Satan Must Find Nothing in Us — Zac Poonen

The Church as a Witness to Satan

We want to think of God's ultimate purpose to build a church, to make the church a witness to Satan. We have spoken much about that. More than just a witness to people, but that Satan who can see so many areas of our life that no human being can see.

Satan can't see our thoughts. He can't read our thoughts. When you pray to God in your thoughts, he can't hear you. What you think in your thoughts, he cannot hear. But he's a very shrewd observer of humanity for 6 ,000 years.

You know, Sal, you can look at a person sometimes and look at his face and say, you're worried about something, or I know what you're thinking of. And if we can say that as human beings, the devil can say much more just by looking at our face, even though he can't read our thoughts.

When you speak in tongues, the devil can't understand what you're saying. But everything else, what you do in private, how you handle your money, and he can know your ambitions not by your thoughts, but by the things he sees you spending time in, thereby he can gauge.

You know, supposing you watch a person's life, private life, everything, day and night, constantly. Even if you can't read his thoughts, you know a lot about what he's thinking. And that way, Satan knows a lot.

And what a wonderful thing it is to say, Lord, I want to be a testimony for you to Satan, more than to my neighbors and everybody else. That's great. But you know, the first book of the Bible, like I said, God could find a man whom he could point to Satan and say, have you seen my servant, Job?

And I believe he wants to do that with many of us. When the devil accuses so many of Christians of hypocrisy and so many things, he says, there, have you seen that person there? Have you seen that family?

The devil says, look at that family that's always fighting and quarreling. Yes, God says. But have you seen that family? Have you seen this family? Have you seen this person? Have you seen this sister?

Have you seen this family, how they brought up their children? Forget about those others. So what I say is, we must seek to be a testimony to Satan. And then that'll make us be more careful with our life because we are bringing dishonor to Christ when we don't live the way God wants us to live.

Christ's Freedom from Satan's Claims

So, think of this word that Jesus spoke in John chapter 14, John's gospel chapter 14 and verse 30, where Jesus said in the last part of that verse, the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me.

He says that at the end of his life, the devil had attacked him, tempted him for 33 years from the time he was a child. He was tempted and you could find that Jesus never yielded anything in any area.

So think of that phrase, he has nothing in me. That means he has nothing of his nature in me. And we should be able to say that every one of us, that Satan comes against us. Some people ask, why does the devil attack us?

I say, God allowed Jesus also to be attacked and temptation by Satan. But that's with a purpose. So he has nothing in me. That means he has nothing of his nature in me. So let's just look briefly at what is the nature of Satan.

Pride as the First Mark of Satan's Nature

What is the nature of Satan? First of all, it says in Ezekiel 28, that he was thrown out of heaven because of his pride. He was thrown out of heaven because of his pride. He was perfect. It says in Ezekiel 28 in verse 12, the last part, this is referring to Satan who was the real king of Tyre, behind the earthly king, Satan was the real king.

He says, you are the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. That's how he was when God created him. And he was in Eden before Adam was in Eden, Lucifer or whatever his name was, we don't know his name.

We call him Lucifer was in Eden. And verse 15, you were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until sin was found in you, unrighteousness. Verse 17, here is where sin began, in the heart.

Sin began in the heart. Sin did not come into the world through murder, adultery, anything. It was pride. Because of pride, he was lifted up because of his beautiful face, because of his wisdom, because of his position.

And whenever you are proud of anything, anything, your physical beauty, spiritual beauty, your earthly knowledge, Bible knowledge, your position in the earth, this big job, or your position in the church, respected by others.

Whenever you are proud of that, you have got a little bit of Satan's nature in you. Any type of pride. You look down on somebody else and say, well, I thank you that I'm not like them. If you don't fight this, it comes so easily.

Pride is all around us in the world. You can be very careful as you walk through this earth. But when you come home, there's still dust on your body, you know that? It's like, not because you rolled around in the dust.

It's just there in the air. You lock your house and go away for a couple of weeks and come back. Every door is windows locked. There's dust there. Where did it come from? It's there in the air. Pride is like that.

Why do you have a bath to cleanse yourself from that dirt? Watch out for pride, which, you know, you don't feel the dust falling on you, but it's there. Unless you come before God, you won't see the pride in you.

You may think I'm quite humble. Don't fool yourself. The devil is always trying to infect a man with pride. In fact, if a person like Paul, such a wonderful godly man, was in danger of becoming proud that God had to give him a sickness to humble him, where are we?

The wonderful thing about Paul was he was aware of it. I am in danger of pride. I'm in danger, Lord. You realize you're in danger of pride, especially if you're living a good, upright life, especially if you've got a good church, and especially if you can preach well and you're anointed, you're in terrific danger of pride.

And you won't even realize it. You have to battle it all the time, you have to go to God and confess it. I know I'm in danger of pride, but because I'm aware, I can be careful. If you're aware that you're a candidate for blood pressure or diabetes, you'll be careful with what you eat, you'll be careful to take tablets to make sure that your blood pressure doesn't shoot up and you get a stroke or something.

You're aware that I have a tendency towards blood pressure or diabetes in my family, and you're careful. Well, I want to tell you, in our Adamic family, we have a tremendous tendency towards pride, everyone, because the devil infected Adam with that and it's come down to all of us.

That's why we have to be very careful. We have to protect our children. If your children do well in school, that's good, but don't allow them to boast about it. Don't make them go and show their report card to everybody and some other poor child or parent feels bad that they didn't do so well.

We got to teach our children, they don't know it. They like to boast. I mean, let them boast to your parents, that's okay, but not to others. Don't boast about your children in any way that will puff them up.

We ourselves have to be very careful. Pride of any sort. Jesus spoke in the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like other men. Sometimes we can be proud of our humility.

You can look at that story of the Pharisee and the Publican and say, Lord, I thank you I'm not like the Pharisee. That itself is a form of, you don't see that. You think only if you say I'm not like the Publican, you're proud.

What about if I say I'm not like the Pharisee? Oh, it's very, very subtle. And how does pride come? Pride comes by comparison. We have committed so many sins in our life. How can you be proud? I'll tell you how.

Because you look at other people who got worse. If a child gets 10 marks out of 100 in mathematics, can he be proud? Yes. If all the others got 5, 4, 2, 0, he comes home and says, Mommy, I came first in the class.

How much do you get, son? 10 out of 100. Pride. It comes by comparison. You take that child and put him in another school where everybody's getting 98, 99, 100. He suddenly becomes humble. How this boy who was so proud suddenly became humble?

By comparison. I'm getting 10. Last fellow in the class is getting 95. Where am I? So pride comes by comparison. Humility comes by comparison. All your pride, whether you're in your ordinary earthly knowledge or your position or your job or spiritual knowledge or anything, Bible knowledge or your sermon or what a wonderful church you have built or anything, it's all due to comparison.

Humility Through Looking to Jesus

See this verse in Daniel chapter 4. We spoke about Babylon. Here is how people build Babylon even today among Christian churches and preachers. Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4, 28, was walking on the royal palace of Babylon and he looked at this beautiful city he had built and he didn't say anything.

He was the only man walking on the roof and he reflected and said to himself, isn't this Babylon the great which I myself have built by my power for my majesty? Pride is always like this. I built it according to my plan.

I built it with my power. I built it for my glory. From man, through man, to man. The opposite of that is Romans 11, 36, from God, through God, to God. That's how it should be. But it is from man, through man, to man.

My glory, my power, my plan. So you can look at your work. You can look at anything. Look what a wonderful church I have built. Look how wonderful children I have raised, not like that fellow's children.

The devil will tell you that. Comparison, comparison. It's all the time. You can compare yourself with other people in the church. You can compare your children with other people in the church. The world is full of parents who are comparing their children with other people's children and it can happen in the church where you compare your children with somebody else's children and glorying how wonderful they are.

That's the devil. It's 100%. It's the poison of pride that you cannot say now in such a situation that the devil comes and he's got nothing in you. He's got plenty in you. So what's the solution? Again, by comparison.

You compare yourself with somebody who got 100 and you won't be proud. So that's the solution. The permanent solution to live in humility every day is to look unto Jesus all the time, every step of this race, to look at Jesus, to look at Jesus.

I tell you, I wish somebody had told me this when I was converted at the age of 19 and a half. I would never have had a problem with pride, but I had to discover it myself. But I thank God I discovered it before it was too late.

And now I've seen it. Every single day, God is my witness. I run the race looking unto Jesus. Every single day, I'm quick to apologize if ever I said something wrong, did something wrong, hurt somebody, misunderstood somebody, oh, I'm sorry, that was wrong, it was my mistake.

Publicly, privately, all the time, to anybody, to a husband, to a servant, to children, there's nobody smaller than me on the earth. The Bible says in Philippians 2, 3, consider everybody as more important than yourself.

Not more spiritual. I don't believe that everybody on earth is more spiritual than me. I have to believe a lie. But I do want to consider everyone as more important than me. Even a child. That's why I would never speak rudely to a child.

You should not speak rudely to anybody. You must never speak rudely to your wife, or your husband, or anyone. If you consider everyone on earth as more important than me. I may be more spiritual than millions of people, but everyone is more important.

Jesus considered even Judas Iscariot as more important, that's why he washed his feet. He washed the feet of Judas Iscariot, can you believe that? That's how he was. Compare yourself with Jesus in the scriptures, read the scriptures to see Jesus.

Read the Gospels to see Jesus. That's only three and a half years of his life. The other 30 years, it says in John 16 that the Holy Spirit will take of the things of Christ and show it to you. It's a wonderful promise.

He will take of mine and show it to you. The last verses in the middle of John 16. So, I say that sometimes. Holy Spirit of God, please show me something of Jesus in his first 30 years. There are many things that the Holy Spirit shows me of Jesus.

How he lived the first 30 years. How he lived at home with his unconverted younger brothers and sisters. How he did his work as a carpenter. How I can do my work. How he did not neglect his work and go to the synagogue every day.

There's no virtue in going to meetings if you don't do your work. And the Holy Spirit shows us how Jesus lived in those 30 years. How when people accused him saying, this child, we don't know who his father is, Mary is his mother.

How he reacted to that. Lord, help me to see how you lived on this earth. It's a wonderful thing. John 16 says the Holy Spirit will take of mine and show it to you. Don't just hear it from Brother Zach.

Hear it from the Holy Spirit. He'll show you things he hasn't shown me. I want to see everything of Jesus. I want to see how Jesus lived in those years which are called hidden years. They're not anymore hidden for me.

For the rest of the world it is hidden because they only read the Gospels. These last three and a half years. The Holy Spirit will show you many other things of Jesus. Even in the Gospels you can see it.

Have you read in John 7 .53? How everybody went home but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives because nobody invited him home. And he was not living in Jerusalem. He was living 70, 80 miles away. So he just went and slept.

The Mount of Olives. No complaint. Came back next morning. Nobody asked him, where did you sleep last night, Lord? Not disturbed. Oh, what an example for me. Never to expect anyone even to invite me to their house when I'm in a strange town.

Fantastic example. And next morning when you see them, not even to mention. You know how people give hints. Last night I spent a good night in the Mount of Olives to sort of hint that you fellas didn't invite me to your home.

No. Why is it that you don't hear anything about those 30 years of Jesus? What he did in those 30 years. Because he lived what he taught. That your left hand should not know the sacrifices your right hand made.

He did share some things with his disciples. He didn't hide everything. For example, the temptation in the wilderness. How did the disciples know that he was tempted and the details of how he resisted?

Because he told them. The disciples are not there. So there were things in his life he told, but there were certain things he didn't say. He continued all night in prayer before God. He told them. So I'm not making a law here that you must never tell.

But he would only tell that which would help them. So when you give a testimony of something in your private life or personal life, always think, is this something to show off what a godly man I am? Or is it something to help a person to see how they can do it?

Always your motive. Remember, motive is the most important thing. Why are you saying it? Why are you doing that? Why are you giving that information? Is it pride? Look at Jesus. I say, make your lifetime study the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

Let us run this race looking unto him who endured the cross, it says in Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. And that's my example. I want to take up the cross and follow Jesus and look at him, how he took it in different situations.

And hidden in these gospels, you will see little, little incidents. Like when they called him prince of devils. He said, you are forgiven. You have that attitude when somebody calls me a bad name. It's okay.

Forgiven. Many times he would not argue with people. He would just leave them and go. Sometimes he would give an answer. We need to know in situation. So it's a wonderful thing to study the earthly life of Jesus.

You cannot be proud. It is impossible to be proud. Jesus never testified in his meetings about different things he did here and there. I'm not saying we should not say that. Paul said sometimes how the Lord did miracles through him here and there to encourage the faith of others.

Always motive is what matters. People who don't know God will judge someone saying, why did he do that? Jesus didn't do that. Motive. You don't know his motive. That's why the Bible says, don't judge others.

Because you don't know the motive with which he is saying it. So that's the first area. The devil became the devil through pride. Another thing we read in Isaiah 14 is he rebelled against authority. Isaiah 14, it says, verse 12.

Rebellion Against God-Given Authority

However you have fallen from heaven, O son of the morning, you have said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the throne of God, the stars of God, and I will sit and I will be like the Most High.

See, there was only one person above Lucifer, and that was God himself. And he rebelled against that authority. He said, I want to go. So pride is one thing. The other is rebellion against authority. And wherever you see rebellion against authority, you see the work of Satan.

And that nature is in our children from the time they are born. That's why we have to teach our children to submit to authority. Very important. I've seen with my own eyes, children of believers, whom the parents were not strict from the time they were one year old.

You know when you got to teach obedience to your child? From the time they are one. Be merciful to them until they are one year old. But once they become one year old, you got to teach them obedience.

And if they don't obey, we have to punish them in some wise way. The Bible says, which father is there who does not discipline his children? It says, that's not Old Testament, it's Hebrews chapter 12.

Which father is there who does not discipline their children? And I read that question and I say, Lord, there are some stupid fathers who don't discipline their children. But I see how those children grow up years later.

There are things, if you don't correct them in the early years, it's very difficult to change later on. If you want a tree that's growing crooked to grow straight, when it is a plant, tie it with some ropes.

Force it to grow straight. After it has grown like that for a long time, you can't bend it. You learn that about trees, it's the same with children. If you want your children to be free from this satanic habit of rebellion against authority, start young.

Because that nature is in them. To rebel against authority. And you see that rebellion against authority in schools, they make fun of teachers. Don't let your children ever make fun of their teachers.

It's part of the same rebellious spirit. They'll grow up with something of Satan in them. All the other students may make fun of their teachers, you tell your children, you must not make fun of your teachers.

In colleges, don't rebel against. In the factories, don't rebel. If you need something, ask for it. Say the cost of living has gone up, sir, can I have an increase in my salary? Nothing wrong in that.

But not, I will not come here for work, I'm going to break the windows. No, no, no. No, we will not. We live with a less salary, God will bless us. So the spirit of rebellion must never be found. So in the home, in society, and then in the church.

There's a lot of rebellion in the church. Where somebody is the elders and you don't feel you should submit to them. Because you say they're not perfect. Did Jesus submit to perfect parents or imperfect parents?

Joseph and Mary were thoroughly imperfect. And Jesus was perfect. And he submitted to imperfect father and mother. Earthly father and mother. That is an example for us. It's easy to submit to a perfect person.

But you know, many of you in your place of work, don't you submit to an imperfect boss? Now you have no problem. Because there it means money. If you don't submit, you lose your money. But the same people who will submit to a boss, an imperfect boss for money, they come to the church and they rebel against the elders.

Because there there's no question of money involved. I think such people are not even converted. That's my belief. Rebellion is like witchcraft. Would you dabble with black magic and witches? See 1 Samuel chapter 15.

1 Samuel chapter 15. When King Saul disobeyed God, Samuel came to him and told him. Verse 23. Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft. Insubordination to authority is like idolatry. When you don't submit to those whom God has appointed as elders in your church, you are actually worshipping an idol.

And that idol is yourself. You are dabbling with the devil's witchcraft. Because that's the spirit of Satan. Rebel against authority. Don't submit. Don't submit to your parents. Don't submit to that teacher.

Don't submit to your elders in your church. Rebel, rebel. You say, what shall I do then when elders are corrupt? I'll tell you. Leave that church. Go somewhere else. Whenever somebody in CFC church comes to me and says, Brother Zag, this elder is useless.

I say, maybe he is. Please leave that church tomorrow. Go to another church. But don't sit here and cause rebellion. Maybe it's a useless church and the elder is useless. Then go and find a better one.

But don't sit in any church and cause rebellion. I have left many churches. But I never stayed in any of them and caused rebellion. Always I left quietly. I never asked anybody else to leave. Why did I leave?

Because I found something which is not according to God's word. So I moved on to something higher. Just like you go from first standard to second standard, third standard. So I keep moving to something higher, something better.

As I get light on something. But never cause rebellion. God is my witness that I never, never, never asked anybody to leave a church. Or caused any confusion there. When I was unhappy, I just quietly left and went somewhere else.

And that's what I advise to other people. If you're not happy with some CFC church, maybe what you're right, that's a corrupt church. Just because it's got CFC label doesn't mean it's holy. That depends on the elder.

And maybe the elder is also a carnal person. Leave, leave, leave immediately. Don't stay one day. Don't ever stay there and cause rebellion. Because then you'll have to say, Satan comes and he's got something in me.

Discontentment and the Boundaries God Assigns

Pride, rebellion. And the other thing we can say is, from the same passage in Isaiah 14. Discontent. Even though he was the head of the angels, he was not happy with the position God had given him. Are you discontented with your appointed lot in life?

It says in Acts 17 and verse 26. It says, God has determined the appointed times and the boundaries of our habitation. The time means he decided which century you should be born. Not 1st century, not 5th century, but 20th century.

He determined the boundary in which you are to live, where you are to be born. Which town, which country. He decided that. The boundary of your habitation. And there, in that, he wants you to seek God.

Verse 27. And grope for him. And he's not far. You'll find him. If you're content. You see, a lot of getting into debt is part of this discontent. I'm not happy with the amount of money I'm getting. So I want to buy this.

Why do you want to buy it? Because he's got it. If he can have it, why can't I have it? But you don't have the money, brother. He's got the money. I can always buy now, pay later. I've never done it. I'm 76 years old.

I've never been in debt for one day in my life. I've never bought something that I paid later. If I don't have the money, I say, God has seen fit not to give me the money for this. He won't have it. We didn't have a washing machine for many years.

So what? You know how my wife washed clothes? The way Jesus washed his clothes. Hands. When we could afford it, we bought a secondhand one. When it packed up, we got another one. But only when we could afford it.

If you can afford it, it's fine. I'm totally talking about I couldn't afford it. If you can afford it, from day one, go right ahead. All I say is don't get into debt. The only debts I say are permissible is a house loan or a car loan, because that's not really a debt.

You borrow money from the bank and there's a house here. That's equal. You take the weighing machine, house, bank loan. Equal. That's not a debt. Because if you die, they'll take the house. It's not a debt.

Or you have a car which is insured. You took a loan. That's equal. There's not a debt there. Or a scooter, whatever it is. But if you borrow money to go on a vacation or to buy something whose value drops, you're in debt.

What will happen if you die? Somebody's got to pay back that debt. So that's a debt. And we must not be in debt. The Bible says, owe no man anything. Romans 13, verse 8. Owe no man anything. I took it very seriously in my life.

I tell you, God will honor you if you take his commands very seriously. The little commands. Especially now there's this credit card. In some cases, you have to have a credit card. I don't have one because I don't need it.

I use a debit card. Which means only if it's in the bank, I'll get that money. Otherwise, I won't get it. But there are some situations where a person needs a credit card. Particularly if you go to some town, you need to rent a car.

They won't give it to you with a debit card. You have to only have a credit card. Fine. But be very careful. You know, the credit card doesn't charge you in the first month. As far as I know. That's what I heard.

But by a certain date on the next month, you must pay it. Otherwise, the interest is fantastic. And they know that you forget. They don't care if you forget. They're happy if you forget. Because they get more from you.

So I tell people, if you use a credit card, and you missed payment for one month, pack up your credit card for the next few months. As a punishment to yourself. You don't deserve to use it. Very careless.

God's people being careless in credit? That's why we have a note here on this offering box. If you owe money to somebody, don't put your money in the box. Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. And give to God what is God's.

That's Jesus' words. If you give Caesar's money in the box, Caesar's looking at it. Caesar means anybody. Hey God, why are you taking my money? That fellow should be returning it to me. And when Christ comes to take you up, he'll say, hey Lord, you can't take him.

He owes me some money. Let him pay his money and then you take him. You want that? I don't want a single person on earth to tell me that I owe him money. No credit card company, no bank, no human being.

Nobody. I'm ready to go if Jesus comes anytime. I'm not in debt to anyone. I don't know whether you take all these things seriously. The devil's got a foothold in you. Let me show you a verse. I told you about the boundary God draws around you.

Turn to Ecclesiastes, chapter 10. Boundary is like a wall God has drawn around you. The income you get is the size of the wall God has drawn around you. Some people, it's a huge wall. They've got a lot of income.

Some people, it's a small wall. Most of my life, it was a very small wall. That's why I rode a scooter for 42 years. I couldn't afford to ride a car. That's fine. I was happy. It took me from one place to another.

In India, I could take three children on my scooter to school. You all know that. It's okay. That was my boundary. I'm not going to cross it. It's a wall God put around me. After some time, the wall is not so small today.

God's increased the size of my boundary. When it increases, you can spend more. Stay within that wall. It says here in Ecclesiastes 10, if you, verse 8, last part, Ecclesiastes 10, if you break through that wall, a serpent will bite you.

I'll tell you something very interesting about the Hebrew language. The word for serpent bite is the same as for debt in Hebrew. Very interesting how God allowed the same word to be used, almost the same word for serpent bite and debt.

You break through a wall and a serpent will bite you. Has a serpent bitten some of you? Debt is a bite of the serpent. How many of you would ignore a cobra biting you? Ah, it's a cobra or a viper. Or two or three bites.

That's okay. I'm amazed how people can remain in debt and not be bothered by it. Covetousness. The last commandment was you shall not desire what your neighbor has. If he's got a fridge and you can't afford it, don't desire it.

Otherwise Satan gets a foot hold. You can't say Satan's got nothing in me. Satan's got plenty in you. Discontent. Be content with such things as you have. It says in Hebrews 13, God will give you all that you need.

Don't compare yourself with others. So discontent. Satan was discontent with his position. There are many people in churches who are itching to be elders. You know what I teach? The number one qualification to be an elder is I have no desire to be an elder.

If you don't have that qualification, you're not fit to be an elder. And you become an elder and you have a great longing to continue that as an elder, you're fit to be thrown out as an elder. Definitely.

Anyone who's an elder here, sitting here, and you really want to continue in your position, you're not fit. I'll tell you in Jesus' name, you're not fit to be an elder in a CFC church. Because you're not willing to be an ordinary brother.

We have some wonderful examples in our CFC churches of people who are elders and I had to remove them for some reason. Discipline. And they became ordinary brothers. And they did not get offended. They were very happy to be ordinary brothers.

Some of them continued as ordinary brothers and some of them finally became elders again. And then I think of other people also I know in our CFC churches who were removed and they got offended and they left immediately and took some people with them.

God bless them. It was like weeding the church. If somebody comes and says, I want to weed your garden for you free. Oh great. Go right ahead. Clean up my garden. So some of these dear folks have cleaned up our church for us by taking away unhappy, discontented people.

They don't even charge us for it, you know. Free. Great. So it's wonderful to be free from discontent. The Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6. Godliness without contentment is not godliness.

If you're discontent about anything, about your position in the church or some of you sisters are, why did God make me a woman? Did he make a mistake? Why did God give me a daughter? I wanted a son. That's an Indian attitude.

You know in America they want daughters, in India they want sons. But it's, child of God says, whatever you give me God, you know best. You know who you need in the next generation. Is it a wholehearted sister or a wholehearted brother?

You decide that. And give me the grace, I'll train up this child, son or daughter, to live for you. So discontent can be there with many things, always by comparison. Why does he have that? Why do you have that?

And you break through the wall. That is why the serpent has bitten many, many people. And that's why you don't have authority over Satan. You need to have authority over Satan in your home. If you have authority over Satan in your home and Satan brings confusion in your home, through your wife or through your children, don't you experience sometimes some confusion comes into your home through your wife or husband or children?