Learning How to Make Progress in Christian Life — Zac Poonen

Christianity of the Heart Rather Than the Head

So, I'm very happy to be here and meet all of you dear brothers and sisters. There are so many churches among Christians. And most of them, they feel, we are right, others are wrong. Even in Jesus' time, there were the Pharisees and Sadducees and other groups.

They all thought they were right. But Jesus was against all of them. Because of one fundamental difference. There's a Christianity of the head and there's a Christianity of the heart. Christianity of the head is when we argue about doctrines.

And we fellowship on the basis of doctrine. For example, we say you must believe God is a trinity. The devil believes that. Jesus Christ is the son of God. The devil believes that. Jesus died for the sins of the world and rose again.

The devil believes that. Christ is coming back. The devil believes that. So, you can have the devil also as a member of your denomination. If it is fellowship of the head, of the mind. But Christ came to bring a heart relationship with him and with one another.

And that's only possible through the Holy Spirit. That's why in the Old Testament they couldn't have this type of relationship. You can agree everything in your mind and still two people can't become one.

You can agree everything in your mind and still two people can't become one. Even in churches where they all agree with the same doctrine. It's very difficult for two people to become one. And that's only possible if the Holy Spirit does a work in our heart.

First of all, he has to show us the glory of Jesus' humility. If we don't see that, we cannot make any progress. All the problems that arise among Christians is due to fundamentally one reason. People are not humble.

Humility is not a matter of the head, it's a matter of the heart. And God reveals things to humble people that other people just don't see. See, there are two verses where Jesus spoke about possessing God's kingdom.

See, there are two verses where Jesus spoke about possessing God's kingdom. The first is in Matthew 5, verse 3. In the Old Testament, God gave ten commandments to Moses. That's what we called the law.

Ten commandments with the Sermon on the Mount. So if you follow Matthew 5, 6 and 7, you don't need those ten commandments. Because the ten commandments only prevented people from committing sin on the outside.

For example, don't commit adultery. Don't kill. Don't steal. Don't tell lies. It's all on the outside. If you do it, you'll be punished. But Jesus came and said, I'm trying to tell you how you can do this on the inside.

And if you do it on the inside, if you obey the inside, then you'll never do a mistake on the outside. So the Sermon on the Mount is a very, very important teaching. It's the main teaching in the New Testament.

And when you get time, you read Matthew 5, 6 and 7 very carefully. Most Christians do not read it or obey it. How does it begin? Verse 3, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

To be poor in spirit means I don't consider myself to be better than anybody else. I take a lower place. I live in dependence upon God every day. We can use an example from poor in the body. You may not see so many people poor in the body in France, but we see so many in India like that.

There are so many poor people who sleep on the streets in India. They are poor. They come to your house and knock and say, please give me some money. And they spend it that day, next day again they'll come.

Their need is every day. They have no savings, no bank account, no salary, no job. They are beggars. Every day they will come to people's house and say, I'm in need, please help me. So if you ask them, where is the money I gave you yesterday?

I just finished yesterday. I need again today. And I will need again tomorrow. So I'll keep on coming. There we learn a picture of how we should be poor in spirit. Don't you think it would be a very humbling thing for any of you if you had to keep on going to somebody's house every day and asking for money?

Think if you had to go to any brother's house here and every day ask him for some money. I need help, I need help. Every day. Then there's something about pride that says I can't do that. But we shouldn't be like that towards God.

To be poor in spirit means every day I go to God like that beggar and say Lord I'm needy. When I was first born again 55 years ago, I didn't understand this. I studied the Bible and I thought I was living a good life.

I wasn't committing any serious sin. But I couldn't possess God's kingdom. It says the poor in spirit could possess God's kingdom. And it's very easy to find out whether you possess God's kingdom. What is God's kingdom?

Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit

Let me show you a verse in Romans 14 and 17. Romans 14 and verse 17. It says here the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So here's how you know whether you've got the kingdom of God or not.

First of all you have righteousness in every area of your life. You have purity in your thoughts, in your words, in the way you behave. Total purity. Not a purity before people. See this is the difference between the Pharisees and Jesus.

Jesus told the Pharisees you clean the outside of the cup. But the inside is all dirty. You know when we drink tea or anything, it's the inside of the cup that's more important than the outside of the cup.

I go to the villages in India and sometimes they offer me tea in a dirty cup. Dirty on the outside. But they will be very careful that it's clean on the inside. Because nobody pours tea into a dirty cup.

Not even poor people. So it doesn't bother me if the outside of the cup is dirty. The inside must be clean. So that is the difference between the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisees, their outside looks very clean.

Inside was dirty. Jesus was inside and outside was clean. So that is the difference between the two. So if your outside is clean and inside is dirty, you are actually a Pharisee whether you know it or not.

Most Christians who sit in most churches are Pharisees. Why do I say that? Because their outside looks much holier than the inside. Their public life looks more holier than their private life. So such people are Pharisees even if they call themselves Christians.

The real followers of Jesus in every church are those whose inside is clean. Whose private life is clean. So that is righteousness. The second thing in the kingdom of God here is peace in the Holy Spirit.

If I possess God's kingdom, one thing that will happen to be true more and more in my life is the peace of God. I will not have worry and anxiety in my heart. Worry and anxiety are in the kingdom of the devil, not the kingdom of God.

And I will have peace with people. Nobody will be able to fight with me. Because I am not going to fight back. Because I am not going to respond to their quarrel. I will fight for the truth of God's word but not for my rights.

We must be known as people of peace. But that has to begin with peace in the heart. You cannot produce it. It says peace in the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can produce. And the third is joy in the Holy Spirit.

That means no grumbling or complaining at any time. Always, always the joy of the Lord. Now many people say that is impossible. To live such a life. Why is it impossible? Because people are not poor in spirit.

They don't live in dependence upon God the whole time. They say Lord I need, I need, I need from you all the time. So, Matthew 5 .3. Remember that. Only the poor in spirit can possess this kingdom that I just spoke about.

Childlike Humility and Conversion

The other is another verse in Matthew which is Matthew 18. In Matthew 18. In verse 4. Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. If you want to know who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven in this room.

It will be the youngest person. A baby for example. He's got more of the spirit of God's kingdom than anybody. Because he's got humility Jesus said. You look inside a little baby's mind. He's not thinking how smart I am or how clever I am.

When we grow up we begin to think like that. So much of the devil gets inside us. We deceive others and try to fool others. But when we are really converted. Many people say how do I know I'm converted?

Here it is in verse 3. In Matthew 18 verse 3. When you're converted you become like a little child. So I say you're not really converted if you haven't become like a little child before God. The great tragedy in Christian churches today is they don't teach people how to become like little children.

I don't mean little children in the head. In the heart. See when it comes to the head. In 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 20. It tells us. Brothers. Don't be children in your thinking. In your head.

Don't think like a child. Think like a mature adult. But in evil. Be like a baby. Think of a little baby. It's not thinking any evil. It's not doing any evil. It's not speaking any evil. So in our understanding we must really understand God's word well in our mind.

We must be so clear that nobody can shake us. But in our heart. We must be like little children. See a little child has got the purest heart among all of us. A little child is not thinking evil of anybody.

It's not proud of itself. Jesus said in God's kingdom that is the greatest. It's not cleverness. So the kingdom of God values are so different from the kingdom of this earth. Now before we are born again all our values are earthly values.

But when we come into God's kingdom. God wants to change those values and make them his values. And those are the values of a little child. Primarily humility. Let me show you another verse Matthew 11.

And verse 25. Why is it so many clever people have so many different interpretations of the bible? Because God hides the truth from clever people. See Matthew 11 .25. Jesus said. I praise you father, lord of heaven and earth.

You have hidden these things from the clever and intelligent and revealed them to me. If you come to God with your cleverness and intelligence and you are proud of it. You will never understand God. You have to come with the humility of a little baby.

Now almost all of us are quite intelligent people. The fact that you can get a job and work somewhere proves you are intelligent. Now that's good, that's very good for earthly jobs. The more intelligent you are, the better a job you can get in the world.

But in God's kingdom. That is no use. You must be like a baby for God to reveal his truth to you. And that's where Christians make a mistake. The same mind they use to do their worldly work, they try to study the bible with that.

And so you have these 10 ,000 denominations. Because they are using their head. So I learned it like this. I say lord in all the work in the world, I have used my head and my intelligence. The more I use it, the more I can do my better work in the world.

Whatever work you are doing. A secular job, whatever it is. The cleverer you are, the better you can do it. But when I come to God's word. I have to say lord, my cleverness is no use here. I will get a wrong understanding of your word if I come with my cleverness.

I want to come to your book with humility. So I want to say, just like in the world, the cleverer you are, the more you can understand worldly things. The humbler you are, the more you will understand scripture.

Remember that. Who will understand the bible best among all of you here? Not the cleverest person. He will understand the bible better than you. He will not understand. The humblest person. Those are Jesus' own words.

God reveals them to babes and babes have got one quality of humility. So you find that always Jesus was stressing this humility. And so, go to verse 28 now. Or 29. Say Matthew 11, 29. After saying that only children can understand.

Those who are humble like children will get revelation from God. He says in verse 27. No one, the middle of that verse. Let's read the beginning. No one knows the son, that is Jesus, except the father.

Nor does anyone know the father except the son. Anyone whom the son reveals him. See that word reveal. That comes in verse 25 also. It's revealed to babes. So if you want to know God is your father, you must be humble.

If you want to know Jesus personally, you got to be humble. That is the secret. The whole Christian life, progress depends on knowing Jesus and knowing the father. And so he says in verse 29. In the middle of that verse.

He says learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart. You read the gospels anywhere and see what all Jesus told us to learn from him. He never told us to learn from him how to preach or how to sing.

Or how to do God's work. Do you know there are only two things that Jesus said we must learn from him? And those are the two things that most Christians do not learn from him. Do you know what those two things are?

Here. Gentleness and humility. We are all born of Adam. We have these two opposite qualities to these two qualities. All children of Adam, you and I. We are basically hard and proud. Our heart is like a rock.

And proud. We are very stubborn. We want to have our own way. Jesus said learn from me. I am gentle. I am not hard. I am humble. That means he was never offended by what people said or did to him. If people call you a bad name, he says, OK, you are forgiven.

Forgiveness, Rebuke, and Repentance

Do you find it difficult to forgive people who have harmed you? That is one indication of a hard heart. What somebody did to you was wrong. But the Lord says forgive. Sometimes it is very difficult. But Jesus said forgive.

Particularly if they are unbelievers. You know, there is a difference between an unbeliever sinning against us and a believer sinning against us. You go to the next chapter. Matthew 12. Jesus healed a demon-possessed person in verse 22.

And everybody said, oh, this is the son of David. But the Pharisees were jealous. And they called him, verse 24, Beelzebul, the ruler of demons. How would you react if somebody called you a demon-possessed person?

How would you react if somebody called you the devil? Somebody said, you are the prince of devils. What will your reaction be? If you are a really good person, you may keep quiet. But Jesus did more than that.

He not only kept quiet. He said to them in verse 32, you are forgiven. They did not repent of their sin. The Pharisees spoke an evil word, did not repent, and Jesus forgave them. When an unbeliever does something to you and does not repent, you got to forgive him.

Look at the worst evil that they did. What was that? They killed him. They put him on a cross. That is the worst evil that anybody can do to another person. In all the 6 ,000 years of man's history, the worst sin ever committed was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

There was no worse sin than anybody ever did. And Jesus forgave it. Teaching us that the worst sin that any unbeliever does to you, you must forgive immediately. But when a believer commits a sin, it is not the same.

Many people do not know that. The Pharisees and people who killed Jesus were all unbelievers. Immediately, forgive. But when a believer commits a sin, see Luke 17. This is a verse that most believers do not even know.

They never read it. These are the words of Jesus. Luke 17. Be on your guard. If your brother, not an unbeliever, your brother sins, you must rebuke him. Jesus never rebuked the Pharisees or those who killed him because they were not his brothers.

But if it is your brother who sins, do not keep quiet. If it is your sister who sins, keep quiet. Rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. And verse 4, if he sins against you seven times in a single day, and comes to you seven times in the day saying, I repent, then forgive him.

What if he does not repent? Suppose your brother sins against you and he doesn't repent. I haven't done anything wrong. Please answer this question. What did Jesus teach? Are you supposed to forgive him or not?

I'll give you a very surprising answer. You must not forgive him. And you will say, why? I say because Jesus commanded me to forgive him only when he repents. If you forgive him, you are trying to be more spiritual than Jesus Christ.

That is arrogance to think you are more spiritual than Jesus Christ. People may misunderstand you. When you obey God's word, most people will misunderstand you. Because they don't know God's ways. They know only Adam's ways.

Do you see the difference? The difference between an unbeliever sinning against you and a believer sinning against you? If you forgive a believer before he repents, you are treating him like an unbeliever.

I say, you are an unbeliever, so I forgive you. But he is not an unbeliever. He is a believer. And Jesus said, if your brother sins, rebuke him. If an unbeliever sins, don't rebuke him. Why did he make a rule like that?

That is seven times he repeated it. Seven times he sins, he must repent seven times. Supposing he sins seven times in a day. And he asks forgiveness six times. What should he do? I won't forgive. Because I obeyed Jesus Christ.

Do you see how so many of our ideas are so different from the ideas of Jesus? Why is this important? Because when a brother sins against you, he is guilty before God. And if you forgive him, he will die like that and go to hell.

Because he is not repentant of that sin. But if you rebuke him and tell him I am not going to forgive you, he will wake up and he will save his soul so that you save him from hell. I want to save him from going to hell.

So I say that sin, you must set it right. Many people say we must just be nice and forgive them. Be nice and forgive them and let them go to hell. I don't do that. I say I am more interested in saving that person's soul than his thinking I am a very gentle person.

I am just giving you some examples to show you that the values of God's kingdom are very different from our values. You look at the life of Jesus, there is a perfect demonstration of the values of God's kingdom.

Living as the Body of Christ

Perfect. Why do I say that? Because you know, when we are a church here, we are saying we are the body of Jesus Christ. And I want to ask you, do you recognize that you are a part of the body of Jesus Christ?

That when you speak, you must really seek more and more to speak like Jesus Christ. In your thinking, you must try your best to think more and more like Jesus Christ. In your private life which other people in this church cannot see, you must really seek to live like Jesus Christ.

I am telling you what I have made a goal in my life. Most of you don't know anything about my private life. You don't know how I spend my money. You don't know the thoughts in my head. You don't know how I talk to my wife.

You don't know how I live at home. 99 of my life you don't know. I am more interested in that 99 which God sees than in the 1 that you can see. Because when you talk about the 1 that you see, I will tell you honestly, I don't really care for your opinion at all.

Because you don't know me. What is the use of your opinion? You can see only 1 of my life. I am interested in God's opinion who can see all of my life. You know, even the devil's opinion is more important than man's opinion.

Do you believe that? That Satan's opinion about you is more important than all your fellow believers' opinion about you. Because Satan knows all about my private life. He knows all about how I am handling money which you don't know.

He knows how you behave in your office. He knows how you behave in public with other people. He knows how you behave when you travel in a train. When people are selfish around you. Other people in the church don't see it but the devil sees it.

So let me ask you, what does the devil think about your Christianity? Does the devil have a high opinion of your Christianity? There were some people who tried to cast out a demon once you read Acts chapter 19.

Acts chapter 19. The devil says there are seven sons of Sceva, verse 14. And in verse 14 it says there are the seven daughters of Sceva. They tried to cast out a demon by saying in verse 13 In the name of Jesus I lead you by Jesus that Paul preached.

Do you know what the evil spirit said? It's very interesting. In verse 15 Jesus I know Paul I know. But who are you? Why did he say that? He's saying I know all about Jesus' private life. I have no power over him.

I know all about Paul's private life. I have no power over him. But you fellows all seven of you I know all about your private life. But you have no power over me. I have thought about that verse. Does the devil say to me Zach put it you have no power over me.

Because I know all about your private life. I never want the devil to say that. The devil was afraid of Jesus Christ. And I say Lord the devil must be afraid of me. That's my goal. That's why I want my private life to be so upright that the devil is scared of me.

The devil is not scared of my private. The devil is not afraid of wise people. He is afraid of humble people. He is afraid of pure people. If you have humility and you have purity the devil will run away from you.

In James in chapter 4 and verse 7 it's an amazing verse. Submit to God and resist the devil he will run away from you completely. I don't know how it is in the French but the word flee is a very strong word.

It's not just quietly going away. It's like scared running away. You know it's like a little insect you stamp your foot and it just runs away. Do you want the devil to be like that towards you? I really wanted that.

Do you know something that in the Old Testament nobody could scare the devil away? That's why you read the whole Old Testament Genesis to Malachi. Nobody could fight the devil. Nobody could make the devil flee away.

The first person who made the devil flee was Jesus Christ. In the last temptation in the wilderness Jesus said get away Satan. In the last temptation in the wilderness he said get away from me Satan. And the devil left him.

Have you ever seen the authority there? The devil tempted him. He said get away Satan. The devil fled. You say oh that was Jesus Christ. But see it says in 1 John 4 1 John 4 verse 17 If you are a serious Christian you must know this verse.

I know this verse has blessed me for many, many, many years. 1 John 4 verse 17 The last part. As Jesus is so are we in this world. Read that slowly because we don't think about it enough. 1 John 4 verse 17 the last part.

As Jesus is so are we in this world. Now make it personal. As Jesus is so am I in this world. Tell me one thing. Was the devil scared of Jesus or was Jesus scared of the devil? Was there ever a time when Jesus was afraid of the devil?

The devil was afraid of Jesus. I can picture this in my mind. We read that once when Jesus was preaching in a synagogue. One demon possessed person began to cry out. Why are you here son of God? They got disturbed when Jesus came.

That man had been sitting in that synagogue for so many years. And all the Pharisees were preaching there. The demon was quite happy he was sitting there. The demons are very happy with a lot of preaching in many churches today.

But when Jesus came he was really disturbed. I picture this in my mind like this. Whenever Jesus was coming to town the demon would say oh he's coming here he's coming here. As Jesus is so are we. Do you want to be like that?

Do you want to be a person who makes the devil scared? When you come to a town or you come to a house the devil is scared. I say Lord with all my heart I want to be like that. 1 John 4 .17 that's why.

That is the church. Today the church is the body of Christ. So if we are really the body of Christ here then the devil must be scared of us. But so many churches are so powerless. My brothers and sisters we must have the authority of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Authority Over the Devil Through Faith

We come across a number of demon possessed people in India. One verse that really helped me was this. Matthew chapter 8 and verse 16. The last part. They brought to him many who were demon possessed and listen to the statement.

He cast out the spirits with a word. Did you read that? He cast out the evil spirits with one word. Get out. Gone. He didn't have to repeat it. I have seen so many Pentecostal charismatic people trying to cast out demons.

They shout and they scream. Pray for half an hour. They put the Bible on top of that man. It's all stupidity. That's not how Jesus did it. One word. Gone. Do you believe that? He cast out the demons with a word.

Apply that to yourself. As Jesus is so are we in this world. You say that's impossible. You say that's impossible. It will be impossible for you. Because that is your faith. But another brother says it's possible.

And Jesus says according to your faith. It will be possible for them. Do you know that many believers are experiencing what you are never experiencing? Not because they are better than you. They believe God's word.

They believe in God. And you don't believe. So when I read this verse I said Lord I want to be like this. You can say it also. And if I meet a demon possessed person I'm never going to shout. I'm never going to say it twice.

The demon must go with one command. In the name of Jesus Christ get out. And it's gone. And I have experienced that every single time till today. Not because I am anybody. I just believe God's word. You can do it.

You believe God's word. You know how much you are missing by not believing God's word. Supposing a student in college he has to pay his fees. And his father calls him up and says son I have put one thousand euros into your account.

Write a check and give it to the bank and give it to the college. If he trusts his father he will not go and check up the bank account. He will straight away write it. He says my father speaks the truth.

He doesn't trust the father. He says I must go and check the account see if it is there. When Jesus says something I don't have to check whether it works or not. I believe. Many of us are not experiencing what the Bible says because we don't believe.

I want to encourage you learn to believe God's word. So much of our life we are missing out on the best. Sometimes I you know I use my imagination to think like this. You know how all of us in our unconverted days we have used our imagination to think of a lot of bad things.

Now that we are born again we are used to think bad things of other believers. Why not use our imagination to think of some good things. So one of the things I use my imagination to think of is the following.

Cleansing the Inner Life and Pursuing Holiness

I say supposing Jesus Christ is coming right now. The trumpet and he's come. And I'm caught up to meet him in the air and he comes down to earth and he sets his throne and he says now I'm going to judge everybody.

My turn comes he calls my name and I come and stand before him. In my imagination I'm standing before Jesus Christ and he's judging my life. And I say I think is there anything in my life that becomes right now.

Lord I want to set it right. I've done this many many times in my life. And like that I've cleansed my inner life. See 2nd Corinthians 7 and verse 1. 2nd Corinthians 7 verse 1. It says first of all having these promises first statement is therefore having these promises.

What is the promise? Verse 16 the middle of that verse I will dwell in them and walk among them I'll be their God they shall be my people. Chapter 3 verse 16. Sorry chapter 6 verse 16. The middle of that verse.

I will dwell in them walk in them I'll be their God they'll be my people. Verse 18 I'll be a father to you and you'll be my sons and daughters as you are almighty. Imagine having the almighty God as my father.

That is better than having the president of any country as your father. And then it says brethren verse 7 having such wonderful promises what should we do? Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

There is so little fear of God among Christians nowadays. There are plenty of money but very little fear of God. The only way you can cleanse yourself is if you have fear of God. If you have fear of man you will cleanse 1 of your life.

That's all they can see. If you have fear of God you'll cleanse 100 of your life. That's why it says here let's cleanse ourselves from 100 of our flesh and spirit. What is the meaning of all defilement?

That's like saying 100 Are you doing that? Are you cleansing yourself from 100 defilement of your spirit and your flesh? Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. That's the picture I get. When I stand before Jesus supposing He were to come suddenly and I stand before Him and He's judging me He should be able to find nothing in me because I've confessed everything and asked Him to cleanse me and not only cleanse me but ask Him to deliver me from these habits.

Now just imagine all of you sitting here part of this church everyone if you cleanse yourself every day from 100 of the filthiness of the flesh and spirit that means outward sins and inward sins. I want a perfect holiness in the fear of God.

The Church's Mission: Crushing Satan and Living in Victory

Can you imagine what a church this will be? You are more people than the church of Jesus. Jesus had only 12 people in this church. A lot more than that here. But those 12 people what an impact they had on the world.

One man can have an impact in the world. I believe that. For example if you take just one man Paul. Take him out of the Bible. How much of the New Testament is left just by taking one man out? How much one man could do for God?

Because he was completely sold out for God. You must my brothers and sisters you must seek to be like that. God is looking for all over the city for people who are like that. And how delighted he is when he finds one man one woman like that.

You will learn humility from him. And God gives grace to the humble. And you see the purpose of the church we read in Romans chapter 16. Why has God gathered you all together as a little church here? Not just to sing songs and listen to messages.