The Church's Witness During A Pandemic | Zac Poonen

my subject is the church's witness during a time of pandemic and we are in a time of pandemic now with kobe 19 around with many of us in a lockdown situation how are we to be a witness for christ at this time jesus said in the sermon on the mount in matthew 5 and verse 14 you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lamp stand it gives light to all who are in the house so to be a witness means to be a light now the question is what is that like that we are to show the world in the old testament the light was the word of god the psalmist says in psalm 119 verse 105 thy word o lord is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my part the word of god the written word the law and the prophets in the old testament that was the word that the israel israelites were supposed to show to the rest of the world that was their witness but in the new testament it's not just the written word it's more than that jesus said that he was the light of the world and what was that light we read in john chapter 1 and verse 4 in him was life the life of god and that life was the light of the world in him was life and that life was the light of men so there's a shift now it's not the written word that is to be the light in this time in the new covenant age but the life of jesus that is the witness the church must have the written word is important but it says in john 1 1 the word became flesh and so it is that written word when it is manifested in our flesh that we can be the light of the world now very often the emphasis when you think of the church fulfilling his mission it's on the spoken word tell people about jesus that he died on the cross that he rose up from the dead that he can forgive your sins that he's coming back in glory we must be ready for him all that is good but that's not the light the word must be made flesh the life of jesus is the light of men so when people ask who is the light of the world it's not enough to say jesus is the light of the world because jesus said in john chapter 9 and verse 4 oh sorry john 9 verse 5 while i am in the world i am the light of the world and when he left the world he was not the light of the world thereafter thereafter he said in matthew 5 you are the light of the world of course it's the life of christ within us that is the light but we must not escape that obligation that jesus has given to us you are the light of the world and that light as we saw in john 1 4 is the life of jesus not just the words of the gospel so my dear brothers and sisters that's the challenge that we need to take up am i manifesting that light in my daily life in my contact with my neighbors and friends and others that is the witness of the church and especially in a time of pandemic when people are worried and scared and anxious about many many things the life of jesus must be manifest in every one of us and god is here to help us in that i want you to turn to luke's gospel and chapter 11 where we are told a little thing that we have to do in order to keep that light burning luke 11 and verse 33 jesus says no one after a lighting a lamp will put it away in a cellar but put it on a lampstand and then in relation to our being a lamp that shines for the lord he says in luke 11 34 the eye is the lamp of your body and if your eye is clear your whole body is full of light but when it is bad your body is full of darkness and then we are no longer a witness then watch out that the light in you does not become darkness in verse 36 then when your whole body is full of light it will be holy illumined as when a lamp illumines a room so what does that mean what is the i that jesus spoke about in our human body is the eye through which light comes in and if you are blind light does not come in the equivalent of that in our spiritual life is our conscience when jesus spoke about the eye he was speaking about our conscience if your conscience is clear your whole body will be full of the life of jesus but when your conscience is not clear it'll be darkness darkness is our self-life so the most important thing to me that to make sure that the light is burning the church is a true witness to christ in this time of pandemic is by keeping our conscience clear very very important now what does that mean it means that as soon as you're convicted of some sin in your conscience in words in our thoughts we confess it immediately it's like the eye if you get a speck of dust in your eye you put aside all your work and get rid of that you wash away that eye immediately that's what jesus is referring as soon as something comes in our conscience we must immediately get rid of it by confessing it and if you have hurt somebody go and apologize to that person ask forgiveness and then come to the lord and ask him to forgive us you know the lord is not going to forgive us if we have not asked forgiveness from somebody we have hurt jesus said that when you come to the altar with your offering and there you remember that somebody's got something against you matthew chapter five go and settle that first and then come and bring your offering now when you come to the lord and say lord i've done something wrong please forgive me the lord says you hurt somebody go and ask his forgiveness first and not only that jesus said if you don't forgive others god will not forgive you so if i go to the lord and ask him to forgive me the lord says have you forgiven everybody you remember in the lord's prayer he taught us to pray forgive us our sins as we forgive others so this is very important to keep our conscience clear means in the most elementary level i must ask forgiveness from anyone whom i have hurt it could be your husband it could be your wife it could be a neighbor it could be a fellow worker it could be anybody it could be a brother or sister in the church if you come with your offering to god and you remember there that someone has got something against you settle that first and then come and give your offering very clear in matthew 5 verse 24 onwards take time to read it sometime and the second thing is matthew 6 verse 15 and 16 if you don't forgive others your heaven 14 and 15 if you don't forgive others your heavenly father will not forgive you that's clear in other words if i come and say lord i confess my sin to you and the word of god says if we confess our sins the blood of jesus will cleanse me from all sin no it will not if you have not forgiven others it will not because that's very clear in matthew's gospel chapter 6 if you do not forgive others your heavenly father will not forgive you matthew 6 15 no matter how much you pray so but now we're talking about being a light keep the eye clear keep your conscience clear otherwise trying to share the gospel with others with just with words is an empty ritual so this is the first thing that we must bear in mind that we need to ask ourselves is my conscience clear have i asked forgiveness from everyone whom i've hurt have i forgiven everyone who has hurt me or who hurt my family that's the first step now i want to turn to luke's gospel in chapter 15 where jesus speaks about you know bringing the lost sheep the church's mission is to bring the lost sheep back into the fold this is the church's witness and mission go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature he who believes and is baptized will be saved luke 15 jesus speaks about a man who's had a hundred sheep in verse four and he's lost one of them you know the story he leaves the 99 in the open pasture and goes after that one sheep until he finds it and when he finds it he carries the sheep on his shoulder and brings the sheep back and then he explains the meaning of this it's very important to understand the meaning of it we say that one last sheep is a lost sinner but who are the 99 where is that sheep going to be brought into what sort of a church is that she going to be asked to come and join you see here in luke 15 and verse 7 when he talks about the sheep being brought back he says there'll be more joy in heaven over one singer who repents that's the lost sheep a sinner who needs to repent to turn from known sin that's repentance more than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance how does jesus define the 99 sheep who are in the fold they are 99 righteous people who need no repentance so when you ask yourself whether your church is a good fold into which a lost sheep can be brought that's the question the church's mission to bring that lost sheep into the fold so we need to ask ourselves what type of fold is this in which that sheep is going to be brought it must be full of like it says in luke 15 7 righteous people who need no repentance not perfect people there are no perfect people on the earth none of us are like jesus we are trying pressing on to be like him but there is there is a type of person who can be called a righteous person who needs no repentance why doesn't he need repentance because as soon as he's aware of something he confesses it immediately he repents and confesses it if he does not confess and does not repent of the sin he's convicted off in his conscience then he needs repentance that means he's a person who doesn't keep his conscience clear his eye is not clear then his whole body is full of darkness then he's not the light of the world he's darkness and he's failed in his mission so a church that is full of people who are not repenting is a church that's totally failed in its in being the light of the world do you understand that that every person who claims to be a part of the church must fulfill his responsibility to be a person who needs no repentance because he's constantly repenting whenever he fails i hope you've understood that i want to repeat it so clearly because some of you have probably never heard this before the church is described by jesus as 99 righteous people who do not need any repentance can you say my brother sister i want to ask you very lovingly that you're a person who does not need any repentance for many years in my christian life after i was born again [Music] that was not true in my life i would slip up somewhere and i'd say okay well we'll deal with it later or if i had a grudge against somebody i would keep it and not settle it before the lord if i hurt somebody i'd say okay when i get an opportunity i'll settle it with him and ask his forgiveness but it was not something i'd do immediately and i would retain the memory and grudges against people it hurt me imagine i was born again but i didn't take my christian life seriously but i got fed up of that defeated life and i said lord i want a genuine christian life and after a number of years after i was born again i was seeking god to be filled with the holy spirit the holy spirit came and filled my heart and the light of god flooded my heart and i began to see sin in the horrible thing it was that it was my sin that crucified jesus on the cross and i began to hate it and an unforgiving spirit was a spin was it was a sin i hated it an unforgiving attitude was a sin that i hated and i said lord i don't want to have an unforgiving attitude towards anyone and if i've hurt someone i want to immediately settle it i want to keep my heart free from sin then i began on this path of living a life where i don't need any repentance not that i never slipped up but as soon as i slipped up i would immediately settle it with god and with man you know that's how the apostle paul lived i want you to under read your verse in acts chapter 24 this is the secret of his effective life and we can live like that too acts chapter 24 and verse 15 and 16. in verse 15 acts 24 15 he says i know certainly that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked no no doubt in my mind about it and in view of this since there is going to be a resurrection of the righteous in the wicked and i want to be in the resurrection of the righteous here's what i'm gonna do i'm gonna keep my conscience blameless at all times before god and before man i'm gonna keep my conscience blameless before god and before man that's how he lived always the word always means 24 7. he says that's how i know that i've been the resurrection of the righteous 99 righteous people who don't need repentance and the resurrection of these righteous people paul said the only way i can be there is not by saying well 20 years ago i accepted christ but have you how have you lived since then have you lived a careless life in your conscience then be sure be careful my brother sister whether you'll really be in the resurrection of the righteous i'm not trying to scare you i'm trying to just quote scripture there will certainly be a resurrection of the righteous and i want to be in it in view of this acts 24 16 i keep my conscience 24 7 without blame before god and before man so this is the secret of being a light that's shining all the time that is our calling to be the light of the world to be the light in the area where you are and it's it's got the light comes from god in the in the olden days it was not electric light they had they lit their lamps and oil was needed to keep that lamp burning and that's a picture of the holy spirit that comes and makes the light of christ burn within us but the holy spirit can remain burning within us like a burning fire only if we keep our conscience clear 24 7. so don't discard this as unimportant this is the most important thing in your christian life you are the light of the world and jesus said take care that that light does not become darkness that's a warning that we need to take care take heed to at this particular time so when we think of our particular witness in relation to the anxiety and tension that people are facing at this time for example there is the fear that many people have will the sickness come to me will i die here is where we need to believe in a loving heavenly father that that's part of our witness the folks in the world don't have a loving heavenly father but we do and jesus always said if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give good things to those who ask him we have every right to go to our heavenly father and ask him for good things to ask him to protect us in a time of pandemic and i like this wonderful promise in psalm 91 it's very relevant to the time in which we live i'm sure many people are quoting it but it says in psalm 91 that if you dwell in the secret shelter of the shadow of the almighty under the shelter of the most high it says in psalm 91 you will not be afraid of the plague that comes in darkness verse 6 or the destruction psalm 91 6 that lays a lot of people down a thousand may fall on your side and ten thousand at your right hand it will not approach you that's the promise we believe in ah heavenly father i'm not saying heavenly father will not allow us to be sick no i don't preach that but i believe he cares for us and i believe that he makes every single thing work together for our good even if there is a sickness which he doesn't take away immediately he'll make it work for our good romans 8 28 god makes everything work for our good and the apostle paul he had a sickness we read in second corinthians 12 a thorn in his flesh he prayed three times and god said i'm not gonna take it away there are sicknesses god doesn't take away but he says there's a purpose with it if god allows a sickness to remain it will be with a purpose and the purpose is paul i want to keep you humble and god used that thorn in paul's flesh to keep him humble so god may permit that but otherwise we believe that god will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability and he will make everything work together for our good and that is part of the light that we are to manifest to the world around in a time of pandemic that we have no fear you know the words that were very frequently on jesus my ellipse whenever he spoke to the disciples was fear not don't sin and don't be afraid fear not fear not sin not fear not those are the words that he most frequently spoke to people i don't want you to sin and i don't want you to be afraid we need to be we need to avoid fear as much as we need to avoid sin because fear is the opposite of faith and when i live in fear i'm manifesting that i don't believe that i have a loving father in heaven who cares for me we have wonderful promises in scripture and in a time of pandemic we must be a witness to those we meet by showing them that we have a father in heaven who cares for us who cares for our children who cares for every need we don't have the answer to every problem but we certainly believe that god cares for us the other fear that people have is well will i have enough money to make it through this time i'll tell you one thing and i believe this with all my heart i remember my wife when i first started serving the lord 52 years ago we were very very poor we were so poor we did not even have money to rent a place to live in i was serving the lord i had given up my job in the navy given away all my savings for the lord's work and we would not tell anybody about our needs and we were working among villagers and students i said lord i'm going to trust you and the promise i trusted was matthew 6 33 if you seek god's kingdom first all that you need of food clothing and shelter will be provided for you i trusted the lord for that 52 years ago my wife and i and i want to testify that all these years he's provided for us we've never made our needs known to a single human being in these 52 years we've never sent prayer letters asking people to support us god has provided all our need he's helped us to educate our children to take care of our family all these years i wanted to prove that god is a loving father and i've experienced that all these years and i want to share my testimony with you i want to say to you my dear brothers sisters the same promises in your bible seek the kingdom of god first and all these other things will be added to you don't worry matthew 6 31 what shall we eat where should we get food in this time of pandemic when will we get money all the people in the world eagerly seek after these things they are worried about these things but your heavenly father matthew 6 32 knows that you need these things so you seek the kingdom of god if you want to be anxious about something jesus said be anxious about the kingdom of god that you live a life that glorifies god in your life seek the father seek to glorify him in your life the kingdom of god is righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit seek for that and say lord that's what i want my life and you can be absolutely sure that god will keep his promise that he'll provide all your need now we may think that's a very simplistic answer it is not for 2000 years many many people beginning with the first apostles have proved the truth of that promise that all those who honor god god honors them all those who seek god's kingdom god provides for them and i believe this is this was my desire for myself when i started my christian life and i started serving the lord i said lord i want to come to the end of my life and be a living demonstration by the at the end of my life but i spent my life seeking god's kingdom first and god provided all my need and i want to say that should be your desire to lord help me to be such a witness for you a light that shines in the dark world so that people look at my life and see that i have a father in heaven who cares for me that is the witness of the church that is how jesus was it says jesus explained the father we read in john 1 and verse 17 and 18. he explained the father by his life he manifested in all situations i have a father in heaven who cares for me there were times when people came to capture him no they couldn't touch him because it says his heart had not yet come the father would not allow it and this is our father too so my dear brothers and sisters i trust that we shall really see god in these days repent of our unbelief and say lord i want to trust you to provide my need i don't know how you do it but you'll provide my need and i want to keep my conscience absolutely clear there's a close connection between keeping a good conscience and having faith you cannot have faith if your conscience is bad the bible says if you regard iniquity in your heart the lord will not hear you it's possible for the weakest one among you to be a bold witness for christ at this time of pandemic to let the light of the life of jesus shine through you and i want to encourage you to do that open your heart and say lord i want to open my being from this time onwards to seek your kingdom first and again let me say begin with keeping your conscience clear forgive everyone who has hurt you you can't remove the memory of what people have done to you from your mind that's not possible but you can exercise your will and say i forgive them and if you hurt somebody at the earliest opportunity call them up or write a note or something and say please forgive me these are the two important things forgiving others and asking forgiveness because i find with many many believers they are careless in this area and their conscience is not clear the light becomes darkness so what is the witness of the church in the last days to demonstrate the life of jesus you are the light of the world and we have to demonstrate that to the world around so that people can be drawn to christ the bible says be anxious for nothing but in everything make your request known to god that's part of being the light may god help you all let us pray so while our heads about in prayer i want to ask you to consider for just for a moment is there anybody you have not forgiven right now say to the lord lord i forgive that person and that other person another person and i wish them good i don't wish any evil for them is there anybody who you need to ask forgiveness from whom you can think of whom you hurt say lord i want to go and settle it i want to call up that person and ask his forgiveness the time is short keep your conscience clear heavenly father we pray that these words will not be removed from our hearts but will remain there and produce fruit for eternity we pray in jesus name amen

Channel: CFC India

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Length: 28min 39sec (1719 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 26 2020