Seven Truths That Every Christian Must Know — Zac Poonen

It's a privilege and honor to speak to God's people and a tremendous responsibility. I often say that when I stand in the pulpit in my home church or any of the other churches God has planted through our ministry or here, I see myself as a heart surgeon dealing with something far more important than a physical heart.

And I want to take my responsibility seriously, even if a heart surgeon has operated for 50 years he's still extremely careful when doing a heart surgery. We can hurt people, we could kill people and we don't want to do that.

There's a lot of preaching that kills and we don't want to be heart surgeons like that. Our calling is to remove the parts that cause disease and to bring life. It can be painful, heart surgery is always painful, but the result is life.

So I want to fulfill my responsibility faithfully before God. I always seek to remember that in our midst, though not visible, stands the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to remember that word that where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the midst of them.

So he's here. So I want you to remember that throughout this time and allow him to speak to you through his Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Trinity on earth exactly like the second person of the Trinity was walking in Israel nearly 2 ,000 years ago.

He's here and he can speak to you if you have a heart that's willing to listen. So my subject today is truths that every Christian must know. Jesus said in John chapter 8 and verse 32, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

The Truth Brings Freedom and Requires a Christian Defense

So freedom comes through knowing the truth. If you know very little of the truth, that's probably the reason why you're not fully free. The more of the truth that you know, and God's word is the truth, Jesus said that in John 17, 17, your word is truth.

The more you know the truth, the more you'll be free in your life, free from sin, free from discouragement, free from gloom, free from anger, free from all the problems that the devils put upon us. The other verse which I want to show you before we begin is a verse that many Christians do not obey or do not take seriously.

It's 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15 says in the middle of that verse, always being ready. Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Listen to this, always, 24 -7, being ready to make a defense.

Think of war, a defense, the way you defend your country. To everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet give it with gentleness, not with arrogance, and with reverence for what you're saying, because it's the word of God.

Always ready to give an account, to give an answer to everyone who asks you, why do you believe this? Every one of us sitting here, if you say you're a Christian, you must obey that verse. You must always be ready with gentleness and reverence to give an answer to anyone who asks you, why do you believe this?

Jesus Christ Is the Only Way to God

So that's where I want to begin. Number one, Jesus Christ is the only way to God. That's the first truth that we must recognize. And people ask us, why do you believe he's the only way? In John 14 and verse 6, it says, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father, but by me. So when, you know, I work in a country where many, many are non-Christians, and you meet non-Christians, there are many in this country too. And someone tells me, why do you say Jesus is the only way?

There are many ways to God. I said, do you want me to call the Lord Jesus a liar? That's what you're asking me to do. Because he said in that verse, I am the way, no one comes to the Father, but by me.

And if I say, agree with you, that there are many ways to God, I have to call Jesus Christ a liar. And I'm not prepared to do that. You see, that puts people on the spot, because they're not ready to call Jesus Christ a liar.

But this wrong idea that people have, there are many ways. Now I want to explain why Christianity is unique, and why Jesus Christ is the only way. When babies are born, nobody's a Hindu, or a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or a Christian.

They're all babies. But as they grow up in different families, they are brainwashed by their parents into a particular religion, and to believe certain things. They are taken to a temple, or a mosque, or a church, or some other place, and they're forced to believe something, and brainwashed through the years to believe those truths.

So this is how I would witness to a non-Christian, how I would give an answer to why I believe what I believe. And I say, but there's one thing common about all of us, whatever religion we are, I tell him, and that is we have a conscience.

It doesn't matter which religion you are, the conscience is exactly the same. Every single child, whatever their religion, their conscience tells them, even at the age of two or three, when they tell a lie, that you're telling a lie.

Any child, before they are brainwashed into being taught that a lie is not serious, every child in the world has a conscience that makes their face manifest that they're telling a lie when they have told a lie.

They cannot hide it. I mean, by the time you're 17 or 18, you can disguise your face and tell a lie with a straight face, but you can't do that when you're two or three years old. That is a proof that God has put his voice in everybody's heart.

And that through the years, however much we may suppress our conscience, that conscience tells us we have done many things wrong, whatever religion we may be. So I tell people when I witness to them, I say, I'm not preaching religion.

I'm not preaching Christianity. You may have met lots of Christians who cheated you and deceived you. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about our conscience that tells you that you've done many things wrong.

You may cover it up, you may hide it from people, but your conscience keeps telling you, you violated God's laws. And then the next thing I say is, I say, if your God is not absolutely holy, totally holy, whichever God you believe in, then the punishment for your sin would be something like sickness or poverty or some type of trial, earthly trial.

But if your God is absolutely holy, and I believe that the God of this universe is absolutely holy, and I'm not talking about Christian, Muslim, anything. I'm talking about God, the creator of this universe, absolutely holy.

There has to be only one way that he can punish sin, that he cuts you off from himself, because sin breaks our connection with God. Even one sin. And think of all the sins you've committed, our connection with God is broken.

That's the first thing. It doesn't matter what religion you are. Remember, this is how I'm witnessing to a non-Christian. And then I say, if God is also an absolutely righteous judge, like he is, and that justice of God is the foundation for all justice in the universe, he cannot be crooked.

He cannot overlook something just because he loves us. If a judge's son comes there in the court, he cannot forgive him and overlook his crime just because it's his son. And God cannot overlook our sin.

Many people say, why can't God forgive me just like my mom forgives me if I broke a plate or something like that. I say, if sin was only something like breaking a plate, God would forgive you straight away.

But it's much more serious than that. Think of a judge who's sitting, judging his son who's committed a hundred murders. What's he going to tell him? Oh, you're my son. I overlook you. Overlook it? No.

Sin is like that. When you see the seriousness of saying that every sin is worse than committing a hundred murders, in God's eyes, God cannot overlook it. That punishment has to be taken. And to use an illustration, if, for example, the punishment for a crime is, say, a million dollars.

Okay, my son, I fine you a million dollars. That's what the judge says. And the son says, Dad, I don't have a hundred percent. Well, you got to go to jail then. Having said that, he takes off his judge's robes, comes down and takes out his checkbook and writes out his entire life savings of a million dollars and gives it to his son and says, son, go and pay the fine.

He judged him as a judge and punished him as a father and paid the price as a father. I said, this is what God has done. He came in the form of man, Jesus Christ. He had to punish, but he took that punishment himself, just like this father.

Now, there's only one thing that son has to do and he has to do it. He's got to receive that check. If he's too proud to receive it, well, then the alternative is the punishment. And that's all that God asks you to do.

Receive that freely. Think of the price. Remember, this dad's giving his life savings and God, when Jesus died, he was giving his life in order to save us. And then I say, there's not a single religion in the world, first of all, where any leader even claims that he was born of a virgin.

The virgin birth is very, very important. Jesus Christ came to earth without a human father. God created the sperm which produced Jesus' body. It united with Mary's egg and there you had God in human form.

And no one has ever, no religion, no religious leaders ever claimed that. Secondly, no religious leader ever claimed that I'm coming here to die for the sins of the world. And thirdly, no religious leader ever rose from the dead on the third day.

This is the foundation of Christianity. Christianity is not founded on do good, be kind, help the poor and don't tell lies and be compassionate. No, no, no. That's the superstructure. And that may look like what is taught in other religions, but there's a foundation underneath.

And if you don't have this foundation, whatever religion you have, it's on sand. So what is it? The one who founded our Christian faith is born of a virgin, died for the sins of the whole world and rose from the dead.

No one has ever done that. I say that is why I believe that Christianity is the only true way to God. That's point number one. Then secondly, which we all, the truths that every Christian must know, we must not only believe, we must repent and believe in Jesus Christ to be saved.

Repentance Must Accompany Faith

Not just believe. In many places, faith is emphasized. A lot of evangelists emphasize faith, faith, faith, but repentance is essential. You must repent and believe in Jesus Christ to be saved. And I want to read to you Acts of the Apostles in chapter 20 and verse 21.

This is when the apostle preached to Jews and Gentiles. When he uses the word Jews and Gentiles or Jews and Greeks, he's referring to the whole world. People cultured, uncultured, religious, non-religious.

He says, there's one message I preach everywhere. Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Two things. And what God has joined together, let no man put us under. But many are putting us under.

And many people say man is incapable of repentance. It's a work and salvation is not by works that God gives it freely. Salvation is free. But this is the picture I use. When we are born in all our life, our face is towards the world and sin and our self and our back is towards God.

And what happens is, if I want to receive the free gift that God is giving me, I don't know how to do anything. I don't know how to pay anything, but I got to turn around. And if anyone wants to give you a free gift, say an expensive gift, and he says, here I've got a gift for you.

And if I don't turn around, I can't get it. And if I turn around, I can't say I did something in order to earn that gift. No, I'm just turning around to receive it. So repentance is not a work like some people teach.

That's a falsehood. It's just turning around and receiving the gift. And what is faith? Faith is not a work either. Here's somebody giving me a gift. I have to stretch out my hand and take it. That's faith.

So repentance is turning around. Faith is stretching out my hand. Now, if somebody gives me an expensive gift and I've turned around and I receive it by hand, I can't say, well, I earned it because I turned around and I stretched out my hand.

That is stupidity. And yet that's what many people say. Man cannot repent. Man cannot believe everything God has to give it. Well, you can turn around. If you don't turn around, you're not going to get it.

If you don't stretch out your hand, you're not going to get it. God is willing even to help me to turn around and to help me to stretch out my hand. What more can he do? But he's not going to force you.

But remember this, turning around from sin and the world is essential in order to be saved. Now that doesn't mean, I want to explain repentance. It's not saying, God, I will not sin again. No, no one can say that.

It's saying, I don't want to sin again. There's a difference between saying, I don't want to sin again and I will not sin again. Let me show you 1 John in chapter 2 and verse 1. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 1.

My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. That's God's will. That you should not sin. But, just remember this is the Apostle John writing at the age of 95. But if anyone sins, what does he say?

You're not a child of God? No. We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. So what does it mean to overcome sin? To get victory over sin? The best illustration I can use is a child has learned to walk.

Well now, every child when it's born does not know how to walk. It's always falling, getting up, falling, getting up. And when a believer is born again, he's usually like that. Falling frequently, getting up.

And you know the new birth is compared to the birth of a child. And the child doesn't learn how to walk. It has to learn slowly, slowly. And it never gets discouraged. It's a wonderful thing about children.

Believers get discouraged when they don't get victory after some time. But a child never gets discouraged. He says, I'm going to walk one day. I'm going to walk one day. It falls a hundred times a day.

It gets up. That's how it must be. But it's determined to walk. And how excited a father or a mother is when they see their child taking their first steps. That's how excited God is when he sees you overcoming your anger, or your bitterness, or your jealousy, or whatever it is.

You're beginning to learn to walk. And when that child is walking steadily, two years old, walking, running, that's a picture of victory over sin. But can you say that this person will never fall? Is there anybody sitting here who says I can never stumble and fall?

I can trip over a stone and fall today. But the difference is I've learned to walk. I'm not falling the way the child is falling. So that's a picture of victory over sin. I've learned to walk, but I may still fall.

But what is the first statement? The first statement is not in 1 John 2 .1. Did you notice that? The first statement is not if anyone sins. The first statement is don't sin. We shouldn't reverse that.

When you reverse that, you're getting it in the wrong order. It's not, John doesn't say, well, I know you fellows will sin, of course. But that's the way it's being preached so often. No, you should not sin.

But if you do, that means if you do fall down, get up, repent, confess, ask God to forgive you. He'll do it immediately and press on. One more thing I want to say in relation to repentance and faith. The Bible speaks about faith that justifies us.

That's another word which many don't understand. Romans 5 .1 says, we are justified by faith. Be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you. What is the difference between being forgiven and being justified?

Justification and the Righteousness of Christ

You know, I've been preaching for more than 50 years in Christian ministry, and I've discovered that there are many people, we think they know everything, but they don't. People have been Christians for many years, and that's why I need to explain something very simply.

Forgiveness is where God has blotted out our past. All forgiven. If you confess, you come to the Lord, He's forgiven everything. But are you fit to stand before God now? No. Do you know that even after all your sins are forgiven, you're still not fit to stand before God because you've got a filthy nature that's called the flesh that hasn't gone.

So God has to clothe me. It's like my filthy dress. It's clothed me with the righteousness of Christ. My sins are forgiven, but my filthy nature is not gone. So God clothes me with the righteousness of Christ.

That's called justification. The first was forgiveness. This is justification. I need to understand the difference, and when we receive Christ, we are not only forgiven, but justified. That means I stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and that is the meaning, listen to this, of praying every prayer in the name of Jesus.

Now, many haven't even understood that. Why do I pray in the name of Jesus? I'm saying, Lord, I have no merit to come before you to ask for this prayer, but I'm asking clothed in the righteousness of Christ in the name of Jesus.

And it is like Jesus asking the Father for a request. Think of it like that. It'll change your Christian life when you understand these simple things. The tragedy is many people read scripture, they don't understand something, they go on to the next verse.

We shouldn't. We should press on until we understand. I remember when I was in the Navy, my senior captain asked me for something, about something, and I said, I don't know, sir. He said, Lieutenant Poonen, never say, I don't know, sir.

Say, I will find out, sir. I learned something that day. Never say, I don't know. I'll find out. So, when you read something in scripture which you don't understand, don't say, I don't know. Say, I'll find out.

I'm going to make every effort to find out what that verse means. It'll revolutionize your Christian life. This is what I started doing when I was 21 years old. 56 years ago, whenever I found something I didn't understand, I'd say, I'm going to find out that.

What does it mean? And that's what changed my life. The third truth that every Christian should know, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5 and verse 18. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Being Filled With the Holy Spirit

It says here in Ephesians 5 and verse 18, do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. I want you to look at that verse carefully. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

There are two statements there, one negative and one positive. Do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. Now, watch that and answer this question. Is it a sin to get drunk with wine? I believe it is.

It may not be a sin to take a sip of it, but to get drunk is definitely a sin. Okay, now my question is, is it a sin not to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ah, there's some doubts. It's in the same verse.

The same God who commanded, do not get drunk with wine, said, be filled with the Holy Spirit. What would you think of a man who walks into this Sunday morning service drunk with wine? Would you think he's coming here in a proper way?

No. What would you think of a person coming here not filled with the Holy Spirit? We don't think that's so serious, right? We pick and choose in God's commandments truths that every Christian should know.

You must be filled with the Spirit just like you must not be drunk with wine. Put it in the same category. That if I'm not, if I think drinking, getting drunk with wine and coming to the church service is okay, then it's okay to come without being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Is it okay any time to be drunk? Think of how you misbehave when you're drunk. Don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is very, very important. I want to explain this something about the Holy Spirit here because there's a lot of confusion concerning that in the world today.

I've heard a lot of people say to me, and I want to be ready to give an answer. That's what I want to equip you to as well. There's so many counterfeits about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and about the operation of the Holy Spirit.

I say, I agree. But what do people counterfeit? Do they counterfeit brown paper? Do you counterfeit toilet paper? No. What do people counterfeit? Gold, diamonds. Only valuable things are counterfeited.

So if the operations of the Holy Spirit are counterfeit, boy, the original must be really valuable. So I'm not turned off just because there are counterfeits. The counterfeit proves to me that the original must be really valuable and I must get it.

But also it teaches me I must be very careful. If someone's going to buy gold in the market, he's got to be very careful that he's not fooled. Or someone going to, I've heard, I've never seen it, but I've heard that there are glass pieces that look exactly like diamonds.

You can be fooled. You can be fooled about being filled with the Holy Spirit too. And so the only solution is to come to the Word of God. I've been greatly helped by seeing that Jesus is an example for me as the perfect Spirit-filled person.

So when I want to know, when I want a guideline, a benchmark, what does it mean to be filled in the Spirit, I look at Jesus. And that's why, let me give you my honest testimony. When I see somebody rolling on the ground and kicking their legs and saying it's the Holy Spirit, I'll tell you honestly, I cannot imagine Jesus rolling on the ground and kicking his legs.

So I say, that's not the Holy Spirit. And I'm not afraid to say that because I say, can you picture in your mind Jesus rolling on the floor and kicking his legs up in there and saying he's filled with the Holy Spirit?

No, Jesus is my example. Not these other people. I'm not here to criticize them. I'm not here to judge them. But I say, I'm not here to follow them either. And then there are others who say, well, you must speak in tongues, which is unknown languages.

Now that is a gift of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul said, I speak in tongues more than all of you. He said that in 1 Corinthians 14. But before saying that, he said that in 1 Corinthians 12, not all speak in tongues.

I don't have time to show you all those verses. You read 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. You read there, are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Do all speak in tongues? No. So what Paul said was, I thank God I speak in tongues more than all of you.

But for some reason, God does not want everybody to have it. It's very important to understand this. And if you're doubtful about it, just go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and chapter 14. It's all written there.

My own personal experience is I thank God I speak in tongues. I've spoken in tongues for 42 years. But I also believe it's not necessary for everyone to speak in tongues. I speak exactly like Paul said.

In the church, he said in 1 Corinthians 14, I would rather speak 5 words in a known language, for us English, than 10 ,000 words in an unknown tongue. So simple mathematics shows me that speaking in English is 2 ,000 times better than speaking in tongues in a church.

That's the Word of God. So don't feel inferior if you cannot speak in tongues. If you can speak in English and witness for the Lord, you're okay. So the other thing I want to show you is, it says in Romans chapter 5, verse 5.

I believe this is the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Romans 5, 5, it says, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. So God is love. And our hearts do not have the love that God has.

And we can never produce it. You won't be able to produce it in a hundred years. So God says, I'll give it to you. When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, one proof of it is you'll be able to love everybody.

You won't agree with everyone. You won't be able to work with everyone. But you will be able to love everyone, even those who hate you. That's the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And if you're not able to love everyone, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

And don't believe that you're filled with the Holy Spirit until you can love. That's my guideline anyway. Truths that every Christian should know. And the other thing I want to show you is in Romans 8, in verse 15, the Holy Spirit cries out from within us to God saying, Abba, Father.

The Holy Spirit shows you that God is your Father. You have a Father in heaven. No one in the Old Testament could experience this. But we can. God is my Father. He's my Dad. The word Abba really means Dad in English.

So every one of us, if you're really born again, you should be able to look up to heaven and say, Dad, you're my Dad. Think of folks who've never had a good father on earth. Isn't it a wonderful thing to have a loving Father in heaven?

This is the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And one more thing I want to say the Holy Spirit does in Romans 8 and verse 13. The last part, it says, we must put to death the deeds of our body.

The last part of that verse, by the Holy Spirit. The deeds of our body are all the sins that come out of our body. Anger, lusting with our eyes, and many, many other things we do with our body. And it's only, it says here, by the Spirit.

Think of that last part of that verse. By the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body. You cannot overcome these things without the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ask God, if you're being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. Luke 11, verse 13. If you know being evil, Luke 11, 13, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

More than any earthly father wants to give bread to his children. Number four, we cannot follow Jesus without denying ourselves daily. Luke chapter 9 and verse 23. Luke 9, verse 23. If anyone wishes to come after me, Luke 9, 23, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.

Denying Yourself Daily to Follow Jesus

Anyone, anyone sitting here, you want to come after Jesus? Listen to what he himself said. You must deny your self-life, that self-life that wants to be prominent, that wants to sit on the throne of your life and decide what to do, decide how to reply to someone who's angry with you, decide how to treat someone.

You must deny that. If you cannot deny that, you can live as you like, but you can't follow Jesus. That is impossible. Anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross. Take up his cross means the same thing, to die to myself and follow him.

So the Holy Spirit led Jesus to the cross, and the Holy Spirit will lead us also along the way of the cross. But remember this, this is the wonderful truth. The cross is not such a thing we have to dread, because there is a verse in 2 Timothy 2, verse 11.

It's a great verse. 2 Timothy 2, 11. It is a trustworthy statement. Listen to this. If we die with him, we will live with him. You know, Paul speaks about the power of his resurrection. It's a wonderful power.

The resurrection power is that which lifts us up when we are down. And we all need that power to lift us up when we are down. And the way to get it is to die first. There is no resurrection without the cross.

And so if I choose this way of dying to myself, what does it in practical terms? I'll tell you. Romans 6, verse 11 says, reckon, consider yourself to be dead to sin. He's talking about overcoming sin in that chapter.

Later on he says, sin will not rule over you, verse 14. But for sin not to rule over me, I have to consider myself dead. That means when somebody gets angry with me, I have to react like a dead man. That's why I need the power of the Holy Spirit.

I really want to give him a piece of my mind. That's what my nature says. But the Holy Spirit says, die. Follow Jesus. And I bow my head and I say, I die. It doesn't mean I'm just dead, because I'm not only dead to sin, but I'm alive unto Christ.

So I will respond to him as Jesus would. We read that verse in Proverbs, it says a gentle answer turns away anger. It's a great verse. It's more than keeping quiet when somebody is upset with me, but a gentle answer.

That proves that Christ has taken over. And to do that again and again and again, after some time, it'll be easiest thing in the world to do it when people are upset with me. To conquer anger completely.

It's one of the miracles that God does in a person through the fullness of the Holy Spirit. But you have to be willing, you know. God doesn't make us robots who will automatically overcome anger unless, no, we have to choose at each point.

Otherwise we'll be robots. God doesn't want robots in heaven, just like you don't want robots. You want children in your home. God wants children in heaven. Okay, number five. We cannot serve both God and money.

Serving God Rather Than Money

Now that's something you don't hear preached much, but it is true. Luke 16, 13. Luke 16, 13. No servant can serve two masters. He will hate the one and love the other. And who are the two masters? Not God and Satan.

Jesus said there, God and wealth. So it's not a question of having wealth. It's a question of serving wealth and loving wealth. I can have wealth, but if I love it and I serve it, I can't serve God. You cannot serve God and money.

If God calls me and money calls me, I must choose to follow God. That's the point. So the question is, now there are people who teach, there are two types of teachings I see in Christendom today. Some people who say that God wants everybody to be rich, and some people who say God wants nobody to be rich.

And you know, the answer is always wrong. Both are wrong. Because there are people who have given up their riches, like the Apostle Paul. He was a son of a very rich businessman, and he gave up everything when he became a Christian.

And he was really poor, I have to say that. Because there were times when he didn't have enough to eat. He didn't have a blanket to cover himself with in the prison, and he had to ask Timothy for it. But at the same time, Paul writes to some rich Christians in 1 Timothy, in chapter 6, which proves there were rich Christians in those days.

1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 18. 1 Timothy 6, verse 18. Paul tells Timothy, verse 17, sorry. 1 Timothy 6, 17. We begin at verse 17. Instruct those who are rich believers in this present world not to be.

So if anybody here is it's not a sin. But take this verse seriously. Don't be conceited. There's a great tendency in rich people to become proud. And don't fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches.

That's the other thing a lot of people make a mistake. But fix their hope on God, who supplies us richly with everything. And then verse 18. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share.

So wealth is neutral, but I must make sure it's my servant. Whether you have 25 servants or one servant, that's the difference between rich and poor. Make sure they're all your servants, that they don't take over the house.