TXT. Zac Poonen Sermon Notes – (Free PDF Download) – 2021 , Get it and share with your friends , Transcript and Outlines also available for free download.
begin with the verse in romans in
chapter 15.
romans chapter 15 and verse
4
whatever was written
in earlier times
was written for our instruction
so that through perseverance or patience
and the encouragement of the scriptures
we might have
hope
and when paul wrote that
what he’s referring to of what was
written in an earlier time scripture is
the old testament
so here the holy spirit is saying
that we should read the old testament
which will give you hope and
understanding of god’s ways
i’ve learned a lot of things we’re not
under the old covenant
we teach in all of our churches we are
under a new covenant
and the blessings of the new covenant
are ours
but there are many lessons we can learn
from the old testament scriptures
of the mistakes people make
because human nature is basically the
same
you read about genesis 3 the way adam
and eve went for knowledge more than
life
they had an option to choose knowledge
or life and they chose knowledge
what do i learn from that i have learned
that
most believers
go for knowledge more than life even
today
and that knowledge brought depth to adam
and it brings death to believers today
what do i mean by knowledge
you know studying the scriptures
watching a lot of youtube messages
understanding them understanding them so
well
that we can even preach it to others
that’s real knowledge but it brought
death to adam and it’s a knowledge of
good and evil
so we discern our minds to know good and
evil by studying the scriptures
and the knowledge of good and evil
brought death
we must never forget that and i have
seen numerous people
even in our cfc churches who have an
accurate knowledge of what we teach
about the new
covenant so well that they can speak it
themselves
but their own spiritual lives are dead
and that becomes evident after some time
you know
when a person dies he doesn’t begin to
stink immediately
but after a while it begins to stink
and it’s like that when a person is
careless in his personal life
after a while maybe after a few years
the stink comes forth spiritually
and we can learn things from the old
testament what i gave you from genesis 3
is just one example
i want you to turn with me to another
passage of scripture
which is in joshua sorry judges
the book of judges chapter 2 which is
after joshua
and
we read there
about joshua chapter 2 verse 8 joshua
the son of land the servant of the lord
died and they buried him joshua 2 9.
sorry judges 2 9
and that generation
of joshua’s also died
and then after them verse 10
arose another generation
who did not know the lord
nor the work that the lord had done
and then the sons of israel did evil
so what do we read what do we learn from
there
that as long as there was a man of god
leading that group they followed the
lord
and when the man of god had died
and some others took over there was
there were leaders sure
but they were not at the same caliber
and the people drifted away
you see another example of that these
are the things we have to learn from the
scriptures
see another example of that in exodus
and chapter
32.
here we read of a time when
moses had gone up to the mountain to
meet with the lord for 40 days
i mean he had already led the israelites
through the red sea they had seen
miracles manna coming from heaven
and this wonderful man of god moses
who would split the red sea by lifting
up his rod and
pray and manna would come from heaven he
would hit a rock and the water would
come out of the rock
a man who got endorsed in such a
wonderful way
and the people respected him he was a
man of god
now he didn’t die he just went up to the
mountain
for 40 days
they didn’t know it was going to be 40
days
they didn’t know he had gone and he
hasn’t come back they waited one month
one month is a long time to wait and
exodus 32 1 says moses delayed
in coming down and the people said to
aaron now there was another leader
downstairs
i mean below not downstairs but in the
foot of the mountain
aaron he was the second in command
and they came to aaron and said make us
a
god for this one moses they don’t know
what happened to him whether he’s dead
or not
and aaron he was such a seeker
after popularity like many preachers and
leaders
and he said okay if that’s what you want
we’ll do it give me all your gold rings
and from that it says he made a molten
calf in verse 4
and aaron this is the man who was with
moses and saw the miracles got it done
now says this is your god of israel
who brought you up from the land of
egypt
and when moses came down from the
mountain
and we read further down in that chapter
verse 19 as moses came
near the camp and he saw the cop and the
dancing and
the he got so angry he threw the tablets
which he had the
ten commandments he threw it down
shattered them
and he took that cough remember there
was 600 000 men
and moses defied all of them
moses was an old man
80 years old and he
said bring that calf here and he burnt
it and ground it to powder
verse 20 and threw it in the water
and said use 600 000 men go and drink
that water now
and aaron
he said why have you done this aaron
why have you brought such a great sin
verse 21
and aaron was caught and he tells a lie
this is a mark of weak
leadership when they are caught in a
difficult situation
they’ll tell some light to get out of
that
because he’s afraid of moses and he says
oh
don’t get angry with me moses these
people said make us a god
and so i asked them for that gold and
listen to this fantastic lie
in verse 24. i don’t know how aaron
thought anybody would believe that
i threw all this all their gold into the
fire and out of the fire came a golden
cough
wow even a child wouldn’t believe that
you know when a man of god because aaron
was a man of god at one time
he was anointed to be the high priest
but when he drifts away
and he doesn’t live before god’s face
he can tell lies without any conscience
so we see in the history of the old
testament that
as long as there was a man of god
leading them
they followed the lord it was one man
that preserved six hundred thousand
people
then when they went into canaan there
was one man joshua
and he died that was the end of it
you turn to the new testament you read
in acts of the apostles
in chapter
20 paul had been in
the city of ephesus for three years
he never stayed that long in any other
place
and at the end of this he’s going away
and he calls all the elders of ephesus
together i don’t know how many there
were maybe four or five to the pretty
big church
and it says in acts chapter 20 verse 17
he called all the elders of ephesus
and he gives a long message to them all
the way from verse 18
down to verse 35 and
he says now i’m going away
and i may not see you again
but remember this
you’ve seen me how i live acts 20 verse
31
be on the alert
remembering that night and day
for a period of three years
i did not stop preaching to you
with tears three years
night and day
paul preached 2000 sermons in ephesus
to these people can you imagine
listening to paul for 2000
sermons
i would have loved to hear even one
sermon by paul i’d been listening to
paul for 2000
sermons for a period of three years but
when he’s leaving them
in verse 18 earlier
he does not say remember my 2000
servants
because that’s his knowledge that’s only
information
it’s only doctrine
many preachers say remember that sermon
i preached to you on this subject or
remember this sermon i preached you on
that subject
they glory in their sermons
but not paul
he says you know verse 18 and 19 how i
lived all these three years in your
midst
with humility with tears
i proclaim to you the full counsel of
god
even though
i knew that once i go to jerusalem i’ll
be persecuted
and even in ephesus they persecuted him
but he says here did you see my humility
verse 19.
what does he draw attention to as a
leader
not his eloquent sermons i’m sure he
must have been very powerful
not even the people he raised from the
dead or healed
no mention of all that the things that
most preachers glory in today
he says do you see how i lived with you
for three years in humility
i considered all of you as more
important than myself
and you saw my attitude to money
verse 33 i never desired
anyone’s money i didn’t even decide that
you should buy me a set of clothes
i bought my own clothes verse 33
i worked with my hands and took care of
my needs verse 34.
because i have learned from jesus verse
35
and it is more blessed to give than to
receive
now when this man of god he spent three
years there and he was going away he
calls all these elders
and he said i want to tell you something
verse 29
after i leave you know this is remember
how what happened when moses left
you remember what happened when joshua
left we saw that now paul is saying
what’s going to happen when i leave
ephesus
after i leave savage wolves
will come in and destroy this church
and not only people from outside
compromisers and false teachers will
come in
and you guys who listen to me for three
years will forget everything i said
you’ll forget my life and you’ll be
impressed by these eloquent
people who have no life and not only
that
among you elders i don’t know whether
three of them are five of them
some of you will also
twist some things that you heard speak
perverse things and you’ll
draw away disciples after yourself
you split this church into many groups
different different followers even if
you sit in the same building you’ll have
your own following
and he wasn’t prophesying this will
happen
he was warning them be careful
and when you go to the second letter
to the ephesians you know where that is
that’s in revelation chapter two
paul’s letter what we know is ephesians
is the first letter
from the lord through paul the second
letter to the ephesians was written by
john
from the lord again in revelation
chapter 2
verse 1. to the elder
in the church in ephesus the word there
is actually messenger
and we translated messenger or angel
it’s messenger
i know all your good works first two
your hard work your perseverance
revelation two verse two
you don’t tolerate evil people you
expose false apostles
you have perseverance you have endured
for my name’s sake you’ve not grown
weary
but i’ve got something against you
you don’t love me the lord said as you
did
at the beginning
that’s a good question to all of us to
ask ourselves
do you remember when you first came to
the lord
look back to that time how you love the
lord and you’re willing to give up
everything
and you stopped watching the type of
movies you were watching then
but as time has gone on
you begin to bring back into your life
some of the things you give up
you have left your first love for the
lord you’re taken up with other things
now
and the end result is you don’t love one
another like you did before
and is this a big thing when you’re so
zealous
so many good things mentioned in verse
two and three one small thing you don’t
love the lord it’s not a small thing
verse five it’s a height from which you
have fallen
now usually we say that somebody’s
fallen when they fall into adultery or
stealing money from the church no no
here it is
you loved me fervently first maybe you
didn’t know so much of the bible but you
loved me with all your heart
now you’re falling from there now all
you know is the bible
you know the doctrines but you don’t
love me permanently like you did when
you first came to me
i want to ask those of you who have been
believers for some years
does the lord have to say that to you
if so
respond to him because the lord says to
repent
because if you don’t repent verse 5 i’ll
take away
the anointing of the spirit the spirit
will not be here anymore
the holy spirit will leave you the lamb
stand is a picture of
the oil there is a picture of the holy
spirit and that light
which he wants to manifest in our life
he says i’ll take it away
and you’ll be left with an empty shell a
lamp stand without the light
there are millions of christians and
churches like that today
they call themselves churches they’ve
got to write doctrine
but the fire of god is not there
that fervency of spirit to follow the
lord is not there
purity of heart is not there fervent
love for the lord is not there
little little grudges have erupted
towards each other
they’ve fallen but they don’t realize
they’ve fallen they think these are all
small things
we still have our meetings we still have
our conferences we still have our
weekly get-togethers where we eat food
together and
yeah yeah it’s like a club
i’ve discovered through the years one of
the easiest things to happen
for a cfc church is for you to become a
club
a nice club of people who love one
another
you know in the world there are clubs
they go there to play tennis because
everybody is interested in tennis so
they go there to play
cards and gamble because everybody’s
interested in cards
or it could be a church a club where
they go there to sing
and produce choirs that sing
music or it could be a club where they
come to study the bible
which we call a church
but people who belong to a club they are
drawn together by some particular thing
there which they are interested in
maybe tennis it may be cards it may be
gambling it may be music
it may be studying the bible it may not
be jesus
and you can come to a church and you’re
not really interested in meeting the
lord you’re not interested in increasing
your fervent love for the lord
it’s a nice club and if you’re in need
all the other members of the club rally
to come and help you
somebody’s sick and the other members of
the club will come bring food to your
house
some sister is just delivering a baby
and the members of the club rally
to bring food what a wonderful club when
you say huh
i like to be in this club and you may
not have
any relationship with jesus christ at
all
it’s happening i’m telling you the truth
you examine your own life
and see whether the lord is safe to say
to you you’ve left your first love
you’re occupied with all these
activities
and then maybe there is no man of god to
remind you
of what is most important in the
christian life remember the first
commandment jesus said
when when a
man who was well-versed in the law
that’s called a lawyer in those days not
what we understand by a lawyer today
came to jesus once and asked him a
question in matthew 22
verse 35 matthew 22 and verse 35. one of
these
bible scholars came to jesus and
tested him and the
question was teacher what is the
great commandment in the law and he was
thinking of the ten commandments
and the fourth commandment was keep the
sabbath
the seventh day of the week holy don’t
do any work therein
that was the biggest commandment for
these
jews
and he was wondering whether jesus would
say that or what’s he going to say
and jesus didn’t mention any of the ten
commandments
he mentioned the root
that supported these ten commandments
he said here is the great commandment of
the law verse 37
matthew 22 37 love the lord your god
not first no but with all
your heart it’s not that give him first
place in your heart and you give the
other 25 places to others no
there are no 25 places love the lord
with
all your heart and all your soul
and all your mind
and the lord said i can’t leave that one
commander because this coin has got two
sides
and if nothing is printed on the other
side it’s a fake coin
the other side of the coin it says love
your neighbor as yourself
on these two commandments verse 40 hangs
all the ten commandments
and every other commandment that god
gave
it’s summed up love the lord with all
your heart soul and mind
and that’s what the lord was asking the
elder in ephesus in the church and
ephesus
have you obeyed that commandment not
just come to meetings and come for
conferences and read the bible
et cetera et cetera many people read the
bible just to ease their conscience
oh i didn’t read the bible today i
better read it i might get an accident
otherwise
it’s all superstition you won’t get an
accident if you don’t read the bible you
know the number of people who don’t read
the bible
who don’t have any accidents if you read
the bible only to avoid an accident
forget it
don’t read it you read it read it
because you love jesus and you want to
hear what he has to say to you
i’ve been reading the bible for 62 years
and even today god spoke something to me
from the scriptures
something fresh according to my need
it happens all the time
i want to hear one word from the lord
the word
jesus said to the devil man does not
live by bread alone but by
every word that proceeds from the mouth
of god
that’s not just reading the bible but
hearing what god is saying to me
when you love the lord with all your
heart
he becomes more precious to you it’s not
what you give to him
let me use the example of a young man
and a young woman who are deeply in love
with each other
it’s a good picture of the christian
life because the bible says
that jesus is our bridegroom and we are
the bride
and there’s a picture of that in the
song of solomon so when i talk about a
young man and a young woman who are
deeply in love with each other
and there are many people like that in
the world as well
and you’ve seen them maybe some of you
got married like that as well
but when two young couple are deeply in
love with each other
and you see them sitting somewhere by
themselves in a park or somewhere
they don’t want anybody to see them
they just want to hear each other
they’re not talking to each other to
tell other people i spoke to her i spoke
to him
don’t read the bible in order to have a
testimony i read the bible today
you don’t love the lord imagine that
girl saying well i spoke to my bride
room today
she doesn’t even want people to know
that it’s private
it’s a mark of love and the other thing
about if you see two young lovers
sitting together somewhere talking
they’re not always looking at the watch
they
they never look at the words
if you see two young people sitting
young boy and girls in each other then
one is always looking otherwise you know
they don’t love one another at all
they’re just trying to fill up their 10
minutes
and go away how’s your relationship with
jesus i’m not saying how long you read
the bible no no no
your relationship with jesus
you love him with all your heart soul
strength and mind
was there a time earlier in your life
but you did love him like that
you know many people say how to get rid
of this bad habit
how to get rid of pornography
how to get rid of watching i have a
great desire to watch dirty movies
i’m not against watching movies if
they’re clean movies it’s okay
we need some type of relaxation it’s
like going for a picnic or different
people relax in different ways
but if there is any sex in it or nudity
or something like that
that’s evil it’s from the heck it’s from
hell
even if there are 10 seconds of it
and a lot of western movies are like
that these days
but there was a time when you avoided it
all
as they have does it come back
and you see oh brother zach how to get
rid of it
there’s an illustration that i use
which will illustrate the answer to this
question how can i get rid of this bad
habit which i know the lord does not
approve of in my life
well here’s the illustration
here’s a god-fearing man whose daughter
is a bit wayward a little worldly
she stays at home respects her father
but she’s
very much in love with a very worldly
boy
and the father says my girl
you should give up that friendship that
will harm you
don’t have anything to do with that boy
he’s not a good boy
you know just like the lord tells us to
stay away from worldly habits
that’s the illustration stay away from
that
and he’s he she says okay dad i’ll try
but secretly when the dad without the
dad knowing
she sends messages to him and talks to
him on the phone and
meets him slyly here and there and then
acts in front of her dad as if
he’s not meeting but a dad is shrewd and
knows that
she’s meeting him and she’s deeply in
love with him
and then she comes to the dad and says
dad
i love him so much i know there are
things bad in it it’s just like people
say i know pornography is bad
but i do go to it
i know that movie is dirty but i want to
see it
or i know that habit i have is bad but
somehow i want to do it so this
girl says i know he’s a bad boy but
i just love to be with him because he’s
so pleasant and so good
and the father wants her
and after years and years and years he’s
not able to give her
she’s not able to give up and one day
that girl comes to her dad and says dad
i’ve given him up
and the dad said really how did that
happen
and she says i found somebody else far
better
that’s the way an old affection
is driven out when you find
a new affection that expels and drives
out the old affection
how shall i drive out my love for the
world a love for pornography or love for
other things
when you find a love for jesus that is
supreme
that’s the only way to drive out this
it’s not by fighting this and fighting
this and fighting this you still
love it and even when people are not
watching you’ll go for it
but when you love jesus supremely
a girl who’s deeply in love with a boy
who
is an upright godly
young man who is devoted to her will
find it
very easy to give up all other
friendships
and when we are when we see how much
jesus loves us
and we love him in response
in reply we find it very easy
to give up these other things that
hinder our christian life
so what i wanted to say is that church
in ephesus
just like paul warned them
drifted away
paul warned them and that’s because they
did not preserve their love for christ
and so what happened the lord says that
to the ephesians
but there are a few overcomers
that’s what he told them there were five
churches in revelation that were
backslidden
and to all of them he says but there are
some overcomers there
and the lord threatened the church in
ephesus that if you guys don’t repent
i would leave this church
but there were a few overcomers they
were not the elders
but wholehearted brothers and
they were concerned of the way the
church was going
and one day the lord left that church in
ephesus
maybe 30 years after paul had died
the lord left that church just like paul
warned
okay the bridegroom has left
what does the bride do now
the bride does not sit in that building
anymore
when the bridegroom is left the bride
also leads
so these few overcomers maybe 10 of them
left the so-called big church in ephesus
backslidden church and started meeting
separately
and that big church in ephesus called
these fellows hypocrites and
humbugs and church splitters and all
types of bad names
but the lord was with those 10 people
and gradually over a period of time the
godly leadership there this new second
church in ephesus
much smaller than the first one the
first big church called them all
heretics and hypocrites and all that but
the lord was with them
another 30 40 years goes by and this
little group of 10 becomes
300 400
and the old leaders who started that the
old overcomers had died and gone
and the new generation just like in
joshua’s time
it’s like aaron they could not lead
and again the lord has to say to this
new church
you guys came out 40 years ago
but you have drifted and gone the same
way as the first church
now i’m going to take away the anointing
from you unless you repent they don’t
repent
again the lord leaves the second church
but again there are some overcomers
maybe 5-10 people come out and started
the third church now there are three
churches in ephesus but the lord is only
with one of them
i want to say to you this is what has
happened in 2000 years
of church history
not only for the church in ephesus but
with numerous churches when they stop
loving the lord fervently when they
stopped walking in humility and purity
the lord left them and the empty shell
was still there
they still had their meetings and their
singing and their music and their
musical instruments and everything else
but the lord was not there
and so through the years the next church
backslides after a few years and
so usually what happens after 40 to 70
years
like the length of a man’s life a new
generation comes up and they don’t know
the lord
like it says about joshua’s time after
he died the new generation arose
they did not know the lord same thing
happened after paul and the early
apostles died
and that’s why out of the seven churches
in revelation chapter two and three
all seven planted by the apostles
only two were upright
five of them were quran and then from
there the lord has to
take some people out so when you look at
church history
the lord has always got a group of
overcomers all the time there’s never
been a time in these 2 000 and more
years of church
of since jesus went up to heaven when
there were no strong witnesses for the
lord
there have always been strong witnesses
for the lord
the lord raises up somebody here
somebody there
and there will be a generation that
follows him but that the lord needs
godly men in every generation
and that’s what i want to say to you my
dear brothers and sisters you
i’m not talking about just being elders
elder is what i tell my fellow elders
you guys are
washers of the feet jesus is the main
washer of everybody’s feet
he’s a servant who washes people’s feet
i’m a servant who washes people’s feet
that’s what i’m trying to do now clean
the dirt away from your feet
i’ve never considered myself to be a
lord or a king or anything
i’ve never taken money from anybody for
serving the lord
not in all these 50 years i
and i don’t seek to lord it over
anybody’s life i don’t need to control a
single person in my life
i’m here to serve so i’m not talking
about just the elders
every one of you brothers and sisters if
you’ve given your life to christ you’re
a member of the body of christ
and i want even my little finger to be
healthy
not just my eyes and ears and tongue
that’s important but
if there’s a problem with my little
finger if there’s infection and pus in
this little finger
my whole body will suffer the pain so i
don’t want even one brother in our
church
to be spiritually sick
and to love the world and not love jesus
fervently to be healthy means to love
jesus perfectly
and so there are important members in
the body like in your churches like eyes
ears naruto and all but there are small
members
for example the nail i often think of
somebody who says you know what i say to
be like a little finger he says well
brother i’m not even like a little
finger
okay are you like a nail
very small member of the body finally
do you know that a nail is also
important
have you found use for the nails in your
body
i find when i itch or feel scratchy
somewhere my tongue and my eyes
all can’t help me not even my fingers
it’s my nails
imagine this wee tiny little thing
which comes in handy
to scratch so even if you’re a small
member of the body of christ i want to
say to you today in jesus name
if you keep healthy keep it in your love
for the lord you can be a very
useful member and what do i mean by
scratching
you know there’s one part of our body
it’s very difficult to scratch
you know what that is it’s our back
the lower part of our bag it’s very
difficult to scratch there
so you need somebody else to do it for
you so you can scratch my back
that’s what we can do for one another
spiritually
you know what scratching somebody’s back
means to
encourage them
you say i don’t have a gift of preaching
or teaching but brother sister
i’m sure you have the gift of
encouraging others scratching their back
spiritually
because that is so easy
can i give you an example
when i was a very young christian
struggling to find my way at 30 years
old
and you know when you’re 30 years old
you’re struggling and you’re defeated
and you’re discouraged and
you don’t know what your ministry is
i remember a much older brother he was
double my age
probably 60 or more
he came to me and he couldn’t even speak
english probably but he put his hands on
my shoulder and said brother
god’s got a great plan for your life
i heard that 50 years ago
i haven’t forgotten it he scratched my
back
when i needed it he didn’t preach a
great sermon to me no
in fact i don’t remember his other
preaching sermon he was not a great
preacher
but he did something for me at that time
you can do that when you’re speaking on
a phone to somebody
before you conclude the conversation
don’t you share a couple of sentences
encouraging that person
maybe with something which you got from
scripture that day i’m not talking about
a big sermon
i’m talking about less than one minute
less than one minute don’t preach a big
sermon on the on the phone
less than one minute just to say
something
you you never know it will make that
person’s day
what you said it may be the very thing
that lifts that person’s spirit oh you
write an email
and you add one little sentence at the
end that blesses that person
who’s probably going through a period of
discouragement
it doesn’t take much to build the body
of christ
if you have a heart say lord i want to
do something for you
you don’t have to be gifted like me god
has called me to be a teacher
and that’s why he’s given me that gift
if he did not give me the gift i
could not do it many people don’t
believe that but when i was a young man
i
never took part in public speaking i was
very shy i would never stand in front of
a congregation
and i i the first time i got up to share
even a small testimony for 23 minutes i
was shivering
i couldn’t do it but one day god filled
me with the holy spirit
and then everything changed but then he
gifted me but
you may not be gifted to be a teacher
but an encourager every one of you
can encourage somebody else and that’s
how we can build the body of christ
so even if you’re not like a moses or a
joshua or a paul
you can be an encourager and
20 people sitting in a church if they’re
all encouragers it’ll be a wonderful
church
even if you don’t have a great preacher
like paul in your midst you don’t have
to
you see in these days when there’s so
much of material
on the internet i mean good material
like you go to the cfc india website
or if you have the bible app on your
phone the cfc
bible app on your phone you have
resources there that can keep you going
for
three years every day listening to god’s
word
if you take it seriously i know people
outside of cfc churches are listening to
it more
than people are inside cfc churches we
take so much for granted in a cfc church
but we say oh yeah i know that no you
don’t
i would encourage you if you have a
phone install the cfc bible app go to
the csc website it’s all free
install it and listen to it spend as
much time as you can a day
if you can spend only five minutes or
ten minutes spend that every day
be a little disciplined
i remember when our children were small
my wife who always had the habit of
reading the bible in the morning
could not do it in the morning because
one child would be crying in order to
tell the food had to be made for the
older children to go to school and
get no time in the morning but then when
all the children were asleep at night
she would take the bottle and read it
every day
so where does a will there’s a way
but if you want to find excuses
so i have so many children i can’t take
care of everything yeah yeah if you want
to find excuses
you can keep finding excuses till you go
to hell
yeah there’s a
expression in english called
it’s a sort of a proverb the way to hell
is paved with good intentions
but you would never do anything good
intentions
the whole way to hell is paved with good
intentions but you never escape hell
finally
don’t just have a good intention or a
good desire
don’t plan something fantastic i’m going
to read the bible for one hour from
tomorrow
no start with a few minutes
and if you can’t do it in the morning do
it anytime during the day but say lord i
want to hear you
preserve that first love for the lord
many of you were in other churches i was
in other churches
i i started as a member of the syrian
orthodox church baptized as a baby
born again when i was 19 and a half and
i took baptism when i was 21 at the
plymouth brethren assembly
then i left that like that i’ve gone
from one church to another
whenever i found something more and
something missing here i’d
look for it somewhere else and that’s
how i finally ended up with cfc
it wasn’t a straight jump in the cfc the
day i was born again there was no cfc
then
and when i gave this testimony once
somebody said to me brother zach you’re
very unstable
you leave one church and go to another
and go to that church and leave that one
and go to the another
i said i’ve been unstable all my life i
left
first centered and went to second seven
and then i left second standard and went
to the third standard
and i left the third grade and went to
the fourth grade i was not those solid
people
who stayed in kindergarten all my life
you know
that type of stability i don’t want
i wanted to learn more why did you go
from kindergarten to the first standard
of first wave whatever you call it in
your country
in india we call it standard first to
second stand third stance and then to
college
why do you keep moving why not sit in
the same class
because you’ve got a passion to learn
more i know people
who studied up the fourth standard and
said that’s enough for me i can read and
write that’s enough
and there are christians like that my
sins are forgiven i’m on my way to
heaven i don’t want anything more
how many of you would be happy with
standing up to god standing
i’m sure most of you would never have
got to australia if you had stopped
there
the passion that you’ve had
to get an education because you want to
get a job
the passion that many of you had to
apply for a visa
and repeatedly apply till you get into
australia
many of you immigrants you have
50 percent of that passion to become
more spiritual
to be a wholehearted disciple of jesus
if you had
you would have grown by leaps and bounds
today
you would not be where you are today
spiritually you would have been way
ahead
in your knowledge of the lord
i have a passion in my life even today
at the age of 81
to grow into the likeness of christ more
than i’ve
ever come so far
i don’t think it’ll ever die i’m not i
don’t think i know it’ll never die in my
life
i’ve seen my savior’s face
and i know i know him
and nothing on the world nothing in this
world is going to attract me
you know when you’re deeply in love with
someone who loves you so much like jesus
you cannot be drawn to other things
it’s not a big struggle for me to stay
away from the world i tell you not at
all
do you think a young girl was
deeply in love with a wonderful man
who’s sacrificial and kind and good and
handsome and everything else
do you think she’ll ever be interested
in another another man
no it’s like that when we love jesus
it’s like that that’s why i desire my
brothers
and sisters that will be like that for
all of you
because you also like me
your history if you look back you came
out of one church
maybe you joined another one why did you
join that
some of you if you’re a roman catholic
why did you leave the roman catholic
church
and then you came to one church and then
you left that and came here finally you
landed up in this one where you are now
he was seeking for something more than
what you got in the other place good
i tell people you know what i’ve told
people believe it or not
my loyalty is not to cfc my loyalty is
to jesus christ
so i’ve told people in bangalore
when they leave bangalore and go to
another place
and there is a cfc church there i see
brother
there’s a cfc church there please go
there
but if you find that cfc church is
worldly
because the leader is not a really godly
passionate man
and you find another baptist church
there
with a godly humble pastor and
leading people to godliness i say leave
the cfc church and go to the baptist
church
you say brother zach are you disloyal to
cfc
i see i have no loyalty to cfc
my loyalty is to jesus christ and to
those who passionately love him
wherever they are found
as of now the best church i found where
i live is cfc so i’ll be there
because i want to go to always be in a
place where jesus christ is honored the
most
where they’re a humble godly people i
don’t look for big crowds
no jesus said only 12.
if you had gone to the israel 2000 years
ago
you have seen there were many rabbis you
know with big followings they were
having their
synagogues or in their homes got a lot
of disciples 100 people coming
to listen to this rabbi and then you’d
see this poor carpenter
who called himself a rabbi called jesus
and gathering around with 12 people
sitting on the mountainside didn’t have
big homes or halls or any such thing
but you know god was there god was that
little group
and not with these big big groups with
rabbi sitting it’s the same today
i want to be where jesus is
supposing you heard
that jesus physically was in your
hometown
but he was gathering with five people in
a heart
would you go to some of these grand
churches
i know where i go i want to be where
jesus
is and i tell you this
don’t blame your elders that’s like
blaming your father
your failure is not because of your
father your failure is because of
yourself
you can bring the presence of christ
into a meaning
even if you’re not a preacher i’ll tell
you what i have faith for
if i walk with the lord every day
with an absolutely clear conscience
that means not that i never slip up but
if i slip up i immediately confess it to
the lord
and if i’ve hurt somebody i ask
forgiveness from that person
immediately not tomorrow and not even
five minutes later immediately
i’m sorry i was a bit rude in what i
said please forgive me or take back that
or to tell your wife or husband i’m
sorry darling i got a bit
upset there i’m sorry please forgive me
immediately you live like that with a
clear conscience
the lord will be with you and the lord
will make you a blessing
and i believe this such a person i
believe that about myself supposing i go
to a church when nobody knows me
i’m going to a new place nobody’s heard
of me nobody knows me
and i’m walking with the lord and i go
and sit in that church
for the church service in the days when
we’re meeting together
and i’m sitting at the back of the
church nobody knows me
i believe this is my faith that my
presence there will make a difference to
that day of service
in that church
i believe that with all my heart because
i’m bringing the presence of christ
into that place because i’m walking with
the lord and i want to say and i’m not
opening my mouth the whole service i
don’t open my mouth
but i believe people will go away and
say hey we somehow felt the presence of
the lord in our midst today
and nobody knows me i walk away after
the service is over and only talk to me
i’m walking away
but i bless that church just by sitting
there for one hour
you don’t have to speak
walk with the lord and you can be a
blessing in your local church
and you can build your church you don’t
have to be a great preacher
don’t seek for honor so much of
preaching is for honor
i want to be known as a preacher or an
elder or
i tell people don’t try to preach like
brother zach god needs only one brother
zack in the church he doesn’t need to
he needs one of you
not one more of me i tell that to my own
sons
i said you don’t have to imitate me you
don’t have to have my ministry you be
yourself
i tell that to my fellow elders in india
don’t be like me
that may not be your calling it is not
your calling
you fulfill your calling be yourself
don’t compete with anybody
don’t try to be like somebody else
follow jesus and walk in humility in
your life be a washer
of people’s feet be one who scratches
people’s back encourage them
and you can build the body of christ
wherever you are
so dear brothers and sisters
i hope you’re all wonderful people
you’ve gathered together just for a few
years
the church is there in melbourne and
brisbane and perth
and sydney and
thank god for these little groups that
god has raised up
and i pray that the presence of the lord
will be in your churches
and i pray that each of you will
contribute even if you never
uh preach a word by the presence of
christ with you
i’ll give you another example sometimes
you know i uh
sitting in an airport in a seat
i smell a perfume there and i say hey
must have been some perfume lady who sat
here
before i came here she’s left a little
bit of that perfume in the chair
i don’t even know who it is but i get
that scent of a perfume it’s a very
pleasant
scent something like that you can bring
that spiritually the aroma of christ
in the last verses of second corinthians
2 verse 13 14 15 it says about the aroma
of christ the fragrance of christ
beautiful expression you can bring that
into your church and the lord will never
leave your church then like you told the
church in ephesus i’ll leave you
each one of you has a responsibility
that it’ll never happen in your church
like it happened in the days of joshua
after he died that was the end or like
it happened in the days of paul
after he died that was the end may never
be
in church that no matter who’s there
who’s not there
you however weak you are will bring the
presence of the lord into your meaning
god bless you let’s bow our heads in
prayer
please bow your heads dear brothers and
sisters and
think about what you have heard
and ask the lord to remind you
later on during the day and perhaps when
you go to bed at night
if you’re lying awake in your bed at
night before going to sleep
think of what the lord spoke to you
today
and say lord i want to follow it
i want to remember it not just in my
mind i want you to change my life
and my attitude to different things
thank you lord heavenly father i thank
you for these dear brothers and sisters
in all these churches
and i pray that your presence will be
with them the fragrance of christ the
aroma of christ
will be in their churches
and you’ll be glorified in every one of
those churches
and commit them all to you lord may
bless every brother and sister every
family
especially the little ones that even
there will be a blessing
we pray in jesus name amen
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