gift that heaven can ever give to his children what is that the Holy Spirit my life was changed and God filled me with the Holy Spirit dear brothers and sisters honor the Holy Spirit value the Holy Spirit don't be turned away by the extreme fanatical things that some people who claim to have the holy spirit do whenever I think of a spirit-filled man I think of Jesus the perfect spirit-filled man I never see him pushing people down I see him lifting people up I never see him falling on the dark ground and kicking his legs and laughing no I don't see the Apostle Paul doing those things either another spiritual man so when I see all these crazy antics of people today who claim to be filled to the spirit it doesn't disturb me one bit and if you insist on going to such a meeting to see what's happening I'll give you a verse to go with Psalm 91 a thousand will fall on my left side and ten thousand on my right but it will not come near me and another verse in Jude Jesus is able to keep you from folly isn't that wonderful go with those two verses but if ever you want to go and visit such meetings Psalm 91 and Jude great what I say is so many people have wrong understanding the Holy Spirit so they turn away but I want to invite you to really seek God to be baptized baptized means immersed in the Holy Spirit like you were immersed in the baptism tank one day and your whole body was covered under water I remember once when we had a baptism tank here went all brother was being baptized and he didn't go him fully went up to here or something and I said dip him again this upper part is the most important part that has to go to death under the water because all our problem comes from up above here put him under the water so he dipped him again it completely submerged and that's how God submerges us under the Holy Spirit it's like standing under a waterfall completely drenched seek for that seek for it there are people who despise water baptism for people who despise baptism the holy spirit but that is the answer to the Christian life to be filled with God's holy spirit the real thing that makes first of all that makes the father real to you real by faith they receive the spirit how much more he'll give the Holy Spirit Galatians chapter 3 I want you to turn to Galatians chapter 3 in Galatians 3 we read the mistake that many Christians make today when seeking for the Holy Spirit's power the Galatians were also making and Baal is so strong he says you foolish Galatians who has bewitched you now if you heard a preacher stand up here and say you foolish brothers and sisters who has put a spirit of witchcraft on you you'd say brethren that preacher is not very christ-like that's what you'd say you know you'd be accusing the Holy Spirit who inspired Scripture of being on Christ like do you believe this verse is inspired Scripture do you believe the Holy Spirit speaks like that do you believe the Holy Spirit says you foolish people who has put a spirit of witchcraft on you I tell you we need more spiritual preachers like that today to deliver Christians from deception this soft gentle type of approach will not deliver people you can't massage a person and get rid of his cancer you've got to take a knife and cut him open all these doctors will fool you that with massage I'll get rid of your cancer don't go to them get a go to a doctor who's got a knife he'll deliver you from your cancer just same spiritually all these people who give you soft massages with their words they don't deliver you look at your condition today look at your family condition look at the bossy wives that live in our homes they're listening to all these preachers who massage them look at the people defeated by anger after so many years look at the people who say CFC speaks too much about sin well if there's cancer there's cancer the scan shows cancer you better face up to it and be delivered from it how many of you would be happy to say well the doctor said I've only got 10% chance of cancer so I'm not going for a checkup I'm or okay 10% chance of cancer and you ignore it I wouldn't if a doctor told me I had 1% chance of cancer I'd say doctor get rid of it what about if you have this 1% chance that you are a defeated Christ dishonouring Christian foolish Galatians we need strong preaching I tell you in our pulpits we have a soft pampered Christianity and that's why Christ's name is so dishonored on earth today you foolish Galatians who has bewitched you he's I want to ask you something I'll tell you Paul never spoke like that to the Romans you know why because he never planted the church in Rome he never spoke like that to the Colossians because he never planted the church there but he planted the churches in Galatia so he could speak like that to the corinthians the church he planted he could say shall I come to you with a rod because he said to them you can have 10 thousand teachers but you have only one father I'm your father as a father I have four sons I spoke more strongly to them than to any other child in the world I discipline my four sons more than I I never discipline other people's children none of my business I remember one one young brother once asked me in another country when I was there in the United States he said brother Zack I find that when you preach in CFC you preach so strong and hard I see those messages on YouTube but then I see when you preach in some churches in other countries you speak so graciously so why is that I shall tell you because in CFC those are my children the other people I preach to you they're not my children I discipline my children very strongly I speak to my children very strong but I don't speak to other children other people's children I mean do you speak to other people's children the way you speak to your own children no I say that's the difference so the brother said we want to listen to the message you give to your children so how to find out on YouTube which are the messages you speak to your children tell us the color of the curtain in CFC behind your back then we can detect it as soon as the message starts where this was spoken and those are the ones we listen to think of the passion of some of these young people to hear strong messages it will go well with such people so he says to them this is the question did you receive the spirit through the works of the law or by the hearing with the faith verse to the last part did you receive the Holy Spirit by doing so many works you know the law commanded praise so many times fast so many times give money so many times did you do all that and thus after so many years of praying and fasting and giving money ah class you got two or ecbert is that how you got it he tells the Galatians you did nothing on the day you were believed in Jesus Christ you opened your heart to be filled with spirit and you hadn't prayed you hadn't fasted you hadn't given any money do you receive the Holy Spirit teaching us just like salvation you cannot earn it receiving the power of the Holy Spirit it's a gift and when a king gives you a rich gift you give you a little ten rupees to him he'll feel insulted you know what he'll do you take back the gift you're trying to pay me ten rupees for this expensive gift I give you I really believe brothers and sisters the reason why many probably people sitting here have never really been filled with the Holy Spirit it's because you're trying to earn it think of all the multitudes of people around the world who are trying to earn forgiveness of sins have they got it no they cannot believe in a God who gives forgiveness freely there is a saying that the devil is always stealing human beings are always selling and God is always giving things free it's like that everything God gives us free look at the rain that falls from heaven you pay for it all that lovely pure water what about the water you get from the Bangalore water supply board oh you better pay for that look at the oxygen God gives you every day volumes and volumes of oxygen free go to some hospital ask them to give you a little can of oxygen you better pay for it that's how it is God gives everything free man will sell he'll sell oxygen he'll sell water he'll sell everything and salvation as well you go to that church they say you got to pay your tithe and if you pay your type then God will bless you God is not a human being he doesn't sell he's not a businessman you can't do business with God you can't give money to God and expect his blessing but there are people who do that there are born again people who think that if I give some money to God God will bless me we are about one of the only churches that preaches the opposite that's why we don't take an offering on this church because we want people to we want we need money for the church I mean we need a lot of money to do our web ministry itself cost such a lot in buildings and we're going to have a new conference hall it's got a lot of money requires that but we don't go begging no never that's living by faith even in the areas of finances we received freely God gives us the spirit freely now I'll tell you the two most important gifts I got in my life most important I've received many gifts from any people but the two most important gifts I got in my life was forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ and the power of through the Holy Spirit and they both were given to me absolutely free by God and when God has given me his most expensive gifts free I should also give what God has given me freely to others that's what we have taught in this church that's why Ian Robson and I when we started this church decided that we would never take one rupee from this church for our services and we observed for nearly 38 years and never taken one rupee from this church and whenever the church does spend something on us we pay it back either we or our children pay it back in one way or the other so that there never will receive because what we give to the church is not a great thing that we do by giving to God others what God gives us freely I mean think of this you remember when Jesus multiplied the five loaves and two fishes and the disciples went about distributing there were in little groups of 50 those 5,000 people sitting there hundred groups and way imagina 5000 people can you imagine how far that last group was sitting have you seen a crowd of 5,000 people that last group was sitting so far away they wouldn't even have known seen this many many meet hundreds of meters away Jesus multiplying the loaves and then this disciple comes with the basket of loaves and he'll our loaves and the disciples say you got to pay for this is expensive and he starts collecting money from them can you imagine one of those districts doing that do you think they did it they do it today they do it today in many churches the spiritual loaves that Almighty God has multiplied and blessed and given to that servant of God he passes on and he says pay up I know Pentecostal preachers myself who say this people come to this church to listen to my preaching they are blessed pipe and they give money so I deserve that money and they collect the money not in small offering boxes like ours in buckets and women come and put the earrings and ornaments and they and the pastor and his wife take that bucket home and count it at home you don't believe it they are some names that you know and then is he pays his assistants this is today's Christianity now I'll tell you these are not the type of servants of God that Jesus called I have observed Christian workers who claim to live by faith we are talking about faith in this country for 54 years and I've said as I've said before I've seen two types of Christian workers in India sometimes when I speak to a non-christian about Christ I have to first tell him the Christianity I am talking about is not what you have seen in 95 percent of Christians they are humbugs their hoaxes they're counterfeit I'm talking about to you about real Christianity that you may see among five percent of Christians in this country that you see in Jesus Christ and in those who are really following him so as I said I see these two types of Christian workers one those who never did a secular job in their whole life they went straight from school to Bible School because they didn't do well enough to go to a Bible College to go to a secular college never earned a never did an honest day's work to earn their money earn living and what is the result when they go out to serve the Lord they have never sacrificed anything to serve the Lord I mean if they had a really good job and sacrifice did say hey I paid a price must be something real to his failed but a person had no job and he was employed by some Christian organization to be a preacher or a pastor or a Christian worker and to send reports every now and then to America or somewhere to get money what he hasn't lost anything he's gained that a Christian were person in our land today who earned 10 times what they would have got if they were in a secular job is that profitable godliness has become a means of profit for them these are the ones who bring disgrace on the name of Jesus Christ when Jesus came to earth did he get a higher salary on earth or a lawyer did he come to more comfort or less comfort when you say you follow Jesus he came from heaven was a tremendous step down to earth those are the Christian workers I want to meet in my life and I'll tell you from my experience those are the ones that have blessed me the most and you read in the Gospels that every disciple whom Jesus called all 12 of them they were secular they were in secular employment when Jesus called them Jesus never went to a fellow who failed in high school and say come be my disciple because there to be no sacrifice there to mean it his name would have been disgraced by saying Jesus calls all these unemployed people and gives them a job he never called one unemployed person that is the folly of preachers who come from Western countries who want to promote their organization and there are multitudes of unemployed people in this country who are ready to preach anything you tell them to preach if you pay them a salary you want me to be a job as witness I'll be a job as witness how much will you pay me the Mormon says I'll pay you more ok then my faith is Mormon some Baptist churches I'll pay you more than you become a Baptist I've seen this happen people have a great burden for radio ministry because they got a job there suddenly switches to child ministry because they offer a better salary this type of humbug it's not living by faith so when we think of living by faith remember the righteous shall live by faith that's how we all of us are called to it's a wonderful thing God is a father I want you to see another thing about God as a father that Jesus explained in Luke chapter 15 God's Jesus spoke about God is a father who welcome back a son who had messed up his whole life the story of the prodigal son you all know he ran away with half his share of the poppy that I took it legally from his father give me my share of the property two sons give me 50% he took his share and went off wasted it all and finally ended up with the pigs eating pigs food rock bottom and then he came back and it says he did not run the Father ran to welcome him picture this a sinner slowly coming back and God running to welcome him this is the picture Jesus painted about a father that's why then Jesus told Peter Peter you're going to deny me three times today you're going to reach the level of the pigs I believe it's that when you deny Jesus Christ who did so much for you you've reached the level of the pigs like the prodigal son and he said when you get there he didn't stop him from going there the father did not stop the prodigal son from going there some some prodigal children need to go there to learn a lesson but when you get there don't lose your faith when you get to the level of the pigs don't forget that your father will run to welcome you if you come back that's the picture God gave up a father who welcomes sinners not after they have changed but who want to change who have turned around and say Lord I'm still defeated by so many sins but Dad I want to change do you want to change got a run to welcome you this is the picture so this is how we have faith faith in a father who's so eager - bless you like father's bless that children a father who's so eager to run to welcome you back that is faith I want to say one more mark of faith is Luke chapter 18 the three things about a father one is a father who gives us good gifts not snakes and scorpions and the other is a father who runs to welcome a person who's made a mess of his life and the third is a father who will never Luke 18 forget to hear your cry when you cry for justice he speaks here about a widow he used a parable Luke 18 there was a widow verse 3 who was being oppressed obviously by some neighbor because she was a widow no male member in the home husband has died no male children probably no female children also and the neighbors are pressing her taking her property little by little or whatever it was she goes to a judge and says please give me protection Luke 18 3 from my opponent my enemy and the judge was unwilling but this widow kept on persisting kept on knocking at his door at 2 o'clock in the morning midnight knocking at the door and the judge got fed up this woman is persisting and he says even though I don't fear God and I don't respect man was for because this Widow bothers me I'll give her legal protection he had that power and he said ok I'll give it legal protection that means what she legally deserves to get otherwise she'll wear me out the Lord said just like I've contrasted evil fathers with a good father I'm contrasting an evil judge with a loving God up in heaven if this unrighteous judge will do this much for a widow who persists and persist and persists don't you think a God who loves you and have enough father will hear you and bring justice for you against Satan against your enemies if you cry to him day and night for seven that's one thing the Lord taught us one mark of faith is I pray and I know I will get an answer that's the lesson here if that Widow could get it from an unrighteous judge I will certainly get it from my loving father but the Lord says by the time I come back to earth verse eight last part how many will I find on earth having this type of faith I tell you that are very few even today so that's the third mark of faith in a father one who will definitely hear my prayer you may have to persist but the mark of your faith is you don't give up asking because you're asking a father and you say why does why do we have our to ask our father so many times it's not for his sake I have found that persistence in prayer is what plows up the ground in our hard heart so that when God shows the seed it will sprout and produce a good fruit God gave it like that as soon as I asked I get the seed sown it's on rocky ground nothing will come of it but I've found through the years is I'm praying for something and I pray and I fast and I see God I remember 10 years I prayed that I would see a new covenant church some people pray for one week and hope to see it answer I pray for 10 years before I saw Church being born how precious it is when Abraham waited 25 years in God a son we value those things which we have persisted and prayed for don't give up when mark of faith is 1 mark of genuine faith is that you don't give up when you pray to your father you know he's better than any unrighteous judge he will bring justice for you he will answer that prayer and especially when I here that challenge from Jesus will I find such faith in anybody when nighttime when I return to Earth the coming of the Lord is near and he's saying do I find people like that with such faith I want to raise my hand and say Lord I want to be one like that among a million Christians I may be one I hope you'll be another I hope many in this church will raise the hands here Lord I'm going to be one of those will have that faith that persists and doesn't expect that I prayed once and I should get an answer that's faith that's living faith as far heads before God our Heavenly Father we bow before you we want your name to be glorified in our life you want to live by faith saved by faith and to live by faith the type of faith that we've just read off faith in you as a loving daddy who cares for us will answer our prayers who will welcome us with wide open arms running to embrace us and hug us when we have messed up our life thank you Father that we have known you as such I pray that everyone here will know what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit not just as an experience but something that helps them to know you as a loving daddy in heaven pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: CFC India

Views: 12,942

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Keywords: zac poonen, cfc

Id: 6TmPdFWnjTE

Length: 61min 50sec (3710 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2013