The Church is the Light of the World Today — Zac Poonen

The Church’s Calling to Bear a Pure Testimony

It's very important as a church to recognize what is the specific calling God has given to us. See many people ask, ask me, why don't you guys do more evangelism, that means visiting the prisons and the hospitals and on the streets.

I started out my Christian life doing a lot of that and I found very little result. And I find that that's not the way Jesus and the apostles did their work. And particularly in a country like India with 98 non-Christian and 1000 million people, I found all the work that so many ways in which missionaries and evangelists have come particularly from America to India with all their money, it's not produced a pure testimony in many places.

A lot of people call themselves Christians, but the testimony is so poor that I have felt that it would have been better if there were less Christians with a purer testimony. So that's what convinced me after trying all the other methods for many years, that the most important thing God requires is a pure testimony for Him.

Not a multitude of compromising testimonies, but one pure testimony for Christ in a city can accomplish more than 10 ,000 compromising Christian groups. I don't know whether you believe it, I believe it with all my heart because I've tried the other methods.

Some of you haven't tried it, so if you want you can experiment with it and discover through failures as I did for many years. That's not the way. In fact, if you follow scripture and follow what the apostles did, you'll never try any other method.

And because the purpose of the Christian church is to be a witness for Christ, you know like a light, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Everybody knows that. But like I've often said, today Jesus tells the church to be the light of the world.

He turned around to the disciples, you know, if you don't know that verse, it's in Matthew 5 and verse 14, you are the light of the world. That's what he told his disciples. And that light must not be dimmed in any way by sin or compromise.

And he also said in John chapter 9 and verse 5, while I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world. Very important to see that. So don't contradict the words of Jesus and say he's the light of the world today.

He is not. And I would say, people may call that blasphemy, but I say a lot of things that upset people because they don't know the Bible. I said, do you believe those words of Jesus? That he was the light of the world only while I was in the world?

I believe it. That's why I say that. And if you say, then who's the light of the world today? I say the church. He told his disciples, you are the light of the world. And it's because we want to evade that responsibility because of our compromise and our sin that we say, oh, don't look at me, look at Jesus.

You know, the apostles never said that. The apostles always said, follow me as I follow Christ. And every true servant of God must be able to say, follow me as I follow Christ. If he cannot say that, I would say he should never get up into a pulpit and preach.

He should keep his mouth shut and sit down in the congregation and listen. What's he going to say? Otherwise he should say, don't follow me. I fight with my wife at home and I do a lot of unrighteous things.

But look at Jesus. He's the light of the world. Absolute rubbish. That's not Christianity. That sounds very humble, but it's a fake humility. Paul was very clear. I want to show you two examples. I'm saying that because I believe there's such a lot of compromise and Christendom in this area.

And I've spent 45 years fighting that compromise and I'll continue till the Lord comes. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 1, be imitators or be followers of me just as I am of Christ. He's not saying he's the ultimate leader.

He says, I'm following Christ and you can follow me. It's like climbing up a mountain where Jesus has reached the top of perfection. And if there's snow, you can see his footsteps and Paul sees the footsteps and says, I'm following him.

I'm ahead of some of you guys. You can follow me. And do you know that if you've been a believer even for one year, every one of you who's been a believer at least for one year should be able to say to some people younger than you, and there are people who are less than one year in Christ, should be able to turn around to them and say, follow me as I'm following a number of other godly brothers who are following Christ.

This is Christianity. It is not just preaching a gospel, Christ died for your sins, repent and believe. No, it's more than that. It's an example by which we are supposed to lead people. You are the light of the world and it's not words.

Unfortunately, Christianity has been reduced to words. And even our witnessing very often is words. Our life must be an example. We must be able to say, you can come and live in my home. Come and live in my home for six months and see how I live with my wife, see how I handle money, see how I bring up my children.

And if he cannot say that, let's repent and say, Lord, there's something wrong with my Christianity. We're just talking words. And I believe there are a number of people in CFC churches who are like that, who are not doing anything about it.

If they're doing something about it, that's great. That means their repentance going on and judging themselves, then it's wonderful. I'm not talking about perfection. I'm talking about people who keep saying, I'm imperfect, I'm imperfect, I'm imperfect and never judge themselves, but are very critical in the way they look at other people.

Following Christ Without Comparing Ourselves to Others

It's possible that some of you are critical in the way you look at other people in this church. Oh, look at that person, look at that person. And you are implying that you are better than them. Or look at that person's children and look at my children.

Aha. Of course, your children are supposed to be better, right? I'm very scared of children, parents who, some of those children will grow up to be wayward, I'll tell you. If you ever boast about your children being better than other people's children, you mark my words, your children will go astray one day and you will hang your head in shame and some of those other people whose children you despised will be ahead spiritually of your children.

So it's best not to compare ourselves with anybody or compare our children with anybody else's children. I will say that till the end of my life because I've seen the damaging results that come from that.

Our calling is to be the light of the world, to say to others, follow me as I follow Christ. That is not boasting. It's not boasting. If it is boasting, then we have to say the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to commit a sin by boasting in scripture.

Impossible. The Holy Spirit did not commit a sin when He made Paul write, be followers of me. And it's not only here. You see Philippians chapter 3, it's very important to see this dear brothers and sisters.

Philippians chapter 3, see again he says to the same thing. He said that to the Corinthians there and he says this to the Philippians. It's important to see these things in scripture so that you know it's not some fancy theory I'm preaching.

It is in the word of God. It's the Holy Spirit. It's the greatest apostle Paul who wrote all this. Philippians 3, 17, brothers join in following my example. Just think of that for a moment. He could say that to many people.

I want to ask you, can you say that to a few people? Follow my, I'm not talking about there are many people in this church who are much older than you. Okay, forget about them. But aren't there some people in this church younger than you in the Lord?

Yes. Then can you say at least to them, follow my example. That is our calling and never, never give up that calling. I'm called to be an example to others, not just to tell them the gospel. I should be able to tell them this is the gospel.

It works in my life. I'm offering them a medicine that healed me, not a medicine that has not healed me. Follow my example. And Paul doesn't boast saying I'm the only one. No. He says and look carefully, verse 17, at those others who are also walking according to the same pattern.

So you find another guy like that, you can follow him too, not just me. This is the Christianity we need in this church. Number of brothers, even if it's a few, who are growing up to be able to say, not in a boastful way, but brothers, I'm not perfect, I'm a long way to go.

But I've discovered something in the last few years I've been here in this church that's completely changed my life from what the Christianity I had before. And therefore I can say in the short period that I've found this change, you can follow my example.

The earlier part of my own Christian life, I could not say to people, follow my example, even when I could preach. And I know that many, many preachers cannot say, follow me. I've hardly ever in my life heard a preacher say, follow me as I follow Christ.

I say it boldly. Please come and examine my finances, come and see every aspect of my life, come and see how I live at home, come and see how I speak to my wife, come and see how I bring up my children, come and see.

I'm not perfect, but I would say I'm seeking to follow Paul, I'm seeking to follow Christ and you can follow me. If you're ahead of me, go ahead. Fine. You don't have to follow me. But if you haven't come as far as I've come, follow me.

That's all I say. And many of us should be able to take this challenge and say, Lord, I want this. This is true Christianity. This is to be the light of the world. And in order to be this, I find it's very, very important to ask God to give us light.

Seeing Light Through the Holy Spirit

See, there's a beautiful verse in the Psalms, which I think about often. It's in…. I think it's in Psalm 36, yeah, Psalm 36 and verse 9. In the last part of that verse says, Lord, in Your light, we will see light.

So the only way I can become a light is if I first see light in the light of the Lord. Not knowledge. You remember I spoke the other day about the difference between the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life.

God is light. God is life. And that is where we get our life and light from. Not from knowledge. Not from just understanding the Bible. In Your light, we will see light. In even in reading the scripture, as I've often said, the Pharisees knew the scripture so well, but they had no light.

And in one… second Corinthians 3 says, it's like having a veil on top of your Bible when you read it and you can't understand anything. But when you turn to the Holy Spirit, that veil is taken away and you suddenly get light on these passages.

I remember when God filled me with the Holy Spirit 45 years ago, I said, Lord, if this is really genuine, if this is not just a fake experience, if this is genuine, the Bible, which I've already studied for 16 years by that time, will become another book for me.

I will see things in this Bible that I've never seen before, if I'm really filled with the Holy Spirit. And I'll tell you, from that day onwards till today, God's always been showing me new things that I never could understand with my intellect.

It's good to study the Bible with your intellect, but it won't make you spiritual. Because there's a veil over the Word of God, when you turn to the Holy Spirit and make him Lord of your life, it says in 2 Corinthians 3, then the veil is taken away and I get light.

I get light on the meaning of a word and that word shows me light on myself. Because in your light, we see light. It's a great verse, Psalm 36, 9. I want to ask you if you're experiencing that when you read the Bible.

Think of Psalm 36, verse 9, when you read the Bible. In your light, we see light. It says even about Jesus, it is written like that in Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, this verse, verse 7. The Lord Jesus says, Behold, I have come.

In the scroll of the book, that is the Bible of those days, it is written about me. And I've come to do your will, O God. That's a wonderful way to read the scriptures. Lord, when I open the scriptures in the scroll of this book, it's written about me.

It's showing me my condition. It's the same thing which we saw earlier. In your light, we see light. Now, if I read the Bible and I don't see anything that is written for me and I don't get light on, like then, I have to say, I'm not getting the light of the Holy Spirit.

I'm just easing my conscience saying, I read my Bible today. You might as well not have read it. It must be like this, at least from now on, dear brothers, let me encourage you. Say, Lord, in your light, I must see light.

I'll tell you, it is not a question of how long you spend in it. There are times you can get light on it in one minute of reading the Bible, believe me. It all depends on your heart attitude. And there are other times when you can read and read and read and all you got is a lot of knowledge.

And if you're not getting light, as when you're in God's light, you're not getting light. It means you're not in God's light and God's light will always get light. And I want to encourage you to revolutionize your Bible reading so that it becomes light for you and not just information.

Because that's what will change your life and thereby you can be a blessing in this church even if you're not actively participating in Sunday school or teaching or sharing or anything. You can be a tremendous light.

I've always believed this, that if a person is a really godly person and filled with the Holy Spirit and he can sit in a meeting right at the back and he can influence the meeting without opening his mouth, I'm absolutely convinced about it.

Because he's such a powerful God sitting there. It's like saying if somebody is shining a bright flashlight out there at the back, can all of you be ignorant of it? Impossible. Spiritually, it's something like that.

And it's a tremendous thing to be like that, to say, Lord, I want to be a person like that. I want to be a person with so much light that has come into me through the years as I've meditated on your word and in your light, I've seen light on myself and I've judged myself.

Judging Sin by the Light of Christ

See, when we get light on ourselves, what happens is, I'll tell you my own experience. Many times, sometimes it's through the word, sometimes it's when I'm not even reading the word, that God flashes something I've read into my mind.

See, a lot of the early Christians never had a Bible, but something they heard in a meeting, they read some letter of Paul's that was read, they never had a copy of it, but they reminded, the Holy Spirit reminded them and they got light.

And that's been my experience many times, and I hope it will be yours, that when we get light and I say, Oh, Lord, I see something there. I see something there that is not, what do I see? Something that's not Christ-like, not what the world calls sin.

There are a lot of things the world does not call sin, which I call sin because it is not like Christ. It is not what I could do in fellowship with Jesus. It's something I'm doing, which I cannot do in fellowship with Jesus.

That's sin. Or something I said to somebody, maybe your wife, husband, anybody, which I could not say if Jesus was standing right there. I would not say that. That is what I mean by getting light. In your light, I get light.

And if you judge yourself like this, or, you know, in handling money, there's something I, I cannot sign that statement. If Jesus is sitting there watching me sign it, is that true what you're signing?

Many things like this, in your light, we get light. And if I get light, I say, I want to judge myself. I remember once a brother came to me once in India. He's a real good brother in the church, and he was going in for some sale document, and he wanted me to sign as a witness.

And I looked through it and I say, yeah, I can't see anything wrong in this, obviously, but I've got a little hesitation. And something seems a bit fishy here. So excuse me, you can go ahead and I will not say there's something unrighteous in the sale.

If you feel free about it, go ahead. But I do not feel free to sign it. And so he had so much respect for me that he dropped it. He says, Brother Zak, don't sign it. I don't want it. And God gave him something better instead.

So it's a wonderful thing to be sensitive to the light God gives you. It's not the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because the tree of knowledge of good and evil, if I'd looked at that document, so it's perfectly OK.

But the tree of life said, hey, something's wrong. And that inner witness is the voice of the Holy Spirit. They never had it in the Old Testament. You read about the scribes. You know why there were so many people who had to study those 613 commandments in the Old Testament, which Moses gave?

They had to study and study and study and study because there were so many laws. And the ordinary people did not know all that. And they had to go to the scribes and say, what do I do in such and such a situation?

They would tell them, according to the letter, it never produced life in anybody. All of that was replaced by the coming of the Holy Spirit. I say, Moses went up into the mountain and brought the law of God.

Jesus went up to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit. That's the difference. They got the law and it brought them into bondage. It improved their life a little bit. And I'll tell you, you can read, you can hear the messages in the church just like Moses' law and it improved the life of the Israelites so that the Israelites were the most upright people in the whole world.

But they didn't have the life of God. And you can hear the teaching in the church and your life can be better than the life of almost all the other Christians. And you may not have the life of God just the same.

You're just a good Israelite. You've got to be really careful about this. We come here to receive the life of God. I want to repeat to you, the tree of life is what we have to sit under before. And you know the reason why people don't come to the tree of life.

We read in the book of Genesis, if you don't know it, turn back there. When God created the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, anybody could go directly to it and take it. Adam and Eve did not go.

They went to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But once Adam sinned, you could not go to the tree of life and take it. Because it says here in Genesis 3, God put some angels with flaming swords in front of the tree of life.

Not in front of the tree of knowledge. Genesis 3, 24. There were more than one cherubim means many cherubs, many angels with flaming sword going round and round the tree of life saying, if you want to partake of this tree, the sword has to fall on your life.

Then you can come. But the tree of knowledge of good and evil, no sword, nothing. You can just walk up and pluck up as many fruit as you like. You can come to a church and get umpteen amounts of knowledge without death to self at all.

Zero death to self, but plenty of knowledge. Enough knowledge to get up and preach to others. I've seen this. So many people who acquire knowledge in the Bible and through coming to the church, who listen to my messages on YouTube and preach it here and there.

And it's all death, death, death, death. Because there's no sword in it. And so they're getting some knowledge. What is proclaimed over YouTube as a tree of life, they take it and it becomes a tree of knowledge in their mouth.

And it doesn't lead people to life. Because around the tree of life, there is a sword. You cannot get life from the Lord today without some death to self in some area. It is impossible. What you're getting right now is just a lot of knowledge.

When you convert it, if you want to convert it to life, God will lead you into some situation. You got to die to yourself. Then it'll become life. Otherwise, it'll remain knowledge. It may be very accurate knowledge, but it will not be life in you.

And in a provocative situation, you will sin and you will fall into sin. You'll say, oh boy, why in the world did I fall? Well, I'll tell you all these years, you never got any life. That's how you fell.

It's not that you suddenly fell at that moment. No. All these years, you were just accumulating knowledge and suddenly you fell. You were weak all along. I want to save you from that calamity. I don't want any of you to wake up at the judgment seat of Christ and discover that all you accumulated in the years in NCCF was knowledge.

Dear brothers and sisters, beware of that. Say, Lord, at any cost, I want life. I want a life that transforms my life. I want a life that transforms my home. Transforms my relationship at home and transforms my relationship with all other people.

I don't care how many people are offended in my life. I discovered one thing that the more I began to follow the Lord, the more people got offended with me. There's a reproach connected with following Christ.

I'll tell you that. Because the world has rejected Christ and the world in which we live, even the Christian world has rejected, rejected Christ. And I'll tell you the clearest proof of it is the tremendous pursuit of money in Christendom today.

Money, Idolatry, and the Two Masters

Right down from the pastors and the bishops and preachers, that terrific pursuit of money shows that they are drifting away from God. In the olden days, before I had clear light on this, I used to say, Satan is here and God is here.

And we had to decide which way we want to go. If we want to get closer to God, we're going to move away from Satan. Everybody understands that. Today, I say money is here and God is here. And you know which way you're moving.

I don't. I know which way I'm moving. I don't know which way you're moving, but you know very clearly. It's not because you earn money, more money that you drift away from God. No, you can be the richest person in the world and love God with all your heart.

But you can be a very poor person and love money. And you don't love God at all. It's got nothing to do with your salary. It's got nothing to do with your bank account. It's got to do with what you love, what you pursue and whom you serve.

Money is here. God is here. Let me repeat that verse for the benefit of those who don't know. Luke chapter 16. Luke 16 and verse 13. Two masters, only two masters and it's not God and the devil. It's God and money.

And it's so clear here. You'll hate one and love the other or you'll be devoted to one and despise the other. So somebody asked me once, what does it mean to hate money? I said, sure, Jesus used that word in relation to your parents as well.

He used that verse in relation to your wife and children. Just two chapters earlier, if you turn to Luke 14 and verse 26, there also he used the word hate. Just the previous page. Luke 14, 26. Hate your father.

Hate your mother. Hate your wife. Hate your children. Hate your brothers. Hate your sisters. Hate your own life. Hate money. It's all in the same list. Then we understand it. You don't kick your father out or your wife out.

No, we do many good things for our parents and our wife and children. We love them, care for them. But the meaning here is that compared to our love for Christ, it's not just I love Christ more than my wife and children.

That he could have said it like that if he wanted. You got to love me more than you love your father. I don't mean a very simple way of saying it. So I used to think, why didn't Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, put it simply?

You must love me more than you love your father and mother. More than you love your wife and children. Well, that's easy to understand. Why did he say you must hate? So as I meditated on it many years ago, this is the light I got on it.

That if you think of love as the bright light of the sun, and hatred as darkness, just to use an illustration. In the darkness, we can see all those stars in the skies. And they are very bright. If you go near those stars, they are very bright.

I see them as my love for my father, my love for my mother, my love for my wife, my love for my children. They're all stars and they're not darkness, they're light. Light means love. I love my wife, love my children, love my parents.

I love my brothers, I love my sisters. But the moment the sun shines in the morning, at noon day, I look around and I can't even see these stars. Have they disappeared? Has my love for my parents and my wife and children disappeared?

No. But it's faded away into insignificance compared to love for Christ. That is the meaning of this verse. That's the best illustration I could ever find of it. I find that I understand the Bible much better when I try to find an illustration.

The same way with money. Money is like a star. Very useful. And it's not dark, it's a light. Something very useful in the world. And we all need to earn it to live, to take care of our family. But then the sun comes up and I'm not even taken up with the stars.

That's what happens. It's there. I still work hard and earn money and maybe I get an increase in my salary and get a better job and all that is excellent. But in the daylight, it's the sun that shines brightest.

I'm more conscious of the sun. I'm not even conscious of the stars. If you can understand that illustration, you'll understand what it means to hate father, to hate mother, to hate wife, to hate children, to hate your brothers, to hate your sisters, even to hate your brothers and sisters in the church and to hate money.

It's all in the same category. That's the word Jesus used. And all these things come through looking at Jesus' example. That's why the whole secret of the Christian life is looking away from everything else unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Let us run this race looking unto Jesus. That's why I have spent my life preaching that our entire life must be a study of the life of Jesus Christ, not a study of the Bible. Yes, there is light in the Bible, but only if I see Christ here.

In the Bible, the Holy Spirit shows me the light of Christ. Otherwise, I don't get anything. So, if I get the light of Christ here, then I'm drawn to him. So, I believe that the only way we can fulfill this verse in 1 John chapter 3, you know, this is our calling on earth.

Purifying Ourselves as Christ Is Pure

I've heard people tell me, you're a bunch of people who are just purifying yourself all the time. Is there no end to all that? I say, listen, you know what the Bible says I should be doing all my life?

Please turn to 1 John chapter 3 verse 3. If you have the hope of Christ's second coming, I ask Christians, do you have the hope of Christ's second coming? Everybody says yes. Well, it says here, every single person who has this hope will purify himself.

As Christ is pure, he doesn't stop until he reaches the standard of Christ's purity. So, is it a sin to purify myself? In fact, I say to you, I say, if you're not purifying yourself, you don't have the hope of Christ's second coming.

It's just a theoretical knowledge that you got from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If it's a living hope, Christ is coming and I'll be like him. Like it says in verse 2, we will be like him and we will see him.

Then I will purify myself. And when do I stop? As he is pure, I'll stop when I become like him. Never before that. And then I think of one of the main areas where I believe we all need to pursue more and more is what Jesus himself told us to learn from him.

In Matthew 11 and verse 29. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. I told you earlier how the tremendous temptation within us to compare ourselves with others. It comes to me. It comes to everybody.

If you're honest, without even knowing, sometimes you're very subtly comparing yourself with someone else or comparing your church with some other church or comparing your children with somebody else's children.

And looking down and, ah, they are like this. And of course, I'm not like this. And the Lord has always alerted me. What sort of a thought is that? Jesus wasn't always thinking, I'm so holy and I'm so pure and all these fellows are sinners.

I don't think there was ever a thought like that in him. He always called himself the son of man, the son of man, son of man, son of man. That's a great example for us. I've understood the word son of man to mean an ordinary man.

I'm an ordinary man. I'm an ordinary man. He went around all over saying, I'm an ordinary man. I'm an ordinary man. Was he an ordinary man? He was the almighty God in human flesh and he called himself an ordinary man.

And I see today's preachers walking around as if they are so big and important, distant from other believers. It's not Christianity. Don't ever look at any of these people or be in awe with such preachers.

I have no respect for them. I'm no interest in meeting any of them because they don't show Christ to me. It's very, very important. Learn from me for I'm humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.

See, that's another thing I've sought for, for many, many years. I said, Lord, there's a lot of unrest in my heart concerning different things that happen in my life or some panic about something or something goes wrong somewhere and there's unrest and or something we think about the future for ourselves or our children.

And there's a lot of unrest. And the Lord says, if you learn from me, you learn humility from me, you will not be in unrest. I said, thank you, Lord. I discover now there's a close connection between learning humility from Christ and rest.

So personally, I have come to this conclusion for myself anyway, that all unrest is because there's still some element of pride in me. I'm not I've got to learn a little more of the humility of Christ.

Please take that if you think that is for you as well. Whenever you're in unrest about anything happening in the world or your home or anywhere, any panic concerning the future, any disturbance, say to yourself, don't judge others, just say to yourself, that is because something of the humility of Christ is lacking in me.

Otherwise, how would I rest? Jesus promised it. Learn from me for I'm humble in heart and you will find rest. Definitely. Lord, I don't have it right now. Okay, what is it? Show me. Many times I've asked the Lord to show me, Lord, show me where that pride is.

If I slipped up in some sin, it was much more true in the earlier days when I was seeking for victory, I'd say, Lord, what is the reason? And the Lord says, you didn't get grace. Because those are under grace.

Romans 614 is clear. Sin shall not rule over you. Sin shall not have dominion over you. You know, it's like a country. There's an area where sin has dominion. That's the area where people are not under grace.

Those are under grace is another territory. You know, it's like if you're in another country, you are in Afghanistan, you're under the laws of Afghanistan. If you're in the United States, you may feel more secure because you're not under those laws of Afghanistan.

So, in the same way, sin has dominion when you're in that territory of you're not under grace. You're under something else. But if you're under grace, sin cannot have dominion. It's so clear, Romans 614.

Then the next question is, Lord, why didn't I get grace? Well, God gives His grace to the humble. You may have thought you're very humble, but you're not. Otherwise, you'd have got grace. And in that provocative situation, you would not have lost your temper.

You would not have got upset. You would have been at rest. Whoever got upset around you. And if people came to accuse you, you'd be happy to keep quiet. Let them accuse you. God is my defense. But you were not like that.

You were in unrest. So, the Lord says, learn humility from me. And I have come back to that verse again and again and again through the years and said, Lord, I want to learn it. I want to learn it. I'll never cease learning it because I've not yet become as humble as Jesus Christ.