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Prophetic messages of Bro. Zac Poonen
1. Power over Satan
2. God and Mammon
3. Two types of sins and two types of blessings
4. Four types of backsliders
5. Spiritual dangers when we are blessed
6. The true gospel and the false
7. Living by faith
8. Sovereignty of God
9. Consuming with fire
10. Fellowship and unity
11. Grace
12. How a spiritual movement declines!
13. Are we making disciples or converts?
14. The marks of cultism
15. God’s purpose in Peter’s failure
16. The anointing of the Holy Spirit – Example of Jesus
17. Glory of God
18. Are you a co-worker with Satan or with the Lord Jesus?
19. The new wine
(1) POWER OVER SATAN
One verse that we should never forget in our whole life is
Hebrews 2:14,15 “Since then the children have partaken of
flesh and blood, He (Jesus) Himself likewise shared in the
same that through death (His death on Calvary’s cross)
He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is
the devil, and release those who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage” When Jesus
died, He made the devil powerless so that we might be
forever free of Satan and the bondage of fear that he had
put on us throughout out lifetime. There are many types
of fears that people in the world have – fear of sickness,
fear of poverty, fear of failure, fear of people, fear of future
etc. The greatest of all fears however is the fear of death.
Every other fear is inferior to the fear of death. The fear of
death leads on to the fear of what will happen after death.
The Bible teaches very clearly that those who live in sin
will finally go to hell – the place that God has reserved for
those who do not repent. The devil also will spend
eternity in the lake of fire along with those whom he
deceived and led into sin on this earth. Jesus came to
this earth to save us from that eternal hell by taking the
punishment for our sins. He also destroyed Satan’s power
over us so that he can never harm us again.
God will always be on our side against Satan. This is a
glorious truth which brings much encouragement, comfort
and victory to us. The Bible says “submit to God. Resist
the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). At the
name of Jesus, Satan will always flee. The picture that
most Christians have in their minds is one of Satan
chasing them and of their running for their lives from him.
But that is exactly the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
Satan was scared to stand before our Saviour. Jesus is
the Light of the world and the prince of darkness had to
disappear from before Him. Satan is also afraid of
everyone who uses the name of Jesus with divine authority
against him. Jesus told his disciples about how he had
seen the fall of Satan in heaven. And there, Jesus said
that Satan’s fall had been “like lightning” when God cast
him out. (Luke 10:18) When Jesus told Satan in the
wilderness “Be gone Satan”, he disappeared from Jesus’
presence too at the speed of lightning. And when we
resist Satan in the name of Jesus today, he will flee from
before us too at the speed of light. The darkness flees
before the light. Satan is afraid of the name of Jesus. He
hates to be reminded of the fact that Jesus is Lord and
that he was defeated by the Lord Jesus. Whenever you
are in a difficulty or face some insurmountable problem or
you face something for which there appears to be no
human answer, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
Say to Him “Lord Jesus, you are on my side against the
devil. Help me now” And then turn to Satan and tell him
“In the name of Jesus I resist you Satan” Satan will flee
from you immediately, because Jesus defeated him on
the cross. Satan is powerless when you walk in the
light of God and resist him in Jesus’ Name.
Satan was defeated once and for all by the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross. You need never again be afraid of
Satan. He cannot trouble you. He cannot harm you. He
may tempt you. He may attack you. But the grace of
God in Christ will always make you victorious over him, if
you humble yourself, submit to God and walk in His light
at all times. There is tremendous power in the light.
Satan, the prince of darkness, can never enter the realm
of light. Satan has power over many believers because
they are walking in darkness, living in some secret sin,
not forgiving others, jealous of someone, or pursuing some
selfish ambition in their lives etc.
You will have no power over Satan if you don’t walk in
purity. And you will never have power over Satan if you
have not learnt to overcome his accusations by the blood
of Christ. You will have no power over Satan if you love
the world – for Satan is the prince and ruler of this world.
If you love anything or anyone on this earth more than you
love God, you will not be able to over power Satan (Rev
12:11).
Love the Lord Jesus Christ and His will for your life with all
your heart with all your mind and with all your strength.
Never allow the devil to pollute your minds in any way.
Give your life to Christ completely and determine to live
totally for Him henceforth.
(2) GOD AND MAMMON
It is
interesting to see that even though Jesus referred to Satan as "the ruler
of this world" (John 14:30), He
never referred to Satan as the alternative master to God, whom people have the
choice of serving. When Jesus spoke of two masters whom man could serve, He
said that the two were God and Mammon (Luke 16:13). In Christendom, generally peaking,
preachers have always urged people to choose between God and Satan. Jesus
however urged people to choose between God and Mammon.
Satan
is a master schemer. He knows that if people are told to choose between God and
Satan, no-one will choose Satan. But when the choice is between God and Mammon,
Satan knows that even believers will find it difficult to make a decisive
choice.
Satan
knows that most Christians choose their jobs and their place of residence,
etc., based on their passion for Mammon (property and money) rather than on any
desire for the promotion of God's kingdom. Satan knows that all such believers
are useless for God's purposes, irrespective of the amount of religious
activity they engage in.
Satan
also knows that most of the Christian work in the world is more dependent on
Mammon (money and property) than on the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan knows
that all such Christian work will not have any eternal value - even if the
reports of such work appear impressive when presented attractively by
"public relations experts" in colourful Christian magazines!!
We
must not be ignorant of Satan's wiles. It is against Satan's wiles that we are
told to stand firm, and not against his wrath (Eph.6:11). Satan's wrath has
never hindered the work of God at any time. Persecution has only made the
church of Jesus Christ flourish in every country and at all times. But Satan
has often succeeded with his wiles, where he has failed to accomplish anything
with his wrath (see Rev.12:11,12).
Satan
is happy to be hidden out of sight, because he knows that he can deceive people
better that way. He knows very well that when a believer is influenced by the
love of mammon in his decisions, he is actually serving the prince of Mammon,
even if he imagines that he is serving God!!
When
a believer's attitude to Mammon is wrong, he will be wrong in every other area
too - because he then becomes a part of this world system that our Lord came to
destroy. Such a man is a traitor to the Lord's cause on earth, even though he
may not realize it. He is actually working on Satan's side, without knowing it.
This is the fundamental problem with many believers today. They have not
understood Satan's schemes.
Before
Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples, "The prince of this world
comes and he has no power over Me" (John 14:30 - Living). Mammon had no power over
Jesus. And so Satan could find no foothold in Him and could not touch Him in
any way. But Satan finds plenty of foothold through Mammon in the lives of most
believers. Thus he is able to divert them from God's perfect plan for their
lives.
Throughout
the last 20 centuries, the greatest opposition for the Lord's servants has
always come from "Christians" and so-called "believers" who
are Biblical in all their doctrines except the doctrine of "the love of
money"! It is not at all surprising that "believers" who worship
Mammon oppose God's true prophets. Jesus Himself faced such opposition from the
leaders of the Pharisees who had all their other doctrines right (Matt.23:3),
but who loved and served Mammon (Luke 16:14).
Christians
who pursue after Mammon have plenty of money to travel whenever they like, and
wherever they like. They also have enough to buy whatever they like, whenever
they like. Only lovers of Mammon can afford such expensive habits. But those
who have an extravagant life-style can never be witnesses for the Lord in the
midst of a suffering world.
It is
dangerous to have money far beyond what we need. It was because Jonah had
plenty of extra money that he could afford to buy a ticket to go to Tarshish -
in plain disobedience to the Lord's command. How safe Jonah would have been
from such a temptation, if he did not have any excess money available with him
at that time.
It was
to save His apostles from such temptations, that Jesus left them poor in the
world. The Lord Who made Job, Abraham and David rich could easily have made His
apostles rich too. But He didn't. Why? Because new-covenant apostles, unlike
Old Testament saints, had to wage war against Satan. And when Satan came
against them, it was essential that Satan should find "no love for Mammon
in them"? Otherwise the Lord's purposes could never have been fulfilled
through them.
What
about you? When Satan comes against you, does he have power over you, because
he finds the love of Mammon in you?
The
battle against Satan is not fought on earth, but in "the heavenlies"
(Eph.6:12). It is there that Satan's power has to be bound by us (Matt.18:18).
Only those who are heavenly-minded can fight this battle. Those who love Mammon
are earthly-minded and are useless in this battle. Satan knows that very well,
even if believers don't.
In
heaven, the saints walk on golden streets. Heaven has been prepared for those
who have learnt to put gold under their feet even on earth. Our fasting and
praying cannot accomplish God's purposes, if we love Mammon and are
earthly-minded. It is only the prayer of "a righteous man" - one who
has been freed from attachment to earthly things, like Elijah - whose prayers
are effective before God (James 5:16,17). This is why God allows us at times,
to lose large amounts of money - to deliver us from the love of Mammon and to
make us effective for Him.
It
will be very difficult for a disciple of Jesus if he is totally honest and
wholehearted, to become rich through his business in a world that is under the
dominion of Satan. To become a wealthy man in such a world, one would have to
follow Satan's principles in some area or the other, and disobey the principles
of God's Word. The Bible clearly says,
"Those
who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and
harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Tim.6:9).
One who seeks to be "rich towards God" can never become "rich in
this world" (Luke 12:21; 1 Tim.6:17).
This
applies also to preachers who become rich through preaching the gospel and
selling Christian books and tapes. Another gimmick these days, is to conduct
tours to Israel
("the
holy land"??). If a preacher can gather 10 people for a trip to Israel,
the travel agent will give him one free ticket. All such preachers are
worshipping "the golden calf" and are servants of Mammon, and not of
the Lord Jesus Christ. [Someone asked me once if I had ever been to the holy
land. I told him I was walking there every day!]
The
"prosperity gospel" was invented in the latter half of the 20th
century by Mammon-loving preachers who had to find some "Scriptural"
explanation to justify their extravagant life-styles and the immense amount of
wealth that they had accumulated from the tithes and offerings of their
"devotees". So they hunted up Old Testament promises that God had
given to Israel and began to proclaim those promises as the unfailing mark of
God's blessing today. And money-loving believers gladly lapped up this new
gospel!
A
secular journalist in the U.S.A., who heard of such a church where the
"prosperity gospel" was being preached, wanted to find out if this
teaching really worked. So he went to the church's parking lot and checked out
the makes of the cars parked there. He found that the cars parked in the spots
reserved for the "Pastor" and "Assistant Pastors" were
expensive cars!! But most of the other cars were cheap ones! He concluded that
the "prosperity gospel" did work - but only for those who lived off
the tithes and offerings of the congregation!! The rest of the congregation
remained in the same condition that they had always been in!
Even
in poor countries like India, preachers are becoming rich, off the tithes and
offerings of poor people, through this counterfeit gospel.
What
must the Lord think of the Christian "church" and its leaders today,
who have pursued after Mammon, become tolerant of sin, and thus made themselves
powerless in the battle against Satan. The gates of Hell have prevailed against
this "church". And that is the clearest proof that this
"church" is not the church that our Lord is building - for the powers
of darkness can never prevail against that church (Matt.16:18).
Whenever
a genuine Holy-Spirit revival comes anywhere, it will be a revival that
delivers believers from the love of Mammon. Only such a revival will drive the
prince of Mammon out of the church.
Any
other so-called "revival" is a counterfeit.
He
who has ears to hear let him hear.
(3) Two Types of Sins &
Two Types of Blessings
TWO
TYPES OF SINS
The
first two sins that man committed that are mentioned in the Bible, are the ones
described in Genesis 3 and 4. Those who sinned there were immediately judged by
God. But we notice a difference in the way God judged Adam and the way He
judged Cain.
God
never cursed Adam or Eve (in Genesis 3) after they committed sin. He only
cursed the ground. But in Genesis 4, we read that when Cain sinned God cursed
him immediately. This is the first time we read of God cursing a man. Why this
difference? What was the difference between Adam's sin and Cain's sin?
Just
this that when Adam sinned he hurt only himself. But when Cain sinned he hurt
another human being as well. There are some sins that we commit that hurt only
ourselves. There are other sins that we commit that hurt others as well. God
takes more seriously the sins which hurt others.
If
you smoke or drink or take harmful drugs or indulge in dirty habits or thoughts,
or keep bitterness or anger in your heart, etc., you hurt only yourself. But if
you gossip, speak evil of others, judge others, lose your temper at others, act
in jealousy or bitterness or anger or hatred against others, or commit adultery
or murder, etc., you harm those others too.
Ask
yourself what you are more horrified to hear - that a brother in your church
got drunk or that a brother in your church spoke evil of another brother? Your
answer to that will show you clearly whether you look at sin the way God looks
at sin or not.
Think
of all the sins that you can commit that harm only yourself. There are many.
They fall under the category of Adam's sin. Then think of all the sins that you
can commit that harms others as well. These too are many. These fall under the
category of Cain's sin.
Jesus
condemned the Pharisees primarily because their sins hurt others. The sinful
woman caught in adultery (on the other hand) may have hurt only herself (John
8:1-11). She may have been forced or blackmailed into adultery, we don't know.
Jesus however, gave her the benefit of the doubt and was merciful to her and
forgave her. But the self-righteous Pharisees who criticised her for adultery
were guilty of far greater sins, such as evicting poor widows from their rented
apartments for not paying their rents on time! And Jesus denounced those
Pharisees severely for that (Matt.23:14)!! Why? Because their sin hurt others.
They may have been legally right in turning those widows out on to the streets.
But they were morally wrong and evil in doing so!
We
too may be legally right in certain situations. But if we hurt others, we will
always be doing serious wrong in God's eyes. The true Christian is merciful to
others just as God has been merciful to him. Judgment will be merciless in the
final day of judgment to those who have shown no mercy to others who sinned
against them.
The
Christian church has unfortunately not distinguished between these two types of
sins. That is why almost all believers are more horrified to see a believer
drunk than to hear a believer backbiting against another. Most believers
consider smoking cigarettes to be a more serious sin than losing one's temper
at others.
Both
these groups of sins dishonor God. But when God cursed Cain He indicated
clearly which type of sins He hates more. I have never yet heard of an assembly
that prevented a brother or sister from taking part in the "breaking of
bread" for gossiping (and thus ruining the reputation of others). But
almost every such assembly will prevent a believer from taking part in the
"breaking of bread" if he is found to be drunk even once!! What does
that prove? Only this that such churches are totally out of tune with God's
mind. Both such believers should be prevented from taking part in the breaking
of bread. But why is it only the latter who is invariably disciplined?
Is
there a difference between stealing a man's money and stealing his reputation?
We call the first theft, and we call the second gossiping. But the latter is
far worse than the former - because a man's reputation is far more valuable
than money. But how many believers recognise that?
Make
a list of the sins that you have committed that have harmed others. Recognise
those sins as the worst sins of all. Thereafter, when you look at smokers and
drunkards and drug-addicts, humbly acknowledge that all of them are far, far
better people than you are.
He
who has ears to hear let him hear.
TWO
TYPES OF BLESSINGS
The
Bible says that the gift of the Holy Spirit is meant to bring to us "the
blessing of Abraham" (Gal.3:14). When God blessed Abraham, He told him,
"I will bless you and you will be a blessing. In you all the families of
the earth will be blessed...." (Gen.12:3,4).
There
are two parts to that blessing: "I will bless you" and "You will
be a blessing". This is what happens when we are filled with the Holy
Spirit.
Most
believers seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be blest themselves and not
in order to be a blessing to others. This is why there are so many counterfeit
experiences of the Holy Spirit rampant in Christendom today.
Jesus
said that the power of the Holy Spirit would make us His witnesses ("a
blessing to others", as He Himself was) to the uttermost parts of the
earth (Acts 1:8). This is "the blessing of Abraham" who was told that
"the entire world will be blessed because of you" (Gen.12:3-Living).
Families living in the uttermost parts of the earth would be blessed through
Abraham. And families living in the uttermost parts of the earth will be
blessed through us, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
When
Jesus told the Jews in the synagogue at Nazareth about His being anointed with
the Spirit and the blessings that would flow out as a result, He mentioned,
"preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, delivering
the oppressed and announcing freedom for the captives and sight for the blind
and the blessings of God to one and all" (Lk.4:18,19-Living). Notice that
every single result of the anointing was blessing to others. Peter's words in
Cornelius' house agrees with this : "Jesus was anointed with the Holy
Spirit and power and He went around doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil." (Acts 10:38). Again we notice that the emphasis
is on blessing to others.
When
Jesus taught His disciples to ask their heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit, He
illustrated it with a parable (see Luke 11:5-13). He spoke of a man who went to
his neighbour's house and kept on knocking until he got the loaves of bread
that he needed for feeding a visitor. The main point of the parable is
persistence in asking for the Holy Spirit (as becomes clear in v.13). But we
must also notice the fact that the man did not go to get bread for himself, but
for another. It was someone else's need that drove him to his neighbour's
house. Once he had got the bread from his neighbour and had fed his visitor, I
presume he must have gone to bed and not gone around "reporting" this
good deed to others. I can't imagine this man getting someone to take a photograph
of him giving the bread to his visitor at midnight and then sending copies of
the photograph to all his neighbours.
Yet
many Christians do just that: They advertise the good they do, in order to
impress people that they are serving God. Jesus told us that even our left hand
should not know what our right hand does.
God
wants to bless us - immensely. But He does not want us to become reservoirs or
lakes. He wants us to be channels through which rivers of living water flow out
to others (Jn.7:37-39). And He wants those rivers to flow secretly and quietly,
for the glory of God alone.
Every
gift of the Spirit mentioned in the New Testament epistles is meant to bless
others (1 Cor.12; Rom.12; Eph.4). Even the gift of tongues that edifies us
personally is given primarily so that we might always be spiritually fresh and
in touch with God, so that we can serve others better.
Those
who seek after personal blessing primarily - whether physical health, material
prosperity or emotional excitement - have not understood God's purpose at all.
These are only the crumbs that fall from His table.
Our
calling as believers is to follow in Jesus' footsteps - and He did not come to
earth to BE blessed Himself but to bless others.
He
who has ears to hear let him hear.
(4) Four Types of
Backsliders
The
Bible says that one of the signs of the end-times will be a great apostasy
(falling away from the faith) (2 Thess.2:3). Backsliding has become a very
common feature in all churches now.
Jesus
spoke about four types of backsliders in the three parables in Luke
15 - represented by the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost younger
son and the lost elder son
The
Lost Sheep And Lack of Fellowship
The
lost sheep is a picture of a born-again believer who backslid. He went astray
because he lacked fellowship. Perhaps he was alone in a place where
there was no good church. Not having a strong enough relationship with the
Lord, he was dragged down by his surroundings. Or perhaps, he did not value
fellowship with other believers sufficiently, and thus went astray. If he had stayed
in the midst of the church, he would have been safe. But perhaps he was
self-confident and thus went astray.
There
may have been other reasons too why he backslid. The attractions of the
world may have proved to be too much for him. Or perhaps he was discouraged
by the pressure of trial. He may have been deceived by the craftiness of
men and demons. Or he may have been careless in his walk with the Lord
and gradually fell away.
The
Lord describes His flock in this parable as consisting of "righteous
persons WHO NEED NO REPENTANCE" (Lk.15:7). The reason they don't need
any repentance is because they are judging themselves all the time and
striving at all times to have a conscience without offence towards God
and men. They are quick to confess the slightest sinful thought and attitude to
God, and equally quick to confess the slightest sinful word and deed to men.
Thus they live each day as those who need no repentance - because
they repent constantly. The lost sheep did not have this attitude - and so it
backslid.
The
Lost Silver Coin And A Careless Church
The
lost coin was lost due to very different reasons. It was lost because of the
failure of the woman. The woman is a picture of a church. She was careless in
taking care of her coins.
The
coin was a silver coin - and silver was used to redeem the firstborn
children of Israel in the Old Testament (Numbers 18:16). So the silver
coin speaks of a redeemed child of God (once saved) who is now lost. But this
believer backslid primarily due to the failure of his church. His church
was perhaps a dead church where the standards of God's Word were not preached
and so they did not care for his eternal soul.
Cain
asked the Lord if he was his brother's keeper. He was. In the church, every one
of us has a responsibility to "keep" our brothers and sisters
from falling. So this parable is directed not at the backslider as much as at
the other members of his church (the woman) who are careless enough to allow a
coin to be lost.
The
Lost Younger Son And A Spirit of Independence and Rebellion
The
younger son represents yet another type of backslider. He was one who was
impatient to launch out on his own - before God's time. He sought his
own, loved money, rebelled against his father and finally left his home.
Here
is a believer who wants to receive everything he can, from God and from his
elder brothers. But after he has received everything, he leaves them. Many
preachers make use of their connection with their spiritual fathers and thereby
get a ministry and a name for themselves. Once they have got that, they seek to
become independent.
This
son is a picture of a believer who doesn't want the discipline of being subject
to God-appointed authority (his father). God's purpose in all discipline is to
break His children, so that He can commit spiritual authority to them one day.
But many like this younger son, frustrate God's purposes for them, and end up
with "the pigs"! Only then do some of them "come to
their senses" and return to the Father's house in brokenness and
repentance.
The
Lost Elder Son And A Spirit of Comparison And Pride
The
elder sn is a picture of a believer who does not look like a backslider.
He is a proud, self-righteous believer who compares himself with others and who
feels that he has lived a better life and produced better results in his
ministry than others.
Instead
of humbly acknowledging these blessings as the undeserved mercy of God, he
becomes proud of what he thinks he has accomplished. Therefore God resists him
and very soon Satan is able to knock him down.
The
first three backsliders in these parables finally came home. But in the case of
the elder son, we see him outside the house, at the end of
the story. So the Lord must have wanted to point him out as the worst
backslider of the lot.
The
Right Attitude Towards Lost Sheep
The
Good Shepherd went after the lost sheep until He found it. We who
are under-shepherds must have the same attitude. We must go after those who
have backslidden from the church through carelessness, Satanic deception and
their lusts. It must be the longing of all of us to be "shepherds after
God's own heart" (Jer.3:15), who can seek out the many such lost sheep
around us today.
Many
are quick to criticise these lost sheep, saying that they should not have
wandered off on their own, or listened to the voices of false shepherds, etc.,
What God is looking for however are shepherds after His own heart who will go
after these lost sheep and bring them back to the fold.
The
Right Attitude Towards Lost Coins
The
woman who lost her silver coin was eager to find it.
So
she did two things: She lit a lamp and swept her house diligently, until she found
it. These are the two things every church needs to do. First of all, she needs
to light a lamp. The life of Jesus is the only true light (John
1:4) and this is what the church needs to hold up and emphasise at all
times. Secondly, there is a lot of rubbish - sin and human traditions in
the church - that needs to be swept out completely. Only then will many lost
coins be found.
The
Right Attitude Towards Lost Younger Sons
The
father of the prodigal son did not go looking for his son when he was lost. He
allowed his son to reap the consequences of his rebellion. And when his son
came to an end of himself, he came home on his own. He was not carried home on
anyone's shoulder, like the lost sheep. He came back when he was totally sick
and tired of himself. God's love for such backsliders is shown in His not
going after them, but allowing them to reap what they have sown.
Many
believers however lack this wisdom and seek to carry these rebellious sons
on their shoulders in to the church. Thus they ruin them. On the other hand,
these believers don't do much for the lost sheep. Thus because they lack
discernment, they console those who should be rebuked, and rebuke
those who should be consoled.
Feeding
rebellious sons of God will only ensure that they never return to God. Such
acts are not acts of compassion but acts of folly. Such foolish actions
make these lost sons stay out in the far country even longer - and in some
cases forever.
When
the prodigal son returned, the father made him sit at his right hand. He didn't
place his son on probation or make him live in the servant's quarters - because
his son had come back in brokenness and repentance - on his own, without anyone
having to persuade him.
When
rebellious sons return to the church in true brokenness and repentance, our
hearts must be wide open to welcome them. Here is where we see the difference
in attitude between those who are like God and those who are like the
Pharisees. It will certainly take time for confidence to be restored
in such a prodigal son who was once rebellious. But if he has repented, he must
be accepted immediately, warmly, and wholeheartedly, even if he is not
given any ministry in the church for many years.
The
Right Attitude Towards Lost Elder Sons
In
the case of the elder son, the father went outside the house and pleaded with
him repeatedly. But the older boy would not yield. Jesus left the story
open-ended at this point, leaving it to our imagination to decide what happened
to him finally.
There
are two possibilities: Either, he may have yielded to his father's pleadings
and finally come back home, with his head held high. Or he may have rejected
his father's pleadings and gone out into the darkness. Whichever way he may
have chosen, he lost the place of honour in his home, for that had already been
given to his younger brother. The father had already given his ring and the
seat at his right hand to his younger son.
There
is a vast difference between "prodigal sons" and "elder
brothers". Prodigal sons are convinced of their sin on their own and
repent deeply and seek no place of honour in the church. They only want to be
slaves until the end of their lives. They are truly broken. "Elder
sons" however have to be repeatedly spoken to, before they are convinced.
And even when they are convinced, they seek to come back to their place of
honour in the church - as kings and not as slaves.
King
Saul knew that he had sinned. But he wanted to confess his sin privately to
Samuel. He told Samuel, "I have sinned; but please honour me now
before the elders of my people and before Israel" (1 Sam.15:30).
King David also sinned - far more seriously than Saul. But he wrote a psalm and
acknowledged his sin publicly (Psalm 51).
Jesus
told the Pharisees that their greatest sin was that they sought to justify
themselves before men (Luke 16:15). God hates this sin more than any
other. There is very little hope for a backslider who wants to justify himself
before men.
God's
Word o sinners has always been: "Only acknowledge your sin"
(Jer.3:13).
He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.
(5) Spiritual
Dangers when we are Blessed
When
the blessing of the Lord comes upon our life and labours, we face many dangers.
Spiritual Pride
The first of all dangers is spiritual pride. Whenever God blesses us,
Satan will tempt us to compare our spiritual growth and ministry with that of
others. God opposes every proud person - believer or unbeliever. So we are safe
only if we keep our face in the dust before God always.
Pride
will make us lose the grace of God, even if we do not lose our gifts.
We may still have a ministry, but the grace and anointing of God will be absent
from our lives. When Lucifer sinned, he lost his anointing, but he did not lose
his supernatural gifts. He has those gifts even today. This should be a warning
to anyone who glories in his gifts or ministry. Immature believers (who cannot
distinguish between grace and gifts) may flatter us and tell us that the "anointing
of God" is still upon us, even when "Ichabod" ("the
glory has departed") is written all over our life and ministry (1
Sam.4:21). The danger is that gradually the voice of those flatterers can
replace the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
There
is actually only one infallible mark of God's blessing on our
lives - that we become increasingly Christlike - for that is what He
predestined us for (Rom.8:29). God did not predestine us to go to heaven
or to have a great ministry. He predestined us to be like Jesus.
We
must not confuse oratory with the anointing. An anointed
ministry will always draw people to a deeper devotion to Jesus, to a greater
brokenness, and to a greater hatred for sin. Oratory, on the other hand,
will only draw people to admire us and to be more attached to us. Many
politicians are great orators and they can hold audiences spellbound for hours
and stir them emotionally. But they draw people to themselves. Orators are
proud, whereas anointed preachers are humble.
Unwillingness
to Receive Correction
A
second danger is an unwillingness to be corrected. When God blesses our
ministry, it is easy to begin to think that we can never be wrong. We cannot
then be corrected even by older brothers. We will justify ourselves in the face
of every correction.
When
Judas Iscariot was corrected by the Lord, he was offended and went out and
betrayed the Lord immediately (Compare John 12:4-8 with Matt.26:10
and14). Thus he destroyed himself. Peter however humbled himself, even when
Jesus called him "Satan". Thus he saved himself.
The
Holy Spirit always shows us the glory of Jesus. And when we see that glory, we
will see our own need and our lack immediately. If we are godly, we will then judge
ourselves. The promise of Scripture is that "if we judge ourselves
rightly, we will not be judged by God" (1 Cor.11:31). The following
verse goes on to say that if we do not judge ourselves rightly, then God
Himself will be compelled to judge us - by disciplining us. But He disciplines
us only in order to save us from being "condemned along with the
world" (1 Cor.11:32).
Exalting
Ourselves
When
God blesses us, it is easy for us to exalt ourselves over others. We can
gradually build up a "fan-club" of those who admire us - especially
among the youth - just like the filmstars do.
Solomon's
son, King Rehoboam sought popularity with the young people in his land
and did not listen to the counsel of his elders. This was what led to
the division of Israel.
This
is how many divisions come in to Christendom too. Divisions and splits are
produced by strong, uncrucified people who exalt themselves, at times when God
is blessing His work.
Consider
two examples from the book of Acts.
Ephesus saw one of the greatest revivals and some of the most amazing miracles
mentioned in Acts (Acts 19:11-20). But three years later, Paul warned
the elders there that a split was looming ahead of them (Acts 20:30).
Paul warned those elders that after he left Ephesus, some of them would "draw
away disciples after them". They would seek their own name and ministry,
and split the church, without being concerned about how their actions would
dishonour the Lord's Name and would "give occasion to the enemies of
the Lord to blaspheme"
(2 Samuel 12:14).
Look
at another instance: Just after Paul and Barnabas had an immensely successful
ministry, they broke up (Acts 15:39). They separated from each other
over the issue of John Mark. But this time God produced something good out of
the split. He used it to produce two teams of workers (one led by Paul
and the other led by Barnabas) instead of just one - and thus the work of
evangelism was furthered even more!! John Mark also became a useful servant of
the Lord later, writing the gospel of Mark.
Why
was God able to produce something good out of this latter split? There
was a reason. It was because, unlike the Ephesian elders, Barnabas conducted
himself in a spiritual way. Barnabas did not split any
church. Neither did he drag away any believers after himself. He
did not interfere in Paul's sphere of work but went away to a totally new
area and worked with John Mark there (Acts 15:39b). Barnabas was a
godly man who was more concerned about the Lord's Name than his own ministry,
and so he conducted himself as a true disciple of Jesus. Thus God could bless
this latter split. But men like Barnabas are rare to find in Christendom.
1
Corinthians 11:19 tells us that "there must be
factions (divisions) among you, in order that those who are approved may
become evident among you." God uses divisions to expose the
ungodly and to remove the weeds (the proud and the haughty) from His
garden, the church.
Many
millenniums ago, a "split" took place in heaven itself. That
was how God cleansed heaven. He allowed the chief angel Lucifer to drag away
with him, all the other angels who were even slightly proud and rebellious (Rev.12:4
with Isa.14:12-15). Thus heaven was cleansed. That work of cleansing
continues even today in the church, wherever God is at work.
The
Lord says, "I will remove from your midst your proud exulting ones, and
I will leave among you a humble, lowly people and they will take refuge in the
name of the Lord." (Zeph.3:12). The remnant left in the church will
have one characteristic: "They will do no wrong and tell no lies"
(verse 13). Only then will the Lord will find delight in the church and "exult
over it with joy" (verse 17)
Note
one characteristic of those who leave the presence of the Lord: They
begin to tell lies. They start by telling small lies but gradually
become "liars who have seared their own conscience" (1
Tim.4:2). In contrast, one mark of those who follow the Lord will be this: They
will cleanse themselves of all lying (Rev.14:4,5).
Good
And Bad Examples
God
has given us many good and bad examples in the Scriptures, in this connection.
A wise man will learn from all of them.
Abraham
never grabbed the good land, when there was a conflict between his servants and
Lot's servants. He allowed Lot to choose first. Lot immediately grabbed the
better land (Gen.13:10), but suffered greatly as a result. Abraham gave
up his rights. So God gave Abraham all the land. "The
meek will inherit the earth".
Jacob
unfortunately, never followed his grandfather's example. He kept on grabbing
things - the birthright from his brother Esau, the blessing from his father
Isaac, the daughters and flock of his uncle Laban etc., It was only when he
stopped grabbing those earthly things and grabbed on to God, that he
finally became Israel (Gen.32:26)..
David
followed Abraham's example and never grabbed the kingdom from Saul, even though
God had anointed David as king. God tested David for many years, on this
very point. But not once would David grab the kingdom. He waited for God to
give it to Him. And God gave it to him, at the right time.
Absalom
however was different. He was jealous of his father David's popularity and
worked shrewdly and cleverly behind his back and "stole away the hearts
of the men of Israel" from his father (2 Sam.15:16). Then he
drove his father out and became king. But God brought his kingdom to a quick
end.
Our
ministry must be God-given - not something that we have grabbed for ourselves. "A
man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven" (John
3:27). What we grab for ourselves can never be from God.
It is
very easy to understand all this. It is also easy to preach it to
others. But if we don't live by these principles, then we will be disqualified,
even if we do understand it and preach it
(1 Cor.9:27). Jesus said, "If you know these things, you
will still be blessed, only if you do them" (John 13:17).
Jesus
never schemed or grabbed. He never flattered people to earn their
support. He never compelled people to join His group. His attitude at all times
was, "All that the Father gives me SHALL come to Me" (John 6:37).
He did not have a lust to disciple large numbers, or to have many
people in his "church". He was satisfied with the few whom the
Father had given him. All of us too should be satisfied with "those
whom the Father gives us".
Jesus
drew people. He never dragged them or grabbed them. He
said, "If I am lifted up, I will draw men to Myself"
(Jn.12:32). We too are called to lift up the crucified Christ and thus to draw
people to Him. But only a crucified man can lift up a crucified
Christ properly. A man whose hands are nailed to the cross cannot grab
or drag anyone!! He can only draw!! The problem in Christendom
today is that uncrucified people are trying to lift up a crucified
Christ.
May
the Lord help us to keep our faces in the dust and to learn His ways.
He who has ears to hear let him hear
(6) THE TRUE
GOSPEL AND THE FALSE
Christians
are generally speaking, categorized into two groups as follows:
(1) "Roman Catholics" and "Protestants" - depending on
birth.
(2) "Episcopal"(conformist) and "Free church"
(non-conformist) - depending on church-pattern.
(3) "Born again Christians" and "Nominal Christians" -
depending on an "experience";
(4) "Evangelicals" and "Liberals" - depending on doctrine.
(5) "Charismatics" and "Non-charismatics" - depending on
"speaking in tongues".
(6) "Full-time Christian workers" and "Secular workers" -
depending on profession. There could be other such categorizations too. But
none of these categorizations deal with the root of the problem that our Lord
came to solve.
Many
know that "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor.15:3). But many do not
know that the Bible says that Christ also died "that we should no longer
live for ourselves but for Him" (2 Cor.5:15). A more Scriptural way of
categorizing Christians therefore would be as follows: "Those who live for
themselves" and "Those who live for Christ"; or Those who seek
their own" and "Those who seek the things of Christ"or "Those
who seek earthly things first" and "Those who seek the kingdom of God
first"; or "Those who love money" and "Those who love
God". (Jesus said it was impossible to love both -Lk.16:13)
But I
have never heard of such a categorization being used. This categorization deals
with the Christian's inner life and private walk with God, whereas the methods
mentioned earlier deal with the external details of his life. Yet it is in this
latter way that heaven categorizes Christians. And if that be the case, then
this is the only categorization that matters! In this method, others cannot
categorize us. We have to categorize ourselves - for no-one but we ourselves
know our inner motivations and desires. Even our wives may not be aware what we
are living for.
Our
Lord did not come primarily to give people a doctrine, or a church-pattern or
to make them speak in tongues
or even to give them an experience!
He
came to "save us from sin". He came to lay the axe to the root of the
tree. And the root of sin is : Being centered in ourselves, seeking our own and
doing our own will. If we do not permit the Lord to axe and uproot this
"root" from our lives, we will be Christians only superficially.
Satan may however deceive us into imagining that we belong to a higher class
than other Christians, because of our doctrine or our experience or our
church-pattern!
Satan
doesn't care even if we have the right doctrine, experience and church-pattern,
so long as we continue to "live for ourselves" (This, by the way, is
just another phrase for "living in sin"!!). Christendom today is
filled with Christians who seek their own and live for themselves, who are yet
convinced that God views them as superior to other Christians, merely because
of doctrinal differences or church-pattern or "experiences". This
shows what a great work Satan has succeeded in doing in Christendom.
In
John 6:38, our Lord said that He came from heaven to earth :
(1) To deny His human will (that He had acquired, when He came to earth as a
Man), and (2) To do the will of His Father, as a Man. Thereby He became our
Example.
Throughout
Jesus' earthly life -- during all His 331/2; years - He denied His
own will and did His Father's will. And He told His disciples clearly that
those who wanted to be His disciples would have to go the same way. He came to hit
at the root of sin in our lives - "doing our own will" - and to
deliver us from that.
In
the realm of science, for thousands of years, man made the mistake of imagining
that the earth was the center of the universe. It looked like that to human
eyes - because the sun, moon and stars did indeed appear to be revolving around
the earth once every 24 hours. It took the courage of a man like Copernicus to
question this popular notion, just about 450 years ago, and to show that it was
utterly false and that the earth was not even the center of the solar system,
leave alone the universe. The earth he showed was created to be centered in the
sun. As long as man had the wrong centre, his scientific calculations and
deductions were wrong - because his centre was wrong. But once man discovered
the right centre, then these calculations and deductions turned out right.
It is
the same with us when we remain "self-centered" instead of being
"God-centered". Our understanding of the Bible and of God's perfect
will (our calculations and deductions) will then be wrong. But just as men were
convinced for over 5000 years that they were right (as we saw above), we too
may imagine that we are right! But actually, we will be 100% wrong.
This
is what we see even among many "good Christians" today. They have so
many different interpretations of the same Bible - and yet each one is
convinced that his interpretation alone is right and everyone else's is wrong.
The others, they will say are "deceived". Why is this so? Because
they've got their centre wrong.
Man
was created to be centered in God and not in himself. And when Christians have
got their centre wrong, their "gospel" will be wrong too. Basically,
there are only two gospels being preached today - one man-centered and the other
God-centered.
The
man-centered gospel promises man that God will give him everything he needs to
make his life on earth comfortable and will also give him a seat in heaven at
the end of his life. Man is told that Jesus will forgive all his sins, heal all
his diseases, bless and prosper him materially, solve all his earthly problems,
etc., etc.
Self
still remains at the center of such a man's life, and God revolves around him -
as his servant - to answer his every prayer and to give him whatever he wants!!
All that he has to do is "believe" and "claim every material
blessing in Jesus' Name"!!
This
is a false gospel, because no mention is made of "repentance".
Repentance is what John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Peter and all the apostles
preached first of all. And repentance, unfortunately, is what is not preached
today even last of all!!
The
God-centered gospel, on the other hand, calls upon man to repent. It explains
that "repentance" means:
Turning
FROM Self as the center of one's life, from doing one's own will, from walking
along one's self-chosen way, from loving money, and from loving the world and
the things in the world (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the
pride of life), etc., and
Turning
TO God, loving Him with one's whole heart, making Him the Centre of one's life
and doing His will henceforth etc.,
Faith
in Christ's death on the cross can forgive a man his sins only when he has
repented. Then he can receive the power of the Holy Spirit empower him to deny himself
daily so that he can live a God-centered life. This is the gospel that Jesus
and the apostles preached.
The
false gospel makes the gate wide and the way broad (easy to walk along, because
one does not have to deny one's Self or stop living for one's own interests or
stop seeking one's own gain). Millions attend meetings where such a false
"gospel" is preached. And many enter through this gate and walk along
this way, imagining that it leads to life. But it actually leads to
destruction. The evangelists of this gospel however gloat in, and report about
the large numbers of people who "raised their hands and made decisions for
Christ" in their meetings!! But it is all a deception. Although some are
indeed genuinely converted in such meetings, because of their sincerity, many
such "converts" end up becoming "twofold children of hell"
(Matt.23:15) - deceived about their true state.
The
true gospel however, makes the gate small and the way narrow - not smaller or
narrower than Jesus Himself made it, as some "super-spiritual"
cultists do, but just the same size as Jesus made it. Few there be that find
this way to life. There is not much for the evangelists of this gospel to
report about, and the statistics are not impressive. But this gospel leads
people to the Lord Jesus and to heaven.
"Be
careful how you listen. Whoever obeys what he has heard, to him more light and
understanding will be given. But whoever does not obey what he has heard, even
what light and understanding he thinks he has will be taken away from
him." (Paraphrase of Luke 8:18). He who has ears to hear let him hear.
Many Christians through the
ages, have sincerely sought after holiness and victory over sin by taking up
their cross and denying themselves. But they have often found the Christian
life to be a "hard
grind"
instead of the glorious life that the Bible describes. Their failure has been
this that they never understood the life of faith under the new covenant. They sought to be holy by the
principles of the old covenant and thus missed what God had for them.
2 Corinthians 3:6 tells us that the new covenant
is a ministry of the Spirit that brings life, whereas the old covenant was
a ministry
of the letter
that brought death!
And if we walk according to the letter of God's commandments - even in the new covenant - it
will still bring death.
Only if we live by faith and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, will we enter into
the "life
of Christ".
Since Jesus has now ascended on
high and sent the Holy Spirit to this earth, our life can be far more glorious
than that of any Old Testament saint. So if we find ourselves living under
condemnation, depression and gloom