Balanced Christianity 1. Grace and Truth — Zac Poonen

I want to read to you a verse in Psalm 90. It's the only psalm that Moses wrote. Most of the psalms are written by David. But there's a beautiful prayer that Moses expresses here, or a desire, let's say.

In the last verse of Psalm 90, in the King James Version, it's read like this, Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. And it's based on this verse that we sing that very well-known chorus, Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, all his wondrous compassion and purity.

The Beauty of the Lord and the Quality of Christian Life

I believe the big problem that concerns the Lord is not so much that the world is not being reached with the gospel. I come from a country where 98 are non-Christians. And I've traveled the whole length and breadth of that land.

And my problem, as I see, is not that we are only 2 Christians. I discovered very early in my ministry that the problem was that the quality of life of those 2 was so pathetic. So pathetic, the testimony of Christians, that I was thankful that it was only 2%.

That there were not more people dishonoring the name of Jesus in our land. See, very often when people think of the spread of Christianity, they always count numbers, statistics. What percentage of a country is Christian?

It means absolutely nothing to God. That's one of the things I've discovered. I mean, I've been in full-time Christian work for 50 years. I've traveled many lands, and I'm speaking from my experience.

The Narrow Way and the False Promise of Health and Wealth

It's not numbers that God's looking for. Because if it were numbers, the Lord would have made the way a broad way. Because he said very clearly that it's along the broad way that more people go. But he said the way to life is narrow, and very few find it.

So as I've served the Lord, I look for those few who want to walk the narrow way. I personally don't believe God's excited about mega churches. I don't believe that God is excited about people who have made coming to Christ and salvation so easy.

That's what I mean by a broad way, where you attract the wrong type of people. For example, take this gospel which is very popular today. The gospel of health and wealth. That means you come to Jesus, he'll heal all your sicknesses.

He will make you wealthy. Your standard of living will go up. You'll get a better car and a better house. And I've asked myself, is there a single human being in the whole world of any religion who does not want more money, or who does not want better health?

Nobody. The richest people in the world want more money. The beggars in the world want more money. The sick people want to be healthy, and the healthy people want to be more healthy. So if it is true, please listen very carefully.

If it is true that the primary thing that Jesus came to give was health and wealth, who would reject him? Nobody would reject him, because everybody wants it. All 7 ,000 million people in the world will want to be Christians.

Does that look like a narrow way? We must use our mind. God's given us intelligence to understand. The Bible says Jesus was despised and rejected of all men. He came to the world and they did not receive him, they crucified him.

Why did they crucify him if he was offering health and wealth? I mean, even if a person has to give up something to get health and wealth, look at the number of people in the world who sacrifice so much to make money in their business.

Who spend so many late hours in their work, and look at the sacrifices people are willing to give up junk food and all to get health. They enjoy junk food, but they give it up for the sake of health. People are willing to make sacrifices if they get health and wealth.

So if Jesus was offering health and wealth, everybody would respond to it. But that's not what he was offering. He said that every single person who came to him, without exception, if they wanted to follow him, they would have to die to themselves every day.

Die to their own self-will, to their own choices, and do the will of God. That's what it means to follow Christ. He himself said in John 6 and verse 38, I've come from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

Following Christ by Denying Self-Will

This is the one big difference that took place when Jesus came to earth. When he was in heaven, equal with the father from eternal ages, as the second person of the trinity, he could say, I do my own will.

I do my own will all the time, because it is the same as the will of my father. There was no conflict of will between the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. And Jesus could say, I do my own will, because it is the same as the will of my father.

But the moment he came to earth as a man, like us, we all know that we have a will that very often gets into conflict with the will of God. And Jesus came with a will, not with sin, there was no sin in him.

But he came with a will of his own, which if he chose to do, he would sin. We need to understand that. He was tempted throughout his life to do his own will, and he never did it. And even in the last day in Gethsemane, the great struggle was, Father, not my will, but thine be done.

And it says he prayed for one hour. So it's this which we have to die to if we wanna follow Jesus. To follow Jesus means to walk in his footsteps. That means I choose a life where I don't do my own will, but do the will of God as I understand it.

And that understanding of God's will will grow as we walk with the Lord. We don't know all of God's will as soon as we start, but it'll grow as we walk with the Lord. And God doesn't ask us to be perfect, but he does ask us to, in the area where we have light, to do his will.

It's not an impossible command he gives us. It's like when a child goes to school, in a kindergarten class, he only needs to know what's taught in the kindergarten. He doesn't need to know what's taught in the fifth grade or tenth grade.

In the kindergarten, he can get 100%. Why can't he get 100 to spell C-A-T as cat, or B-A-T as bat, or 2 plus 2 is 4? That's all he needs to know. I mean, multiplication, and division, and geometry, and algebra will come later.

And when he comes to that, he can get 100 there, too. So the Christian life is like that. When you start the Christian life, there's very little you know of what God's will is. It's like the kindergarten, and that is the only area where God wants you to do his will.

A more mature saint will see many things in your life where you're not doing the will of God. But if he's really godly, he won't judge you. It's like a 10th grade student won't judge a kindergarten student for not knowing the things he knows.

There's a growth in the Christian life. Birth and growth, these are two different things. Joining a school and graduating are two different things. In the same way, the Christian life, there's a time when we are born again.

It's like joining school or just like being born. Then from that point onwards, we grow or go to a higher class, whichever illustration you use. And I quoted this verse, let the beauty of Jesus be seen in us.

Christ's Humanity, Temptation, and Victory Over Sin

Because there is an ugliness about a lot of Christians. And the ugliness is not physical, it's spiritual. When they claim something and don't live according to that claim, it's ugly. Or when they overemphasize one side of truth and ignore the other or devalue the other, it's ugly.

The beauty of Jesus is seen in a perfect balance. And it comes many places in scripture. I want to show you first of all in John chapter 1. John's gospel chapter 1 and verse 14. It speaks about the time when God became man.

The word became flesh. And when it uses the word flesh, see this is a, it doesn't mean sinful flesh. Jesus did not have sinful flesh. We are born with sin. We have a sinful tendency from birth because we have a father and mother who descended from Adam.

Jesus did not have that sinful tendency when he was born because he did not have an earthly father. It's the Holy Spirit who did the job of the father. And there was, and the angel said that holy thing that will be born of you will be called the son of God.

So that was the difference between Christ and us. But he did have a will of his own like us. Because of which the Bible says in Hebrews 4 .15, he could be tempted just like us. And that is our encouragement.

Because if Jesus was not tempted like us, he could never say to us, follow me. It would be like an angel flying across a swimming pool saying, follow me. I'll teach you how to swim. I'll have to tell that angel, get rid of your wings first.

Be subject to the law of gravity like I am being pulled down. Then get into the water and teach me. So if Jesus could float across this world, not tempted like me and says, follow me. I'd have to say the same thing to him.

Lord, you don't feel the pull which I feel of wanting to do my own will. I'd say, you never felt that. And he'd say, I did. That's what he'll say to you. I did. I did feel it for 33 and a half years. The pull to do my own will, the pull that you and I face every day.

When somebody is angry with you on the road, there's something in your will that responds to it. That's what leads to conflict at home. That's what leads to secret sexual sin, the pull of your own will.

Now, sin is not various different things. Basically, the root of sin is doing your own will. That manifests itself in anger, bitterness, jealousy, sexual sin, stealing money, all types of things. But the root is, I want to do my own will.

I want to do what pleases me. That's how Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. God's will was, don't eat of that tree. Eve's will was, I want to eat it. That's the root of sin. I don't want to do God's will.

I want to do my will. And Jesus was tempted in more difficult circumstances. Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after being hungry for 40 days. Again, tempted with food.

Food was as attractive to him at the end of 40 days fasting, as that beautiful tree was attractive to Eve and made her mouth water. And the devil tempted him, eat, you got power. Jesus said, no, I don't see that to be the will of God right now.

And even though I fasted for 40 days and my whole body is craving for food, I will not do my own will. That is the first thing recorded of Jesus in his earthly ministry, teaching us that this is the way we want to follow.

How many people want to go that way? We say that's a very miserable way having to deny ourselves. Do you really believe that? Do you believe that Jesus' life was one of the most miserable lives anybody lived on earth?

I don't think so. It is the most wonderful, the most beautiful, the most glorious life that anyone lived on the earth. And the secret was he never did his own will. That's what the devil tries to hide from us.

He keeps telling us that if you do your own will, you'll be happy. Has it made you happy in your married life, husband and wife seeking to do their own will and always clashing with each other? Has it made you happy in your personal purity, in your private life, doing your own will?

No, it's made us guilty and unhappy. And we look back. Tell me honestly, even if you have not lived a very long life, look back over your life. What are the areas of your life which cause you regret today?

Honestly, what are the areas of your past life that you feel really sad and sorry about today if you're a Christian today? It's not those times where you helped others and did good and did what was upright and did what was honest.

No, you're happy about those areas. The areas of your life that cause you regret are the areas where you did not do God's will. You did your own will. And for years and years and years and years, the memory comes back to you.

Oh, I did that. Is that making you happy? I mean, that should teach us that doing our own will is the cause of all our problems. So Jesus says, I can show you a better way. I can show you the way God wanted man to live.

That's why he came to earth in the flesh, which means with self-will, which he never yielded to. So when it says here in John 1 .14, the word was made flesh. All it means is he came with a will of his own.

But it's made very clear in Romans 8 and verse 3 that he came only in the likeness of sinful flesh. He didn't have sinful flesh. He came in the flesh, which is not sinful. He had his own will. If he had yielded to it, it would have been sinful.

If he had yielded to it even once. That's why I say the greatest miracle that Jesus did on earth was to live 33 and a half years without ever yielding to his own will. That's what makes me admire him.

And I see that that was the secret of that beautiful and most wonderful life that accomplished and finished the entire will of God in 33 and a half years. And with the father could look down and say, I'm well pleased with him.

The Image of God and the Priority of Life Over Ministry

Very often we think that God is happy with us if we do a lot of things for him. You know, God did not make Adam because he wanted another servant. It's a wrong understanding. He had millions of angels before he made Adam.

He had millions of servants who were worshipping him, doing anything. If he told an angel to do a thing, they would obey immediately. God did not create man because he wanted another servant. He created man because there was something that man was going to manifest, which no angel could manifest.

He made man in his image. Not a single angel among all the millions were made in his image. Do you know that? The angels have got intelligence, they got power, they got a will of their own. That's how one of the angels became the devil.

But they could not reflect the image of God. It's like saying a bulb can bring light, but if you pass electricity through this table, it won't bring any light. It doesn't have the capacity to produce light, no matter how much electricity you pass through this table.

But that bulb has the capacity to give light, if you pass electricity through it. Man had the capacity to partake of God's nature and become a son of God if he allowed the Holy Spirit to come in. See the contrast between a bulb and a table.

That's the difference between man and angels. That's why it says in his own image he made man. It's not because he wanted another servant. It's not because he wanted the Garden of Eden to be tended. That was a job God gave to man, but that was not the reason why he created him.

He created him because he wanted a race of people who would manifest his nature. We need to be gripped by that. That's written in Genesis chapter 1. He made man in his image and that's what got ruined by sin.

And so today we have a lot of people who think they are pleasing God by serving him. Sometimes they sin and they try to make up for it by giving some money in the offering box or going and serving him in some way.

You cannot bribe God with your service and try to get him to forgive your sin. There's no connection between your life and your service. One must flow out of the other and the life must come first. And that's why you see in Jesus' life at the age of 30 when he was baptized and he hadn't done a single thing what we would call service.

He hadn't preached a single sermon by then. He hadn't cast out any demons. He hadn't healed any sick person. Yet the Father from heaven said, I'm well pleased with you. I'm never tired of teaching this because I still find that so many Christians, even those who have heard me for so many years, are not gripped by this.

It's one thing to hear something and to understand it. It's quite another thing to be so gripped by it that it changes your whole life. And that's why I never get tired of repeating it. That the Father was happy with Jesus at a time when he was 30 years old, when he had never done anything which we call ministry.

Why do I say that? Because a lot of Christians today think that they're going to make God happy by ministry, by the amount of money they give to God's work. Jesus didn't have much money to give the Father.

He was a poor carpenter. He got four brothers and two sisters at home and a widowed mother. He had to take care of all of them. I'm sure there's very little money left. It was not through money or through ministry that he pleased the Father.

What did Jesus do in 30 years that could bring such approval from the Father in heaven that he could publicly say, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased? Only one thing. We know that in all those 30 years, he was tempted just like you and me.

And you and I know how difficult it is to live one single day without sin. One day, 24 hours without speaking a single sinful word, without doing a single sinful action, without having a single sinful thought, without having a single sinful attitude towards anybody throughout the day.

And fifthly, without having a single sinful motive in anything that we did. In thought, word, deed, attitude and motive. These are the areas we sin. Can you think of one day you live like that? One single day.

It's so difficult because our self is always pulling us in the wrong direction. And Jesus denied himself. Day after day after day. Can you imagine the ways in which his younger brothers and sisters would have teased him and irritated him at home?

Numerous ways. We've all seen small children, how they tease one another and all that. And he never sinned. He never responded in the way that they would treat him. And he lived like that at home. He wasn't, he didn't, you know, he was in a poor home.

He didn't have a private bedroom like some of our children have to retreat into when things got tough and hot in the house. No, they all, all those boys slept in one bedroom. Where could he retreat? There was no place to retreat.

He lived in purity. God put him under really difficult circumstances and he never sinned. And it didn't matter if he had not done a single thing of what we call ministry. The father was happy with him.

Do you believe that you can stand before God one day? You know, some of us feel limited because we say, I don't have a gift. I don't, I wish I had a gift. I could preach or I could do something for the Lord or travel the world and preach and bring people to Christ.

That's not what God's looking for primarily. If only you could understand this. It's your life. And that's what we see from the 30 years of Jesus, that the father can be pleased with you. Even if you don't do anything, we just call ministry.

If you overcome sin every day. That's a message that's hardly preached because the emphasis everywhere is saved to serve. Saved to serve. What are you doing for the Lord? We should be asking, what are you being for the Lord?

Not what are you doing? We're called to be, not to do. We're saved to manifest the glory of Christ, not primarily to serve him. You may say, well, is service unimportant? No, but service is the overflow of our life.

Old Covenant and New Covenant Ministry

Like I've often said in the Old Testament, God's Holy Spirit could not penetrate our spirit. The spirit is the deepest part of us, by the way. Man is body, soul, which is our mind and emotions. And our spirit is the deepest part of us.

And that part was shut off. Just like the most holy place in the tabernacle is blocked off with a veil. And God could not enter man's spirit. Because self-will, man's self-will obstructed it. And because there was sin there.

And that sin could never be removed until Jesus shed his blood. So God's Holy Spirit could never dwell in people in the Old Testament. But yet you know that God used many people in the Old Testament mightily.

Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist. What mighty servants of God. But with not one of them could God say, I'm well pleased with your life. There were sins that Moses committed. Elijah, he got depressed and discouraged and said, Lord, take away my life.

John the Baptist even doubted whether Jesus was the Messiah when he was locked up in prison. Even though they did a tremendous ministry, God was not entirely happy with them. And then you see Jesus, who never did any ministry for 30 years.

And God says, I'm well pleased. If we can see these things clearly. So what happened on the day of Pentecost? On the day of Pentecost, man could finally have his sin cleansed by the blood of Jesus so that God's Holy Spirit could now penetrate the innermost part of man and enter his spirit.

Till then it was covered. It's like if this glass is covered with a lid and I pour water on it. Not a drop will enter the glass. Not a drop will enter this cup, but it'll flow out. It can flow out in rivers depending on how much water we pour.

And that's what Old Testament ministry was like that. The Holy Spirit was upon people, not inside people. Upon people and it would flow and bless thousands. Moses blessed millions. But it wasn't inside.

Samson is a classic example. His heart was full of adultery. Inside of the cup was dirty. But boy, did he bless people. Israel. He was a judge in Israel that delivered Israel all the time. But when Jesus came, it was a different type of ministry.

It wasn't just the Holy Spirit upon where the heart was dirty and God blessed people. It was from within. For 30 years, that cup was clean. And then ministry was not being poured upon. But from within the cup, the Holy Spirit from inside overflowed and blessed millions.

That is the difference between Old Covenant ministry and New Covenant ministry. That's why Jesus said in John 7 38, He who believes in me from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. In the Old Testament, the rivers of living water flowed from over.

That's the big difference. And if this was emphasized in Christendom, we would have a completely different type of ministry. You wouldn't suddenly hear of pastors, after so many years of serving the Lord, falling into sin.

Why is that? Because they only emphasize ministry from external. I think a lot of Christians are experiencing this Old Testament type of ministry. They are gifted. They can preach wonderful sermons, move a lot of people.

But then one day they fall into sin. Why is it? Because the Spirit is not coming from the innermost being. It's on top of them. Now that's possible for many of you to be like that. Is ministry important?

Was there any greater ministry than Jesus had? In three and a half years, he accomplished more than other people do in hundreds of years. But it flowed from within. And it's when ministry is only upon, and we don't have a life that backs it up, that ministry is a struggle.

I remember the years in my own life, when I was a born again but defeated Christian. Do you know you can be a born again but defeated Christian? Defeated in your thoughts. Defeated in your... Maybe not defeated in outward actions.

Maybe your outward actions are good and pure. But defeated in thoughts. Defeated in attitudes. Defeated in motives. Defeated in words. We are very careful with actions. You know, that's why we can keep ourselves from adultery and theft.

And the Ten Commandments, most of them are actions. But very difficult to keep ourselves pure in thought, word, attitude, motive. And a lot of Christians can be impure in thought, word, attitude, motive, and still have a ministry.

Bless others because they're communicating information and people are saved because of the information. And they're happy with that. That's the tragedy. The tragedy is not that they are imperfect. The tragedy is they are satisfied being imperfect.

You know, it's like a student who's very intelligent, who could get 100 in mathematics, satisfied with 40%. In India, 40 of pass marks. Oh, I got 40%. I'm happy. I think a lot of Christians are like that.

I passed. That means I sinned but I confessed it and the Lord's forgiven me. And then the next day I sinned and I confessed it and the Lord's forgiven me. 25 years later you say, I sin still but I confess the Lord forgive me.

And 50 years later they say, I still sin but I confess the Lord's forgive me. When are you going to finish with it? Is there a better way or is it only that Old Testament way of forgiveness? There is a better way.

So I'm trying to show you how this self-will, if Jesus called us to deny that will and to walk as he walked. And I'm trying to show you that that is the most wonderful life you can ever live. Now I want to expose the lie of the devil who's told us that sin is enjoyable.

The Passing Pleasure and Lasting Consequences of Sin

Is there a pleasure in sin? Do you know that the Bible says there is pleasure in sin? The Bible is realistic. Hebrews 11, it says in verse 25, there is pleasure in sin. The Bible doesn't deny it. Moses rejected the pleasures of sin.

But it's called the passing pleasure. Think of the sins that you have committed, that you're aware of. Can you tell me how many of them give you lasting pleasure? Even if you cheated and made money and that money has given you a lot of comfort.

That annoying sense of guilt that you have, that you made money by cheating and exploiting and is it giving you pleasure really? You live with that sense of guilt. It's like driving your car with your foot on the brakes.

It's moving all right, but scraping. That's how a lot of people are living. The pleasures of sexual sin and every other type of sin, it's passing. In a few minutes, it's over. Once it's over, you live with guilt for years.

The pleasure is only for a short time. The problem it causes is forever and ever and ever. It's like taking a little bit of poison. Maybe enjoyable at the time. It's like drugs. People take drugs. It's enjoyable at that time, but blows up their mind and destroys their life for years.

Sin is exactly like that. We can think low or less of a person who's, what a foolish person who goes to drugs. But do you know there's no difference between a man who commits sin and a person who takes drugs?

Absolutely no difference. That guy doesn't take drugs. He pays money for it. Quite a lot of money. Why does he do it? Because he gets a little pleasure out of it. He doesn't think of the consequences that will blow up his mind and his life in the future.

But that's exactly what a lot of people do when they commit a sin. Think of all the sins they've committed in the past. It has brought pleasure for a while, but brought guilt and heaviness and discouragement and so many things.

And still we go on doing it. It's like that person going back to the drugs. Even though what he's taken has already harmed him, he still goes back to it. There's really no difference between that person and a person who takes sin lightly.

That's how the devil fools man. And that's why we need the light of God to shine clearly in the church. And I'm sorry to say it's not allowed to shine clear enough in the church. In the church, they talk about helping the poor and that's all great.

But a lot of people who live in sin and help the poor. Ministry is not the main thing. Do you know, I mean, think of a contrast to what Jesus did. Jesus didn't do any ministry for 30 years and the father was pleased with him.

Ministry, Sin, and the Warning of Matthew 7

Now I want to tell you about some other people, thousands of them who did a lot of ministry. Jesus said in Matthew 7 and verse 22 and 23, about I think hundreds of thousands of people who will stand before him in the final day and say, these are his exact words, many will come to me, Matthew 7, 22 and say, Lord, I did a lot of ministry in your name.

I prophesied in your name. I cast out demons. How many of you have cast out demons in Jesus name? Percentage must be very, very small, not even 1%. How many of you have done not one miracle, but many miracles?

We get down to zero, probably nobody here. Supernatural physical miracles in Jesus name. We did them and the Lord doesn't say to them, no, no, no, you're bluffing. You never did all that. It's as it were the Lord saying, I know you did all that.

I know you did a lot of service for me. You preached in so many places and you did this and you did that and you traveled and you sacrificed a lot to serve me, but I still want you to get away from me.

Go to hell, all of you. Despite all the ministry you did for me, despite all the places you sacrificed and served me, depart from me because there was sin in your life. Only one reason. How many Christians believe this will happen?

What is a balanced Christian life? A balanced Christian life is where your ministry comes out of your life, not by itself. The ministry is important, but it must come out of our life. Otherwise, it's worthless.

And you see that here. That's why I drew the contrast between Jesus having no ministry for 30 years and the Father saying, I'm well pleased with you and these people who did such fantastic ministry, which I mean, if you met a man like this or even saw a man like this on television, prophesying, casting out demons, doing many miracles, you would stand in awe.

And if he's doing it in Jesus' name, you would say, that's not a heathen. That's a real Christian who's doing miracles in Jesus' name. You think he's a great man of God. What a surprise you'll get one day when that man, you see that man being sent to hell.

Not for his ministry, but because he did not deal with sin in his life. Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away. My words will not pass away. Now, these are not the type of things that you hear in your local church.

You ask yourself, have you heard your pastor tell you this from Matthew 7, 22 and 23, that some of those television preachers you see on the screen will probably go to hell because there's sin in their life.

You know, the sin in their life can be hidden for a long time. Suddenly it comes out. Somebody divorces his wife. That doesn't happen overnight. Somebody falls into adultery or sexual sin. That never happens overnight.

It's a result of years of impure thinking, years of watching pornography in secret, which you never thought that powerful preacher preaching in your pulpit was watching pornography in secret, did you?

It suddenly becomes manifest. And think of for every one person manifest like there are the 10 others who are not yet exposed, who are clever to hide their sin. But one thing you can be sure in the final day from these examples, that in the final day, it is not your ministry that's going to matter.

And it's good to know that now, so you don't have to be discouraged if you don't have a gift of ministry. You really need to repent if you're not serious about sin in your life. So this is the balance.

A Balanced Christian Life: Character Before Ministry

So when we talk about the beauty of the Lord our God, let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. That beauty has to be seen in our life first. And that's why God sent his son to earth to live a holy life for 33 and a half years and to have ministry for three and a half years.

Now you who are good at mathematics tell me, what percentage is that? Three and a half divided by 33 and a half. One tenth, 10%. In Jesus' entire life, his ministry was only 10 out of his 100%. It's a life that backed up that ministry.

If your life is not 10 times better than your ministry, there's something seriously wrong with you. If your ministry is what impresses people, boy, the way he preaches, or the way he does this, or the way he helps the poor, any type of ministry, if that's what impresses people, something is wrong.

Your inner hidden life, which nobody can see, your thought life, your private life, the way you talk to your wife at home, or your husband at home, the way the things you watch on your computer, on the internet, if that is not 10 times better than your ministry, I want to tell you, my brother, sister, you probably never hear it from any other preacher, there's something seriously wrong with your Christian life and you better set it right now.

That's the purpose of our conferences. We are not here to entertain people. We are certainly not here to collect money, like most preachers. We are here to change people's lives and to show them the way of life, a balanced Christian life.