Seek To Walk The Narrow Way Always - Zac Poonen

in one of our earlier sessions I mentioned that when there are so many churches in the world particularly in Christian countries to start a church where there is no church ok I can understand go to Afghanistan someplace there's no church or many other places in the world even parts of North India many villages there's no church to start a church I fully agree but why in cities and countries and where there are already so many churches I mean an outside observer and non Christian mm-hmm even some Christians they think will ask why you guys starting another church aren't there enough already bringing confusion in the minds of many people well the answer to that is really is anything that calls itself Church the Church of Jesus Christ 500 years ago why did Martin Luther in Germany decide that the Catholic Church is not right we must have another church if he hadn't decided perhaps all of you sitting here would be Roman Catholics really no I'm not be like that Martin Luther fail got it erased of somebody else it's not that if one person fails God's work won't be done it'll be done it'll be done by somebody else but he did not fail so he accomplished God's purpose as one principle you must remember that if you fail to do what God wants you to do in your life I mean you know before you were born God had a plan for your life the Bible says that in Psalm 139 before we were born he planned our life you don't know that verse let me show it to you Psalm 139 very important words I know it's helped me tremendously that's why I share it with you probably I've shared it before I don't mind repeating it any number of times because it's a very important truth in some truths need to be repeated 10 times before we understand it fully Psalm 139 when he were in our mother's womb it says in verse 13 you woe me in my mother's womb and in my mother's womb verse 16 you saw my unformed substance and in your book when it talks about God's book is not a book like our Bible it's his mind God's books are all in his mind and there's limitless countless books in there for every human being that ever existed on the face of the earth billions and billions in his mind with your name written on it and my name written on it in God's mind all the days that were ordained for me were written down when there was not even one of them that means before I came out of my mother's womb Lord planned every day of my life till the day I died every day that's been a this challenge to me I hope it is to you that my life is not a accident I was not born by accident I'm not just a social security number or an other number or any level number you have in your country I'm a indistinct individual there may be other people who have your name but you're distinct in God's eyes God's mind there's a section with your name on it and every single day from the day you were born to the day God planned for you to die Nene he's recorded not every year every day he doesn't say the years that word in for me the days that were in for me and the Lord knew for example in my case that they're up to the age of nineteen and a half though I heard the Bible from a young age in Sunday school I would not respond to him he knew that in my case he knew that when I joined the Indian Navy I would not seek his will I just joined because I liked it as a profession and because others around were going in for the military service in those days in 1954 I also joined exciting I did pray about it I didn't pray about it at all like many of you took jobs you didn't pray about it and if you came to Australia did you pray about it I don't know every day so what does that mean I made a mistake the thing is God overrules our times of ignorance it's a wonderful verse Acts seventeen verse 30 so great comfort to me and if you feel comfort to you when you think of the years of your life where you disobeyed God you couldn't care for him and you lived worried about him and you committed so many sins and so many stupid things that you and I did and we feels so sorry about it now and then we begin to think lord if I've messed up my life so much in the past can you still do something with my life the answer is yes why acts 17 verse 33 zero the times of ignorance God overlooked I praise God for that I believe Paul was inspired when he said that I was ignorant of the seriousness no no I was not ignorant of Jesus Christ or what he did for me but the seriousness of living life on earth the seriousness of being created to live on this earth for the glory of God that seriousness hadn't gripped me when I was 14 or 15 I just decided to join the Navy when you chose a profession on your own perhaps and decided to go where you want on your own seeking what seeking advancement in the world seeking money seeking all the things of Earth plus add on a little bit of Christianity as well so whenever you go where you want to go and settle down you say okay let me look around for a church now because I'm PS for script I'm also a Christian it's not the main thing I live for I want other things to live for like making money and getting a good job but I also want to be a Christian so let me look around cultured that's how we all were in the beginning ignorant we don't realize that God's got a tremendous purpose when we were born the question is will we ever realized it at least sometime later on in our life I never realized it when I joined the Navy but boy when I got converted at the age of 19 and a half that time I ambition was to go to the top of the Navy to become the Admiral of the Navy and when I got converted one thing happened to me I have to say my conversion was not a 90 degree conversions it was a hundred and eighty degrees I my ambitions changed almost overnight you know there are people who turn 90 degrees when they come to Christ Lord I'd like to go to heaven I want my sins to be forgiven but don't disturb me I've got a lot of ambitions on this earth as well and along with that I'd like this God accept you think of the prodigal son you see that picture behind me behind me that's the prodigal son's father welcoming and proud of your son what for did the prodigal son come home wanting to be a godly boy no why did he come home ask yourself he came because he was hungry he wanted food there he was eating what the pigs were eating and he said boy why should I eat this pigs food even the servants in my father's house are getting good food let me go back for the sake of food then of course he had to come back and say I'm sorry I ran away but if he had plenty of food out there in the far country he wouldn't have come back oh no he wasn't repentant because he dishonored his father and spoiled his money he wanted food it was a selfish reason with which he came back and I want to say the vast majority of Christians when they initially turned to God they come with a selfish reason I don't want to go to hell selfish reason I want to go to heaven selfish reason it's not I've dishonored God for so many years of my life I want to honor God now on it's not I love money all these years of my life I want to stop loving money I want to love God nobody gets converted like that maybe very very few people you ask yourself conversions are sort of 90 percent maybe 120 degrees no 90 degrees 9 20 degrees 180 degrees of tremendous thing where your ambitions completely change if it doesn't happen in one day it should happen pretty quickly after you convert it otherwise your Christian life will remain shallow there are people who never turn around 180 degrees even after 25 years sometimes I wonder whether their conversion is real and that's why they never seem to reach the goal you know the goal is directly behind you and you want to get there God's goal is behind you the only way to get there is turning around a hard 90 degrees if you turn around 90 degrees where you gonna get there we turn down 120 degrees where are you going to get there the thing that will take you soon as to your goal which god is value is 180 degree turn in other words you say Lord from now on I want to live for your glory and to please you and no more for myself and my ambitions in mine do you think gotta make you start I told you the other day you see God's finger first everything you need to be added to you without it and for your children and your grandchildren what more do you want and you'll also have heaven first of all not just heaven but you'll be able to accomplish God's purpose for your life everything that is written in God's mind for you particularly from the day you were born see then what about the years I've messed up for example hmm supposing God has planned for you to live say 67 years on earth and you already wasted 30 years of that lakh years living for yourself or living for money or being half-hearted taking a little bit of the Bible and not serious you wasted 30 years of God's plan and now you say okay Lord what about the rest of my life can you do something God says yes and he says I'll give you an example of a man who wasted the first 30 years of your life the Apostle Paul not only wasted the Lord says he killed some of my children persecuted my children he did worse things than you did in 30 years of your life he was not only turned away not only is not a servant of God he was a servant of the devil for thirty years but when he got converted Wow this conversion was 180 degrees because he knelt down on the Damascus Road when he knew it was Jesus whom he had persecuted his question was two questions don't forget that on the Damascus Road Paul asked two questions of Jesus and the first question was who art thou o Lord who are you X 9/5 who are you he said I'm Jesus the first question you need to ask yourself Lord I want to know you knowing him is eternal life that's the first thing you need to know Lord who are you I don't know you well enough I want to know you better you may say I know Jesus and the next question which was a unasked question what will you have me to do Lord and the Lord said go to Holy Tarsus and I will show you what you are to do next acts 9 and go into the city there I'll tell you what you must do next who are you what do you want me to do to question you must ask all your life everyday he not verbally but lord I want to know you better I've known you a little bit but who are you lord let me see more of your humility let me see more of your love let me see more of your purity who are you let me see you and second question what will you have me to do and the Lord did not give him a blueprint for his whole life ok Paul the next 37 years I'm gonna do this for you no no no no I'll show you one step at a time just like the pillar of cloud in the wilderness took laser lights little by little by little he didn't give him a map to go to Canaan no day by day first of all your first step Paul go to Tarsus now not are so sorry gory Damascus what does the City you do that that I'll show you the next step and when you see the next step next day I will show you the next step it's day by day by day just like the pillar of cloud I never knew when the Lord brought me to himself and I was converted in nineteen and a half I didn't know I didn't even know when I was going to get baptized I was not baptized I will baptized one and a half years after I accepted Christ because all that time I struggled with child baptism I was baptized as a child and I thought oh that's enough and people told me you know if you take the adult baptism your church will kick you out and you won't be able to witness to them why you want to sit with people who are already born again stay here in this church where people are not born again and witness to that and I was young and foolish and stupid I say hey that sounds like a good argument why should I go going among the midst of people already born again and what nothing to doesn't let me mingle with these unconverted nominal Christians in this church and let me witness to them and one and a half years I believe that false teaching and all those fun enough because the Lord showed me there's no child baptism in the Bible it's only a doubt believe baptism and I finally whenever I knelt down to pray the Lord would say to me you're not listening to me what should I listen to you I got fed up I don't care which church throws me out I'm gonna get baptized when I took baptism a lot showed me the next step which he never showed me before he said there are there certain cheatin that you've done in your past entangled in life you have cheated on certain taxes and customs duty and all when you were in the Navy return that money to the government pay back your taxes okay and I sat down and calculated and it was a huge amount what five called six months salary of mine as a naval officer and that is quite a lot of money and it took me quite a while to save up that money and then I saved it all up and one day I emptied my bank account and paid back all my dues my bank account was empty my heart was full then the Lord showed me the next step and then the next step apologize to somebody you hurt in something in the past little little things you know say the Lord tells you something don't say that's too small a thing let me give you one example when I was twenty-one years old the Lord reminded me of something I didn't done nine years earlier as a 12 year old boy it's amazing you do something wrong when you're 12 years old and it stays in your mind for nine years when I was 12 years old I used to have a habit of a hobby of collecting stamps you know some people have that hobby I don't have I don't think many kids have that hobby now they are too busy with their video games on their cell phones but in those days we didn't have cell phones I used to collect stamps foreign stamps and if you had a duplicate of something you've exchanged it with others who collected stamps so like that we as a common thing in those days so I did this when I was exchanging stamps with somebody whom I knew while he was not looking I stole one of the steps and nine years later the Lord reminds me of this now it was worthless I'm sure he had stopped collecting stamps right stopped collecting stamps the Lord said you did something wrong write a letter of apology to him and I tell you writing that letter of apology was more difficult for me than returning five months salary because there it was just money here is a person I'm humbling myself and looking so stupid to write to somebody saying brother nine my dear friend nine years ago I stole one stamp from you which is worthless for you and me but please forgive me you think I'm crazy off my head or something but the Lord said do it I did it and I tell you the joy of the Lord filled my heart when I did it don't say that something the Lord tells you to do is stupid you miss out on something because you think hey that's too trivial nothing is too trivial it may be make by five months salary or maybe small like returning a small stampers apologizing I'm so glad I did that otherwise I've been I've been having a chain on my leg for the last 60 years many people don't run because there's a chain on their legs something unsettled from their past I'm glad I got rid of it I'm glad I didn't stand on my stupid personal dignity or anything like that I'm very happy that I did with the Lord told me I'm sure I probably didn't hundred other things wrong but I need to do away with a lot of reminds me off you don't have to torture you mind see what all did I do wrong the Lord will remind you exactly what you need to know if he doesn't remind you forget it I don't torture my mind thing what all did I do I said Lord remind me whatever you tell me to do I'll do but day by day I found that the Lord showed me and about three years after my baptism the Lord said put in your resignation and quit your job now you know I told you what my ambition was to go to the top of the Indian Navy in Amaral and when I turned around I said Lord there's no longer my omission I want to live for you now and but he didn't tell me immediately to quit does little by little by little the Lord leads our step by step by step he won't lead you to third grade from the kindergarten in one year he lead you there in three years and after another seven years he need you to tenth grade just like in a school the Lord teaches I step by step supposing you know every year of your school education is planned my young dad's mind he leads you step by step the same way God has planned my life and his band yours and think of the Apostle Paul you know what Paul said when he was 67 years old let me read you something we just surprised you when Paul was 67 years old he said in 1 Timothy 4 his 2nd Timothy chapter 4 2nd Timothy in chapter 4 verse 7 2nd Timothy 4:7 middle of that verse I have finished my course what is this course the course means the plan got planned for my life before I was born what we read in Psalm 139 every day of my life is planned by God from the before I was born and I finished it and you say hang on Paul how did you finish it when you messed up the first 30 years of your life you messed up 30 years of your life killing Christians and persecuting them and you say at the end of another 37 years you finished your course one of the world is that you know the answer to that is because many of you may have say how can I finish my course when so many years I didn't even care for God and even after you're born again so many years you are half-hearted or didn't care for the Lord and did so many wrong things after you were converted and I always say if you commit the same sin after you're converted that is like a hundred times over covering the same sin before to lust after a woman before born again and to lust after one after your morning and is like lusting after a hundred women after you're born again it's a hundred times more serious to tell a lie before you're born again to tell a lie after you're born again is like telling a hundred lies mostly raise two more is given more is required to believe that and so all here's the answer to that it's a wonderful truth the times of ignorance what did we read God overlooks isn't it wonderful it's a very liberating world that's what Paul would say when he quoted songs he was not quoting he was paying from his own experience acts 17:30 times of ignorance God overlooked folks here's the good news all those thirty years God overlooked say forget it he said Paul I knew that you would not respond to me for thirty years so I made allowance for that in my plan for your life I thank God for the years garden allowance in my life there he knew that I would be half-hearted or I would backslide and I did bachelor because I was so discouraged that what I was seeking for didn't work out after becoming a Christian but I got so fed up with that night sword God initially and God filled me with the Holy Spirit again and that's when we started the first CFC church and my life was completely different after that but I say Lord what about those years before for example I was converted and I was nineteen and a half and I can honestly say until we started our first CFC church when I was 35 and a half 16 years later those 16 years I can't say I was living in sin but I wasn't ready doing all that God wanted me to do in fact I was wandering around Babylonian Christianity here and there I didn't know I didn't have a spiritual father to guide me I never had somebody who sat like this and spoke to me directly about my need in all my life I wish I had but I never had one and so I have to find out everything from the scripture myself you're very blessed if you have somebody who can teach you things so that you don't waste more of your life I know it is I'll tell you it's like an orphan only an orphan knows the value of her father and a mother those who had parents never realized the value of their parents go to an orphan and he'll tell you how blessed it is to have a father and mother think of an orphan who's finally picked up by somebody when he's 16 years old and a man picks him up and say okay I'll be a father to you that's how I was for the first 16 years of my Christian life I was an orphan virtually but then God became my father real father and boy I appreciated that so much and I decided Lord what I missed in my life I want to be to other people for the rest of my life I want to be a spiritual father to all those who want to receive that instruction I will never force myself on anybody there are so many orphans and Christianity insecure defeated wandering having no purpose in their life living for things that are empty that they'll regret for all eternity help me to save them from that regret and the Lord helped me anyway but the Lord showed me just like he made allowance for Paul's tigner ins he's made allowance from my ignorance - and I believe that whenever I come and I come to the end of my life whenever that'll be I believe I'll be able to say I finished my course even though there were many years where I drifted in the early days but last 44 years have been really wonderful the Lord has planted so many churches of the like mind here and there around the world and I'm so encouraged you brothers realize what a wonderful thing it is to hear these truths all together soon after you're converted instead of wasting 16 years and ignorance or like all 30 years neighbors so don't worry if some years of your life were wasted just make sure that you don't waste any more Paul was so sorrowful over the years that he wasted it I'm going to press on I'm going to determine to go the way the Lord wants me to go so in that connection I want to turn to Matthew's Gospel in Matthew's Gospel I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 7 Matthew's Gospel chapter 7 in verse this is you know the Sermon on the Mount is the longest sermon that Jesus preached that's written in full in the scriptures Matthew five six and seven and the important thing to see there is at the end of that sermon he uses three examples to illustrate that sermon very very important so let me read that you the first illustration is this entire Sermon on the Mount if you want to live it Matthew 7:13 Matthew 7:13 is like entering through a narrow gate and walking a narrow way it's a lifetime thing it's not a once for all going through a gate no it's a gate plus a way that leads to life some people think it's only a gate that leads to lies free Matthew 7 verse 14 there's a gate and a way that leads to life what if you come through the gate and don't walk the way it's like coming to the starting line of the marathon race you know if you got if you get represented if you get selected to represent your country in the Olympics in the marathon that itself is a fantastic honor think of that if you were selected by your country to represent that country as a runner in the marathon race and you come to the starting line of the marathon race in the finals boy that's an honor but if you stand at the starting line you are wasting a life that's what many Christians are done they come there they enter through the gate that they stop there hey the gate is not the whole thing as a way to life you got selected to run the marathon for your country great now running the finishing line is over there the life is over there there's a weight of it that's what many Christians don't realize Christianity is not a once for all entry it's a way that we walk all through life finally the way that he needs to life the marathon race is a way that leads to the finishing line the starting line is not the finishing line I wish I could tell that to every Christian who is born again the starting line is not the finishing line every fool in the world knows that in a race the starting line is not the finishing line but many Christians don't know it they think starting line is finishing line I'm born again I'm on my way to heaven brother have you read Matthew 7:14 there is not only a gate but a way that leads to life so what we preach in the church is not only the gate or the gate plus the way and that's what a lot of people object to our preaching they say it's only a gate as you can go around preaching fully gate but that's not true jesus said there's a gate plus a way that leads to life okay that's one illustration the second illustration is two trees two ways what is a narrow way that leads to life you know there's a broad way that leads to destruction and the other is we read here in verse 17 a good tree and a bad tree it's not trying to put good fruit on a bad tree to make it look nice if you try to do a good action in your life to impress other people and you haven't changed inwardly that's like tying up good fruit and a bad tree and everybody says wow what a nice tree that is it's a deception it's a bad tree but you tie up a lot of good fruit here and there a lot of Christians are like that that you few good actions and get a reputation but the nature hasn't changed when they're all by themselves or when they're in their home there are different people tree is bad but when they come before other people that I have a lot of good fruit and get a reputation as great Saints in policy change the tree itself that's a second then Matt the Sermon on the Mount is talking not about tying good fruit into a bad tree it's not okay I will stop lusting after women I will start treating the truth I'll stop getting angry okay fine that's time battery back I mean tying good fruit into a battery the Lord says know your nature must change man so that your nature will hate lusting after women your nature will hate anger your nature will hate telling lies that is a good tree if you just change a few habits you know we preach against certain sins in the church and we give up those sins and you try to behave well it's for tying a good tree to a bad fruit I hope you'll be gripped by this something fundamental here to understand the third illustration two ways two trees and the third is two foundations Rock foundation sad foundation verse 24 to 27 two types of houses outside the house looks great maybe the house of the bad foundation looked better but you know the important thing in a house is the foundation particularly when the floods and the rain come and the storm the rain and the floods of the storm are not testing the beauty of the house not your external impression of Christianity now remember this all this is a conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount so I would say it Matthew 7:24 227 is a picture of two churches not only have two individual Christians but have two churches two types of churches and that answers the question of why another church you read Matthew 7:24 227 whoever hears these words of mine which are these words let me mention some of them I'm just reading from the previous chapters be poor in spirit 95 three more for your sins worse for be gentle Matthew 5:5 hunger and thirst for righteousness Matthew 5:6 be merciful to others Matthew 5:7 be pure in heart verse 8 be a peacemaker verse 9 be willing to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness verse ten ninety five eleven be willing to suffer insult and seek to overcome anger 9520 to overcome lusting in the eyes verse twenty-nine own words never divorce divorce is serious and speak the truth always verse 37 and don't resist evil if somebody hurts you just forgiving and don't love just your friends love your enemies as well and do good to those who harm you and when you pray don't let anybody know about it when you fast don't let anyone know about it Matthew 5 verse 16 will you give money don't let anybody know about it give it secretly and don't try to serve God and money verse 24 you can't serve both you got to choose and don't be anxious because God cares for you more than he cares for the birds of the flowers and don't judge others don't condemn others judge yourself okay you listen to all these words I think every Christian in the world who's a serious Christian would have read Matthew five six and seven he reads the Bible in the New Testament early in definitely come to Matthew five six and seven within a week or two of reading the New Testament and then jesus said if you hear these words Matthew 7:24 now you heard some of them just now and you take them seriously and do them then you built your house on a rock but if you don't do them then you built it on sand you understand them and you hear about it but you go about your daily life without ignoring all these things you're building your house on sand there are two types of churches in both churches they preached the Sermon on the Mount everybody hears it but in one of these two churches the emphasize obedience to that they keep on emphasizing you must do this you must do this you must do this week after week after week after week after week every command in the New Testament they keep emphasizing you must do this when it says for example in Ephesians 4 let me give you one example Ephesians 4 and verse 32 you know that what is the patience for 32 everybody has got in their Bible there are many churches that take Bible studies through Ephesians and sorry not to teachings for 32 Ephesians 4:31 sorry the Ephesians 4:31 what are the things that you must put away in your life please listen all bitterness all rods that is very serious anger all anger that is a gentle type of anger all clamor slanders being evil of others and all hatred now if I say put away all the chairs from this room how many chairs will be left 0 where it says put away all bitterness how much bitterness should be left in your life against anybody against your mother-in-law against your brother-in-law here's your boss whoever all bitterness was he put away zero is left when it says all anger must be put away how much anger is left in your life then all chairs must be removed from this room how many are left let all slander speaking evil of others we put away how much is left haven't you read these verses before here is a church that preaches Ephesians 4:31 and here is another church that emphasizes obedience every week to Ephesians 4:31 these are two different churches on the outside they look great okay in fact their house built on sand where there's no medians it's so big it's a mega church and the house built on the rock is really small maybe 15 people in that church with church would you join tell me the big one the nicely painted one the one with the cut curtains or you check what's the foundation here do they preach obedience to the Sermon on the Mount very important choose the narrow way it's not a it's not a broad way the very we were in fact I believe it's so narrow is like these style gates you know there are some railway stations where the style gate only one person can go through you're going to take your way through it you go there and that style rotates you go through the next person come the narrow gate is like that two people cannot go through you can't take your way through it you can't take a child through it it's one person at a time the other person has to choose themselves whether they want to come through that gate and the way is so narrow two people try to walk they'll fall over the side into the pit on either side one person at a time and you got to look at Jesus who's down in front and the Apostle Paul is not in front and like Paul says follow me as I follow Christ we follow Paul and we should be able to follow me as I follow pollen through kuala krai stand the people who follow me should be able to say to others behind and follow me as I follow brothers I can follow all and I follow Christ there's a whole line of people like this who are the ones the people are walking the narrow way the broad means different come along fellas let's all go together we're having fun they don't bother about million Jesus said the weight of life is very narrow you cannot take anybody with you there they can follow you if they like I want my wife and all my children to follow me I want my grandchildren to follow me but I can't drag them with me sorry I love them so much when I can track them with me we have to make our own choice whether they come through this tiny gate or not that's the type of church I want to be in because I know that's founded on the rock what is that obedience to the Sermon on the Mount now just listening to it not having Bible studies on the Sermon on the Mount a lot of churches they got Bible studies on the Sermon on the Mount said never practice for meetings they never never emphasizing they do emphasize it it's once in five years they have a Bible study on it in the emphasize and then they forget about it then they're always talking about who we are accepted in Christ in it's so blessed and what heaven is like and they take my new Studies on revelation on how wonderful it will be and how the Antichrist will come and of course me will never be here at that time ladies they talk about all the things which have nothing to do with their daily life you know how many Christians like to study the Bible in areas which have nothing to do with their daily life they like to study Old Testament study study the tabernacle for example what do you think a young 20 year old young born-again Christian sitting in your church think about it what do you think is his biggest struggle you tell me you young men think of a young man 20 years old he's sitting in your church born-again he's accepted Christ what is his biggest struggle you tell me the answer all of you men were 20 years old once what was your biggest struggle was it under turning the Devanagari what the tabernacle means or what is going to happen in the revelation when the Antichrist comes oh is that your biggest struggle no it was not even money not at age 20 maybe you're 40 years old he would have the money but at age 20 your biggest struggle I can say without any hesitation in every generation to every nation it's sex sexually dirty thoughts how many messages have you heard in your life on overcoming sexually dirty thoughts how many messages are preached like that with church preaches on such things that's like going to a hospital with a serious injury on your head and the doctor puts the medicine on your leg whatever hospital is that and you go again the next time did they put it again on your leg and your head is bursting with injury that's exactly how I felt when I sat in a church when I was 20 years old four years honey 21 22 23 I've never heard one message on overcoming dirty sexual thoughts which every young 20 year old man is struggling with what's it what's the point in having a church like that they study the tabernacle in that church what are the curtains of the tabernacle me I see I couldn't care less what they mean my struggle is something else brother what's going to happen when the Antichrist comes I'm not interested I mean this is what's happening in my life right now that's why we need another church that puts the medicine where the sickness is that heals the wound not deals with something which has got nothing to do with their problem a church that preaches the narrow way that leads to life a church that preaches don't try to tie good fruit on to a bad tree to give people the impression you're a good tree cut down the back tree die to yourself take up the cross and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a new nature jesus said you cannot be my disciple if you don't deny yourself pick up the cross turn with me to look 9:23 luke 9:23 jesus said this applies to anybody Luke 9:23 not every church preaches this if anyone anyone means anyone in the whole world wants to come after me he must deny himself there's no other way if he wants to come along this narrow way one at a time that leads to life he must deny himself and it says daily don't forget that one daily which comes there he must deny himself daily take up his cross means and died to himself daily and then follow me he cannot follow me if he does not deny himself daily and take up his cross daily tell me do you do that if you're not doing it I want to tell you the truth you're not following Jesus whatever you may think about yourself you can imagine that they were a good Christian but you're not following Jesus if you are not denying yourself and not taking up dying to yourself eh how in the world can you follow say you're following Jesus without doing the condition which jesus said you know what denying yourself and taking up your cross every day means this narrow way and why don't you do it because you're not hearing it preached in your church regularly how many times in a year you hear messages about taking up the cross and denying yourself daily I mean that should be even if not in show me what should be the sum and substance of what we preach because you got to do it every day then doctors will say take your middleman's every day you take it every day so that's what you need people have got blood pressure take your blood pressure tablet every day people dive it is taken a big tablet every day don't forget that they don't forget that because they know if our blood sugar level goes up I will die but they don't realize if I ignored denying my taking the process I won't walk the narrow way they're not bothered about it I tell you most Christians I have met are more afraid of sickness than of sin and that's why they defeated the only person who will deny himself and take up his cross and died himself every day is the one who is absolutely convinced that sin is more serious than even cancer sin is more serious than getting the disease of AIDS I want to hate any sin to get angry with my wife wants to raise my voice at her once in a year more serious than getting cancer you tell me how many of you believe man tell me how many preachers have you heard preach that other than myself you see how few people are preaching that or is it true or not jesus said if you get angry you're guilty if you open your mouth and say something you're guilty of the Supreme Court and they again open your mouth same thing Jesus said you're guilty enough to go to hell you read that in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 22 why another church because churches are not preaching the sermon on the mount churches are not preaching that you've got to take up your cross deny yourself every day and only then you can follow Jesus yep told you accepted Christ that day oh brother everything is okay you're going to go to heaven just speak in tongues now and you'll be okay think of the surprise these people are going to get when Christ comes again and you say they say to the Lord Lord but our pastor said I'm accepted Christ to him okay a pastor may put his hand on my head and told me to barrel something and I spoken down and he said you're okay and the Lord will say could you read English yes Lord did you have a Bible in English yes did you read Matthew 5 and Matthew 7 yes Lord did you read there about the narrow way and about obeying the sermon on month yes Lord why didn't you do it well my pastor said that's not important you're gonna listen to your pastor or my word such a man will have no answer to give to the Lord in the day of judgment his mouth will be shut that's why I tell people I remember a brother who came to our church many years ago and he heard some of the strong stuff me preaching and he was new you know he went to some other brother and said this brother Zack he preaches all strong stuff and I called him I said rather I love you I want to tell you something I'm not at all bothered what you think about me now if you listen to me in the day you stand before Jesus Christ you hug me and thank me for speaking the truth to you even if it hurt you I'm more interested in that I'm more interested in the marks you get in your final examination not in getting the approval of people today that's why we need another church that preaches the whole truth of God for lovers accidie Apostles chapter 20 actually abuzz with chapter 20 the Apostle Paul said verse 27 he dealt all the others in Ephesus I did not shrink hesitate from declaring to you the whole purpose of God not 50% of it not 75% of it 100% of the Sermon on the Mount 100% of everything that Jesus taught I did not hesitate to declare to you the whole 100 percent purpose of God because of that so what Paul therefore verse 26 I am innocent of your blood therefore I am your blood I've heard preachers say give a tract with the gospel to somebody and you're innocent of his blood nonsense you give a tract to 25 people you think you're innocent of their blood just because you gather a tract know you've just increased their condemnation thereby Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world if you give a tracts to 25 people and they all go to hell you can't say in the day of judgment Lord I'm not guilty and give them a tribe with it you increase their condemnation Jesus did not come to increase condemnation he didn't go around giving tracts to everybody God John 3:17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world I did in my younger days I used to sit in a bus and give out tracts to people I stood on the streets when I was 23 years old and give tracts to people most of them would throw it on the ground I increase their condemnation and I thought I was clearing my hand of the blood of people I was not when I read this verse I discovered how I can be innocent in the blood of all men acts 20 verse malicious nature I have to preach to them the entire purpose of God all that Jesus taught there is a series of mine on our website called all that Jesus taught 40 hours listen to it sometime sonar CFC website I found one thing that a lot of people are outside CFC take some of these messages more seriously and listen to it more than people are inside CFC familiarity breeds contempt but take it seriously so that's why we need another church a church that proclaims the whole purpose of God and that's the only church I want to sit in because I need to be reminded of these things all the time yes I and I need take a shower regularly you take a shower once a week or once a month while you shower regularly you took a shower six months ago where you bigger again you need to be reminded of these things only once in awhile there's so much dirt in the atmosphere that we get every day with dust that's why we shower and if you are working in a very dusty area some mining areas on being your shower everyday but spiritually we need the same thing we need to be exposed to the truth

Channel: CFC India

Views: 14,070

Rating: 4.9358287 out of 5

Keywords: zac poonen cfc Christian Fellowship Church Church Fellowship Christian Zac Poonen, Sermons, CFC

Id: oxGuFCQQJf4

Length: 54min 35sec (3275 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 05 2019