Sin is More Serious Than the Worst Sickness by Zac Poonen

we have a fellowship in pittsburgh CFC pittsburgh and those the ones who produced that and as a brother they're called Satheesh bennett who's got a tremendous gift of illustrating and there's a whole series of illustrations he's made of different truths that we have proclaimed in CFC I would encourage all of you to go to that site and watch all of them in Isaiah chapter 53 which speaks about the cross it says here verse 5 he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastening of our for our well-being fell upon him and by His stripes we are healed or by his scourging were healed now most charismatic and Pentecostals take that verse to apply to healing from sickness and say that Jesus died not only for the sins of the world but also to heal us of our sicknesses now we have to always compare the Old Testament with where it is quoted in the New Testament to understand truth correctly so if you turn to Matthew chapter 8 we read of one of those prophecies in Isaiah which is quoted here in verse 17 matthew 817 this was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet he took away our himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases that is Isaiah 53 verse 4 but the point is when was it fulfilled Matthew chapter 8 is not speaking about the cross Matthew chapter 8 is speaking about a time when Jesus verse 16 last part healed all who were ill and when he healed all the sick people who came if there were 2,000 people there who were sick all 2,000 were healed not 90% not 1% like we hear today 100% they were all healed and that was to fulfill that he took away our infirmity so where did he take it away right there he took it took away their sicknesses it's not talking about the cross at all so does it mean that Jesus didn't die for our sickness he he died for to take away the entire curse sickness is a result of the curse that came upon Adam God did not curse at him he cursed the ground you read in Genesis 2 and 3 that when Adam sinned God said cursed is the ground and it is that ground from which our body is made that's why we get sick and until the curse is removed from our body sickness will come even to believers we got to face reality and not live in a world of delusion our spirit has already been redeemed from the curse there's no curse in my spirit but my body will be redeemed only when gums we read in Philippians chapter 3 you know if you compare scripture scripture you can never go astray and you live in a world of reality instead of living in a world of illusion and deceiving other people Philippians chapter 3 it says verse 20 we our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for the Savior Lord Jesus Christ who will transform this body of our humble state this curse this body which is formed out of dust of the ground which God cursed in Genesis chapter 3 will be transformed into the body of his glory that is the time when the body will be redeemed from the curse and there'll be no more sickness but till then what does it mean but by His stripes we are healed well the best is to compare Scripture with Scripture the Holy Spirit has inspired the Old Testament and the New Testament so if you compare Scripture with Scripture you can't go wrong if you just listen to the interpretation of some human being whether it's me or anybody else you can go astray unless it's based on Scripture so in 1 Peter chapter 2 it says here in the last part of verse 24 1 Peter 2:24 this word from Isaiah Isaiah 53 verse 4 by his wounds we are healed is a lot coated there in verse 24 towards the end by his wounds you are healed that's the worst we found in Isaiah but see the interpretation of it which the Holy Spirit gives through Peter in that verse he doesn't say he bore our sicknesses on the cross he bore our sins in his body on the cross not so that we might be healed from sickness so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness because by his wounds you are healed EAL from what from sin it's so obvious in that verse so we find here that if you if you go by scripture you'll never live in the world of unreality imagining and claiming things which are not promised in Scripture does it mean that we are we cannot pray for healing when we're sick of course we can pray for healing when we're sick because James says in Chapter five James 5 and verse 14 if anyone is sick call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord see that is oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and when we put oil in a person said we're saying this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit is like the symbol of baptism this baptism is only a symbol you don't become spiritual going into that water but a testimony jesus said how you are testifying that you buried to your old life and risen again to a new life like breaking your bread that bread is not the body of Christ but it's a testimony to the fact that I share in the brokenness in Christ's body and I am cleansed by his blood that's what I drink in the cup in the same way the oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and we are testifying this body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore we ask for it to be healed in the name of Jesus Christ and it says here the prayer of faith verse 15 the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who's sick and if he has committed sins they'll be forgiven him now the two things I want to mention there that is sometimes the fact that sin is mentioned there indicates that some sicknesses are due to sin we must recognize that there are some sicknesses not due to sin and some sicknesses due to sin again so here it says in connection with healing it says if he has committed sin it'd be forgiven maybe that sickness was a result of some sin in his life so any heal is also forgiven because he's repented of that sin and therefore were 16 confess your sins to one another it is in the context of being healed whenever I pray for any sick person there's one question I ask him are you aware of any sin in your life that you've not repented of I'm not talking about whether you've overcome it but you hate it have you turned from it total overcoming from sickness will only be when Christ comes again but do you hate sin in your life have you turned from it to the best of your knowledge that's very important before you pray for healing from sickness and also very important have you forgiven everybody who has hurt you can you think back of any person who hurt you in your entire life you're not forgiven you hold a grudge against that person I say don't ask anybody to pray for your sickness it's a waste of time first of all learn to forgive completely totally he doesn't matter how great a crime that person did against you the Lord teaches us to forgive because we've committed a million times more sins against God and he forgive us forgive us our trespasses our sins as we forgive those who sin against us it's a very important requirement for healing but to show you how some sicknesses are due to sin and some sickness are not due to sin in John chapter 5 we read of Jesus going into the Pool of Bethesda and there was a great multitude we read in verse three of sick blind lame withered John chapter five verse three waiting for the moving of the waters and an angel of the Lord would come at a certain time and stir the waters and whoever stepped in first would be healed it was an act of God's mercy I don't know why God did not allow everyone who jumped in to be healed everyone in the world is not he'll is just a plain fact and there was a man for 38 years who was lying there and Jesus saw him and he went to him and He healed him and I want you to picture this in your mind there are two things I want you to learn from this incident one is can you imagine all this maybe two 300 people around that pool says it says a great multitude verse 3 and here's this one man who's lame and all these other guys have got very sicknesses and Jesus comes in and they hear him speak to this man saying you want to get well and they've seen him lying there for years and they seem suddenly getting up and walking away with the bed what do you think all those other guys did they say hey Jesus we're also here and Jesus just went away who said jesus healed everybody who was sick he certainly didn't heal everybody was over here he'll only one person and went away so we should not have a wrong idea of what scripture says there were times when he healed everybody there were times where he healed one person anointed way that teaches me that healing is in the sovereign power of God but there was never a single case where as people came to ask Jesus for forgiveness of sin where he said no he can't forgive you I'm only going to forgive that person in the case of forgiveness of sins it was universal every single person who wanted forgiveness of sins was forgiven but every single person who was sick was not healed we got to face that reality and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever does he heal everybody no does he heal some people yes that's what we see in Scripture the man at the beautiful gate of the temple whom Peter and John healed you know was a beggar saying give me some money and Peter said I don't have any silver and gold but in the name of Jesus get up and walk that man had been lying there for 40 years can you imagine the number of times Jesus walked by that gate and they asked he asked for money and Jesus told judas iscariot give me some money he didn't heal him because he did not have a command from the Father to heal Jesus didn't live by a law which says thou shalt heal everybody he never lived by the law he lived by every word that proceeds from the father's mouth man shall live by every word that proceeds from the father's mark we prefer to live by rules even among Christians we make certain rules or even in the church we can have certain rules it's much easier to live by a rule than to live by daily constantly not daily but constantly hearing what the father is saying the true Christian life the spirit-filled Life is not a life where you he heard that somebody did it that way so I'm gonna do it that way no that's living by rules it's a lazy way of living I make a bunch of rules and I want to live by that that's not life life is where you're in touch like the branch in the tree constantly receiving SAP man shall live by every word that proceeds from the father's mouth and Jesus would walk by that temple gate and say father shall I heal this man father says no twenty times he walks by that man in three and a half years every time the father says no okay Judas give him some money he gives him money one day Peter comes by and he heals him what is the result five thousand people you read that in Acts of the Apostles chapter four there's a purpose with which God delays healing so the in everything you know it's possible to try and do things before God's time and Jesus never did it man is like that you live by a rule you go around right you see a man in the gate of the temple of course in Jesus name be healed nothing happens because we don't know how to live by the every word that proceeds from the father's mouth I want to say to you my brothers and sisters one of the most important things that you need to learn it's one of the first things God taught me when I was born again man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth by the way those are the first words that proceeds from Jesus mouth in his ministry what are the first words of Jesus ministry man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth learnt learn that the importance of that he told Martha one thing is needful to sit at my feet like Mary and listen to me give ly that is the one thing that's needful in your life that even if you don't do a hundred and one other things during the day is one thing you need to do every single day and that is to hear what God has to say to you and I don't mean by just having a quiet time with the Bible the millions of people who have a quiet time with the Bible who don't hear God at all they just ease their conscience however at the Bible well it's good to read the Bible it's go to meditate on it but you got to hear God and that takes a little more effort than just sitting and going through a ritual of reading the Bible for 15 minutes so one of the things we need to develop to hear what God is saying and to hear what God is saying you need to be rooted in Scripture of course you need to be careful in studying scripture to be diligent and studying scripture just like I showed you just now and not put your own interpretation into something but compare Scripture with Scripture and gradually you begin to understand God's mind the Bible says that it's by the renewing of our mind turn with me to Romans chapter 12 there are two things the Bible says we must do if you're really grateful for all that God has done for you have your sins been forgiven has God been extremely merciful to you in a hundred and one ways or a thousand and one ways what shall you do in response to God's mercies here it is present your body and your mind to God in simple terms Romans 12:1 in view of all of God's mercies to you and me the Holy Spirit says number one present your body as a sacrifice a sacrifice means you are not going to do your will in your body anymore that's a sacrifice lord I praise my body on the altar that's the sacrifice you want and that is called here spiritual worship or worship in the spirit in the Old Testament worship in the Psalms was a worship of the soul the soul is your mind and your emotions and it's the worship of the soul is getting excited when you worship and you know worship with the body body moving the hands it's nothing wrong in that but it just limited the body and soul raise your hands clap your hands be emotional like the sounds say frequent hallelujahs it's okay it's good but it's Old Covenant worship new covenant worship Jesus told a woman of Samaria the time has now come when the true worshipers John chapter 4 verse 24 will worship not in the soul but in the spirit that woman didn't ever clue what it meant but that word is something for us to hear the time has now come when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth and it goes out as if the father is eagerly wanting such worshipers and I read that I say Lord are you eager looking for such worshipers I want to be one of them who will worship in the spirit and not just in the body and soul yes I will use my body I'll clap my hands I'll raise my hands I'll be emotional but beyond it all I'll worship in the spirit and worship in the spirit is mentioned here is first of all by presenting our body as a living sacrifice so if I want to worship God in my spirit I've got to lay my body on the altar and say Lord I never want to use my tongue anymore to do what say what I want to say I never want to use my eyes to look at what I want to look at I never want to use my eyes to read what I want to read that's the meaning of presenting your body as a sacrifice in the Old Testament you are not allowed to just take a bullet and put that ox a block or ox on the altar here it is no the law was you must cut that Bullock into pieces that ox must be cut into pieces piece by piece might be fur and you wonder why in the world as God makes such a love and the the whole thing's gonna be burnt up in any case why take all the trouble cutting it up when he might have just put the whole ox there and burn it up because it was a spiritual principle the Lord was teaching when you say present your body it's very easy to say yeah I give my whole body to you Lord but when you put it piece by piece you realize it's not so easy put your tongue there and say Lord here's my tongue on the altar I'm never gonna use it for what to do my own will or speak what I like I'll never speak to my wife what I like with this tongue it's on the altar I'll never speak to my husband what I like with this tongue it's on the altar I tell you there are very very few Christians in the world who worship God in this spirit they have not laid their tongue on the altar or their eyes Lord here are my eyes on the altar I cut that up and put there I never want to use my eyes to read something or to look at something which you don't want me to look at that's worship in the spirit that's what it says here this is your spiritual worship who understands that the Christian world is full of people who think singing Hallelujah singing a few songs on Sunday morning that is what they call praise and worship it is not praise and worship it is praise worship is something entirely different and the devil has blinded Christians to the truth of worship you say what is it you know people say what is it matter whether you call it praise or worship well it means it does mean something because if the devil can cheat you of something I mean if a man does not know what a Cadillac car is and he goes to the store and somebody gives him a bicycle and say this is a Cadillac car he's written on it Cadillac and he comes home and he pays those hundreds of thousands of dollars and comes home with the bicycles calls it a Cadillac car you say what does it matter what does it matter what you call it doesn't it matter we are very careful when it comes to money and material things what about being careful about what the Bible says is worship in the spirit if you think it's the same as that you miss out on the real thing if you think a bicycle is a Cadillac car you're missed out on the real thing you're supposed to get and that's exactly what's happened to millions and millions of Christians who've never tried to find out from Scripture what a scripture say is worship not Old Testament worship New Covenant worship in CFC we emphasized New Covenant New Covenant not only in overcoming sin New Covenant in worship which is not not worship of the soul in the body but worship in this spirit for which the time has come so for that I have to present my body and if I have not presented my body no matter how well I sing I'm not worshiping at all not at all I'm just fooling myself Christian world is being deceived and that's why their lives are so shallow that's why people know it is no God so little eternal life is to know God and to know Jesus Christ I want to tell you my brothers and sisters if you want to face the difficult times that are lying ahead in this world this you're not going to face them with plenty of money you won't solve your problem it's naughty you're not even going to be able to face them by coming to church regularly that's good all this is good but you got to get to know God eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ to me a Centon know him personally you know the difference between marrying a wife and getting know her over a period of 3040 years the day you get married you may love your wife intensely or love your husband intensely but you don't have a clue what type of person he is but once you live 30 40 years in love with each other you really know each other that's the difference between getting married to Christ which is being born again and knowing him so I want to ask all of you who say you've been born-again for so many years how much do you know the Lord have you come to know the Lord better have you come know the Lord's ways have you come to know what the Lord loves have you come to know what it means to be intimate with the Lord like you got married and you love your partner and you're intimate with her or him are you intimate with the Lord like that many Christians are not they don't know the Lord that's the thing that's gonna help in the last days let me show you a verse in Daniel and chapter 11 and Daniel chapter 11 we read I was 32 Daniel 11:32 the last part the people who know their God will be strong speaking about the last days you know it speaking about the Antichrist and the spirit of the last days and in those days says the Antichrist verse 32 will with smooth words turned to godlessness those who act wickedly towards the new covenant but the in that time the people who know their God they will be strong years ago that I memorized that verse the people who know their God will be strong in the last days remember this is not Bible knowledge as a world of difference Bible knowledge the Pharisees had that knowing God Jesus had that there's a world of difference between the two it's the difference between heaven and earth so I was telling you how worship is first of all presenting our body and then Romans 12:2 is our mind that's the next thing my body must be presented I told you piece by piece and my mind must be transformed renewed my mind must be renewed and as is renewed I am transformed so how do I get transformed into the likeness of Christ by the renewing of my mind and thereby I prove what is the perfect will of God in the Old Covenant God spoke from outside Abraham Samuel do this do that do the other because God was outside but from the day of Pentecost God came inside the Holy Spirit's inside and he speaks from inside and there as I allow God to renew my mind in different situations I prove what God's will is for my life and when we think of God's will we think of what job I should take whom I should marry those are not the primary things they're important but they're secondary the primary things is what should be my attitude to this sin what should remedy to to this thing what should have attitude to so many things in this world which don't please God that is where I need to have my mind renewed to think like God thinks and if I want to think like God thinks it's a legitimate paraphrase of my renewing of my mind and being transformed to begin to think like God thinks like Jesus thinks I need to saturated with Scripture because this is the only book in the whole world that tells me how God thinks even the Old Testament I read the Old Testament passages like Hosea and Joel and all that and I see God's tremendous hatred of sin of idolatry for example how he condemned those Israelites for idolatry and the biggest idolatry today is the worship of money and God hates it if I see that I say Lord I want to hate it too I I want to use it but I don't want to worship money I don't know worship pleasure I don't want to shoot man I wish mainly because God hates idolatry so there I was I read the Bible I begin to see the things that God hates he hated adultery he hated fooling around with the opposite sex he believed in the sanctity of marriage Malachi says in chapter 3 God says I hate divorce so chapter 2 sorry so as I read the scriptures I begin to think like God things about the different subjects in though that I'm facing in the world today that's the renewing of my mind or I begin to think like God thinks then I can prove what is God's perfect will so I was telling you about John chapter 5 how Jesus came by the Pool of Bethesda and his mind was always thinking about how the father thinks father said he'll this one man and go and he went what I wanted to point out to you further in John chapter 5 was afterwards Jesus met this man in John 5 verse 14 this man whom he had healed he met him in the temple and Jesus told him John 5:14 now you have become well don't sin again otherwise something worse will happen to you what do you what do you get from that that his paralysis was due to sin that's why he was sick for 39 years 38 years and jesus said don't sin again so there's a case of a sickness that was due to sin now you go to John chapter Lian and you read of another man who was blind and the disciples asked Jesus in John chapter 9 and verse 2 rabbi who sinned was it this man who sinned or his parents of sin that he's blind and he said no he did not say his parents did not sin his blindness was not due to sin so when you put John 5 and John 9 together what you learn is there are some sicknesses due to sin and there are some sicknesses not due to sin we gotta be realistic and it's absolutely true so that's why really in James chapter 5 you're talking about healing from sickness James chapter 5 he says the prayer of faith will heal the sick and if he has committed sins John 5:15 it's all in the same verse it'll be forgiven and he'll also be healed so now the question comes will everyone who was prayed for be healed it says here in verse 15 John James 5:15 the prayer offered in faith now I'm mentioning this because sickness is a very is a reality in the world in which we live we got to face up to it prayer offered in faith this is God's Word James 5:15 the prayer offered in faith will not might will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins they'll be forgiven him so what does that mean I've had to pray numerous times for people who are sick but I find sometimes I have faith for it many a time I don't have the prayer offered in faith will definitely heal now faith is not something I can work out no faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God is the man who is the habit of listening who has faith he's not just by memorizing scripture faith comes by hearing the Word of God not by reading the Bible you begin by reading the Bible but you've got to go beyond reading the Bible to hear God faith comes by hearing God and Jesus heard and he would heal and other times he did not use so the prayer offered in faith would heal so if in a particular situation if God gives you faith to believe the person will be healed and there are other times where the person's not healed so we must be realistic that's what I say it's not an absolute yes or an absolute no in the matter of healing from sickness but when it comes to forgiveness of sins it's absolute in 1 John 1 if we confess our sins verse 9 he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all a ll all unrighteousness there is a difference between asking God for forgiveness and asking God for healing that's what I'm trying to say I'm just trying to be realistic so that none of us live in a world of delusion because there's a lot of confused teaching in the world mostly by people who don't study the Scriptures carefully who don't read what the Bible says we have their own ideas or who live by logic if it is like this therefore it's like this it's like if a equals B and B equals C then a must be equal to C this is this mathematics scripture doesn't operate like that man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth it's a living thing the word is the Living Word of God that by here God in each situation it's different in each situation is different I mean you've seen the Old Testament there are different instances where God told them to do something in a certain way and then another time he said no don't do it that way do it another way one time God said to Moses to hit the rock for the water to come and that's Ryan he said no don't hit it speak to the rock and because Moses went and hit the rock he missed out on going to Canaan it was that serious so God's Word is a living thing it's not a it's not like a rule book and say God will always work like this he doesn't always work like this remember that verse in John chapter 3 the Holy Spirit's like the wind it blows and you can't say where it's coming from where it's going you can't say how the Holy Spirit's going to move so this is why it's only if you walk with God it closely that you can hear what God is saying and that's why it goes on in James chapter 5 to say after talking about the prayer of faith the prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much James 5:16 because the man who is walking with God he's more likely to hear what God is saying than some other person who just has got an academic knowledge of the Bible it's far too many Christians have got an academic knowledge of the Bible they don't know God they know the Bible they know the doctrines in the church but they don't know God the people who know their God will be strong I want to encourage all of you my brothers and sisters get to know God Jesus said in John chapter 17 and verse 3 this is eternal life God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son we all know that verse that whoever believes in Him should have should not perish but have eternal life and again 99% of Christians would say eternal life is to live forever wrong you never find that definition in the Bible you get that in the English dictionary I don't go to the English dictionary to find out the meaning of eternal life I go to the Bible and I find Jesus defined eternal life in John 17 verse 3 saying eternal life is not living forever people who go to hell live forever did you know that the rich man who was living in Lazarus time you know the story it was a true story Jesus said that the rich man went to hell and he begged for a drop of water that man has been in hell for 2,000 years already he was a Jew he was the one who went to the synagogue but he's in hell yeah eternal life he's gonna live eternally in hell but that's not eternal life it doesn't mean living forever at all eternal life John 17:3 is to know God and to know Jesus Christ personally to know him means to know him intimately to know the way Jesus thinks to know the way God thinks I want to ask you my brothers and sisters do you have a passion to know how God thinks do you want to align your mind with God's mind do you want to know how Jesus thinks in a particular situation it's the answer to all of life's problems Lord how do you think in this situation what should I do and you can't get the answer immediately because you should have spent your life getting to know him and then you know what to do there it's not an academic question like you call up and say what shall I do and he says you do this no it's not like that that's Old Covenant in the New Covenant God by the renewing of my mind I prove the will of God and if I have not allowed my mind to be renewed through last years here I am in a certain difficult situation and I say Lord what is the answer I'll tell you you'll do whatever you think you should do and you'll think that is the will of God that's what multitudes of Christians are doing Lord should I marry this girl you feel like marrying her you say yes God told me to marry this girl it's exactly what's happening they're too lazy to spend time getting to know God day by day by day by day they have forgotten what Jesus said to Martha one thing is needful in your life to sit at my feet and listen to my world every day man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth Martha Martha you're worried about many things but one thing is needful it's not serving me it's not helping other people it is listening to me now that doesn't sound right you think it's lazy that's what Martha thought Mary is so lazy is what I'm quoting is from Luke 10 42 sitting there and listening and Jesus said that is the one thing that's needful it's it looks a bit lazy when Martha is busy serving serving serving serving you know there are people I've seen in Christianity Christians and churches we're always serving they're always doing something for the Lord and they have a sense of satisfaction I've done this for the church I've done that for the church I've served the church in so many ways I've sacrificed I've spent my money you may be like Martha and the Lord will rebuke you the Lord will rebuke you I was not interested in all that thing you were doing you sacrifice so much money so much of your time fine but the one thing needful you didn't do [Music] you didn't you never sat at my feet to listen to what I had to say you were busy doing this and that I'll tell you this I've seen through the years zealous Christians are preferred to be martyrs rather than Mary's and they think they are more spiritual and sure Martha thought she was far more spiritual sacrificing her time her energy working in that hot kitchen making something for Jesus when she saw Mary's just sitting there lazily listening to the Lord and what a shock she got when the Lord told her that's the one thing that's needful I want to ask you whether you understood that have you understood it my brothers and sister that to listen to God to know him to listen to him is the most important thing not only in the first thing in the morning but to have an attitude in the midst of all of your life I want to be in touch with God I think of these police officers in their police cars they go around and that walkie-talkie or that communication system with the headquarters is always on you never know when they're calling you you in this car go there there's a need over there they're not always talking to them but they're ready to listen although it has to be on all the time that's a picture of how we should live the life it doesn't mean he doesn't do anything else that police officer is doing a hundred one other things but all the time that this communication system is phone with the headquarters is on it's never off and that's how we are to live our daily life man shall not live by bread alone or by working alone or like Martha but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth the most spiritual people in any church are not the ones who sacrifice their money or sacrifice their time doing 101 things for the church or anything like that the most spiritual people are those who've learned to listen to God and to get to know him because those are the ones who know how to lead the church forward I would any day have a brother like that to be an elder of the church even if he's not very efficient or an administration and capable and other things it's knowing God that makes you valuable in a church eternal life is to know him and to know Jesus Christ personally and when we know Jesus Christ personally more and more as time goes by we have the same attitude that Christ had towards people for example we can be merciful to people who are backslidden terribly and we need no distinct we learn to distinguish it in backslider a and backslider B for example is this a sheep that has gone astray accidentally that's backslider a then I must go after him carry him on my shoulders and bring him back to the church is this backslider be the prodigal son who's gone away from the father I must never go after him I must let him suffer and reach the level of the pigs never send him any money never sent him any food till he repents and comes back do you know how to distinguish between backslider a and backslider me most Christians don't they have a law you shall always go after backsliders or never go after backsliders they live by laws that's not how Jesus lived that's not what Jesus taught you have to go after the lost sheep but he must never go after the lost son so many people hinder the work of God by going after the lost son and bring him back to the father's house when he's not even ready to come back he's not properly repented he needs to get to the level of the pigs before he is allowed to come back at the same time you can't treat the lost sheep like a lost son that poor sheep went astray how to know the difference he got to know God here's a if you want me to confuse you a little more I'll show you a person proverbs 20:27 the wonderful buttons a wonderful book to confuse people who live by logic and by human reason proverbs 27 it says here know it proverbs 26 proverbs 26 verse 4 don't answer a fool according to his folly or you'll be like him and to balance that out next verse answer a fool has his folly deserves so that he doesn't become wise in his own eyes now what should you do the rule book says don't answer a fool the rule book says answer a fool enough to confuse any logical clever Christian how do you discover when you're talkin you're talking to a person how do you discern whether is a fool a or full be am I supposed to answer him or am I supposed to not answer him there's only one way to know you gotta know God then you'll understand why in certain times Jesus said to people I won't answer you if you don't answer my question I also won't answer you haven't you read that in the Gospels at other times he took such a long time to explain and answer questions that they asked why was that difference because he knew the father and dear brothers and sisters it is such people who make a church strong those who know God those who know Jesus Christ and you'll find always find that such people are extremely humble they have never seek to promote themselves they never seek to project themselves they are not always going around try to give advice to people no they there I don't mean those who just withdrawn in the background with shy I'm not talking about that and there's a there's a humility about them the humility of Christ they have absolutely no desire inside you search the inside in their heart you'll see they have no desire to exalt themselves the only one exalt Christ because they know God they know that in the kingdom of God holy Jesus Christ is to be exalted yeah that's why they have zero desire to exalt themselves they have zero desire to promote themselves there was zero desire that other people should appreciate that if you have a if you have a desire in this church that people should appreciate you and recognize you a spiritual brother sister you have a long way to go that's all I can say you don't have a clue what Christianity is all about you want people to appreciate you all you want people to appreciate Christ when you get to heaven you know the only song they're gonna sing is devil or not worthy oh Lord you look around for Paul or Peter or James or anybody know Jesus alone is worthy meditate on that say Lord I want to know you more and I fire if you really learn to know God like that I'll tell you this you may not be very well-known in the church but you will be the most useful member in this church whether people appreciate you or not you'll have such an influence on this church just by sitting here even if you never get up and speak I believe that a person can influence a church by just being present in that church even if he never speaks one word it is why his presence there'll be something about the radiance of Christ that will affect you know it's like these women with perfume from quite a distance you smell Wow look at that perfume are like a radiant person with light so it's very important these days to know God and not live by laws turn with me to Luke's Gospel now in Luke's Gospel in chapter 21 you know it's speaking here about the return of Christ they asked him about one of these things going to happen and jesus replied to them and one of the things he said in Luke 21 there's a whole list of things in the latter half of Luke 21 about the last days and one of the things it says here is you know talks about tsunamis in verse 25 the mighty roaring of the sea in the waves and then men verse 26 fainting from fear the expectation of things coming in the world fear is going to be one of the great characteristics of the last days and people fainting from fear that means fear is going to grip their mind so much fear of this and fear of that and fears what's gonna happen in the future what will happen to me and what will happen to my children and doing everything to preserve myself motivated by fear and it says here it's it's one of the signs of the last days and then verse 27 suddenly they'll see the Son of man coming in a cloud so what should you do when these things begin to come to pass lift up your heads for your redemption is drawing near so when you see the world filled with fear that's the time to lift up my head and say praise the Lord your coming is near Lord I'm waiting for you I'm not gonna have any fear the most common statement that Jesus made to his disciples was not sin not not do not sin but do not fear if you don't believe me read the Gospels the number of times he said don't be afraid when they were in the boat and he was about to sink don't be afraid you may think I'm sleeping but I'm not sleep God is awake he's never asleep the Lord never slumbers no sleeps don't be afraid don't be in a panic some little pain in the body huh don't be afraid trust me it's so important in these days and I tell you fear and faith are absolute opposites like black and white like light and darkness don't imagine that you have faith if you got fear in your heart it doesn't exist fear comes in faith goes out faith comes in fear goes out you cannot have both living in the same heart impossible it's like darkness comes in the light goes out light comes in the darkness goes out it's like night and day you know the dawn the sunrise the darkness goes and then the Sun sets and the darkness comes in it's very very much like that fear more and more it comes in faith gradually moves out it may not be sudden like the darkness doesn't suddenly come on and the sea light doesn't suddenly come but gradually it becomes dark gradually it becomes light gradually faith goes away gradually fear takes over be very very careful fear and faith are opposites and there's no place for fear in the heart of a child of God carefulness caution yes we had to be careful you'd be careful if you're walking through a forest infested with snakes very careful carry a torch light carry a stick be careful we take all precautions necessary but fear always Jesusa don't be afraid I'm with you I'm with you I'll be with you it's very important that we teach our children that the Lord can be with them that's why we must teach our children to keep a conscience clear always that means when they do something wrong we must teach our children to apologize just ask the Lord to forgive them for the wrong they did to ask their brother or sister also to forgive them for hitting them or hurting them or doing so speaking rudely to them if we teach our children to have a good conscience in every little thing don't take it lightly don't take it as a joke when somebody hurts some your one child hurts the other no or speaks rudely to you as parents it's a serious thing for a child to speak rudely to the parents I have warned people in back in my home Church in Bangalore when I've seen a child speaking rudely threat has a be careful of this child he'll grow up to be a rebel I'm sorry to say there are people have not taken my word seriously and the children have grown up to be rebels because they did not take this disobedience to parents seriously honor your father and mother that it may go well with you I wanted to go well with my children so I'll teach them to honor their parents sure if you really love your children and you wanted to go well with them you better teach them to obey you and to obey you 100% not to do their own thing if you if you don't teach your children to do that I would say you as a parent do not want it to go well with your parents with your children you don't want it to go well with your children that's why you allow your children to disobey and speak rudely to you and you ignore it and you think it's all a joke no fear is something which is going to be very much prevalent in the world as we approach the end of time he said that men's fainting from fear and it's very important at such a time that it says in Luke 21:28 straighten up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near so that should be our attitude brothers and sisters as we approach and we don't have the answer to everything I certainly don't have the answer to everything but I showed you that verse in 1 Peter 2 where it says by His stripes we are healed meaning healed from sin that we might do righteousness so it's my attitude to sin that I need to compare with my attitude to sickness a very good way to compare the Old Testament leprosy was a picture of sickness see for example with this coronavirus that's going on think if somebody discovered a cure for it a perfect cure that anybody took that tablet 100% definitely cured he would get the Nobel Prize for medicine do you know what that's what the blood of Jesus does for sin 100 percent sin is cleansed there's not a trace of it but do you think people take that seriously they would take a tablet or a medicine that healed coronavirus completely oh wow what a wonderful thing that is what a great person that person is and here Jesus blood is cleanses every trace of sin when we confess it even Christians don't take it so wonderfully they're not so grateful that is a cure for sin but what if somebody also discovered a vaccine that would prevent you from getting it that's another thing a cure is a medicine that vaccine is something that prevents you from getting it you know the time of my grandparents our grandparents in that generation the early part of the 20th century there were many people in my part of India and Kerala who died of smallpox twenty-five years old thirty years old they died of smallpox many many cases so we all got vaccines I mean a vaccination named smallpox when we were kids they don't give it nowadays I suppose because it's all eliminated but I remember I had to get it so that I don't get smallpox it was it is a vaccination that prevented me that's different from a medicine that cures me so there's a provision for both in the New Testament the medicine that cures is the blood of Jesus Christ I've already sinned and it has to be cleansed I've already got this coronavirus and here's the cure for it but there's a vaccine that can prevent me from getting it and that's what the Bible calls grace sin shall not rule over you because you got grace I don't have to get it can you imagine how excited people would be if there was a guaranteed vaccination that would prevent you from ever getting the flu or ever getting the virus how excited are Christians to get that grace the real grace of God that'll keep me from sin that'll vaccinate me against sinning this is the question we need to ask ourselves as believers forget the rest of the world do you take sin as seriously as you would take sickness in yourself or in your children by His stripes we are healed that we might die to sin and live to righteousness that's what 1 Peter chapter 2 we read so in the midst of a world where this which lives on fear we lift up our heads because our heart is strengthened by grace as it says in Hebrews 13 verse 8 the heart is strengthened by grace it's vaccinated against sin as long as I continue to receive that grace and that is how we had to live and be a blessing in the church maybe you'll pray before I finish let's bow our heads this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent help us to know you father to know what it means to know you to know what it means to know Jesus Christ to know what it means to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God everyday help us to recognize and live by the one thing you said was needful in these days to give no place to fear in our hearts and we know the only way for that is to let faith fill our hearts and drive all fear out a faith that is founded on listening to your world hearing you speak to us through the Holy Spirit help us to live a spirit filled life every day filled with the Holy Spirit listening to your voice walking in your ways give us grace and help us Lord to teach our children to go that way to cleanse from all sin and receiving grace from a very young age we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 14,924

Rating: 4.884892 out of 5

Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: oCPh4mEgyis

Length: 59min 50sec (3590 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 10 2020