Few Find the Way to Life - Part 2 — Zac Poonen

The Book of Life and the Authority of Scripture

Can you believe it, that I was in a city in the Gulf, where some brethren people, Plymouth brethren people there, were disturbed that I was preaching that your name can be erased from the Book of Life.

I mean it's written in Revelation chapter 3, but I don't know why they don't believe it. So they wanted to have a discussion with me and I invited me to their home. And one of those elders, there were two or three of them sitting there, asked me, do you believe that you can be saved and then you can be lost?

So I said, I'm not going to say those in my words, I will read you scripture, that's all. I won't add anything to scripture, I'll read the scripture and stop. And you tell me what it means. I mean that's the best way, so your argument is not with me, but with God's Word.

Hebrews and the Heavenly Calling of Christians

I want to give you that little bit of advice when people question you about something, just give them a scripture so that, move out of the way and let them fight with God, not with you. So I said, I want to show you from Hebrews some verses.

And immediately he said, this is a brethren elder. He said, Hebrews is not for us Christians. I got a shock. I'd never heard such a thing in my life. I mean, if some godless unbeliever said it, I can understand.

That's the first time in my life. I said, who is it for then? Hebrews, for the Hebrews. Oh, I'm not a Hebrew. I suppose I'm not a Colossian either, I'm not a Philippian. I'm not from Thessalonica. I'm not a Roman.

That's hardly anything left in the Bible for me. I was absolutely surprised. I mean, you wouldn't believe it. I mean, if I had heard that story from somebody else, I'd have thought, yeah, maybe he didn't hear it right.

But I've got very sharp hearing. And he was sitting right there. I said, why don't you cut it out of the New Testament? Why do you keep it? He said, it was for the Jews. Anyway, but you know what the Bible says in Hebrews 3 .1.

Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and the high priest of our confession. That's no Jew. No Jew accepts Jesus as his high priest. You know that. Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling.

Who's that? The Jews had an earthly calling. It's so clear. But if you want to be blind to it, you'll be blind. Now the reason why so many people can go around fooling many believers today is because many, many believers today don't know the Bible.

Knowing the Bible Rather Than Assuming Knowledge

How many of you sitting here seriously go through the Bible? I'll tell you honestly, I think a lot of people in CFC do not seriously go through the Bible. There's a CD of mine called Through the Bible in 70 Hours, which was produced six and a half years ago.

And CFC people were the first people to know about it. Do you know that my guess is 90 of people here have never listened to it. I've heard in different countries, people say, Brother Zach, I've gone through it twice.

In many countries in the world, they have valued God's Word. But we have got so much of it. We say, we know. We're specialists. You know, that's why we find, I'll tell you honestly, we are now finding brothers and sisters from other churches who are much more spiritual than brothers and sisters in CFC.

How did that happen? How can you have such good doctrine and not become more spiritual than some of these other people? It astounds me. I've actually seen such people and it really amazes me. Now I believe the reason is there's a certain amount of haughtiness and pride that has come into people in CFC because we think we're better.

The Danger of Religious Pride

We think we know more. There are many ways in which we can be proud. It could be because we have Bible knowledge or we are associated with a church which has got a good name or something like that. You know, like the Jews said, we've got Abraham for our father.

John the Baptist said, that doesn't mean anything if Abraham is your father. We can, in the same way, we belong to CFC, we can say. It's just like saying we've got Abraham for our father. So what? It doesn't mean anything.

John the Baptist said, the stones can be better than you. So we've got to be very careful. God gives his grace to the humble. And I'll tell you, there are many marks of humility. Essentially humility is before God.

Humility Expressed Through Fellowship with the Lowly

But if you have low thoughts about yourself, one mark of humility will be that you seek fellowship with lowly people. CFC has got some highly educated people and thankfully CFC has got some lowly people who are not so educated, not so cultured.

And if you are a humble person, you will seek fellowship with them. I asked, I found out rather from one of the poorest sisters in our church. I said, do some of these educated sisters speak to you? She said, no.

They haven't spoken to me for two years. Can you imagine? Now if that sister was a highly educated sister, all of you would have spoken to her. You ask yourself whether you have spoken to some of these lowly brothers and sisters in this church.

When was the last time you just spoke to them? Even on a Sunday. It could be years. Do you realize how haughty you are? You know, you may think you have grace. You don't have it. I'll tell you the truth.

Some of you young brothers, you came from very poor families, but you seek for fellowship only with the rich and the educated. You may be very zealous, but I can see there's not much grace upon your life.

You may be doing well in your profession, get good jobs and all that. It counts for garbage in God's eyes. I would exhort you to be lowly minded. I have been tremendously enriched in my life. I'm as educated as most of you, but I've been so tremendously enriched in my life.

My fellowship with very, very lowly people who are not so educated, who are not so cultured, who are not so capable. I'll tell you honestly, my salvation is when I go down to the villages of Tamil Nadu and escape the sophistication of Bangalore.

It brings me down to earth. It helps me to fellowship with people who are not sophisticated and highly educated and talk at high levels and talk about this thing and that thing, the latest thing. They don't know about all the things you can talk about and they talk about the Lord and it blesses my heart.

And that's preserved me through 32 years that I've received the grace of God. I'll tell you honestly, I fear for a number of you because I don't feel you have that spirit. So be careful. That's all I can say.

I say to you as a father. It says in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 16, see that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau who sold his birthright for a single mean. He made a decision in his life as a young man.

Esau’s Birthright and the Folly of Immediate Satisfaction

I want this. I don't care for the birthright. That's in the future. When is it going to come? I don't know, many years. And in any case, the birthright is a sort of invisible thing. This bowl of soup is what I need right now.

Satisfaction for my body. That's what I need right now.