A solid foundation for our Christian life — Zac Poonen

God’s Loving Care for Weak and Failing Believers

Brothers and sisters, I'm very happy that even in such a time where we have to sit in our homes, we can still have such good fellowship. And one day when we look back, we may discover we grew spiritually more because of this COVID plague than in the days when we were more free.

One of the wonderful things when we become children of God is that God makes everything work for our good. I accepted Christ when I was 19 and a half. I'm nearly 81 now. And I've known Jesus for 61 years.

And I can say from the testimony of 61 years that He is such a loving, faithful friend. And in the early days of my Christian life when I used to fall frequently into sin in my thoughts and words, He never got angry with me.

He only told me He was sad. And He wanted to help me to overcome. He is such a loving Savior. I wish the whole world will come to know Him. Every day from morning onwards, He is with me and talks to me.

It's not because I'm special. It's not because I'm special. I may be one of the older children in God's family. And some of you are younger children in God's family. But a good father will listen to all his children.

If a 20-year-old son wants to speak to the father and a 2-year-old son wants to speak to the father, the father will listen to the 2-year-old first. So don't think God will listen only to older people like me.

If you are a new believer, just converted yesterday, the father will listen to you. Even if you have failed, Jesus has come to make your life a success. Jesus has come to make your life a success. Even if you don't know much about the Bible.

And for example, if there is a child in the family who is mentally disordered, and despite that, the father still loves that child. And he loves a healthy child. By weakness, I'm not talking about sin.

Sin is not a weakness, it is evil. When I talk about weak believers, I mean those who don't have many gifts. They are not very clever. They are not very educated. They don't know much about the Bible.

They are weak, but God loves them tremendously. That is why when Jesus came, he went to the seaside and picked up some unlearned fishermen to be his first disciples. There was a big Bible school in Jerusalem, but Jesus never went there to select any of his disciples.

And today also there are many Bible schools. Jesus is not calling people from there. He is looking for weak people who recognize their weakness. Who do not think that they are superior to others and better than others.

Are you one like that? Then Jesus has come for you. Are you defeated by sin? I want to tell you in Jesus' name that he came for you. When Jesus came to earth, there was a group of people called the Pharisees who knew the Bible very well.

They used to look down on others who did not know the Bible. And they were very proud of themselves. When they prayed in the temple, they would pray, Lord, I thank you that I am not like these other sinners around here.

You know what Jesus said to them? I want to read a verse in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 11. There it says the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the sinners. The Pharisees would never go and eat with sinners because they thought we will defile ourselves if we eat with them.

The Pharisees would never go and eat with sinners because they thought we will defile ourselves if we eat with them. And they asked the disciples, why is your holy teacher eating with such sinful people?

And they asked the disciples, why is your holy teacher eating with such sinful people? And Jesus said something to them that was very sarcastic. And he was somehow disturbing them with his words. What he was saying was, you people think you are healthy.

Then I am a doctor. Healthy people don't need a doctor. These people are sick. I am going to them. That's what he said in verse 12. Only sick people need a doctor. And then he said, I did not come for those who think they are holy.

Verse 13, I came for sinners. But I came to call such sinners to repentance. Not for them to live in their sin. He came to save them just like a doctor comes to a sick person to save him from his sickness.

Jesus also said he came to save sinners by turning them from their sin. Jesus also said he came to save sinners by turning them from their sin. And are you a sinner today? And do you feel that you are defeated by sin?

And are you honest in accepting that you are defeated? And secondly, do you want to be free? And you will think that most sick people want to be free from their illness. And I will show you a verse in John chapter 5.

Jesus’ Question: Do You Really Want to Be Free from Sin?

And he was lame. He could not walk. For 38 years he was lying there like a beggar in the bed. And Jesus said to him when he saw him lying there in John 5, verse 5 and 6. And Jesus said to him when he saw him lying there in John 5, verse 5 and 6.

And it is written in John 5, verse 6 that Jesus knew that he was lying there for a long time. And now I would like to ask you a question. If you were lame for 38 years, would you have a desire to walk?

Definitely, I don't have to ask you. Why did Jesus ask him in verse 6, do you want to get well? Why did Jesus ask him in verse 6, do you want to get well? And this is a very important question and you have to answer this question.

And all of you who are listening to me today, this is the question that Jesus is asking you. Do you really want to be healed? If you have cancer, I don't have to ask you that question. I know you will want to be healed.

If you got leprosy, I don't have to ask you the question. I know you will want to be healed. I have never in my life met a sick person who does not want to be healed. And if the doctor tells him take this medicine, one tablet every day and you should stop drinking alcohol they will do it because they don't want to die.

But when I tell people, do you want to be free from sin? Their answer is a very weak yes, it's not a strong yes. And that is the reason they are not free from sin. Let me ask you straight. Just like Jesus asked this man, do you really want to be free from your anger?

Do you want to stop getting angry with your husband and wife from now on? Do you really want to be free from murmuring and complaining in your house? Do you really want to be honest in all your dealings so that you never cheat anybody and you don't do anything unrighteous in money matters?

Do you really want to always speak the truth and stop telling lies? Do you really want to forgive everyone who has hurt you? Do you really want to go and ask forgiveness from those whom you have hurt?

Jesus’ Name Means Salvation from Sin

What am I asking you? The same question Jesus asked this man, do you want to get well? And as soon as he said yes, Jesus said, get up and walk and he was healed. When I accepted Christ 61 years ago, my Bible teachers only told me that Jesus forgives my sins.

They never told me the meaning of the name Jesus. Do you know the meaning of the name Jesus? And do you know the meaning of the name Jesus? And you take out with me the first chapter and the 21st verse of Matthew 1.

And here we read that the heavenly messenger appears to Joseph, who was engaged to Mary. And he is going to have a baby. God has created that baby in her womb. And when he is born, Matthew 1 .21 You must call his name Jesus.

Because he is the son of God. And the meaning of the name, why he is called Jesus. Matthew 1 .21, because he will save his people from their sins. Read this carefully. You will call his name Jesus because of this reason.

Because he will save his people from their sins. Not he will forgive their sins. Of course he will do that. Definitely he will forgive their sins. For example, your child is thirsty for a glass of milk.

And the glass is dirty. The first thing is to clean the glass and remove all the dirt. And then the mother will not give an empty glass to the child, but fill it with milk and give it. That is what Jesus does for us.

He first cleans our heart. Because it is dirty. That's why he died on the cross. But after he has cleaned it, he fills us with his Holy Spirit so that he can save us from all those bad habits we have.

Not in one day. See a child grows up to be a man over a period of 30 years. Or he goes to school and goes from 1st standard to 10th standard in 10 years. So in our Christian life also there is a growth.

More and more and more and more we become free from sin. And it's not that you have to save yourself from sin. If Jesus tells me, Okay, Zach, you have to save yourself from all these sins. I'll say, Lord, I give up.

I can't do it. Impossible. But thank God he didn't tell me that. His name is Jesus because he will save me from my sin. Just like all believers, when I got converted, my sins were forgiven. But I could not control my anger.

I could not control my dirty thoughts. I could not control an unforgiving spirit to others. And I got so fed up of my defeated life. Then I understood that I cannot save myself. But his name is Jesus because he will save me from my sins.

And that is what has happened. For the last many many years, God has delivered me from these sins. Not in one day. But little by little by little by little. Just like when the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, they occupied that land little by little by little, defeating all the giants.

They could not kill all the giants in one day. They could not finish all their sins in one day. But we should be making progress more and more. Just like you want your child to go next year from 1st standard to 2nd standard.

The Foundation of Christian Life Is God’s Perfect Love

We can say that the Christian life is like building a house. And every house, the most important part of a house is not the painting on the wall. Not even the bricks that you use. Not the doors or the windows.

All know that the most important part of a house is the foundation. If you want to build your Christian life, you must have a very good foundation. And that foundation is not what you can do. That foundation is God's perfect love for you.

If you are not absolutely sure that God loves you intensely. Not just a little bit. Jesus said, if you fathers know how to give good things to your children, how much more your heavenly father will give good things to those who ask him.

Matthew 7 and verse 11. Do you think a good father will ever give anything bad to his children? No. And you know how good fathers and mothers sacrifice so much themselves so that they can give the best to their children.

But God is better than the best father in the whole world. You must believe that. That is the foundation. And the proof of that is in John chapter 3 verse 16. It does not say there only God loved the world.

But so greatly loved the world. That he gave his son to die for this sinful world. When we were his enemies. God loved the world that he gave his son to die for us. That is where we see the love of God.

You must know this verse. Romans 5 verse 8. Where does God prove his love for us? You say, I know all about it. I tell you, you don't know all about it. You know only a little bit. If you knew all about it, your life would be thoroughly victorious.

Romans 5 verse 8. How does God demonstrate his love towards us? While we were sinners, Christ died for us. Let me use an example. Supposing you see someone, an evil man who is your enemy drowning in a river.

He is a very bad man. He has done a lot of harm to you. And he is drowning in that river. And you are walking by that river with your 20 year old son. And you know that man does not know how to swim, he is drowning.

And the water is flowing so fast in the river, anybody who goes to help him can get lost. Let me ask you a question. Will you tell your son to jump in that river and save that enemy? Even if it is your friend, you may think twice before asking your son to jump in.

You may throw a rope to him. You won't send your son inside that dangerous river. If you send your son into that river to save your enemy. And you are willing to let your son die to save your enemy. That is the meaning of Romans 5 verse 8.

If you have not understood that, you have not understood the love of God. That is why I am convinced that most believers have not understood the love of God. There is no good foundation in their life.

Their life is always shaking. They think the house is standing firm, one day there is a wind and it blows. The fault is not with the walls, the fault is with the foundation. You must know how much God loves you.

That is what we understand on the cross of Calvary. Why we were enemies, Christ died for us, it says here. Romans 5 verse 10. We were enemies. And if he sent his son to die for us when we were enemies.

Then go to Romans 8 verse 32. If when we were enemies, God sent his son to save us. Romans 8 verse 32 says, how will he not give everything else for us? If you believe that, you have faith. Without faith you can never overcome sin.

You cannot overcome the devil. You cannot overcome the spirit of this world. See 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. It says here in verse 4. 1 John 5 verse 4. This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.

People think of faith as something very strange and they say, how to get faith, I don't have faith. Can you believe that God loves you when he sent his son to die on the cross? Meditate on that. That is how I got faith when I was converted.

From the time I got converted. For 61 years. My main meditation is, how much Jesus loved me that he died for me on the cross. You may not believe it, but even today, there are times when I weep when I think of it.

Many times when I get up in the morning, that's what I think of. I begin my day by thinking how much God loves me. That is the basis of my faith. And by faith we overcome the world. When we talk about world, we are not talking about the people of the world.

The world is described in 1 John chapter 2 verse 16. There are three things. The lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes. And the pride of life. There are many many evil desires in our flesh called the lust of the flesh.

There are many many evil desires in our flesh called the lust of the flesh. Anger. Discouragement. And there are so many sins called the lust of the eyes. Lusting after women. Lusting for more and more money.

And desiring what other people have. Jealous of other people. And then the third thing is the pride of life. That makes us think we are very important people. People get a little education, get a job and then they think they are very important.

People get a little education, get a job and then they think they are very important. And then they think after earning money that they have become very important people. And if they get a victory over sin, they suddenly think that they have become very holy people.

You think you have got rid of it by taking off one skin. No, there are hundred skins underneath that. That is the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. How to overcome this?

1 John 5 verse 4 says by faith. Faith is not some invisible thing that I have to go seeking for. It is just first of all believing God loves me so much. It is just first of all believing God loves me so much.

And I always think about myself that I am a very special and dear child of God. Not just because I am preaching and serving Him. Not just because I am preaching and serving Him. I don't doubt that at all.

That is why I believe I am a favorite special child of God. That is why I have got a solid foundation under my life. That is why I have got a solid foundation under my life. And you too can keep this foundation in your life.

God’s Calling and the Different Members of Christ’s Body

And you don't have to be a preacher like me. And what you have to preach is a boon. And God can give this boon to anyone. And if God doesn't give you this then you can go to Bible college and study there for 50 years and still you won't get this knowledge.

And you will never be an anointed preacher. And to become an anointed preacher you have to give this boon to God. Many people when they hear my testimony they say oh I want that so that I can also preach like brother Zach.

I tell everybody in CFC churches don't try to be like me. God's calling for you is different from mine. Just like every part of the body has got a different function. Just like every part of the body has got a different function.

The tongue speaks. And the tongue preaches. But the hand cannot preach. And the ear cannot preach. And all these things are important parts of the body. And the Bible says all of us are like different parts of the body of Christ.

Very few people he calls to be like the tongue. But there are so many other things he makes you like a hand to just go around helping all the believers. But there are so many other things he makes you like a hand to just go around helping all the believers.

And if you want God to fulfill his plan for your life. You must first of all believe that God loves you immensely more than any earthly father ever loved his child. I don't mind repeating that everywhere I go hundreds of times.

Because I am convinced that is the main reason so many believers are discouraged and defeated. How do I know? After I was born again. For 16 years I was defeated and discouraged. For 16 years I was defeated and discouraged.

Growing from Defeat into Victory

So you are saying that for the next 16 years I will also have to be discouraged and defeated? No. If I had heard this message when I was converted 61 years ago I would not have lived defeated for 16 years.

But when I was converted the preachers only told me Jesus forgives you. But when I was converted the preachers only told me Jesus forgives you. And they told me that until you go to heaven you cannot repent of your sins.

It is like telling a 6 month old child. You will never walk. You will fall, you will fall, you will fall. You will fall, you will fall, you will fall. And now he is 1 year old. And you are telling that child that you will never walk.

You will fall, you will fall. So that child will ask, father what will happen after 5 years from now? So his father will say, after 5 years from now or after 50 years from now you will keep falling. No, we expect a child to walk by the time he is 1 year old.

By the time he is 2 years old we expect him to be running. What do you think of a child who is still crawling and it is 10 years old? And what do you think of a child who is still crawling and it is 10 years old?

And many children of God are like this. For example a father has 7 or 8 children. 15 years, 12 years, 8 years, 6 years like this. But all of them are crawling, none of them can walk. Do you think the father will be happy?

Do you think God is happy when he sees his children falling, falling, falling into sin regularly? The father will take those children to a doctor and say what is wrong with my children, they are not walking.

The father will take those children to a doctor and say what is wrong with my children, they are not walking. And what kind of a foolish doctor will be there who will say to the father that your children will keep crawling like this for the rest of their lives.

And these were the useless preachers whom I had heard 8 to 60 years ago. Who told me you will never walk in victory, you will always be defeated. That is why it took 16 years. But then I got so fed up with my own life, that I began to cry to God and pray to Him and fasted and sought His face.

And I said Lord I don't want to live this defeated life. Then God changed my life 45 years ago. He filled me with the Holy Spirit and gave me the strength to overcome. I didn't become perfect in one day.

But I entered the land of Canaan. And one by one I could kill the giants in my life. And now I occupied so much of the land of Canaan because I killed those giants. There is still more I have to occupy till Jesus comes.

And I know God will help me. And for that God will help me. But if I had heard this message 60 years ago, I could have started then. And you know that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

And thanks to God I kept wandering for only 16 years. But God wanted the children of Israel to enter the land of Canaan straight away, not to wander for 40 years. All of you who are listening to me, I want to tell you something in Jesus' name.

And I don't know how long it has been since you were born again. But I want you to wander in the wilderness. He wants you to be an overcomer. The giants of sin in your life are like the giants of Canaan.

And God can give you the power to kill every one of those giants. You can't do it. When those Israelites saw the giants, you know what they said? Oh, we are like grasshoppers in front of these huge people.

We are like these small insects. How can we conquer these giants? But there were two people called Joshua and Caleb. They said, if God is with us, we can kill all of them. You must have that faith. Oh God, if you gave your own son to die for me when I was your enemy, Oh God, if you gave your own son to die for me when I was your enemy, Oh God, if you gave your own son to die for me when I was your enemy, now that I am your friend, won't you do much more for me?

Repentance, Forgiveness, and Faith for Victory

First of all, we come to the Lord and ask Him to forgive our sins. You must be sure of that first. And if you are not sure of that, you can be sure of that now. Let me ask you, do you have a desire to turn from all your sins?

I am not asking you whether you have the ability to overcome those sins. No. Do you have a sincere desire to give up everything in your life that is displeasing to God? Everything. There are many things you don't know, but at least the things that you know, are you willing to give them up, which are displeasing to God?

There are many things you don't know, but at least the things that you know, that is the meaning of repentance. Lord, I really want to give up everything in my life that is displeasing to you. I don't have the ability, but I want to give it up.

Then you have turned around. Now all you need is faith. Believe that God will do it. First of all, faith for the forgiveness of our sins. Do you think you can do anything to get even one sin of yours forgiven?

Do you know what is the punishment for one sin? If you commit only one sin in your life, do you know what the punishment for that is? To spend eternity forsaken by God. That is hell. Hell is a place where God has forsaken everybody.

For one sin, are you willing to go there? That is the only punishment by which you can pay for your sin. But thank God, Jesus took that punishment when he died. Do you know what Jesus suffered for three hours on the cross?

Why did he say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? To be forsaken by God is hell. Hell is not just a place of fire. The main thing is you are forsaken by God. God doesn't have anything to do with people who are there.

The main thing is that it is a place that God has forsaken. And Jesus experienced this for three hours. Just because he was an infinite God. Because Jesus was an infinite God. He could experience eternal hell in three hours.

If he was a man, he could only experience three hours in hell. Because he was God. He could experience eternity in three hours. He took my punishment. He took your punishment. That's where we begin. Then the cup is, the heart is cleaned.

Persistent Prayer for Deliverance from Sin

Now, God has to give us the power to overcome sin. So for that, we have only got to be honest with God. Let me show you Matthew chapter 9. This is a miracle Jesus did, but every miracle had a message in it.

So here we read in Matthew 9 verse 27. That two blind men came after Jesus saying, have mercy on us, son of David. And when he came there. First question is, what do you want? That is, if you read another gospel, that is what Jesus asked these disciples for.

These blind men first. If you read another gospel, that is what Jesus asked these disciples for. That is always his first question. You can read that in Mark 10 sometime. What do you want? And they said, we want our eyes to be healed.

First question is, what do you want? Second question is, verse 28. Do you believe that I can do this for you? Not, do you believe that with little exercise or something you can open your eyes. No, I am not asking what you can do.

The Lord said, do you believe I can do this for you? First of all, we come to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive my sins. We say, okay, let's go. First question is, what do you want? Lord, I want forgiveness of sins.

Do you believe I can forgive your sins? Yes, Lord, I believe. I am forgiven. Okay, next question. What do you want? Lord, now I want to overcome these sinful habits. Again, the next, what Jesus asked is, do you believe I can do this for you?

You could not do anything to forgive your sin. You could not do anything to overcome your sin. To forgive your sin, you only believed. Now you must believe that Jesus will do this for you. And then when they said yes, Lord, we believe.

Listen to this amazing statement. Read it, Matthew 9, 29. It will be done to you according to your faith. Jesus said, not according to my desire for you, but according to your faith. And Jesus says, I desire that your eyes should be open, but if you don't have faith, it won't happen.

And that is what he's saying to all of you. The Lord says, I desire that you should overcome your anger. I desire that you should be completely free from all your lusting in your mind. I desire that you should be completely free from murmuring, grumbling, complaining, everything in your life.

But it's according to your faith, not according to my desire, Jesus says. Jesus desires that all the sins that you have committed, all the 7 billion people in the world, should have their sins forgiven.

There are 700 crores of people in the world. Jesus wants all of them to be forgiven. But they don't believe. They think, I've got to burn a candle or I've got to jump in a river, I've got to do this to get my sins forgiven.

No, the Lord says, you can do nothing. I can forgive you. That is how you got your sins forgiven. Not by your burning candles or going on pilgrimage somewhere. You received it freely. Now the second question.

Like I forgave your sins, I can save you from all your sins. You have an earnest desire for it. See, here there were two blind men, it says in verse 27. And supposing one of those blind men, supposing they went into the room one by one.

One blind man goes and Jesus talks to him. Because it says in verse 28, they were in a house. So the first blind man Jesus asks him, what do you want? I want my eyes to be open. Lord says, do you believe I can do this for you?

Lord, even if one eye of mine is open, that is enough. I believe you can open one eye. According to your faith, be it unto you. His one eye would have been opened. That is wonderful, it is better than being blind.

He is so excited, he runs out of the room. I am so happy, I can see now. Then the second blind man goes in. Lord says, what do you want? I want my eyes to be open. Do you believe I can do this for you?

Yes Lord, you can open both my eyes. Lord says, according to your faith, be it unto you. And both his eyes are open. And he runs out happily. And these two blind men who were blind now meet each other.

And the man with one eye open says, hey, how did you get both eyes open? I believe Jesus could open both eyes, he opened both eyes. No, no, no, you are telling a lie, that can't be. You must have been able to see a little bit in one eye, that's why.

He says, no, I was blind just like you, but I believe Jesus could open both eyes. These two people have an argument now. Does Jesus open one eye or two eyes? So one man goes around preaching, Jesus opens one eye, the other man goes around preaching, Jesus opens both eyes.

That is what is happening in Christianity today. There are two things we need, like two eyes, which are blind. One, forgiveness of sins. Second, victory over sin. You come to Jesus, what do you want me to do for you?

Lord, forgive my sin. According to your faith, be it unto you. Your sins are forgiven. One eye is open. And you run out so happy, like all of you are happy, your sins are forgiven. Another person goes and says, Lord, I also want victory over sin.

I am not happy with only forgiveness. I don't want only one eye open, I want both eyes. Lord says, according to your faith, be it unto you. He gets victory, not only he gets forgiveness, he gets victory too.

Just like these one eye open and two eyes open people. Today in Christianity, we have many millions of people who say Jesus forgives our sin, that's all. Victory and all will only be afterwards when we go to heaven.

He will open the second eye only when you go to heaven. But the other very small group of people say, no, he gives us victory now. Because that is his name. Jesus means he will save me from my sins, not just forgive my sins.

Grace as Both Forgiveness and Freedom from Sin’s Power

And that is the meaning of the word grace. Because he says, I read in Romans 6 .14, we need to understand what grace is. Before we go there, let's look at the first eye being open. Romans 3 .23, all have sinned.

Everybody has got both eyes blind. So by grace, verse 24, he declares us righteous. How does he declare us righteous? He doesn't say, oh well, I love you so much, I'll just forgive your sin, it's okay.

So he can't forgive us without punishing. So let me give an example. Supposing I am sitting, supposing a judge is sitting in the court. A judge is sitting in the court. And his own son is coming as a criminal.

He has robbed some bank and he has to be punished now. And the punishment is one crore rupees fine. So the son says, you're my father, please forgive me, dad. And the son says, you're my father, please forgive me, dad.

And he says, no, I am not your father, but I am a judge. And he says, you have been fined one crore rupees, or if you don't pay it, you will have to go to jail. He says, I don't have ten rupees, so how will I pay you one crore?

The judge takes off his judge's robe. Comes down from his seat. Comes to his son. He takes out his checkbook. And he writes from his own money, his whole life saving, one crore rupees. And he gives it to his son and says, here's the money, go and pay your fine.

What did he do? As a judge, he punished him. As a father, he paid the punishment himself. That is what God did. Romans 3. Verse 26, last part. He was righteous and he made us righteous. How did he do that?

As a righteous judge, he must punish us. But he took the punishment himself. That is why Jesus had to die. And so, verse 24, Romans 3 .24, that is the first gift of grace. Now here is the second gift of grace.