Gods Fire Marks His Presence — Zac Poonen

God's Presence Revealed Through Fire

You know the first time that Moses met with God, we read that he met him in a burning bush and that is the, and he never forgot it, that because 40 years later when we turn to the book of Deuteronomy, you speak, you see how he refers to God and he's blessing the different tribes of Israel and when he comes to Joseph, Deuteronomy chapter 33, Moses is blessing the different tribes of Israel and when he comes to Joseph he says, verse 13 onwards, blessed be the Lord and so on, and he says, May you have, verse 16, the choice things of the earth and its fullness in the favor of him who dwelt in the bush.

You know that's how Moses remembered God, he said, once I met God, it was in a bush that was on fire and he's called there the God who dwelt in the bush and in case you didn't know, that's the first dwelling place of God mentioned in the Bible and when God dwelt in a bush, it was manifested by a fire that never died out.

That's what made Moses stop and say, how is this, I mean there's so many bushes here but this, it's not that the bush was bigger or in any other way impressive, there's a fire in it and later on when God asked Moses to make a tabernacle for him and that's, it must be something important because about 12, 13 chapters in Exodus are devoted to describing this tabernacle and when he told them to make this tabernacle, this is what he told Moses, Exodus 25 and verse 8, let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among them.

That tabernacle was to be a place where God dwelt in the midst of his people and once again, the most important thing about that tabernacle was not the pattern, the pattern was very important. Moses was not allowed to change that pattern in any area.

If you read Exodus 39 and 40, you find about 18 times, you find this expression, Moses did it exactly as the Lord commanded him, exactly as the Lord commanded him. Every little detail was exact but when the tabernacle was finished, the proof that God was happy with what was done was that he came and dwelt in their midst and there was only one way by which they knew that God was there and that was a fire again.

There was a fire on top of the tabernacle and later on when the tabernacle was replaced by a temple, we read that when Solomon dedicated that temple for the first time, there was a fire that came from heaven that has always been the mark of God's presence.

Right from the beginning, the first time you read in the Bible about Cain and Abel offering sacrifices to God and how did Cain know that God had accepted Abel's sacrifice but not his? There was a visible evidence.

There was a fire that came upon Abel's offering, consumed it. No, it's not written there. We know from Exodus and all that, that is how God, Leviticus, that's how God manifested that I've accepted this and Cain saw the fire there, no fire on his and that's what made him jealous.

Now, some people think that it's because Abel offered a lamb and Cain brought a bloodless offering of grain. That's very convenient to think like that but that's not what the Bible says. That's a theology that's come out of people who study in Bible schools without reading the Bible.

But look what it says in Genesis 3. Today we have a Christianity that thinks that if I come in the name of Jesus and I accept the offering that Jesus gave of himself on the cross, God will accept me. And they say that's why God accepted Abel and Cain didn't bring a lamb so God didn't accept him.

Well, it's a careless reading of scripture. Genesis chapter 3, it says here, the last part of verse 4, the Lord had regard not for Abel's offering but for Abel and therefore he accepted his offering. It's not that God saw the offering and accepted Abel, like the millions of Christians believe because they didn't read the Bible properly.

The Bible says the Lord accepted Abel and therefore his offering. What about Cain? But for Cain he had no regard. Verse 5, that's why he didn't accept his offering. You know, the Lord looks at you then decides whether to accept your offering or not.

You remember Jesus also taught that? He said, when you come with an offering to God and then you realize in your heart, Matthew chapter 5, verse 23, 24, that you hurt somebody. You were angry with someone.

Maybe you spoke rudely to your wife or husband or neighbor or somebody in the office and you didn't set it right. You didn't go and ask forgiveness from that person. It's a sin to hurt somebody. That was the sin of Cain.

He hurt his brother. And you don't set that matter right with that person. Maybe you hurt someone in some other way. Maybe you sinned against somebody. And then you come and offer your offering to God.

Could be a prayer, could be an offering in the offering box. God says he won't accept it. You can come and offer the sacrifice of Jesus and say, I come in Jesus' name. He won't accept it. Jesus said that.

It was the words of Jesus. He said, leave your offering there. Go and settle with that person and then come. And it's because Christians don't take these words of Jesus literally and do exactly as he has said.

That's the reason why there's so much of shallowness and emptiness and why there is no fire in the lives of many Christians. God has not accepted. You know, this tabernacle was something which was written in such detail in Exodus, that if one of the Philistines or the Moabites or Ammonites, if they have got a copy of Exodus, they could have made a tabernacle exactly like that.

In fact, we can make one today. Exactly identical to what Moses made. But there's one thing you will not be able to reproduce and that's the fire, which is on top of the tabernacle. That you cannot produce.

That if the Philistines or the Ammonites had made a tabernacle like that and Moses had made his, how would you know which is of God? You look for the fire. Outwardly, they look so similar. But one's got the fire.

One doesn't have it. I say God is there. This one, God has rejected. So, how do I know when two Christians believe the same doctrine and everything is identical, they go to the same church, believe the same doctrine, speak the same words, sing the same songs, how do I know which one God has accepted?

It's the fire. God dwelt in the bush in a fire. He dwelt in the tabernacle in a fire. And we read that on the day of Pentecost. You know, a lot of Pentecostals like to say that, how do we know you're baptized in the Holy Spirit?

They say in Acts 2 .4, it says, they all spoke with tongues. I say that's not the mark. I'm not against speaking in tongues. I've spoken in tongues for 35 years and I enjoy it. It's a wonderful gift. It's not the mark to me of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

I've seen a lot of people who speak in tongues who are not filled with the Holy Spirit. I say Acts 2 .4, they say, I say, no, start with Acts 2 .3. A tongue of fire. There was a fire on top of their heads, just like the fire in the burning bush and just like the fire in the tabernacle.

That was the mark of God's presence. Not just speaking in tongues. There's a lot of fake speaking in tongues, but you can't counterfeit the presence of God. What does it mean to have a tongue on fire?

I know when God baptized me in the Holy Spirit the first time. It's not only that I spoke in tongues, but I found I could control my mother tongue. The fire of God came on this tongue of mine with which I used to get angry with my wife, with which I used to tell lies and give people a wrong impression.

So many other sins that committed with my tongue. Suddenly the fire of God began to control it. That's how I knew that I was baptized in the Holy Spirit on fire. You remember what John the Baptist said when, by the way, it's the second promise in the New Testament.

Salvation From Sin and Baptism With Fire

It's wonderful that the New Testament begins with two promises. And if the New Testament begins with two promises, I say, I want to experience both of them. The first promise is Matthew 1 and verse 21.

Jesus will save His people from their sins. Not forgive their sins. He'll do that. But more than that, He will save His people from their sins. I mean, if I lose my temper and I ask the Lord to forgive me, He forgives me.

But if I lose my temper again tomorrow, I've not been saved from it. I've been forgiven from it. If I watch internet pornography and I ask the Lord to forgive me for that, He forgives me. But if I watch it again tomorrow, I'm not saved from it.

I'm just forgiven. And lot of Christians, I tell you, they're not saved from their sin. You tell me yourself. Can you say you're saved from your sin or you've been forgiven your sin? If you've only been forgiven, you must say, I believe in Jesus, the forgiver.

But that's not what most Christians call Jesus. They call Him the saviour. Saviour, has He saved you from your bitterness and your jealousy and your lack of love and your gossiping especially and speaking evil about other people behind their back and your anger and your dirty thoughts.

If He hasn't saved you, He's not your saviour. You say, He forgives me. Then call Him by that name. He's my forgiver. I keep on sinning and He keeps on forgiving me. He's never saved me till today. You see how the devil like an angel of light has deceived Christians left, right and center.

Their leaders don't know Jesus as saviour and they don't know Jesus as their saviour. The second promise in the New Testament is Matthew 3, verse 11. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

That's the first time. The word fire comes in the New Testament. The first time the word fire comes in the Acts of the Apostles was when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. There was a fire on top of their heads.

And I tell you, I believe more in that fire controlling our tongue than just speaking in other tongues. If people speak in other tongues and they don't speak properly with their mother tongue, I say, something's wrong.

That's not the Holy Spirit. That could be a counterfeit spirit. How did I know that the tongues God gave me was genuine? Because He began to control my mother tongue. Something happened. Acts 2 .3. Not Acts 2 .4.

It came later. Acts 2 .3. Tongue of fire. So, this is how God wants every Christian to be. There were 120 people waiting on the day of Pentecost. All 120 got the fire on top of their heads. It's not that some got left out.

If you're a Christian, you're not supposed to be left out. Today, you know, when people seek for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, they go to some meeting. Or they go to some man of God. They lay hands on my head, come on, baptize me in the Holy Spirit.

And nothing happens. I've seen enough people go forward in meetings and have people, some guy puts his empty hands on somebody's empty head and nothing happens. But when they came to John the Baptist, he said, listen, fellas, I can only immerse you in water.

Do you want to be immersed in fire? Go to him. He is the only one who baptizes in fire. I baptize in water. He baptizes in fire. When people come to me, I tell them the same thing. Hey, listen, do you want baptism in water?

I'll do that for you. Do you want baptism in fire? Go to him. He, he alone can baptize you in the Holy Spirit in fire. I got my baptism in fire from Jesus. Not in any meeting. Not with somebody laying hands on my head.

I got it from Jesus. Have you got that? If you haven't got it, all your understanding of doctrine, all your so-called decent upright Christian life, it's good. It's like the tabernacle, exactly according to the pattern.

But the fire is missing. In the tabernacle, the boards are the same size, the curtains are the same color and everything is perfect. You look at it, it's exactly like Moses. Like God told Moses, only the fire is missing.

The Fire That Tests Christian Reality

I find that. You know, very often when Christians compare themselves with each other and with other churches, what do they boast in? They usually boast in that we've got a purer doctrine than those people.

I haven't got it exactly like in scripture. You look at the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church. See, they've got things which are not in scripture. They pray to Mary and they pray for the dead.

Or they believe the wafer is the body of Christ. No, we don't believe all that. Right, brother, you're right. Your tabernacle is exactly according to the pattern. But they don't have the fire and you don't have the fire either.

What does it matter? You say, that guy's tabernacle, the curtains are the wrong color. My tabernacle, the curtains are the right color. But they both don't have the fire. What's the use? Oh, his boards are a little smaller than it should be and mine are exactly according to what God said.

So, what? If there's no fire, it makes no difference. We glory in that which we shouldn't be glorying in. A pattern. There was this, I love to mention this, I've mentioned it many times, this story, you know, our enemies, there's a saying that our enemies often tell us more truths about ourselves than our friends.

When your enemy tells you something, you better listen to him because he'd probably tell you more truth about yourself than your friends. Your friends will just say nice things to you. When your wife is angry with you, she'll tell you more truths about yourself than when she's very happy with you.

There was an enemy of Christianity called Voltaire in France 300 years ago. He was an atheist. But he looked at all the different denominations. There were Protestants and Catholics and Galvanists and all types of people in the 1700s.

And he said, all these Christians, he was a very shrewd observer. And he said, all these Christians have got different doctrines and they meet in different churches. But when it comes to the love of money, they are all the same.

They all love money exactly the same. Whether they are Catholics or Calvinists or Armenians or Anglicans or Lutherans, they, when it comes to money, they've got the same doctrine. And he's absolutely right.

Do you have the same doctrine on the love of money as the Roman Catholics or let's say the Hindus or the Muslims? They're supposed to be better than the right. But what about when it comes to the love of money?

Has the fire of God burnt that out of your system? Or you find that you're only doctrinally different from the Muslims and the Hindus and the atheists. But when it comes to the worship of mammon, you worship mammon just like them.

This is where Satan has deceived a lot of Christendom. If there's one thing that's taken away the fire from Christendom, it is money. It's the love of money. Pastors love money. Preachers love money. And you see that all over television.

It's a blatant display of the love of money. And that's not Christianity. It's a counterfeit. It's an absolute counterfeit. Because if Jesus Christ cannot save a person from the love of money, He cannot save anybody from anything.

Zacchaeus and Salvation From the Love of Money

I find that in the Gospels, there's only one time when Jesus said, salvation has come to this house. You know that? He said it about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. It's the only time when Jesus, if Jesus gives a certificate saying salvation has come here, well, you can be sure it has come.

And in what context did he say it? He didn't say it after giving Zacchaeus a doctrinal test. Do you believe in the Trinity? Do you believe in the various doctrines that Christians believe in? Do you believe that man is a wretched sinner?

All the questions we ask new converts. Jesus didn't give a doctrinal test. That's how we tell a person salvation has come. Do you believe in this? Do you believe in this? Do you believe in this? Do you believe in this?

All these ten points you agree with or not? Okay, brother, salvation has come. Jesus didn't follow that test. He didn't give him a doctrinal test at all. This guy was one of the biggest lovers of money in Jericho.

And all of a sudden, after meeting with Jesus, he said, I'm going to give away half my goods to the poor and I'm going to return all these fellows whom I've cheated along with interest and more than interest.

They'll be thankful that I cheated them because they're going to get four times back. And those other fellows who were not cheated by Zacchaeus will say, Oh, I wish Zacchaeus had cheated me because I would have got four times back.

They envy the guys who were cheated by Zacchaeus. And when Jesus hears that, he says, ha, this guy's attitude to money has changed. Salvation has come to this house. And Jesus looks at your life. Will he say that salvation has come?

Salvation from the love of money. Has it come? And you know, there's something that Jesus said there immediately after that, which really spoke to my heart. This is Luke 19, verse 9. Jesus said about Zacchaeus, today, salvation has come to this house.

What did Zacchaeus say? You see the previous verse, I'm going to give half my goods to the poor, all my possessions, I'm going to make a catalogue of my assets, value it and give half to the poor. That guy was an accountant.

He knew. And he said, I'm going to return four times to everybody I cheated. Immediately Jesus said, no doubt, salvation has come. This guy has stopped worshipping Bayal. He was worshipping Jehovah and Bayal till then.

Now, he stopped worshipping Bayal. He says, well, this is Jehovah all right now. It's like, you know, in the Old Testament, Elijah said, to the Israelites, you can't worship Jehovah and Bayal. Jesus said, you can't worship God and man.

You know, that's the equivalent of Jehovah and Bayal today. We can imagine, we can think, how in the world can any Jewish, sensible Jewish person think that he can worship Jehovah and then during the week go and worship Bayal.

Saturday you go and worship Jehovah and then Sunday to Friday they worship Bayal. That's ridiculous. I mean, you got to be crazy. Go and worship Baal on before an idol. And once a week come and worship.

You see, you can't imagine how any Israelite could do it. Can you imagine a Christian who comes and worships God on Sunday and worships mammon Monday to Saturday? Oh, I can not only imagine, I can see so many of them.

It's Christ and mammon. How many Christians can honestly say that? They've been completely delivered from the worship of mammon. I think, honestly, very few will be able to say it. After Jesus said those words, he said something further, which applies to us.

Verse 9 applied to Zacchaeus. Verse 10 applies to us. The son of man has come to seek and to save those who are lost. Whenever you read a verse, read it in its context. Jesus wasn't suddenly going to some other subject.

He was saying because. For means because. The first word in that sentence, in that verse is for. Salvation has come to this house for he is also a son of Abraham. For. Why did Jesus say that Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham?

Because Abraham was the father of the Jews and he was free from the love of money. You remember when his servants and Lot's servants started fighting and he was the one who had been called to Canaan. Lot had no business to come there.

God hadn't called Lot to come to Canaan. He just tagged along with his uncle and went along. And Abraham could have turned down to Lot and said, listen, Lot, go back to Ur of the Chaldees. God never called you here.

This is my land. God's called me. But you know what he said? He said, Lot, we are brothers. Look around and you take whatever you want. You take the best part of Canaan. And what you don't want, I'll take.

If you go to the right, I'll go to the left. If I go to the left, I'll go to the right. What a way that man was free from the love of possessions. And later on, you read in the next, that's Genesis 13.

And Genesis 14 you read when he had delivered the king of Sodom who had been captured by a number of other kings. And the rule in those days was that if you want to battle, all the property was yours.

That was the rule. That was one of the rules of war in those days. So, when Abraham rescued Sodom and his…. Sodom was a fantastically rich country. And all the people, the king of Sodom came and said, well, according to the rules of war, all this property is yours.

I mean, Abraham could have been the first billionaire in those days. And he told Sodom's king, I will not even take a shoelace from you. Sorry. You can have it. Imagine being offered a billion free and saying, I don't want it.

Would you do that? Because I will not touch Sodom's money. If I have to get money, my God will give it to me, not the king of Sodom. Otherwise, one day you will boast that you made Abraham rich. And God, Jesus looks at Zacchaeus and says, here's another son of Abraham.

He's got the same spirit. And then he says, because, for, the son of man has come to seek and to save those who are lost in the love of money. That's the full sentence. That's in its context. And when I read it, I remember reading it years ago, and I said, Lord, I want to be honest with you.

I'll tell you something, a little secret. God loves those who are honest, absolutely honest. And I said, Lord, I'm lost in the love of money. My sins were forgiven many years ago, but I'm still lost in the love of money.

This is years after I was saved and baptized. But, Lord, you came to seek and to save those who are lost in the love of money. Will you save me? Many of you have prayed that Jesus will save you from hell.

Will you also pray that Jesus will save you from the love of money? He doesn't save if you don't ask for it. I asked for it. I said, Lord, I want to be saved because I don't want to be a worshipper of Christ and mammon, like those Israelites who worshipped Jehovah and Baal.

I want to be only a worshipper of Christ. Sometimes we think that it's only rich people who worship money. You say, I'm so poor, I'm not a worshipper of money. You know, we have in India many beggars who are, without exaggeration, say a thousand times poorer than you, than anybody here.

I'll tell you something. I've never seen a beggar in India who doesn't love money. Have you seen a poor man who doesn't love money? Show me one. Show me a poor man who doesn't love money. Show me a rich man who doesn't love money.

What does that prove? It's got nothing to do with the person's income. It's got nothing to do with the person's assets. How is it that poor beggar who's got nothing, except the clothes on his back, loves money?

How is it this billionaire who's keeping on accumulating money also loves money? Because it's got nothing to do with wealth or assets or income. It's got to do with only one thing. Were you born of the race of Adam?

If you were, whether you know it or not, you've got this lust in your flesh. And you don't get rid of it by saying, Lord Jesus, come into my heart. And I'll tell you something which no other preacher may tell you.

If you don't face up to it, you'll never be free from it, even when you die. And you'd have wasted your life on the earth. I mean, you may go to heaven. I'll tell you something. My aim is not to go to heaven.

I've never been interested in going to heaven. I'm interested in pleasing God, whether I'm on earth or in heaven. I mean, it must be a very selfish desire for a person. I want to go to heaven. I want to live to please myself on earth.

But I want to go to heaven when I die. I'll tell you honestly, I don't want to. I want to live a life that pleases God right now. That's the only way I can express my gratitude to Jesus for dying for me on the cross.

How do you express your gratitude to Jesus for dying for you on the cross? Is it by just singing a few songs once in a while when you go to church or coming for a few meetings like this? No. It's by a lifetime of pleasing God.

You must ask Jesus to baptise you in a fire that burns up the love of money. I'll tell you, I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and I said, Lord, I still see a little bit of it over there.

In some little situation I'd see a little bit over there and I'd say, Lord, I want to be 100 free. Because I don't want any idol left in my heart. I'll tell you, my dear brothers and sisters, let me say it to you in love.

There are a few idols in this area in your heart. And if you don't root them out, they'll remain. They are not going to go out on their own. You can get a good testimony before others that you are a good believer because you got all the right doctrines.

The tabernacle is all exactly according to the pattern. But the fire is missing. You know, when Elijah stood on that Mount Carmel and he looked at these people who are Israelites, children of Abraham, they were not real children of Abraham like Zacchaeus.

They were namesake children of Abraham. Just like today people say they are born again. We are a child of God. Really? The Lord, I mean, Elijah told those people, are you really children of Abraham? He worshipped only Jehovah.

Well, you guys are worshipping Jehovah and Baal. You can't worship Jehovah and Baal. He said, here are these 450 prophets of Baal. They are like the false preachers today. The equivalent of those 450 prophets today are the false preachers who tell you that you can worship Jesus Christ and still be a lover of money.

They are the prophets of Baal today. And there is one Elijah who stands against all of them and says, what does he say? Let's you and I have a test. The God who answers by fire. Let Him be the true God.

And if God does not answer by fire, you are worshipping a false God. And they agree. I agree too. This is the real God. The one who can send a fire that burns up the worship of Baal from people's hearts.

That burns up the worship of mammon from people's lives. That's the true God. I believe that with all my heart. If I worship a Christ who cannot deliver me from the love of money, it's a false Christ.

Another Jesus. The devil who has come as an angel of light. I don't want to spend my earthly life deceived by it. Jesus said so clearly, you cannot love God and mammon. He said that very clearly in Luke 16, verse 13.

I've taken it very seriously. You cannot worship Christ and Baal. The God who answers by fire. Let Him be God. Now, how important is this? As I said, only Jesus can baptise you in fire. It's not that you are going to a preacher, it's not that he's coming to me.

I can baptise you in fire. I can baptise you in water. But I say, he's the one who baptises in the fire. Go to him. And don't be satisfied with the conflict. Most of the people I have met who claim to be baptised in the Holy Spirit, I don't see a fire in their eyes.

I'll tell you honestly. I don't see them like the bush burning. God dwelling there. I listen to some of these preachers who claim to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. They are some of the most boring preachers I've ever heard.

All they talk about is how to get the money out of people. Why is this? This is not Christianity. Where do you find Jesus preaching like that, trying to get money out of people? That's not the fire of Christ.

It's a false fire. You read about, in Leviticus 10, about the false fire that Neda and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, brought before the Lord. The Lord punished them for it. I mean, the Lord will punish all these people who produce a false fire today.

Yeah? And Elijah stood there and said, I'm going to stand against all these prophets of Baal who are deceiving God's people. You need to stand against these false prophets who are deceiving God's people today.

But you can't stand against them if you yourself are worshipping Jehovah and Baal in your heart. The Lord told Elijah once. Elijah thought he was alone. You know, Elijah, in these hundreds of thousands of Israelites, there are 7000 people who have not bowed their knee to Baal.

Elijah didn't know who they were. Maybe one here, one there, one there, one there and here and there. There were 7000. But in the midst of maybe couple of hundred thousand people, that's a very small number.

I don't know what the population of Israel was those days. But it's a very small number. But the thing that struck me when I read that was that even though there were 7000 people whom God himself said, yeah, I have counted 7000 people here who have never bowed their knee to Baal, their testimony was a negative one.

What is your testimony, brother? I have not done this. So, it's not a positive testimony. I have not bowed my knee to Baal. You know that the testimony of many Christians is that? I don't gamble. I don't commit adultery.

I don't steal. I don't watch dirty movies. I mean, that's sort of disappearing. Christians have started watching dirty movies now. But it's a negative testimony. I have not bowed the knee to Baal. What about your testimony?

Is your testimony a negative testimony? I have not done this and I don't do that. But do you know what Elijah's testimony was? He told King Ahab in 1 Kings 17, I stand before Jehovah. I stand before God.

There's a fire upon his life. Dear brothers and sisters, it is God's will for you and me. Don't let the devil rob you of your inheritance. Whoever you are, it's God's will for you to save you from all your sin.

First promise in the New Testament and second promise to baptize you, immerse you in the fire. I'm so thankful that God opened my eyes to see that the first two promises in the New Testament were for me.

To be saved from all my sin and to be immersed in a fire which only Jesus could do. Set me on fire so that I could be like a burning bush. I believe that burning bush is a symbol of what a Christian should be.

Christ as the Living Tabernacle and the Light of the World

Moses saw that. Moses saw God in the tabernacle. And I was very interested to see in John chapter 1 and verse 14. I use the NASB. In the margin of the NASB it says, the word became flesh and tabernacled among us.

Apparently, that's the original meaning of that word. The word came to earth. Verse 1, the word was God. That's Jesus. The word became flesh and tabernacled in our midst. Then I understand what the Old Testament tabernacle was all about.

It was a picture of Jesus. You know, just like the tabernacle was built exactly according to the pattern. Everything in Jesus' life was exactly as God said. He never did His own will. He did the Father's will.

But more than that, just like there was a fire on that tabernacle, there was a fire in Jesus' life. That's why He said, I am the light of the world. In those days, light came only by fire. Today we can have light with electricity and so many other things.

But in those days, there was only one type of light. If you didn't have fire, you didn't have light. Every fire around the world in those days, every light around the world was only with fire. When Jesus said, I am the light of the world, it was because there was a fire in Him.

And He turned around and told His disciples in John 9, verse 5, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world. Very clear statement. There was a time period. For 33 and a half years, He was the light of the world.

He said that so clearly in John 9, verse 5. And then He went up to heaven and He said to His disciples, Matthew 5, verse 14, now you are the light of the world. So, if somebody were to ask me a question, Brother Zak, who's the light of the world?

I'd say, me. People think that's blasphemy. Everyone's saying, but Zak said, he's the light of the world. I'd say, read Matthew 5, verse 14 and see what the Bible says. You should be the light of the world.

Why? Because John 9, verse 5, Jesus said, as long as I'm in the world and only as long as I'm here, I'm the light of the world. And after that, you are the light of the world. How easy it is to farm off that responsibility and say, oh, Jesus is the light of the world.