(Church Leadership) 13. Jesus Is the Author of Faith — Zac Poonen

Wisdom, Gentleness, and Spiritual Readiness

There's a verse in Ecclesiastes in Chapter 10. Do you remember 10 .10? That is, if the axe is dull, then you have to exert more strength. And that's something we must bear in mind at all times. Wisdom gives us success.

We need to pursue after wisdom. See another verse in Ecclesiastes Chapter 8. A man's wisdom illumines him and causes his face to turn to being. Verse 1, sorry, Ecclesiastes Chapter 8, Verse 1, the last part.

So, it goes on to, in the Message Bible, it says, wisdom gives gentleness to a person's words and manners. The wiser you are, the more gentle you become. That's what we have to grow in. We may hold strong convictions, but we have to hold them with gentleness as we grow older.

I want to show you one more verse in Chapter 9. Verse 8. Let your clothes be white all the time and let not oil be lacking on your head. That's a great verse to bear in mind. Always pure in our character and always anointed in our ministry.

We may have had oil on our heads some time ago, but it may not be there today. We may have been pure some time ago, but we are not pure today. Let your clothes always be white and let not oil be lacking on your head.

Faith in the Old and New Covenants

I want you to turn now to Hebrews in Chapter 11. In Hebrews 11, we have the example of these great men. In the Old Covenant, these men all exercised faith. But their faith was all related to external activities.

We know that in the New Testament, the righteous are to live by faith. So at the end of Chapter 11, it says here, verse 39, they all gained approval through their faith. And without faith, Chapter 11, verse 6, it is impossible to please God.

You cannot please God without faith. You can gain God's approval only through faith. But even though they gained God's approval, they did not receive what was promised, because Jesus had not died and risen and ascended.

They had faith, but they could not get it, because something else was to come only in the future. And then it says, God has provided something better for us. This is what a lot of Christians have not understood.

That all these things listed in Chapter 11, God has provided something better. These were all great men. Great men of faith, the many things we can learn from them. But when it comes to the main thing in the New Covenant, we cannot learn it from them.

I cannot learn from any of these people how to live an overcoming life. None of these people can help me to overcome sin. None of these people can tell me how I can partake of God's nature. That is the better thing which God has provided for us.

Jesus as the Forerunner and Perfecter of Faith

So we have to say that Chapter 12, verses 1 to 4 is like the conclusion of Chapter 11. You know that these chapters were made by men, not by God. Chapter divisions. So you have to read it like this, by faith Abel, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham and all these people.

And then it says, God has provided something better. And then it says, by faith Jesus. That is the last in the list. And that is the one we are called to follow. He says, now let us run the race with all these witnesses surrounding us.

Who are these witnesses? Right from Abel down to the last person mentioned in Chapter 11. These all ran their earthly race. Now they are sitting in the stadium. But they could never run what we are running.

We are running a race that none of them could run. That race Jesus ran as our forerunner. And these witnesses who could never run that race are like people in the stadium encouraging us. But we can't follow them because they never ran this race.

We are running a race which none of them ran. We can learn certain good points from all of them. Sure, we can learn a lot of things from Moses and even from David. And certainly from Elijah and John the Baptist, what a lot we can learn.

But when it comes to running this race, these folks can't help us. If I go to Elijah and say, Elijah can you tell me how never to get discouraged? He says, sorry, I can't tell you that. You want to know how to bring fire down from heaven?

I'll tell you that. And how to kill 450 prophets with a sword? Come, I'll show you how to do that. But how to overcome discouragement? Don't ask me. That you have to go to Jesus. Or you ask David. David, you are a man after God's own heart.

Can you tell me how to overcome the lust of the eyes? I have a tremendous problem with this. He said, brother, don't embarrass me, please. You have to go to Jesus for that. So, it's like that with all these people.

They didn't have the spirit within them. But now Jesus is our example. And that's why we have to say that the main message of the New Testament is that we can walk as Jesus walked. As Jesus is, so are we in this world.

And that should be our goal. It's like a Mount Everest that I'm going to climb. And I may never reach the top. I'll be like him only when he comes. But I'm not going to sit at the bottom and say, well, I'll never be able to reach that.

I'm going to press on and get as far as possible up this mountain. Cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Keeping Jesus as my example. And he is the author and perfecter of my faith.

You know what author means? If you take a book and say, so and so is the author. That means he's the one who wrote it. I thank God for that. If Jesus is the author of my faith, then he's going to write faith in my heart.

I have to be open to receive even that. You know, very often we try to work up faith. You know, that's, you know, we read so many Pentecostal magazines and listen to so many messages. We think, if I get faith for something, I'll get it.

No, I can only, it says, according to the proportion of my faith, I can prophesy. Accordingly, God has dealt to each man a measure of faith. So, I can only receive as much as the Lord writes faith in me.

I have to be open. Gods are not asking me to produce faith. He is asking me to be open so that he can write faith in me. That's what he was seeking to do in his disciples all the time. He was always trying to write faith in their heart as the author of faith.

Jesus Teaches Trust in the Father

You know, words like, how many of you will give a snake to your son? Or a scorpion? Or a stone? You'll give bread. You'll give fish. How much more your heavenly father will give? What was he trying to write into their hearts?

Faith. God will give you. Then another time he said, I'll tell you a story he said of a widow who was being oppressed by the neighbour. That neighbour saw that this poor helpless widow and kept on encroaching into her property and she almost lost all her property.

And she had to say, I've got to go to the judge. This fellow will take over everything now. And she said, I went to the judge and said, I don't want to ask anybody else's property, but give me back mine.

My enemy is oppressing me. I don't want somebody else's property. I want my own. This enemy has taken. And the judge said, no, I don't have time to listen to you. He went back and back and back and back and she went, this helpless widow.

And she got what she wanted. And then Jesus said, listen to what this unrighteous judge who doesn't fear God or man says. And what about your father? Do you think he won't answer you if you go to him and say, God, the devil has taken over property that should belong to you?

My eyes, my tongue, my heart, my passions, the devil is ruling in so many areas. My home, my church. I want to get it back. No reply. Okay, I'll go back again. How much more your heavenly father will answer speedily those who cry to him day and night.

But at the end of that, in Luke 18 verse 7, he said, but will the son of man find faith on the earth like that when I tell? Will he find people who will say, yes, the Lord will give me back everything the devil has taken away?

In the last days, will he find faith like that? Let's ask ourselves. Hasn't the devil taken areas in your life? What about your fellowship with some of your fellow elders? The devil has come right in.

Are you sitting back? If your neighbor had encroached one foot into your property, you would be going to court. But the devil has got between you and your wife and you sit quietly. The devil has got a hold of some of your children and you sit quietly.

He has come between you and your fellow elders and you sit quietly. He has come into your church and done things, you sit quietly. Young people are not becoming wholehearted, the devil has got a hold of some of them, you sit quietly.

Why should God do anything for those who don't cry unto him day and night? The fact that they don't cry day and night is the proof that they have no faith. What was Jesus trying to write into the hearts of his disciples?

Look at this widow. She was absolutely convinced that this judge would have to do something because I'm going to pester him day and night. I'm going to go and knock at his door at two o 'clock in the morning.

It's obvious, judges didn't have security guards and all, so this widow could go. She could really go and disturb him all odd times of the day and night and everything. This fellow couldn't sleep properly.

He said, OK, I'll do it. And your heavenly father, he's just waiting for people who will come out to him and say, Lord, give back to me what the enemy has taken. Do you remember when Pharaoh told Moses, OK, all you grown up men go, leave your children here.

And Moses said, not only our children, not only our cows, even one hoof of that cow we will not leave behind you. What about you? You leave some of your children in Egypt? I pray, I have prayed for the church here in Bangalore that not one single child born into this church will ever go to hell.

Every one of them must be saved. And we've seen that happen one after the other. Not one child in your local church should be lost. That is God's will. Not one of them should be lost. But we must pray to God day and night, Lord, give back what the enemy has taken.

Will the son of man find such faith? So, the Lord said, for example, don't be anxious about food and clothing and all that. He said, look at the birds. They have no bank account, they have no net and store, nothing, but God provides for them.

How many millions of birds there are, even in your hometown? When was the last time you saw a dead bird on the road? You know, I'm trying to think how many dead birds I've seen in 66 years on the roads.

Maybe five or ten in my whole life. How do these millions of birds get food? They need food in order to live. They cannot live without food. And people are not so generous to just throw around food for them to eat.

They have to go searching. And when they have little children, they have to go searching for food for the little children who can't fly. It's absolutely amazing how these birds don't die of starvation.

Absolutely amazing. I'm amazed how so many elephants survive in the wilderness. They eat tons every day. One would have thought all the elephant population in the world should have died out by now. But they are there.

I don't know how many tons lions eat, but they are also in plenty. They don't seem to be running short. It's amazing. And Jesus said, why are you fellows afraid? You are of more value than many sparrows.

What was he trying to do in all this? He was the author of faith. Trust God. Trust Him. And in spite of all this, we find multitudes of believers who do not know what it is to live by faith. And if we don't have faith that God is going to provide all our needs, we are not going to be able to communicate that to others.

Faith as a Growing Gift from Christ

Jesus is the author of faith. And it says He is the perfecter of that faith. The two things mentioned in Hebrews 12, the author and perfecter. Because you and I know when faith begins in our heart, it's like a little baby.

I know how it was in my heart. My faith was like a premature baby. It had to be on the incubator for a long time before it even started breathing. But the doctor took care of it. That wasn't me. It was Jesus.

And it grew and it grew and it grew. I began to have faith that God, Jesus can baptize me in the Holy Spirit. I lacked that faith. That's why it took so long. I knew I needed it. I knew that Jesus was the baptizer in the Holy Spirit.

But I read so many different books with so many different theologies, I was thoroughly confused. Yeah, when you are pursuing something and you want to read about the other side, the other view on it, that's the best way to be confused.

Go to the scriptures. And one day faith was born. I don't know how. But suddenly faith was born. Lord, I believe. You have filled me. And I just opened my heart and said, thank you, Lord. And before I knew it, I was speaking in tongues and I was surprised.

And I stopped and again I found myself speaking in tongues. I didn't seek it. Nobody told me to do it. I wasn't in any meeting. I was in my house. I was praying with a brother. But I found faith was born.

And it made all the difference in my life. Oh, if I didn't have faith for some of these things, what a different life my life would have been. If I didn't have faith that God would equip me for everything He called me to.

See, Paul once made a statement like this in Romans 15. Chapter 15 and verse 28. He says the last part, I'll come to you in Rome by way of you and then I'll go to Spain. And I know, listen to this, verse 29.

I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. How could he say that? How could he be so sure? Faith. Faith. I believe that God wants to bless the Christians in Rome.

And if He sends me there, I am absolutely sure He is going to bless them. That's how we should go into any ministry. If your conscience is clear, you can be absolutely sure that the blessing of God will flow through you.

Because the river of God is full of water. There is no shortage with Him. We are not called to produce anything. We are only called to distribute. We are like these water carriers. Like, you see, there are lorries now that carry water into places where there is no water.

We had to get some yesterday. No, they didn't produce the water. God produces water. All the water in the world is produced by God. They only distribute it. The river of God is full of water. We don't have to produce it.

We are called to just let it flow through us. That's why Jesus said, he who has faith in me, from his innermost being, rivers of living water will flow. It doesn't start there. No, it starts from the throne of God.

Nothing good can start from my heart. It starts from the throne of God, comes inside me. It never happened in the Old Testament. It just came on top of people in the Old Testament. But now it's different.

It's going to come inside me and gush up like a well or a spring and then it's just going to flow out. And it's just going to flow continuously because the river of God is full of water. So, Paul was absolutely convinced that wherever he went, he would go in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

I believe it's God's will to bless that person. We must have that faith. Otherwise, we can determine, we can study the word, we can do so many things. Without faith, it is impossible to preach God. So, we need to open our heart and say, Lord, like you wrote faith into the heart of those disciples, write faith into my heart.

So, that's the purpose of preaching on the word. Because Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So, the word of Christ is the New Testament particularly. And when we hear the word of Christ and we hear God speaking to us through it, faith is written in our heart.

Faith is born. Christ died for me. Faith is born and I am saved. So, in the same way, those people are going to be blessed. God wants to bless them. Here I am, Lord. See, it says in Galatians chapter 3, why did Christ become a curse for us?

Why did Christ die on the cross and take our sins? So that all the guilt of our sin will go. Ok, why did Christ become a curse for us? So that now onwards, the blessing of Abraham, Galatians 3, 14, 13 and 14, Galatians 3, so that now onwards, the blessing of Abraham might come to all the heathen people.

Yeah, we are surrounded by heathen people. Now, the blessing of Abraham through Christ has to come to all of them. So, we can all receive the promise of the spirit through faith. And as I receive that promise of the spirit, it's called here the blessing of Abraham.

You know what the Lord told Abraham? Two things. Only two things, basically. In Genesis 12, I will bless you, you will be a blessing. That's what Paul believed. I believed. The promise of the spirit will bless me and make me a blessing to all the families of the earth.

That's what God told Abraham. But here it says that we can get it. It's for me. It's almost as though God called me by name and said, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to make you a blessing to all the families of the earth.

And for that purpose, I'm going to give you the promise of my, I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit. So, what shall we believe? That God is going to make us a blessing to everybody we meet. We must believe that.

Not look at our weakness and say, Lord, how can that be? I've got so many limitations. I don't know the Bible. There's a verse in Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 13. It's a lovely verse. Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 13.

In a nutshell, that's what, this is what that verse is saying. As you were a curse, now I will save you and you will become a blessing. See what it says? As you were in the past a curse. Don't you know the days when you were such a nuisance to people?

It says, now I will make you a blessing. So don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong. We must come to God and believe that. You know, I take this example of two people who have made a mess of their life.

Complete mess. Maybe they became believers and they fell backslid. They fell into a terrible state. And then after some years, they repent. They say, Lord, I made such a mess of my life. What can I do now?

Faith, Repentance, and Becoming a Blessing

Two brothers like that. Both made a mess of their life. But one person has faith. One of these. As I was a curse, I'm going to be a blessing now. And his whole life is different from that time onwards.

Because by his faith, he honored God. By his faith, he was saying, God, there's nothing impossible with you. The other person was saying, oh, well, I made such a mess of my life. Oh, I wish it were all different.

And he spends all his days like that. And in the final day, when they both stand before God, this person gets such a surprise that the other fellow, whose life was probably a greater mess, became so useful to God.

And he asked the Lord, Lord, how is that? I thought my life was a mess, but when I see the videotape of this fellow's life, it was a greater mess. How in the world did he become such a fantastic blessing the rest of his life?

The Lord will say, my son, he just believed me. He believed that nothing is impossible with me. You never believed me. I tried my best to get you to believe me, but you wouldn't believe me. I would have done for you all that I did through him.

But you tied my hands by your unbelief. He says, Jesus could not do many mighty works in one place because of their unbelief. It may not be just having made a mess of our life. There could be other reasons.

Oh, Lord, I don't know the Bible so much. Well, there was another fellow who knew the Bible less than you, who became a fantastic blessing. And you say, Lord, how is it? I thought you needed to know the Bible to be a blessing to other people.

No. He trusted me. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. It could even apply in cases of sickness. I don't have the complete answer to all the sicknesses in the world. And I am not saying that everybody will be healed.

But if the Bible is true, and I believe it is, and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, then it must be true. That even today, he does not heal some people because of their unbelief. Because in those days, it was like that.

See, in those days, he didn't heal everybody. Have you read John chapter 5? In Bethesda, there was a multitude, the word is multitude of sick people. It was like a large 500 bed hospital. He walked in, healed one person, went out.

Who said he healed everybody? Same thing today. He goes to some places, 500 sick people, heals one person, goes away. In the last part of Matthew 13, it says, he could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

See, whenever I am sick or in my family, anybody is sick. For many years, I have taken this position. I said, Lord, if you are disciplining me, I am ready to accept it. Teach me what it is and I will get rid of it in my life.

If this sickness is a spanking, I want to learn. If this is a thorn in the flesh that I have to have all my life in order to remain humble, I accept it because I know your grace is sufficient for me. But if I am not healed because of unbelief, that I don't want.

I am going to trust you. You are a loving father. You will never give me anything without a purpose. Impossible. You will not allow the devil to touch me in any way. I am the apple of your eye. The hairs on my head are numbered.

I trust you to bring healing into my life. I want a foretaste of the resurrection life of Jesus. I will give you my personal testimony. There are different situations and different places where, particularly as I grow older, I find myself a bit tired.

In a conference or something like that, I will tell you what I pray. I say, Lord, one day I am going to have the full resurrection life of Jesus in this body. I know I can't have it now. But I want you to give me a teaspoon of that right now.

Just a taste of it. That's enough. Many, many times I have experienced it. You say, faith has to come from the word of God. Is there a word of God for this? I am glad you asked me. Hebrews chapter 6, it says there about people who, verse 5, have had a taste of the powers of the age to come.

This is a description of born again people. They repent, verse 6. Verse 1 and 2, it says they repent and they have faith in God. And they take baptism, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And it describes these people.

They have been enlightened. They have got life. They have tasted of the heavenly gift. They have been partakers of the Holy Spirit. These are born again people. They have tasted the good word of God. And they have tasted a little bit of the powers of that future age.

Do you believe that in your earthly life you are supposed to have a little taste of the powers of the future age? No. I can't worship like the angels today, but I say, Lord, a little taste of it. I want it.

Okay, maybe two teaspoons, maybe too much. Put a drop on my tongue. That drop will overwhelm me. Believe it. Say like that woman who has had an issue of blood. If I touch him, I will be healed. My brothers, we are probably missing many things in our life because we don't believe.

Things that God wants to give us. And when we don't have it, we are probably depriving people in our churches of it also. Ask God according to these verses. Lord, some of these things I have experienced.

I have made a partaker of the Holy Spirit. I have tasted the good word of God. But Lord, this thing in verse 5, a taste of the powers of the age to come, I never seem to have experienced anything of that in my life so far.

Can you give me a little taste of that, at least a drop? I want it. I need it. Let's ask God. He is our Father. Jesus wants to write faith in our heart that you have got a loving Father in heaven. And He looks in compassion on you even though you have failed Him.

I believe this. I don't know whether you have faith for it. I have faith for it. That even the blunders and stupid things and the sins I committed in my life, God can turn it round and use it for something good in my life.

Now, to have faith that God will bless me because I read the Bible and I fasted and prayed and all, that's easy. But to have faith that this almighty God can even turn the blunders and sins and stupid things I did in my life for my good, you don't believe that?

I believe it. And I have experienced it. My dear brothers, let me encourage you in this. To believe that even the stupidities you did in your past life, God can turn for good in your life. For example, one of the good things it can turn in your life, it can make you fantastically merciful to other people.

Isn't that a good thing? I have seen people who have not, you know, from childhood they were brought up in a very good way. Praise God for that. Praise God. That's the best way to grow up. I'm confident in it.

That's the way Jesus grew up. But not everybody had the good fortune to grow up like that. Some people grew up then, my life was a mess. Paul says he was the chief of sinners. I don't know what all sins he committed in his life.

I don't know what all he did in his younger days. But God turned it for good. And some of these people who were brought up in such good ways, I have seen some of them grow up and they are so hard on believers who have sinned.

Why? Because they have never fallen so deeply. They had the good fortune of growing up in a good way. They are some of the biggest legalists and pharisees I have seen in my life. But sometimes I have looked at some of these people and secretly said to myself, I wish they had sinned some more.

That's a horrible thing to say, right? If it had brought some mercy into their life, it would have been good. That's not the only way. Jesus never sinned and he was the most merciful of all. That's the best way.

Recognizing and Overcoming Inner Tendencies

But we are such fallen creatures. We have certain tendencies in our life. You all know a tremendous tendency to lust after women from the teenage years. It doesn't go away. Even after we are married, it doesn't go away.

It's a tremendous tendency, tendency, tendency. We have to fight it, fight it, fight it. Another is a tendency to get angry and irritated with people. To get impatient with people. It's inside us. A tremendous lust towards money and comfortable life.

It's in all of us. Because we recognize these things, we fight them. Here is another thing you need to recognize. A tremendous tendency to judge others and to justify ourselves. Like we heard earlier today.

I thought of that when Santosh quoted Job 32. I was looking at that this evening and I saw something there which I hadn't seen before. It says in the end of chapter 31 of Job, the words of Job are ended.

Job is saying, okay, I have finished. I have got nothing more to say. And then it says those other three people also said, chapter 32, 1, we have also finished. And like we heard, God did not say a word until these four fellows had stopped speaking.

Though Job was justifying himself, he has to stop. The other was criticizing all the others, that also had to stop. And I thought about that. Like it says in verse 2, one justified himself and the other condemned the others.

Verse 3. And God waited. Let all this self-justification stop. Let all this condemning others, criticizing others stop. Then I will speak to him. Do you know why God is not speaking to you? Do you understand now?

He is waiting. He can wait for 36 chapters. He can wait for 360 chapters. If it was written in Job chapter 2, the words of Job are ended. If it was written in Job chapter 2, the words of Job are ended.

If it was written in Job chapter 3, God would have spoken to me at the end of the matter. What is he waiting for in your life? For this sentence to be written over your life, your self-justification is ended.

Your condemnation of others has today on the 29th of December 2005, it has ended. You are cursing the darkness around you and this group, that person, the other person, the other person, it has all ended.

Your imagination of yourself like Job, I am a good brother, I am not one of those fallen elders and I have lived such a good life from childhood, that has also ended. Your imagination of yourself like Job, I am a good brother, I am not one of those fallen elders and I have lived such a good life from childhood, that has also ended.

You will be amazed how quickly God speaks. And when God speaks to you, your face will lighten up. Wisdom will come. It will cause your face to beam like we read in Ecclesiastes. And you will have something to give to other people.

Repentance and Faith for Believers

When God speaks to you, did you hear now what God is waiting for? Think about that. So what shall we do? We read that Paul said in Acts chapter 20, he talks about the gospel of the grace of God in verse 24.

What was this gospel that he preached everywhere? He says in verse 21, whether it is Jews or Greeks or Indians or Malayalis or Tamils or anybody in the world, there is only two things, repentance and faith.

That's all we need. Do you think that's only for unbelievers? I showed you right up until now, the last 45 minutes, that believers need faith. Now I want to ask you, do believers need repentance? What is the Lord's message to the seven churches?

To five of them that had failed? Matthew chapter 4, it says, Jesus after his baptism began to preach saying, repent, for the kingdom of God is near. He ran with that baton in his hand. It's like a relay race.